Cross posted from my super secret blog that I haven't told anybody that I have...

OK, I do do MP3s, but I don't have either an IPod or a dedicated MP3 player. Instead, what I have is a Sony Walkman CD player that plays MP3 discs. Now, I can burn an MP3 disc that has between 135 and 150 tracks (depending upon average size). My problem is that it is goddamn hard to come up with 150 unique songs that I really like enough to burn. Or, rather, I can do it for one cd, but the second has overlap and the third has considerable overlap. Now, let me tell you that, first of all, I have a pretty big collection of vinyl records from the 60s, 70s and 80s, and then I have a reasonable collection of CDs from the 90s and the current century. So, I don't have a lot of compunction about downloading songs that I already own, and, when I come up with a song I really like that I don't already own, I make sure that the artist gets money from me somehow.

For example, I have recently "discovered" James McMurtry. Now, James is from a very creative lineage as his old man is Larry McMurtry of Lonesome Dove, and a lot of other titles, fame. The first three or four songs of his that I heard on Radio Paradise were pretty cool. I liked the references to San Antonio in "Safe Side" and the humor of "Choctaw Bingo", but when I came across "We Can't Make It Here Anymore", I was blown away. The song itself is good from beginning to end, but there are a couple of verses which are so goddamn good that they should be engraved upon our national consciousness. Try this, for example:

Some have maxed out all their credit cards Some are working two jobs and living in cars Minimum wage won't pay for a roof, won't pay for a drink If you gotta have proof just try it yourself Mr. CEO See how far 5.15 an hour will go Take a part time job at one of your stores Bet you can't make it here anymore Or this: High school girl with a bourgeois dream Just like the pictures in the magazine She found on the floor of the laundromat A woman with kids can forget all that If she comes up pregnant what'll she do Forget the career, forget about school Can she live on faith? live on hope? High on Jesus or hooked on dope When it's way too late to just say no You can't make it here anymore

Those are two powerful verses that are an indictment of our societal values...or at least those values espoused and held dear by the neo-conservatives on the right of the political spectrum.

Like I told a few of my young co-workers tonight, I may be old in years, but in my head, I'm still twenty-fucking-five years old and I still have some of that fire that burned in our collective breasts back in the day. When verses like those quoted fail to evoke a response in me, that is the day I start looking for a way out of this life. (OK, I've had a couple Kettle One's on the rocks and this is like the 5th time I've cranked the song through on the headphones...doesn't change the truth of what I say...)

'Nuff said

There are some things which just have to be challenged...

There is a column in the Christian Science Monitor which has as its premise that "Atheism, not religion, is the real force behind the mass murders of history". And then it goes off about how most of the religious based killing in the past has been minor compared to the damage done by modern "atheists". And some of what the columnist says is pertinent. However, towards the end of the column, he shoots himself in the foot with this statement: "...cannot explain why, if Nazism was directly descended from medieval Christianity, medieval Christianity did not produce a Hitler."

Well, the short answer is that the rise of Hitler required the technology of the 20th Century. Also, while Hitler's motives were complex, his antisemitism was, in fact, a direct result of centuries of religious persecution. The deaths of over six million Jews can be laid directly at the feet of religious intolerance. Nope, sorry...Harris, Dawkins et al have a point which needs to be considered.

Bush lies to us once more...

The son-of-a-bitch lies, then smirks because he knows he's lying and he also knows that "you can fool some of the people all of the time". How does he lie? Well, the man who, in living memory, has done the most to wreck the American economy is trying to accuse the Democrats of being the people who "will raise taxes and hurt economic growth". This is the man who has took one of the most vibrant US economies of the past 100 years, and, basically, drove it into the ground. Under Clinton, the economy was growing (and growing with good paying jobs rather than the minimum wage jobs more and more Americans are ending up with), the federal deficit was shrinking and we, as a nation, were starting to believe in ourselves again after the long, long recovery from the Vietnam debacle.

So, in less than six years, Bush has managed to throw all that away, and a great deal of what he has tossed away was the foundations laid by Ronald Reagan (who, while I may not have been a supporter, I do grudgingly admire for his optimism about our future.) When we were attacked by the Islamic fundamentalists, rather than give us a shining vision of the mountaintop, George encouraged us to hide in caves and to shun the light.

But even more than the psychological damage he has done, there is the disasterous fiscal legacy he is going to leave. People, sooner or later somebody is going to have to pay for the huge deficit this man and his Republican administration has run up, and that "somebody" is going to be us, our children and their children. If I were a Democrat, I would run on the Bush legacy for the foreseeable future (or at least until the national debt gets back to the level Clinton had it in 2000.) Yep, I would tar and feather the Republican Party with George Bush for many years. Lying Son-of-a-Bitch!!

A couple of comments and predictions about the upcoming elections

First I have a question: Isn't it great how the price of gasoline has dropped almost a buck from what it was a month ago? And then I have an answer: No, it isn't great, it is, I think, a premeditated move on the part of Big Oil to influence the upcoming elections. It has been well publicized that the American public was not at all happy about paying $3.00/gallon to fill up the tank of the family SUV. Since there has been nothing on the world stage to account for the rapid drop in oil prices, I have to assume that said drop is the result of decisions made in the executive suites and boardrooms of the Big Oil companies. I have a sneaking suspicion that the thinking goes, "If we drop oil prices, people will be happier with the Republicans." While philosophically I can't complain about gasoline costing more (because it is a non-renewable resource which needs to start funding its replacement(s)), I think that the recent price hikes have been more about lining the pockets of Capital and not about funding alternative energy research, and I think that the oil companies are a little worried about what the Democrats will do to those obscenely huge profits they have been amassing during the Bush years.

My second prediction is that I think that the owners of this country will do their level bests to trash the economy over the next two years should the Dems recapture the national legislature. This is especially true in that the Democrats seem to have a very dangerous potential candidate for the presidency in Barack Obama. Mr. Obama has the power, I believe, to bring a real vision back to this country, but that vision is not the one the owners want to see. Accordingly, it would be in the owners best interest to trash the economy and blame it all on the Democrats in Congress. That way, in two years, they could advance their neo-conservative successor to Bush, and his crowded coattails as the panacea most needed by the nation to get out of the "economic slump those Congressional Democrats have gotten us into...". What will be interesting is seeing if the Democrats have learned who their actual opponents are, and then how to campaign successfully against them.

"We Can't Make It Here Anymore" Part 2

A couple (two) posts ago I wrote about James McMurtry's song "We Can't Make It Here Anymore". I would like to dig a little deeper into that song because every time I listen to it, it digs a little deeper into me. I mean, it starts out with:

Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign Sitting there by the left turn line Flag on the wheelchair flapping in the breeze One leg missing, both hands free

which tells us something about the men and women who are currently in charge. The fact that we treat citizens who pretty much gave their all for their country like disposable diapers is bad enough; that we make them beg for their food and shelter is even worse. Nevertheless, this is our reality, and it is how the self-centered neo-cons running things think.

Shit, I was going to go through this, cherry picking lyrics, but I can't do that. Instead, let me send you to the lyrics and then urge you to go out and get this song any way you can (I've gone and actually purchased one of Mr. McMurtry's cd's because I feel honor bound to pay the artist for his work. I know that most of what I paid is going to some suit who had nothing to do with the creative work that went into this, but at least something goes to the artist and that is the important thing) and listen to it while reading along with the lyrics. It is just powerful stuff...then go out and send the Bushites back to clipping coupons--or whatever other unproductive work they did before going to Washington--on November 7th.

China Drafts Law to Boost Unions and End Abuse - New York Times

It's about fucking time! One of the things that is killing this country is the nonstop exportation of our jobs. Let's face it, we all can't be rock stars, CEOs, or stock market gunslingers. Some of us won't ever make it into the jobs that pay huge salaries: the rest of us (who make up about 95% of the population) work at the millions of jobs that are both necessary and non-glamorous. So, the news that China Drafts Law to Boost Unions and End Abuse (New York Times 10/13/06) is a step in the right direction. Maybe if the manufacturing jobs start getting close in pay around the world, there will be less incentive to export them from home.

In fact, maybe it will begin to heal our huge balance of payments deficit. If we begin building the "stuff" of our lives here at home rather than in Shanghai or Chengdu, we will create jobs for our own citizens and keep some of the dollars that now flow overseas in our own communities. Also, it may chop some of the obscene profits that have been flowing into the pockets of the owners of capital and redirect those dollars into the pockets of middle class Americans. More money to the middle class means more tax revenues for the government (middle class taxpayers don't have as many tax accounts and tax lawyers sniffing out every possible loophole in the tax code like the super rich have.)

So, I applaud any move by China to improve the lot of their workers, and I would urge every other country in the world to do the same. Even if America stops importing as much stuff from abroad, the workers with their higher pay will take up some of the slack, and the fact that there will be more money in the local economies will mean that the shop owners and farmers and all the rest of the citizens in those countries will also have more money available to buy the output from those factories. Again, for our country, the best possible foreign policy is to raise the economic levels of the rest of the world to bring them closer to our own.

Yeah! Go China!!

Sometimes things surprise you...

So, my daughter sent me a link to Pandora, a "trainable" streaming music site. Basically, you tell them what kind of music you like by giving them artists and songs that you like, then they start playing stuff that is similar...and you tell them whether you like or dislike what they offer you. After a while, Pandora is pretty much playing only stuff that you like...whether it is by artists you know or new artists.

Well, a while ago, one of the other streaming music sites (Radio Paradise) played a song by James McMurtry which struck a chord with me. Now, James is the son of genre writer Larry McMurtry of Lonesome Dove fame. James is, as you might suspect, classified as a country singer, and I normally don't listen to that genre of music...but, shit, this guy writes stuff that really resonates. The latest song of his that I have discovered, courtesy of Pandora, is a little ditty titles "We Can't Make it Here" (which I have learned is my bad...the damn song has won all sorts of awards). This guy comes out of the heartland, for God's sake, and he is trashing both the conservative right and the Harvard MBA-types who have spent the last 20+ years exporting American jobs overseas. This cannot bode well for the Republicans in next month's elections. At least I hope it doesn't!

Muslims demand Pope's apology

I see where the Pope has gone out on a limb and called a spade "a spade" as far as Islam is concerned Basically, he quoted a 14th Century Christian Emperor (the only Christian emperors around at that time were the Hapsburgs of the Holy Roman Empire) who were engaged in a tooth and nail struggle with the Islamic states on their southern borders. There is reason for the Hapsburgs to think that Islam had only brought "evil and inhuman" things. (Of course, those on the other side of this string of wars had ample reason to feel the same about Christianity; these were not very pretty wars. In enemy territory, pretty much every living soul was considered a combatant and put to the sword ASAP. But, I digress...)

Bringing things up to date, though, I do notice how these peace loving, gentle Muslims are reacting to the Popes gaffe: namely with increasing violence. Personally, I think there is some truth to the allegation that Islam is a religion based in violence. No matter how badly we Christians have warped and twisted the Christian Gospels, we are taught that Christ told us that, "..all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword" and "Blessed are the gentle for they shall inherit the earth" and "...do not resist him who is evil; but whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." We may not practice what we preach, but at least we preach the right (IMHO) things. Islam, as far as I can tell, preaches that the way to get things done is to use violence when it furthers the objective at hand.

Violence: Islam and the Islamic cultures are steeped in it. Well, I have some news for them. While they may see the west as being Christian, we are actually not...at least not really. We are some unholy mix of Christian, Pagan and atheistic religions and philosophies. And we can be the most ruthless killers in the world. You people fuck with us, and, sooner or later, we will pretty much hand you your heads...if we don't just stuff 'em up your asses first.

On the other hand, when we are left alone, we pretty much leave everybody else alone (except for the jerk currently residing in the White House, but we (and you) only have two more years of putting up with his churlish stupidity.) Oh sure, you'll have our religious fanatics spouting off against you, but, then, we'll have your religious fanatics spouting off against us. I figure if the majorities in both cultures can assume a "live and let live" modus vivendi, we can, in fact, coexist in peace. However, to do this we both must agree that violence is not an acceptable alternative in any situation.

Let's just start over, again

OK, I haven't posted anything for almost two months. For that period of time I have been mainly working on a business plan, dealing with "home renovations" and the crush of life in the summer time. To wit, as I type this, I am also shepherding a bevy of burgers on the grill. Also, I find that I now have blog space scattered all over cyberspace. In addition to this (my preferred journal), I have space on Livejournal, MySpace, Vox, Google, Yahoo and two or three other places. It is a case of too many riches. I get an idea for an entry (oops...hold the thought: I have to go slice cheese to make the burgers cheeseburgers. BRB)

And I'm back...some 2+ hours later..., so, where was I? Ah yes, too many blogs. Actually, I haven't really used any of the newer blogs, in fact...DAMN!!... Mosquitoes!! (Another confession: I'm actually typing this on the laptop which is set up on the patio primarily as a music source. It was warm today, so the bloodsuckers are out and about this evening. I'm going to have to close things down out here and move back to the office machine to finish what I plan to cover tonight. Hmmm...I dunno, maybe the triple vodka-on-the-rocks and two Pale Ales are beginning to affect my balance or something. This might never get back out of the draft stage...but, here goes anyhow...see you in a few...ha!)

Well, it didn't make it out of the draft stage that night...in fact it is now a few (like 6) days later, and I have actually put up a real post (see below). Now I'm trying to figure out just what a meme is and why I was chosen to receive it and what to do with it now that I have it. Now, it could be that what I am playing with is not the meme, and is only the result of bad coding or something. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that the meme is actually how to get into this particular site...and then how to make the appropriate changes and pass it along...I think I'll go play for a bit...

Anyhow, I think I'll have time to do some more regular posting to the blog for the next couple of weeks...at least. That is the current plan, but we'll see if this latest plan actually gets past the "plan" stage to the "action" part.

This is getting to be too much...

Today I was trying to remember a password to one of my email accounts (I have [cringe] 4 POP accounts and 4 web-based addresses), so I decided to print out my database of usernames and passwords. It came to 5 landscape formatted pages. OK, there is more than just address, user name, password info here, but...still, 5 pages.

Now, there are actually only a few passwords and usernames (I have like 4 of each that I normally use, but there are those sites which provide one or both that I never got around to changing and there are sites where I was being "innovative" by using something totally different) in general use, but the question is which combination did I use for that particular site. The result is a five page compendium of user names and passwords. There is no way I am ever going be able to remember more than a few of these, those for sites I use most regularly, and even for those sites I have most stored in my browsers for automatic recall...which means I don't have to remember them so I promptly don't.

There is no easy answer to this modern dilemma. The need for security measures such as passwords is the cyber equivalent of needing keys here in real space. The same people, or types of people, who force us to lock things here also mandate the existence of cyber locks and keys (usernames and passwords respectively). However, there needs to be an easier way to do this...without using Microsoft's Passport. The last thing I want to do is give Microsoft access to my personal information. I trust them less than I trust the kid hacking into the Pentagon. I need a single "lock and key" that will work for 90+% of my security needs. Actually, I'm pretty sure something like this actually exists, my problem is that I'm not aware of it. *sigh*

So, here I am...

Now, for somebody who has spent most of his computing life tied to a desktop machine, this is, without a doubt, pretty cool. I am finally the sole user of a reasonable laptop. Well, ok, so it is about 5 years old and at least two generations removed from the great big honking Dell sitting upstairs on my wife's desk, the good news is that it is strong enough to do this while streaming music to the patio. That last is so cool I can hardly contain myself. No longer am I consrained by power cords and other such antediluvian accouterments. Well, that's not entirely true...this thing only has a two hour battery, so, if I want to play outside longer than that, I have to have some connection to a wall outlet. And the speakers do need that luxury also (ok, I do have a battery powered set of speakers, but these have much better sound...). All that being said, it is still so cool to have streaming music available on the patio.

Now all I have to do is get used to this laptop keyboard so I stop making about one typo per 10 strokes and things will be even better. (Of course, most of the typos could be due to the large amount of alcohol I have consumed tonight and have little or nothing to do with the layout and size of the keyboard. *sigh*

Where does the time go?

As you can see from the preceding post, I have not died...although from the dearth of posting here, it may have seemed that way. Actually, I have been so consumed with other stuff in my life that on those occasions I have contemplated posting, I have not known where to start. So, let's start here...

Since May 10th, I have managed all of six (6) posts. Somewhere in there (May 21st to be exact) one of my two daughters got married. The event was on the other side of the country, so, needless to say, the trip actually consumed far more time than the six days we spent either out in beautiful Seattle or in transit. And, all during this time, I have been working on a business plan for what I think is a killer Internet business. I am at the point with the thing, though, that I am going to have to let it go. I have been reworking and rebuilding the damn thing for two months now, and I think I have found the reason it is taking so long: I am scared to death of losing the dream. Like I said, I think it is a killer application of web-based technology and personal service. Marry the two in this business, and we should end up as truly successful Internet entrepreneurs.

The problem is that we need angel investors to get this off the ground. If we don't get the funding we need, it will die stillborn; just another good idea which didn't have that intangible called luck mixed into all the other ingredients. This is sort of like my last Hurrah as an entrepreneur. It is taking all my energy, and I know I won't have it in me to do this again. It would really suck to end up as a retail employee for the rest of my working life. So, I have a great deal of psychological capital invested in this, and a great deal of emotional capital will go out with every copy we send to potential investors. I know that part of me is dragging out the process just in case we do hit the wall. I have to suck it up and get this sucker out the door ASAP or we will miss our window and we will watch somebody else come up with our idea and run with it. That would suck even more.

So, that is one of the the reasons my posting here has been so sparse. The other reason is that we have been doing a lot of stuff around the house this year. In addition to the never ending war with the weeds outside, we have been making some major renovations on the house which, although for the most part we have people doing the actual installations, there has been a lot of work that I have done in a semi-futile attempt to keep the actual dollar costs down. Anyhow, my personal time has been very, very sparse over the past two months or so. But, all of this should be coming to a completion within the next couple of weeks. Hopefully, the business plan will be out the door at the same time so I will have some time to post here. I find that I need to have this outlet. It tends to clear my spirit and satisfies the need to be creative.

In any event, I will really try to post at least a couple times a week...and I haven't a clue why I'm explaining all this 'cause I've probably lost all my readers (other than Jerry...you still there, buddy?) by my prolonged silence. Ah well, such is life...y'all be good; rock on and I will be back...

I just got the following e-mail from:

FROM THE DESK OF: 
PROFESSOR CHARLES C. SOLUDO
EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR,
CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA.

 



ATTENTION:HONOURABLE CONTRACTOR,

RE: IMMEDIATE CONTRACT PAYMENT FOR CONTRACT #: AV/NNPC/FGN/MIN/009

THIS IS TO NOTIFY YOU THAT YOUR OVER DUE INHERITANCE FUND HAS BEEN GAZZETED TO BE RELEASED, VIA KEY TELEX TRANSFER (KTT ) -DIRECT WIRE TRANSFER TO YOU OR THROUGH ANY OF OUR CORRESPONDENT BANK NOMINATED BY THE SENATE COMMITTEE FOR FOREIGN DEBT.


AS A MATTER OF URGENCY YOU ARE HEREBY REQUIRED TO FILL AND SEND THE FORM BELOW FOR VERIFICATION PURPOSES SO THAT YOUR FUND VALUED AT $27.5M(TWENTY SEVEN MILLION,FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS) WILL BE REMITTED INTO YOUR NOMINATED BANK ACCOUNT



1. YOUR NAME:..............................

2. YOUR FULLADDRESS:...................................

3. YOUR TELEPHONE..................................

4.FAX.........................................

5.AGE.........................................

6. SEX:....................................

7. YOUR OCCUPAION:....................................

8. YOUR VALID IDENTIFICATION................................


AS SOON AS WE RECEIVE THIS INFORMATIONS,WE WILL COMMENCE WITH ALL NECCESARY PROCEDURES IN OTHER TO REMIT THIS MONEY INTO YOUR ACCOUNT. THE CENTRAL BANK EXECUTIVE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON DEBT RE-CONCILIATION, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA HAS APPROVED THIS PAYMENT,AND THIS FUND IS AS A RESULT OF INHERITANCE ON YOUR BEHALF.


YOURS FAITHFULLY,
 

PROFESSOR CHARLES C. SOLUDO
EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR, 
CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA 

and I'm wondering what to do...*snicker*....*ROFL!!*...I'm sorry, but I couldn't keep a straight face! What absolutely astounds me is the knowledge that there are enough people out there who will respond to this that it remains worthwhile for these predators to continue to hunt this way.

I guess ole P.T. Barnum was right: "there is a sucker born every minute..."

A moment in time...

I had to be down in Highlands today for a family function. Since I wasn't at all sure that the Parkway would anything more than a parking lot, I left early to make sure I had enough time to get there. Consequently, since there wasn't nearly as much traffic as I expected, I arrived about an hour early. Now, the Sandy Hook National Recreation area charges to get in between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and, since I only had about 40 minutes to kill, I thought that was excessive. However, as I had made my way down Route 36, I had passed something called the Mount Mitchell Scenic Overlook, which hadn't mentioned anything about fees, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.

Boy, am I glad I did.

First of all, and pay attention 'cause there will be a test afterwards, Mt. Mitchell is the highest point on the Atlantic Seaboard between Maine and the Yucatan. I thought that was pretty cool in and of itself, but when we pulled into the parking area, I could see that it really had a view to offer. From Manhatten on the North (left) to Kennedy Airport on the right (east-distant: close was Sandy Hook itself) a panorama presented itself. I spent about 10 minutes drinking it all in and then I turned to the statue/monument that stood just behind the actual scenic viewing area.

Rather than fumble around, I'm just going to send you here for a description of the memorial. It was for the residents of Monmouth county who had died in the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001. Click the link...you'll see that it is both tasteful yet strangely powerful. As I walked up the timeline walkway, I could see in my mind's eye what had transpired that day. And I want to tell you that I got angry.

I got angry first at the incredibly evil men who had done this heinous, infamous thing. And then I got even more angry at the man who has totally fucked up our response to this crime against humanity and God. In the days that followed the attack on the World Trade Center, 90+percent of the world's population was with us in our grief and anger. When we went after Bin Laden et al in Afghanistan, the world was with us. But then we began to change our message. It wasn't just al-Qaeda that we were fighting--no, somehow an Axis of evil had emerged and Saddam Hussein was one of its principle members. Our government became arrogant and, in many ways, insulting towards anybody who dared question our actions. And, gradually, we began to lose the international support we once enjoyed. Now we are mired in a no-win war in Iraq which we will ultimately find impossible to disengage from with any semblance of honor. Ultimately, we will find ourselves worse off, not better off, for our involvement in this bit of cowboy foriegn relations.

Note: I started this almost a month ago. Since then at least two things have changed: First, the passion ignited by the visit has receded a bit. And, two, I am typing this part sitting on the patio after having had a couply of largish vodka-on-the-rocks, so I am probably not as coherent as I could be. In fact, I'm actually posting this in main to clear my "pending drafts" out of my workspace.

Jersey Boy

Well, according to this

You Are 86% New Jersey!

Wow, you're totally Jersey. There's no doubt about it. Congratulations, and always be proud to be Jersey--it's a great thing to be!

How New Jersey Are You?

I’m a Jersey boy. Ah well…since I am the son of a Jersey boy and since I spent my first 25 years and last 16 years here, I guess that’s not much of a stretch. In fact, I am so Jersey I spent the day down at the shore today. On a nice Saturday in June, you can't get much more Jersey that that...

Make her go away...

So, Ann Coulter’s newest assault on all that is right and good in this world has made it to the top of the B&N best seller list after about a week on the shelves. This is more than disgusting, it is scary. I am not, by nature, a particularly religious man; more specifically, I have a great deal of trouble getting my mind around the concept of Satan as promulgated by religious fundamentalists of at least two of the world’s major religions. However, upon consideration of the vileness which spews from this woman’s mind, I am strongly tempted to believe that there is such a being as Satan and that it speaks to us through selected minions like the Coulter woman.

I will say no more about Ann: I’ll let Henry Rollins do it for me. This is a pretty good clip:

If for no other reason than to give people like Ann a shot to the solar plexus, the Dems truly need to put aside all internecine squabbles and work like Trojans to get as many candidates elected as possible this fall. If we can take back control of Congress, we will have taken the first step in repudiating a noxious detour in the American experiment.

Waist deep in the Big Muddy...

I've discovered a "new" (to me) singer/songwriter; a gentleman named Richard Shindell. In particular, there are three songs he does of which I am particularly impressed. Two of them, Transit and Courier are his songs, and, of the two, we here in New Jersey should especially appreciate Transit since it is about commuting in the Garden State. I don't know about you, but I've been where these lyrics describe more than once while driving in this state.

However, it is about the third song on my Shindell List that I want to talk a little about. The song is (the following link is to a streaming audio file...)Waist Deep in the Big Muddy by Pete Seeger. The song is about a training march by a platoon in 1942 during WWII. Listen to the lyrics, though, and think about our current president and our involvement in Iraq, and certain parallels begin to emerge. As I remember it, this song enjoyed a bit of popularity/notoriety in certain circles during the late '60s and early '70s. Similar circumstances, I guess. (One has to wonder about the intellectual acuity of a man who went through the Vietnam experience and, apparently, did not learn a fucking thing about fighting an indigenous enemy. Big Muddy was on the mark about Vietnam and it is again relevant about our involvement in Iraq.

Dear God! We have to live with two more years of this man in office. It scares me to death! Our country's only hope is for the Democrats to take back absolute control of both the House and Senate in November. Then they can keep Bush too busy covering his own ass to spend much time putting the rest of our collective asses in various and sundry slings (such as he is doing now.)

Network Neutrality

I got a note from Moveon.org about the current push to give the corporations who own the physical structure of the Internet control over what content will be available to people like us. Ostensibly, this is supposed to get rid of kiddie porn and hate sites. What it will eventually do, though, is limit our right to speak our minds on the 'Net. I can see Verizon using A.I. programs to sniff out and shut down sites which say critical things about Verizon. In fact, sites that have comments critical of virtually anybody or anything could be censored (because the owner of the "pipes" could get sued for content going over those pipes. (The fact that they could be sued is another question entirely...one that needs addressing now more than ever, but will have to wait until I get past the next few weeks.)

I will be adding a Network Neutrality logo and I urge anyone who reads this to do the same. Maybe if enough people are seen as supporting Network Neutrality, the nabobs in Washington and their corporate lobbyist overlords, will back down on this one. BTW, our own Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-NJ) has already voted against Nework Neutrality. It is time for Mike to be given his walking papers as part of a reassertion of this state's traditional values.

It's been a while...

I apologize, but life here in "meat space" (I got that from some sci-fi book I read awhile ago. If I actually remembered the source, I'd give the original author credit, or blame. The slow death of short term memory as one ages sucks!) has been hectic of late. I've been spending every waking hour either at the paying job, working in the yard or working on the business plan. Of the three, the business plan has taken up most of my time. I'm down to the last tweaks and nudges on that, so maybe I'll have a little more time to write here over the next couple of days. Of course, next week I'm off to Seattle to my daughter's wedding. I'll get access to a computer out there for at least a couple quickie reports on how this goes. (I do plan to ambush my brother-in-law with the business plan to see if he might be interested in kicking in some money if we can get other investor(s) interested.)

Anyhow, I do apologize for the sparseness of my postings over the last couple of weeks. I probably won't do much better until after Memorial Day, but I will try.

Job training program for military spouses in jeopardy - EarthLink - Top News

So, this little article caught my eye this afternoon. It is just one further example of how little the Bush administration actually cares for ordinary citizens. Bush will provide tax cuts for millionaires and corporate cronies, but nothing for those on the lower rungs of the economic ladder. The Democrats should take issues like this and trumpet them from the housetops. The louder the Dems shout and the harder they push now, even if the Administration manages to find a way to save this program, the Dems can claim that it was their work that actually forced Bush et al to keep this program going.

It is about time that Bush and his rich cronies (and all the other rich who benefit from Bush's largess) realize that their wealth comes at a price, and that price is paying a bigger chunk of the bill for maintaining our society. The elevation of greed to a "social good" over the past forty or so years needs to be re-examined and reversed. Personally, I think the marginal tax rate for income over (arbitrary number follows) $500,000 should be 90%. If one doesn't want to pay that level of taxes, then one should charge less for one's goods and/or services so that one doesn't make that much. Then maybe prices would come down and we would all be better off.

How does one Exorcise a computer?

Sometimes I do think that these machines have a consciousness of which we are, at the moment, in the main unaware. To wit, yesterday, I was hustling to get the Carnival out before I went in to work, but, after doing all the necessary tagging of links here in word, the Blogger plug-in suddenly decided that it would not recognize my blog. No matter what I did, it would not connect to Blogger. So, finally in desperation, I copied the word file over to the Blogger space and then went back and cut and pasted all the necessary html tags. As a result, I was late to work, and I ended up with the wrong Carnival number in the title. And my blood pressure went up about 20 points which is definitely not good! In a pique, I deleted the Blogger tool bar while casting aspersions on the ancestry of those who had designed it.

So, today I open up Word for an entirely different task, and there staring me in the eyeballs, is the Blogger toolbar. I blink. Then I click on the Settings button. There is nothing in the Username/password boxes, so I filled them in. And then, because I’m the adventurous sort, I clicked on the “Open Post” button. Well, imagine my surprise when the damn thing worked. What is this? When I have no particular need, it works, but when I really, really need it to perform it balks? I’m sorry…there must be some sort of malevolent consciousness behind this sort of behavior.

I look at this machine with a new set of eyes. Every now and then I mutter warding chants…just in case.  

This post has been generated by the same bloody program that absolutely refused to function yesterday. In the interim, I have done nothing to change it. This is all too bleedin' strange.

Carnival of New Jersey Bloggers #46

Hey, hey, hey…gather ‘round here. Come on up, sonny, don’t be shy. Right in here

we have some truly astonishing wonders for your edification and amazement. So, just step right in and see….

In our first exhibit, The Contrarian shines the spotlight on the “cat people” who live among us ordinary folk. Next we have Rob holding forth on the subject of Thai flavored potato chips. I have to wonder about where the “people” who prefer these to good old-fashioned plain potato chips really come from, don’t you?

Moving right along we present today’s super-hero, the modern American Mom as described by Ms Elizabeth. Next we have a peek at a trip to the supermarket. I must admit that my idea of grocery shopping was formed when I was quite young. I read Pat Frank’s Alas, Babylon in which the hero tried to see how fast he could get in and out of a supermarket: the faster the better. That has been my philosophy ever since…But wait, let me direct your attention over here where Sluggo documents his move from the political left to the political right. I told you we had things which might strain your credulity. But now let’s move along—quickly now, time marches on.

Right around the corner here, we have Schadenfreude’s take on one of the problems facing local law enforcement. The thin blue line seems to be getting thinner by the day, eh? And, over here, (move along, son, move along…) the Gigglechick wants to show you the upside of being stalked. In stark contrast to that bit of humor, Sharon brings us another dire threat to our environment which she thinks we need to be aware of. And in a similar sober vein, Fausta brings us a Blogburst on the subject of Guillermo Fariñas. I don’t know about you, but all this is news to me…

And now, let’s take a minute and refresh ourselves with a bit of beauty from Dimitri.

OK, that’s enough refreshing. We have a schedule to keep here. The next group is forming up behind us so we have to move along, move along…

Jim over at Jersey Beat wants us to know about the music scene here in Joisey. Thanks, Jim. Meanwhile Tata is having fun with groundhogs (who, to the best of my knowledge are not the “third white meat”…for what my knowledge is worth…), and Tom is angsting about the current issue of Free Inquiry (it contains some of those Danish cartoon which so angered the Muslim world community) (Aside: Tom, I happen to work for B&N and let me tell you that my store did have 5 copies, our normal order, in on Friday. Free speech is alive and well at B&N.)

Steve…Lambo’s…*sigh* I once drove a Shelby Cobra across the Key Memorial Bridge in Washington D.C. By the time I hit Virginia, I was clocking well over 100mph and was still in third…I think that’s when I became an adrenalin junkie. Speaking of Lambo’s, I guess one doesn’t really want to drive one in Camden, eh, Chanice? And right next door to the hijinx in Camden, we have Newark’s mayoralty race compliments of Lawhawk. Ya gotta love Sharp James. People like him make life more interesting…As do Princesses of Little Italy, right Maureen? And, Lynne, all you have to do to link to a specific post, is click the “permalink” link, right? Anyhow, Lynne seems to have inadvertently eaten a Bambiburger (I had a friend in Maine who loved to feed his unsuspecting guests Bambi burgers. It was great fun…ha, ha…)

Tom (another Tom, not the first Tom) has embraced the teachings of Sun Tzu and wants to share them with the rest of us. Go to it, my friend, I like Sun Tzu, too. Peter wants to go to Andalucia, and, for that, I have to stand up and applaud. (You think somebody who goes by the handle “Zorro” doesn’t have ties, however tenuous to Espana? You bet I do!)

OK, hang in there a little longer, we are now getting to some of the weirder stuff in our exhibit this week. First we have the spectacle of censorship by the very people who should be defending the right to freedom of speech and ideas. NYU should be ashamed as Ronald so aptly points out. Speaking of speech, next door we have talking pigs…maybe the talking pigs should go to NYU…Jane wants to show us that there is some hope for democracy in the Middle East (yeah, right…), and, finally, Jorge wants us to know that there is “Someone in the Republican party who realizes that making something that is illegal, legal, is wrong, and that it is bad policy”

So, boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, that’s it for this week’s carnival. Please leave quietly by the exit below. And, after leaving the carnival, please do peruse some of your genial host’s posts. They can be seen by simply scrolling down a little further. Thanks for your time and do come back again next week when the Carnival will be hosted by Confessions of a Jersey Goddess.

PS I originally did this in Word using the Blogger plug-in...and the *&^%%$$$ thing crashed on me. So I had to redo it by hand...it sucked. I hate it when things crash.

PPS And I mistakenly called this Carnival #42 when, in fact, it is #46...but that that point I was pretty much frothing at the mouth so it's lucky I called it anything. And Nordette is not hosting it next week: next week it is being hosted by DynamoBuzz, but do go check out Nordette's Blog and this link which she sent me last night but I seem to have misplaced. *sigh*

Illegal Immigration Redux

Let's go through this again: Immigration hurts who? It seems that the major thrust of the Political Right is to keep all those browns and yellows out. It does not matter that they do not compete with us native born for "good" jobs, all that matters is that they are not lily white and that, often, they don't speak English. I agree with DBK over at Blanton and Ashton's that "American Citizen" should mean something. However, I think it should mean that we are the most inclusive and open society this world has ever seen.

And the Republican agenda is not about "order and common sense," it is about racism. If it was about "order and common sense" we would have virtually unlimited "migrant worker" visas for people who work in our fields and in other menial (meaning "jobs the rest of us high and mighty Gringos don't want") positions. I gotta tell you that I have no problem letting in these workers. If we did it legally, they might not bring their whole families with them. They would come, live in communal apartments (like they do now) and then go home when their work visa expires at the end of the season. I would make said visas renewable and good for say six months at a time. After eight or so renewals, the holder could become eligible for a permanent visa which would include his/her family.

People, something like that is a non-zero sum game where both the immigrant and the United States win. If these people had a way to get here cheaply, work and save up some money to send back home, and then go home cheaply until next year, I am almost positive that there would be a mass migration back to their homes. A couple thousand US dollars in rural Mexico or Guatemala go a lot further than they do here, and we would get our lettuce picked, our lawns mowed, our stores cleaned and our burgers flipped for a lot less than we would be willing to do it ourselves. Think about it.

The Abortion Dilemma

On a number of Blogs I read, the Abortion debate is front and center. (I was going to say "raging" but, for the most part, it is civil, reasoned and intellectual in nature, so "raging" didn't quite fit...) The latest post over at the Xpatriated Texan is a good example of this. I am personally pro-choice, but I believe that abortion is, at best, a very bad alternative to choose. I have chosen it once in the past, and that choice, although it was over 25 years ago, sometimes still keeps me awake at night. And this is how it should be. Taking this path should be one of the most profound and wrenching decisions a person makes in her/his lifetime. And this is where the pro-life community is falling down. Rather than impose, via legislation, their viewpoint on the rest of the citizenry, they should be working to make the personal decision to have an abortion one of the hardest decisions a person is ever going to face.

Now, by "hard" I mean one which requires a very deep level of self examination and ethical/moral/emotional consideration. Frankly, the whole question of when "life" begins is, in my opinion, specious. The question is about potential. Once sperm and egg unite, a unique potential has been created. That microscopic union has produced a potential that stretches some indeterminate distance into the future. The decision to abort that potential must, at the least, give that potential profound weight. And, having made the decision to abort, that decision should stay with the maker(s) of the decision for the rest of their lives as one of the worst, most distressing things they have ever done.

If has with my wife and myself.(Note: while this was an intensely personal decision we made, and while it is nobody's business why we made the decision we did, for the record, there were critical medical issues involved. Because of my wife's medical condition at the time, there was both considerable risk to her life in continuing the pregnancy as well as a virtually certainty that there was genetic damage to the potential human she was gestating. For primarily those reasons, we reluctantly made our decision. 'Nuff said.)

Safe borders...or raging xenophobic racism...you tell me...

So...I was sitting in Econolube's waiting room while they changed the oil on my little Saturn (Notice that I am proudly telling you that I drive a small, inexpensive hi-mileage car. I'm am beginning to sincerely dislike people who drive around with one person in some behemoth. Damn resource hogs!! But I digress...) happily reading a Terry Brooks book from the Shannara series and paying no attention to the TV rumbling in the background when, against all my increased concentration on the book, the talking head on Fox News intruded itself on me. I mean, when I walked in an told the nice young lady behind the counter that I needed an oil change, I did glance at the tube, but, when I noticed that they had it on the Fox News channel, I deliberately sought a seat about as far from it as possible. I did not want to have to deal with those pinheads today. And, yet, they managed to force themselves upon my consciousness.

The particular talking head who started raising my blood pressure was some Yahoo (and I use "yahoo" in its original Swiftian usage)declaiming how the Bible mandates that we close our borders to the "huddled masses yearning to be free" (and rich) to the south of us. He spewed out some convoluted reasoning that these people were "coveting" our goods and were, therefore, sinning in the eyes of God, and that it was our duty to close our borders to these poor wretches. Of course, he doesn't tell us how we are supposed to harvest the veggies he buys at the supermarket or who is going to cut our lawns or do all the other menial tasks that us "native" born (and here I extend my sincere apologies to any Native American who might happen to read this, but, what the hell, if a person was born on this continent, that makes him/her "native born".) are too damn "good" to do. Yes, I do have a lawn service cut my grass in the summer and, yes, almost all the people who show up to run the various machines have Spanish as their native (and primary) tongue. But, then, I don't deny them the same opportunity that my ancestors had.

People, like this "person" (and I use the term loosely) who claim to be both Christian and American are, in fact, neither. Both the founding fathers and our Heavenly Father, would (and will) disavow them when they appear at the gates of Heaven requesting entrance. At least they would if I had anything to say about it. "I'm sorry, we can't allow any undocumented immigrants (and you, sir, are completely undocumented) into the Heavenly abode. Nope, you're on the outside gnashing your teeth and generally feeling shitty about your eternity." But, then, God is all merciful and all knowing. He will probably allow these people in because, once they are there, they will know how wrong they were in this life and have to live their eternity with that knowledge. In other words, they carry the seeds of their own Hell within them. I can live with that...

Motion to Censure Bush

So, I got the following letter from my good friend, Governor Howard Dean:

RUSS FEINGOLD IS A TRAITOR

Dear <blank>,

That's what Republicans want you to think.

They are so scared of having a legitimate debate about Iraq or national security that they have only one reaction to news of their failures or calls for accountability.

On Monday, Democratic Senator Russ Feingold introduced legislation to censure the President for breaking the law by creating a secret domestic spying program. Agree or disagree with his proposal, as a Senator -- and as an American -- he has the right to speak his mind and express his views without Republican Senators questioning his patriotism.

But that's exactly what happened. This week Republican Senator Wayne Allard of Colorado, in an interview with Fox News radio, said in response to Feingold's action that he has "time and time again [sided] with the terrorists".

Send a message to Senator Allard: shame on him for questioning the patriotism of another Senator. Sign this petition and it will be delivered to Allard:

http://www.democrats.org/stopattackingruss

Agree or disagree with Russ Feingold's censure resolution, it is completely out of bounds to suggest that anyone demanding accountability is siding with terrorists. It is simply un-American to question the patriotism and loyalty of a Senator who wants the Congress to live up to its responsibility.

We've heard this cowardly nonsense from Republican leaders before. They attacked decorated Veteran and Democratic Rep. Jack Murtha for getting real on Iraq. They attacked Democratic Leader Harry Reid for shutting down the Senate to demand answers about manipulated pre-war intelligence.

They have ended the careers of generals who questioned Bush Administration talking points, and they even attack their own when respectable Republicans speak out on the disaster this administration has created in Iraq and its failure to close the gaps in our security here at home.

And time and again, the Republican controlled congress has consistently failed to conduct real oversight of the Administration, choosing instead to protect the Administration.

But polls show that nearly 70% of Americans reject this president and the Republican Congress that has failed to hold him accountable. And together we will hold Republicans accountable at the ballot box this year.

That's why the Democratic Party is putting the infrastructure on the ground now to fight in all 50 states. People everywhere are saying "enough is enough" -- and we will be ready to organize and fight everywhere with your help.

Please contribute whatever you can to make it happen:

http://www.democrats.org/accountability

The sick behavior of desperate Republicans will only stop when we fight back, and 2006 is the time to do it.

Thank you,

Governor Howard Dean, M.D.

I also got email from MoveOn.org on this subject requesting I sign their petition to support Senator Feingold in his attempt to get Congress to censure President Bush. I signed their petition (and urge anyone reading this to do the same. You can find the petition here.) However, I think it is time we thought about what it actually means to live in a “free” society. I think what we are forgetting is that there are both responsibilities and duties that go along with the freedom

There is a quote from Thomas Jefferson which should be burned into the minds of every citizen. It should be part of us, much like the Pledge of Allegiance is part of us. The quote is:

"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ... And what country can preserve its liberties, if it's rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."

In the fight against terrorists, we all become patriots. If some of us die as a result of terrorist action, then that is the price they, and we, have to pay to be members of a free society. However, once we begin to give up our freedoms and liberties in the name of security, then we forfeit the right to be either free or patriots. I have no problem with using any and all legal means to combat terrorists. In fact, I have no problem with declaring open season on terrorists meaning all one needs to kill one is a valid hunting license. (Of course, one does have the burden of proof that the person killed was, in fact, a terrorist. Failure to provide that proof in a convincing manner could result in criminal charges. That should keep down the extraneous gun play…as should the judicious issuance of the appropriate hunting licenses.) No, catch a person red-handed with a terrorist device and that should be sufficient reason to terminate said person’s continued existence on this plane. But that brings us back to the manner in which we catch said person red-handed.

If we are to remain a free society, we cannot allow our government to spy on us…any of us. It is unfortunate that some of our citizens might want to cause their country and their fellow citizens harm, but that is the way this world is right now. To protect ourselves against our enemies who are amongst us, we have to use all legal means at our government’s disposal to find them. I have no problem with that. However, we cannot allow the government to cross that line. We cannot allow the government to erode our liberties and we especially cannot allow our President to assume more power than the Constitution allows him. What George Bush has done, both in spying upon U.S. citizens and in his “pre-emptive invasion” of Iraq so vastly exceed his Constitutionally allowed power that it just boggles the mind. If we had a Congress such as we had in 1973, we would be in the middle of  Impeachment proceedings now. It is my hope that, after the coming November elections, we will have such a Congress and we will, in January of next year, begin such proceedings. Until then, it is our duty as citizens and patriots to continue to cry out against the unjust spying and the unjust war in Iraq.

Corporate Greed

So, here’s the deal, greed has become the guiding principle of US business. Greed is destroying this country, and it needs to be addressed. Now, I am not so simple as to think that we can eliminate greed by legislation or fiat. However, I do think that we can make greed extremely expensive for the greedy. “But, old Zorro,” you ask, “how can this be done?” The answer is by levying surcharges for various behaviors while granting direct tax credits for others.

On the surcharge side, for every job outsourced overseas, the surcharge is $50,000/year for every year that job stays outsourced out of country. Another surcharge might be $20,000/year for every employee not covered by full medical insurance. Yet another surcharge could be $15,000/year for every full time employee who does not make enough to support his/her family without supplementary income (i.e. a second or third job.) Of course, most of these surcharges would be only for companies of a certain size as determined by either/or/and number of employees/annual revenue. Companies which fall below a threshold value would be exempt from the above surcharges. (I don’t think Joe’s Plumbing is going to be exporting jobs to China, or wherever, nor do I think Joe will pay his employees less than the going local wage. Small businesses are not the problem. The problem is with our larger corporate citizens.

On the credit side, on the other hand, corporations could get a tax credit for every employee who has access to full medical insurance. They could get a tax credit for every full time employee who makes enough money to not qualify for low-income public assistance. Corporate citizens could get tax credits for creating rather than cutting jobs. And they should be rewarded for being good citizens by treating the environment as a precious resource which should be protected rather than exploited.

The bottom line is that we need to stop with our obsession with the bottom line. It is time corporate America remembered that both their employees and their customers are fellow citizens. Our trip through life together should not be a zero sum game. There is room for us all to be winners. Greed is one of the things we don’t need. We are a rich country; what our corporate citizens need to remember is how to share…it’s something we all were supposed to learn in kindergarten.

It IS hard to be a Republican...

The following is stolen from an email from my sister...and I haven't a clue where she got it. However, it resonated with my very soul, and I had to share it with the rest of the world...

It is very tough to be a Republican in 2006 , because somehow, you have to believe concurrently that:

1. Jesus loves you, but shares your deep hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.

2. The United States should get out of the United Nations, but our highest national priority is enforcing UN resolutions against other nations.

3. Standing Tall for America means firing your workers and moving their jobs to India.

4. A woman cannot be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multinational corporations can make decisions affecting all humankind without regulation.

5. Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.

6. The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches, while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.

7. Group sex and drug use are degenerate sins, unless you someday run for governor of California as a Republican.

8. If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.

9. A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our long-time allies, but then demand their cooperation and money.

10. HMOs and insurance companies make huge profits and have the interest of the public at heart.

11. Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing health care to all Americans is socialism.

12. Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.

13. It is okay that the Bush family's Carlisle Group has done millions of business with the Bin Laden family.

14. Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him and Rumsfeld reassured him he was our buddy, a bad guy when Bush's daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him, but then a bad guy again when Bush junior needed a prop for his re-election campaign as the war President.

15. A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense A president lying about WMD existence to enlist support for an unprovoked, undeclared war and occupation, in which thousands of soldiers and civilians die, is, somehow, solid defense policy in a War against Terrorism.

16. Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which should include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.

17. The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's Harken Oil stock trade should be sealed in his Daddy's library, and is none of our business.

18. What Bill Clinton or John Kerry did in the 1960s was of vital national interest but what Bush did in the 80's is irrelevant.

19. Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

20. Affirmative Action is wrong, but it is OK for Bush's Daddy and his friends (here and in Saudi Arabia) to get him to graduate from Yale without studying much, to dodge the draft in the Texas Air National Guard, to bail out his companies (Harken Oil and the Texas Rangers), to get the Governorship of Texas and then to have the Supreme Court appoint him President of the USA.

21. You are a conservative, but it is OK to spend like there is no tomorrow and run up deficits that your grandchildren will have to pay, while at the same refunding as much tax money as possible to rich people who do not need it.

Contemplating these illogical paradoxes can take a toll on a healthy mind. So if a friend of yours has been acting a bit dazed and confused lately, be nice: he or she may be a Republican.

And I think I'll just let that stand on its own without further editorial comment!

Another Bad Idea.

OK, it's not a horrible idea [Yahoo Small Business Web Hosting], but...damn it, if they want me to advertise for them, how about knocking off a couple bucks a month of the hosting fee? The original announcement, which I got via their monthly e-mail letter, made it sound like they were doing me a huge favor by providing me a badge to put on my website announcing it was hosted by Yahoo!. Well, Doh!!, what makes them think that adding such a badge will make the rest of the world swoon with envy?

Although I don't usually comment to Yahoo! even though I do have a prototype business website, email and a YahooGroups site, this time I did. Namely, I made the same suggestion to them that I made above: cut me a break on my monthly hosting cost, and I'll carry your advertising. Until and/or unless that happens, though, there is not a chance I'll sport their logo on my site. (It's like putting brand-name logos in large print on your cloths. Why on earth do people feel the need to advertise for their clothing manufacturer? Personally, I like to buy well made clothes that look good on me, and I let that make the impression. I don't need to scream that I wear DKNY or some such crap.)

*sigh* I know...I'm an old fart who should shaddup, put on his polyester slacks with the white socks and white shoes and let the young and hip get on with life...)

C'mon people, Stand up on your own two hind legs...

I sometimes cringe at the actions of my fellow travelers on the path of Liberalism. To wit, I received this letter from Moveon.org this week:

Dear MoveOn member,
The very existence of online civic participation and the free Internet as we know it are under attack by America Online.
AOL recently announced what amounts to an "email tax." Under this pay-to-send system, large emailers willing to pay an "email tax" can bypass spam filters and get guaranteed access to people's inboxes—with their messages having a preferential high-priority designation.
Charities, small businesses, civic organizing groups, and even families with mailing lists will inevitably be left with inferior Internet service unless they are willing to pay the "email tax" to AOL. We need to stop AOL immediately so other email hosts know that following AOL's lead would be a mistake.
Can you sign this emergency petition to America Online and forward it to your friends?

Sign a petition? Jesus! If I were running AOL, I'd wet my pants from laughing so hard. No, a petition is not what is needed. What is needed is a mass exodus from AOL.

I mean, right now, this won't bother me at all because I don't have an AOL account. However, if my current email provider started to do this, I would simply abandon that e-mail address. (Actually, I have 3 addresses at my ISP plus 4 more out on the web (Opera, Yahoo, ICQ and Google) all of which are free. And, even if all of these jumped on the AOL bandwagon, I still have another alternative: namely my own domain and email address. In other words, if AOL's subscribers are pissed about this, then they can send their own message by voting with their feet. Now, personally, if AOL is your ISP, I'd just stop using their mailbox. Tell your friends and family that you've moved to Yahoo or Google, and then simply ignore your AOL address. Let that mailbox fill with spam from AOL's paid spammers. If enough people did that, AOL would notice, sooner or later, that their storage servers were filling up with unopened mail. And, hopefully, their paid email customers would notice that all this email wasn't bringing in any business.

Now, because I have never used the software provided by an ISP to manage my Internet experience, I'm not 100% certain that you can turn off things like email. (I like the option of having my own choice of Internet software -- browser, email client, anti-virus etc., etc. -- so I have never used the software provided by an ISP, and my current plan is never to use that stuff in the future.) I do know that if you use Outlook or Eudora or Mozilla's email client or any of the other email clients out there, you can pick and chose which mailboxes you open and which ones you ignore. My Eudora client will let me pick and chose. Or you can use one of the web based email services (ICQ or Yahoo come to mind) and do all your emailing through your browser. It is not hard.

Personally, I think this is a really bad idea from AOL and I hope they do implement it. Then I hope that their huge customer base melts away like the arctic ice cap is doing. I further hope that a surge in AOL defections will breath some life into the independent ISP industry. I like the idea that there could be 10 small, local ISPs competing for my business. I would love to see AOL, MSN, Verizon (and the other Baby Bells) and the cable companies have serious competition from small independents. That way the cost to the consumer will be kept down and, more importantly, there won't be any 800 pound gorillas capable of forcing things like paid email on us. I want the Internet to be as open and unregulated as possible. And one way of ensuring this is to make sure that no one entity has too much power.

So, if you are an AOL customer and you don't want paid advertisements cluttering up your email inbox, then vote with your feet and move your lazy butt to another email provider or (even better)another ISP entirely. And, if you do consider another ISP, look at local independent suppliers first.

Taxes

There are a lot of NJ blogs that have been talking about taxes and how much of our income goes towards paying them. I understand that. I also understand that, when I was growing up, my dad (who was, admittedly, in the upper tax brackets of his day) paid closer to 60% of his income out in taxes. I think if you go back to the fifties and early sixties, the top marginal tax rate for Federal taxes was something like 70%. The top rate today is, what, 33%? and the state hits us up for, what, another 4-6%? So, my old man paid out more of his income for taxes at all levels than I do, so why should I complain? So, next let's ask what all these taxes at the state and local levels are paying for ('cause I'm not about to get into how our current president is truly harming this country by his fiscal [what he taxes and what he spends] policies in this post...I'll leave that one for another time.)

Hmmm...when I look at local budgets, the thing I notice is that education is just about the biggest line item on them. Education is also a very big line item on the state budget. Now, all my kids are long grown up and gone, (OK, my granddaughter is now in preschool, but she will not be a potential public school consumer until after the sixth grade: she gets to go to the Montessori school where my wife teaches for cheap until then) so I don't have any immediate personal benefit from supporting public school expenditures...except for the fact that the kids going to school now are the people who are going to be caring for me in my dotage. I don't know about the rest of you, but I want those people to know what the fuck they are doing when they have my fate in their hands. And it is even more than that selfish reason; I think that the world is a better place when people are truly educated. By truly educated, I mean a classical education in the arts and sciences. The better educated the general citizenry is, the better off we all are.

So, when somebody bitches and moans about paying taxes, one of the first things I want to know is where they stand on public education. (BTW, public education is probably the major cause for America's rise from a rural agrarian society to one of the great economic powers of all history.) Then I want them to tell me how we're going to provide a quality education (or at least the chance to obtain a quality education) to all our citizen children (child citizens?) while they cut spending on the schools.

As an aside, I personally think that Teaching (with a deliberate capital "T") should be a high status occupation and that Teachers should be both highly honored and very well compensated. Unfortunately, teaching (small "t") is not a high status occupation, so we get too many "teachers" who probably should be flipping burgers at Mickey D's rather than babysitting our kids. You want quality education, pay teachers what we pay journeyman pro athletes, and accord them about the same level of status. Then we'd get a lot more good teachers (and probably fewer attorneys) entering the field. 'Nuff said.

And it is not only the schools we need to think about. Especially at the state and local level, public spending is (or should be) pretty much all about maintaining/enhancing the general quality of our lives. We're talking about things like maintaining the roads, parks and libraries. We are talking about providing core services to the poor, the elderly, kids and those generally unable to fend for themselves. Now, you want to cut spending? Cut the size of the bureaucracy overseeing the actual service providers. Of course, that means there will be more opportunity for fraud both by recipients of government services and by those same service providers, but...well, if there are other choices consistent with maintaining certain basic levels of health and safety for all our citizens, please...tell me.

WTF part 2

I was looking for a picture of the Hummer to post as an icon for my following rant about how people who buy Hummers are selfish, egocentric, resource hog assholes. However, my google search on the key word "hummer" brought this site up as the third entry after the official Hummer site and what looks like a paid sponsored entry. FUH2.com says everything I felt and more, in a much more enjoyable format. Take it for a test spin, I'm sure you'll enjoy the ride!

On a slightly more serious note, I see that purchasers of Hummers actually can get tax breaks if they can figure a way to make it a business purchase. Well, I would like to see a bill introduced in Trenton specifically targeting vehicles like the Hummer for vehicle registration surcharges for: excessive resource use, excess wear on roads and increased need for EMTs at accident scenes (for the people in the other vehicles). Now that I was going to suggest two grand per year as the surcharge, but, upon reflection, I think that figure is actually too little to require Hummer owners to pay for the privilege of driving one of those beasts on an annual basis. Given 15,000 miles/year as a reasonable usage, at 10mpg that means a Hummer would use 1500 gallons of gasoline/year. A reasonable car should average, say 25mpg, which would put its annual gas usage at about 600 gallons. So, charge the Hummer owners a surcharge of $2.50/gallon for the difference and you get $2250/year for excessive gasoline consumption. Then add an insurance surcharge of...I don't know...at least another couple grand for the excessive damage done to other vehicles and their occupants in collisions, and, finally, another thousand or so for excessive wear and tear upon roads. That would bring the annual cost of ownership up to...painful. Yep, that works.

Note: If you can document that you really need the Hummer for legitimate heavy duty off road work, then you could get a certificate of exemption from the surcharges. Personally, if you live on the East Coast, unless you live in someplace like northern Maine, I don't see too many of those exemptions being forthcoming.

Emperor George Strikes Again

Note: this is the second attempt at this post. I did a "blog this" post earlier which I thought had been posted, but, when I went back to look at the site, it wasn't there anymore. Nor was it saved as a draft. Sometimes dealing with cyberspace makes one reach for the nearest bottle with alcoholic content residing within. That being said, here is my recreation, to the best of my ability, of that first effort>

To the best of my recollection, the purpose of NATO is to keep the western democracies of Europe safe from invasion by the godless, soulless communists comming from the steppes of Mother Russia. Or something like that. However, since the fall of communist Soviet state, there has been a drastically diminishing chance of that invasion happening. So, NATO has been transformed into a peace keeping organization geared to keeping the Balkan wars at least localized. Other than that, NATO has little to do these days.

That being said, one still must admit that, as a military force, NATO is a pretty attractive weapon if you are an aspiring Emperor. Which is why, I guess, that George finds it hard to keep his hands off the trigger. His latest great idea is to use NATO forces as peacekeepers in the Sudan (Bush Sees Need to Expand Role of NATO in Sudan - New York Times free registration required--I think).

I have a couple of problems with this. The most obvious problem is that I don't think the Sudan poses much of an invasion risk to Europe, so I'm not quite sure why NATO troops are necessary. Of course, at one level George is basically using OPT (Other People's Troops) to further his own agenda. You see, the Sudan is a breeding ground for Islamic terrorists who could, someday, threaten the U.S. At least that is how I think his reasoning goes. I know for sure that any basic humanitarian reasons he might put forward are only there for window dressing.

I do not know how this proposal is faring in Europe. I do know that if I were a citizen of a European NATO country, I would not be all that pleased with this proposal. For one thing, white European troops on the ground in an African Muslim nation is, inherently, a bad idea. Another good reason to keep NATO out of Africa is that there is another institution which can and should shoulder the responsibility for peace keeping in countries like the Sudan: the U.N.. The U.N. is not an American puppet, which is good in that part of the world, and it enjoys more inherent support than would NATO. In other words, rather than put NATO troops in harms way, put the whole thing in the hands of the U.N. and be done with it. If the U.N. wants to use troops from countries that also belong to NATO, sobeit. However, that is the U.N.'s call and not that of Emperor Bush.

All in all, this is a bad idea that deserves to be relegated to the trash heap.

WTF were they thinking???

I'm sorry, if the fucking Palastinians are so goddamn stupid as to think that the way to nationhood is through Hamas, then they are probably too fucking stupid to be trusted using modern appliances--much less governing themselves. People who feel so strongly that they are right that they have to mask themselves when they commit their particular atrocities in support of their "noble" cause are, in my opinion, nothing more than worthless scum who deserve to be squashed whenever and wherever found. And if a people are so goddamn dense as to think these vermin are the hope and salvation of their futures, then they deserve whatever nastiness comes their way.

I do feel for the Palastinians. I think that these poor people have been manipulated for the past eighty plus years, and that, in 1949, their leaders did screw them badly. However, the time has come for them to understand that they are not going to get the lands they voluntarily abandoned (it wasn't the Jews who forced them out of their homes--it was their fellow religionists who thought they could use this simple people as their foils) back. The time has come for them to understand that Israel is here to stay, and they need to learn to live with that fact. The problem, of course, is that neither Lebanon nor Jordan is about to give up sovereignty over their territory in favor of the Palastinians any more than Israel is. So, they either live with the land they now have or they work out a deal with Egypt for a bigger piece of the Sinai peninsula. (Note: although most of Sinai is, today a stinking desert, with modern solar desalinization technology, there could be more than adequate water to make the desert bloom.)

So, as long as Hamas is waving their guns and talking like street punks, I have no more sympathy for the Palastinians. And, by-the-way, they should note that the fact that Iran has THE BOMB does them no good at all. If some Muslim fanatic does use one on Israel, the Palastinians go as well. No, what I foresee is some very bad times for Palastinians until the next set of elections. At which time one hopes that the citizenry will have come to their senses and will put rational people back into office. Note that by "rational" I do not necessarily mean Nevil Chamberlin types. One can be highly partisan and work tirelessly for the best interests of one's people and still be open to negotiation and compromise. What the Palastinians need to remember is that a good compromise is one where nobody is happier than anybody else...

OK, this is interesting stuff...

Rather than dealing with the crap our current administration keeps pushing in our faces, this (SPACE.com -- NASA Moon Plans Advance) is what we should be focusing upon. One of the things I think we really should be focusing upon is the benefits we all reap because of space travel. For example, the entire high tech industry--computers, solid-state electronics, etc., etc.--are direct outgrowths of the push to put a man on the moon and, later, the shuttle program. The misguided souls who blather that we need to spend our tax dollars on the poor here on Earth miss the point: Space exploration creates jobs and wealth which lift us all. In other words, it is not space exploration spending which should be cut, it is things like the war in Iraq which needs to be eliminated. But I digress.

The goal to establish an "Antarctic-like lunar outpost" is a necessary first step. However, if, as some have speculated, there is water ice buried in the moon, then the primary resource for a self-sustaining colony exists. Add the ability to toss 150 tons of "stuff" into low earth orbit (like, say, the material needed to build a real Stanley Kubrick's 2001 style space station) and we have the beginnings of a real self supporting economy. The government is the proper vehicle for developing the infrastructure (rocket technology and initial habitats) to get us out there. Once those are established, I think the continued expansion into space will happen fueled by private industry. The only caveat is, as mentioned earlier, that there has to be water out there. If we have water, we can build our own self-sustaining environments without the need to haul food, water and air up the gravity well from earth. An extra-terrestrial water source gives us both the water we need to sustain life (and grow hydroponic crops for food) and oxygen, to breath, and hydrogen, our raw fuel.

Of course, sooner or later we will have to figure out how to get off this planet, and to come back again, in 100% reusable vehicles. We cannot continue to throw away a significant chunk of what we use to boost off the surface of our planet. That sort of research is going to be both long and expensive, and it will be without immediate payback. In fact, a lot of what we do in space over the next 20-30 years will probably not have a great deal of direct payback to those of us not directly involved with the program. Sure, there will be some technology fall out that will benefit all of us. And the support industry jobs created will employ a bunch of us, but we will not see a great economic return directly from space for that time.

The thing is that this is the right thing to do. We need to keep expanding our presence. If we do not keep moving outwards, we will stagnate and then we will, like a yeast culture in a Petri dish, die. I truly believe this. The only thing that will eventually save mankind is to get the hell off this planet and expand our horizons a little. And, when I say get off this planet, I don't mean a couple guys here and there. I mean a significant number of us taking up permanent residence "out there." I mean creating a viable society off the mother planet. The possibilities are so exciting; from colonizing other planets, moons and, who knows, even asteroids to sending self sustaining biospheres out to other stars, it is both exciting and it gets humanity out of the "one basket" syndrome we are currently in. Then, if something really horrible happens here, at least the species will continue elsewhere.

Aside: There! That was much more fun that Bush-bashing for a change. Not that Bush (et al) don't need constant bashing, mind you, but it is nice to raise one's sights once in a while...

Have you seen Time's current issue?

This is actually disturbing. The article questions whether, "TIME.com: Are We Losing Our Edge?", but the real problems are deeper than just having fewer students opting for careers in science. The overarching problem is one of values. Forty to fifty years ago, both private industry and the government saw science as something worthy of investment, and so they both poured lots of money into research which often was of no immediate economic value. That seems to have stopped. The great private corporate labs are almost extinct. and in the public sector fundamental research is also being squeezed. Not only is scientific research being squeezed by reduced funding, but it is being influenced by political and religious ideology/dogma. This is not good.

However, this is not the central problem. Rather, it is a symptom of a deeper malaise afflicting our society. We have, it seems, entered a new Age of the Robber Baron. Corporations have become reluctant to spend money on anything. They want as much of their revenue as possible to flow through to the bottom line. They are demanding more and more from their employees while, at the same time, trying to limit wages and benefits as much as possible. Corporations want to transfer as many costs as possible to the public sector in the form of waste disposal and management. (This means polluting with impunity.) This same mindset fuels the conservative drive to pare government spending to defense and welfare for rich individuals and corporations at the expense of, among other budget items, scientific research.

The decline of science in the United States is, then, just another example of how our standard of living is being eroded by the conservative agenda. That this is an extremely short-sighted mindset which needs changing would seem to be self-evident--except that the people who most benefit are those who are most insulated from its adverse effects. In other words, as the quality of life decays for 80-90% of the population, those at the upper levels of wealth can afford to buy their comfort--at least for now and for an ever increasing cost. It is time we, as a nation, started thinking about what is really important in this very transitory life, and making some fundamental adjustments. If nothing else, the debate/dialogue needs to begin in earnest now.

Cigarettes...

I was driving home from work the other day when I noticed this individual sitting up on the grassy slope next to Friday's. The gentleman (I'll give him the benefit of the doubt) was holding a sign that had "Wish List" written at the top. Listed below were the things this person felt he needed. I didn't have time to really read the list because the light changed and my group of cars started moving, but what I did come away with was the impression that the man was down on his "luck" and was looking for some help. Now, and here's the crux of all this, while looking for help (mostly financial in some manner) this guy is smoking a cigarette. Here in New Jersey, a pack of cigs costs at least $2.00/pack.

OK, I'm a reformed smoker. Twenty-five years ago, I was smoking two packs a day: on one of the first Great American Smoke-outs my wife and I quit cold turkey. Almost killed each other a number of times the first three weeks, but we got through it and haven't touched a cigarette since. But that is not what this is about. If the man in question wants to rot his lungs, as far as I'm concerned it is his choice. So, this is not a moral issue here, it is an economic one. If this guy is destitute and homeless to the point where he needs a blanket to protect him from the cold, then he should take that money he is literally burning up down to the local Salvation Army, and buy a blanket from them. Once he takes that first step, I'd be much more inclined to help him with the second and third and further steps.

It is going to have to be private citizens like you and me providing the aid for people like this guy, though, 'cause the government under Bush sure as hell isn't going to help him. The government is still too busy providing aid and assistance to those poor multimillionaires who have to pay all those ghastly taxes. They need that extra money to do...something, I don't know...but they do need that extra cash. Note: I didn't see any chauffeured Rolls Royces stopping to give this guy a sawbuck or two. I don't think the Bush welfare for the rich has trickled down to this guy yet...

They're rioting in Africa, there's strife in Iran... (name that tune)

So, here's the deal. By acting like a bunch of ignorant, ill educated, intolerant peasants, the Muslim community, by its actions (vis-a-vis Asian Muslims Hold Biggest Rallies Yet - EarthLink - International News) is only proving to the rest of the world that it is dangerous and should be, at best, isolated. Of course, Islam has always had the problem of being militant in its evangelism (ie. convert or die: they have never been all that tolerant of any other religion.) Even though the prophet paid lip service to the two other religions of "the book" (Judaism and Christianity), in practice the sword has always been at the forefront of Islamic relations with the rest of the world.

It is sad that Islam has sunk to these levels. As the Roman Empire finished its disintegration and Europe sank into its Dark Ages, Islam was the repository of knowledge and scientific advancement. In those days, the leaders of Islam welcomed both Jews and Christians as co-religionists. It was not until the ignorant, ill educated Christian princes unleashed the Crusades against Islam that these negative feelings towards the west were born. I am not proud of the way Europeans waged war in the name of God against a people who basically worshipped the same God. However, that was then and this is now. The sins of the past do not make the sins of the present any less odious or wrong.

I don't want to give the impression that I give my fundamentalist co-religionists a pass on their similar sins, it's just that the Muslims have grabbed the spotlight for the moment. However, bigotry, intolerance and hate are not a Muslim monopoly. All one has to do is look at the KKK or White Ayran Nation to realize that the Islamic world is actually not much different than ours. The same problems exist in each for men and women of good will to grapple with. (Although it would be nice for Islam to shed the cultural relegation of women to second class citizens. It is the other aspect of Islam truly disturbs me. But, that is another rant...)

We HAVE to get shed of this man...

Bleah! The Bush administration has done it again. It seems that according to this New York Times article (free registration required) Bush appointees have been messing with the science coming out of NASA. As a sop to the conservative Christian right-wing fundamentalists who provide sooo much of his support, one Bush appointee had the word “Theory” inserted after every mention of the Big Bang. Then there is the insistence that virtually all research findings coming out of NASA must be pertinent to the new Bush “vision” of returning to the moon and then moving on to Mars. (Now, don’t get me wrong…I fully support going back to the moon and then moving on to Mars. However, making this the sole rationale for the existence of NASA is just plain dumb.)

And, speaking of the President, it has taken from Tuesday until now for my blood pressure to return to its normal, slightly elevated, state after trying to watch the State of the Union address. I have to confess that, against my desire to bring some civility and rationality to the political stage, I find it impossible to listen to that man. The sound of his voice is enough to affect me like fingernail scraping down a blackboard. Perhaps it is because I know that most of what comes out of his mouth are either lies, platitudes or empty promises that amount to the same thing as lies. I am willing to bet, and bet heavy, that most of the things mentioned in his speech that I think are steps in the right direction will never come to pass. They are empty words whose major purpose is to disarm, at least temporarily, the increasing array of critics.

Of course, the Democrats have pretty much conceded the political stage to Bush and his handlers. Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia did a pretty good job answering Bush; I pretty much agreed with everything he said, but nothing he said really moved me at a gut level. There were no “Ask not…” lines in his reply. And that is what the Democrats and this nation needs: somebody who can deliver a vision of this country, both now and in the future, that gets us up off our fat butts cheering, and then gets us moving out the door to actually contribute to the vision. For Bush to get me off my butt (other than to throw things at the tube), he will have to stop giving away all the “goodies” to his cronies and their already rich buddies. We need to level the playing field again rather than tilt it further and further in favor of the rich.

A slightly late New Year's Resolution

I went to a funeral today. I didn’t know the man who had died; I knew his daughter as somebody I once worked with and who I have kept in touch with since she left my place of employment. I went to this funeral more for her than anything else. However, as is often the case, it seems that there were other reasons I was there. What was said and what I saw forced me to look at my life and to measure it, using as a yardstick the life of this man who I did not know. I am not happy with what I am seeing in myself, and I hope that this feeling will stay with me and not allow me to slip back into passivity.

Passivity. That very well could be the word that best defines my life. For at least the last 40 years my life has been one of spurts of energy/activity followed by long periods of passive inertia. I would do something, make a change, set, pursue and reach a goal, and then I would coast on the momentum for five…ten…ten plus years. And during those periods of passivity, where I did not initiate anything or try to change the status quo in any way, I would fantasize about what I was going to do. So, here I am, looking my “golden years” dead square in the eyes, and I find my life lacking.

OK, I’ve done some things of value over the past 40 years, and I still have time (I hope) to do a little more with this life I’ve been given. To that end, I came home from the funeral and checked to see if any of my favorite blogs had anything new, and I found Sarah’s occasional Blog had a new entry. It, too, spoke to me. It reminded me of a letter I received about 30 years ago which, for a long time, I had framed over my desk. [Aside: I just went to look for it, and, probably not surprisingly, I have no idea where it is now.] The letter was one of encouragement from the editor of the Maine Times (may it rest in peace) regarding my writing. You see, writing is something I have always done fairly well. I just have never had the internal discipline required to make it the focus of my life.

I don’t kid myself: At this point in my life, writing will not be something that supports me in an economic way. However, it could become the thing that gives my life purpose and direction. To that end, though, I have to be, as Sarah says, intentional about my prose. I have to treat wordsmithing  with the respect and attention it deserves. I have to open the old word processor and write for, well…, at least thirty minutes per day. Ideally, this writing should be done when I am fresh and rested, but, even if I wait until the tag end of the day, I still need to write for at least that amount of time. So, this becomes a slightly late New Year’s Resolution for me: Write something every day. I may not publish what I write every day (it is more than likely that it will take me a couple days to get something “perfect”), but I will spend that much time putting words on a screen (or on paper, for that matter…thirty minutes of writing is thirty minutes of writing).

There is more to come on this topic. But, I want to get this posted before it gets buried in the “to be completed” file…