|
Echoes of My Cerebral Vortex
Just trying to make folks do some deep thinking |
The Love of My Life!
| Still Among the Living after Ivan |
| 09.22.04 (7:52 pm) [edit] |
|
Ivan did hit my home and the damage is horrific beyond description in my neighborhood; in fact just 400 yards south of me eight are confirmed dead, fourteen still, missing, fifty-eight housed completely missing and nearly one hundred other houses in the sub division went under water. We did not stay and luck was with us at this house; a three-week-old roof saved most damage to the house. My RV was declared a total loss; the new mini barn is a twisted pile of rubble and the sophit on the house was sucked off. All in all, we had very minor damage compared to most around us. Ivan has provided much material for future BLOG post's but for now it is time to help those around me dig out and help them try and get life back into some semblance of order. Too tired to make a proper link but a Goggle search of Pensacola News Journal will provide hundreds of photos of what has taken place. After viewing many of the photos I can only say they don't come close to what the first eye view reveals. Photos of Grand Lagoon are my sub-division and Perdido Key the area I live. What is important here is that my family is all-safe and that life goes on. I would also be remiss not to mention that our good friends Randy and Jojo have driven up here from South Florida to help all of my family and many of my friends dig out in removing trees, debris and such with their BOB CAT and other equipment; all this after they have been at it for five weeks for the folks in Punta Gorda. They are examples of the best in humanity. |
| Haul'n @ Tomorrow |
| 09.14.04 (7:45 pm) [edit] |
|
Angst is high at the moment with that monster Ivan crawling toward us at 9 mph. The probability of Ivan hitting here is high, and even if it doesn't make landfall here it looks like it will be just west of us and west of a hurricane is a very bad place to be. Living close to the coast is nice, but at times like this very risky. Fortunately there is a barrier island between my house and the Gulf as well as 500 yards or so of State Park, but the wave action for this storm will likely be so big that flooding is not out of the question. The house is only 200 foot north of the government's official flood zone. Late yesterday and most of today has been dedicated at doing what is possible to secure things. The house is boarded up; the RV is secured with 30-inch anchors, the boat with 15-inch anchors and the mini barn with 30-inch anchors wired right up to the rafters. Any thing that is loose been picked up so now it is time to wait and see and a bit of wishful prayer can not hurt anything at times like these even for an agnostic such as my self. Tomorrow morning Margo and I will be hauling ass twenty miles inland and waiting it out. With any luck there will still be a couple computers left at this location to use and the house renovations will come to and end albeit they still grind on. The light is at the end of the tunnel however, providing Ivan does not force things to take a couple steps backwards. The only thing that is really important now is the safety of my family friends and neighbors and a bit of self-preservation as well. BLOG on and someday I will be back with a few more post although I doubt the daily routine will ever once again become habit. Miss a lot of you, and I have been checking up on your activities from time to time even though my observations have been brief and non-verbose ones. |
| I'm still Among the Living |
| 08.02.04 (9:14 pm) [edit] |
|
posted a BLOG - no doubt this seems strange to those of you who became accustomed to me never missing a beat for several months. The bottom line is, I'm currently just swamped in the joys of house ownership. There has been a series of events that have all had to fall into place in a fairly exact order. Much of the activities center on the kitchen renovation. The cabinets are in, waiting for me to be ready for the installer; I'm now committed to let him do his thing on August 11. First though came the need for storage of excessive stuff that most of us just don't need, but we seem to hold onto anyway. That prompted the building of the mini-barn. As my regulars know, I fell off scaffolding a month back building and cracking some ribs in the process, that put things behind schedule. When my two oldest sons came in town they finished the roof for me. Although the shed isn't 100% finished yet, it is dried in and it is now crammed full with three pickup truck loads of goods from the old $90/month warehouse and much stuff from out of the garage. That made room to get to all of my tools and store stuff from the kitchen into other regions. Next came the gutting of the kitchen. It is now an empty shell with all the cabinets and the old pantry torn out. However Murphy jumps into almost all of my projects. That hideous pink tile back splash would not come out without pulling the drywall with it; so, I've had to cut it all out. Next step is to move some wiring and then patch up the walls once again. As much as I hated to remove the drywall, it turns out it was a good thing to do. One section of the vapor barrier had condensation on it. Why? Because, the roof has a leak! Now the house has a roof replacement coming up too! However, I'm not a glutton for punishment and someone else can get paid to do that job. After the cabinets get installed on the 11th, it will take three weeks for the granite people to add the counter tops, so I will be making a makeshift one out of plywood. While delivery of the counter tops is being waited for, I've got three rooms in the house to put laminate flooring down. Also the front door is rusting out, so it also needs replacing and a storm door will be added. At this point Margo and I will once again be out of money so projects will come to an end until the next windfall of cash comes along. So you see, I've been rather busy, literally working 12-15 hour days to get all this wonderful stuff done. I did manage to take a day and a half off last week in order to spend some time with my son that came down from Canada for a visit. There is no end in site to home projects, so don't expect much from me in the way of post until about September at which time I get laid off work for four weeks. Even then, I'm planning to escape form here the last two weeks of September for at ten days and maybe go up north and catch some fall colors. I sort of miss posting at time and especially miss the interesting thoughts that you folk express from day to day, but once I broke my BLOG compulsion it has been much easier to just ignore it when other priorities come into play. |
| A Few Rants for the Night |
| 07.22.04 (9:35 pm) [edit] |
|
1) Sandy Berger - what can I say? So far it looks like this is going to be one more case of smug political elitism letting someone get off the hook. If during my twenty-year stint with the intelligence community, had I walked out inadvertently (or other wise) with classified documents, my butt would have been in jail, end of story! Martha Stewart can go to jail for her part (not that I'm condoning her action mind you) because she is not political, but good old Sandy can be excused by all his political cronies for sneaking papers out of the National Archives? Worse yet, he trashed a bunch of them! There is room here to question his motives in that stuff, but I will leave this detail to the talking heads. My main point - when is a political type going to be held fully accountable for their corrupt actions by any party? Democrat and Republicans alike, I urge you to look at this case and closely watch what is going on from both sides of the fence. National issue and principle don’t count for shit anymore in both parties. I strongly suggest all of you to think of voting for a third party option, just to wake these clowns up. Maybe then we can have a look see if once again partisanship can be replaced with civics. 2) 911 Commission findings - yet another what can I say! Political and partisan white wash here from both sides of the fence. Mostly what this effort has accomplished is to trash a few more millions of the taxpayer's dollar. The only real conclusion seems to be "We need another cabinet level appointee to oversee the intelligence services." Once again from an insider's point of view, I can not necessarily argue there is not a need to share information better. Agency heads tend to treat the other ones as if it is they who are the enemy. Such turf wars make me sick! It is time to put egos aside and once again for them to become public servants! First the Director of Homeland Security, and now an Intl Oversight Director? Why can't they be one in the same? For all that, wasn't there supposed to be a consolidation of efforts, one that didn't expand the size of government when the Homeland Security Office was established? I'm guessing this has not and will not happen. Each one of these offices comes with a new army of staff. I will concede, if they are needed then they are needed, however, lets cut fat someplace by getting rid of some redundancy in these various agencies. Some redundancy is good, but there is a point where it becomes ridiculous. Given that national defense is clearly a constitutional requirement, I suggest the government cuts some fat by getting rid of the Office of Education, OSHA and Urban Welfare. Those are state's issues and most states could undoubtedly do a fine job of things if the FEDS just stopped beating them to the punch in picking the publics' pockets for funding such programs. I will say it again, excessive federal intervention is like dealing with drugs, the more hands a program goes through the more things get stepped on and who the hell knows what is really in the final product? Only about 10% of the money, that is a fact! 3) The Olympics - It was announced yesterday that 300 Military Special Operations personnel are being sent to Greece to assist in security operations for the event. WTF? Our SPECOPs types are already being run through the ringer in Afghanistan and Iraq; there aren't enough of them to go around as it is, or to even rotate properly. As far as this retired soldier is concerned (add to that a bountiful taxpayer) if the Olympics requires us (the US) to send 300 SPECOP troops (or any military for that matter) to a foreign nation to provide security operations, we don't need to be involved in the damned event! Until the day comes where the media informs me 3000 people were killed in this county by foreigners throwing javelins and discus' at them, I say to hell with providing security for an Olympic event on foreign soil! Now that these three thoughts are off my chest, things are feeling much better now! ;-}) |
| Alligator Bites Man - Man Bites Alligator Back |
| 07.19.04 (8:37 pm) [edit] |
 Kevin McAllen, 34, of Foley, said he was bitten on the leg July 16 while wading in waist-deep water in the public swimming area at Gulf State Park Resort, in Orange Beach, Alabama. "I didn't see him, but I felt him," McAllen said. "I felt something tug at my leg and, you know that instinct you have to reach down when something like that happens. I touched his head. He started to roll and then let go of me." McAllen was treated and released after receiving about 20 stitches to close the wound about three inches above his right ankle. Not to make light of Mister McAllen's wound, but he was very lucky, because surviving an alligator attack while you are in the water has just about the same odds as winning the lottery jackpot. Kevin gets the last laugh on this one though, because today a licensed trapper caught and killed the 8.5-foot, 200 lbs. Alligator that had taken up residence in the park's swimming area. The trapper gets to sell the hide for his effort; Mister McAllen gets the meat and a museum will get the head once a local taxidermist stuffs it.
|
| Observations on Martha Stewart Living |
| 07.16.04 (9:27 pm) [edit] |
|
Well, the Martha Stewart verdict is in. 5 months in the pen, 5 more in house arrest, 2 years supervised parole and $30,000 in fines (pending about two years of appeal time). In a way I have to admire Martha, not just for her talent, but for her ability to become a self-made person. She can be a bit of a biatchie granted, but she also has endured a lot of personal crap in her life from her ex, the personal secretary her ex ran off with, and other staff that tried to take advantage of her. That does seem to be grounds for most people to justify a bit of bitterness. At the same time, she has shown herself to be loyal to the people who are loyal to her, and that is a very positive sign of character. Unfortunately just because she is a powerful, self-made, wealthy woman (that isn't a rock or movie star) gives a lot of people cause to dislike her. I make no allowances for Martha's complicity in lying; that was wrong and there should be a price to pay for it. The sad part to me is to look at the balance of this case in comparison to say the Clinton's, White Water for Hillary and Monica for Bill. Their investigations and hearings also took millions of tax payer's dollars to peruse, and of course there is no doubt as to their guilt of inside trading and perjury, yet they walked away untouched; well now that isn't exactly true is it. Let us see - now Hillary is a Senator and she made all those millions on an auto biography, Bill also makes millions on talking tours and now has his own book hitting the shelves. It seems that one group of people's sin is a reason worthy of making them a cult following icon, one to be showered with riches, but when someone does this, say like Martha, it is reason to wish the worst for her. Sorry folks, but someone just needs to show me the reasoning for this. The justification for two drastically measures of justice for essentially the same issue indicates to me that Martha is due a gracious amount of understanding and a speaking tour, or that Bill and Hillary are due some jail time and house arrest. Justice system my @! If I had done something like this I know where I would be. :arrow: Go to jail, go directly to jail, do not pass Go, do not collect $200! |
| Observing John Edwards on Fox News Tonight |
| 07.15.04 (8:08 pm) [edit] |
| Did anyone else catch John Edwards on Fox New tonight discussing the Amendment issue on same sex marriage? I thought he was doing a real smooth job of discussing his position on it being a state's rights issue and all that; then he turned onto President Bush and said, "This just isn't a focus issue in the Constitution." I was with him right up to that moment, and then in the next words he said "Misters Bush needs to focus on Constitutional business like unemployment, health programs etceteras." My question is, where in the hell is unemployment, health programs, education and all the other social programs even vaguely mentioned in the US Constitution? It seems to me that these are all State's rights/responsibility issues as well. When is there ever going to be a political candidate that comes into the forefront that even remotely has it right? |
| A Measure of Time |
| 07.13.04 (3:36 pm) [edit] |
|
Time is the rhythm of a heartbeat. Times measure is gauged by the sensation of a stomach. Time never passes quickly enough, especially in moments of boredom or anticipation, but always fleetingly when you are having fun. Time becomes meaningful with the measure of a device, but eventually you learn it has more meaning when measured by experience.  Time changes from something infinite to finite, with the passing of your first loved one. Time is something to be managed, compressed and filtered; priorities are juggled and values cast aside for the next moment. Time becomes pinnacle with the realization that it is likely there are less than half of your quota of heartbeats left to you. Time becomes fleeting, not because it moves any faster, but because each moment of it becomes proportionally smaller to the scope of your experiences. Time becomes precious, because you realize you have few peers left to share it with; there is a realization tomorrow can never be taken for granted again and each day becomes accepted as a gift. Time is bitterly frozen when you are aware of its passing, but you are incapable to move at its cadence. Time becomes eternally meaningless when the old vessel you used to measure its passage lays inert, but the spirit of your essence remains. Time is now measured by how you used it and nothing more remains. |
| Immigration Concerns |
| 07.12.04 (6:37 pm) [edit] |
|
For some reason questions on immigration and citizenship have been playing through my mind a great deal lately. This is kind of a personal issue because my wife is an immigrant. My wife doesn't want to become a US citizen and frankly I can see her side of the issue. She is however a legal resident with the option of becoming a US citizen any time she wants to. She has a nice paying job; she pays lots of taxes, social security, and Medicare etceteras. Outside of an identifying accent when she says out or house and her odd colloquialism of asking for a serviette rather than a napkin or referring to a knit cap as a toque, she blends in as a born and raised in the USA kind of person. Although she has never studied for the citizenship test, I've read over a couple of the sample tests and I'm confident she already has the knowledge to pass it on a moment's notice. Oddly enough, I'm convinced that at least 25% of the US native born and raised citizenry couldn't pass this test if it was given to them; the sad fact is this test is primarily geared toward demonstrating an understanding of government structures and their operating principals. There is some historical stuff in the test, but not much, and most of the questions I saw were tough ones like 1) Who was the first president of the United States or 2) state at least one reason that lead to the start of the War Between the States. The main reason the wife doesn't want to become a US citizen is her only real benefit in doing this is her right to vote and an ability to get a federal job; other than this, her status as permanent legal resident gives her all she needs. The real loss to the wife by claiming US citizenship is her Canadian citizenship. Canada recognizes dual citizenship, but unless you are under twenty-one the USA doesn't. She was born and raised in Canada, her family still lives there and the only reason she is in the USA is she had the misfortune to fall in love with a Yank that loves Canada but has a significant snow allergy. Canada's approach to duel citizenship settles well with me. The overall; the gist of it is 1) you have to uphold the laws of both lands as best possible 2) if you are in one of the two countries their law is the premier one and 3) there will be no international intervention on the behalf of the violator. The problem with obtaining a US citizenship is you have to denounce all allegiance your old government (note there is a matter of Canadian social pension here, stuff she has already paid into). The only problem I would have with Canada's offer of duel citizenship is I would have to be there a total of three of four years and I'm not sure how I could accomplish this without suffering at least two winters there. Work visas look much more practical if it ever comes down to such a case. Still, there is something that bothers me about the current status of immigration into the USA. Right now the US takes in about 2.5 million legal immigrants. The big issue here is one has to add 7 million more to that figure to correct the actual immigration rate, the illegal immigrants far outnumber the legal immigrants. To put a different perspective on things, if it were not for the combined legal and illegal immigration into the USA, for the past thirty-years the nations growth rate would be zero or slightly to the negative. What bothers me about this growth is the eroding effect it has on US culture. I'm all for freedom of choice, after all that is what the USA is all about, but the one area I'm not willing to yield an inch is language. Language is the cement that binds a culture. Now the Continental Congress put the language issue to a vote and by a mere one vote margin English was chosen over German. Of course rulings of the Continental Congress are not binding to modern law, but the immigration laws mandate one of the prerequisites for citizenship is being able to read and write English. This aspect has never been strongly tested, because reading the test and writing the answers to the questions on said test is itself the proof for language comprehension. Sadly, in an effort to buy votes, even this requirement has been given mass waivers innumerable times over the past eleven years in favor of a native language test. More vote buying has compromised citizenship requirements as well. There has been mass pardons given to the illegal immigrants and an most recently special status is given to legal immigrants that serve in the military; they now can gain citizenship in eighteen months rather than the four years of continuous legal residency as stated in the naturalization process. Now a lot of states are jumping on the bandwagon to give driver's licensee to illegal immigrants and there is serious talk in some states for giving non-citizens (illegal or otherwise) the right to vote in local elections. With all this political whoring going on, one almost has to ask, what is citizenship representative of anyway? California is a good example of my concern on cultural assimilation before gaining privileges of citizenship. Depending on the source, this state is composed of no less than 29 to 32% immigrants (much of it illegal); compare this to NY at 13.6%, TX at 9.5% and FL at 8.1%. Of course the Hispanic influence is a no brainier here, but 20% of the USA's Islamic immigrant population has also settled in California, as compared to 16.7% in NY, 8% in NJ, 7% in Ohio and 3% in MI, VA and IN. Immigrant concentrations in these numbers are very influential on the electoral process in a state as large as CA. To give way to the letter and spirit of the law by allowing vote pimping politicians to make continuous compromises is a dangerous thing. It is a security issue for a nation that officially is at war with Islamic Fundamentalist Terrorism, but this is a political euphemism for saying we are engaged in the third crusade. The saying is, "So goes CA and so goes the nation." Consider this - the revolutionary war was won with only 35% support. My question is, will CA and a few other states hold up some long standing principles, or will their political prostitution lead to an erosion of an undefined, but recognizable set of qualities that has melded people of many races and many cultures into a people of one spirit for over 200 years? I'm not against immigration, for that is the stuff this nation is built upon. I am not against cultural diversity, but I see no reason for allowing people to immigrate into a nation unless they are willing to embrace the essence of its culture and principles; this takes time of proof. With immigration comes growth, but the growth must be regulated to the needs of the environment (in this case the environment is economy), it must mutually benefit and not sustain a parasite; why tolerate immigration (legal or otherwise) if the immigrant is to become a welfare burden? Why allow student visas to people of nations known to tolerate ideological terrorism, especially in studies such as bioengineering and nuclear physics? Why should the US set a high lottery quota for nations that's immigrants form into settlements that become unrecognizable from the nation they left and fail to embrace immersion? Why should someone be liberally tolerated as an illegal immigrant because they are Hispanic in origin while people from another nation is not? Shark99, your not a citizen but you are a great American, you have grabbed the essence of Americana better than most of its native children. My work partner Noly, you’re a great American, you wonderfully meld your Filipino heritage into the culture that is America and your work ethic is inspirational. Margo my wife, you may never become a citizen (so you can remain tied to your family and the nation that nourished you so wonderfully), but in my eyes you are a great American too. You work your butt off; you show a deep love for the commitment of US military members and your understanding of how this nation works is far better than the average native citizen possesses. Where is the problem here? The problem is that corrupted politicians by pandering for votes and making countless compromise to the fundamentals of the immigration process have made a mockery of the sacrifices and efforts you have made to live here as a legal member of this nation. I thought when the 9-11 event took place the promise was to reorganize the INS and once again make it a meaningful organization and process. Can someone point out this effort to me? So far all I've seen is continued compromise by the politicians and not one damned bit of reorganization. |
| Not in the Mood |
| 07.11.04 (8:11 pm) [edit] |
|
Time to get back into the swing of things and start posting again. Even though I've already got a few things ready that could have been posted, my mood said doesn't it. For instance who gives a crap on my view of the development of musical tastes anyway? Such drivel might have gotten me a grade in my old music appreciation class though. The big issue is my feeling like crap, both from the dinged up ribs and the drugs to treat them. When I'm on a regiment of mind altering drugs such as loratab and cyclobenzoprine, at least I'm aware it does effect my mood and generally in a negative way, so I avoid saying much. As is noted in Krazydone's doll of me, this past week it seemed "I see stupid people" and in great abundance. As a rule of thumb I'm nice to the pilgrims that come down here. Of course it is my job to be nice to them, but it is also fairly much in my nature to want to be a positive part of their experience. However, this week it was hard to keep my civil servant demeanor in check. The question kept going through my mind time after time, "Why can't these states send their intelligent emissaries here on vacation?" I swear this week it seemed that states were mostly exporting dumb asses, especially Arkansas, which was closely followed by Louisiana. I'm just hoping it isn't something communicable with an eastward spread. Here are just a few of the things that piss me off with park patrons: 1) Stopping at the fee window only to answer a damned cell phone (or already be talking on one). What is the primary mission here, talking or driving, entering or holding up traffic? One ditz had about 15 cars backed up and had the brass to tell my partner when he asked her to pull around, "This will only take one or two more minutes" 2) People running the stop sign at the entry station, who then have the guts to say, "Oh, I didn't think the place was open!" Excuse me? Since when were stop signs and lines optional if you don't think there is anyone there to see you stop? My motto, "Discipline is doing the right things, even when you do not know anyone is there to notice the difference." 3) Then there are the people that run over the road cones. There are a series of road cones to narrow the road down to only one lane. I personally had to reset them five times Friday for idiots who ran over them. It is a good thing we don't have people standing out in the road to flag them over. I just loved the young lady from Tennessee who stopped at the first cone, got out of her car, and then walked over to the information window asking, "What should I do?" I gave her my best smile as I said, "The opening there is twelve feet wide, my guess is you will have plenty of room to drive through and pay the attendant." At least she didn't kill the cones and run the sign. 4) Friday and Saturday was the Blue Angel air show at Pensacola Beach; as the crow flies my beach is twenty miles from that location. Every year hundreds of locals, as well as a few pilgrims, come up to me and ask, "Where is the best place to see the air show from? This question from the tourists doesn't bother me as I expect them to be ignorant of the local geography (even when they aren't stupid) but the locals? My polite answer is "Over on Santa Rosa Island at Pensacola Beach" or "You can't seem them from here, the show is twenty miles to the east." More often than not their response will be, "So why can I see them from here? Did they not listen, or are they one of those unique people with an ability to see fleas doing a rendition of Swan Lake on a dog's back a block away? 5) Friday - right as I was closing up, this guy from Atlanta comes and wants to buy a pass and permit. The permit takes a fair amount of time to sell; there is no problem here; I just put out the please proceed sign and direct him to the rear of the building. Of course my focus is getting my last customer expeditiously out of the way and just going home to enjoy the weekend. So this guy pulls around and I do what I've got to do. First off, his drivers license is expired (his lucky day, I don't give a shit at this point) then his lady of the moment has to come out of the truck to be seen. This is one of those cases I often see on a weekend, where some guy in his late 40's to 50's comes in tow with a good looking woman that could at least be his daughter, but their actions say different. She comes up trying to distract me saying, "Has anyone told you that you look like the Wizard of Oz?" I raise an eyebrow and say "The Wizard of Oz?" And she says "Yea! You know, Ohmpa lompa dumpity do." About then her significant wallet of the moment says, "You meant Wily Wonka." She giggles, but she is determined to draw some attention to herself (and thusly slow me down), so she starts fanning herself by repeatedly pulling down her top to show me her puppies. She just didn't seem to understand I had seen one too many strange people already this week, and that nothing she was going to do was going to stop me from closing that damned station PDQ. Both of those odd balls went back to the truck ltike they had had the greatest of times and happily I was able to start my weekend. Why can't something like this happen at the beginning of the day when I could appreciate it? Any way, blame the grumpy Smoky Bear MIA thing on a beat up body and drugs. I stopped taking them this weekend, but tomorrow I get a broken front tooth pulled and an implant put in its place, so it will be a short reprieve. Both of my merchant mariner sons are off of their boats today and should be back in town by now so that should give me something to smile about. |
| Not in the Mood |
| 07.11.04 (8:11 pm) [edit] |
|
Time to get back into the swing of things and start posting again. Even though I've already got a few things ready that could have been posted, my mood said doesn't it. For instance who gives a crap on my view of the development of musical tastes anyway? Such drivel might have gotten me a grade in my old music appreciation class though. The big issue is my feeling like crap, both from the dinged up ribs and the drugs to treat them. When I'm on a regiment of mind altering drugs such as loratab and cyclobenzoprine, at least I'm aware it does effect my mood and generally in a negative way, so I avoid saying much. As is noted in Krazydone's doll of me, this past week it seemed "I see stupid people" and in great abundance. As a rule of thumb I'm nice to the pilgrims that come down here. Of course it is my job to be nice to them, but it is also fairly much in my nature to want to be a positive part of their experience. However, this week it was hard to keep my civil servant demeanor in check. The question kept going through my mind time after time, "Why can't these states send their intelligent emissaries here on vacation?" I swear this week it seemed that states were mostly exporting dumb asses, especially Arkansas, which was closely followed by Louisiana. I'm just hoping it isn't something communicable with an eastward spread. Here are just a few of the things that piss me off with park patrons: 1) Stopping at the fee window only to answer a damned cell phone (or already be talking on one). What is the primary mission here, talking or driving, entering or holding up traffic? One ditz had about 15 cars backed up and had the brass to tell my partner when he asked her to pull around, "This will only take one or two more minutes" 2) People running the stop sign at the entry station, who then have the guts to say, "Oh, I didn't think the place was open!" Excuse me? Since when were stop signs and lines optional if you don't think there is anyone there to see you stop? My motto, "Discipline is doing the right things, even when you do not know anyone is there to notice the difference." 3) Then there are the people that run over the road cones. There are a series of road cones to narrow the road down to only one lane. I personally had to reset them five times Friday for idiots who ran over them. It is a good thing we don't have people standing out in the road to flag them over. I just loved the young lady from Tennessee who stopped at the first cone, got out of her car, and then walked over to the information window asking, "What should I do?" I gave her my best smile as I said, "The opening there is twelve feet wide, my guess is you will have plenty of room to drive through and pay the attendant." At least she didn't kill the cones and run the sign. 4) Friday and Saturday was the Blue Angel air show at Pensacola Beach; as the crow flies my beach is twenty miles from that location. Every year hundreds of locals, as well as a few pilgrims, come up to me and ask, "Where is the best place to see the air show from? This question from the tourists doesn't bother me as I expect them to be ignorant of the local geography (even when they aren't stupid) but the locals? My polite answer is "Over on Santa Rosa Island at Pensacola Beach" or "You can't seem them from here, the show is twenty miles to the east." More often than not their response will be, "So why can I see them from here? Did they not listen, or are they one of those unique people with an ability to see fleas doing a rendition of Swan Lake on a dog's back a block away? 5) Friday - right as I was closing up, this guy from Atlanta comes and wants to buy a pass and permit. The permit takes a fair amount of time to sell; there is no problem here; I just put out the please proceed sign and direct him to the rear of the building. Of course my focus is getting my last customer expeditiously out of the way and just going home to enjoy the weekend. So this guy pulls around and I do what I've got to do. First off, his drivers license is expired (his lucky day, I don't give a shit at this point) then his lady of the moment has to come out of the truck to be seen. This is one of those cases I often see on a weekend, where some guy in his late 40's to 50's comes in tow with a good looking woman that could at least be his daughter, but their actions say different. She comes up trying to distract me saying, "Has anyone told you that you look like the Wizard of Oz?" I raise an eyebrow and say "The Wizard of Oz?" And she says "Yea! You know, Ohmpa lompa dumpity do." About then her significant wallet of the moment says, "You meant Wily Wonka." She giggles, but she is determined to draw some attention to herself (and thusly slow me down), so she starts fanning herself by repeatedly pulling down her top to show me her puppies. She just didn't seem to understand I had seen one too many strange people already this week, and that nothing she was going to do was going to stop me from closing that damned station PDQ. Both of those odd balls went back to the truck ltike they had had the greatest of times and happily I was able to start my weekend. Why can't something like this happen at the beginning of the day when I could appreciate it? Any way, blame the grumpy Smoky Bear MIA thing on a beat up body and drugs. I stopped taking them this weekend, but tomorrow I get a broken front tooth pulled and an implant put in its place, so it will be a short reprieve. Both of my merchant mariner sons are off of their boats today and should be back in town by now so that should give me something to smile about. |
| I Would Rather Be Sleeping |
| 07.08.04 (12:00 am) [edit] |
|
Why at this time of night am I sitting here typing up a post for tBLOG when I should be asleep? It can all be blamed on drugs and my lousy coordination on getting off of some scaffolding. The fall dinged up my ribs and shoulder to the point that horizontal is not a good thing (even moving is not a good thing). The old Sleep Number bed isn't overcoming this comfort issue, so I'm relegated to using drugs to try and make it through the night. The prescribed drugs are loritab 7.5 and methocarbimol; they both do make me drowsy, but they don't knock me out. About all I can do is lay flat on my back and not move; not being too good at that, my moving disturbs the wife and hurts me. Now cyclobenzoprine will knock me out and I tried it the other night; timing being everything, it didn't kick in until about 05:00am and then I slept until noon. Even when I do get some sleep under these artificial inducements, I'm prone to being very restless, endure disturbing dreams and snore so badly that Margo might as well put up with my moaning and groaning from the pain. As it is she will be perturbed that I'm not in bed where I belong at this time of night. Tomorrow (today actually) I'm going to go back to work and get paid for doing what I am supposed to do. I've stayed active enough the past few days to know I'm ready to make it through the day without any painkillers. Thank goodness my shift doesn't start until 11:00 a.m. or I would be worthless when the sun comes up. Only two days of work left this week and a weekend to recover and get back on schedule. Actually, Monday morning I'm going to get this broken tooth removed and an implant put in its places, so there is more like five days to recover and get back on schedule. Functioning at 07:00 a.m. does require a reasonably good sleep so it is best that goal be obtained. Frankly I hate shift work, but this may be one of the few instances it is a good thing. One good thing did come out of this accident; my daughter-in-laws took pity on me and came over and mowed the grass, as nice as that was, the good part to me was their company and a chance to see the grandsons. Dakota and I watched Haunted Mansion and I watched Hoot. It is a stretch to say Hoot is crawling, but he sure is mobile and it seems if he isn't being watched, he is headed to investigate things not best for eight-month-olds to get into. There is a smile on my face as flashback of his father dance through my head. He will be home in four days and will he ever have his hands full for the next month or so. Time once again to make an attempt at grabbing some shut eye. |
| My First Step in Breaking a Bad Habit |
| 07.06.04 (4:17 am) [edit] |
| Yesterday marked the end of my second month as being a member of the tBLOG community. Although I doubt anyone other than myself noticed, I did something very out of character to mark that moment; I did not make a post. It truly took more effort on my part to do what I did than to make the post, because there are a few "reserve" postings available for an on the spur moment of "if and when the need moves me" to post them. In fact, there was a rather verbose post drafted up for the very occasion of ending my second month with no missed posts. Cut and paste isn't very hard, but breaking my pattern was. Now that my attendance record has been broken, by force of will, it is my hope that this self-made obligation is out of my head once and for all. Having a BLOG urge has become as bad a habit to me as if there was a need for me to light up a cigarette, take a drink or suck down caffeine. |
| Scientists turn to Popeye to save planet |
| 07.06.04 (3:31 am) [edit] |
|
04 July 2004 Scientists have enlisted a new ally in the battle to save the planet - Popeye. They have found that spinach, which gives the cartoon sailor his superhuman strength, could be the power source the world needs to combat global warming. The discovery could lead to a new version of the old instruction: "Heat up your greens." Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported last week that the leafy vegetable could provide the missing ingredient needed to make solar cells sufficiently cheap and efficient to provide the world with electricity. The cells work by harnessing the power of photosynthesis to covert light into electrical energy. The MIT team - which reports its findings in the current issue of the scientific magazine Nano Letters - isolated photosynthetic proteins from the leaves, laid them on a thin gold film, and covered them with an organic material that conducts electricity. When they shone light on this high-tech sandwich, power was produced. Professor Marc Dando said that they aimed "to take advantage of two billion years of evolution" by building on the way that nature had developed to convert sunlight into electricity, rather than doing it artificially. But why spinach? "There's a lot of it and it's very, very green."He added that the team was now experimenting with peas too, and had thought of using "Olive Oyl" as a stabiliser. The olive is actually ahead in providing green energy. Five power stations burning olive oil already supply homes in Andalusia, Spain. By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor |
| "What the July Fourth Means to Me" |
| 07.04.04 (10:33 am) [edit] |
|
"For one who was born and grew up in the small towns of the Midwest, there is a special kind of nostalgia about the Fourth of July. I remember it as a day almost as long anticipated as Christmas. This was helped along by the appearance in store windows of all kinds of fireworks and colorful posters advertising them with vivid pictures. No later than the third of July -- sometimes earlier -- Dad would bring home what he felt he could afford to see go up in smoke and flame. We'd count and recount the number of firecrackers, display pieces and other things and go to bed determined to be up with the sun so as to offer the first, thunderous notice of the Fourth of July. I'm afraid we didn't give too much thought to the meaning of the day. And, yes, there were tragic accidents to mar it, resulting from careless handling of the fireworks. I'm sure we're better off today with fireworks largely handled by professionals. Yet there was a thrill never to be forgotten in seeing a tin can blown 30 feet in the air by a giant "cracker" -- giant meaning it was about 4 inches long. But enough of nostalgia. Somewhere in our growing up we began to be aware of the meaning of days and with that awareness came the birth of patriotism. July Fourth is the birthday of our nation. I believed as a boy, and believe even more today, that it is the birthday of the greatest nation on earth. There is a legend about the day of our nation's birth in the little hall in Philadelphia, a day on which debate had raged for hours. The men gathered there were honorable men hard-pressed by a king who had flouted the very laws they were willing to obey. Even so, to sign the Declaration of Independence was such an irretrievable act that the walls resounded with the words "treason, the gallows, the headsman's axe," and the issue remained in doubt. The legend says that at that point a man rose and spoke. He is described as not a young man, but one who had to summon all his energy for an impassioned plea. He cited the grievances that had brought them to this moment and finally, his voice falling, he said, "They may turn every tree into a gallows, every hole into a grave, and yet the words of that parchment can never die. To the mechanic in the workshop, they will speak hope; to the slave in the mines, freedom. Sign that parchment. Sign if the next moment the noose is around your neck, for that parchment will be the textbook of freedom, the Bible of the rights of man forever." He fell back exhausted. The 56 delegates, swept up by his eloquence, rushed forward and signed that document destined to be as immortal as a work of man can be. When they turned to thank him for his timely oratory, he was not to be found, nor could any be found who knew who he was or how he had come in or gone out through the locked and guarded doors. Well, that is the legend. But we do know for certain that 56 men, a little band so unique we have never seen their like since, had pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. Some gave their lives in the war that followed, most gave their fortunes, and all preserved their sacred honor. What manner of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists, eleven were merchants and tradesmen, and nine were farmers. They were soft-spoken men of means and education; they were not an unwashed rabble. They had achieved security but valued freedom more. Their stories have not been told nearly enough. John Hart was driven from the side of his desperately ill wife. For more than a year he lived in the forest and in caves before he returned to find his wife dead, his children vanished, his property destroyed. He died of exhaustion and a broken heart. Carter Braxton of Virginia lost all his ships, sold his home to pay his debts, and died in rags. And so it was with Ellery, Clymer, Hall, Walton, Gwinnett, Rutledge, Morris, Livingston and Middleton. Nelson personally urged Washington to fire on his home and destroy it when it became the headquarters for General Cornwallis. Nelson died bankrupt. But they sired a nation that grew from sea to shining sea. Five million farms, quiet villages, cities that never sleep, three million square miles of forest, field, mountain and desert, 227 million people with a pedigree that includes the bloodlines of all the world. In recent years, however, I've come to think of that day as more than just the birthday of a nation. It also commemorates the only true philosophical revolution in all history. Oh, there have been revolutions before and since ours. But those revolutions simply exchanged one set of rules for another. Ours was a revolution that changed the very concept of government. Let the Fourth of July always be a reminder that here in this land, for the first time, it was decided that man is born with certain God-given rights; that government is only a convenience created and managed by the people, with no powers of its own except those voluntarily granted to it by the people. We sometimes forget that great truth, and we never should. Happy Fourth of July." Ronald Reagan, President of the United States (1981) |
| A technical Hold |
| 07.03.04 (8:25 pm) [edit] |
|
He working on a scaffold, but fond himself baffled to be suddenly lying on the ground. For some obscure reason, he didn't seem to be breath'in, he could not even utter a sound. His wife when she found him, her heart was a pound'in, she wondered if his parts were lying around. She gathered up his arse, as he recovered from his farce, and drove him across the town. To the ER she would send him, to see if they could mend him, as he sat in that silly damn gown. With x-rays they scanned him, to see first hand then, if his innards were still looking sound. The doctor did reason, that he would have difficulty breath'in, with the banged up ribs he found. With drugs they did send him, back home to be mend'in, and told him to slow it down. Now the barn will just stand there, half finished and in disrepair, until a son comes back into town. :oops: |
| Just One of My Daily Ramblings |
| 07.02.04 (10:11 pm) [edit] |
|
The temptation not to post is very strong tonight, for there is no clear reason to do so. With the limited time I've got left in the day it is not conceivable to adhere to my normal post style (which I suspect to most is simply just being verbose and boring). However, I've not missed a post since starting this adventure May 6, 2004 and I'm not prepared to break stride tonight. So far my endeavors have lured in 5925 hits. Taking away my own launchings, that take place upon post execution, comes to roughly a 100 viewers per night average, but the current daily mode hit rate is more like 150 per day. This may be just a statistically relevant number, one based on random chance of tBLOG viewing, this I do not know, but I do know that the nice round number of 6000 feels a bit exciting and by tomorrow I should be there. Now comments on the other hand lag way behind my 150 hits per day mode average. Aside from Krazydone, (she has faithfully commented at least once a day almost since I've started this venture) it is unclear who my regular readership has been - aside from family members who are likely checking on me, to see if I'm becoming an embarrassment to the family. In truth, my family members have been very kind and supportive - if you feel my effort is wasted, you can blame this all on them, because they got me started. Anyway, my conclusion is my posts must be brilliant and evoke no argument; or they are so boring that people just say to themselves, "Ignore him and he will just go away"; or, the hit numbers are another tBLOG screw-up, and no one is really reading this stuff anyway. It maters not one bit in any case If anyone is getting something out of this effort; it is keeping me occupied and that is the important thing for the moment. I truly am grateful for all of you that do visit though and ecstatic when there is evidence you keep coming back. Yesterday Margo managed to make headway on her desire to get a new kitchen and she signed the papers. It was such a simple process at the Cabinet Depot that it leaves a lot of room to wonder why that after a month Lowes was unable to even give us an estimated cost. It was simply enjoyable to be here tonight when the installer came in to verify my measurements; my suspicion has been that Magoo doubted my abilities to get this done right, maybe she just wanted a second opinion, but in the end I was vindicated in my measurement and concept accuracy. The place we are dealing with made us an offer we couldn't refuse (only $110 to install 30 linear feet of cabinets), so now I do not even have to do the install. I didn't even question the cost of demolition for the old structure though, this aspect of the project just sounds like too much fun to let it pass by. Two more weeks to D-day! ;-}) Tonight the wife and I went out and saw Shrek II. No kids to take too it, no adult excuse for seeing it, just and admission that the first Shrek movie was enjoyable and it was time to get in touch with my inner child - truthfully I don't do that often enough. Tomorrow is literally a day to raise the roof. If the weather cooperates Margo will be turned into a carpenter's assistant and the rafters go up on the mini-barn. After that task is over, I will be able to put on the roof and siding by myself, if she decides she has had all the fun she can stand. The weatherman says it will hit 90 tomorrow, with a matching humidity; in those conditions I've literally got to consume about a half-liter of water every fifteen minutes, or become grossly dehydrated. Just the task of drinking enough water throughout the day will cut into the efficiency of my efforts greatly. Last weekend, even after drinking about ten liters of water each day, my water weight loss was five pounds; sadly it all come back by the end of the week. My hope for all you Yanks is that you have a wonderful Independence Day weekend. When you see those fireworks -for at least one moment, please remember in your heart all the sacrifice that was made on both sides. I'm not sure the founders of the revolution truly knew what they were creating when the effort to break away from English rule was initiated, but in the end it revolutionized the way the three countries involved in the war would lives their lives thereafter. All three nations took stock in what developed in the aftermath and all three live their lives today with a greater personal freedom in choice than anyone could have dreamed of at the moment. Perhaps even the descendants of my English cousins and banished patriots are not lamenting today, that their ancestors won most of the battles but lost the war. |
| A Television Show Disorder |
| 07.01.04 (11:50 am) [edit] |
|
I’m must be possessed by some fatal character flaw, one I’m aware of, but something which is elusively grounded in a root source not of my understanding. With some exception, I have a natural aversion for watching SITCOMS. Maybe my inner child is just too suppressed; maybe it is just my tendency to take life to seriously and analyze things too deeply, humor seems to be something that shouldn’t be analyzed, it should just come spontaneously, but mostly my sense of humor is a dry one - a product of analytical comparison. It is not that I don’t have a sense of humor, because that is just not the case. I lament the day the [i]Muppet Show [/i]and [i]Benny Hill [/i]went off the air; those shows offered me a bit of human insight through humor and they were important enough that they were part of life’s schedule. [i]Laugh-In [/i]is another show that I appreciate, but none of these examples are SITCOMS. It seems I’m one of the few people in North America that has not watched an episode of [i]Friends[/i] or [i]Steinfeld[/i]; well there is the Amish community to consider, but I’m guessing there is a cult among them that secretly crawls into a hay loft to watch [i]Stienfeld[/i] on a small forbidden battery powered television which is normally stashed in a corner of the barn behind a bail of hay. I’m convinced the Amish could find humor in the plight of a married man that can’t grow a beard; they might even find humor in an adolescent youth that thinks it is funny to stash power tools in papa’s tool-crib or an electric mixer in mama’s kitchen. Probably most of the Amish are more attuned to situation drama though. Only four SITCOMS come to mind that I definitively can state have received more than an occasional chance viewing; there is no doubt I’ve seen all the episodes of [i]All In the Family[/i], as well as most episodes of Barney Miller; my father loved those shows and I loved sharing time with my father. Most recently I can lay claim to having seen most episodes of [i]That 70’s Show[/i]; the source of motivation for this is not too different from the other shows. The wife is very close to her sister and Sis frequently extolled about how much she likes that show, it was inevitable that the wife would check it out, so the two of them can share common ground. A year back we bought a very practical bed, it is a Sleep Number Bed with a frame that can be contorted to a wide range of configurations, it vibrates in numerous different patterns as well; before this device came into the house the wife’s firm position was that a TV had no place in the bedroom… there are better things to do in bed. With six years and five major surgeries between us, the practicalities of a bed shifted with time; with the introduction of the new bed a year ago, the wife soon discovered that pleasure and comfort could come from the bed itself, that I am but an option in her evening comfort. The new bed was in place only a matter of days when the words are uttered from her mouth, “I think we should move one of the TV’s into the bedroom.” The wife beats me in bed most of the time thus gaining the edge in remote control domination; [i]That 70’s Show[/i] is replayed each night at her bedtime making this a prime sister to sister bonding opportunity, so taking my own opportunity to simply spend some time with the wife has given me cause to catch up on however many seasons of that show are in replay. It sure isn’t my intent to be critical of anyone that does enjoy a SITCOM, I recognize the humor, irony and satire they contain, but the thing that motivates other people to watch them just doesn’t seem to be engrained in my nature. My guess is that most people don’t always like too take their lives too seriously and they find it enjoyable to see someone else’s life be played out as a tragic comedy. When I see a SITCOM my impulse is to check out what is on [b]The Learning Channel, National Geographic, Discovery[/b]; even the [i]Iron Chef [/i]or an old movie is a much preferable option; failing to find any of that, I’m prone to just getting up to find something productive to do, or to squander time on the internet. I’m no better when it comes to so called Reality Shows. I’ve never watched an episode of [i]Survivor, Joe Millionaire [/i]or any of that other stuff. I will admit to watching all three seasons of [i]Tough Enough [/i]though; that is a major confession too, because in general I despise [b]MTV[/b] and I have just admitted I’m subject to giving in to my principle; however, I’m drawing the line on [i]Friends[/i] and [i]Steinfeld[/i] - they have escaped my view all these years so now it is a contest to ensure one of their episodes never gets the best of me. |
| Implications of an IRR Recall |
| 06.30.04 (2:18 pm) [edit] |
|
Today the Pentagon announced that it is going to call up retirees and inactive ready reservist from selected military occupational specialties in the Army. The word out is that those recalled can expect to be in Iraq and Afghanistan by December. This is a clear signal that the current military of the USA is woefully under strength to adequately serve the nation’s strategic needs. Military strength was greatly reduced in the early to mid 1990’s to bare bone levels. The rationalization for this was that the military was too expensive, the USSR had fallen - there are no real threats left, and the world is more at peace now than it has been in a century. In terms of military expense I defer to the Constitution of the USA; Atricle I, Section 8 (this is where the powers and responsibility of congress’ is defined) - It has eighteen articles of which six directly relate to issues of maintaining an appropriate military response and one additional article defines congresses responsibility concerning the rules of war. Why would over one third of these sections in the Constitution be directly related to military operations if it wasn’t a primary federal concern? I submit that military need is a foremost priority of the federal government and that it comes before other niceties this nation spends money on, but which have no reference as a constitutional requirement, such as free drugs, free lunches, social security and all the rest. Yes the USSR has fallen, but its remnants are still formidable and then there is China, North Korea and a plethora of other nations that have formidable military weaponry and less than cordial intentions. In terms of peace around the world, the fall of the Soviet Union was but an illusion; an evil empire or not, USSR influence stabilized a lot of general hostility - last time I checked there are roughly 138 wars and insurrections now taking place across the globe. The US is involved in a lot of NATO and UN peace keeping missions; perhaps we are just dumb enough to provide the core strength in these operations or smart enough not to trivialize the potential volatility of these situations and allow them to spread. A lot of the USA’s own citizenry seems to regard their country as war monger and bully because of its extensive involvement in so many fronts - in this regard I ask you to ponder this thought, perhaps many of the so called peaceful nations maintain a limited military and invest extensively in social expenditure programs because repeatedly throughout history the USA has demonstrated its goal is the assurance of world freedom and not imperialism; they know we will ensure the job is done. Perhaps it is better to be a premier military superpower fully capable of defending the collective peaceful needs of the world than it is to be a supper power (or less) among a world of nations which collectively or individually have the capacity to destroy the relatively peaceful existence North America has enjoyed for so many years. I’m not too bothered by the recall in itself, especially now that military service is voluntary and not compulsory; each person involved should have understood their commitment when they enlisted. However, I am bothered with the intent to put these folks on the frontline by December. This simply is not the way things are supposed to work in accordance with military doctrine; these folks should be replacing garrison troops who at the point of a recall of the inactive ready reserves should be National Guard members. The problem here is that there are no fresh combatant troops left. The active core of combatant and public affairs troops is so small that many of them are already starting their third combat tour since 9-11. Many of them left a combat zone only to be redeployed in such lovely settings as Bosnia, South Korea and other hostile places that have fallen out of the media’s limelight and hence they have become largely forgotten by the public. However, these deployments do require a large portion of US forces, almost equivalent to the total number of troops committed in Iraq alone. These troops are overused, under rested, and under trained because of repeat deployments and a lack of fresh replacements. So many times I have heard Donald Rumsfeld state that the nation is prepared to make as big of a commitment to Iraq as is needed, but the commanders tell him things are just about right. This is a political euphemism that equates to “There are no more troops left to augment with.” Because of inadequate numbers of servicemen, there is a distinct likelihood that the core of our current military will simply leave the service when the opportunity comes. No matter what these troops belief, passion or motivation was when they initially joined the military to serve their nations’ need, there does exist a limit of endurance in human spirit. Will the returned ones perhaps embraced the cause, but feel defeated all the same by the lack of their resourcing (timely replacements)? Will the un-anointed youth still join in sufficient numbers to fulfill the nation’s commitment when they sense the frustration of their returning older relatives and friends? It really is too late in this situation too fix it; be prepared for the draft to return next. The only real hope here is to get the troops collectively replaced in a relatively short period of time where our peace keeping efforts take place; I do not see this happening, because primarily Russia and China are the nations having the force necessary to accomplish this task; even if this was within their desires, this reality might be like having the fox guarding the henhouse. I would explain the problems of a rapidly expanding military force here as well; this task was a two hour block of instruction when I was a Noncommissioned Officers Course instructor - already there are some suggestions that my BLOG posts are too lengthy and verbose; just trust me when I say that rapid buildup of military force is not without consequence to its effectiveness. This effort needs to be accomplished at a relatively modest pace. I will just conclude my rhetoric by declaring that it is time to refocus on the constitutional priorities of our military, to resource the military realistically in accordance with the nation’s demands, and to insist that the media responsibly report tings in a balance fashion. I submit that there is less violence and death in Iraq now than there was before the coalition’s involvement, that before it was just Iraqi’s killing Iraqi’s so the world really didn’t give a damn as long as it wasn’t their people and the oil revenues kept coming in; but for some reason this wasn’t news. I submit to you a failure to stop Islamic radicalism will result in carnage in North America, Europe and many other places (take the Sudan as a prime example of my case here) to a degree incomprehensible to the average person. I for one will not be forced to face the east and pray five times a day. |
| Observations on Constitutional Corruption |
| 06.29.04 (7:40 pm) [edit] |
|
I'm still involved in my constitutional review and boring as this is to most people it will continue to be the topic of today's post. Exciting or boring as the Constitution may or may not be, it is supposed to be the foremost law of the land; responsible citizenry and leadership should understand it to the best of their ability and should uphold it, or press to have it changed to reflect current needs of the nation. Also, law should be in compliance with this document (that is to say not go counter to it) and all legitimate federal initiative should derive its purpose in direct support of the constitution. It is a very big stretch to justify many of the things the USA does today based on constitutional legitimacy; that is not to says that some of the things being done are not worth doing, but if they are truly merited it is worth taking the effort to legitimize them. The beauty of a limited federal government, one that favors a strong state's rights and responsibility, is that it enables the nation's citizenry to vote with there feet. If you don't like the way something is done in one state, one can always settle in another one. If the federal government becomes too big, if becomes too invasive in state's issue and usurps a state's authority, then conditions become ripe for the existence of a government that is capable of regulating the daily life activity of each citizen to the point that they have no place to go in order to exercise a freedom of choice. I submit that the government of the USA is dangerously close to being at this point already. Excessive federal interventions that are not grounded in constitutional legitimacy are incrementally subduing the citizenry of the USA. My ugly view of this issue is that people are being subdued by the same means as used by a drug dealer. Massive social entitlement programs become a personal dependency. Such entitlements cross the spectrum from social security to farm subsidies. Illegitimate wealth redistribution programs result in a dependency of the nation's citizenry to the powers of the government. Most taxes are so well hidden that few people have a true concept as to the magnitude of this wealth redistribution, its hidden costs and their resulting dependency. The current federal bureaucracy is so big and so convoluted, it is virtually impossible to know what really happens to the tax money, but estimates by accredited authorities indicate that for each federal dollar collected one dime makes to the original cause; the rest of the money is siphoned off in administrative cost, misappropriations, etcetera. It is like cutting drugs, each time the dollar gets moved; it gets stepped on and becomes diluted in its potency. Let me use schools as an example of illustration here, because this is one of my favorite pet peeves. No where in the constitution is there a legitimate reason for the federal government to be involved in the business of schooling with the exception of the establishment of military academies. The Ohio Act seems to be the first bit of federal legislation that mentions schools; this legislation doesn't dictate how schools are to be run, it just assures an initial means of funding them as the territories and subsequent states develop; thus this legislation is still in compliance with the constitution. A federal court ruling requiring bussing was the crack in the damn for federal intervention into schools. While I've got no beef with the principle of this ruling the method and outcome do greatly bother me. When busing was mandated the effected counties and states claimed that they were not prepared to immediately sustain the financial burden to implement this ruling; then in jumps the federal government to provide a grant as a solution, but of course the grants are conditional; do it my way or no money. Texas is an example of a state strong-armed by the federal government that I'm very familiar with. Texas in the 60's was booming and it ran so far into the black that its legislation had to go into overtime sessions each year to dispose of excess revenues, as require by the state's constitution. When it came to busing the state chose its own path to comply with the equal access ruling and refused federal money; this went on for years, but to the consternation of many political forces that promote federalization. The chink in the state's amour eventually turned out to be federal interstate money; this was the exception where the state did use federal subsistence; the federal ploy amounted to do it all our way or get nothing in return and pay up what we have invested. This was a burden the state was not ready to absorb on the spur of the moment. This ploy forced Texas to play the school busing game exactly to the dictates of the federal government. Eventually all of the other items followed... free lunch, frees breakfast and other so called freedoms that come at a price of a state's right in do things in their own way. The real point in all this is not to condemn or condone any of the school initiatives, but they are state and not federal issues. The federal role is to point out where a state's practices violate the constitution and it then should become the state's responsibility to resolve the issue. It is one thing for the federal government to advise a solution, but it is another thing to say there are no other options. Cut out the federal government, leave tax collections and redistribution to local or state governments, because the same objective can be accomplished but at a lower cost. There is a hand in hand outcome that is possible when the federal bureaucracy is eliminated; there is a lower overhead cost, which leaves more money to do the job from the same amount of money the federal government would have collected in the first place and there is the possibility of fulfilling the requirement of a task at a savings. This concept applies to almost any subsidy or redistribution program. I've got several friends and relatives who are farmers. It is interesting to hear their perspectives shift on subsidies. In one conversation it is, I can not afford to take that field out of the land bank, it pays so well doing noting and it is a sure thing." Then the same people will say in another conversation, "farmers couldn't make a living if we were not for subsidizes;" maybe this is true, but I doubt it. People will always be consuming food; it is just a case of what it costs, where it will be grown, by whom it will be grown and how many people will be growing the product. Long term a subsidy kills initiative, creates a dependency and seldom is it grounded in constitutional legitimacy when done by the federal government. Subsidies ultimately are a means to buy votes. What subsidies do accomplish is to develop a dependency that feeds the power base of career politicians; this enhances their ability to further their own position by increasing public dependency while eliminating free will and open options to the citizenry. Originally my intent for today's post was to point out more specific state reactions to constitutional amendments as I did yesterday; however, that task will be held off for another post, perhaps tomorrow. To conclude this constitutional discussion let me leave you with two last things. I have repeatedly heard Al Gore say that the U.S. Constitution is but a guideline and not the law of the land; this notion sends chills down my spine when I hear it from any person, especially a politician of his stature. I'm also drawn to a statement Tom Ridge made when he was first appointed by President Bush to head the homeland security effort. Mister Ridge clearly stated in his acceptance speech that people derive their legitimacy and rights from the government; this too sends chills down my spine. The USA and its constitution were formed on the notion that this is "... a government of the people, for the people and by the people;" Mister Ridge seems to think otherwise. Give this a thought, this concept is part of the Declaration of Independence and not the constitution; therefore it is not law. Now you have two examples where a prominent member from each of the two leading political parties is willing to promote or operate on a false notion. One repudiates the core source of our law and the other is willing to promote a notion that the law no longer serves the premise upon which it is founded. Their notions will take effect too, unless the citizenry take up the time to personally understand the history and concept of the constitution's formation and insist that its authority be exercised legitimately and in accordance to its structure. |
| Constitutional Ammendment Observations |
| 06.28.04 (2:34 pm) [edit] |
|
It is my practice from time to time to read the Constitution of the United States and its subsequent Amendments. For the past few weeks I’ve been in one of those constitutional review moods; this activity is relevant to a short story I’m writing, but this is a reoccurring event for me at the rate of about three times a year anyway. It is too bad our legislators do not make the process of change more easily understood. Certain articles and sections of the original Constitution have been amended numerous times, which of course means the amendments themselves have been amended. It all gets a bit confusing in my way of thinking, but then it seems this is the intentional process lawyers do things! Perhaps this is their way of ensuring their own job security by sustaining their ability to baffle the average citizen with BS. A nice way to make the changes would employ a system such as is used within the intelligence community; in their system the old stuff is never taken out, it is simply struck through and the appropriate changes are inserted into the appropriate area to reflect the current paradigm. This method sure clears up a lot of confusion, because its leaves a historical record of change on a specific concepts. To me an interesting aspect of my constitutional review is to observe how some of the states react(ed) to the proposals. Perhaps you will find some of my examples ironic or interesting in your own right. Article XIII This article repeals slavery. It was proposed in January of 1865 and ratified by December of that same year. Two states rejected this amendment only to ratify it a few years latter, notably New Jersey and Delaware. Now Florida liked this article so much it ratified it twice (Ok, the real reason is the state rewrote its own constitution so Florida felt the new government should ratify the amendment). There were some late comers to accept this amendment after they had already rejected this amendment though, Delaware held out until 1901 and Kentucky didn’t ratify it until 1976. The winner here is Mississippi that rejected this amendment in 1865 and still has not ratified it to this day. Article XV This article fixed some apparent oversights in Article XIII. It seems abolishing slavery was one thing, but being allowed representation was another thing in the view of many states, so Article XV sets things right by assuring that people of all race, color or previous status as a slave or indentured servitude have the right to vote and thus be represented. This article was first proposed February 1869 and it became law in March of 1870. There is a bit of conflict in this date though, because New York subsequently changed their mind and withdrew their ratification consent in January of 1870, only to change their position again in 1970. New York’s first change of position in this article didn’t change anything because by 1870 several other states came online to make this the law of the land and by the time the courts were ready to tackle this issue the whole majority thing was a moot point. There were also some late comers to ratify this article as well; Oregon was 1959, California 1962 and Kentucky 1976. The notable standout here is Tennessee which as never ratified this article. Enough civics for one day, perhaps there will be more to follow tomorrow. |
| The Most Functional English Word |
| 06.27.04 (10:32 pm) [edit] |
|
Well, it's shit...that's right, shit! Shit may just be the most functional word in the English language. Consider: You can get shit-faced, Be shit out of luck, or have shit for brains. With a little effort, you can get your shit together, Find a place for your shit, Or be asked to shit or get off the pot. You can smoke shit, buy shit, sell shit, lose shit, find shit, forget shit, and tell others to eat shit. Some people know their shit, while others can't tell the difference between Shit and Shineola. There are lucky shits, dumb shits, crazy shits, There is bull shit, horse shit and chicken shit. You can throw shit, sling shit, catch shit, shoot the shit, or duck when the shit hits the fan. You can give a shit or serve shit on a shingle. You can find yourself in deep shit or be happier than a pig in shit. Some days are colder than shit, some days are hotter than shit, and some days are just plain shitty. Some music sounds like shit, things can look like shit, and there are times when you feel like shit. You can have too much shit, not enough shit, the right shit, the wrong shit or a lot of weird shit. You can carry shit, have a mountain of shit, or find yourself up shits creek without a paddle. Sometimes everything you touch turns to shit and other times you fall in a bucket of shit and come out smelling like a rose. When you stop to consider all the facts, it's the basic building block of the English language. And remember, once you know your shit, you don't need to know anything else! You could pass this along, if you give a shit. Or not do so, If you don't give a shit! Well Shit, it's time for me to go. Just wanted you to know that I do Give A Shit and hope you had a nice day, without a bunch of shit. But if you happened to catch a load of shit from some shit head........Well, shit happens! |
| Logistic Setback |
| 06.27.04 (9:42 pm) [edit] |
|
By about 07:30 today I was up and at'em in the backyard laying out the truss pattern for the mini-barn's roof. Of course it was already 83 degrees F by then so I knew it would be another rough workday. After the pattern was worked out it was off to Lowes to buy another $475 worth of building materials. Out side of shingles and a couple of latches there is nothing more to buy though except for the four boards I cut wrong. So much for calling me Mister perfect! Now Lowes is a fifteen-mile drive from here in city traffic and there were two flat bed carts full of lumber , so that trip in itself killed four hours of the day. There were some steaks that had to be grilled today and by noon it was already 93, so it seemed wise to grill before starting any working. Magoo did the onions and mushrooms while I grilled. After that it was time to unload the truck and this too burnt up a fair of time; then it started to rained a bit as soon as the truck was unloaded. I'm not afraid of rain of course, but the thunder in the distance kept old sparky inside in order to prevent myself from becoming a human lightning rod for a third time. Besides, if I died before this project is finished Margo would once again be giving me hell for yet another unfinished project and this time it would be for eternity. Fortunately this location was on the very tail end of an extremely nasty thunderstorm so the rain didn't last long and it was back to work. While I did manage to get the trusses cut out and partially assembled, my motivation just died in the heat when it came time to lay out a gusset template. However, once I get thirty of those buggers cut out, the trusses will be fully assembled and things should go together fairly quickly. It is too bad my motivation died at 06:30 PM because it was just starting to get cool enough to work without drinking a half-liter water every fifteen-minutes. At least I will be getting off by 03:30 PM each night this week, so by next weekend things should be looking like a barn. By 07:00 PM the tools were all put up and the evening was spent watching TV and eating a few chips and dip. Sorry there is no deep meaning or moral to this, but at least my perfect attendance is still in store. P.S. Saint must have some big MOJO, because as I congratulated him for making it to #9 on Hot Blogs I also cried on his shoulder about being MIA from Hot Blogs myself for the past week. Yea that is a real lame thing to do I know!) He and I were flip-flopping positions almost daily for a week and then poof I was gone! The very next day after I wrote the Saint my BLOG was back on the List and still at #21, which isn't bad for not being listed a t all for a full week. For even being that high I must thank all of you loyal readers who have me linked to your own BLOG site. My advice is go to our local Saint if you have any problems, because Saint Marine can kick @ in solving problems as far as I'm concerned. Next time I might complain about not having a million dollars. |
| The Virtues of Hard Work |
| 06.26.04 (9:21 pm) [edit] |
|
Today was one of hard work for me. I've got a bit of a headache from the extreme heat and humidity, but I'm real pleased with my accomplishments and a bit of a headache is a fair price to pay. The truth is, if I dropped about forty pounds efforts like today's would more than likely be a bit easier on me. My job is a very sedentary one, so labor such as today is very therapeutic for me. What I've been doing today is building a mini-barn to use as storage space for many of the things that are piled up all over the garage and in a $90/month storage unit. Magoo and I have been paying on this unit now for two years. In that time we have spent enough money to build at least four barns like this one, so this project is long overdue. Margo and I have been flirting with the idea of buying a pre-built shed for a couple years now. In truth building this one will not be any cheaper than having one built for us, but in this case money isn't the issue; I just love working with wood. There is something to be said for taking raw materials and making something useful with them (hopefully aesthetic as well). From a realistic standpoint this barn will be better too. Full 2X4 and 6X6 lumber in this baby, none of that lightweight, just enough to get by material, is being used here. I've been looking a shed plans for a long time not finding one that is exactly what I want, so this barn is totally designed by me and that also has been a rewarding part of this experience. Today I achieved my goal of framing all the walls and building the deck. Once the deck was done things went by relatively fast and with ease. The first two hours of this project were shovel work; this was a necessary evil to get a level foundation to build the barn on. It is not carpentry work, but it still does the body good. Things would have gone a lot easier if this structure was not being built as a portable building, but there is something about getting a building permit that gals me and this way I do not need one. From a practical standpoint this building may have a new life elsewhere someday anyway, so portable is good. Tomorrow is truss building day and then all the framing members can be tied together and the sheathing can go on. Once the felt paper is in place on the roof it will already be a functional structure. But there will be some artistic things done to the barns' roofline and trim, so that may take a few extra hours after work for a few weeknights. My daughter-in-laws love to paint so I should let them do that, that way I can get some time in with the grandkids. When things are done I will post a picture or two of this project. I'm looking forward to making this come to a close, because then I will be able to get to my Shopsmith Mark V and then the real woodworking can begin. |
| Jury Duty Issues |
| 06.25.04 (7:55 pm) [edit] |
 Much of my adult life has been spent in the military and roughly half of my twenty-year adventure with the U.S. Army was spent overseas. Even when I was stationed stateside only half of that time was spent serving in a state for which I had a legal residence. While still serving in the military, the only time I can even recall receiving a summons for jury duty, my employer promptly took maters into their own hands. They contacted the court system assuring them that my job was considered vital to national security interest and that I was already serving in a higher civic cause.Since my retirement from the Army arrived, the call for jury duty started to become as regular as clockwork and the timing of the summons seemed to almost always come at the worst possible of times. My first four years after retirement were spent going back to collage and of course a student never wants to miss a class (yea right!), but especially an exam. Fortunately the local court system is rather sympathetic to collage students and it is a simple mater to just list the school of attendance and all is forgotten. (With all the 18-23 year olds around here that still trying to gel out of high school I'm wondering if this works for them too?) Upon graduation from collage it was time to do my civic duty and like clockwork the summons for jury pool selection came. Now I'm no expert on jury selection systems, but in my first call to the court all the potential jurist were seated alphabetically. Having a last name starting with an R placed me fairly far back in the seating. Albeit a lot of the potentials were rejected, the selection process was done well before the shysters got up to me. Upon leaving this selection a few things crossed my mind 1) Seating potential jurist alphabetically is about as dumb a concept as one could come up with and it bothered me considerably that the same people doing this were the ones ensuring that justice was properly and impartially being served. 2) There were a lot of drug possession cases being tried here and only one case among six was larceny, the rest were all dug position cases. For the record, I do not condone drugs. To me recreational drug use is a fool's errand and a sign of weakness. Self-control is too important an issue for me and I'm not willing to give it up for other than for a practical and legitimate reason. I can honestly say I've never used drugs for recreational escape, albeit I've become truly wasted on alcohol four or five times in my life, but not in one damned instance did I find the outcome enjoyable or funny. The only distinction I can make here with alcohol is that what I drink is consumed for the enjoyment of its flavor as a beverage; I do not drink to get a buzz. The problem with my friends, Jack, Johnny, Austin and Jose is that they can over power you in relatively small doses; it is not all that difficult to let them get control unless a good amount of self-will is exercised in the first place. My theory is, if you don't have self-will you shouldn't play with them. I'm fairly strict on a rule of not drinking more than one drink per hour or more than three drinks a day. Trying to ethicize drug use is not what I'm all about here thought. However, there are some aspects of current drug laws and their enforcement in the USA that I find very problematic and they go against my grain. As for laws focused on personal use and possession, I'm just simply not in favor of them. To me drug use is a medical issue and not a criminal issue. Now if I'm presented with a law that has exceptional penalties for breaking the law while under the influence then I've got no problem with that. DUI is an easy example of this, but committing a violent act under the influence of a drug also warrants an extra special severity in my book! Drugs are not an excuse for stupidity, but their abuse should be criminal if you let them become your excuse for doing something stupid or illegal. Our courts and jails are filled with personal possession cases and it is one hell of a waste of taxpayer's resources. I truly feel cheep legal sources of drugs would clean up a lot of the heinous crime that is associated with what is currently illegal drug use and that would be a positive benefit of drug legalization. It would be smarter in this case to focus on the illegal pedaling and holders, because the legitimate ones could be registered and monitored. Another problem with current drug laws is the inclusion of all hemp in this country as being tied marijuana. All marijuana is hemp, but not all hemp is marijuana and hemp could be and should be a valuable resource to this nation. It grows readily throughout the country and it is so versatile in its potential use. Its fibers can be used for making rope, cloth, and fine paper or plywood type products. Its potential as a fuel source could well surpass that of corn based fuels. Hemp has become a victim of a misguided conservative political cause and even its marijuana subset has some very persuasively useful medical applications as long as you're not a politician. Even then it is Ok just as long as you don't inhale. Paradoxically I will also state that in many jobs it is justified for an employer to demand screening and dismissal of any of its employees found to have drugs in their bodies. It all comes down to a case of rights but not necessarily rights without consequences. Dropping out of high school or getting married is not an exception to my concept here; they too are choices made with possible consequences but we see people do these things each day and it isn't a problem and often the outcome is not bad. After flirting with the Libertarian party for almost a decade a time came five years back where I dropped my affiliation with the old party in favor of the Libertarian one. Like all political parties it isn't perfect to my desires, but an honest and critical assessment of its ideology seems to conform more to who I am than any other party. The Libertarian approach to drug legalization is attuned much to my way of thinking, albeit admittedly this is not factor that drew me over to them. The party has a core platform of reducing the federal government back to constitutional legitimacy and letting the states have the majority of exercise in our government rule and I think this is wise. Now the last time I was called to jury duty it became obvious that I was going to be stuck with another personal possession case and it was painfully obvious that seating now favored me to get selected this time around. When the lawyers asked the prospective jurors if there was anything in their background that would possibly bias their decision to rule in favor of the law I raised my hand. Several others stated their case before with the typical response being, 'I've been busted for drugs; my family member is in jail over drugs, etceteras.' When it came to me I raised my registration card and said, "For the record. I think drug use is stupid and I have no doubt of my ability to rule in accordance with the law; however, I am a registered libertarian and not in agreement with many of those laws. Still, I am more than willing to serve on any other type of case but I would prefer not to serve on this one." At this point the judge started to scribble down some notes and asked for my name. I have never been called back to jury duty since that time. This in itself of course is a miscarriage of justice, because there was a wrongful damage case following this one. However, if your one of those people looking to duck out of jury duty... just try registering as Libertarian and then use my line of logic; it seems chances are good you will be black listed and never get called back to serve in a jury pool again. |
This free script provided by
JavaScript
Kit
Look Around You
