Reality to Earth . . . There are some times when overreacting beats all Hell out of under-reacting. This is one of them.
Just ask the folks down south who are still putting their lives together years after everyone with the power to do a better job of protecting them screwed up if that's true.
New York and the East Coast, for those of you with a limited knowledge of where to find the Weather Channel, got hit with a storm named Irene which ranged from a Category Two Hurricane down to a tropical storm. This means some people who aren't used to seeing more than a puddle of water in their front yards are currently looking out their doors at Sea World.
From the start, most of the people whose sole purpose in life seems to be finding a way to stay in the offices they've been elected to jumped to life as if they'd been hit in the backside by a defibrillator paddle. Public transportation was stopped before the storm got here, activities were cancelled and low-lying areas were ordered evacuated without a moment's hesitation.
The Governor of New Jersey, who has more than a few miles of shoreline to worry about, demanded it cleared, and was more than a little pissed off when he saw surfers and beach-goers going about their business of Friday. I quote:
"Get the hell off the Beach in Asbury Park and get out. You’re done. It’s 4:30 PM. You’ve maximized your tan. Get off the beach. Get in you cars and get out of those areas.”
As you might guess, the man isn't considered the shy, retiring type, but he had a lot of company on the local level, with everyone getting on their horse and sounding the battle charge. It may seem like overkill, but before we call this a 'Chicken Little' story because it's not turning out to be a mass destruction event, let's face facts, when it comes to major tropical storms (And this one weighed in at 650 miles across), the New York Tri-State area isn't high on the list of targets, meaning we don't have so much experience as they might have in, let's say, Florida. They did what they thought best and it was a bit . . . Loud.
The bitching would be a lot louder and the casualty list a lot longer if the powers that be were laid back on this one. Believe it.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
The Market Is Standard And Its Victims Poor
Reality to Earth . . . "Well, as of this moment, they're on DOUBLE SECRET PROBATION! " - Dean Vernon Wormer, Animal House, 1978
Or, as Standard and Poor put it recently, instead of Triple A, we're making you Double A plus!
Oooh . . . Aaah . . . Let's all panic and drop over two billion in value in the stock market because someone took away half of an A. If you need any further proof the people in charge of money and policy need to have their heads examined, and us for putting a good deal of them in place, there you have it.
And just in case that doesn't do it for you, realize that a healthy chunk of the money which was pulled out of the stock market yesterday went, for the most part, into financial instruments of the very same debtor who was downgraded; the US Government.
The losers in all of this? The people who trusted the solutions coming out of Washington for the morass they've delivered us would keep the markets from panicking, and the government itself, who by listening faithfully to Standard and Poor and making it policy to only purchase securities with Triple A stamped on it made the rating an important mark, with anything less seen as a dismal failure.
The winners, as usual, was anyone who held aside enough in the way of liquid assets during the debt ceiling bacchanalia to be ready when its consequences hit the ground in financial America. The market dropped over five hundred points in a day last week and over six hundred thirty yesterday. That made stocks a bargain, and so the bargain hunters came and bought enough to move the market up a robust four hundred thirty points today.
Double secret probation made more sense than those who tend the current financial structures in this nation, and he was what would be referred to in this era as a complete tool.
That's the problem in Washington, come to think of it. All tools and no able carpenters.
Or, as Standard and Poor put it recently, instead of Triple A, we're making you Double A plus!
Oooh . . . Aaah . . . Let's all panic and drop over two billion in value in the stock market because someone took away half of an A. If you need any further proof the people in charge of money and policy need to have their heads examined, and us for putting a good deal of them in place, there you have it.
And just in case that doesn't do it for you, realize that a healthy chunk of the money which was pulled out of the stock market yesterday went, for the most part, into financial instruments of the very same debtor who was downgraded; the US Government.
The losers in all of this? The people who trusted the solutions coming out of Washington for the morass they've delivered us would keep the markets from panicking, and the government itself, who by listening faithfully to Standard and Poor and making it policy to only purchase securities with Triple A stamped on it made the rating an important mark, with anything less seen as a dismal failure.
The winners, as usual, was anyone who held aside enough in the way of liquid assets during the debt ceiling bacchanalia to be ready when its consequences hit the ground in financial America. The market dropped over five hundred points in a day last week and over six hundred thirty yesterday. That made stocks a bargain, and so the bargain hunters came and bought enough to move the market up a robust four hundred thirty points today.
Double secret probation made more sense than those who tend the current financial structures in this nation, and he was what would be referred to in this era as a complete tool.
That's the problem in Washington, come to think of it. All tools and no able carpenters.
Monday, August 1, 2011
A Deficit of Common Sense
Reality to Earth . . . Quoting the great Gorilla Monsoon: "A pat on the back is only eighteen inches from a kick in the ass"
And now we come down to the wire and our politicians have decided to loosen a notch in the belt before the whole belly goes critical and causes us to "default".
"Default" is ours, ladies and gents. We elected them.
And make no mistake, the fight over whether to raise the debt ceiling is more about elections than finance; there's no greater evidence than the little fight which took place earlier in the process when the Republicans proposed a stop-gap which gave us a figure which would insure another round of gamesmanship occurred in 2012 while the Democrats proposed a higher number which would shove this mess into 2013. One side wanted to throw this mess into the view of the voters again just before the next presidential election and the other side was hoping to shove it under the rug until afterwards.
Anyone who tells you differently is selling you something. Somewhere the ghosts of political machines past on both sides are shedding tears of joy over the way their descendants have used the lessons of the past to screw over the voters of the present and call it statesmanship. And while a deal is in the offing as of this writing, the deal isn't done yet and they're dislocating their shoulders patting themselves on the back for a job well done.
This is what they're doing. They are their own bank and they've said they're raising their own credit limit to continue doing business while trying to figure out ways to undo mistakes both sides have been making since the Ford administration and stay in office . . . Mistakes like the one the Carter administration made by taking the only government agency which was firmly in the black at the time (Social Security) and turning what was conceived by FDR as an insurance program (Yay!) into what is now seen as an entitlement program (Boo!).
Only these yahoos could make old people getting the benefits they spent a lifetime paying for seem like wastrels for actually having the stones to ask for their benefits to be paid when it's their turn. (Dirty rotten baby boomers turning 65 and asking for their money . . . For Shame!)
The lot of them want you to forget little details like this when it's the last thing you need to do. Let me make this plain. There are no winners here. There are no heroes here. There are only politicians here, doing what politicians do best and then calling it rain. They'll fix things now alright . . . Just ask any dog or cat what the term 'fixed' means to them and you'll get a good idea of what's coming.
And now we come down to the wire and our politicians have decided to loosen a notch in the belt before the whole belly goes critical and causes us to "default".
"Default" is ours, ladies and gents. We elected them.
And make no mistake, the fight over whether to raise the debt ceiling is more about elections than finance; there's no greater evidence than the little fight which took place earlier in the process when the Republicans proposed a stop-gap which gave us a figure which would insure another round of gamesmanship occurred in 2012 while the Democrats proposed a higher number which would shove this mess into 2013. One side wanted to throw this mess into the view of the voters again just before the next presidential election and the other side was hoping to shove it under the rug until afterwards.
Anyone who tells you differently is selling you something. Somewhere the ghosts of political machines past on both sides are shedding tears of joy over the way their descendants have used the lessons of the past to screw over the voters of the present and call it statesmanship. And while a deal is in the offing as of this writing, the deal isn't done yet and they're dislocating their shoulders patting themselves on the back for a job well done.
This is what they're doing. They are their own bank and they've said they're raising their own credit limit to continue doing business while trying to figure out ways to undo mistakes both sides have been making since the Ford administration and stay in office . . . Mistakes like the one the Carter administration made by taking the only government agency which was firmly in the black at the time (Social Security) and turning what was conceived by FDR as an insurance program (Yay!) into what is now seen as an entitlement program (Boo!).
Only these yahoos could make old people getting the benefits they spent a lifetime paying for seem like wastrels for actually having the stones to ask for their benefits to be paid when it's their turn. (Dirty rotten baby boomers turning 65 and asking for their money . . . For Shame!)
The lot of them want you to forget little details like this when it's the last thing you need to do. Let me make this plain. There are no winners here. There are no heroes here. There are only politicians here, doing what politicians do best and then calling it rain. They'll fix things now alright . . . Just ask any dog or cat what the term 'fixed' means to them and you'll get a good idea of what's coming.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Quantities May Be Limited Due To Insanity
Reality to Earth . . . Just for a laugh, can we try to keep deadly weapons from being acquired by crazy people?
Automatic rifles . . . That's a good start. Can we keep automatic rifles out of the hands of lunatics, just to make life a little less interesting? Or to possibly make life spans in the general vicinity of these lunatics longer?
I'm not entirely sure what level or brand of crazy we should limit this restriction to, but until we can be sure, until some government ciphers can spend too much money on a definitive study, how about all kinds? If you're certifiable, and especially if you're writing 1200 page manifestos quoting the Unabomber and railing against any of your neighbors (Race, color and creed notwithstanding) you shouldn't have province over a weapon capable of rapid fire against a group of unarmed civilians.
Just saying, folks. And while we're at it, how about restricting the sale of everyone's favorite horse manure replacement, ammonium nitrate fertilizer, to people who actually have large plots of confirmed farm acreage which are producing crops and feeding people? True, in the case of the Oslo bombing this past weekend we had a crazy farmer at work, but that's the exception rather than the norm. You don't need drums of highly explosive materials to fertilize a backyard. Let those weekend grass-cutters stick to something which can't take out half of an office building when mixed with other easy to find materials.
I know if I'm going to hear it from anyone, it'll be from those who believe in the right to bear arms. I'm here to tell you I'm pretty big on the free speech elements of the same document that comes from, as well as the life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness we all agree is a good thing. And I'm also sure someone bearing arms could have stopped the madness the other day . . . Just not someone crazy with an automatic weapon.
Common sense doesn't seem to always mesh well with what we perceive to be reality, but let's shove the two of them into a room together for a while (Unarmed would be nice)and see if we can make them get along.
Automatic rifles . . . That's a good start. Can we keep automatic rifles out of the hands of lunatics, just to make life a little less interesting? Or to possibly make life spans in the general vicinity of these lunatics longer?
I'm not entirely sure what level or brand of crazy we should limit this restriction to, but until we can be sure, until some government ciphers can spend too much money on a definitive study, how about all kinds? If you're certifiable, and especially if you're writing 1200 page manifestos quoting the Unabomber and railing against any of your neighbors (Race, color and creed notwithstanding) you shouldn't have province over a weapon capable of rapid fire against a group of unarmed civilians.
Just saying, folks. And while we're at it, how about restricting the sale of everyone's favorite horse manure replacement, ammonium nitrate fertilizer, to people who actually have large plots of confirmed farm acreage which are producing crops and feeding people? True, in the case of the Oslo bombing this past weekend we had a crazy farmer at work, but that's the exception rather than the norm. You don't need drums of highly explosive materials to fertilize a backyard. Let those weekend grass-cutters stick to something which can't take out half of an office building when mixed with other easy to find materials.
I know if I'm going to hear it from anyone, it'll be from those who believe in the right to bear arms. I'm here to tell you I'm pretty big on the free speech elements of the same document that comes from, as well as the life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness we all agree is a good thing. And I'm also sure someone bearing arms could have stopped the madness the other day . . . Just not someone crazy with an automatic weapon.
Common sense doesn't seem to always mesh well with what we perceive to be reality, but let's shove the two of them into a room together for a while (Unarmed would be nice)and see if we can make them get along.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Some Lives Will Not Be Saved
The headline out of England was as sad as it seemed inevitable. There was another talent, both brilliant and out of kilter, who wasn't going to see the somewhat mystic age of 28.
When I was a youngster, I saw the train wreck which was Amy Winehouse acted out at least twice for public consumption with The Pearl, Janis Joplin, falling to heroin on an October day in 1970 which was only two weeks after Jimi Hendrix dies choking on the contents of his own stomach. Back then it was treated as the inevitable tragedy which happened when the 'scourge of illegal drugs' was involved . . . What's commonly referred to as a cautionary tale.
Cautionary tale . . . Warning. There are those who will not be warned and eventually join the ranks of those who could not be saved. John Belushi, who could draw laughter with a smile, a flick of an eyebrow and a samurai sword, and didn't have a bad Chicago blues growl either, crashed into the ground with the impact of a mile long meteor; an impact which said 'This is what you could do to yourself. I'm Dead' with very little room for misinterpretation.
While I detest the sort of tabloid paper which leads with this kind of headline, it has to be said. The title of this warning goes 'They tried to make me go to rehab, and I said, No, no, no . . . And then I paid the price.'
Trying to save every life which runs down this road is a fools errand, but one which has to be undertaken, like it or not. Some won't be saved at any cost or any amount of effort, but the ones which are saved cut the sting of those losses, however many that turns out to be.
If people have the talent to grab a corner of the world, shake it, and make people pay attention . . . Take it from someone who most days is scratching around on the outside of that snow globe looking in . . . There's no greater creative gift. I'd like to see more people make that their drug.
When I was a youngster, I saw the train wreck which was Amy Winehouse acted out at least twice for public consumption with The Pearl, Janis Joplin, falling to heroin on an October day in 1970 which was only two weeks after Jimi Hendrix dies choking on the contents of his own stomach. Back then it was treated as the inevitable tragedy which happened when the 'scourge of illegal drugs' was involved . . . What's commonly referred to as a cautionary tale.
Cautionary tale . . . Warning. There are those who will not be warned and eventually join the ranks of those who could not be saved. John Belushi, who could draw laughter with a smile, a flick of an eyebrow and a samurai sword, and didn't have a bad Chicago blues growl either, crashed into the ground with the impact of a mile long meteor; an impact which said 'This is what you could do to yourself. I'm Dead' with very little room for misinterpretation.
While I detest the sort of tabloid paper which leads with this kind of headline, it has to be said. The title of this warning goes 'They tried to make me go to rehab, and I said, No, no, no . . . And then I paid the price.'
Trying to save every life which runs down this road is a fools errand, but one which has to be undertaken, like it or not. Some won't be saved at any cost or any amount of effort, but the ones which are saved cut the sting of those losses, however many that turns out to be.
If people have the talent to grab a corner of the world, shake it, and make people pay attention . . . Take it from someone who most days is scratching around on the outside of that snow globe looking in . . . There's no greater creative gift. I'd like to see more people make that their drug.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
The Legal System Will Drive You Crazy (When It Works To Design Specs)
Reality To Earth . . . Reasonable doubt is a good idea. Even when it seems it isn't.
There are plenty of other examples, but for a lot of people in my generation it goes back to the trial of OJ Simpson. Months of testimony, tons of evidence, gloves that wouldn't fit and a whole other pile of things which a jury seemed to magically distill in only four hours of sitting together in a room. The word was not guilty, the innocent dead all these years later still haven't had some form of justice done for the crimes committed against them, and a defendant those of us sitting on the outside looking in considered as guilty as could possibly be determined walked away.
The wrath of public opinion and righteous indignation have found a new "What were those twelve people thinking" watermark in the trial of a smiling, somewhat smug defendant and a dead innocent, a doe-eyed two year old who practically redefines the term. From what the evidence shows, we can only hope she never knew or never suffered due to what was done, but there will always be that underlying, nagging feeling she might have.
I've resisted writing on this subject for a few days. I wanted to see whether the 'lay of the land' was much the same as during the trial, with public opinion coming down like a hammer on the prosecution, the defendant and the jury.
I think the outside headline "No Justice" and the interior "Monster Mom beats Slay Rap" in Wednesday's July 6th's NY Daily News pretty much crystallized what I've been seeing since. The only people who seem to have doubted the defendant was guilty of murdering her daughter were the twelve whose opinions counted in this case. They saw the evidence presented, they weighed it, and they came to a decision which was largely based on the phrase every judge charges a jury with . . . "Beyond A Reasonable Doubt".
There are two thing no one can consider beyond that reasonable doubt. One is that Caylee Anthony is dead. Casey Anthony, amidst the clouds of stories, obfuscation and defenses walks away with time served. Just as with the case which I began the column with, the service of justice has been relegated to the court those of faith consider the final one, as there's little chance of anyone else being charged with the crimes.
The second fact, even if it currently irritates us, is that the term reasonable doubt is set within the legal system to protect the innocent accused of crimes in this country, if not always the innocent who are the victims of crime.
Stated simply . . . If the umpires blew the call, the ones they don't miss are what keeps the game on the field fair. And if I'm resorting to sports analogies, it's time to call a -30- to this entry.
There are plenty of other examples, but for a lot of people in my generation it goes back to the trial of OJ Simpson. Months of testimony, tons of evidence, gloves that wouldn't fit and a whole other pile of things which a jury seemed to magically distill in only four hours of sitting together in a room. The word was not guilty, the innocent dead all these years later still haven't had some form of justice done for the crimes committed against them, and a defendant those of us sitting on the outside looking in considered as guilty as could possibly be determined walked away.
The wrath of public opinion and righteous indignation have found a new "What were those twelve people thinking" watermark in the trial of a smiling, somewhat smug defendant and a dead innocent, a doe-eyed two year old who practically redefines the term. From what the evidence shows, we can only hope she never knew or never suffered due to what was done, but there will always be that underlying, nagging feeling she might have.
I've resisted writing on this subject for a few days. I wanted to see whether the 'lay of the land' was much the same as during the trial, with public opinion coming down like a hammer on the prosecution, the defendant and the jury.
I think the outside headline "No Justice" and the interior "Monster Mom beats Slay Rap" in Wednesday's July 6th's NY Daily News pretty much crystallized what I've been seeing since. The only people who seem to have doubted the defendant was guilty of murdering her daughter were the twelve whose opinions counted in this case. They saw the evidence presented, they weighed it, and they came to a decision which was largely based on the phrase every judge charges a jury with . . . "Beyond A Reasonable Doubt".
There are two thing no one can consider beyond that reasonable doubt. One is that Caylee Anthony is dead. Casey Anthony, amidst the clouds of stories, obfuscation and defenses walks away with time served. Just as with the case which I began the column with, the service of justice has been relegated to the court those of faith consider the final one, as there's little chance of anyone else being charged with the crimes.
The second fact, even if it currently irritates us, is that the term reasonable doubt is set within the legal system to protect the innocent accused of crimes in this country, if not always the innocent who are the victims of crime.
Stated simply . . . If the umpires blew the call, the ones they don't miss are what keeps the game on the field fair. And if I'm resorting to sports analogies, it's time to call a -30- to this entry.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
A Fore Which Has Nothing To Do With Golf
Reality to Earth . . . The summer of the superheroes just took an ugly turn.
I have very little problem with people who take sides in an issue, no matter how odd the issue might be. Taking a side in an issue means taking the time to stand up and be counted, and God knows we need every cerebral cortex out there firing on all cylinders to help steer this planet in the right direction.
That said, I think we could probably do with one or two less of the ones we have. Out in San Francisco there is a current movement to ban circumcision within the city which, in itself, is a legislative intrusion on an issue of choice made by a family . . . A very un-San Francisco item given the counter-culture history of a city which believes in the rights proffered by constitutional amendment . . . And that means all of them, including freedom of religion.
What started as a attempt to prevent circumcision by something called the "Intactivist" movement has gone from a complex civil issue to a monumentally ugly subject, as in Anti-Semitic ugly, as in . . . And I swear to you on my blessed keyboard as a fiction writer I didn't make this up . . . "Monster Mohel vs. Foreskin Man" ugly.
Look it up, ladies, gentlemen and kiddies. A comic book called "Foreskin Man" (!), in its second issue, depicts a bris as a religious ceremony taking place under the auspices of a vicious, blank-eyed psychopath with two yarmulke-wearing thugs at his beck and call. The father who insists upon it is considered strange and the mother doesn't survive the 'evil onslaught'. The child in all of this is taken by the good guys to be raised "Intactivist" as burning circumcision equipment forms the movement logo in the background.
Really, people? You're kidding me, right? This is, and always has been, a choice the parents make, whether it has to do with religious tradition or medical maintenance. This may also be the rare occasion you can put Jews, Muslims and Christians in the same room, have them point back through time to Abraham and say "Yeah . . . This we agree on." (Even if in Christian circles it's a medical option rather than a religious ceremony.)
If you have a problem with circumcision, and I can certainly understand having a problem with any form of elective surgical procedure, don't have it done to you and yours. There, OK? I solved things for you. I offered a simple, bottom line solution. The constitutional amendments apply to your choices just the same way they apply to mine.
Indulgence in blatant anti-religious propaganda, however, is where you not only lose me, it's where you put me and the "nipped before I knew where my bud was" subject of this rigmarole on the line against you. I have a son, daughter-in-law, granddaughter and someday I'm probably going to have a grandson, to all of whom any form of Anti-Semitic garbage is or will be one hell of a personal issue. That makes it a personal issue to me, and I find the people on my side a lot better equipped for this kind of argument than the ones on yours; people who seem to literally and figuratively be unable to do anything but go for the groin.
Take your hate and go away. Go far away. Stay there.
I have very little problem with people who take sides in an issue, no matter how odd the issue might be. Taking a side in an issue means taking the time to stand up and be counted, and God knows we need every cerebral cortex out there firing on all cylinders to help steer this planet in the right direction.
That said, I think we could probably do with one or two less of the ones we have. Out in San Francisco there is a current movement to ban circumcision within the city which, in itself, is a legislative intrusion on an issue of choice made by a family . . . A very un-San Francisco item given the counter-culture history of a city which believes in the rights proffered by constitutional amendment . . . And that means all of them, including freedom of religion.
What started as a attempt to prevent circumcision by something called the "Intactivist" movement has gone from a complex civil issue to a monumentally ugly subject, as in Anti-Semitic ugly, as in . . . And I swear to you on my blessed keyboard as a fiction writer I didn't make this up . . . "Monster Mohel vs. Foreskin Man" ugly.
Look it up, ladies, gentlemen and kiddies. A comic book called "Foreskin Man" (!), in its second issue, depicts a bris as a religious ceremony taking place under the auspices of a vicious, blank-eyed psychopath with two yarmulke-wearing thugs at his beck and call. The father who insists upon it is considered strange and the mother doesn't survive the 'evil onslaught'. The child in all of this is taken by the good guys to be raised "Intactivist" as burning circumcision equipment forms the movement logo in the background.
Really, people? You're kidding me, right? This is, and always has been, a choice the parents make, whether it has to do with religious tradition or medical maintenance. This may also be the rare occasion you can put Jews, Muslims and Christians in the same room, have them point back through time to Abraham and say "Yeah . . . This we agree on." (Even if in Christian circles it's a medical option rather than a religious ceremony.)
If you have a problem with circumcision, and I can certainly understand having a problem with any form of elective surgical procedure, don't have it done to you and yours. There, OK? I solved things for you. I offered a simple, bottom line solution. The constitutional amendments apply to your choices just the same way they apply to mine.
Indulgence in blatant anti-religious propaganda, however, is where you not only lose me, it's where you put me and the "nipped before I knew where my bud was" subject of this rigmarole on the line against you. I have a son, daughter-in-law, granddaughter and someday I'm probably going to have a grandson, to all of whom any form of Anti-Semitic garbage is or will be one hell of a personal issue. That makes it a personal issue to me, and I find the people on my side a lot better equipped for this kind of argument than the ones on yours; people who seem to literally and figuratively be unable to do anything but go for the groin.
Take your hate and go away. Go far away. Stay there.
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