Leibowitz*

No SOPA. No. PIPA.

2012-01-18T07:16:00.001-08:00

Read the headline ^^^^^^^

Banking for The New Century

2011-10-21T08:49:00.000-07:00

As with so many things nowadays, these quotes re: the replacement of the Glass-Steagall Act with deregulation require no comment from me:

‎''The concerns that we will have a meltdown like 1929 are dramatically overblown.'' - Senator Bob Kerry

''I think we will look back in 10 years' time and say we should not have done this but we did because we forgot the lessons of the past, and that that which is true in the 1930's is true in 2010.'' - Senator Byron L. Dorgan

''If we don't pass this bill, we could find London or Frankfurt or years down the road Shanghai becoming the financial capital of the world.'' - Senator Chuck Schumer

''Today Congress voted to update the rules that have governed financial services since the Great Depression and replace them with a system for the 21st century.'' -Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers

Oh, what the hell, just one comment, one you've heard from about any flight attendant you can think of: "Please keep your seat belts securely fastened."

Guest Post: Bunner's 2 cents

2011-08-17T12:31:00.000-07:00

The following doesn't vary much from the way I feel about our slide into national insolvency. So rather than write a post myself, here y'go, y'all:

Money started out as a convenient form of exchange. It's become an adversarial construct, a tin deity and the scoreboard for our existence. We can pretend it's still working for us, but it's become a lever that - as the length and stiffness of that lever expands for the haves - is used to pry us from what little hard wealth we have. 14,000,000,000,000.00 in debt notes is a stupid thing to trade anything for.

You can harrumph and wave your made in China flag and wait for Michelle Bachmann to lead you to the promised land of loonies and pray to Bill O'Reilly and keep crushing those aluminum cans but the pooch has been hosed and we're holding the bag for these junk notes.

We need a concise game plan that includes a lot of hard and fast changes to how we allow businesses to function, who gets to do what and to whom and for how long or the hard and fast change will come via a molotov cocktail when there's no more malarkey to sell and the curtain is pulled back from the man in the booth. This - shit - isn't - working - anymore. Pretending it is has put us in this sack.

This is cut point for America, y'all. With or without me or you and recess is over. So if anybody has some useful ideas that don't include guillotines or mathematically gymnastic bar graphs that add up to "shut up and don't pester the wealthy", I'm all ears. Cause I don't want to see riots in the streets, either. But this shit is way past band aids and if we don't waylay the getaway car, we're gonna be left with ashes and whatever we can grow in that corner lot where those small shops used to be. I got nothing against wealth. How you got it and what you do with it matters, not the wealth itself. I got a huge problem with pirates and thugs. Don't you? .02 USD.

- by that Internet entity known as "Bunner."

Incentives, who needs 'em?

2011-08-16T06:51:00.000-07:00

As the self-destructive spiral masterminded by our elected representatives continues, now the Pentagon, in a masterful display of military intelligence, wants to move the military pension system to a defined-contribution plan.

Like certain other professions, such as teaching, one of the major incentives has always been a good, secure defined-benefit pension system. Now it is proposed to sweep the military pension system into the great dustbin of history to save $250 billion over 20 years. And in 20 years, what will our military look like in consequence? I suspect that the only thing that is holding up enlistment rates at this point is the recession that our leadership doesn't even like to mention.....and it may be that only if our economic malaise continues will sufficient numbers of high-quality recruits enter our Armed Forces.

And- are we to wait 20 years to see what the impact of all those savings have been on our national defense? I'd rather not.

Signs of the times....

2011-08-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

The House of Representatives applauding themselves for their tardy actions in dealing with the growing economic mare's nest, a situation that they themselves are as responsible as any for helping to worsen. I would wish that they reap the full consequences of their corruption, stupidity and incompetence, except for the fact that those consequences will be visited on the rest of us with at least as much force.

Listening at altitude

2011-06-19T04:48:00.000-07:00

What sounds good in a Boeing 737 at 35,000 feet? Anything but the roar of air outside that thin aluminum tube. Try Franz Josef Haydn, Quartet Op. 76 No. 2. Tokyo String Quartet on Sony is good.

If I were more generous....

2011-05-06T07:19:00.000-07:00

I might believe that the events of the past week have nothing to do with a PR campaign to establish the current administration's "tough on terrorism" bona fides. I might. Since I'm in a credulous mood today, even with the primaries roughly 9 months away, surely it's only a coincidence.

More Modern Misinformation

2011-03-25T06:29:00.000-07:00

We have arrived at a juncture where there seems to be no distinction between "history" and "prehistory." This is no minor affair. There is a vast gap between what is known through the human written record and that which preceded it. While the written record provides its unique set of issues in interpretation, they are nothing like the silence preceding ca. 4000 BC.

But now, some refer to a period like 10,000 BC as "history," as though there is some basis for direct observation from that period. This is patently false. While there were most emphatically human beings, with brains indistinguishable from today's Homo sap., and therefore it's certain they had spoken language, there is no record of a written one.

Therefore, there is still a point where we must stop, and say that any narrative about prehistoric events is based solely on inference and speculation on data collected from various scientific experiments. The conclusion that much popularized "science," particularly on television, would have us draw, is that enough data on fossilized plants or bones, geological strata, or gases collected from glacial ice will ultimately let us know what happened in prehistoric times in the same fashion we can know what happened in the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, at Gettysburg in July of 1863, or on the Plain of Marathon in 490 BC. No. What we see, on far, far too many TV shows is simply compounded of speculation and inference, and is therefore fiction based on some data, the equivalent of a "historical novel."

I believe much of this feeds on the lapse into disuetude of the notion of scientific laws, in favor of the convenient fallback that "it's all theory, it's just that some theories are more proven than others." Then there is the nature of science itself, most of which is a tremendously tedious affair. The average human being is bored to tears in a few minutes b y actual science. While thousands labor in laboratories world-wide, the true scientific vocation is probably as rare as that of concert pianist. Scientific inquiry is rather analogous to what a Vietnam veteran said about what he went through: "War is a bore, interrupted by moments of sheer terror when men die." Science is a bore, interrupted by rare moments of insight when something is actually discovered. There is therefore obviously a need for good interpretation of science for the general population -also a very rare individual- that does not do things like present any sketchy collection of data as worthy of the collective title of "theory."

All that was solid.....

2011-03-17T17:20:00.000-07:00

It's gone. The execrable journalism in the week since the earthquake and tsunami in Japan has killed any residual credence or respect I my have had for the media. There is no information, only infotainment. I suppose this was never all that traumatic for me, since my connection with the ongoing events in the world has always been tenuous, at best. It wasn't a coincidence I worked as a history teacher for 32 years.

It's not information

2011-03-14T03:57:00.000-07:00

We are told, and by no less an -authority- than CNN, about "lessons learned" from the Japanese earthquake / tsunami. The aftershocks continue, the cleanup has only just begun and relief efforts started, it's obvious that thousands more dead will be discovered, and we're already being lectured to by the media about "lessons."

It's only clear that it's impossible to learn anything about an event of this magnitude at this stage. This time next year, maybe. Some things that are clear:

1. As with hurricane Katrina in 2005, a natural event of sufficient magnitude is not controllable by mankind, not now, and not in any foreseeable future, and may only be marginally ameliorated by preventive measures.

2. A hard look needs to be taken at where people live, in countries that pretend to have the security of their citizens in mind. Sweeping legislation should perhaps be instituted to prevent future settlement in flood plains, along earthquake faults, on the slopes of volcanoes, and areas of coast likely to be affected by hurricanes or tsunamis. And maybe the building of ramshackle trailer parks in tornado alley.

There is little perspective possible, given our present means of "informing" ourselves, and at a time when we most need it.

"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals, and you know it."

- Kay to Jay, MIB

Poetry Corner, 2011

2011-02-26T08:36:00.001-08:00

The flight of the curiales from Wisconsin and Indiana to the welcoming arms of Illinois is such transparent, temporizing, time-wasting nonsense that a large hole should be dug for all the legislators - ALL- from both states, plus the governors. Then they should all -ALL- do the decent thing. If they can persuade the same officials in Illinois to join them, I'm sure the hole can be enlarged to fit.

To do what has to be done, these cowards, of every political persuasion, are terrified of appearing the bad guy and risking their pathetic careers. So the Donks flee the state, ostensibly to block legislation, while attempting to make the Trunks look bad and do a Pontius Pilate for their constituencies. The Trunks threaten draconian executive action to terminate thousands of state employees, while attempting to make the Donks look bad and do a Pontius Pilate for their constituencies.

As I have the habit of doing, I'll let others speak for me:

"There are three principles in this Constitution, and they are very precious. They are compromise, compromise, and compromise."

-James Madison, Father of the U.S. Constitution

On a more global level, we resort to the poets:

"The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."

- William Butler Yeats, The Second Coming

"And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night."

- Matthew Arnold, Dover Beach

"There are four types of homicide: felonious, accidental, justifiable, and praiseworthy."

- Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary

Understanding what is commemorated

2011-02-14T07:08:00.000-08:00

Today is -I think- the anniversary of the bombing of Dresden by the Allies in February 1945. Thanks to the historicism and just ahistorical opinions of those who were never lived through that awful struggle. I'll just commemorate it by posting the best quote I've ever read on the subject:

"My mother was a child in occupied Belgium. Unfortunately, her town had a factory that the Germans converted to make airplane parts, so the bombers came. The American bombardier mistook the elementary school for the factory. Officials laid the children's bodies out on the playground so their parents could come claim them.

I've told people this story a hundred times, but on a visit to Scotland 10 years ago, me and a friend of mine would go to a pub in Ullapool regularly, called "The Ferry Boat Inn". It was one of the last stops when you were going to the most Northern point of the English Isles. After Ullapool, there was nothing but lochs, moors and rocks.

One evening, an older man came to sit next to us on a barstool. We started talking and I noticed he had a pin on his vest that I couldn't recognise immediately. When asked, he calmly said "Oh, I was in Belgium you see. Lost a lot of friends then ... ."

Offering him a drink, which he refused, I told him "we had a lot to thank him for", while my friend opposite of me nodded (he was a history buff, with enough brains to know what sacrifices the fights around Ieper, or Ypres, had taken and what they had meant for our country and others).

Until today, I clearly see in front of me the blink in this veteran's eye, from the tears that were starting to well up, while he briefly stared in my face. He got up from the stool, saying "Thank you Sir, thank you very much" silently, almost whispering, opened the door and went.

As I read that again, tears well up in my eyes. People here still run the risk of getting killed by bombs, every winter there's a few that rise out of the fields, every summer there's one that rises up from the beaches, but the first guy that would complain about them Rednecks leaving bombs behind would be considered a nut. My grandfather spent time in Bergen-Belsen (be careful if you have a sensitive stomach) and escaped, while his then-girlfriend tried to hide from V1's and V2's. My best friend's grandfather spent time in a Norwegian concentration camp, escaped, and stayed hidden in the snow for months, thanks to a caring Norwegian family.

The city I currently live in was bombed and shot to pieces in WWII, it was phosphorized in WWI. At least two of my grandparents were "White Lions", a well-known resistance brigade. If I tell you that only two of them are still alive, then do you have a clue why I say "at least"?

Each and every one of my 30-something friends knows at least one of their family member's stories about " fourty - fourtyfive " ... . We also take care to try and learn about Dresden, and we know the images of the mothers and children, hiding in tunnels, burned alive because of the goo that came out of some bombs, or suffocated because the explosions drew the air out of the tunnels.

Every city, every town, every village, every major street, every god damned cul de sac in this country has at least one statue or plaque commemorating men and women who gave their lives, and we owe them our past, present, and future.

Now, if you know of a better way, that would have been more suitable to end the world's misery in those black 40's, then I suggest you go and tell those people, because whether they were up in the air or beneath on the ground, they surely didn't do it just for the fun of "pointlessly slaughtering kids".

My hat goes off to all who served. We are forever in debt."

First Nanny

2011-02-09T07:07:00.000-08:00

Now, the new, improved First Lady has suddenly emerged as full-blown First Nanny in "Partnering with" -never say "scolding"- the restaurant industry to cut down on the portions it serves. This is typical of the top-down unrealistic idealism that pervades certain circles of our society, and the audiences it garners, who believe that celebrity somehow equals authority. There' s not the slightest reason to believe that Michelle Obama is any better informed on this issue than the next person, and yet she receives instant credibility from the media.

In fact, there are many very good reasons why this proposal is going to fail. Restaurants serve large portions of food in this country because food is a relatively cheap part of overhead, and the portions justify the amount the restaurants must charge. Many people who don't want large portions simply get a doggie box and take what they don't eat as leftovers, which helps with their perceived value of the meal. And people who are still hungry will probably just eat more, regardless of the portions being served.

And, last, the timing of such an initiative is extremely poor. The country is in a recession, which has cut into restaurant revenues, and the proposal is to do something that may cut into them even more. Push this enough, and it could precipitate the ultimate disaster.....people might actually learn to cook for themselves.

This is our relationship to news

2011-01-06T14:25:00.001-08:00

And for the apropos comment o' the week, that I wish I had written:

"Kids, i remember when the media used to report news. news traveled slow, so you only got some basic facts about a thing at first and then later as stories were researched and collaborated, you the fine viewing or listening audience got a finer story.

Now, as soon as 'it' happens, it's a rock thrown into the e*versal stream of consciousness. What's happening with 'it' NOW? Were experts wrong about 'it?' What does Obama/Cameron/Beck say about it? Has 'it' shown any drunken skin at an awards show? To the Googles.

Instead of being the observer of the 5 blind men with the elephant, we've become 1 billion blind men with the elephant."

The trouble with the Internet

2010-12-06T10:20:00.000-08:00

"South Park did a decent job encapsulating a skeptics view of the Joseph Smith story, but in the main I would take Tacitus over South Park for historical accuracy, and South Park over Tacitus for poop jokes.

It's funny if you read The Annals (heh heh) of Tacitus that he's largely objective about events and other cultures, and saves all his mouth foaming for Christians. I guess Paul must have been as popular in Rome as he was with the Jerusalem church."

This is a quote taken from a rather popular Internet forum that acts as a sendup of dozens of contemporary news items. The first paragraph may be taken as strict opinion, and not subject to any meaningful comment.
The second paragraph is more interesting. The first sentence presents an opinion of Tacitus, a complete unknown to more one half of one percent of persons currently alive. It then states that Tactus is somehow historically accurate about "events and other cultures," and only irrational about Christians.
Well, someone reading this might then go and read a translation of Tacitus, or read some hideous scholarly article about Tacitus, but by and large that sentence will sit in their memory like some tiny, poisonous toad, unquestioned. In fact, Tacitus was a historian in the sense that what he said was accepted up into modern times as "historical," but some of what he says is factual, and some is just risible. In between, we have such things as his commentary on the Germans, who Tacitus chose to present as a moral model to contrast with the Rome of his own time, which he despised for its decadence and corruption.
The Germans were described as strong, simple, sturdy folk with good bedrock moral values and great integrity…in fact, superior in just about every way Tacitus could think of, except, of course, that they were barbarians.
This presentation of the Germanic tribes was taken out of its Taciturn context and was a standard reading in classrooms throughout Germany well into modern times. German youth were presented with an opinion (what was, in fact, simply whole cloth from some Roman who had never been near Germany or the Germans, except perhaps some he had run into in Rome) as if it were demonstrable historical fact.
Generations of German youth were persuaded to accept Tacitus' account as the basis for the superiority of the Germans and German culture, which was part of the foundation on which the Hohenzollern Empire built its theory that Germany was entitled to its "place in the sun," and on which the Nazis built their theories of race and world conquest.
So much for objectivity.

Science is in Intensive Care

2010-12-02T15:25:00.000-08:00

Attempts to popularize Science and rationality as it was purveyed 30 or 40 years ago was invariably done by someone with credentials, and who approached it in a systematic manner (Martin Gardner comes to mind), and where what you learned invariably made sense in one's further readings*.
Now.....the best way to put it is that we are screwed. The popularization of Science has been taken over by movies, TV and the mass media, and there is so much that is twisted, rampantly Procrustean, or just plain wrong that there is literally nowhere to begin.
It may be that Mass Man never had any real chance of integrating Science with spirituality and a balanced view of the world, but we'll likely never find out.

*My citations here should in no way be construed as to apply any label of atheist or rationalist to me. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Taking the Pulse of the Patient

2010-10-25T03:37:00.001-07:00

As far as the inability of the COOTWH* to govern, this Newsweek article by Mickey Kaus makes some excellent points. An appeal to common sense, and that leadership must actually involve some.......leading.

*Current Occupant Of The White House

How Can I Interpret This?

2010-10-24T14:47:00.000-07:00

The following was recounted to me, and did not happen to me personally; I should feel myself having suffered temporary insanity if it had.

The interlocutor of the person relating the story was talking about a boy who grew up with parents who were both deaf.

He remarked, "Isn't that a wonderful way to grow up?"

Does this carry the probable meaning, that in the case of this particular boy, growing up with deaf parents enabled him to better relate to the disabled (however arguable the point), or

...does it imply that all persons would be better off being raised by parents with disabilities?

I think the first is questionable, the second preposterous, and yet I cannot escape the feeling (knowing this person only slightly) that he really believes the more global proposition to be true.

We live in a marvelous age, wandering around in our tiny hermetic worlds.

Rallies, then & now

2010-09-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

"Do you believe, as do the many, that certain young men are corrupted by sophists, and that there are certain sophists who in a private capacity corrupt to an extent worth mentioning? Isn't it rather the very men who say this who are the biggest sophists, who educate most perfectly and who turn out young and old, men and women, just the way they want them to be?"

"But when do they do that?" he asked.

"When," I said, "many gathered together sit down in assemblies, courts, theaters, army camps, or any other common meeting of a multitude, and, with a great deal of uproar, blame some of the things said or done, and praise others, both in excess, shouting and clapping, and, besides, the rocks and the very place surrounding them echo and redouble the uproar of blame and praise. Now in such circumstances, as the saying goes, what do you suppose is the state of the young man's heart? Or what kind of private education will hold out for him and not be swept away by such blame and praise and go, borne by the flood, wherever it tends so that he'll say the same things are noble and base as they do, practice what they practice, and be such as they are?"

(Republic, 491e - 492b), translated by Allan Bloom

Is American information dead?

2010-09-21T16:50:00.000-07:00

President Obama held a "town hall meeting" yesterday. While not inquiring as to how many people find the name ludicrous, I would be interested to know the percentage of people who believe that any -any- such things are not as staged and scripted as a movie. Does anyone believe that some 30 year old law graduate seriously and earnestly asked the President "Is the American dream dead?"

This is all quite preposterous, but the most difficult thing for me to believe is that a graduate of Princeton and some equally prestigious sounding law school (Indiana, I believe) would be enough of a dupe to participate in such a charade. Since I can't believe someone of his putative intelligence would do such a thing, I can only assume that he was performing from a memorized script.

Watching these things is more a waste of time than staring at the wall; the latter is more likely to produce thought.

A Fable for our Time

2010-09-10T08:00:00.001-07:00

I can't really call this fantasy, because it isn't. Except for the last part (which apparently DID happen).

An obscure fanatic from a small town makes wild assertions and threatens to burn books.

His rhetoric is taken up by the news media and given national and international coverage.

He is given lavish attention by important government officials and agencies, thereby raising him from obscurity to notoriety overnight.

Attention is so acute that incipient hysteria and paranoia spill over and result in the chief executive of a nation of millions of people making a personal appeal to this individual.

A member of a major news organization wonders whether or not the media handling of the whole affair "-might have been reckless."

D'ya think?

Bibliography: See Adolf Hitler, rise of National Socialism, Beer Cellar Putsch, Hitler treason trial, etc., etc. You may end with the burning of the Reichstag if you wish....

At my limit

2010-08-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

I'll tell you one thing blogs are good for- solipsistic rants, that's what! (Cue laugh track)

I received a telephone call last night from a young lady conducting a survey. The following is my best attempt to reconstruct the sense, if not the word-for-word, of this amazing experience.

She: "We're looking for people's opinions of Illinois politicians in the upcoming elections."

Me: "Go ahead."

She: "First, I'll read a list of names, and you tell me whether you feel positive, somewhat positive (insert remainder of array of choices to ....'negative')."

Me: "These are all politicians?"

She: "Yes."

Me: "Put me down for all negative."

She: "I can't do that; I have to ask each one separately."

Me: "OK"

She reads list of names, I respond

She: "Do you intend to vote in November?"

Me: "Absolutely."

She reads lists of candidates, I tell who I'd vote for.

She: "Now, I want to read two statements about Boody Jar Moblinga (name of well-known Illinois political hack changed to protect the guilty, referred to hereinafter as 'BJM'), and you tell me which one you agree with the most."

Me: "Read away."

She: "First, do you agree that BJM is wonderful, can walk across Lake Michigan on her bare feet, shines at night with her own golden aura, and deserves to be escorted to Springfield by a thousand trumpeting cherubim and a full twelve dozen winged mantics?"

"OR"

"Do you agree that BJM is a domestic terrorist who seeks to overthrow the Constitution of the United States, that the very grass and flowers die wherever she walks, that birds fall dead from trees wherever her shadow is cast, and that she is numbered among the legions of Satan?"

[The previous questions may have been somewhat different, but for purposes of this illustration, you may regard them as valid]

Me: "I can't believe you've attempted to insult my intelligence with those questions. This interview is over."

(I hang up)

This episode requires no explication or analysis; it has served to convince me that we are living in a political comic strip...a very dark, dark comic strip.

Discovering the Path

2010-08-08T15:00:00.000-07:00

While I could find things in this valedictory speech to disagree with, I post it in its entirety because it's important to have eighteen-year-olds who not only are capable of this kind of self-discovery, but who are capable of getting up (and no doubt discarding the prepared speech) and say this. I can only say that if a valedictorian had started this speech at the high school where I taught, they never would have been allowed to finish it. The speech was delivered June 2010 by Erica Goldson, graduating as valedictorian of Coxsackie-Athens High School.

Here I stand

There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, "If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, "Ten years . ." The student then said, "But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast -- How long then?" Replied the Master, "Well, twenty years." "But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?" asked the student. "Thirty years," replied the Master. "But, I do not understand," said the disappointed student. "At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?" Replied the Master, "When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path."

This is the dilemma I've faced within the American education system. We are so focused on a goal, whether it be passing a test, or graduating as first in the class. However, in this way, we do not really learn. We do whatever it takes to achieve our original objective.

Some of you may be thinking, "Well, if you pass a test, or become valedictorian, didn't you learn something? Well, yes, you learned something, but not all that you could have. Perhaps, you only learned how to memorize names, places, and dates to later on forget in order to clear your mind for the next test. School is not all that it can be. Right now, it is a place for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as possible.

I am now accomplishing that goal. I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer - not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition - a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I'm scared.

John Taylor Gatto, a retired school teacher and activist critical of compulsory schooling, asserts, "We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness - curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids into truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then. But we don't do that." Between these cinderblock walls, we are all expected to be the same. We are trained to ace every standardized test, and those who deviate and see light through a different lens are worthless to the scheme of public education, and therefore viewed with contempt.

H. L. Mencken wrote in The American Mercury for April 1924 that the aim of public education is not "to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. ... Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim ... is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States."

To illustrate this idea, doesn't it perturb you to learn about the idea of "critical thinking." Is there really such a thing as "uncritically thinking?" To think is to process information in order to form an opinion. But if we are not critical when processing this information, are we really thinking? Or are we mindlessly accepting other opinions as truth?

This was happening to me, and if it wasn't for the rare occurrence of an avant-garde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open my mind and ask questions before accepting textbook doctrine, I would have been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place really is.

And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us.

We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were taught in school. We are all very special, every human on this planet is so special, so aren't we all deserving of something better, of using our minds for innovation, rather than memorization, for creativity, rather than futile activity, for rumination rather than stagnation? We are not here to get a degree, to then get a job, so we can consume industry-approved placation after placation. There is more, and more still.

The saddest part is that the majority of students don't have the opportunity to reflect as I did. The majority of students are put through the same brainwashing techniques in order to create a complacent labor force working in the interests of large corporations and secretive government, and worst of all, they are completely unaware of it. I will never be able to turn back these 18 years. I can't run away to another country with an education system meant to enlighten rather than condition. This part of my life is over, and I want to make sure that no other child will have his or her potential suppressed by powers meant to exploit and control. We are human beings. We are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are anything we want to be - but only if we have an educational system that supports us rather than holds us down. A tree can grow, but only if its roots are given a healthy foundation.

For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the excuse, "You have to learn this for the test" is not good enough for you. Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning rather than getting good grades.

For those of you that work within the system that I am condemning, I do not mean to insult; I intend to motivate. You have the power to change the incompetencies of this system. I know that you did not become a teacher or administrator to see your students bored. You cannot accept the authority of the governing bodies that tell you what to teach, how to teach it, and that you will be punished if you do not comply. Our potential is at stake.

For those of you that are now leaving this establishment, I say, do not forget what went on in these classrooms. Do not abandon those that come after you. We are the new future and we are not going to let tradition stand. We will break down the walls of corruption to let a garden of knowledge grow throughout America. Once educated properly, we will have the power to do anything, and best of all, we will only use that power for good, for we will be cultivated and wise. We will not accept anything at face value. We will ask questions, and we will demand truth.

So, here I stand. I am not standing here as valedictorian by myself. I was molded by my environment, by all of my peers who are sitting here watching me. I couldn't have accomplished this without all of you. It was all of you who truly made me the person I am today. It was all of you who were my competition, yet my backbone. In that way, we are all valedictorians.

I am now supposed to say farewell to this institution, those who maintain it, and those who stand with me and behind me, but I hope this farewell is more of a "see you later" when we are all working together to rear a pedagogic movement. But first, let's go get those pieces of paper that tell us that we're smart enough to do so!

Put another way.....

2010-07-07T08:05:00.000-07:00

"One should never forbid what one lacks the power to prevent. "

-Napoleon Bonaparte

.....or, never pass a law that cannot be enforced or for which the political will is lacking. We fall deeper and deeper into this chasm.

Surviving Brilliance

2010-06-29T06:50:00.001-07:00

I was regaled this morning by someone on a cable news channel informing me of the brilliance of the present nominee for SCOTUS . Anyone who's a candidate for any government position above Toilet Brush Inventory Supervisor seems to automatically merit the title of "brilliant" these days. Not sure we'll survive too many more of those....

No Changes

2010-06-06T04:14:00.001-07:00

And then there was the people who once stood for progress and anticipation that the future would be better, and was somehow transformed into the Society of No Changes. Then comes the paradox of everyone engaged in the change of their choice, and paranoid / aggressive of any criticism thereof, and viewing the activities of others as disastrous and conspiratorial.
Every society ends as a book, then that book is reduced to a chapter in a later book, then to a subsequent paragraph, and finally just to a meme. "No Changes" is pretty sorry.

Wakefield's Legacy

2010-05-24T17:15:00.001-07:00

Despite the fact that Andrew Wakefield's findings correlating autism and vaccination have been completely disproven, he retains supporters, shamefully including celebrities who should be better informed and do public retractions of their advocacy of this nonsense.

This reinforces my belief that there is no stronger force in the universe, including the black hole at the center of our galaxy, than the human will to belief in the face of all evidence to the contrary. Man is not the rational animal, he is the rationalizing animal.

And what is Wakefield's legacy? Dead children.

Well, that's reassuring

2010-05-10T09:11:00.000-07:00

In his introductory remarks to his SCOTUS nomination today , the COOTWH stated that she represents what we need, less of the dry dead old law on paper, and more concern for people in their everyday lives. I thought I already had somebody like that......my Representative.

I cannot for a moment believe that a law professor / factotum, sans judicial experience, is even going to be able to be concerned about the everyday lives of people, let alone conceive that that is her job. The Constitution gives broad legislative powers to Congress, and the 435 districts into which the House of Representatives is divided is crafted and specifically intended to see to my "needs."

Yet another example of rhetoric that is either simply BAD, or which has intentions which are far more than questionable, given that we are presently visited with far, far too much legislation by judicial fiat.

This Will Not End Well

2010-04-25T08:10:00.000-07:00

The History Channel has finally done what no one has attempted since the 1970's- to produce a comprehensive history of the United States. As with so many things these days, I'll read the reviews before I even consider watching any of it. Given current trends, not only on the Hysteria / History / Catastrophe Channel, I suspect that the series will be fatally flawed. I predict that the essence of it will be "Cover everything and attempt to please everyone, but explain nothing and satisfy no one."

The last series to attempt to tell the story of the United States was Alistair Cooke's America: A Personal History. It even appears as though THC has attempted to "borrow from" the title. However, there is a vast difference between what some may consider the same sort of program, and one need go no further than the respective titles to see it.

The strength of Cooke's America lay in the twofold nature of it being a personal viewpoint (and Cooke never claimed otherwise), and in Cooke being a transplanted Englishman (became a U.S. citizen in 1941, six days before Pearl Harbor), which gives the author an almost essential detachment from hewing to a particular native viewpoint or politics. In this, Cooke may be seen as a legitimate heir of Alexis de Tocqueville, still the most famous foreigner to write of this country in Democracy in America, (1835 / 1840), and in so doing, having written what many still consider the best analysis of this country.

The History Channel has entitled its opus America: The Story of Us, which I'm sure it will be. I'm sure it will be supremely earnest, with all sorts of "docu-dramatic" vignettes that purport to be historical, that technology will be portrayed as a deus ex machina, and that every effort will be made to place Abigail Adams on the same plane as John, and Harriets Tubman and Beecher Stowe on the same level of importance as Abe Lincoln. It will be very, very egalitarian, and very, very inclusive, irrespective of the degree to which it is very, very far removed from what may have happened. My prediction could be wrong, and I sincerely hope that it is.....but I'm sticking to it.

I will conclude with my favorite quote from Cooke's America (Episode 3, Making a Revolution) :

"That, too, is history- not what happened, but what people convinced themselves must have happened."

Moynihan Lives

2010-04-18T05:32:00.000-07:00

The fuss over the misbehavior of a variety of pro sports athletes is merely in microcosm of what Daniel Patrick Moynihan wrote about, writ large:

"There is one unmistakable lesson in American history: a community that allows a large number of young men to grow up in broken families, dominated by women, never acquiring any stable relationship to male authority, never acquiring any set of rational expectations about the future -- that community asks for and gets chaos... And it is richly deserved."

-- Daniel P. Moynihan, Family and Nation [1965]

And, as he wrote before he died, what applied largely to the black community in 1965 has spread to include all sectors of society. The manifestation of this in irresponsible and brutal men has become an equal opportunity employer.....

Beer again

2010-04-14T03:58:00.001-07:00

As I started my third season of homebrewing Monday, I was given to reflect on both the frustration and the satisfaction of getting into a rather complex seasonal habit. Brewing out-of-doors has necessitated an hiatus in my brewing during the cold weather, so it's a matter of trying to recall all the knacks and kinks once Spring arrives and I resume my malted grain activities.

Tomorrow: either deferred gratification or a project to enable year-round brewing.

A little bit louder and a little bit worse...

2010-04-04T04:57:00.000-07:00

I was treated to another of those glimpses of the COOTWH* yesterday, which, as usual these days, comes about while I'm working out at the gym. While I listen to music on the iPod, I watch one, or several of the large TVs, and in this case was able to see the dialog on the streamer below. Later, I was treated to the audio on the radio while driving home.

Without dialogue, the scene was something right out of Ronald Reagan, except that Mr. Obama was just in shirt & tie. He and the interlocutor (in a polo shirt) were walking down a path among some trees, very folksy, nice and casual. The attempt at simulating a casual conversation between two people was reinforced by the almost apologetic tone of the reporter and the low-key responses of Obama. Very nice until I recalled much of what bemused us when we were first treated to this type of interview when Ronnie came into office, and before it became obvious that the whole thing was completely staged and scripted.

The content was predictable in its absence. Mr. Obama: "We should be able to disagree without being disagreeable." Ignoring the hypocritical and mendacious things that are continually said any time Obama's opinions and policies are questioned, this was ostensibly a serious assertion, made over the debate surrounding the Health Care Bill. The only problem is that the statement ignores human nature. We have had disagreeable things said of presidents since John Adams (this would be 1796), such tone an inevitable consequence of the contentiousness built in to human nature. Surely Mr. Obama cannot be so naive as to believe he will be exempt. Conclusion: he is being deliberately disingenuous.

Another random statement (in paraphrase): "All the evidence indicates Iran is interested in developing nuclear weapons." This enables Mr. Obama to employ a double whammy in "avoidance grammar." He is now in a position to employ "I was misled" and "blame the evidence," as his predecessor did with Iraq, and to doubly deny that he said Iran was developing nuclear weapons, since he used the word "interested." As well for me to say "I'm interested in whether or not there are leprechauns in the bottom of my garden." I have thereby avoided asserting that there might actually be leprechauns out there, and having people question my grasp of reality.

Every time I see or hear anything about government or politics, it merely reinforces my determination to avoid it until the next time I'm accidentally exposed to it. Sort of like the flu.

*Current Occupant Of The White House

Notes on Tragedy

2010-03-23T10:51:00.001-07:00

Contrary to the common use of the term in our degraded times, where every stubbed toe is a "tragedy," the essence of tragedy lies in its inevitability. It may be that the inherent tragedy in representative government is that the representatives must lie repeatedly to their constituencies, making promises they cannot keep in order to be elected and re-elected.

The real damage is that the false promises comprise a secular Slough of Despond, in which any common regard for society is lost.......

"He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world's believing him. This falsehood of the tongue leads to that of the heart, and in time depraves all its good dispositions."

- Thomas Jefferson

Talking About Things

2010-03-09T03:59:00.000-08:00

We need to talk about things, make lists of things. Adjectives were a useful device for describing those things, back when our word-hoard of the most extreme of those parts of speech were not loosed within 30 seconds of talking about anything.

Tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, end of days, zombie apocalypse -to name a few, but not to exclude wrecks, collisions, collapses, (multiple) shootings all now instantly provoke a list of all extant adjectives that can possibly pertain to (X).

Exciting, terrifying, horrifying, devastating, amazing......as with most types of words, English provides an abundant, but not unlimited, array of synonyms. Now they are immediately gone, employed as a compulsory litany whenever a qualifying event occurs. And the bar is set very, very low.

Thus, an F1 tornado that disassembles a trailer in an Oklahoma mobile home park is placed at the same level as a Chilean earthquake that kills 800 and moves a city ten feet, or an Indonesian tsunami that kills as many people as Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined.

It is as if some thoughtless egalitarian impulse is at work here, that in the end denies us what adjectives are supposed to provide- a sense of degree.

I propose a ten year moratorium on adjectives, a prescription which I will doubtless violate....with extreme prejudice.

Vital Data and Postscript

2010-03-06T04:27:00.000-08:00

VITAL DATA

"There are two restaurants here and a tearoom, two bars, one bank, three barbers, one with a green shade with which he blinds his window, two groceries, a dealer in Fords, one drug, one hardware, and one appliance store. several that sell feed, grain, and farm equipment. an antique shop. a poolroom. a laundromat. three doctors. a dentist, a plumber. a vet. a funeral home in elegant repair the color of a buttercup. numerous beauty parlors which open and shut like night-blooming plants. a tiny dime and department store of no width but several floors. a hutch, homemade, where you can order, after lying down or squirming in, furniture that's been fashioned from bent lengths of stainless steel tubing, glowing plastic, metallic thread, and clear shellac. an American Legion Post and a root beer stand. little agencies for this and that: cosmetics, brushes, insurance, greeting cards and garden produce -anything - sample shoes - which do their business out of hats and satchels, over coffee cups and dissolving sugar. a factory for making paper sacks and pasteboard boxes that's lodged in an old brick building bearing the legend OPERA HOUSE, still faintly golden, on its roof. a library given by Carnegie. a post office. a school. a railroad station. fire station. lumberyard. telephone company. welding shop...and spotted through the town from one end to the other in a line along the highway, gas stations to the number five."

- William H. Gass, In the Heart of the Heart of the Country (1968)

.....and from the same author, in only a slightly different place: "Things have changed since then, but in none of the respects mentioned."

....and I would add: "Except- less of everything described, none of some, and the only addition, which is of questionable merit, of two meth labs."

Leverage this....

2010-02-19T03:59:00.000-08:00

This post does a pretty good job, and in acceptable English, in explaining the origin of the shitrain that has fallen on the economy in the last two years. Interestingly enough, the terminology used here can be directly substituted for text like "buying on margin," "margin calls," etc., which were employed 80 years ago, when the stock market collapsed in October 1929 following years of speculation.

The object of our current malaise is real estate, of course, rather than stock certificates. Lots of people assumed it couldn't happen with real estate, because the collapse that resulted in the Great Depression of the 1930's was based on "paper profits" that resulted in worthless stock certificates, and the current imbroglio has tangible material assets behind it. Yep, but there was supposedly "real" assets behind RCA stock in 1929, too, but those assets were impossibly overvalued. Rather like some termite-riddled shack in Southern California being valued at an absurdly inflation million bucks before the bottom fell out this time. Some animated corpse in a suit once said that "An item is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay," or something to that effect.

Up to a certain time, the willingness of people who are ignorant of history, or the context of their own times, or just plain ignorant will persuade them to pay hugely inflated prices for something. Suddenly one morning it all looks like fantasy. Consult the great Dutch tulip bubble of the 17th century; it's only different because the subject was tulips, instead of stocks, real estate, gold, or baseball cards, or the armshells of the Trobriand Islands.

But this will simply recur as long as the human race exists, because it is based on what people want to believe.

It's All Right There.....

2010-02-17T07:21:00.000-08:00

....in the media following the murders at UAH.

The relentless Monday-morning quarterbacks (even though they mention the fallacy) imply that something ought to have been done back in the day when the woman killed her brother. This, flying in the face of a lack of any details, and that every official (the officials whose job it is) declined to pursue charges in the case. Somehow, the enormity of what this person has done last week appears to mean she should be retroactively charged with her brother's murder....and the fallacy involved in this is not discussed further, of course.

Some elderly official, maybe the DA or sheriff, is interviewed and pressured to say he thinks "-maybe it should have been followed up more." Did he think so at the time? Interview doesn't ask that question. Why does he think so now? Ditto. This trails off into a series of nulls.

Now an assault case from the interim has been unearthed, in which our UAH shooter pled guilty to a simple assault (Note: no shooting or murder involved here!), and which immediately segues into the presumed failure (and thus presumption of a liablity) of UAH in not pursuing a detailed background search on the woman.

Even more interesting is the talking heads nibbling around the edges of the notion that this individual's whole life formed a pattern. What kind of pattern? We can only assume that the discovery of her previous life would have kept her out of UAH, so that she never would have gunned down her tenure committee.

But what if she were condemned by her record to wiping merchandise across a laser at Dollar General? What if, one day, being unable to get 40 hours and benefits, she brings in a box of poison donuts and feeds them to her coworkers? Presumably the death of people with only high school diplomas would not be as devastating a loss to society as the profs at UAH. Backward reasoning is called "backward" for a reason.

It can be taken even further. Such a pattern is clearly grounds for segregating this individual from society. Think of the children, for God's sake!

The media has already stirred up enough nonsense in this case that I'll allow only a 50% chance that she'll get the needle, even though it's in Alabama, and it's what her actions merit. A judgment of non compos mentis or some other mental disability, hauled from the turgid pages of DSMV-IV-TR, is much more likely. Then the blame can always be placed on some shrink for not diagnosing her, or for her not going to a shrink in the first place.....

An Honest Politician?

2010-02-16T08:59:00.000-08:00

Setting aside my great reluctance to post the name of a politician, hats off to Senator Evan Bayh for jumping ship. I don't even know which party he's affiliated with, but he knows the system is broken.

Can politicians who just quit (Bayh had never been defeated in an election, and was considered the choice for re-election) force reform? In my opinion, no, because it's the career-obsessed that remain who will have to vote it in. Stalemate.

Comics as the new communication

2010-02-01T04:05:00.000-08:00

As I was reading this comic, it occurred to me that it was going to be the second time in three posts that I would be employing the medium. On the other hand, it contains the best brief explanation of cancer I've read, along with the rationale for why research will continue.....

Define "Prescient"

2010-01-18T04:06:00.001-08:00

Well, this is one definition, written in 1978. Nineteen seventy-eight:

Lipidleggin' by Paul F. Wilson

And here's another, probably better known:

Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut

This is where we're going, but it's hard to say exactly why. Since we have a representative government, I am forced to assume that in some fashion we've actually chosen to live out this nightmare, but that doesn't mean I understand it.

Why I Don't Watch News

2010-01-10T04:02:00.000-08:00

This is worth viewing, even more so if you just generalize a lot of it as applying not just to science, but to ANY reporting.

This Country is Going Nuts

2010-01-09T17:13:00.000-08:00

This is a compulsory blog, and I'll cut right to the chase: The United States of America is developing some sort of mass psychosis, which was moved into high gear by the events of 9/11, and manifests itself every time there is some -perceived- security incident.

It is very, very clear in the events surrounding the recent "airliner en route to Hawaii turns back" story.

Either there is something in this story that has not been reported, or we are going batshit as a nation.

"Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule."

- Friederich Nietzsche

Excellent!

2009-12-15T11:09:00.000-08:00

I'm not in the habit of posting cartoons in this space, but in this case I'll make an exception:

Since this looks like a series, why not two:

Res ipse loquitur.

I'll Thank Them....

2009-12-13T03:35:00.000-08:00

The six hundred pound gorilla of the world's problems -the one that seems to be consensually suppressed in the world's press- is population. It is the real core of "green," the sine qua non: with population control, the other problems can all be ameliorated; without it, they just get worse & worse. Resource depletion, energy, food supply, endangered species, pollution....even theories with untenable conclusions like global warming.
Population theorists like Paul Ehrlich have long passed from favor, yet they haven't been disproven. In the long haul, they maintain the carrying capacity of the Earth is probably no more than the current population of the United States.....and perhaps less.

Well, the Chinese have brought it up, and good for them.

As an aside, the Euros -among others- are becoming more deeply mired in highly questionable programs like establishing carbon markets for "cap & trade." As with all sweeping government economic manipulation it sounds good on paper......and it might just send the world economy down the same path that destroyed the economy of the Soviet Union, and was on the way to doing the same for China until they wised up.

Whitman in jeans

2009-12-08T09:13:00.000-08:00

A fascinating juxtaposition in the new Levi's ads is the poetry of Walt Whitman sandwiched with the consumerism of "We're funky; buy our duds!"

An even more fascinating element of the choice of Whitman's Pioneers! O Pioneers! as the audio track to gangs of mænads galloping over verdant landscapes, or rushing with torches through the night like some deconstructed Sturmabteilung.

In particular, I wonder how much flak Levi Strauss will receive for the use of the stanza:

Come my tan-faced children,
Follow well in order, get your weapons ready,
Have you your pistols? have you your sharp-edged axes?
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Whitman of course is now a darling to some because of the homosexuality that has been deconstructed from his work. However, given the intent of the Levi's ad, and its obvious political connections, one cannot help but wonder at the apparent advocacy of the ownership of firearms and melée weapons....although I approve of it.

You wouldn't kid us......surely

2009-12-04T12:45:00.000-08:00

Seen on the cover of a print edition of The Economist while shopping (paraphrased): "Doing something about America's economic tailspin."

Apparently it will take a magazine of that name, no doubt staffed by numerous Economists, interviewing or quoting from Economists, to tell us what should be obvious....but somehow we can't face it, and apparently on any level:

STOP SPENDING.

There. Now I'm an "Economist."

Economics has slid into repute as a putatitve "Social Science" (when no such thing exists), and treated as a secular religion. A half-century since the rise and fall of Keynesian theory (which should have killed off Economics as anything but stargazing, but didn't), some of its practitioners are regularly elevated to the eminence of shamans in our culture. And that's exactly what they are: the shamans and druids of a false religion. And they will retain their eminence because of that most powerful force in the universe: the human will to believe in something, even if demonstrably wrong, false-headed, and destructive.

This Just In- all people MAY not need to attend college

2009-12-04T04:44:00.000-08:00

.....and that is all. (But you'd sure never know it to read the current bleatings about "underrepresented minorities" -whatever that means- in the graduation statistics.)

Mobil 1 5W-30, 5,528mi, 02 Dodge Dakota 3.9L V-6

2009-12-04T04:05:00.000-08:00

A China Journal / Part IV / Qongjing to Beijing

2009-11-18T03:44:00.000-08:00

Monday 11/2 - Qongjing / Xi'an

Awoke to the boat sliding into the main part of Qongjing; immense industrial works and shipping facilities everywhere, in China's largest city....we were given a figure of 31 million. Came in to dock near center of town, marked by a pair of huge golden spires, which our escort told us is in part the local Sheraton. We went to breakfast, passed out gratuities to some staff, paid off the boat, and debarked without incident....except for the usual swarming of peddlers as we hit dry land. I think one of our fellow passengers managed to corner the Qongjing kite market. Thus ended the cruise portion of our tour. As usual, Viking does most things very well indeed, and this time was no exception.
An extremely fluent and entertaining local guide, David, made the bus ride to the Qongjing Zoo go swiftly, through the usual hellacious traffic. The zoo tour was more than I expected. We were probably there an hour, and the zoo itself was impressive, being incorporated with a large park, as usual with many people performing Tai Chi. The pandas....were pandas. Seems strange to watch what is to us North Americans a carnivore perform exactly as an herbivore does (and must), which is to eat without pause. Thus is the curse of vegetarianism, in this rather melancholy example of an evolutionary dead end. The zoo also has a number of the "lesser panda," which is a misleading name, because it has a broader diet, is not endangered, and resembles much more its relative, our own Procyon lotor, the thieving bandit of so many bird feeders and dog dishes here in the States.
We departed the zoo and made the drive to the Qongjing airport, a smaller facility than Shanghai Pudong, but, as usual, "an hour away." From what I had read about internal Chinese air travel, I had a few misgivings, none of which materialized. The plane, a Hainan Airways Boeing 737, was clean, efficient, departed on time, had significantly more legroom than any 737 I've ever ridden in the U.S. (which makes little sense to me, given the smaller stature of most Chinese), and further proved that Chinese food is probably better adapted to serve on airplanes than our cuisine. After an hour's flight, we landed in Xi'an, the ancient capital of China, home to the Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties, and with an intact 10 mile city wall which we never even got to look at....probably my only regret thus far.
We had lunch at the airport, then drove into town and checked into another very impressive 5-star hotel, the Shangri-La, and had an hour and a half before departing to dinner and a Tang Dynasty Show at a local establishment. Dinner was very well done, and the Tang Dynasty show was both colorful and spectacular....although, inevitably, without sufficient cultural referents to completely understand either the music or performance. Then, after a very full and busy day, off to the hotel and bed.

Tuesday - 11/3 - Xi'an / Beijing

Awoke and had coffee in the hotel room. Checked e-mail and went down to the invariably huge, varied, and delicious breakfast buffet we've become used to here. We left our suitcases outside and checked out again, because we'd be flying to Beijing before the day was out.
Then it was off to a spot about 25 km away to where a farmer named Mr. Yang had been digging a well with some neighbors in 1974 and brought up a terra cotta arm. He notified authorities, and by now we have an 8th Wonder of the World.....at least that's what we were told it is.
We spent a beautiful crisp Fall morning touring the various buildings at the site, and everything, including the Warriors, was very impressive. Mr. Yang was even there to personally sign our book, since in retirement he is now employed by the gift shop in this capacity.
We drove back into Xi'an for lunch on the third floor of the dinner theater of the night before, then (an hour) to the airport for the flight on Eastern China Airlines to Beijing. This proved to be the single glitch in our internal air travel in China, since our plane was delayed 1.5 hours. Eventually took off, in a new-seeming Airbus 320 that buzzed like a cheap toy on takeoff and landing. I am reminded of what an acquaintance, a 767 pilot for American, said to me recently- "Boeing has forgotten more about making airplanes than Airbus will ever know."
It was nine-ish by the time we arrived at the Raffles Beijing, which was to be our final -and most impressive- hotel during our tour. We had a late but delicious buffet dinner there before retiring for the night.

Wednesday - 11/4 - Beijing

Up at 0600 for what we knew would be the first of two killer touring days in Beijing. The Raffles has a spectacular breakfast buffet...which by now we almost expected. After breakfast, we boarded the bus for an hour and a half drive to the Great Wall. The tour of the Wall is one of those things that is everything expected and more, no matter how many times it's seen on TV. As on several other occasions, there was plenty of time to cool our heels in someplace with rather high-priced merchandise, in this case the large gift shop / coffee shop.
We drove back from the Wall and found ourselves at lunch after walking through a jade factory, with a brief bash on jade and its manufacture, followed by an enormous showroom featuring jade pieces in all sizes, colors, shapes, and types of jade. We finally ended up in a lunchroom that featured -apart from plentiful and tasty food- the only unlimited complimentary drinks of the tour, including beer and 112 proof rice wine. We speculated that this might have been directed at loosening our pocketbooks when we returned through the jade showroom (and were given about an hour until bus time). As it happened, we had already decided to make a piece of jade our main souvenir of the trip, and were able to find a very nice piece.
We then rode to the Sacred Way of the Ming emperors, the tumuli of these rulers dotting the surrounding landscape. It was a nice walk of about 3/4 km, with much statuary and five-star "happy rooms." This would have been an appropriate way to end the day, but we were then taken to the Olympic facility to view the "Bird's Nest" stadium, etc. Apart from more nice rest rooms, this stop should be omitted as it makes the touring day too long. As it was, all it brought about was a small revolt, resulting in only 11 people in our group of 30 attending dinner that evening, as it was going to be yet another bus ride / return to the hotel.
For dinner, we went out with some nice folks we met on the trip to an Outback Steak House right in the complex of buildings that included the Raffles. Perhaps it was time for a change; we ate and returned to our rooms about 2000 and relaxed before bed, hoping for a good night's rest before one last marathon day of touring.

Thursday - 11/5 - Beijing

Arose about 0600, made coffee and checked e-mail, then went down to the Raffles' super buffet breakfast.
Afterward a very brief bus ride down Chang'an Avenue brought us to the South end of Tienanmen square (quian men = front gate) amidst a horde of vendors. Crossing the street and going through security filtered out quite a few of the vendors, although some were more or less surreptitiously plying their wares in the square itself. The Chinese had formed a line that we were told averaged three hours to enter the Mao-soleum that is the only building in the square, to view the remains. The only other structure besides a flagpole is a monument to the nation's heroes. A long walk, but I suppose now we can all say we've walked across the world's largest square.
We crossed Chang'an Avenue via an underpass, and found ourselves at the Tiananmen gate of the Forbidden City. Extensive and massive describe the Forbidden City, with red the predominant color. The secondary color struck me as yellow, present in the decorative tile work. Given all the massive governmental buildings, the residential area of the Emperor and his family struck me as strangely anticlimactic.
The Imperial Garden is directly connected to the Forbidden City, and we moved through it to the "back exit" at the North end of the complex, and then walked to our bus, and then proceeded to lunch on the third floor of a five-star hotel at an excellent buffet. The hotel was also hosting some sort of 60th anniversary soiree for the PLA Air Force. Lots of uniforms with stars on the epaulettes, of an Air Force that -I reflect- has never fought a war.
After lunch, we drove to the Summer Palace, about 20 km West of Beijing, the last long walk of our tour. It was quite pleasant, and must have been more so when the Emperor and his entourage had it to themselves. As it was, there were plenty of people, and I can only imagine what it must be like during the height of the tourist season.
We drove back to the hotel, and had about an hour before departing for our farewell dinner and the Peking Opera. On the way to dinner, I asked our escort about the continuation of the Romanized spelling "Peking" for the duck and the opera, and as I expected, they have become fixed terms, and so do not follow the current pinyin rendition of "Beijing."
The Peking Duck dinner was quite good, although apart from the duck, the best courses were the two soups that were served...the rest of the dishes were so-so, compared to a lot of the Chinese food we've had.
The Peking Opera was performed in a theater in the same building. The performance itself reminded me in many ways of the Tang Dynasty show in Xi'an, while being altogether different in tone and content. This performance I would describe as a combination of slapstick, pantomime and acrobatics in a mythological context. Extremely entertaining, while the content was, of course, entirely inaccessible to me as a Westerner.
We then returned to the Raffles Hotel and bed.

Friday 11/6 - Beijing / Chicago

Up at 0600 for one last fling at the Raffles' extraordinary breakfast buffet. We would have the day to ourselves until 1330, apart from having our bags in the hall by 1200, then it would be off to the airport.
We met with John & Carol for breakfast and planned a foray to the Xiushui Silk Market. About 0930 we got a cab, and after a bewildering and circuitous 20 minute ride costing about $3, (get used to these in Chinese cities) ended up at the market. The Silk Market was amazing, cacaphonous, uproarious, a continuous verbal assault from vendors of every kind of merchandise, packed into >6 floors. When a suitable booth had been located, one shook off the three or four salesgirls from other booths who were hanging on, then the bargaining started. Fun, fun, fun. We bargained hard, and came away with two pairs of gloves from one vendor and two scarves from another. Spent some money, and had a hugely entertaining time. It's sort of like a completely immersive interactive video game. We were in there less than an hour and a half, and it felt like getting a graduate degree in shopping mania. After a much shorter cab ride back to the hotel (once again, given the way traffic works, this is normal), we set our bags in the hall and began to put things in order for our departure.
We settled our account at the Raffles and left on time at 1330, moving through very heavy traffic to the Beijing airport. Arriving about 20 minutes late, we still had plenty of time to get checked in and move through customs, immigration, and security. The small security girl was particularly entertaining as she attempted to wand a six and a half foot round-eye standing on a 6" pedestal. I'd give money for a video of that one.
While waiting, I spend the last of our RMB on chocolate at the duty-free, and we chatted with people we had met on our trip, and in all likelihood would never see again. Our plane boarded on schedule, accompanied by the usual early queuing up and stressed behavior coming from people.... who already know they've got a seat. We had very good seats, and can recommend United's Economy Plus wholeheartedly. The plane landed early at Chicago's O'Hare, and then taxied interminably until we finally deplaned at the far end of Terminal 5.
There's a new Customs Hall since our last arrival in Terminal 5, and.....it's worse. Our tax dollars at work again. We moved smoothly through baggage and turning over the Customs form, then moved to the curb outside and were picked up by the hotel shuttle in about 20 minutes. Arriving at the hotel, we went immediately to our car, loaded it, and departed Chicago. After stopping in Dwight for some dinner, we arrived home about 2100, to find everything in one piece, and large areas of the house carpeted by the Fall invasion of Asian ladybugs. I reflected that the previous 17 days in Asia had been much more fun, ran the vacuum through the worst of it and went to bed.

This concludes our China travels. This journal has been edited, largely for removal of personal references that may be uncalled-for....but probably not. I will attempt to insert suitable referential links as time allows- JA

....go to Part I

....go to Part II

....go to Part III

Why? ....and they can't tell you

2009-11-16T03:13:00.000-08:00

Apparently the Gitmo detainees are to be moved to the United States. The legal system has groaned, clattered & squealed, and shat a decision, or else it's just another decision by the Executive for strictly political motives. And I no longer care which, because I don't think it matters.

It is said they are to be housed in our state of IL, apparently, in a new-looking but evidently empty state max security prison on the Mississippi River. Now the fact that these people should have been simply deported to their home countries, tried and a disposition made, or simply had a concrete block chained to their ankles and pitched into the sea can be ignored. Mr. Obama's home state will get several hundred more jobs. NOW the recession is over, for sure.

Tools in suits like Dick Durbin can point with pride to a few hundred jobs for their constituents, while, in the end, it is inevitable (now that these people are on U.S. soil and under the umbrella of the U.S. Judiciary) that this imbroglio will now grind on for decades, and cost the U.S. taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars...... and be another bonanza for hundreds of trial lawyers.

This is an indefensible decision.

A China Journal / Part III / Jingzhou to Fengdu

2009-11-15T10:51:00.000-08:00

10/28 - Wednesday - Viking Elementary School at Jingzhou

Up at 0550, and to the observation lounge for coffee and pastries. We were already moored outboard of a floating restaurant in Jingzhou, a small city in Hubei province, the location of the VRC school we will visit. Had breakfast at 0700, and managed to nip up to the sun deck and swipe some wi-fi for a little e-mail update and IM with son.
Left the boat at 0845, crossing the restaurant and climbing about 50 steps to the bus. About 1/2 hour to the Viking school, through traffic not too bad as yet, into an outlying district. Arrived at the school to a thunderous reception from the student drum and bugle corps. Children were joyful and excited to see us (and to be out of class, no doubt), and we went to the athletic field where they had a stage performance for us, featuring a number of dances. We then went to our group's classroom, where the students recited poetry and sang. We then did some old ditties we had briefly rehearsed on the bus - "Row, row, row your boat," "Old MacDonald," "Hokey-Pokey," and "You Are My Sunshine." We had a great time, and the kids thought it was wonderful. We then boarded the bus for the trip back to the VCS, stopping on the way to take pix of water buffalo (shui3niu2). Traffic was much heavier going back to the boat, such that we arrived at the last minute at 1130. This was particularly important today, as we have a lock appointment for the first of the Yangtze locks.
Lunch at 1200; afternoon activities will include a talk on the Three Gorges Dam by Larry, another Chinese lesson by river guide Justin, and a Mah Jong lesson by Francis at 1700.
Lecture on Three Gorges Dam at 1400. Don't know how much we'll learn that we don't already know (a dam is a dam....etc.). More interested in being out on deck at the passage of the locks for some pix.
Three Gorges Dam presentation was good. Went to Sun Deck at 1700 for Mah Jong lesson. Got a slow start, but everyone got into it and learned the ropes; one couple (not us!) won consistently. Went to briefing on tomorrow's passage of the dam, and then back up to the sun deck for more Mah Jong, until dinner.
Had our second (and presumably last) Chinese dinner at 1900. Good, but not as good as the first one.
Up to cabin at 2030......discussing whether or not to stay up until 2200 for a lock passage......
Stayed up until we entered the lock and moored to a tower. Went to bed around 2200.

10/29 - Thursday / Three Gorges Dam Day

Up at 0600; didn't sleep much from 0400. Went up to observation lounge for coffee and pastries. Saw what was apparently sister ship, former VC Sky, moored alongside. We discussed next day's options, which will be either a visit to a "Reclamation Town," one of the new towns built to accommodate those displaced by the dam, or else a tour of Snow Jade Cave. Neither of us has any special interest in visiting a new town, and the cave has 900 steps. This seems a poor choice, especially since the boat cruise will be winding down and we will be facing the more arduous land portion ending our tour.
Breakfast at 0700. It is about this portion of any tour that one's companions become......trying. Thankfully the breakfast is worth enduring that particular annoyance.
Left for Three Gorges Dam tour at 0900. Very good (roomy) bus this time, a Daewoo. The tour guide, Lily II, was also very good, with excellent English. We went through a security screening that resembled an airport, but I think was quite a bit more cursory than that. Some of the regulations were a parody of TSA regulations..no pocketknives, no nail clippers. Armies of American tourists attacking the Three Gorges Dam with nail clippers.....yep, that'll do it.
View from the 185 meter level (water is at 171 m, 4 m below Winter max of 175) was spectacular, despite the partial fog. We are told that this will be a permanent condition here in Spring and Fall, due to the mass of water in the new reservoir. We then drove up to a higher observation area. There was a model room, too full of people and too acoustically live, with a guide screaming into a microphone. We took pix & left in a hurry. Walked around, looking at the various views from the park, but did NOT climb to the observation tower. Lots of steps, not large enough, too many people....which is turning out to be a recurring theme in China. Reassembled at bus at 1040 and drove back to VCS. Attempted to swipe wireless from sun deck, but no networks whatever. Lunch at 1200.
Some wait departing from our mooring, but captain is awaiting word from the dam as to when to proceed to the locks. We moved into our lock just about on schedule, despite the constant complaining of one gentleman that they obviously didn't know how to operate ship locks (at least from his perspective). In an accent strictly New York Lower East Side (where everyone knows how to operate ship locks), he stated that waiting for the lock gates to open was like waiting for paint to dry; from my perspective, just like waiting for him to shut up!
Took some pix of the first of the 5 locks, then figured that the other 4 would be about the same. Went to sun deck and kibitzed for a bit at the Mah Jong game among Mary, Beverly, Polly, and Carol, I then went to the observation lounge to the Larry Lecture on the Chinese dynasties- good coverage from the Spring/Autumn - Warring States period to 1912. Very good presentation, which we have come to expect from Larry. After presentation, Mary & I returned to our cabin for some beer, then reading before dinner.
Dinner at 1900, I had the veal loin, which was very good, but the appetizer tonight was probably my favorite of the whole cruise so far- a skewer of chicken, pineapple, pepper, onion, with a great garnish of cilantro. The asparagus soup was quite good as well. We passed the final lock and emerged into the reservoir (Xiling Gorge) while still at dinner.
Tonight's entertainment was Elvis Night, so of course we went to our cabin, read, and went to bed. Some things do not acquire greater charm because they're done 7,000 miles from their cultural milieu.

10/30 - Friday - Three Lesser Gorges Excursion

Up at 0545, then up to the observation lounge for coffee and pastries. This morning was a little different, because we are cruising the Xiling / Wu gorges, and there was narration. Went outside and took some pix with Beverly, Polly, John & Carol. Absolutely unique scenery.....what is below is flooded, but whatever people lived there before lived in a virtually vertical world.
Went down to breakfast about 0800, ate with Polly and some people from Scotland. I had some noodles with breakfast this morning, and if the fried chiles presented as a condiment didn't wake you up, no amount of coffee would. We are now awaiting docking for our transfer to a smaller craft and the tour of one of the lesser gorges.
Transferred to a smaller boat, about half the passengers of the VCS in each of two boats, then up into the Three lesser gorges, which are serial. Most spectacular scenery of the trip so far, took over 100 photos. Two large highway bridges being built at the outset, and cell phone towers linking deep into the gorges, as far as we went, at least. Despite the steep terrain, plantings are everywhere: sweet potatoes, tobacco, wheat, sesame, etc. Much trapping of fish on the river. Saw rhesus monkeys and hanging coffins, as well as fanciful rock formations and caves. Whole tour was about 3.5 hours, back to VCS around 1230, lunch at 1300, underway during lunch.
Proceeded down the main reservoir / gorges all afternoon, with Justin giving description of scenery at the main scenic junction "Huge Three Pools." Attended a third of Larry's fifth lecture on China Today, then left. Not his fault. Given this more politically charged topic, he became extremely circumlocutory, indicating he was using "prepared" notes, ones I suspect not from him. Also, there were two annoying persons who promptly set up behind me and started playing cribbage. So it was either pitch them into the river, or leave. I left.
I returned to the cabin and took a shower, then opened some beers. I can drink the best Chinese brew (that I have had), Tsingtao, without complaint. They have done an excellent job of aping the straw-colored, fizzy, slightly astringent lager that the United States produces so abundantly. In fact, I'd say it's as good as any I've had, but that's an low index to be using.
Alexey is going to be presenting the DVD of the cruise at 1810, but I'm not much interested- I've been on it. Dinner will be at 1900, and then some sort of "International Music" entertainment. I suspect it'll be reading and bed after dinner, though, which is just fine with me. I want some easy cruising and relaxation before we have to hit the road for Xi'an and Beijing in two days. The end of this tour will be very, very full.

Saturday 10/31 - Shibaozhai

Up at 0555, to the observation lounge for coffee and pastries. When it became light, it was obvious that it was raining. By breakfast at 0700, the rain was pretty steady. We decided to go on our tour, which consisted of a 20 minute walk through the town....mostly past vendors who had erected awnings out over the street, and shopkeepers who had done the same thing, peddling the usual bric-a-brac. Everything from "antique" mah jong sets to kitsch such as Red Guard caps. After walking to the embarkation point to the boat to the pagoda, we decided to give that part a miss, and walked back to the boat with Polly. We were pretty good & wet at the extremities by the time we returned, although the "one size fits all" (all Chinese, anyway) raincoats passed out by the VCS worked pretty well on the head and core of the body.
We immediately changed clothes and began a drying-out regimen, the small hair dryer in the room coming in particularly handy when used on my orthotics and shoes. Had some of the room tea, didn't particularly care for the taste. Scanned for some free computer networks in Shibao, none to be found.
Departed Shibao about noon for Fengdu, which we reached around 1700. In between did some reading, conversing, photography. At 1530 was a dumpling demo by the boat's sous chef. They were good, and don't look that complicated. I will make these after we return home. Didn't stay for the napkin folding demo, which I later regretted, when I learned it was performed by the charming Smile, one of our waitresses in the dining room.
Had some beers; dinner will be at 1900, as usual.

Sunday 11/1 - Fengdu

Up at 0555, to the observation lounge for coffee and pastries, watched the lights go out and the day emerge in Fengdu. Breakfast at 0700. As neither tour appeals to us today, we're going to stay on the boat, maybe venture ashore for some photos, and pack in preparation for disembarkation tomorrow.
Went back to room after breakfast, gathered reading matter & laptop, and up to sun deck to read, catch up journal, and reflect on our experiences.
Went off the boat on our own into Fengdu before 1000, walked around the city center for a little over an hour, and returned to the ship. Got stared at a lot, but the people were perfectly friendly. Interesting walk.
Tours returned a little after 1100, went to lunch at 1200, and underway soon after for Qongjing. Actually managed to crank out a few e-mails on the boat's computers, an unusual feat.
Went up to the disembarkation briefing at 1330. Briefing was at 1400....would have been straightforward except for the sorts of people who never get the word (i.e., they don't listen...as an ex-teacher, there's one in every class) and can never get their ducks in a row. Francis then took us aside for a group briefing. Pretty simple- we're outta here by 0800, to the Chongquing Zoo for the pandarama, then the plane. We'll take off at 1055, so we should be in Xi'an by 1100. Lunch there, then go check in to hotel. Dinner & Tang dynasty show at unspecified time.
We're pretty much packed...all we have to do is take care of the tips & a few odds and ends tonight, then have our bags outside our door before 0600.
I suspect there'll be little else but dinner & bed this evening.

....back to Part I

....back to Part II

....to Part IV

Nasty Water!

2009-11-13T03:38:00.000-08:00

The Weather Channel, which is now showing movies and fast devolving into something incomprehensible, calls the current Nor'Easter an "Atlantic Assault." Interesting how so many things involving inanimate objects or forces must be couched in anthropomorphically violent verbiage. Perhaps we should emulate King Canute and simply order back the waves (which he reputedly did in an astute demonstration aimed at his fawning advisors). Or perhaps we should institutionalize the punishment of inanimate objects, in this case a clearly criminal bell in a Mexico City church. It would be as relevant as some other things we enshrine in our culture.....

A China Journal / Part II / Nanjing to Yueyang

2009-11-13T03:03:00.000-08:00

10/24 - Saturday - Mt. Jiu Hua

Up a little before 0600, after our first good night's sleep since arrival. We went to the 5th deck observation salon for early coffee and pastries, then back to the cabin and dressed a bit before going to breakfast. As we would expect from Viking, the breakfast buffet was quite good. Ate well, and will do so throughout. After breakfast, I began this journal. Then joined Mary Margaret and some acquaintances (Beverly and Polly) on the 6th deck for some conversation and watching of the abundant river traffic. Just before 0900, went to 5th deck observation lounge for information / indoctrination, where this catch-up journal writing is taking place. The afternoon also featured a lecture on Buddhism by a scholar from Mt. Jiu Hua; actually more interesting than I anticipated. Now awaiting lunch in about a half-hour.
Lunch was up to the usual Viking standard- a salad bar really over the top, and entrees that could be served for dinner. And, of course, the usual problem with serving 280 people in one seating where buffet lines are concerned....a traffic jam.
We departed on schedule for the Buddhist mountain at Jiu Hua and its multitude of temples. A really rough ride to the mountains themselves, due to extensive road building, and then a series (supposedly "99") of turns and switchbacks to get up to the mountain, along a road altogether too narrow. It's impossible not to regard bus drivers here as an altogether more skilled breed than those in the U.S., given what they have to make the buses do. The hair-raising and yet strangely functional nature of Chinese driving becomes more apparent every day.
We visited two temples at Mt. Jiu Hua, and were given the opportunity (at RMB 100 per person, which we declined) of taking a funicular railway up to the peak, where still more temples exist. The temples contained both familiar and unfamiliar Buddhist imagery- I suppose some of the dragons and elephants might be more specifically Chinese than just Buddhist, but all are generally incorporated into the religion. After some free time, we made the descent and returned to the ship. I am already trying very hard to suppress my distaste for long bus rides.
Returned to the VCS at 1730, rested until Captain's reception at 1900. This was largely a formality with refreshments, except for the briefing for the next day- literally "chinatown,' a center of porcelain manufacturing. The prospect of a two hour bus ride each way is daunting.
Went to dinner at 1930, one of two Chinese dinners we will have aboard. The menu was uniformly excellent in all respects. There were several dishes on the spicy side, which is guaranteed to provoke comment and exclamation from some people, but I found it uniformly tasty and well done.
Back to the cabin after dinner, decided to go forward and read. We did little for a half-hour but watch the river and doze, and so returned to the cabin and bed.

10/25 - Sunday - Playing hooky from ceramics tour / walking ashore in Jingdezhen

Up at 0530 and showered, went to the 5th deck lounge for coffee and pastries. We made an executive decision at this time not to go on the tour of the ceramics factory. A two-hour bus ride each way was very intimidating, and we are told that this is a good spot to go walking ashore i Jingdezhen, another of those cities that our escort tosses off as "-a small city, only 2 or 3 million." We walked into the large street fronting the dock area, and walked about 1/2 mile to a large shopping complex, consisting of smaller shops, then leading into a two-story combination supermarket - dry goods store. Walked around, bought some beer, a bottle of Chinese "wine" (actually, a sorghum-based distilled clear beverage of about 78 proof), & a map of the People's Republic. Cost for these items was nearly 28 Yuan, or about $4. A very large and tall Westerner with beard is a universal object of fascination, as I can attest. I thought several girls running the checkouts were going to take me home for a lawn ornament.
Returned to the boat for lunch, then spent the afternoon on the observation deck talking with Beverly, and had a few beers. Beverly left for a massage appointment at 5, and was replaced by another gentleman with a colorful past.
At 1830 we attended a briefing on Wuhan, and had dinner at 1900. Went to a show of Chinese traditional costume and dancing at 2115 performed by the crew in fine style, then to bed.

10/26 - Monday - Wuhan / Hubei Province Museum

Up at 0600, and to early coffee and watch the arrival at Wuhan, capital of Hubei province. Had breakfast at 0700, and returned to the cabin to prepare for shore excursion. Took bus to Hubei Provincial Museum to see an archæological display of bells and other finds from 2500 year old tomb. We were told that even though Monday was "institutional buildings closed day," -rather like in Europe- that the museum would be opened especially for the Viking tour. The museum was great, also included a performance hall, where we were treated to a show replicating a musical performance of that earlier time. We then took a forty minute tour of the artifacts secured from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, a minor kingdom of the Warring States period 8th - 3rd CBC. This was all absolutely first-rate.
Returned to the boat for lunch, and I for a nap. Mary Margaret spent time with Beverly, then went for a foot massage at 1500. I attempted to use the ship's internet facilities, with no result. Secured ice and cooled some beer.
Mary & I attended the lecture on the Yangtze River at 1600; very good lecture. The implications of the water diversion projects in China over the next 50 years are staggering. The potential change for the country is vast, but also, I think, not certain. There exists immense potential for harm as well as good in it.
A Mandarin lesson at 1700. I attended, while Mary returned to the cabin for a nap. We skipped the briefing for tomorrow, and will instead attend the reception at 1830 for the "Viking Explorer Society." Got up to the reception, and drank quite a quantity of complimentary wine....not bad, considering what Viking normally charges for a glass. Dinner at 1900....nice menu, got to sit at a different table and talk to a completely new group of people. Close to 2100 by the time we returned to our cabin, so we turned in.

10/27 - Tuesday - Yueyang tower

Up at 0600, went to observation deck for early coffee and pastries, watch the landscape lighten up and see the new horizon of Yueyang, the port of Hunan province. Bargeloads of logs being brought in made it no surprise when we learned there is a large paper mill here. The barge traffic on the river makes everything look efficient......then guys start unloading the logs from the barges on their backs.....and the 21st century meets feudal China.
Down to breakfast at 0700, ate with the usual folks....some new types of smoked fish for breakfast, was told one was mackerel. Went to cabin before going to the bus for excursion to Yueyang pagoda.
Happily, bus ride was only 15 minutes along shore of Dongting Lake to reach the rather large park where the tower is situated. Had a good tour guide who is also the redundant tour director of the Viking Century Sky, taken out of service with Viking last year due to economic slump. Interesting tower tour and tea-drinking. Tea was accompanied by a girl playing a stringed instrument; all very nice....although the highly-touted local "silver needle" tea didn't do anything for either of us. Returned to boat by 1115. Lunch at 1200, very good. Afternoon to be structured by bridge tour for me at 1440, a Chinese culture lecture by Larry at 1600, and a foot massage at 1700.
The Chinese culture lecture, like all of tour director Larry's presentations, was very good. My foot massage was very relaxing, and left me with truly "happy feet." Dinner at 1900 was very good, as usual, and once again we chose a table with different folks. Also, Francis and Richard (escorts) sat with us for dinner. Back to cabin and reading and sleep.

....to be continued in Part III

....return to Part I

....go to Part IV

Disconnect

2009-11-13T02:57:00.000-08:00

I go on vacation for 3 weeks to China; I come home to girls who can't stop sneezing. Give me one reason why I should spend any of my time watching or reading the news. One.

All The Wrong Reasons

2009-11-13T02:32:00.000-08:00

We were told by the President or COOTWH (Current Occupant Of The White House) that Iraq was the "wrong" war, and that Afghanistan was the "right" war. Not to put too fine a point on it, it's now obvious that he wants to bail. The putative reason for all this is a "leaked memo" from Our Man In Kabul that smells increasingly fishy. The real reason, the eternal reason: the polls are slipping, and it's time to head for the cellar, the first obsession of the politician.

Call a meeting, then reject all the recommendations of your highly paid advisors. Since we live in advanced times, they were graciously allowed to keep their heads, although apparently their advice is worthless. Now what?

Since the Memo From Kabul was indeterminate, he must now turn increasingly from legitimate advisors (i.e., those who will give him honest alternatives and the costs of each) to the Low Men in Yellow Coats. Afghanistan is not going away, certainly not because Mr. Obama doesn't like his alternatives. Afghanistan appears to be a test of statesmanship. From my perspective, there's little possibility that Mr. Obama will receive a passing grade.

A China Journal / Part I / Shanghai to Nanjing

2009-11-11T04:07:00.000-08:00

10/20 - Monday Home - Chicago - Shanghai

We checked our packing, did the final departure checks to the house, and drove to Quality Inn O'Hare in company of our grandson Theodore, who had been with us for the previous four days, and reunited him with his Daddy. I think both were extremely happy to see the other. The hotel was very decent and a good Park, Sleep &Fly bargain, so it's a good candidate for a repeat performance. We ate dinner at a Spaghetti Factory across the street, and actually found a crosswalk close by we could use and not become road kill.
Up around 0500 without much sleep after 0300. Showered and checked out, had the QI breakfast, which was predictable for a hotel with a total bill under $100 (including the extra parking days). We had reserved the shuttle to ORD at 0700, which left on time, and by the time we picked up two more people at a Super 8, it was full.
Check-in and security at ORD went very smoothly, and we camped near our gate waiting for plane time. Plane boarded on time, and was obviously going to be very full. Had the usual display of behavior from people who believe they're not going to get a seat- boarding pass with seat number to the contrary notwithstanding. Took off right on time at 1034.
United did a better job on this flight than our last one, but the flight duration itself made it something very like torture.....and we had purchased the "Economy Plus" seats at $560 for both of us, round trip. Not to denigrate the upgraded seats, because it was a big improvement over the "sarcophagus" model in regular Economy. I have concluded that the only improvement to airline seating I'm interested in is to be containerized in baggage with sedation, IV, O2 & catheter lines.....just wake me when it's over.

10/21 - Wednesday - Chicago O'Hare (ORD) - Shanghai Pudong (PVG) / (Tuesday lost due to passage IDL; will "get it back" on return)

Landed at PVG (Shanghai Pudong) earlier than predicted, somewhere a little under 14 hours. Going through Chinese immigration, quarantine & customs was no problem. They had an infrared scanner operating just after emerging into the immigration area so the rumors about H1N1 flu screening evidently are credible. Customs was not in the least concerned about what might be in our bags. The few officials that were there were more interested in talking to one another than in anything we might be carrying. I suspect big groups of tourists coming through invite little attention.
The Viking River Cruises people were right in the area outside customs, waving signs and flags, so no one would miss them. Our luggage was tagged and we were given our room keys, the luggage to appear and disappear magically through the next three weeks. This is a very nice feature of VRC. There was about an hour of waiting for everyone to assemble and for a wayward bus to arrive, then another hour for the drive from Pudong into the Westin Bund Center, where we were moved into our room.
The Westin was very nice indeed, as we were given what amounted to a suite, with a very large living / bed area, and another extremely elaborate bath area, with separate large tub and shower. The lighting system for the suite would do justice to a stage performance. My biggest criticism of the Westin was that a 26-story tower needs more elevators. They were quite fast & efficient, but just not enough capacity for large numbers on group tour schedules. We ate in the Stage Cafe at the Westin the first evening, being told that the hygeine at restaurants outside couldn't be guaranteed.

10/22 - Thursday - Shanghai

Up way too early; again, not enough good sleep for either one of us. Showered and went down to a very impressive breakfast spread, which was our first provided meal. All manner of fruits, meats, cheeses, breads, omelet stations, etc. There was also a Chinese breakfast buffet. We departed at 0800 for our full day of touring Shanghai....a FULL day, without nearly enough hours to do everything attempted. We visited a silk carpet factory, and a famous private garden. Lunch was quite good; the lunches in Chinese restaurants are better than provided lunches on our European Viking tour. We went back to the hotel, being given a whole 1.5 hours to rest, then on to dinner and then the Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe. The dinner was excellent, and the acrobats were extremely accomplished. Much food for thought in people who begin a full-time career at age 7, are finished at twenty, and go.....where?

10/23 - Friday Shanghai - Suzhou- Nanjing - Embarkation

Up....again, too early and without enough sleep. Something's got to change; maybe when we get to the boat. Showered & felt better, but this day will not wear well. Put bags in hall with ribbons intended to bring them to our cabin on the Viking Sun. Went down again for a last shot at the Westin's bountiful buffet. I decided to eat a variety of the Chinese breakfast buffet, and decided that noodles were quite acceptable for breakfast. Also had an omelet and other Western items.
Boarded the bus at 0800 and rode 1:40 to Suzhou (old Roman phonetic Soochow), which is the focus of the silk cultivation and manufacturing industry. Our guide, Sharon, spoke English with the more characteristic "singsong" Chinese accent that we recognize as Americans, because of the preponderance of Cantonese speakers in the U.S. The facilities for showing the silk from the beginnings as moth, egg, and worm, to shops where one could purchase the finished goods, was quite impressive. Bought some silk hangings as gifts.
We then visited the "Master of Fishermen's Nets" garden in Su Zhou, which is quite famous, having had part of the garden reproduced at the Metropolitan in New York. While Chinese gardens may be something of an acquired taste, I think it's a taste that could grow on me.
Lunch was again very good, at a hotel with an unlikely name- The "Glamor".....names often don't -quite- translate in China. This was the first restaurant where the one provided drink was by the glass, rather than the original container for the drink. This appears to be quite common, but the underlying reason was not immediately apparent. I have concluded that it's because some restaurants desire to save money by purchasing the beverages in the larger containers, and so ration the drink by the container into which the beverage is poured.
After lunch, we settled into the bus for our 3-hour ride to Nanjing where the Century Sun was moored. We stopped on the expressway about halfway for a pit stop, with the usual fuss among the womenfolk over the squat toilets. The more pragmatic concluded that if one wants to go badly enough, squat one will. We visited a rather whimsical "supermarket" which nonetheless had ice cream and beer. I purchased several half-liter bottles of the finest brew of the "Qongjing Beer Group, Ltd." for a few Yuan.
Entering Nanjing (or "Southern Capital," as Beijing is "North"), we once again saw that China has more than met the Western standard for hideous traffic. Traffic rules appear to be, as our guide Francis observed, more in the nature of "suggestions." I would describe the traffic in the worst parts of Shanghai & Nanjing as a semi-professional blood sport. Our bus driver demonstrated the skill of a professional race driver and the panache of a bullfighter....he was given a nice gratuity.
We boarded the VCS a bit after 1700, apparently the first group to arrive. We went directly to our cabin, where our luggage had already been placed in the passageway outside our cabin. Before dinner at 1930, I secured a bucket of ice from one of the unbearably cute cabin stewards who are constantly darting about, and iced down a beer, which Mary Margaret and I shared.
Dinner at 1930 was quite good. I had a carpaccio of black forest ham and melon for appetizer, a cauliflower soup, and Mary Margaret stole my bread. The entree was a stuffed chicken breast with onion sauce, and cheesecake for dessert. As with all alcoholic beverages on Viking Ships, the extremely high prices (small draft beer $4.50 US, up to $10 for some mixed drinks) more or less preclude drinks with meals on a regular basis. It's not so much that we can't buy them, we just won't at those prices. The acoustics of the dining room are simply impossible. I was unable to hear anyone but Mary on my left and the gentleman on my right. The low overhead and lack of any systematic sound attenuation is a serious defect, and will figure in my evaluation.
After an attempt to sit up after dinner in the small forward observation cabin on Deck 4 and watch the river traffic began to quickly descend into slumber, we returned to the cabin and did just that.

.....to be continued in Part II

.....go to Part III

.....go to Part IV

Damn You, Apologize!

2009-10-15T14:45:00.000-07:00

Whatever channel I was watching this morning (Fox, I think, but, heck, it doesn't matter, could be any of them....) was featuring serial apologies.

"You apologize for calling Jessica Simpson fat!"

"Now that there's been a general apology, where's the specific apology?"

"We're drawing lots to determine whether Al Sharpton or Barbara Boxer will be first in line to decry the collective apologies and declare the transgression 'unforgivable'."

"Next: Apologies for calling Hillary Clinton a Secretary of State."

"Our chief investigative reporter will apologize soon for not having found a reason to have Don Imus fired again."

"At eleven, a list of suspects for immediate proscription who are rumored to have called Michelle Obama 'unfashionable'."

"Tomorrow at 5. You are on The Weather Channel, apologizing for the California mudslides with Al Roker."

That is all.

Eradicating Meaning

2009-10-10T10:34:00.000-07:00

When a "player," someone who represents an interest (aka a nation) gets the Nobel Peace Prize, it damages the whole notion of "peace." Peace cannot be partisan....and when we dig into the elements of most situations where leaders or representatives of states were awarded the NPP, the partisan element isn't hard to find.

Woodrow Wilson fundamentally didn't deserve the Nobel Prize, because no matter how noble his Fourteen Points, without the U.S. taking the lead and forgiving all the war loans to the European countries (which was done after WWII, a lesson hard learned), it ultimately validated the crushing reparations exacted against Germany in the Versailles Treaty, which was a major factor in bringing Adolf Hitler and the NSDAP to power in Germany. The U.S. may or may not have deserved the pejorative "Uncle Shylock," but Calvin Coolidge was simply being Bismarckian in his realpolitik when he said "They hired the money, didn't they?" These things may be judged one way or another by history, but they don't fit into consideration for a peace prize. They just don't.

Henry Kissinger, in the context of the Vietnam War, may have been deserving of many things, but the Nobel Peace Prize was certainly not one of them.

One of the very few things James Earl Carter may deserve to be remembered for is the Camp David Peace Accords. But should anyone have been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for this? Peace in that situation would have involved the Palestinians, whether the Egyptians were present or not- and the Palestinians were nowhere to be found. This may have been the first "joke" NPP.

What Barack Obama has done -in any substantive way- to merit a nomination for such a prize -let alone its being awarded- is hard to fathom. The Nobel committee's most trenchant statement on the topic seems to boil down to "He's made people feel good."

At the very least, it is questionable that the leader of a nation with tens of thousands of its forces currently in combat roles on foreign soil would be considered for such an award, regardless of the situation. It is therefore impossible to believe that the award of the Nobel Peace Prize (along with the prize for Literature...any that aren't awarded for measurable scientific achievement) hasn't devolved into the same level as the political vagaries of the International Olympic Committee or the United Nations. The Nobel Peace Prize should be ignored.

A valid comparison?

2009-09-18T06:07:00.001-07:00

George Will comments on the Obama administration's politicizing the arts, and

This.

Of course, to some people there is no comparison. The ends, as always to some humans, justify the means. We will be told that the ends of the former are noble, humane, and socially true, therefore whatever exigencies, whatever horror must be perpetrated to carry them into effect are just. The ends of the second example were horrible and perverted, etc.

The thing is, if you dug up anyone in history who had ever attempted to direct an entire society and its culture to their own agenda.....they would tell you exactly the same thing.

The last Race Card?

2009-09-16T07:05:00.000-07:00

Jimmy Carter, the Greatest Living Failed President, arguably the worst since Harding, has sought to breathe life into a "story" that should have died aborning, accusing Congressman Wilson of racism without the slightest evidence other than his baseless opinion that any "excessive" opposition to Obama must surely stem from fear of a black POTUS. Another case of insignificant diarrhea of the mouth raised to hulabaloo by the media.

I haven't the stomach to begin to analyze Jimmy Carter's motives; I'll leave it with:

“You have been sat to long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!”

-Oliver Cromwell addressing the rump parliament, April 1653.

Probable Impact

2009-09-12T11:27:00.000-07:00

The automatic media-machine furor over the Coast Guard daring to conduct an anti-terrorist exercise in Washington on 9/11 may well have one systemic effect. Administration officials will shovel crap downhill, which will have an overall result of reducing preparedness exercises -maybe just for the Coast Guard, if we're lucky- which means reduced preparedness. The media will have damaged us, once again.

ANY Business?

2009-09-12T05:30:00.000-07:00

Is there any substantive business before the U.S. Congress from which they cannot find a meaningless diversion, usually lasting a week or more? Now we have the seemingly chronic disease of the "Age of Apology" rearing its sordid, mendacious head once again. There's no need for a reference, the actors and the script don't matter. Someone is always demanding an apology of someone, for the sole purpose of being able to use the word "unforgivable," then running it into the ground, for the sole purpose of distracting attention from the fact that there's nobody at the helm.

I contend that there is increasingly little public business in this country, only a meaningless carnival sideshow. The average person doesn't really think a whole lot about what goes on in the halls of government, and is cautious and reluctant to say anything unless it directly bears on their interests or situation. Therefore a broad general fault running through the life of their society generally remains invisible until it can no longer be ignored. Then, the result can be an upheaval, sometimes with irreparable results- and in the aftermath, no one will understand where it came from, let alone take any responsibility for it.

A severe fault once lay beneath our society, stemming from the ratification of the U.S. Constitution with slavery still intact. It was ignored until there was division, and one that could easily, given slightly different parameters, have meant the end. However, society was reassembled, however imperfectly, and reformed since.

I am no longer certain that there is a social climate in this country that will accept currently needed reforms (this involves NOTHING that any contemporary politician will discuss), and that perhaps only another crisis is possible. If this should occur, how we will survive it with the current class of professional politicians in office is something I cannot begin to imagine.

Remember Journalism?

2009-09-07T11:36:00.000-07:00

A soldier dies in Afghanistan. As someone remarked, "There are two rules in war, 1, that young men die, and, 2, you can't change Rule #1." Presumably, any adult understands that war, and its attendant casualties, cannot be prevented so long as the human race does business in any of its known avatars.

The role of journalism should be to report, basically, and do it clearly, unflinchingly, and with the bare minimum of adjectives and adverbs. So- what happend to journalism? In today's example, a U.S. soldier, Joshua Bernard, is fatally wounded in Afghanistan, serving his nation gallantly and in the best traditions of the United States Marine Corps.

The Daily Mail online reported, and I can only wish they were not typical of today's news reporting. Unfortunately, this kind of reportage can be seen on a daily basis, without even searching. The first sentence of the article:

"It is a deeply disturbing image which depicts the grim reality of war - a fatally wounded U.S. soldier lies slumped in the mud as fellow marines desperately try to save him as his young life ebbs away."

This, of course, is all too typical of much reportage, not only that coming out of Albion, but all too many -perhaps even a majority of news outlets. It's bad reporting, pure and simple.....and those "Limeys" didn't bother to capitalize "Marines."

The sentence, as it should have been written: "It is an image which depicts the reality of war- a wounded soldier lies in the mud as fellow Marines try to save him." All else is hype, gloss, dross, unwarranted hyperbole.

It is as if The Mail were attempting to construct an inflammatory and divisive article, instead of reporting on an event; to attempt to construct division through verbiage instead of providing evidence of such division.

Oh, America is divided, all right, but not about Marines lying in the mud. They're mainly divided over why the government can't afford all the things they want, why the recession won't go away.

It seems fitting to let the last word here go to some U.S. Marine graffiti in Iraq: "America is not at war. The Marines are at war. America is at the mall."

Speaking Ill of the Ted

2009-08-31T07:25:00.000-07:00

The last of the Kennedy dynasty / disease has passed from view, except for the endless retrospectives on various news shows and cable "history" channels. I told myself that I would refrain from comment, but given the outpouring of pure hyperbole, hysteria, and nonsense on this most dear of topics to Americans, how can I?

First, there is the irony, dear to my heart, in the death not only of the last of Joe & Rose's sons, but of his ambitions for them. The lust for power at any price has ended in dust, more graphically than in any case since the end of World War II. This is as it should be; such a family always represents danger to a republic, and I like to imagine that I still live in one.

Then there is the sordid exemplar of the myth that any boy can succeed to high office in the United States- despite the most egregious bad character imaginable, in a career fueled (and kept alive) by the application of periodic applications of the family fortune and political influence.
If we need to look to Ted Kennedy in his passing as any sort of accomplished politician, then it is indeed a measure of how far we've sunk, and how crowded our national life is with politicians- and how void of statesmanship.

Still- Requiescat in pace, if only so the whole sorry business his life and times may be forgotten as quickly as possible. I intend to try.

{Note: After reviewing the above post, it may well be that my original motivation -that I needed to do another post before August passed from view- was the only worthy one. Nevertheless, I'll let it stand.}

Rocky Observations

2009-08-10T08:16:00.000-07:00

Having had occasion to spend the better part of a week in the environs of Boulder, CO and visits to a few locations in the Front Range of the Rockies, I have formed several opinions of this area:

1. We had a vastly enjoyable visit with our daughter; visiting her in her home was too long in coming.

2. Boulder, CO, despite the culture of tanned outdoorsy people busily walking, jogging, running, and biking (waiting, I gather, for skiing season), is basically an annoying university town filled with far too many entitled, self-important white people who are constantly looking to see who's looking- at them.

3. Colorado itself appears to provide just another huddle of human beings in the middle of the Wide Open Spaces. They either huddle in the cities, or huddle in the resorts and tourist traps, or huddle in the parking lots (amazingly crowded, for the middle of nowhere), and even the trails are somehow a group activity. At the risk of becoming discursive (a risk I am always prepared to take), the open spaces, or wastes -and despite the spectacular scenery, that is what a good bit of Colorado IS- have always been places of solitude, places for human beings to find themselves, or God, in reflections of nature. Nature in great big doses exists most emphatically in Colorado; of solitude I felt not the slightest trace.

4. As something of a postscript, if you are a-pining for the maximum amount of fragmented and thoughtless Green- or eco- babble....well, let's just say you won't be disappointed.

We're all about Teachable Moments

2009-07-31T08:08:00.000-07:00

Bob Schieffer came across pretty well on the news the other day when he said that Mr. Obama was the one who clearly needed a "teachable moment," in this case when to button his lip. The written version of Schieffer's comments was in a curiously different vein- at least it's curious if you don't understand how things are classified in current media blame-jargon.
After reading this little piece, I am supposed to conclude:

1. Crowley, Gates, & Obama were all at fault (in that order?).

2. None of the players could really help themselves, only being human*.

3. When Schieffer writes "-my guess if they had said that is none of this would have even made the local news"** we're supposed to conclude that he either works for the media in another universe, or doesn't understand how the media manufactures news in ours.

*Note1: Since the principles of "everybody's a victim" must be applied, but isn't directly applicable in this case, this is implied as a close cousin.

**Note2: This quote applies only to Crowley and Gates, therefore additionally implying that if they had been more thoughtful and apologetic, they would have also spared their President the necessity of popping off and inserting both feet into his mouth.

Post & Prost

2009-07-25T05:31:00.000-07:00

It appears (and I must use that word, treading very softly when dealing with the Internet) that heap big pow-wow, or burying of the hatchet has been suggested in the matter I posted on previously, that of Mr. Obama's latest derailment. Now we're going to raise a glass of beer in the White House, demonstrate some good fellowship, and that will settle matters. Or at least it will make (someone- fill in the blank) look better. This merely reinforces in me the initial concerns I had in this matter.

Somebody(or -ies) in the White House are spending time on this matter. Why?

I don't know about two of the three parties involved, but if I were the police officer, I would have to be out of my gourd to attend such a soirée....

A Basic Lack

2009-07-24T04:26:00.000-07:00

The comments by Mr. Obama on the arrest of Mr. Gates is not merely another gaffe (recalling the Special Olympics comment on Leno). It's the lack of what used to be called Second Reflection; the ability to stand aside mentally and examine oneself and one's own actions and mental operations. As a matter of the fawning comparisons between the current occupant of the Oval Office and his predecessors, let me be brief: Lincoln had it, he doesn't.

The President of the United States has absolutely no role or business in making any comment whatsoever on the arrest of a person -however well known- in a college town in Massachusetts, or anywhere else. To do so shows a basic disconnect between the office and the person.

It is a basic lack of judgment, I am very much afraid. In terms of what transpires every day in our current culture, it has been called "living in hyper-reality," the sense that one hovers above everyone and everything, and is qualified -and entitled- to have opinions and make comments, no matter one's role or level of being informed.

It is most certainly not that Mr. Obama is unique in this regard. It does become both dismaying and worrisome when the President of the United States feels that he has to comment on matters at this level, instead of addressing the business of his office and the very real issues besetting this country.

Or- maybe that's the point.

It is. It isn't. We were misinformed; it is, all right....

2009-07-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

Three weeks ago: "We are recovering from the recession."

Last week: -Recession figures get worse- .

This week: "We didn't have all the facts."

I don't think it takes any expatiation to figure who is making these statements.

Two questions:

1. If you don't have "all the facts," who does?

2. You may want to have recourse to the approach of a previous Democratic administration: "There appear to be no attractive courses of action." - Robert McNamara, re: the Vietnam War.

They just don't get it.

2009-06-22T07:44:00.000-07:00

Government is so large and out of control that one part is heedless of the actions of another....or of the overarching rules that are supposed to prevail in our national life.
Here, the NYT details the furor over some Missouri Nazis having a stretch of road to clean up. While it comes as no surprise that there's been a furor, ANY branch of government should know that they CANNOT deny a group equal access. This principle has been well established since landmark Supreme Court decisions going on 50 years ago......and yet we have the earlier case of hysteria over the Minutemen wanting to do similar public service in San Diego. It may appear to be more substantive than PETA bitching about KFC, but in reality, it's less.

Can there be a critical mass of a negative- as in this case, of blind pig ignorance? If so, we must be close......

Why I Don't Believe ANYTHING in the Media

2009-06-20T15:36:00.000-07:00

To avoid an extended rant, I'll just use a reference to the latest thing I've run across, thanks to Lew Bryson at Seen Through a Glass.

In the 19th Century, the British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli is credited with stating "There ar lies, damned lies, and statistics." Now, it's le deluge, simply the common coin of all reporting, all media. I lend no credence to any of it.

It's Simple, Really......

2009-06-08T09:19:00.000-07:00

It is being reported that a tax revolt is in progress, as various groups take to the streets. No one wants to pay more; there's some evidence that the recent voting in Europe failed to move government to the left because of fears of even more taxes.

But:

According to some survey or other (and the name wouldn't really matter, it has the ring of truth), two-thirds of all U.S. citizens believe that the Federal government is responsible for providing universal and unlimited health care.

I said it's simple, I didn't say it was susceptible of a solution.

Living in Hyper Reality

2009-06-07T09:45:00.001-07:00

While the United States cannot be said to have a proper hereditary aristocracy (unless one count those crowned by money, such as Rockefellers, or by public mania, like the Kennedys), we have an upper class pursuing a variety of "lifestyles" who comprise our Dons, Boyars, Mandarins, or similar de facto in our society.
These people might be characterized by having lots of money, but since few go around wearing hats with their combined assets printed on them, they can be difficult to identify. And, these days, even to be a billionaire has gotten rather ho-hum, in a time when garbage collectors an assembly-line workers have become millionaires. Hence, a problem that the Lords Twit-Stickybottom or the Marquis de Fromage don't have to deal with.
What we do to fulfill Thorstein Veblen's dictum that wealth/power must be displayed is to parade these folk constantly in the media, the amount of attention and size of retinue or retainers, fawners, and general hangers-on determining public status, leaving us to simply assume the amount of decimal points in their net worth commanding such attention.
A century ago, this class was comprised largely of industrialists. There are some now, Trump, Gates, etc., but in general it's become in bad taste to generally proclaim one's status by mere empire-building. Hence, Trump secures his status by his alternate roles as sometime pundit and game show host on TV.
The main groups in the U.S. living in what one pundit has referred to as "hyper reality" are movie and other media personalities, sports figures, politicians...not by any means all of any of these categories. We have to have standards, after all. Added to this must be any member of the hoi polloi who happens to break through for their 15 minutes of fame on any given day....or who the media will grant an extended stay by by disappearing under particularly lurid circumstances, or be the victim of a particularly hideous or grotesque murder. We also must not omit the criminals perpetrating same, preferably in the categories of "mass murderer," "serial killer," "pedophile discovered to be living in neighborhood" or anyone providing adequate titillation on America's Most Wanted.
As the relentless egalitarianism of our age attempts to grind us all into the same mold, these people have been elevated by the only criterion that can possibly matter: popularity. It's all a big award show, and it should be named after only one of the dozens out there: The People's Choice Awards.
Unless you're caught up in popular culture, it's all so banal and tawdry as to defy description.....but that doesn't matter. Vox populi, vox dei, and the people have decreed -at least in the United States, that They Will Be Entertained. Do so, and you will be suitably rewarded, whether you are Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt, Donald & Ivana Trump, or Michelle & Barack Obama. The reward isn't just money, power, or status; it's the relentless attention that feeds back the simulacrum of of the reality of one's own importance. Thus, we have a class of people that anyone with a microphone and camera automatically assumes to be experts on anything whatever......and the person in question, due to the positive feedback they receive, largely believes this to be true.
This phenomenon can even be observed spreading throughout the media such that a person who might in past years be asked to pronounce on their own specialty or something they actually know about -motorcycle racing, for example- is now asked to forumulate Middle East policy.....and actually expected to advance an opinion, which will be presented as the absolute equal of anyone else's. To write such a thing is absolutely ludicrous, and would seem the subject of fiction; and yet it's our daily news. The show must go on.

The ONLY thing.....

2009-05-30T08:38:00.000-07:00

Mr. Obama's in a hurry, so it ought to be pretty easy to set an agenda for the Sotomayor Supreme Court confirmation hearings. I'm very grateful already for one thing she's said: that the appeals courts make public policy in this country. This has been nothing but obvious for some decades now, but it's like the skeleton at the feast that no one wishes to acknowledge.

Sotomayor has brought it into the open that our elected representatives no longer make the laws, instead they ratify what they know the Federal Judiciary will approve. If I ever heard a more appropriate subject for debate, I can't remember it. Forget all the yapping about her being a "reverse racist." Let's talk about restoring representative government to this nation.

Just do it. Now.

2009-05-27T12:06:00.000-07:00

Seen on the news streamer this morning (does it really matter the channel?): "Government says recession will be over by the end of the year. Recovery to take longer."

So- if we translate from the WhiteHousese, this means "We can't wait three or four years for the economy to bounce back, so we're going to declare the recession over in our New Years' message, even though those millions will still be unemployed and the Dow remains hovering in the low 8K. It'll come back.....sometime. In the meantime, we can get down to the serious business of spending more and more obscene amounts of money in a recession-free atmosphere."

To those responsible: Go lick a dog's ass 'till it bleeds.

Now put some spin on that......

Cut to the Chase.....

2009-05-15T17:20:00.000-07:00

I really think this says all that needs be discussed Re: incipient pandemics.
(Again, thanks to xkcd.)

Waking Nightmares #6739: Lenses in Space

2009-04-22T06:05:00.000-07:00

The "Green Hallucination" that is beginning to pervade society is for the most part harmless rhetoric. The dangerous part is that we can take some bright idea concocted by a scientist hungry for grants and parlay it into a world-saving measure.
An illustration of this was recently telecast on the Discovery Channel in a show entitled "Space Sunshield." The description states "Scientists consider shading the planet with mirrors to deflect sunlight and protect against global warming." In matter of fact, most of the individuals shown in the Discovery Channel feature might be charitably described as "fringe players," and I was actually somewhat relieved after watching it, realizing that few viewers -save the most credulous- will be buying this.
At our present state of knowledge, trying to block the sun's rays has an equal probability of precipitating us into the next phase of the million-year Ice Age (Pleistocene), where we live in balmy interglacial period. Scientists are in agreement that it's only a matter of time before the next glaciation occurs. The last time, an ice sheet a mile thick covered a good bit of the Northern Hemisphere, which is where most land animals (including us) live.....because that's where most of the land is.
Any consideration given to implementing such a project absent far, far more research is worse than criminal, and could literally be genocidal. On the other hand, those who advocate voluntary human extinction may support this.....

Just Like Magic

2009-04-21T15:54:00.000-07:00

We abruptly have commercials on national TV for "NORML," an organization seeking the instant high ground portraying marijuana use as "norml." It's really obvious we've entered a time when all sorts of people, having had all manner of extravagant promises made to them, are now in "collect mode." No questions about the ramifications of all this......it's going to save our economy, clear out the prisons, rectify yet another of the thousand thousand historical injustices that translate into "keeping us from doing whatever we bloody well want."

Bertolt Brecht wrote that the motto of The City of Mahagonny was "Do it."

How Far Can You Stretch It?

2009-04-21T11:42:00.000-07:00

Now it appears that Newsweek has decided that Obama is not all that far from having RNC headquarters burglarized, or lying under oath, etc. We can evidently look forward to viewing his choked-up farewells to the White House staff soon, as he and Michelle board the Marine helicopter. No doubt in a few years the last U.S. helicopters will lift from the roof of our embassy in Kabul.

Is Newsweek magazine so short of formats for a story that they compare the counter-terrorist effort in Afghanistan to Vietnam? At the risk of answering my own questions, the answer to that is pretty clearly "no."

That being the case, it's only logical to ask......what, then, is Newsweek's true motive in doing this? They even undermine their own headline -and in the very first sentence- by stating "The analogy isn't exact." The only thing I can conclude is a publication characterizing itself (eponymously, even) as a news magazine attempting to mask a hidden agenda, blatantly intended to pressure the President to order our withdrawal from Afghanistan. Is Newsweek now merely acting as a mouthpiece for the more left-leaning of the President's constituency? Answer at 11......

Perspective as a Substitute for Hysteria

2009-04-18T04:48:00.000-07:00

In recent posts, I have complained about the snowballing trend in the media to conflate fact with adjective, and that any sense of perspective prior to 4:30 last Wednesday afternoon is receding at light speed. I now advance several positive reforms in reporting to counteract these trends.

1. Indicate not only figures expressed in current dollars, but also in constant dollars. Current figures given, e.g. $(trillions and trillions) could be followed with a symbol, say, something hardly used like: "※," that would stand for constant 1932 dollars (or 1968, or whatever....thus "trillions and trillions" becomes "millions and millions" or just ※ 9.98.

2. Create a perspective index for all weather reporting. The symbol "§," (which kinda looks like a hurricane anyway) could stand for "We really don't have facts & figures to support theories such as 'super-hurricanes' that might occur, because actual weather data, including hurricanes, only goes back to 1895, which means that our projections are not only worse than conjecture, they're just fantasies."

3. The symbol "仝," when applied to reports on volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis and the like, could stand for "We've said this horror will overtake you someday, but not only do we have no real idea when, we have nowhere else to suggest that you might go. And, no, you can't come and live with us here in the studio."

4. We might address the sporadic reports of some sort of Armageddon (whether by Biblical prophecy, Nostradamus, the Mayan Long Count calendar, nuclear war or the examination of entrails of the reporter's recently deceased guinea pig) by " 〆," signifying "Disclaimer: while we've done our best to scare the crap out of you, and want to take any credit for giving you sleepless nights, naturally we can take no responsibility for the actual occurrence of any such horror upon humankind. We will, however, fully warrant our prediction that in 12 billion years (±200 million) the sun will expand into its red giant phase and leave the Earth a burned-out cinder.....so worry about that."

A Crisis Based on Fantasy?

2009-04-15T07:57:00.000-07:00

Heard this morning on NPR- an interview with a individual whose profession is analyzing the domestic and international financial markets, discussing the level of "bad mortgages," which we have had drilled into us Lo! these many months now.

I have organized his discussion into a sic et non set of "Myth vs. Fact."

Myth: "There are trillions in bad / unrecoverable mortgages."

Fact: There are only about eight (8) trillion in total mortgages in the entire U.S.

Myth: "The level of bad / unrecoverable mortgages is a large percentage of the total."

Fact: It's about two (2) percent. Ninety-eight percent (98%) of all mortgages are currently being paid on schedule (not in arrears).

Myth: (From question by NPR interlocutor) But aren't there trillions of these "new" and very risky financial instruments used to compile mortgages for sale in the market?

Fact: There are about two (2) trillion worth of these sorts of instruments total, worldwide.

I would like to advance the following in the form of a debate proposal:

Resolved: We have no basis for even knowing if we are becoming "the tribe that lost its head," if we cannot determine what is and is not factual in the media.

My only weapon against this is a distrust of all media -all- that grows deeper every day.....and that's not a good place to be, either.

Ron Obvious Goes Overtime on Fox!

2009-04-13T07:40:00.000-07:00

Fox News reported today that a woman who entered a polar bear habitat at feeding time was bitten by the animal.

"Monkey sat out on a limb
Watchin' the crocodiles learn to swim
Crocodile came right up for air
Now there ain't no monkey there."

- Anon.

One's as much news as the other.......

All hail Grummet!

2009-04-10T08:17:00.000-07:00

For most, the close encounter with government that April brings is a brief view into the festering maw of the IRS via Tax Day. This year, I've had a trifecta beyond that...... and I can't claim the taxes, since I don't do 'em.

I turn 65 so I had to go through the Social Security interview, a polite excursion into Kafkaland. A forty-minute phone conversation later, and numberless questions important enough to ask, but to which I was assured repeatedly I needn't know the answers. On the other hand (I think that's three hands, so far......) I was informed both at the beginning and end of the conversation that the penalties of perjury apply. The good news (I think) is that I received a letter in the mail yesterday telling me that I'm a proud card-carrying member of Medicare.

Then there is an ongoing brushfire war with the VA, what we grew up calling the Veterans' Administration, but is evidently officially yclept the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Their motto: "You can't call us on the phone." The 800 number exists, and picks up immediately to a mechanical voice that says, in paraphrase: "We're too busy to come to the phone, so why are you bothering?" To give them a little credit, they do say that you can go to their Internet site with your questions. After going through several cycles of question & answer on the VA web site spanning a month and a half, I think the motto should be changed to: "We'll answer your questions in less than a week, but don't plan on anything either informative or relevant."
Without detailing ad nauseam, after seven months with a pending claim application with the VA for my Mother, it was denied....because we had filled out the wrong forms. Return to "GO," do not collect $200; start over.

Now I have fallen afoul of the Farm Service Administration, because we have the misfortune to own somewhat over three arable acres that we sharecrop with a local farmer. The FSA decided to generate a whole new registration system this year, which means a whole new sheaf of paperwork to be filled out, and deforestation proceeding apace. I mailed them in without the slightest conviction that they have been filled out correctly.

Ye shall know Bureaucracy by the signs given above, and by the Fifth Horseman, in this case riding one of paper. I've never been much for Hegel, but it convinces me that our stage of History is about done, and it's time for Grummet (aftermath). Could it all happen that quickly? Could the acceleration that is mentioned frequently in all other phases of contemporary society also accelerate the movement back to Chaos? I'd rather not find out.....but may not have a choice.

Age of Adjective

2009-04-08T08:39:00.000-07:00

It seems impossible in the first decade of the 21st Century -and in any arena of public utterance- to avoid the use of the most extreme adjectives in either writing or rhetoric. All phenomena are "terrifying, devastating, phenomenal, etc....just fill in any extreme adjective you know. As a result, the language becomes debauched....or perhaps I should just resort to the tamer "corrupted." What recourse have we to our word-hoard when we have spent all our bolts? Will we need to abandon English, that most flexible means of expression, simply because our enormous vocabulary has been rendered unidimensional by our own misuse?

I hereby hope these musings are merely rhetorical......

.....before breakfast.

2009-04-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

While we are told by the media that the First Lady is busy "enchanting Europe," her husband is engaged in "town meetings," throwing out the same sort of content-free howlers that seem to be more and more common in this administration.

"....a world free of nuclear weapons."

"....The U.S. is changing, but Europe must change too."

"....reaching out to all Muslims who seek peace."

This of course is on what CBS calls his "world tour," which consists of the U.K., France, and Turkey. I've been to more European countries on what I call a "trip."

My best response to this was written by Lewis Carroll:

"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

- the Queen, Alice in Wonderland.

Smugglers of Spokane

2009-03-28T04:47:00.000-07:00

In the magic land of carbon offsets that no one can explain, and putting wind generators where there's insufficient wind, soon we'll see solar panels in the shade. But until then, we'll have to make do with "green" products that......don't work. Dishwashing detergent seems trivial enough, but, believe me, this is only a beginning.

None Dare Call It Hypocrisy

2009-03-27T16:47:00.000-07:00

Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois approves of the idea that President Obama is deploying more troops to Afghanistan.

What would have been a horrible, criminal idea six months ago suddenly springs from the brow of Zeus, like Pallas Athena herself.

I think that about covers it......

Wishful Thinking......

2009-03-25T10:40:00.000-07:00

I read this and felt a surge of hope......yeah, right.

.......and thank you, xkcd.

This is a Stalking Horse

2009-03-23T04:08:00.001-07:00

Executive bonuses are not the issue. Reform of the system that gave rise to the current financial imbroglio is the issue. Those who scream the loudest about executive bonuses know this, and know that they have NO intention of reforming the system. Pillory some scapegoats that people will love to hate, conduct guided tours of their big houses, get them in front of some congressional committee, foam at the mouth, and after the economy recovers people will forget all about the fact that the banking / mortgate system works the same as it did before. It's an old story, because it's worked for centuries, and it will work this time. People are sheep.

Smoke & Mirrors, the Series

2009-03-18T13:47:00.001-07:00

I've been delaying making this post....because I find the subject distasteful. Predictable to the point of nausea, but....distasteful. The present state of our economic affairs is undoubtedly due to some important factors, deeply rooted in our national character, and other factors will assuredly pull us out....given time.

But time is what we may no longer have. The turnaround between general news coverage of anything perceived as serious and a felt need among the mental pygmies in government to do something -anything- is now well under 24 hours. In the two months since the inauguration we have already seen one reflexive hurling of over $700B at the economy.....but whether the disbursement of this money will actually have the desired effect of stimulating the economy is at least dubious. It could hardly be otherwise, given the time frame of a month and change in which this was put together, passed by Congress, and signed by the President. If this had been done in another venue, someone less charitable than I might describe it as "panicky."

Now, while those in charge of our affairs wait and sweat out the results of their move, they propose a monster budget and engage in relentless scapegoating of anyone and everyone in the previous administration, with no evidence to support their allegations other than "they were there at the time."

The serial scapegoating continues into the private sector, as the heads of faltering corporations are hauled in and castigated by the sleazemasters Chris Dodd and Barney Frank, as if the likes of the CEO of AIG is somehow more to blame for the current situation than those same gentlemen who were instrumental in loosening up the lending strings at Fannie & Freddie that helped precipiate the mortgage collapse that precipitated the current recession. At every turn, they propose dangerous and even unconstitutional measures in the name of "making the people whole." This includes the violation of perfectly legal contracts and ex post fact tax laws to confiscate bonuses called into question. Isn't this the definition of demagogues? More important, is anyone noticing?

All this to avoid confronting the core issue that if we don't change things (as I recall, "Change" was supposed to be the theme of the current administration) at a fundamental level, this will happpen all over again. In 1929, it may have been margin buying of stocks that preciptated the Great Depression, but it was a list of other factors and problems, all left unaddressed, that interacted to produce the Depression itself. Our current situation has a lot to do with the way we choose to live. The constantly advertised and paraded string of things everyone "deserves" or is "entitled to," from a certain standard of living through a guaranteed pension and universal unlimited government-provided health care. The relentless materialism, the depressing consumerism, the push to live on credit which continues cheek by jowl with the panicky hair-tearing over "the worst recession ever."

Either these things change, or we'll just pull out of this recession to do it all over again. And, at long last, I'm beginning to find it tiresome. As a newspaper editor said back in the golden days before the Great Depression, "I'm out of sorts with America."

Quote While You Can....

2009-03-01T10:21:00.000-08:00

The front & center column in our local "commentary" section featured this piece by John Whitehead, founder of the Rutherford Institute. It begins with this quote by Ray Bradbury:

"There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches. Every minority, be it Baptist/Unitarian, Irish/Italian/Octogenarian/Zen Buddhist, Zionist/Seventh-day Adventist, Women's Lib/Republican, Mattachine/FourSquareGospel feel it has the will, the right, the duty to douse the kerosene, light the fuse. Every dimwit editor who sees himself as the source of all dreary blanc-mange plain porridge unleavened literature, licks his guillotine and eyes the neck of any author who dares to speak above a whisper or write above a nursery rhyme."

Now that's worth reading.......and maybe on a daily basis. Even though all this may be far too late. My fears began with the publication of Robert Hughes' Culture of Complaint some years ago.

Now, whether it's clowns to the right of me or the jokers to the left, it's all about......control.

Maybe This Time......

2009-02-25T08:41:00.000-08:00

Not much of a joiner, never have been. But The Long Now Foundation may be an exception. I've been tired of the relentless presentism of modern culture for a long time and, at 65, I'm fed up. So, yes, I can see myself joining an organization the most tangible project of which has been the design and construction of a 10,000 year clock. Such things as always writing "0" in front of the year (so that we're now in 02009) seem more pretentious, but I'm sure they'd just say I'm not yet there in my ten thousand year thinking yet.......

But if not.....

2009-02-23T06:59:00.000-08:00

Yet another meeting on the "critical catastrophic crisis" today with Mr. Obama and assorted governors. It's as if, despite a vast and highly questionable plan having been passed, that having meetings every day will somehow help to cure the country's economic malaise.

Then there are the endless theories, mostly incorporating at some juncture a hopeful prediction as to when the recession will 'turn around.'

But it doesn't take a whole lot of reading to see that we are living in a monstrously complex economy, that is tied in to an incalculable degree with other economies in the world, and that no one has an accurate view of what's going on.

Which is why I'm doubly apprehensive at the haste to pass a gigantic 'stimulus package' only a month into the new administration. Yes, there's a lot of pressure to do something, but that doesn't make this wise.

If there's anything specific that bothers me, it's the rush of government at every level to preach tax cutting, while at the same time proposing -and in some cases already passing- measures to generate more revenue, many of which may charitably be called inadvisable.

The thing I'm looking for -and have yet to see- is a list of government cuts to attempt to balance the deficit that is only growing worse. And it's not going to come, because every one of our elected officeholders is already looking at November of 2010 and sweating.

Endless Catastrophe

2009-02-14T04:42:00.000-08:00

I believe this subject, which I have visited ere this, bears reiteration. The world is not ending, despite the constant stream of disaster / catastrophe reporting (and even series on cable), such that even 8 inches of lake-effect snow on Rochester or Buffalo is deemed a Sign of the End Times by some.
If this continues, I expect we'll have shows airing next season entitled A Volcano in Your Back Yard, Tsunamis for Two, Lahars in Laredo, Earthquake Ecstasy.
The constant natter about catastrophe and chaos perhaps makes it seem normal to view such series as Obama and the Fearmonger Express, doing exactly the same thing he took G.W. Bush to task for even before his nomination. Only the War on Terror was / is not "real," but if we all don't get behind his legislative agenda we face then end of the world as we know it. The Sky Will Fall.

OK, Chicken Little.....

All Is Speculation

2009-02-14T04:34:00.000-08:00

Heard on TWC this morning: "We're going to be talking about that plane crash near Buffalo all day today. We don't know the cause yet, but we're going to be talking about the effect weather may have had...."

.....and so it goes. The Near Bankrupt Paper of Record elected to have Ron Obvious write this story, with an execrably written headline: Fifty Varied Lives, Ended on a Cold, Foggy Night. Extra commas, we has them.

Bye-bye Blagojevich

2009-01-30T08:24:00.000-08:00

What was virtually inevitable has occurred, the Illinois State Senate having convicted and removed Rod Blagojevich as Governor of Illinois, and further voted to prohibit him from holding any state office in future. For those who aren't familiar with the document, these things have been done pursuant to specific provisions of the Illinois Constitution of 1970....the law, in other words.

What I am going to say now should not be confused as any sort of encomium for Blag-O, but the performance of the Illinois Legislature, certain other Illinois elected officials, as well as certain member of Congress and other Federal officials (specifically exempting Federal Prosecutor Fitzgerald) has been alternately clownish, discreditable and cowardly in the weeks since Blagojevich's indictment.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan attempted to circumvent the provisions of the Illinois Constitution of 1970 by attempting to have the Illinois Supreme Court declare Blagojevich "incompetent." No provision for doing this is a part of Illinois law. Madigan should resign as Attorney General and be forced to wear a placard in public (I'll settle for a tattoo on her forehead) saying: "I tried to suborn the state."

Congressional Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senator Harry Reid attempted to exert pressure to have Blagojevich removed. For this the Illinois Legislature should pass a declaration specifically condeming these actions, including the names.

President Barack Obama went on the record, lending presidential weight to the attempt to speed up Blagojevich's removal. For this, the President and his associates should be vigilantly watched. While Blagojevich probably deserved to be removed from office, there's little doubt the skids were greased because he represented (and perhaps still does.....) an embarassment to the current administration in Washington......which I don't believe is part of his Federal criminal indictment, nor, I believe, is embarrassing someone part of sufficient grounds for impeachment.

As Blagojevich's Federal indictment moves forward, the matter of his other involvements may bear closer watching than it did before "Little Rod" left office.

Sidetracked

2009-01-30T08:05:00.001-08:00

I'm afraid my initial impression of President Obama -that of a politician who has the best appearance and presence of any president since Warren G. Harding, and a better speaking voice than any politician I can remember hearing- has been coupled in the days since his election by a sense of "nobody home."
This man has gone into office with significant political capital (which can never be repeated), simply by virtue of his race. And this week he has spent valuable time 1) chiding the opposition party for listening to a popular radio talk-show host, and 2) criticizing the bonuses paid to corporate executives. Neither of these actions is of any importance whatever. I find it impossible to believe that any inhabitant of the White House fears Rush Limbaugh, and the provisions of existing contracts (which the bonuses of the executives in question surely must be) are simply none of his business. I can only conclude (at least I hope!) that these are simply filler material, perhaps diversions of some kind.
Something about Obama has seemed familiar to me since he came to prominence last year, and I finally figured out what it was. He sounds and talks like every good used car salesman I've ever listened to, hoping the volume of his rhetoric will overcome that rattle in the valve train, or the gurgle indicating oatmeal in the radiator.
What should the president be doing? For starters, how about making sure the various energy initiatives begun in the last few years are maintained and go forward? With the current slump to $2 gasoline, many are already fading fast. But I've seen.....nothing.

Are Facts Overrated?

2009-01-26T08:39:00.000-08:00

Studies have (again) found that there is no link between autism and the preservative Thimerosal, used in vaccines. But the same voices are raised, over and over again -with no basis for their claims- that somehow Thimerosal is the problem....as I commented on in an earlier post. A broader issue is the irrational spillover that starts to blame ALL vaccination for a whole array of conditions.
There is no doubt there are many terrible afflictions in this vale of tears, and people are going to clutch desperately to anything that appears to provide an answer. There are celebrities with loud voices who have taken up this baseless cause, and for that reason, as the noise bounces around on the rocks and appears credible because of its volume, a number of weak-minded politicians join this ill-considered crusade.
But at some point facts must be acknowledged....or we are just "the tribe that lost its head."

Never Mind

2009-01-24T04:28:00.000-08:00

I guess those Polar Bears might be safe for a while longer. All the croaking about the Arctic sea ice melting away, to be followed by Greenland, Antarctica, and the cubes in your Scotch. Now this- back to 1979 levels. Thanking the University of Illinois Arctic Climate Research Center(these people haven't heard that the U of I's just supposed to be called "Illinois" now), without wondering too much why the university has one.......

I've Encountered This, I Think

2009-01-22T08:37:00.000-08:00

Fox News Channel: "Today President Obama goes to work full bore."

That's the politics I know......