It is possible that I contracted the R2D2 flu, or the H1N1. Then again it could merely be another plague from another crisis. Whatever it is, it had me fooled. I thought it was almost gone, then it attacked with a passion. It is not fun but I am sure my system is fighting it off. All the cells of my being have been instructed that we cannot afford the usual indulgence into illnesses in which many luxuriate every few months, or at least once per year. Those things are for the rich, and unionized workers.
Off that topic, but on my mind, is the ever growing tendency for written material to mix the words "then" and "than" as if they were synonymous. They are not. Than indicates a comparison, and then indicates a sequential relationship.
Examples: John Holmes was bigger than a Cuban cigar. First she said "no", then she said, "yes, yes, yes!".
See what I mean?
Several times lately, I have seen then used instead of than, and vice versa, in various publications which pay their writers, and editors. On the amateur level, these things happen, and I don't nitpick grammar, but paid professionals should hold to a higher standard and be a source of reference regarding how words are properly used, to some extent. Maybe when we give way entirely to modern hieroglyphics these things won't matter. I have visions of odd graphics involving Holmes and Fidel.
I need to wash my mind out with soap or paint thinner. That last vision was a bit much.
Blame this illness for my inappropriate entries. I ate one pound of party peanuts in 24 hours. That seems excessive. They were on sale.
It does seem that the wealthier areas of the city tend to be home to the most shapely and in shape women. I wonder if that doesn't create some sort of genetic disposition to be both wealthy and beautiful after a few generations, or if it is all done with surgery and polymers. Once again, I urge people not to support any of the attacks on the rich. Leveling everyone down could result in all of us being ugly or unremarkable, and that would be no fun, and make my work environments less enjoyable. From a distance it is easier to appreciate people for things other than their minds. Close up, it is often impossible to appreciate them for their minds. I like keeping the distance.
oh great. The cell connection dropped. I think someone has a jammer on Ballistic mountain. It drives me nuts. I expect the phone to be spotty but the computer is on another network that should be reliable up here. I think it is due to my subject matter and non compliance with the prescribed thoughts we are supposed to embrace. The Thought Czar may be on to me.
Friday, October 23, 2009
If All Your Friends Jumped Off A Bridge, Would You?
Back in the day, before such things were dealt with by lawyers and child services, teachers and parents often posed the bridge jumping question to kids who used the “everyone else is doing/did it” in an attempt to gain permission for something, or to water down the blame for an unacceptable act. My reply was, “It depends on the bridge”.
On a larger scale, the world of adult governance, commerce, and general mayhem seems to follow this same principle. There have been those in America who forever yearn to be chic like France and other European countries, or regimented in military lockstep like China or other totalitarian states. I never understood the thinking. Why would we want to emulate cultures that we’ve either had to rescue from themselves or that place so many restrictions on individual autonomy?
It brings back memories of high school history and government teachers who longingly discussed unicameral legislative bodies because they are “more efficient”. Obviously they did not understand the purpose of the system we have, which is to hedge against too efficient a system of making laws and spending money. If you have ever had to deal with a large mob, swaying them from near riot to placidity, you know how easily and quickly a majority changes its stripes and opinion. By making the process slow and difficult, acting on imprudent whim is minimized. The majority is very prone to stupid snap decisions.
The latest and most dangerous instance of all our friends jumping off the bridge is this proposed Copenhagen treaty for climate change and bankrupting developed nations. China is not buying into this. That is one thing about super police states, they don’t pretend to be sorry or out to promote the welfare and threat of enemies. Only Europeans and Americans do that. We are all ashamed and feel guilty for odd reasons. Mostly for behaving in the past somewhat like third world countries and self proclaimed victim states behave now. The worst of old Europe barely approaches the worst of present day Islamic states.
Still, we don’t want the rest of the world not to like us and withhold their approval; even if we have to buy it by slitting our own wrists.
The predictions of doom and assertions that “the science is all in onglobal warming climate change” remind me of that Mark Twain story in which the guy convinces the people he made the sun go away and come back because he knew when the solar eclipse was due. It is slightly different, but placing blame for slight trends in climate, and convincing everyone if they just stand on their heads and hold their breath that we can fix it is not too far from the general idea.
Who wants to stand against the crowd? You get painted as an evil redneck by the usual suspects who talk down at the masses in their best disapproving intellectual voice, spouting obscure half truths based on questionable studies and dubious conclusions.
Then again, just because the proof is lacking in solid basis, and dissent is akin to a scientist asking to have his career and reputation crushed, it doesn’t mean the sky isn’t really falling, or could some day.
We better jump off the bridge so no one thinks we are weird.
On a larger scale, the world of adult governance, commerce, and general mayhem seems to follow this same principle. There have been those in America who forever yearn to be chic like France and other European countries, or regimented in military lockstep like China or other totalitarian states. I never understood the thinking. Why would we want to emulate cultures that we’ve either had to rescue from themselves or that place so many restrictions on individual autonomy?
It brings back memories of high school history and government teachers who longingly discussed unicameral legislative bodies because they are “more efficient”. Obviously they did not understand the purpose of the system we have, which is to hedge against too efficient a system of making laws and spending money. If you have ever had to deal with a large mob, swaying them from near riot to placidity, you know how easily and quickly a majority changes its stripes and opinion. By making the process slow and difficult, acting on imprudent whim is minimized. The majority is very prone to stupid snap decisions.
The latest and most dangerous instance of all our friends jumping off the bridge is this proposed Copenhagen treaty for climate change and bankrupting developed nations. China is not buying into this. That is one thing about super police states, they don’t pretend to be sorry or out to promote the welfare and threat of enemies. Only Europeans and Americans do that. We are all ashamed and feel guilty for odd reasons. Mostly for behaving in the past somewhat like third world countries and self proclaimed victim states behave now. The worst of old Europe barely approaches the worst of present day Islamic states.
Still, we don’t want the rest of the world not to like us and withhold their approval; even if we have to buy it by slitting our own wrists.
The predictions of doom and assertions that “the science is all in on
Who wants to stand against the crowd? You get painted as an evil redneck by the usual suspects who talk down at the masses in their best disapproving intellectual voice, spouting obscure half truths based on questionable studies and dubious conclusions.
Then again, just because the proof is lacking in solid basis, and dissent is akin to a scientist asking to have his career and reputation crushed, it doesn’t mean the sky isn’t really falling, or could some day.
We better jump off the bridge so no one thinks we are weird.
Finally, Someone On the Global Climate Religious Fringe is Taking Dogs to Task; and spying on me
I won’t go find the article. It is more fun when people think I make things up, or get mad and lecture me on the finer points of wildlife management and such.
However, it seems like the astute academicians who discovered this new global threat are out of New Zealand ( a beautiful country which unfortunately already has one very strong strike against it in my book of personal geographic plusses and minuses). The geniuses in question point out in their new book, and I may be paraphrasing, Save the Planet, Eat Your Dog, that the carbon footprint of owning a full sized dog is the same as that of owning a Land Rover and driving 10000 KM per year. Of course that’s only about 6000 miles per year.
*****OK. There was much more to this when I wrote it last night. Today, it is gone. That is because these pet eating environmental extremists have censored me. I’ll bet they are watching me right now; probably with pepper and spices in one hand, knife and fork in the other. First they eat their pets to save the earth, next they’ll be eating useless citizens–those who don’t support them and buy their book.
New Zealand has the ambiance of a peaceful place with an abundance of very good looking women, but the island is besought with demon people who mingle among the population wreaking havoc. Most people don’t know this. I was lucky to escape with my life and without committing serious crimes like extended neck wringing or feeding someone to the sharks. I knew something was up when I discovered that NZ drivers do not stop and slow down for pedestrians, they actually speed up pretending pedestrians are invisible.
So, if you are one who thinks the earth can be saved and that it is truly under threat of dying from man made things like indoor plumbing and the Vincent Black Shadow, and you have a dog and/or a cat, or multiples thereof, you are contributing to the problem as much as the person who drives the Hummer that you think is evil. Hypocrite. You can only regain an air of integrity by eating the pooch.
Just wait, the pet carbon footprint crisis will be the next one used to control behavior similar to the devastating and crucial obesity crisis. I can only guess at the SUV equivalent of maintaining a child. Better be careful, today your mutt, tomorrow your bratty little offspring.
It’s good to see a modern religion that may get around to human sacrifice. Actually, it already has, but in more subtle ways than the old Aztec method. The Save the Earth church of behavior modification and hatred of humankind; no longer just for the wealthy radical chic.
Maybe if I become a deacon, or whatever their holy rankings are called, I can avoid being had for dinner.
However, it seems like the astute academicians who discovered this new global threat are out of New Zealand ( a beautiful country which unfortunately already has one very strong strike against it in my book of personal geographic plusses and minuses). The geniuses in question point out in their new book, and I may be paraphrasing, Save the Planet, Eat Your Dog, that the carbon footprint of owning a full sized dog is the same as that of owning a Land Rover and driving 10000 KM per year. Of course that’s only about 6000 miles per year.
*****OK. There was much more to this when I wrote it last night. Today, it is gone. That is because these pet eating environmental extremists have censored me. I’ll bet they are watching me right now; probably with pepper and spices in one hand, knife and fork in the other. First they eat their pets to save the earth, next they’ll be eating useless citizens–those who don’t support them and buy their book.
New Zealand has the ambiance of a peaceful place with an abundance of very good looking women, but the island is besought with demon people who mingle among the population wreaking havoc. Most people don’t know this. I was lucky to escape with my life and without committing serious crimes like extended neck wringing or feeding someone to the sharks. I knew something was up when I discovered that NZ drivers do not stop and slow down for pedestrians, they actually speed up pretending pedestrians are invisible.
So, if you are one who thinks the earth can be saved and that it is truly under threat of dying from man made things like indoor plumbing and the Vincent Black Shadow, and you have a dog and/or a cat, or multiples thereof, you are contributing to the problem as much as the person who drives the Hummer that you think is evil. Hypocrite. You can only regain an air of integrity by eating the pooch.
Just wait, the pet carbon footprint crisis will be the next one used to control behavior similar to the devastating and crucial obesity crisis. I can only guess at the SUV equivalent of maintaining a child. Better be careful, today your mutt, tomorrow your bratty little offspring.
It’s good to see a modern religion that may get around to human sacrifice. Actually, it already has, but in more subtle ways than the old Aztec method. The Save the Earth church of behavior modification and hatred of humankind; no longer just for the wealthy radical chic.
Maybe if I become a deacon, or whatever their holy rankings are called, I can avoid being had for dinner.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
I've Been Thinking
This is a good thing; I think, therefore I am, which is better than I ain’t. Often the trouble begins when I think many thoughts almost simultaneously. I am of the belief that true multi-tasking is a myth. Like a computer, you can really only process a thing at a time, but it seems like you can do many things at once because of the quick toggle between tasks. Most self proclaimed multi taskers are like cops and reporters, they do not pick up on the details with anything resembling accuracy. About 77% retention in the best case.
OK, I’m sure some will find that a point of contention. That’s OK. Being wrong is an inalienable right. These days it is pretty much law.
Among other things, I’m wondering if Paul had to do sexual favors in order to keep his long standing Letterman gig.
I think I will cover the tune “On the Road Again”(?) by Canned Heat, if I’m not mistaken. It was playing at my favorite gas station, and I thought I could do it with this group, and do it my way. Knowing I could cover the harp parts three times over and more doesn’t hurt. I would do the vocal more natural to me but not likely do an operatic version. I can see a bluesier, semi Morrisonesque take on it. Trust me, if I could pull it off the way I hear it in my mind, it wouldn’t be an embarrassment. Otherwise, it very well could be.
People are so quick to find villains for their woes that it is creating a very strange sort of witch hunt atmosphere. More than usual I think. The MO is attack the person, an industry, the rich, the poor, any person or group; ridicule and demonize, but don’t actually reason and debate the issue. Most of the issues, by my way of thinking, have no business on the table anyway, in the context of political or governmental action. If I really believed the climate was changing due to man made products and their use, I’d feel better about leaving the solution to the creativity of free individuals and institutions than to the same people who brought us drawn out, limited wars and made producing your own electricity illegal only a couple of decades ago. Not to mention all the other wonderful ills they’ve foisted on the country; IRS, etc.
I can’t say I am sure I agree with some of the current dissenters on many things. I do agree that the current congress and administration are way over the line in almost everything they touch. Few people on either side see the principles in the same light I do. I advise against cooking or even making coffee naked, however, in your own home, do as you like. I advise against abortion, in most cases, but I disagree with making it a matter of law. Some things that others do which you don’t like should just be left to cultural pressures or whatever, but in the end, leave the law out of it. It used to be a joke that they would start dictating diet, and now, holy smoke, they are all over it. Freedom does not mean you run amok and rape and pillage and do every crazy thing imaginable. Having the right to do things differently in a private life has got to be preserved. This forced conformity and worship of the collective, or the community is purely the road to a slave state, like Brave New World, Anthem, or 1984. Those are books written some time ago which ring eerily relevant to our current public “discussions” and laws.
Where can you go to live with less red tape and nonsense? I guess you have to find a hollow tree in a bear infested forest with few park rangers. Tough thing if you actually like people, just don’t like involuntary servitude and minding everyone else’s business.
It’s the politics of resentment. I heard that extended and intense resentments were unhealthy physically as well as mentally. They can cause your body to decay or something. Fostering and feeding resentments should not be applauded. That is what is happening, and it is done by avoiding full disclosure and facts. Problems should be fixed, when they are yours to fix, but that is not what any of this is about. Most people did not know that we had a health care crisis until we heard it a thousand times a day. A combination of factors developed over the years which give fuel to the crisis assertion, but most of those involved the same people and institutions which now insist on fixing it. Legislators and lawyers in league with those who don’t mind using government to gain unearned market advantage.
Nothing works well without a relatively moral populace. A totalitarian, all powerful government never works well. Not if you consider all people to have the right to life liberty and pursuit of happiness. That implies a bit of individual autonomy and freedom of choice. Right to earn and own property is in there too. That is not the same as the right to have things; like I have a right to a house and car you pay for, etc. You ought to have the right to buy a house, and the right to find some way to earn the bucks to pay for it. Not everyone gets what that means.
I wonder if I would be considered among the enemies of the White House if I had a louder voice. It would be cool to make the modern day enemies list; those who dare to disagree with whatever these megalomaniacs plan to take over next. Maybe there will be an Enemies Czar appointed soon. Oh, I guess they already have Rahm.
I was wondering, because one of my clients is an investor in an electric car company, Tesla I think, what is involved in the manufacture of the batteries and such, and does it involve less of what is considered bad for dear old earth than a regular car? I don’t know, in the long run, how that figures. I think the curly light bulbs are great, if you get them cheap, but environmentally, they are a nightmare. Anyone I like the Tesla car a lot. I hate that they got federal money and that good new things get all dressed up in the green religious zeal. It demeans their real value. I can hear someone saying “How so?”. Not going to explain, but I stand by it. Prius is actually a cool vehicle, too. If only the damned political statements which are largely bogus or half truths, at best, didn’t get tied to these things. The new religion is showing signs of using 21st century versions of Inquisition tactics. And Muslim women in Somalia are getting felt up at gunpoint to be sure they aren’t wearing forbidden undergarments. Got to wonder what the hell is going on. Religion of peace, and religion of self righteous busy bodies, selectively counting carbon footprints. Those are the big bananas in modern superstitious zeal.
OK, I’m sure some will find that a point of contention. That’s OK. Being wrong is an inalienable right. These days it is pretty much law.
Among other things, I’m wondering if Paul had to do sexual favors in order to keep his long standing Letterman gig.
I think I will cover the tune “On the Road Again”(?) by Canned Heat, if I’m not mistaken. It was playing at my favorite gas station, and I thought I could do it with this group, and do it my way. Knowing I could cover the harp parts three times over and more doesn’t hurt. I would do the vocal more natural to me but not likely do an operatic version. I can see a bluesier, semi Morrisonesque take on it. Trust me, if I could pull it off the way I hear it in my mind, it wouldn’t be an embarrassment. Otherwise, it very well could be.
People are so quick to find villains for their woes that it is creating a very strange sort of witch hunt atmosphere. More than usual I think. The MO is attack the person, an industry, the rich, the poor, any person or group; ridicule and demonize, but don’t actually reason and debate the issue. Most of the issues, by my way of thinking, have no business on the table anyway, in the context of political or governmental action. If I really believed the climate was changing due to man made products and their use, I’d feel better about leaving the solution to the creativity of free individuals and institutions than to the same people who brought us drawn out, limited wars and made producing your own electricity illegal only a couple of decades ago. Not to mention all the other wonderful ills they’ve foisted on the country; IRS, etc.
I can’t say I am sure I agree with some of the current dissenters on many things. I do agree that the current congress and administration are way over the line in almost everything they touch. Few people on either side see the principles in the same light I do. I advise against cooking or even making coffee naked, however, in your own home, do as you like. I advise against abortion, in most cases, but I disagree with making it a matter of law. Some things that others do which you don’t like should just be left to cultural pressures or whatever, but in the end, leave the law out of it. It used to be a joke that they would start dictating diet, and now, holy smoke, they are all over it. Freedom does not mean you run amok and rape and pillage and do every crazy thing imaginable. Having the right to do things differently in a private life has got to be preserved. This forced conformity and worship of the collective, or the community is purely the road to a slave state, like Brave New World, Anthem, or 1984. Those are books written some time ago which ring eerily relevant to our current public “discussions” and laws.
Where can you go to live with less red tape and nonsense? I guess you have to find a hollow tree in a bear infested forest with few park rangers. Tough thing if you actually like people, just don’t like involuntary servitude and minding everyone else’s business.
It’s the politics of resentment. I heard that extended and intense resentments were unhealthy physically as well as mentally. They can cause your body to decay or something. Fostering and feeding resentments should not be applauded. That is what is happening, and it is done by avoiding full disclosure and facts. Problems should be fixed, when they are yours to fix, but that is not what any of this is about. Most people did not know that we had a health care crisis until we heard it a thousand times a day. A combination of factors developed over the years which give fuel to the crisis assertion, but most of those involved the same people and institutions which now insist on fixing it. Legislators and lawyers in league with those who don’t mind using government to gain unearned market advantage.
Nothing works well without a relatively moral populace. A totalitarian, all powerful government never works well. Not if you consider all people to have the right to life liberty and pursuit of happiness. That implies a bit of individual autonomy and freedom of choice. Right to earn and own property is in there too. That is not the same as the right to have things; like I have a right to a house and car you pay for, etc. You ought to have the right to buy a house, and the right to find some way to earn the bucks to pay for it. Not everyone gets what that means.
I wonder if I would be considered among the enemies of the White House if I had a louder voice. It would be cool to make the modern day enemies list; those who dare to disagree with whatever these megalomaniacs plan to take over next. Maybe there will be an Enemies Czar appointed soon. Oh, I guess they already have Rahm.
I was wondering, because one of my clients is an investor in an electric car company, Tesla I think, what is involved in the manufacture of the batteries and such, and does it involve less of what is considered bad for dear old earth than a regular car? I don’t know, in the long run, how that figures. I think the curly light bulbs are great, if you get them cheap, but environmentally, they are a nightmare. Anyone I like the Tesla car a lot. I hate that they got federal money and that good new things get all dressed up in the green religious zeal. It demeans their real value. I can hear someone saying “How so?”. Not going to explain, but I stand by it. Prius is actually a cool vehicle, too. If only the damned political statements which are largely bogus or half truths, at best, didn’t get tied to these things. The new religion is showing signs of using 21st century versions of Inquisition tactics. And Muslim women in Somalia are getting felt up at gunpoint to be sure they aren’t wearing forbidden undergarments. Got to wonder what the hell is going on. Religion of peace, and religion of self righteous busy bodies, selectively counting carbon footprints. Those are the big bananas in modern superstitious zeal.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Pursuit of What
Lately it feels like I'm not even on another planet; just caught in limbo. Sometimes I catch myself leaving conversations angry. Not while engaged but after. It is like nothing that comes out of me is what I intend, and certainly nothing I like. Those are the things that send one into semi-isolation. The disconnect between wish and word leaves me feeling oddly rejected. I reject myself for that dullard quality of interaction. It is part of the blanket of cement that clouds my brain at times. When it goes away, all is well. How others see it is not a big deal then, When the cylinders are firing, those things aren't fuel for self disparagement.
I should be up. Rather difficult projects have been completed, meeting the parameters that made them hard to accomplish in the first place. Minor feats of engineering using common, cheap items intended for another purpose. Sort of like making a flying machine out of the living room curtains and having it work as planned. Not quite that much fun, but the illustration stands.
One thing I have noticed; I never do not enjoy long drives through the hills on other than interstate highways. There is a lot of that in my life, due to my location and that of the work that comes my way. At times I think I could easily roam around the western half of the USA for months, maybe years, as long as I don't have to stop too long. I have yet to figure out how to pull that off, and how to have company at least part of the time on such adventures. One thing at a time, I guess.
I'm not unaware of what probably sets this cycle in motion. Mind may or may not follow body. Either the mind creates the cloud which dulls the mind and body, or the cloud comes from high classed brain chemicals searching for equilibrium. In any case, it is not to be taken too seriously, and no major decisions should be made while in such a stupor. It took many years to begin to understand that concept, and exercise it. I'll bet popcorn is the best cure.
Luckily there are a few projects to be done for others which ought to keep me out of trouble for a short time.
================================
I said privately that I was going to write about this, but never did. That doesn't mean it is by request, other than my own.
Southwest has proven to be a pretty good airline. All my experiences with them have been positive. On this last trip I found yet another advantage available to the Southwest Airlines passenger.
Overhead, beside the little air nozzles that you can adjust for more breeze, or less, they have buttons labeled with little airline symbols, hieroglyphics for illiterates. Emoticons for jet setters. One has a picture of a humanoid form with one arm bent in such a way as to provide a platform for a cartoon cup of coffee.
The other has the age old symbol for a newly formed, inspired, ingenious, BRIGHT IDEA!!! That's right, the old fashioned cartoon light bulb (not the Gore-approved variety) with lines extending out at 90 degrees to tangent; an effort to simulate illumination.
If you need an idea or inspirarion, just press the button. Now that is a service you don't see every day. It works, too. My immediate dilemma was how to build a thing without going too high cost, which would withstand a cannonball attack, and which could be broken down into pieces that could be tied in a bundle which would fit in most cars. Well the one piece may not suit the bundle well, but it would go in the car. The tough thing was how to make it come apart and go back together without requiring tools (although a hammer or mallet may be useful). {since how was more pressing than the cost thought, I did go a bit over budget. In fed speak, I saved billions, so what the heck)
Press the idea button, and next thing I know, three or four days later, the thing is done, and it worked. Since the only label on the idea button is in the international language for illiterates, if there were any instructions I didn't know it. I'm rather illiterate when it comes to the international language for illiterates.
The world of logos and icons sometimes works like a Rorschach test. I'll see an icon for, say, a graphics program, and mistake it for a hooker leaning on a streetlight. Imagine my disappointment.
I think the Southwest idea button keys off the dilemma foremost on your mind at the moment. I'm saving up for another flight, but this time I will have a list of things to think about which baffle me most. Most things may baffle, however only a few are of much consequence---as far as I know. For example, the widespread popularity of high heels among women is puzzling, but who cares? They often look spiffy or better. Would I endure such pain to have men panting over me? No. I tell myself I wouldn't endure such pain to have women panting over me, however the pain I've invited over my lifetime which I can directly link to the wooing of women is easily on a par with excruciating toe and foot pain.
OK. So I take that example back. Whatever the priority in the quest for the bright idea, they can be had directly overhead when sitting semi-comfortably in your hard won Southwest exit seat; the one which has no seat directly in front of you. Other seats appear to have the same feature, but I did not try them.
Maybe, if you had the chance to move around, you could get different types of ideas from all the different buttons. If you push the button above a seat occupied by other(s), the idea most like goes straight down into the head of the seat occupants). No way I'm going to do that. This may be a secret that only a few people know. The seekers of bright ideas.
Only a portion of the population cares about bright ideas. A huge part is hooked on new ideas. New ideas can be as dumb or dumber than old ones. No, bright ideas are the best, and you can get some if you fly right.
********Oh yea. The male flight attendant introduced himself as Ron Burgundy when we landed, saying, “Stay classy San Diego”. It was a reasonable impersonation, and I think this FA was a kid in a candy store, not a gay store either. You know, stereotypes and all, I thought I’d clarify.
Cracked me up.
I should be up. Rather difficult projects have been completed, meeting the parameters that made them hard to accomplish in the first place. Minor feats of engineering using common, cheap items intended for another purpose. Sort of like making a flying machine out of the living room curtains and having it work as planned. Not quite that much fun, but the illustration stands.
One thing I have noticed; I never do not enjoy long drives through the hills on other than interstate highways. There is a lot of that in my life, due to my location and that of the work that comes my way. At times I think I could easily roam around the western half of the USA for months, maybe years, as long as I don't have to stop too long. I have yet to figure out how to pull that off, and how to have company at least part of the time on such adventures. One thing at a time, I guess.
I'm not unaware of what probably sets this cycle in motion. Mind may or may not follow body. Either the mind creates the cloud which dulls the mind and body, or the cloud comes from high classed brain chemicals searching for equilibrium. In any case, it is not to be taken too seriously, and no major decisions should be made while in such a stupor. It took many years to begin to understand that concept, and exercise it. I'll bet popcorn is the best cure.
Luckily there are a few projects to be done for others which ought to keep me out of trouble for a short time.
================================
I said privately that I was going to write about this, but never did. That doesn't mean it is by request, other than my own.
Southwest has proven to be a pretty good airline. All my experiences with them have been positive. On this last trip I found yet another advantage available to the Southwest Airlines passenger.
Overhead, beside the little air nozzles that you can adjust for more breeze, or less, they have buttons labeled with little airline symbols, hieroglyphics for illiterates. Emoticons for jet setters. One has a picture of a humanoid form with one arm bent in such a way as to provide a platform for a cartoon cup of coffee.
The other has the age old symbol for a newly formed, inspired, ingenious, BRIGHT IDEA!!! That's right, the old fashioned cartoon light bulb (not the Gore-approved variety) with lines extending out at 90 degrees to tangent; an effort to simulate illumination.
If you need an idea or inspirarion, just press the button. Now that is a service you don't see every day. It works, too. My immediate dilemma was how to build a thing without going too high cost, which would withstand a cannonball attack, and which could be broken down into pieces that could be tied in a bundle which would fit in most cars. Well the one piece may not suit the bundle well, but it would go in the car. The tough thing was how to make it come apart and go back together without requiring tools (although a hammer or mallet may be useful). {since how was more pressing than the cost thought, I did go a bit over budget. In fed speak, I saved billions, so what the heck)
Press the idea button, and next thing I know, three or four days later, the thing is done, and it worked. Since the only label on the idea button is in the international language for illiterates, if there were any instructions I didn't know it. I'm rather illiterate when it comes to the international language for illiterates.
The world of logos and icons sometimes works like a Rorschach test. I'll see an icon for, say, a graphics program, and mistake it for a hooker leaning on a streetlight. Imagine my disappointment.
I think the Southwest idea button keys off the dilemma foremost on your mind at the moment. I'm saving up for another flight, but this time I will have a list of things to think about which baffle me most. Most things may baffle, however only a few are of much consequence---as far as I know. For example, the widespread popularity of high heels among women is puzzling, but who cares? They often look spiffy or better. Would I endure such pain to have men panting over me? No. I tell myself I wouldn't endure such pain to have women panting over me, however the pain I've invited over my lifetime which I can directly link to the wooing of women is easily on a par with excruciating toe and foot pain.
OK. So I take that example back. Whatever the priority in the quest for the bright idea, they can be had directly overhead when sitting semi-comfortably in your hard won Southwest exit seat; the one which has no seat directly in front of you. Other seats appear to have the same feature, but I did not try them.
Maybe, if you had the chance to move around, you could get different types of ideas from all the different buttons. If you push the button above a seat occupied by other(s), the idea most like goes straight down into the head of the seat occupants). No way I'm going to do that. This may be a secret that only a few people know. The seekers of bright ideas.
Only a portion of the population cares about bright ideas. A huge part is hooked on new ideas. New ideas can be as dumb or dumber than old ones. No, bright ideas are the best, and you can get some if you fly right.
********Oh yea. The male flight attendant introduced himself as Ron Burgundy when we landed, saying, “Stay classy San Diego”. It was a reasonable impersonation, and I think this FA was a kid in a candy store, not a gay store either. You know, stereotypes and all, I thought I’d clarify.
Cracked me up.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Smoking And Presidential Privilege
Being a highly addictive sort, I've gone back and forth with smoking forever. The main trick with addiction is to actually want not to be tied to the habit. It is never that I want to quit smoking, just that I don't want to have to hide in back alleys and under bridges to do it without getting arrested or harassed, or offending people.
That is until now. All the government BS about smoking and cost to society, etc. just makes me want to light up. I hate that sort of hall monitor authoritarian mentality. Now we have Obama weighing in on the matter, and he is a sneak smoker. But, because he's president, he figures he can do whatever he wants and still tax the behavior of those who can least afford it, and who have plenty of reason to seek chemical and other escape. It irks me that anyone assumes the right to tax in order to modify personal habits of others. Spare me the arguments for such things. There are a million factors not included in the statistics, and much has to do with whether people can be free or not.
The biggest motive I now have for not smoking is to be unlike Obama. He can't quit. Yet he gets in the thick of all the tax grabbing efforts to mess with others who smoke. I can quit, and that further separates me from someone I deem philosophically and morally at odds with most of what I believe makes life worth living. I'm for individual freedom and he's big on group action. Mandatory volunteerism and the like. How can something be volunteer service if it is mandatory? Also if you get paid and it is considered volunteer, then any job is part of that glorious world of volunteerism.
I hope Barack never stops smoking. If he does, I'm oppositional enough to smoke six packs a day just because. But what would be his motive anyway? He does what he wants and gets by with "do as I say, not as I do". The big press just goes along. Lots of people do. They like him and want him to be bigger than life, the savior of planet earth and humanity. I just want him and all the others to back off and get out of private life, quit fighting vague wars, and for God's sake revamp the tax system and abolish the IRS. Get out of as many facets of life as is possible. The ideal free state does not allow or warrant a parental government, nor a charitable one. The people, who fuel the government anyway, can and will do that. But you have to back up a million steps from where we are. Couldn't happen overnight, but it could happen.
Light up, Barrisimo, light up. Knowing you, too, have to dodge the daylight while you puff does me a world of good and makes me get a strange pleasure from suffering through the cravings without giving in. Thank you. Maybe you really are the hero they say if you can piss me off enough not to smoke. I quit for a good while before so maybe I will again. I go days at a time frequently.
I guess I can safely say I feel his pain. That strikes me funny for some reason. If only he were a few dozen degrees more libertarian in his philosophy. What a waste of a smoke buddy. Well, I guess some of his pals to the south smoke. Cigars mostly.
It'd be really great if he admitted to sniffing glue. "I struggle with this glue habit, but I'm all for a glue tax and road blocks to check for blood glue levels. Kids, do not sniff glue. It is bad for society."
That is until now. All the government BS about smoking and cost to society, etc. just makes me want to light up. I hate that sort of hall monitor authoritarian mentality. Now we have Obama weighing in on the matter, and he is a sneak smoker. But, because he's president, he figures he can do whatever he wants and still tax the behavior of those who can least afford it, and who have plenty of reason to seek chemical and other escape. It irks me that anyone assumes the right to tax in order to modify personal habits of others. Spare me the arguments for such things. There are a million factors not included in the statistics, and much has to do with whether people can be free or not.
The biggest motive I now have for not smoking is to be unlike Obama. He can't quit. Yet he gets in the thick of all the tax grabbing efforts to mess with others who smoke. I can quit, and that further separates me from someone I deem philosophically and morally at odds with most of what I believe makes life worth living. I'm for individual freedom and he's big on group action. Mandatory volunteerism and the like. How can something be volunteer service if it is mandatory? Also if you get paid and it is considered volunteer, then any job is part of that glorious world of volunteerism.
I hope Barack never stops smoking. If he does, I'm oppositional enough to smoke six packs a day just because. But what would be his motive anyway? He does what he wants and gets by with "do as I say, not as I do". The big press just goes along. Lots of people do. They like him and want him to be bigger than life, the savior of planet earth and humanity. I just want him and all the others to back off and get out of private life, quit fighting vague wars, and for God's sake revamp the tax system and abolish the IRS. Get out of as many facets of life as is possible. The ideal free state does not allow or warrant a parental government, nor a charitable one. The people, who fuel the government anyway, can and will do that. But you have to back up a million steps from where we are. Couldn't happen overnight, but it could happen.
Light up, Barrisimo, light up. Knowing you, too, have to dodge the daylight while you puff does me a world of good and makes me get a strange pleasure from suffering through the cravings without giving in. Thank you. Maybe you really are the hero they say if you can piss me off enough not to smoke. I quit for a good while before so maybe I will again. I go days at a time frequently.
I guess I can safely say I feel his pain. That strikes me funny for some reason. If only he were a few dozen degrees more libertarian in his philosophy. What a waste of a smoke buddy. Well, I guess some of his pals to the south smoke. Cigars mostly.
It'd be really great if he admitted to sniffing glue. "I struggle with this glue habit, but I'm all for a glue tax and road blocks to check for blood glue levels. Kids, do not sniff glue. It is bad for society."
Monday, October 5, 2009
Wood Putty, just add water
So, in the course of my run of the mill life, I thought to myself, "here's a job for that wood putty stuff--the kind that comes in powder form. You add water and that's it". I happened to have a very ancient can of the stuff, and wonder of wonders, I knew where it was.
Sure enough, add one part water to three parts powder, and it is ready to solve all the problems of the close tolerance challenged builder. Then my mind wandered, as I read the decades old container. Dries rock hard. Wood, hard, solves problems and they had a cartoon of a "real man" named Buck or some such with a quote about the stuff. It occurred to me that this may have secretly been the precursor to viagra. Viva wood putty doesn't have the same ring though. However, if people aren't too sophisticated or clean, I bet it could work even better.
Alright, that was just plain stupid, and sophomoric. Not up to my usual high brow drivel. Still, it is one of those items one might want to keep on the back burner just in case it ever becomes a useful bit of knowledge.
Aside from that, the stuff worked well on the sort of pump house, but not for a pump, that I built at the secret job site. The one where I did teak extravaganza #1. Not the Duke of Earl dwelling where I did teak extravaganzas #2 and #3. Glad I clarified that. It was a weird thing I had to build and it had to be strong but it could only have a top and one side, plus maybe .20 of another side. An engineering marvel containing a zillion screws and tons of galvanized sheet metal plates. Both the flat ones and angled ones. It might break if I ran over it with my car, but it might not.
The word for this project was "belt sander". Properly used, a belt sander can round edges and make a thing look like you did a good job and know what you are doing. Worked well in this case.
By the way, I have nothing against large vehicles. Only the ones driven by people who are so dangerous in small vehicles that they went to the big tank so they wouldn't suffer from their inability to drive anything. And those who feel so impotent otherwise that they need the feeling of power it gives them to loom above other vehicles while they tailgate incredibly close. It seems the smaller the vehicle the closer they get. What sort of idiot tailgates motorcycles with a fifteen foot high hell car? I'll tell you; one who feels no sense of intrinsic power or potency, and who has dreamed of being a bully his whole life. His wife is doing the pastor at his church because he fails to rise to the task unless he can inflict pain without fear of retaliation. He's the last to know.
OK. So I made it all up. That doesn't mean it isn't true.
I've not paid much attention to news in a few days. Is anyone buying the spin they are putting on Afghanistan or the Olympic strangeness? I will say that I find it criminal to put soldiers in places that pose such danger unless you go in so heavy that they cannot be caught up short. But if there is not a sane logical goal related to truly protecting this country, then I can't get behind such actions. That place will never be stable. Maybe at this point, either go heavy to squelch the enemy as much as can be identified then get the hell out. Leave the alleged good guys a fighting chance. Leave being the operative word. Limited wars are a crime against the military. You want diplomats then send the people from the state department, and let them observe all the insane rules of engagement and sensitivity regulations.
Yep. Get the hell out, but leave them plenty of wood putty. You'd be surprised what clever things can be done with that which would psych out the Taliban and other after-life virgin seeking zealots.
Sure enough, add one part water to three parts powder, and it is ready to solve all the problems of the close tolerance challenged builder. Then my mind wandered, as I read the decades old container. Dries rock hard. Wood, hard, solves problems and they had a cartoon of a "real man" named Buck or some such with a quote about the stuff. It occurred to me that this may have secretly been the precursor to viagra. Viva wood putty doesn't have the same ring though. However, if people aren't too sophisticated or clean, I bet it could work even better.
Alright, that was just plain stupid, and sophomoric. Not up to my usual high brow drivel. Still, it is one of those items one might want to keep on the back burner just in case it ever becomes a useful bit of knowledge.
Aside from that, the stuff worked well on the sort of pump house, but not for a pump, that I built at the secret job site. The one where I did teak extravaganza #1. Not the Duke of Earl dwelling where I did teak extravaganzas #2 and #3. Glad I clarified that. It was a weird thing I had to build and it had to be strong but it could only have a top and one side, plus maybe .20 of another side. An engineering marvel containing a zillion screws and tons of galvanized sheet metal plates. Both the flat ones and angled ones. It might break if I ran over it with my car, but it might not.
The word for this project was "belt sander". Properly used, a belt sander can round edges and make a thing look like you did a good job and know what you are doing. Worked well in this case.
By the way, I have nothing against large vehicles. Only the ones driven by people who are so dangerous in small vehicles that they went to the big tank so they wouldn't suffer from their inability to drive anything. And those who feel so impotent otherwise that they need the feeling of power it gives them to loom above other vehicles while they tailgate incredibly close. It seems the smaller the vehicle the closer they get. What sort of idiot tailgates motorcycles with a fifteen foot high hell car? I'll tell you; one who feels no sense of intrinsic power or potency, and who has dreamed of being a bully his whole life. His wife is doing the pastor at his church because he fails to rise to the task unless he can inflict pain without fear of retaliation. He's the last to know.
OK. So I made it all up. That doesn't mean it isn't true.
I've not paid much attention to news in a few days. Is anyone buying the spin they are putting on Afghanistan or the Olympic strangeness? I will say that I find it criminal to put soldiers in places that pose such danger unless you go in so heavy that they cannot be caught up short. But if there is not a sane logical goal related to truly protecting this country, then I can't get behind such actions. That place will never be stable. Maybe at this point, either go heavy to squelch the enemy as much as can be identified then get the hell out. Leave the alleged good guys a fighting chance. Leave being the operative word. Limited wars are a crime against the military. You want diplomats then send the people from the state department, and let them observe all the insane rules of engagement and sensitivity regulations.
Yep. Get the hell out, but leave them plenty of wood putty. You'd be surprised what clever things can be done with that which would psych out the Taliban and other after-life virgin seeking zealots.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Tennis Tip, and no telling what
Whether the ball is one of those fast low ones that bounces before it gets to you, or just a line drive, step aside and let the racket connect, do not, under any circumstances stop it with your groin parts.
==============
If you have no crank and sprocket puller for the bike and you want that stuff off of there, just undo the nut holding it and then ride up the street. After about a block it will all fall off.
================
If a person drives one of those gigantic war wagons, like Ford Explosion, Perdition or whatever. for the sole reason that he and/or she thinks it will be safer in case it hits someone, and then drives as if it doesn’t matter what it hits, no turn signals and no logical reason for various maneuvers, then that person should be registered and outed they way they do sex offenders. Maybe like fishing, there should be a license required for dimwittedness at large. Use the money to tear down intersection cameras used to ticket those unaware that the duration of the yellow light has been shortened.
==================
Why would anyone except hotdog or peanut vendors want the Olympic games in their crowded city? In the case of Chicago, they have iffy weather, overbooked airports which are notorious for delays and having a normal schedule which, if all went perfectly, O’Hare could not actually accommodate on time. It is not clear that the investment required would yield a return even close to the break even level.
The Olympic committee must be peopled by nut cases. They pass on one high crime, difficult place, for an even crazier place. Rio is more able to lay down martial law, sweep the streets of the riffraff, and generally do a China style routine to keep it all pretty. Plus they have the beach and all those hot chicks, and no telling what diseases.
No doubt the benefit of hosting the games is something only a few of the in crowd ever experience. The corruption in that must be extreme. The mayor’s buddies and their cousins get the juicy contracts while any normal living thing which gets in the way is bulldozed.
Due to the vulnerability from a security standpoint, and the level of corruption already present in most big cities and in federal circles, I am glad the USA is out of that one. Why cities like NYC and Chicago bid is a mystery. It made sense for the winter Olympics to hold it at Lake Placid or places like that, but what is the point in a crowded urban area in which many lives have to be disrupted to accomplish the logistics of making it work? Why not just hold them in Afghanistan or somewhere like that?
When Mayor Daly is disappointed, you can bet he missed picking some pockets. So sorry. I feel his pain.
I have no doubt much tax money would have gone toward the effort, and arguments would abound regarding job creation. Temporary at best. Tax can be spent in better ways, or even cut to let the people have a break which yields more lasting results anyway.
==============================
Sometimes my communication options on Ballistic Mountain do not function well at all. That may be a relief to the weary, I don’t know.
=====================
Free floating anger is a strange thing, but it happens. It usually turns inward so a person like me rages inside at himself for no discernible reason.
======================
==============
If you have no crank and sprocket puller for the bike and you want that stuff off of there, just undo the nut holding it and then ride up the street. After about a block it will all fall off.
================
If a person drives one of those gigantic war wagons, like Ford Explosion, Perdition or whatever. for the sole reason that he and/or she thinks it will be safer in case it hits someone, and then drives as if it doesn’t matter what it hits, no turn signals and no logical reason for various maneuvers, then that person should be registered and outed they way they do sex offenders. Maybe like fishing, there should be a license required for dimwittedness at large. Use the money to tear down intersection cameras used to ticket those unaware that the duration of the yellow light has been shortened.
==================
Why would anyone except hotdog or peanut vendors want the Olympic games in their crowded city? In the case of Chicago, they have iffy weather, overbooked airports which are notorious for delays and having a normal schedule which, if all went perfectly, O’Hare could not actually accommodate on time. It is not clear that the investment required would yield a return even close to the break even level.
The Olympic committee must be peopled by nut cases. They pass on one high crime, difficult place, for an even crazier place. Rio is more able to lay down martial law, sweep the streets of the riffraff, and generally do a China style routine to keep it all pretty. Plus they have the beach and all those hot chicks, and no telling what diseases.
No doubt the benefit of hosting the games is something only a few of the in crowd ever experience. The corruption in that must be extreme. The mayor’s buddies and their cousins get the juicy contracts while any normal living thing which gets in the way is bulldozed.
Due to the vulnerability from a security standpoint, and the level of corruption already present in most big cities and in federal circles, I am glad the USA is out of that one. Why cities like NYC and Chicago bid is a mystery. It made sense for the winter Olympics to hold it at Lake Placid or places like that, but what is the point in a crowded urban area in which many lives have to be disrupted to accomplish the logistics of making it work? Why not just hold them in Afghanistan or somewhere like that?
When Mayor Daly is disappointed, you can bet he missed picking some pockets. So sorry. I feel his pain.
I have no doubt much tax money would have gone toward the effort, and arguments would abound regarding job creation. Temporary at best. Tax can be spent in better ways, or even cut to let the people have a break which yields more lasting results anyway.
==============================
Sometimes my communication options on Ballistic Mountain do not function well at all. That may be a relief to the weary, I don’t know.
=====================
Free floating anger is a strange thing, but it happens. It usually turns inward so a person like me rages inside at himself for no discernible reason.
======================
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The War on Poverty, and Modest Means
It was LBJ, I believe, who conned voters with the War on Poverty. Since then others used the ploy with names like War on Drugs and War on Terror. You take something people don't want, like poverty, then claim you are waging a war against it. All the real details, like exactly what does that mean, remain vague as people rally to the cause. None of these wars carries a solid, specific definition or intelligible plan of action. But al do become an excuse for otherwise questionable actions.
In the case of terror, regular citizens and babies undergo humiliating scrutiny because we all have to make sacrifices if we are to lick this terror thing. Same with drugs. Bend due process a bit, and only slightly obliterate certain rights, because if you got nothing to hide, you shouldn't care. It's patriotic, dammit. Why am I not rich when the public demonstrates over and over again that they will buy anything?
So now the war on poverty takes a new twist. The assault is exactly what it says for a change. A change you might believe in, to steal a phrase, sort of. The war is on, and if you are in poverty or of modest means, your ass is going to get kicked, or you've already been bulldozed.
Take the Cash for Clunkers scam. If you are at whatever the legal poverty level is, your best bet for buying a car was under attack. They not only wanted to outbid the market so you could not compete as a buyer of the vehicle, but they wanted to destroy the item, Forget that it probably takes more energy and resources to do that than leave it alone. The "Save the earth" excuse was lame and bogus. Full of holes. Next time someone asks if I've been saved, I think I'll get hysterical and reply, "Me? Forget me. What about the Earth?" How will we know when the earth is finally saved? From what? People? Does this mean that to save the earth we have to all vacate the premises?
OK. The cash for clunkers scam hurts the poor by disrupting the cheapo car market. It also hurts them by removing a treasure trove of potential salvage parts, in case they have a car that might fit the clunker category and are handy enough to keep it going. Lots of people get parts from junk yards. That is why they are in business. Repair shops sometimes get things there, too, which lowers the cost of repair. And who needs low cost repairs the most? The poor, and those of us who are trying to get by with not so much cash flow in our lives.
Fortunately I think that program may be bust and with luck it will never happen again. But, then there are the rumblings of health care for all. Yippee!! If that goes through as many want it to, then once again those of modest means are forced to buy or be smitten. Maybe it will get gridlocked and fail. One can only hope. It does make it difficult. I can see someone trying to establish a life from scratch being faced with a choice--buy a cheap car, pay all the licensing fees, insurance and such, or get health insurance and have no reasonable way to work. If you go the "government option" whatever that really means, then I suppose they charge according to how much you make. And you have to subject yourself to a sort of welfare line bunch of garbage. No thanks. Maybe if you are very sick it won't be so bad, except that you may have better options now since you don't have to have the same degree of bureaucratic approval, and doctors are a little bit more free to treat as they deem advisable, without that added oversight which could be like trying to reason with the El Cajon branch of CA Highway Patrol.
These are not beneficial things for those in poverty. The ones who have succumbed to the government's solutions and dubious methods of "help" in the past have found themselves in perpetual poverty, government style. Their kids join gangs or live in fear and the idea of opportunity is just not in their minds. The war on poverty has made a hell of an impact on the poor. It has convinced them there is no way out. And the various assaults have cut down the escape routes rather effectively.
Penalizing private endeavor through unreasonable regulations and taxation take away the initiative to start your own enterprise from nothing, or to grow to the point of hiring anyone. Hiring people is a can of worms the sole proprietor is loathe to open unless he/she (can we please have the universal pronoun back?) is confident he has the means to deal with the liabilities (read "lawyers"), ever changing and more bizarre regulations, and general harassment. You get duped by an illegal, it is your fault, so you get punished for the crime of a non-citizen. You have to get involved in all kinds of things you may find distasteful, like serving as KGB agent for the government to help them keep tabs on whomever you might hire.
And there are always fees, permits and things that catch you by surprise. None of which have anything to do with the actual business you want to conduct. If you want to be your own company and you don't have triple the start up cash you think you need, stay under the table. There is a good reason the underground economy is so large, and growing. It is not lack of patriotism, or greed, or any of the garbage we may be told. It is simple survival. Some of us refuse to seek government loans or other traps they set to get their sticky fingers in our business. I mention that because people often point to "programs that are there to help people" who want to launch a small business. Once again, I fail to see why freedom is such a foreign concept in modern America.
I don't know where it will end up. Mama don't take my clunker car away...
The best step toward any true reform is term limits. Senate--no more than two terms, and those cannot be consecutive, House, no more than three consecutive terms, and no more than 5 terms total. President two terms, consecutive or not.
Take away all pension and health care, special gas pumps, and other undue compensation from these people. It was never supposed to be a career. When it is, by necessity it becomes unbelievably corrupt, and what we have is a sort of royalty. Back to the lord of the manor routine. Don't fly them around on military planes because they want to visit europe or the North Pole. If it is not the president or ambassadors and cabinet, they have no excuse to go on tax money. They rape and pillage enough at home, we needn't pay for ridiculous vacations thinly disguised as some sort of fact finding mission or goodwill tour.
If someone has no chance to be in power for long, then they may have less incentive to keep broadening the powers of office, which then entices private interests to bed down with them in order to get special legislation, direct wars, and otherwise run amok behind the scenes, using the power of government to further their ends and kill competition.
I wish politics had no personal impact, but it has come to a point that there is no escape, especially for those of meager means. Although the ones who have had the means to hire and drive commerce are also threatened, unless they are in with the in crowd. Good time to be a Chicago thug.
How can the poor fight back against this war on them? A good first step is not to take the bait, or take as little as possible. And get rid of the TV.
In the case of terror, regular citizens and babies undergo humiliating scrutiny because we all have to make sacrifices if we are to lick this terror thing. Same with drugs. Bend due process a bit, and only slightly obliterate certain rights, because if you got nothing to hide, you shouldn't care. It's patriotic, dammit. Why am I not rich when the public demonstrates over and over again that they will buy anything?
So now the war on poverty takes a new twist. The assault is exactly what it says for a change. A change you might believe in, to steal a phrase, sort of. The war is on, and if you are in poverty or of modest means, your ass is going to get kicked, or you've already been bulldozed.
Take the Cash for Clunkers scam. If you are at whatever the legal poverty level is, your best bet for buying a car was under attack. They not only wanted to outbid the market so you could not compete as a buyer of the vehicle, but they wanted to destroy the item, Forget that it probably takes more energy and resources to do that than leave it alone. The "Save the earth" excuse was lame and bogus. Full of holes. Next time someone asks if I've been saved, I think I'll get hysterical and reply, "Me? Forget me. What about the Earth?" How will we know when the earth is finally saved? From what? People? Does this mean that to save the earth we have to all vacate the premises?
OK. The cash for clunkers scam hurts the poor by disrupting the cheapo car market. It also hurts them by removing a treasure trove of potential salvage parts, in case they have a car that might fit the clunker category and are handy enough to keep it going. Lots of people get parts from junk yards. That is why they are in business. Repair shops sometimes get things there, too, which lowers the cost of repair. And who needs low cost repairs the most? The poor, and those of us who are trying to get by with not so much cash flow in our lives.
Fortunately I think that program may be bust and with luck it will never happen again. But, then there are the rumblings of health care for all. Yippee!! If that goes through as many want it to, then once again those of modest means are forced to buy or be smitten. Maybe it will get gridlocked and fail. One can only hope. It does make it difficult. I can see someone trying to establish a life from scratch being faced with a choice--buy a cheap car, pay all the licensing fees, insurance and such, or get health insurance and have no reasonable way to work. If you go the "government option" whatever that really means, then I suppose they charge according to how much you make. And you have to subject yourself to a sort of welfare line bunch of garbage. No thanks. Maybe if you are very sick it won't be so bad, except that you may have better options now since you don't have to have the same degree of bureaucratic approval, and doctors are a little bit more free to treat as they deem advisable, without that added oversight which could be like trying to reason with the El Cajon branch of CA Highway Patrol.
These are not beneficial things for those in poverty. The ones who have succumbed to the government's solutions and dubious methods of "help" in the past have found themselves in perpetual poverty, government style. Their kids join gangs or live in fear and the idea of opportunity is just not in their minds. The war on poverty has made a hell of an impact on the poor. It has convinced them there is no way out. And the various assaults have cut down the escape routes rather effectively.
Penalizing private endeavor through unreasonable regulations and taxation take away the initiative to start your own enterprise from nothing, or to grow to the point of hiring anyone. Hiring people is a can of worms the sole proprietor is loathe to open unless he/she (can we please have the universal pronoun back?) is confident he has the means to deal with the liabilities (read "lawyers"), ever changing and more bizarre regulations, and general harassment. You get duped by an illegal, it is your fault, so you get punished for the crime of a non-citizen. You have to get involved in all kinds of things you may find distasteful, like serving as KGB agent for the government to help them keep tabs on whomever you might hire.
And there are always fees, permits and things that catch you by surprise. None of which have anything to do with the actual business you want to conduct. If you want to be your own company and you don't have triple the start up cash you think you need, stay under the table. There is a good reason the underground economy is so large, and growing. It is not lack of patriotism, or greed, or any of the garbage we may be told. It is simple survival. Some of us refuse to seek government loans or other traps they set to get their sticky fingers in our business. I mention that because people often point to "programs that are there to help people" who want to launch a small business. Once again, I fail to see why freedom is such a foreign concept in modern America.
I don't know where it will end up. Mama don't take my clunker car away...
The best step toward any true reform is term limits. Senate--no more than two terms, and those cannot be consecutive, House, no more than three consecutive terms, and no more than 5 terms total. President two terms, consecutive or not.
Take away all pension and health care, special gas pumps, and other undue compensation from these people. It was never supposed to be a career. When it is, by necessity it becomes unbelievably corrupt, and what we have is a sort of royalty. Back to the lord of the manor routine. Don't fly them around on military planes because they want to visit europe or the North Pole. If it is not the president or ambassadors and cabinet, they have no excuse to go on tax money. They rape and pillage enough at home, we needn't pay for ridiculous vacations thinly disguised as some sort of fact finding mission or goodwill tour.
If someone has no chance to be in power for long, then they may have less incentive to keep broadening the powers of office, which then entices private interests to bed down with them in order to get special legislation, direct wars, and otherwise run amok behind the scenes, using the power of government to further their ends and kill competition.
I wish politics had no personal impact, but it has come to a point that there is no escape, especially for those of meager means. Although the ones who have had the means to hire and drive commerce are also threatened, unless they are in with the in crowd. Good time to be a Chicago thug.
How can the poor fight back against this war on them? A good first step is not to take the bait, or take as little as possible. And get rid of the TV.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
News From The Old Country
My old friend PhotoLady got a gig covering the Dali Lama. I wonder what his friends call him. Dali? Maybe something like Biff. Anyway, that's only minor compared to hearing that at least one ex band member says they miss me and my fired up way of playing (paraphrasing), it's not the same. PhotoLady ran into one of the guys and his wife, so that's where that came from. Fun knowing my replacement probably falls short. That could have gone either way. For all its faults Memphis has some very good harp players. I've never seen so many really good ones in one place anywhere else. It is fun having friends in high places.
It is more fun have friends in high up on the map places. Once again I am flying my new favorite airline up the coast to the other best city by the sea. It seems these places are at the two extremes, one on the north corner, one on the south corner. Same side of the box, though. We went west, young man, by golly. I finally have license plates so I guess I'm really here. Good number letter combo. Very acceptable numbers. I memorized it easily because it all fits and makes sense. License plates don't always do that.
Soon, I get to make that journey north, anyway. Just a week plus a day or so. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. I stole that line from Casa Blanca. It is a great line and quite apt.
I'm really hoping this health care debacle falls flat. The idea of being fined for not having insurance is spooky. Surely you can pay as you go or opt to die of appendicitis or whatever. If you can afford the fine you could probably afford the stupid insurance. If you can afford neither and refuse government help, then I guess the rumors of jail time and a bigger fine may have some truth. Back to the days of Dickens and debtor's prison. How quickly people went from understanding the goal of being free of such intrusions to thinking everyone's business is their own. I do not know how I will be able to deal with it if it comes into action, or many other plans in the works. Either I get rich quick, or I find ways to dodge the jackboots out to save me from myself.
Oh well. I know a bed I can hide under once I manufacture the bridgework to hold it up off the floor. Perhaps a secret compartment, or apartment, can be designed into the structure, just in case times get dicey. But that's another story
It is more fun have friends in high up on the map places. Once again I am flying my new favorite airline up the coast to the other best city by the sea. It seems these places are at the two extremes, one on the north corner, one on the south corner. Same side of the box, though. We went west, young man, by golly. I finally have license plates so I guess I'm really here. Good number letter combo. Very acceptable numbers. I memorized it easily because it all fits and makes sense. License plates don't always do that.
Soon, I get to make that journey north, anyway. Just a week plus a day or so. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. I stole that line from Casa Blanca. It is a great line and quite apt.
I'm really hoping this health care debacle falls flat. The idea of being fined for not having insurance is spooky. Surely you can pay as you go or opt to die of appendicitis or whatever. If you can afford the fine you could probably afford the stupid insurance. If you can afford neither and refuse government help, then I guess the rumors of jail time and a bigger fine may have some truth. Back to the days of Dickens and debtor's prison. How quickly people went from understanding the goal of being free of such intrusions to thinking everyone's business is their own. I do not know how I will be able to deal with it if it comes into action, or many other plans in the works. Either I get rich quick, or I find ways to dodge the jackboots out to save me from myself.
Oh well. I know a bed I can hide under once I manufacture the bridgework to hold it up off the floor. Perhaps a secret compartment, or apartment, can be designed into the structure, just in case times get dicey. But that's another story
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About Me
- John0 Juanderlust
- Ballistic Mountain, CA, United States
- Like spring on a summer's day
