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Exporting
Jobs
(12/31/03)
"Anything that is not nailed to
the floor is being considered for outsourcing." What this means is
that if what you do can be done elsewhere, it can probably be done for
less money, and with the bottom line in our bottom-line capitalist
society being the bottom line, you might think about another line of
work.
Pick
a Planet
(12/30/03)
In order to meet this enormous
challenge of eradicating lethal poverty, we must direct our scientific
efforts to meet our redefined needs of producing food, reducing
population, and cleaning up our pollution. Exploring Mars or similar
esoteric ventures when children are starving too death is enough to
drive even healthy minds to distraction.
Observations
(12/29/03)
Sitting on the sidelines anyway were a bunch of
history buffs unhappy at the way Pennsylvania officials were horning in
on their activities. Among the government’s changes were try-outs for
who would play Washington, and requirements that participants take
medical exams, wear historically-accurate costumes, and bring written
excuses if they miss rehearsals.
Ho,
Ho, Ho
(12/26/03)
You can’t say those Maine lobstermen
-- locally pronounced something like lahb-stah-mihn -- haven’t got a
sense of humor. Two of the practical-joking variety decided to dress a
lobster up in a costume and toss it back into the deep blue. The thought
was that other lobstermen would find the lobster -- dressed in a Barbie
outfit, by the way -- and would toss it back.
'Tis
the Season
(12/25/03)
If I had family nearby, family with
children, I might find myself in more of a celebratory mood, but I don’t
and I’m not. Nor am I feeling curmudgeonly...a true sign of spiritual
beneficence.
Tarnished
White Hats
(12/24/03)
The FBI has now admitted involvement in dozens
of murders in the Boston area, carried out by their informants. Yes, you
read it right, the FBI was involved in murders so as to keep their
snitches happy. In addition to allowing and enabling the killings, the
FBI also knowingly sent innocent people to prison for the same reasons.
Peeves
(12/23/03)
A bunch of minor peeves have been collecting on
my electronic desk. They are not important in the general scheme of
things, but maybe you’ve encountered a similar situation and will use
my illumination of the subject as an opportunity for a hearty, expiating
"Yeah!"
Bits
& Pieces
(12/22/03)
You’re gonna have to pay extra to see
it, but there will be 14 models in bras and panties playing during the
half-time. DaimlerChrysler was the original sponsor of the lacy brawl,
but opted out, pulling Dodge’s logo and slogan "Grab Life by the
Horns" from the scantily-clad skirmishers.
Leaderslip
(12/20/03)
If we are to look to the Democrats for rescue, relief and repair,
I would have said, then we will need
some Democrats who are ready to do more than vote right. We will need
true leaders, not the kind who roll over for tax cuts, the unhealthy
medicare bill, and the IraqAttaq. Will you be one of those leaders?
Sick
with It
(12/19/03)
If we were doing It right, we wouldn’t
send children to school or ourselves off to work if we weren’t feeling
well. Not only would we want a speedy recovery from our afflictions, but
we would also want to avoid afflicting others...on the school bus and
the commuter train, in the classroom and the office.
Early
Winter Storm
(12/18/03)
I was surprised to find blue in the skies
above. I was surprised to see anything but a heavy grey fog. Surprise,
surprise, the forecasters had slipped another cog. It was supposed to be
rain until the ark floated away, and here there was a break in the
storming. I had not planned on it, but I took full advantage.
Getting
It Wright
(12/17/03)
The Wright brothers epitomize what is
extraordinary about with our nation. They applied their pioneering minds
and persevered with courage to answer a question that had eluded
everyone before them. They did it, not for money, but to add a new
dimension, literally to the lives of all who would follow.
Bits
& Pieces
(12/16/03)
Scrooge is alive and well in Traverse City,
Michigan, where the laborers at Tower Automotive received $15 gift cards
redeemable at a local grocery-retail store, which was a nice thang of
course. But then along came a note that the gift card was viewed as cash
compensation and therefore taxable.
No
Starch, Right
(12/15/03)
It may seem like a silly point, to be
welcomed by a dry cleaner, but for me it was just another sign that I
was back among the living. According to my view of a Larger Reality,
there are always signs of us being on the right track or not, and these
signs readily show up when we seek confirmation.
Bagged
the Rat
(12/14/03)
The phone rang. It was his Rice-Cake
calling with the good news. Well, ostensible and probably temporary good
news. I mean, no one thought that Saddam should have been in power as
long as he was, and mostly we’ve been arguing about whether or not we
had to have this awful IraqAttaq to get rid of him.
Hillside
Break
(12/12/03)
Truth be told, there are few roads in
Mill Valley that couldn’t be called Hillside, or ridge-runner or
ridiculous slope, or who thought they should put a road here. They’re
all twisty, turning and narrow, usually little more than a single lane.
Bits
& Pieces
(12/11/03)
Ozzy Osbourne fell of his ATV during a
break from promoting his latest oeuvre. He broke his neck and a bunch of
ribs but his injuries were not life threatening. There is some question
about what there was to be threatened, but that question was clouded in
heavy sedation.
Let
Us Prey
(12/10/03)
Some of my best friends have been Dean
supporters for a while now. Steve, who’s pretty smart, said he’d
been cool to the good doctor, but is warming up to him. He said he can’t
wait to see him in a debate with the prez. Let us prey.
Bang-Zoom-Wham
(12/09/03)
I suppose it’s possible to get things messed
up, but I think you’d have to be not paying attention or else trying
to test their instructional system. I was prepared to grimace and groan,
but I didn’t have to. They’ve got it figured out, so good for them
and better for us.
Bits
& Pieces
(12/08/03)
Two men vying for a second seat on the
board wound up tied with 1,141 votes each. Instead of forcing a new
election, which would have cost the district some $85,000 -- that’s a
lotta textbooks -- the candidates agreed to pull marbles out of bag,
with the first to pull a white instead of colored marble declared the
winner.
Black
and Blues
(12/05/03)
Let’s get the facts, assessed by an
informed and impartial expert. No one wants to repeat the 2001 riots
that tore the very fabric of the city after a number of police killings
of black people. Let us, too, demand that everyone accept the impartial
judgement, and not use disproven charges to foment racial division.
Orts
(12/04/03)
The local Christian Copts decided to advertise
their religion with the fish signs on their bumpers. Not to be outdone,
the majority Egyptian Muslims got into the act with bumperstickers of
sharks. Explained one Allah followah, "If they want to portray
themselves as weak fishes, OK. We are the strongest."
Cut-Rate
Dignity
(12/03/03)
They gotta be sitting on the edge of their
seats waiting for the call from the lawyers. Bending over backwards to
show their warm hearts, officials of the megastore called to ask about
the condition of their shopper, apologize, and -- are you sitting down
-- offer to put one of the cheap DVD players on hold for her. Be still
my disk.
Buster
(12/02/03)
I wish I could have been with him, to
say thank you in the final moments for his unflagging friendship,
patience and grace. He was fourteen or so, and it was time, but that
doesn’t make it a whole lot easier.
Bits
& Pieces
(12/01/03)
Asked what his (deceased) parents would
have thought about the name change, Bubba said, "I'm sure my dad
probably would be shaking his head." If his son did that, you’d
hear a sound was like a pea rattling around inside a boxcar.
Girls
'n Boys
(11/28/03)
The problem we have today is not about
Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative but about masculine and
feminine. The plain fact is that we are confused about what it means to
be a man and a woman in today’s society. This is partly a result of
our failure to digest the women’s liberation movement properly, and
our eternally being confused about sex.
The
Deeper Pool
(11/27/03)
In a recent episode, a North Korean pianist
wants to defect, but doing so would jeopardize nuclear talks with
Pyongyang. Sheen recounts that the pianist told him of the word
"Han" -- it was the title of the episode -- which means pain
so deep no tears will come, but still there’s hope.
Hey,
Behave!
(11/26/03)
The good health of our society rests on a
presumption of decency and integrity. It’s bad enough when our
political and corporate leaders fail to do the right thing, but when
your average man on the street acts out of consort with reasonable
social strictures, then the fabric of the society is torn, and they
should be pushed outside of the city gates to feed the wolves.
Where's
the Fridge?
(11/25/03)
The transition to clear and healthy thinking --
a society free of racism -- is probably not far away. It certainly
isn’t out of reach. Another terrorist attack by Muslim
fundamentalists, and you would see a lot of blacks and browns and
yellows and reds and whites joining arms to fight the common enemy.
Bits
& Pieces
(11/24/03)
Said the Italian newspaper Repubblica,
the Bush administration is "going through a period of insanity that
is worsening every day." The mayor of London commented, "I
actually think that Bush is the greatest threat to life on this planet
that we've most probably ever seen."
Uninterpretable
Purposefulness
(11/21/03)
Before we left this morning, I was
making a first check of my email and the headlines when I heard a thud,
as though a small bough had fallen on the roof. But as my mind processed
the sound, I knew before I turned my head and saw the small tuft of
feathers on the window what had happened.
Ba$eball
Whore$
(11/20/03)
Okay, I did watch some of the
post-season baseball games, although truth be told, I didn’t have a
team that I was rooting for, not National or American, or even the ‘Sox
versus the Yankees. I have to insert this codicil for my biographers and
anyone who knew me before I reached about thirty, during which earlier
years I was a Yankee fan.
Bits
& Pieces
(11/19/03)
It'’s a 21,700 pound satellite-guided
GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, or MOAB, Mother of All Bombs.
You can tell it’s mostly a lotta noise since they’re announcing it
in advance, although they probably wanted to alert the locals as to why
the earth may move for them.
Wal-to-Wal
Marts
(11/18/03)
I think it is noble to want everyone to
be able to earn a living wage, but suggest that we have arrived at a
situation where circumstances now muddle the overall economic picture.
We need to step back, strip the issues down to basics and reconsider
exactly what are the problems and what are the solutions.
A
Right Pol
(11/17/03)
Among the accomplishments in my life of
which I have the greatest pride, one is getting my pal Clifford Waldeck
elected to the Mill Valley City Council. That was back in 1997; he was
re-elected four years later without my help. He’d done such a fine job
in office that he was unopposed for a second term.
Bits
& Pieces
(11/14/03)
According to doctors, he was bitten twice and
the poison got into him so fast he was knocked unconscious for three
days. The man says he thought the snake was 6½ to 7 feet long, and if
that was the case, he’s lucky to have woken up at all.
News
Bits
(11/13/03)
A mother in the Chicago area reported to her
friends a tragic development. Her baby had cancer. Tapping into good
hearts from miles around, the woman raised tens of thousands of dollars.
Which she spent on herself. Turns out the boy didn’t have cancer. It
was just a fundraising schtick.
Spackled
Faith
(11/12/03)
Conferring with my confrere Bruce the other
day, I averred, "There is a plan and just because I didn’t come
up with it doesn’t mean I don’t have to follow it." My
objection is that the plan, of whatever origin, is not a published work,
and we or it doesn’t come with an instruction manual.
Bring
'Em On...Home
(11/11/03)
The generals and their string-pullers in
Washington want us to hold tightly to the old saw that dying in uniform,
regardless of the reason, is somehow heroic, which is frighteningly
similar to the Palestinian view of martyrdom. Indeed, who could call it
less than suicide to wear an American military uniform in the bloody
triangle?
Magic
Carpet Ride
(11/10/03)
I’m thinking it’s finally time to gather
the significant threads that have woven this tapestry I fondly refer to
as my life -- from the television news producer covering Watergate to
the college instructor in Monterey, from directing a Congressional
campaign in Illinois to earning a pilot’s license in Redding, plus all
the personal stuff -- and make this carpet fly.
Strained
Mercy
(11/07/03)
That seems like a lot of money when guilt is
so obvious -- as with an insanity plea by one of a pair -- and suggests
that there’s something wrong with the system that doesn’t make it
more practical for the guilty to own up before they cost us even more.
Bits
& Pieces
(11/06/03)
The White House is trying to explain why The
Bush Boy hasn’t attended any funerals of Americans fallen in Iraq, or
come out to express his sorrow with the shooting down of the Chinook
helicopter on Sunday. They claim the president doesn’t want to show
favoritism.
Moving
On
(11/05/03)
With my departure from the rural wilds of the
northern tip of the Sacramento Valley, induced by circumstances to leave
the nest, I am imbued with an opportunity to refine my meaning of life,
perhaps to come up with a new description of myself. Not a PR image, but
a more accurate reflection of the person who’s looking back from the
mirror.
Pitching
Bubba
(11/04/03)
Listen up, Democrats. It’s not about conning
the young rednecks; it’s about giving them the right reasons to vote
for you. As Dean put it in a speech last winter, you pitch ‘em
"because their kids don't have health insurance, either, and their
kids need better schools, too."
Bits
& Pieces
(11/03/03)
The questions were typical, about general
health, insurance, income, work hours, enough money to eat, et cetera,
and there were a bunch of questions about race. First, was I Latino or
Hispanic? No, but I didn’t know there was a difference. Then was I
Pacific Islander, Hawaiian and some other races, six in all, or maybe
white? White, I confessed.
Guess
Again
(10/31/03)
The questions were typical, about general
health, insurance, income, work hours, enough money to eat, et cetera,
and there were a bunch of questions about race. First, was I Latino or
Hispanic? No, but I didn’t know there was a difference. Then was I
Pacific Islander, Hawaiian and some other races, six in all, or maybe
white? White, I confessed.
Smiling
Faces
(10/30/03)
On this windless afternoon, I could hear the
surf from a mile away. Aside from some mountain bikers crashing through
the solitude, albeit briefly and joyfully, it is a very restful spot.
The faces of the score or two of fellow strollers over the four miles
are serene, smiling a shared knowingness at the Eden we have discovered.
Wide-Eyed
Blind
(10/29/03)
A man came home to find his son and
step-daughter drowned in the bathtub and his 32-year-old wife with her
wrists slashed, thought not fatally. He told police she’d been under
stress for some time. He also said, "We take comfort in knowing
that Grace and Gabriel are together right now, in the loving arms of
Christ."
Bits
& Pieces
(10/28/03)
He drank a whole bunch of vodka and Coke with
a friend and then jumped into the Niagara River. He went over the falls
but survived, the only person to do so without special equipment. Said a
friend, "I think he just reached the point where whatever happened
was the best plan for him. If he made it, he might benefit with money.
If he died, so be it."
Southland
Fires
(10/27/03)
The future rides on the Santa Ana winds, those
notorious dry gales with gusts of 100 mph that sweep through parts of
Southern California like the devil’s broom. Compounded by unseasonably
hot temperatures approaching triple digits, the winds will take a spark
and turn it into an inferno.
Compound
Tragedy
(10/24/03)
With lots more important things to do, both
houses of the state legislature dropped ‘em, and voted aye on an
emergency measure that gave Governor Jeb Bush the authority he asked
them for to order that a feeding tube be inserted in the throat of a
dying woman.
The
Holy Boynking
(10/23/03)
It shows what a good job of vetting they do
over at the Five-Sided Funny Farm that they promoted Army Lt. General
William Boykin to serve as deputy undersecretary of defense. He probably
said all the right things, and they just didn’t press him hard, to see
if perhaps he wasn’t a bit too far right in those things he said.
Bits
& Pieces
(10/22/03)
A California man was convicted of stabbing his
pregnant, drug-addicted girlfriend, in what he claimed was an accident.
His lawyer instructed the jury, "If you don't think he's lying, bad
person, lousy drug addict, stinking thief jail bird, all that to the
contrary, he's not guilty. It's as simple as that."
Fragments
(10/21/03)
Call it a boon or a plague or something in
between, but part of my make-up requires that I collect epistemological
fragments, sorta like a fly-strip catches dust. Often these bits will
languish on scraps -- of paper on my desk, of bytes in my WRK file --
causing sighs as I think maybe I should develop them, and then thinking
it might not be worth the effort.
A
Princely Season
(10/20/03)
It’s cool in the mornings now, sometimes
below 50. That may not sound cool to many parts of the country, but
considering that only a couple of months ago, it was already 80 at eight
in the morning, it’s cool. Particularly because we are on the south
wall of a canyon, and Ole Sol takes his time climbing the ridge to cast
his warmth across our dell.
Bits
& Pieces
(10/17/03)
Every two years you have to take a refresher
course on firearms safety. Our favorite instructor used to perform the
four-hour sleep-deprivation ritual in a room in the downtown mall. This
time it was held at the local Bible college.
Sammi's
Animals
(10/16/03)
When I walk down the road to get the newspaper
in the morning, he will wait until I’m out of sight and then plunk
himself down in dust, lying completely still, waiting to surprise me on
my return. Like Snoopy playing vulture in the Peanuts strip.
Nearer
the Harbor
(10/15/03)
Checking the weather stats in the local rag, I
noticed that the precip, as we weather afficionados call it, was below
seasonal norm. Actually, the words that formed in my mind’s mouth were
something like, "We’re below normal." And then I realized,
not we; I’m outta here. I’m moving back to Mill Valley.
The
Local Rag
(10/14/03)
When you live in a place like New York or
Washington, you’re likely read The New York Times or the Washington
Post and miss out on a whole ‘nother world. While those papers
cover their local area to some extent, they are mostly focused on the
big, as in global, picture. When you live in a place like Redding, you
tend to be delivered less forest and more trees.
The
Crime Beat
(10/13/03)
Also on the lam, 40 former Taliban prisoners,
including a number of commanders, who tunneled out of captivity from a
prison in southern Afghanistan. At least until this recent decline in
its rolls, it was referred to as a high-security prison.
Edifice
Wrecks
(10/10/03)
Since they’ve been in charge, they have made
the wrong decisions for the wrong reasons based on data they knew to be
wrong. Now, as the edifice wrecks, Condi and Rummy fight, Guantanamo
leaks important information to terrorists like a sieve, and Bush-Lite is
in New Hampshire telling the folks what a fine job he’s done.
A
Broader View
(10/09/03)
Dowd wrote, "Feminism died in 1998 when
Hillary allowed henchlings and Democrats to demonize Monica as an
unbalanced stalker, and when Gloria Steinem defended Mr. Clinton against
Kathleen Willey and Paula Jones by saying he had merely made clumsy
passes, then accepted rejection, so there was no sexual harassment
involved."
Bits
& Pieces
(10/08/03)
Candidates have much tougher races there; in
the current run-up to state and municipal elections, sixteen of them
have been murdered. It’s not as bad as the last election, but there
are still three weeks to go. The killings have been the work of leftist
extremists, rightist extremists, along with some common criminals.
Color
Commentator
(10/07/03)
I don’t know about the player or the media
coverage. Many people rallied behind the quarterback, declaring he was
getting the good treatment he deserved. Meanwhile, the press poo-poo’d
the notion that they would ever speak with a gloved tongue. Yeah, right.
A
Political Shame
(10/06/03)
This kind of gutter politics is a disgrace to
the very idea of public discourse and the democratic process. If there
are issues to be raised, raise them immediately. Holding them until the
last few days before the campaign is a treasonous act designed to
undermine the election process.
Pulling
the Power
(10/03/03)
Audrey reached over and pulled the power. The
propeller kept turning, but not with the necessary vigor to move the
plane forward. It’s a good thing such aircraft as the Cessna Skyhawk
we were flying were designed to glide rather than plummet to the earth
when you stop feeding the engine fuel.
Bits
& Pieces
(10/02/03)
The Supreme Court of New Hampshire ruled that
it may be garbage, but it’s still covered by a presumption of privacy.
In a 4-to-1 decision, the top judges in the Live Free or Die state said
there must be a presumption of privacy even when the garbage is bagged
and sitting on the curb.
Don't
Eat the Yellowcake (10/01/03)
Robert Novak is refusing to divulge who told
him that the former State Department official who said Niger wasn’t
selling yellowcake to Saddam was married to a CIA operative. That’s
confusing on the face, but let’s parse it because this scandal seems
to point to the sanctum inner mostest at the White House.
'Round
the Bend
(09/30/03)
And they’re coming around the final turn,
heading for home. Neigh, you say, or maybe nay. At least here in
California, where the recall election is a week away and most people
aren’t terribly pleased with their choices.
More than A Touch of Class
(09/29/03)
Glenda Jackson won an Oscar, her second, for
the 1973 film A Touch of Class. In that movie, she portrayed a
bright, charming, funny, liberated woman who epitomized class in all its
strength and dignity. I got to tell her that on Friday, when we met for
lunch in San Francisco.
California
Debate
(09/26/03)
The biggest row was a mythic open wound
between our two top immigrants, one from Greece and the other from
Austria, one a writer the other an actor, an intellectual and a
muscleman, a she and a he. She went after him and he went after her.
Fleecing
the Lame
(09/25/03)
This commerce is a sordid aspect of our
society. We should purchase what we need, not squander resources because
some not-even-clever huckster tickles our brainstem with the glint of a
bauble or the sizzle of salt-‘n-grease.
Runner
: Marathon
(09/24/03)
The assault against intellectualism continues
with the ongoing dumbing down of the SAT’s, those notorious college
admissions tests that were the challenge of every ambitious high
schooler intending to advance. Back in the old days, those tests meant
something, as in where you might receive a college education.
Those
Liberals
(09/23/03)
Indeed, name-calling damnable pols gets in the
way of resolving our problems. It’s a diversion, like trying to fix
our ghettos by focusing on skin color instead of poverty, violence, and
ignorance. Or ranting about Red China when the issue isn’t communism
but brutal domination by the psycho-crooks running the government for
their own purposes.
Musings
(09/22/03)
Not knowing if the calf was ill or weak or
needed the shade to see his computer screen better, there was clearly
some sort of understanding on the part of Elsie and her friends that
shade was needed and by god they provided it. It’s tough, sometimes,
to forget about what, and nearly whom, we eat.
Bits
& Pieces
(09/19/03)
An Italian study says eating pizza can reduce
your chance of getting cancer. Well, not yours necessarily, but if you
lived in Italy and ate pizza at least once a week, you would be much
less likely to get cancer of the esophagus and colon.
World
Snooze Tonite
(09/18/03)
A country music star and a television actor,
as popular as they might have been, are not worth that kinda of time nor
the top of the show. And to make matters worse, Jennings’ newscast
closed with a report on what it means if your cat watches television; he’s
slower than a normal cat, apparently.
Scaria
(09/17/03)
Scalia is so far to the right, he’s gotta
worry about falling off the edge of the earth. He should worry less
about falling and more about being pushed. He’s not well liked, except
by his friends and admirers, but most others who know anything about him
consider him a little too tightly wrapped.
Wanding
a Naked Emperor
(09/16/03)
Mr. Bush doesn’t know what to do; he says
he’s open to suggestions, all but begging for help from the United
Nations and our former allies whom we snubbed going in. That’s the
good news. The bad news is that no one has a clue what to do about Iraq
or Afghanistan or global terrorism.
Open
Auditions
(09/15/03)
Somehow, the Bush Administration will be
history a year from January 21st, and though they can do a
lot of damage in the interim, there are perhaps enough concerned
citizens on Capitol Hill to keep them somewhat in check and preserve the
nation in a state that the next administration will have a mandate to
repair.
Before
the Fall
(09/13/03)
Mrs. Schwarzenegger spoke well and made a
strong case for her husband as a person, someone she’s known for more
than 20 years; she might have been a candidate herself. That’s not
enough reason to vote for him, however.
Right
on the Wing
(09/12/03)
Bud feels that he and Don, being 15 years older
than I, have sorta taken me under their political wing. In no time at
all, Bud thinks, I’ll be listening to El Rushbaugh. So you won’t be
surprised to learn that from Bud I got a copy of the Ann Coulter’s
book Treason.
Bits
& Pieces
(09/11/03)
The green flyers would be the safe ones and
they could go through security quickly. The yellow ones would require a
second look. And the red ones would be shot at when they went for their
boarding pass. Oh goody, another plan, but no one has yet explained how
19 people got through security two years ago carrying boxcutters.
Frequent
Orbiter Miles
(09/10/03)
In
mathematical terms, our dear planet Earth has traveled some
30,969,892,800 miles around Old Sol since I was born, and spun on its
axis an additional 483,956,250 miles in that time.
Slick
and Slicker
(09/09/03)
No, I’m not a racist pig trying to white-out
all the other cultures. I’m a proud mongrel who celebrates myriad
different heritages, but only after we agree, in English, that the
people of the United States of America form one nation indivisible, and
we come first.
Say
What, Amigo?
(09/08/03)
No, I’m not a racist pig trying to white-out
all the other cultures. I’m a proud mongrel who celebrates myriad
different heritages, but only after we agree, in English, that the
people of the United States of America form one nation indivisible, and
we come first.
Kibbitz
to Death
(09/05/03)
As the latest would-be truce between Israel
and their Palestinian neighbors blows apart, one rues the very
possibility that this rift will ever be healed. It is like the myth of
the grail quest, and the Fisher King with the wound in his thigh that
won’t close.
None
of the Above
(09/04/03)
While people dislike the governor more than
even Richard Nixon, they don’t like the very idea of the recall and
they are blaming the Republicans for it. If one of the alternatives
doesn’t start looking better soon, they might not unseat Davis.
Choir
Preaching
(09/03/03)
Because the district is so Republican, the
Democrats can’t seem to field a candidate to run a decent race against
Herger. It’s too bad, because they could beat him if they would put up
someone with a brain and heart, and maybe a dog named Toto.
Worm
Boy
(09/02/03)
With these viruses, we lose some of our
feeling of stability that is invested in the belief that the vast
majority of people with whom we share the planet would not hurt us.
These viruses, which attack huge numbers of people the perpetrator didn’t
know and never thought of, are gratuitously assaultive.
Here
Come Duh Fall
(09/01/03)
The rest of my life is perfect, except that I
live so far from the ocean, and in a spiritually-hardscrabble town that
in my five-plus years still doesn’t have a good restaurant. I was in
Mill Valley this past weekend, a town a sixth the size of Redding, and
had a delicious meal.
Injudiciousness
(08/29/03)
For years, NASA officials have held themselves
above the fray, as if their own divine guidance, instead of diligence
and integrity, would see them through. Them, yes; seven astronauts, no. Bits
& Pieces
(08/28/03)
For years, NASA officials have held themselves
above the fray, as if their own divine guidance, instead of diligence
and integrity, would see them through. Them, yes; seven astronauts, no.
Heroes
for Peace
(08/27/03)
Some of our very finest citizens were killed
in these ventures, heroically at times, achieving worthy goals at times,
and we forever will mourn their loss to their family and community.
But for all their courage and purpose,
drained out crimson on a foreign field, we lost twice because these
important lives were not invested in building a better world. Tird
Grade
(08/26/03)
The fact that these children -- a fifth of
those who took the Florida test -- failed to pass is a major indictment
of those who have failed them already. While it’s a simple matter to
point a finger at the schools -- kindergarten, first and second grades
-- for passing students who weren’t likely reading at the earlier
grade levels, the finger points straight at the parents. Sub-Continental
Support
(08/25/03)
So when I call up and I hear that unusual, to my ears, lilt, I feel
all warm inside that America is being a good planetary neighbor. I turn
off the ubiquitous classical strains emanating from my computer, stick a
finger in the other ear, and listen with all the intention of a
constipatee. Bits
& Pieces
(08/22/03)
The government is seeking ways to speed
up the boarding of the planes, but the Electronic Privacy Information
Center is concerned that such information could be used for other
purposes, such as to arrest criminals. It’s not clear why they would
oppose such activity. Raise
the Children
(08/21/03)
Most were getting a third-rate
education and would need years of tutoring and substantial financial
support and they would still not be likely to catch up to their peers.
So much learning takes place in early childhood that it’s impossible
replicate in later years. Angel
Fallen
(08/20/03)
The man laughing in this photo looks
like an angel, and the senseless tragedy of his death is enough to
question the existence of god, anyone’s god. Said his spokesman in
Iraq, "I grieve for him, I grieve for his family. I grieve most of
all for people of Iraq." I wish I felt as generous. Power
Crisis
(08/19/03)
Was it a terrorist attack? And the
answer, if you think about things politically, is Yes, it was
perpetrated by a series of Republican and Democratic presidents and
Congresses, governors and legislators, who did nothing despite mounting
evidence that our power system was fragile and vulnerable -- not only to
terrorists but to acts of our own god. Bits
& Pieces
(08/18/03)
The Chief Justice of the Alabama
Supreme Court says he won’t obey a federal order to remove a stone
monument of the Ten Commandments that he spirited into the court
building in the middle of the night a coupla years ago. Some folks
complained about church-‘n-state separation and a federal judge
agreed. Power
Politics
(08/15/03)
The basic purpose of government, after
all, is to see to it that basic services are provided in an
uninterrupted fashion. We expect lights to come on when we flick the
switch, water to flow when we turn on the tap, cops to show up at
accidents and fire trucks at fires. The
Weather Gods
(08/14/03)
Of course, maybe the gods are just
throwing me a pity party because of all the complaining I do about the
insufferable heat. In which case, while I don’t appreciate the
sentiments, I’m most pleased with the results. Castles
in the Air
(08/13/03)
There was a time when I used to say
aloud, and somewhat embarrassingly in retrospect, that this was my last
trip. I believed, or else was trying to sways the powers that be, that I
was so flipping conscious that when I finished this lifetime I wouldn’t
be coming back. Bits
& Pieces
(08/12/03)
NASA loves a happy story and arranged a
post-nuptial press conference, with the bride appearing next to a
cardboard cut-out of her new husband. Said the bride of the
intragalactic ceremony: "It was cool; it went straight to the
heart." Governor
Moi
(08/11/03)
A number of people encouraged me to
run, and I might have, ‘cause I would have been the best governor in
the history of the world, except that I probably wouldn’t have won
because I wouldn’t have made a good candidate. Circus
Mediamess
(08/08/03)
Though their presence was a clear boon
to the town of Eagle, Colorado, where sits the court house, the sea of
satellite dishes and TV trailers would have surpassed Potter Stewart’s
definition of obscenity. The coverage was even worse. CNN was going live
with the Bryant arrival, whipping up a frenzy of irrelevance over what
was going to be a nothing hearing. Ding-a-ling
Dell
(08/07/03)
When the Japanese started serious
exporting of cars to the United States in the 1970's, most buyers were
very happy with their purchases. But then as they began to expand their
sales effort, they wound up going through American dealerships. Suddenly
much of what had been a world-class experience slipped into the cheese.
Not because they were American, but because they had an old-world car
dealer mentality. Sports
No More
(08/06/03)
They are worth it to the franchise who
wins games and attracts fans, both to $150 seats on the home court and
to the idiot box, where sporting events proliferate like viagral
rabbits. The fact is that if there weren’t an audience for this
surrogate banality the money wouldn’t be there. Run,
Dick, Run
(08/05/03)
California deserves better government
and the people know it. They aren’t demanding immediate solutions so
much as people of integrity whom they can trust to find those solutions.
They want honest, competent leadership dedicated not to special
interests but to the future of California, to create a better future for
our children and their children. Bush
League
(08/04/03)
The numbers don’t look so good,
however, when you realize that (1) the military isn’t producing
anything anyone can buy, (2) making war is a big part of the record
deficits, and (3) if they let the troops come home, the unemployment
rate would shoot even higher.
Summer
Rain
(08/02/03)
This week, Redding was actually the
hottest spot on the planet, temperature-wise, when (relative) cold waves
struck the world’s deserts and our mercury climbed to 116 degrees.
It’s been hotter, but that’s toasty, and nothing to boast about.
Our
Crooks
(08/01/03)
It used to be that whenever I heard
folks complaining about big government, I tuned them out as broken
records. Indeed, they’re usually over the edge. But sometimes they
have a point, and lately I’ve wondered if they aren’t screaming
loudly enough.
Leaderslip
(07/31/03)
Mr. Bush told a news conference that he
was taking responsibility for the nuke no-no, that the danger of
terrorism was up but then didn’t explain why it was okay that the
Department of Homeland Spuriousness had been thinking of firing air
marshals to save money, and that the economy was heading up.
Bits
& Pieces
(07/30/03)
New sports stadia are costing the
federal coffers a hunnert million a year because they are financed with
tax exempt bonds. This from the Washington Post, which records
that more than $7 billion was spent on sports venues in the past 13
years, with zillionaires profiting at the expense of the average
taxpayer.
Elephant
Graveyard
(07/29/03)
Up here in the wilds of the North
State, we are represented in the legislature by two GOPers who are now
struggling with the impacts of their party’s insistence on drawing a
line in the sand below the water line. Said one pol’s flack,
"What we hear is not good for rural counties. It looks pretty
bad."
Bits
& Pieces
(07/28/03)
Allstate is running a TV commercial
that uses a chess game as a metaphor for buying insurance. It’s clever
to a point, and that is that they show the white king’s opening
position on a black square. As everyone who plays the game knows, the
king starts on his own color.
News
Junkie's Dream
(07/26/03)
Most days, as a result of obsessively
perusing the news wires, I’ll send out a few breaking or outrageous
news items to my newsgroup list. On Thursday, I sent out nine, which
only partially reflected the incredible flow of history in the making.
This
Sporting Crime
(07/25/03)
I still keep an eye on the news
headlines and when there’s something sportif in them, it’s usually
less about the game and more about the player. All too often,
particularly over the last fifteen years or so -- to the point that it’s
become a sick joke -- those sports people making news have a legal
problem.
Suspect
on Ice
(07/24/03)
In Chicago, the police on Tuesday put
out a community alert for a man suspected in a series of sexual
assaults. He was described as a black male in his mid-20's who
"resembles the popular rap artist ‘Ice Cube.’" And what a
kerfuffle they caused.
Bits
& Pieces
(07/23/03)
Another Bush official has taken
responsibility for the nuke-up in the State of the Union Address.
Stephen Hadley, the deputy national security adviser, was the latest to
fall on the sword, which is drawing so many victims, it might be called
a Bush-kabob.
Cheesoid
News
(07/22/03)
They mark their success, or lack
thereof, purely by the numbers. They seem to care little if their
audience understands the currency of events, or simply sits glassy-eyed
in a puddle of electronic drool. Their motivation is to make money by
attracting eyeballs for the counters; they don’t care about the
results.
The
Kerry Campaign
(07/21/03)
Whoever would be the lead donkey would
be the prime target of the Bush re-election politburo and the neo-con
radio ranters. Why get in their sights this early when there’s little
real value in being the leader? It makes more sense to wait until the
New Year, raising money and meeting as many decision-makers and likely
voters as possible until then.
Witches'
Brew
(07/19/03)
Greenspan is like George Tenet: he says
what the White House wants him to say, to support their lies, even
though he knows better. The fact that he’s raising these pinkish red
flags should be a clue that what really lies ahead is not going to be a
picnic.
Bits
& Pieces
(07/18/03)
There were surely a bunch of legal
issues that determined the move, but ya gotta wonder if counties shouldn’t
be able to bid for big cases, like cities do for the Olympics. With the
descending of the media, it could be a financial windfall for the
community.
Purr,
Wag, Drool
(07/17/03)
He is such a dear creature, he’s well
worth the dust he leaves in his wake; it’s like Pigpen has walked
across the desk. Sometimes he stretches his feet out towards the
keyboard, as though he has something to write, or he maybe he just wants
to hush my fingers.
Bits
& Pieces
(07/16/03)
After earlier political ventures,
Springer gained celebrity for a television program that featured trash
trashing trash, sometimes violently. It’s hard to imagine that his
thinking would bring down Congress.
Forgiveness
Priorities
(07/15/03)
No question but that this guy had to be
separated from children, ‘cause parents of our species get fussy when
strangers fondle their offspring, but life in prison? This, while George
Tenet -- whose alleged miscreance cost thousands of lives and a
quarter-trillion dollars -- not only doesn’t go to prison but gets to
keep his job?
"Darn
Good"
(07/14/03) -- Bastille Day
Special
If there weren’t lives being lost, if
the White House weren’t projecting -- and remember the source -- a $4
billion monthly tab for Iraq into the foreseeable future, this story
might be ignored, but they are and it can’t.
Bits
& Pieces
(07/14/03)
In response, an Italian
under-secretary, responsible for tourism of all things, wrote a public
letter complaining about too many Germans vacationing on Italian
beaches, referring to Deutschland as "a country intoxicated with
arrogant certainties." Whatever that means.
That
Fish Smell
(07/12/03)
They have lied, over and over again,
and they continue to lie. The finger-pointing going on over the
responsibility for the president lying during his State of the Union
address about Saddam’s nuclear program is shameless and shameful.
Who's
on First?
(07/11/03)
Sir, it just looks bad. It really isn’t.
How can you say it isn’t bad? There’s
more fighting every day. The mothers are calling us occupiers and
threatening a holy war against us.
Mullahs, sir.
Book
Me...Please
(07/10/03)
My idea of a great vacation -- or a
great life, for that matter -- is to be plunked down in a beach house
with a stack of books and few obligations. But when I’m not on
vacation, I still love to read, even though I spend most of my waking
hours in front of this computer screen, reading and writing.
Shame
on Our Game
(07/09/03)
It is the sort of moral bankruptcy and
corruption you’d expect, maybe, in a third world country, but this is
the United States, the vanguard of justice and decency. It’s shameful
that in our country, a simple clerical problem would be enough to lock
someone up and prevent her from speaking with her children.
Bits
& Pieces
(07/08/03)
PETA, the animal protection people, are
complaining that the KFC web site contains false information about the
breeding and killing of chickens. They are suing KFC and their parent,
YUM, demanding that they use less batter on the truth.
Erase
Race
(07/07/03)
They are the ones who rush to the
microphone, shouting "Racism!" whenever a boggled sports
figure or cobwebbed pol utters social thinking from a bygone era. Their
vituperation is akin to the right-wing loonies who were spotting commies
under every bed in the Fifties.
This
Fourth
(07/05/03)
It is an extraordinary -- in a sense,
holy -- document. It breaks with history and demands freedoms that
really weren’t on the table before. Along with the Bill of Rights and
subsequent contemporizing, it enfranchises everyone to live freely and
to pursue their individual happiness.
Bits
& Pieces
(07/04/03)
There’s another reason for regretting
this policy. Aside from the gross deceit and malfeasance, there has also
been the commitment and consumption of resources. By invading Iraq, we
compromised our ability to act in areas and circumstances that were more
deserving of our attention, e.g., Africa.
"Bring
Them On"
(07/03/03)
There’s another reason for regretting
this policy. Aside from the gross deceit and malfeasance, there has also
been the commitment and consumption of resources. By invading Iraq, we
compromised our ability to act in areas and circumstances that were more
deserving of our attention, e.g., Africa.
Bogie's
Rose
(07/02/03)
It may not be a big deal in the general
scheme of things, and yet it sticks in the craw. To issue a press
release instead of commenting personally suggests he never recognized
the breath-catching quality of her extraordinary life, but still grabbed
for a share of her headlines.
Updating
Marriage
(07/01/03)
It doesn’t make sense to think people
coupling today will stay together forever. We should encourage healthy
relationships, according logical rights of privacy and concern to the
partners, but we should also enable those who make mistakes to extract
themselves reasonably and without penalty or undue opprobrium.
Bits
& Pieces
(06/30/03)
It does seem kinda tacky, and leaves
one wondering what’s next. Perhaps a special note, like "Hi,
guys, I was yer waitress. My name is Tammi. I have five children who are
starving. Please help with a big tip."
"1876"
(06/27/03)
Samuel Tilden measured the difference
between two corrupt parties this way. "I have always thought that
only as a Democrat, reflecting Jefferson and Jackson, could justice ever
be done the people because, at this moment in history, ours is the only
party which is even faintly responsive to the force of ideas."
Bits
& Pieces
(06/26/03)
Kudos to the Black-Robed Nine for
knocking down Texas’ 30-year-old sodomy law. The vote was 6-to-3 with
Rehnquist, Scalia, and Thomas in opposition. Makes it purdy darn clear
how tightly wrapped that trio is, judging the private behavior of people
behind close doors.
Arnold
of Pyrrhus
(06/25/03)
Who would want to take the helm of the
Titanic, post-iceberg? Wouldn’t it make more sense to stay above the
fray, appearing loyal and noble, and let Arnold deal with the mess?
Solstice
(06/24/03)
Ole Sol has reached the apex of his
annual climb and is now heading back down south where he belongs. Soon,
the lengthening nights will protect us from the harsh oppressive rays
that dessicate the very life out of mortals beings and leave them
withered on the vine of life like so much jerky.
Bits
& Pieces
(06/23/03)
They had first listened to Wagner's
"Ride of the Valkyries" to get charged up for the mission,
then they smashed through iron gates. Our guys dragged out a half-dozen
men, weapons and a computer disk, while women wailed. It’s not clear
if the music helped.
Bits
& Pieces
(06/21/03)
McDonald’s sued an Italian food
critic for saying their burgers taste of rubber and their fries of
cardboard. Some would say that the review was generous. If you’ve
eaten at McDonald’s, you recognize that the meat has a bounce to it
and their fries are of a rather drab consistency.
Positive
Discrimination
(06/20/03)
Did you know that in Mother England
they refer the same practice as "positive discrimination"? All
in the spin, I guess. Both programs sanctioned the selection of people
of color and other workplace minorities, when all other criteria --
talent, experience, plays well with others -- were equal.
Bits
& Pieces
(06/19/03)
The 30-year-old mother of two girls
went to the competition on Friday night with her husband, and returned
the next night to participate after they heard the event needed more
people to jar each other’s brains free from their crania.
Keep
Privates Private
(06/18/03)
At issue is whether two adults can do
mostly what they want in the privacy of their own home. It seems that
most Texans feel they shouldn’t, and they are supported by myriad
conservative and/or religious groups who say that not only is such
behavior wrong, it should be illegal.
Bits
& Pieces
(06/17/03)
The people should never have been
arrested in the first place; they should never have been tried. They
were among 38 -- 10% of the town’s black population -- who were
convicted solely on the testimony of this patently-corrupt investigator.
Le
Juggernaut Gris
(06/16/03)
This is a very thick plot, and since
none of the current players has been through it before, one can expect a
spectacle of shrill voices, serious gaffes, major strategy failures and
some indeliberately suicidal tactics.
The
Peace-Makers
(06/14/03)
He’s been busy charming dozens of
women, many of whom accepted his proposal for marriage. Several of them
received engagement rings and had planned their weddings, all on the
basis of phone calls and the Internet. Seems, however, that he lied to
them, claiming to be six-four when he’s only five-nine. And he’s no
spring chicken at 50 years old, plus he’s married.
TripTych
(06/13/03)
He’s been busy charming dozens of
women, many of whom accepted his proposal for marriage. Several of them
received engagement rings and had planned their weddings, all on the
basis of phone calls and the Internet. Seems, however, that he lied to
them, claiming to be six-four when he’s only five-nine. And he’s no
spring chicken at 50 years old, plus he’s married.
Peace
to Scumbags
(06/12/03)
Only when people give up the slaughter
of innocents, when they stop preaching hatred from hearth to altar, can
a society grow a healthier generation. Among people who have lived with
both peace and war, the vast majority prefer the former. Remember how
different it felt before Nine-Eleven? Wasn’t that better?
Hillary
Agonistes
(06/11/03)
The Lovely Linda finds her escape from
the daily horrors of family law in front of the television, usually
watching "talent" contests and home decorating shows. I sit
across the room on the couch, smile lovingly through clenched teeth, and
make notes on the trailing edge of the decline and schmaltz of western
civilization.
The
Idiot Box
(06/10/03)
The Lovely Linda finds her escape from
the daily horrors of family law in front of the television, usually
watching "talent" contests and home decorating shows. I sit
across the room on the couch, smile lovingly through clenched teeth, and
make notes on the trailing edge of the decline and schmaltz of western
civilization.
Bits
& Pieces
(06/09/03)
Soon they would have us be disgraced
for taking a nip from a bottle, describing a clean room as
spic-and-span, dancing a jig, gig a frog, asking for kraut on our dog,
or keeping a pet guinea pig. The real disgrace is that this legislation
even made it to the floor.
Miscellany
(06/06/03)
A U.S. district judge sentenced the
self-proclaimed "Guru of Ganja" to a day in the pokey -- that’s
time served -- for growing marijuana. Ed Rosenthal had been cultivating
a weed harvest to supply cannabis clinics, which is legal according to
California law, but the feds went after him.
Bits
& Pieces
(06/05/03)
After more than a year of
investigating, the feds indicted her for stock shenanigans. Stewart is
only a little less popular than Leona Helmsley, and most of it, as with
Helmsley, is of her own making. If she hadn’t been greedy, if she’d
fessed up early, she might not be facing a possible prison stretch.
What's
in a Name
(06/04/03)
Further complicating the problem are
the hyper-scumbags, who are threatening to launch suicide attacks
against Americans in Iraq. They are being cheered on by the myriad
disparate Iraqi elements that find traction in bad-mouthing their
liberators. This is not a healthy situation.
A
Darker Shade of Gray
(06/03/03)
A man whose idea of leadership was to
do nothing, he botched the energy crisis in 2000 through ambivalence and
delay. His incessant failure to act has led California into a budget
deficit of dangerous dimension.
The
Concorde
(06/02/03)
Ya gotta think that with all the money
we spend on military technology, we should be able to figure out how to
fly faster than 600 mph without breaking windows. Surely we haven’t
reached the apex of flight. Surely we shouldn’t have to take a step
backwards, as the shutting down of Concorde service implies.
Miscellany
(05/30/03)
Davis pocketed almost $200,000 from the
Morongo Indians, whose new 23-story, $250-million casino resort hotel
will be, according to tribal leaders, "a symbol of Native American
determination." Speculation that the new building was designed to
look like Davis’ scalp has been denied.
Bits
& Pieces
(05/29/03)
The 35-year-old woman is an American
who converted to Islam a while back, and she says her god would think
her unchaste for revealing her face. Point one, in most Muslim countries
where women are allowed to drive, they show their faces for their
license. Point two, as my pal Peter notes, someone whose face is mostly
covered up shouldn’t be driving ‘cause she can’t see well.
No,
Honest (05/28/03)
I probably should add that unless the
information contained therein isn’t an obvious and intentional product
of my own leetle grey cells, I cannot vouch for the accuracy,
authorship, or authenticity. And even if it is mine, I still can’t
sometimes.
The
Outer Banks
(05/27/03)
The beach here was and is marvelous.
The water is far more enjoyable than it is further north, warmed as it
is by the Gulf Stream which runs about a mile off-shore. The fresh
seafood is delicious, and the local vegetables delucious. Kitty Hawk
drew us for two weeks every summer for four decades, with only a few
years missed.
Red
Hot Poker
(05/26/03)
Turns out she hadn’t been shot or
stabbed as had been originally reported. Also, it seems that the Iraqi
military had fled the scene a coupla days before the daring raid. The
teen hero from Appalachia says she doesn’t remember anything. Wag,
wag, wag the dog.
Memorial
Day Weekend
(05/23/03)
Memorial Day is the start of summer. It
used to be on May 30th for the longest time, and then for the
benefit of mattress retailers, it was shifted to the last Monday of the
month. Way back when, holidays meant something; they were celebrated on
the same day every year, as a reminder of why they were holidays.
Prostitutes
and Whores
(05/22/03)
The bimbette brigade -- both male and
female -- project less depth than the extras in a high school
performance of "Grease," mispronouncing and mis-cuing their
way through important events with a chewing-gum effervescence -- Thanks
very much for that great report, Lance -- that could choke Jonah’s
whale.
Father
and Son (05/21/03)
He couldn’t really describe it, but
said that he felt a oneness with everything. He said he’d had a coupla
similar experiences, and responded to them similarly. He dismissed them,
with little more thought than they were intellectual indigestion. So
much for exploiting epiphanies. Or even looking into them.
The
City (05/20/03)
I hadn’t been back to New York since
the terrorist attack, and though the down economy was no doubt causing
pain and concern, there was still to me an atmosphere of pre-recovery.
The attacks were an outrage in so many ways, but principally, they
seemed unfair.
Bits
& Pieces
(05/19/03)
Hatfill got out of his car to take a
photograph of the tailers and they seem to have run over his foot; or
something, it’s not really clear. It wasn’t so bad that he needed
medical attention. However, he was fined $5 for disrupting traffic.
Paenuttiest (05/16/03)
A sign in the produce section of the
local Safeway advertised special paenuts. I checked the label on the
package to see if someone thought the misspelling was purposeful. Nope.
Kinda like the way the world is these days; not only nutty but they can’t
spell it.
Madness
and Medals (05/15/03)
"Men went mad and were rewarded
with medals." In war that probably makes sense. Considering that
most soldiers never fire their weapons at the enemy, considering many
say they would rather be killed than kill someone else, it’s easy if
macabre to understand how it might take madness of sorts to explode into
a battlefield success.
Bits
& Pieces
(05/14/03)
The purpose is to thwart
counterfeiters. What’s unclear is why it’s not easier to pass phoney
money with so many bills -- and all those new quarters -- looking
unfamiliar, at best. Excuse me, could you change this $18 bill? Sure,
would you like three sixes or two nines.
Anchor
White (05/13/03)
He was the late evening anchor and I
the producer at the CBS affiliate in Providence, Rhode Island, for three
months back in 1975. We had immediate chemistry, and the ratings showed
it. We gained seven share point on the competition in that short time.
The reason: we were serious about journalism and understood television.
From
the Latin, Servitium
(05/12/03)
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