Prior to early August this year, I had never written or posted a blog (web log). With the assistance of my two smart adult children I learned how to set up a blog site and off I went.
I enjoy writing about my opinions of the day for cathartic reasons and for the safety of those closest to me. More specifically I felt if my head ever exploded too close to my wife, there could be unintended consequences. I used to joke about wrapping my head in duct tape. Blogging has saved me hundreds of dollars by not buying tape in which to wrap my head to keep it from exploding.
The site I use allows me to determine how many “hits” my site gets each day along with other analytic data about where those folks live (in general), etc. But the analysis I have seen since I have been posting my thoughts is telling me I do not have a very large loyal following. My guess is the folks that are going to my site on a regular basis are only close friends and immediate family, and even then not every day even though I have established a routine of writing just about every day to attract daily followers.
People can get to my site in one of the following three ways. After the first visit, they can bookmark and return to my site as a Favorite. They use the more modern way using an RSS Feeder (see following link). http://www.techafina.com/rss-explained/. The third way is if someone sends my site's URL to a family member or friend and that person opens the link.
Where is this going? When I alerted somewhere between 20 to 30 friends and family by e-mail I had started posting I received a lot of hits. But later I explained that was sort of cheating. If someone really likes following a favorite blogger they will continue to return to that site often, without prompting. So I explained to my friends and family I would stop providing a heads up but would continue to write. I wanted a way to determine just how many visitors I would receive every day to my blog site because folks really wanted to check it out and see what my thoughts were that day.
From hitting some high notes, reaching as many as 25 readers on certain days after providing a heads up my average readership has dropped dramatically.
Some bloggers write because they get paid to write for newspapers, magazines or web sites and are considered professionals in the new age of writing for others. I write for myself but based upon the drop in readership without prompting feel I may be getting followed by too few folks to continue to “post in the open”. I may as well keep a private diary, stop writing completely or perhaps send e-mails to those who respond to this posting and ask that I do so. I need some help in deciding what to do. While I don’t fancy myself a professional writer if there are not enough people who want me to continue posting, I should stop. Therefore I am going to do the following, immediately.
This is my last posting for several days, at least through the weekend and as long as a week. I am going “dark”. I have written 31 blogs to date (not including this one) with my average daily readership going from the high teens to as low as 1 but has settled between 5 or 6 per day. When you read this blog if you want me to continue to share my thoughts please put a note into comments section at the bottom of this posting or write me directly if you have my e-mail address and do not want your comment to be read publicly.
I will decide whether to continue to blog after I hear from those that respond. Several days is a long time to not write, at least for me, but it is long enough for anyone who has read any of my previous postings to come back to my site, read this and tell me if they want me to continue posting and why.
That’s it for today. I do not need to know if you agree with what I write but if I should continue. Simple enough. I look forward to hearing from enough followers to justify my time in posting my thoughts going forward.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Two Political Conventions, Two Completely Different Themes
I know most of America did not watch the Presidential conventions, regardless of party affiliation, age, gender, or whatever. As unlikely as it is many Americans watched one convention it is even less likely they watched or paid much attention to both. That having been said, I did record both events each evening and the following day pushed through the commentary on fast forward to see and hear the key note speakers at both conventions. Well, that is history and this week officially marks the start of the “Sprint to the finish”. In less than 60 days America will elect a new President.
From my observations in watching both conventions, glaring differences came through as if the volume was turned to high and the resolution to extreme. One convention seemed focused on its party’s platform, ideology, its goals and mission as well as its chosen leaders and how they planned to make improvements going forward following their “taking charge” of the county in January, 2009.
The other convention seemed completely focused on one party leader and that person’s selection as running mate. There was little specific focus on what is really wrong in America today and how this party’s chosen nominees are going to lead the American people forward after “taking charge” of the country in January, 2009.
After stripping away all the rhetoric, tuning out all the pageantry, music, streamers, confetti and balloons, there seemed to be two America’s being represented at these very different conventions. One was a high energy convention with what I interpreted was a genuine hope for something different in the next four years from the past eight. The other convention reminded me of something I have heard for the past eight years and every year this party has been in office or wanted to get there. Same message, different people saying the same thing as in the past despite their break from the current administration in office.
Both the Democrats and Republicans had energetic speakers to fire up their base and both took some shots at their opponents. But the similarities between the two ended there.
I took the time to see and hear the leaders of both parties speak and present their party’s and their own personal views about how they saw the past, the present and the future. One party seemed to “get it”, the other seemed too focused on trying to be so different from being main stream they neglected to address any specific agenda items they had in mind for our future except to criticize the other party’s perspective. One tone seemed positive, one totally obscured and vague.
It is no wonder most Americans have come to hate politics so much. Even a political junkie like me can become cynical about the process we still follow to select our national leaders. Worse, some still don’t seem to “get it” when it comes to communicating with us on a level we can and want to understand. But, if they did they would not be politicians would they.
I am hoping the three debates will be watched by a great majority of Americans. And I hope during those debates we get some real understanding of the differences between the candidates running for President and Vice President. I will be watching and hoping some serious issues get addressed in a serious way by everyone involved. Late breaking news has it that finally, sometime this week, we will see an interview by one of the major network anchors, Charles Gibson of ABC, with the only candidate that thus far has eluded a one-on-one interview with anyone. Sarah Palin has been completely sheltered from interviews to this point. I can only hope there were no pre-conditions such as having questions submitted in advance for ABC to garner this first exclusive interview.
One might say Palin will have to learn on the job in the event of a catastrophic event but learn how to interview with the national media before elected? That’s scary…how much time did she need to learn how to read a globe, the names of the countries where the bad guys live and learn party lines about how to make the other guy the focus of any hard questions she could not answer? Come-on now…
In November, after the debates are over and the ads have come off the air, we (the great majority of registered voters) will either vote, or not. If the majority of registered voters do go to the polls, I believe the majority already know for whom they will vote. It is said some are “undecided”. I challenge that notion. I have a theory the term “undecided” was concocted by pollsters who could not get straight answers from folks they polled, people who did not want to go on the record and tell the truth as to how they really felt when asked.
Churchill said once, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. I disagree. I fear the fact we, as a nation, are made up of some of the least informed people in any country in the world when one of the most important national elections in history is on the line. I fear for the future of our country as we have no idea what will be going on in the minds of those who actually do show up to vote this November. We will know the results afterward, but, we may never find out the “why”.
From my observations in watching both conventions, glaring differences came through as if the volume was turned to high and the resolution to extreme. One convention seemed focused on its party’s platform, ideology, its goals and mission as well as its chosen leaders and how they planned to make improvements going forward following their “taking charge” of the county in January, 2009.
The other convention seemed completely focused on one party leader and that person’s selection as running mate. There was little specific focus on what is really wrong in America today and how this party’s chosen nominees are going to lead the American people forward after “taking charge” of the country in January, 2009.
After stripping away all the rhetoric, tuning out all the pageantry, music, streamers, confetti and balloons, there seemed to be two America’s being represented at these very different conventions. One was a high energy convention with what I interpreted was a genuine hope for something different in the next four years from the past eight. The other convention reminded me of something I have heard for the past eight years and every year this party has been in office or wanted to get there. Same message, different people saying the same thing as in the past despite their break from the current administration in office.
Both the Democrats and Republicans had energetic speakers to fire up their base and both took some shots at their opponents. But the similarities between the two ended there.
I took the time to see and hear the leaders of both parties speak and present their party’s and their own personal views about how they saw the past, the present and the future. One party seemed to “get it”, the other seemed too focused on trying to be so different from being main stream they neglected to address any specific agenda items they had in mind for our future except to criticize the other party’s perspective. One tone seemed positive, one totally obscured and vague.
It is no wonder most Americans have come to hate politics so much. Even a political junkie like me can become cynical about the process we still follow to select our national leaders. Worse, some still don’t seem to “get it” when it comes to communicating with us on a level we can and want to understand. But, if they did they would not be politicians would they.
I am hoping the three debates will be watched by a great majority of Americans. And I hope during those debates we get some real understanding of the differences between the candidates running for President and Vice President. I will be watching and hoping some serious issues get addressed in a serious way by everyone involved. Late breaking news has it that finally, sometime this week, we will see an interview by one of the major network anchors, Charles Gibson of ABC, with the only candidate that thus far has eluded a one-on-one interview with anyone. Sarah Palin has been completely sheltered from interviews to this point. I can only hope there were no pre-conditions such as having questions submitted in advance for ABC to garner this first exclusive interview.
One might say Palin will have to learn on the job in the event of a catastrophic event but learn how to interview with the national media before elected? That’s scary…how much time did she need to learn how to read a globe, the names of the countries where the bad guys live and learn party lines about how to make the other guy the focus of any hard questions she could not answer? Come-on now…
In November, after the debates are over and the ads have come off the air, we (the great majority of registered voters) will either vote, or not. If the majority of registered voters do go to the polls, I believe the majority already know for whom they will vote. It is said some are “undecided”. I challenge that notion. I have a theory the term “undecided” was concocted by pollsters who could not get straight answers from folks they polled, people who did not want to go on the record and tell the truth as to how they really felt when asked.
Churchill said once, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. I disagree. I fear the fact we, as a nation, are made up of some of the least informed people in any country in the world when one of the most important national elections in history is on the line. I fear for the future of our country as we have no idea what will be going on in the minds of those who actually do show up to vote this November. We will know the results afterward, but, we may never find out the “why”.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
I Could Have Been Asked To Be John McCain’s VP
Remember when I said I could have been Obama’s running mate? Well, dog-gone, as it turns out, since I wasn’t asked, I checked and I could have been McCain’s running mate as well.
McCain selected someone younger than he is. That wasn’t too hard. Less than 10% of Americans today are his age or older and I am younger than he is.
McCain’s running mate is not living in the same state in which she was born. Me neither.
The GOP VP nominee can handle a rifle. When I was in the Air National Guard (I showed up at for all the required training and have the paperwork to prove it) I won a Marksman ribbon using an M-16. Now granted, I never shot at Bambi, but I’ll bet you if a moose got in my face and it was me or him, I could shoot it.
This same nominee showed leadership skills at an early age, being in the PTA, Mayor of a small town and now a Governor of a not too densely populated state. She wanted to be in front of a camera on the news and thought she would do well in journalism. As it turns out she did not do all that well in school though. Well, I was in a lot of youth organizations, becoming President of one. I was in the Jaycees and was elected as a Chapter President. I have been interviewed on TV (when I was a lot younger), thought of journalism as a college major (I like to write or I would not be writing this, would I), and I did not do too well in school, neither. As for being the head of some state, I find myself in the state of confusion much of the time so she may have me there.
McCain picked someone to be VP that apparently does not know where a lot of other countries are, the names of their leaders and has not traveled much outside the United States. She also apparently does not like to be interviewed about all this. Same here, across the board. I haven’t got a clue how to spell the names of some world leaders and just got my own passport within the past couple of years. Two birds of a feather.
Sarah Palin said she can be really sarcastic, cynical and difficult to deal with. Just ask my family about that.
Sadly, we do have some major differences. Well, not exactly sadly. I am a man and obviously McCain was looking for someone to offset the Hillary thing. Like a right wing conservative woman. I came that close.
But here’s the thing. There is talk about the fact Joe Biden won’t be able to go after Sarah Palin too hard because it would make him look like a guy beating up on a weaker person, Sarah being a woman and all. How about this. What if the Panther of Pant Suits Hillary Clinton was dispatched by the Democratic Party to go after the Pit Bull with lipstick? That would look like a fair fight, right? For about 10 minutes…..and for that I am grateful I am not McCain’s pick because I could not hold a candle to either Obama or Biden. They are smarter, better educated and know a lot more about the world than I do.
People like Sarah Palin because they say “she’s just like me”. I could be like that too. However I remember that George W. Bush was liked once by these same people that also believed they could sit down and have a beer with him. Well, not a beer, coffee perhaps.
But getting back to being Vice President, I think I would like someone smarter than me….a lot smarter than me. Maybe pretty soon we’ll get to see someone in the media actually interview Mrs. Palin and find out just what she believes in, besides trying to ban books from her town library she did not believe appropriate, allegedly firing a state employee in Alaska for not firing her ex-brother-in-law, believing that teaching abstinence will prevent unwanted pregnancy (whoops), thinking that drilling the hell out of Alaska won’t harm its environment and will somehow make an immediate difference in the price of gas, and that being a Harvard Graduate and President of the Harvard Law Review but skipping a high paying job with a large law firm in favor of working with the less fortunate in poor neighborhoods makes you an elitist.
Can you hear Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men, as Col. Nathan R. Jessep, barking at the media “You want answers? You want answers?”. The media, “We want the truth.” Jessep, “You can’t handle the truth!” Perhaps not. But we need to ask anyway.
McCain selected someone younger than he is. That wasn’t too hard. Less than 10% of Americans today are his age or older and I am younger than he is.
McCain’s running mate is not living in the same state in which she was born. Me neither.
The GOP VP nominee can handle a rifle. When I was in the Air National Guard (I showed up at for all the required training and have the paperwork to prove it) I won a Marksman ribbon using an M-16. Now granted, I never shot at Bambi, but I’ll bet you if a moose got in my face and it was me or him, I could shoot it.
This same nominee showed leadership skills at an early age, being in the PTA, Mayor of a small town and now a Governor of a not too densely populated state. She wanted to be in front of a camera on the news and thought she would do well in journalism. As it turns out she did not do all that well in school though. Well, I was in a lot of youth organizations, becoming President of one. I was in the Jaycees and was elected as a Chapter President. I have been interviewed on TV (when I was a lot younger), thought of journalism as a college major (I like to write or I would not be writing this, would I), and I did not do too well in school, neither. As for being the head of some state, I find myself in the state of confusion much of the time so she may have me there.
McCain picked someone to be VP that apparently does not know where a lot of other countries are, the names of their leaders and has not traveled much outside the United States. She also apparently does not like to be interviewed about all this. Same here, across the board. I haven’t got a clue how to spell the names of some world leaders and just got my own passport within the past couple of years. Two birds of a feather.
Sarah Palin said she can be really sarcastic, cynical and difficult to deal with. Just ask my family about that.
Sadly, we do have some major differences. Well, not exactly sadly. I am a man and obviously McCain was looking for someone to offset the Hillary thing. Like a right wing conservative woman. I came that close.
But here’s the thing. There is talk about the fact Joe Biden won’t be able to go after Sarah Palin too hard because it would make him look like a guy beating up on a weaker person, Sarah being a woman and all. How about this. What if the Panther of Pant Suits Hillary Clinton was dispatched by the Democratic Party to go after the Pit Bull with lipstick? That would look like a fair fight, right? For about 10 minutes…..and for that I am grateful I am not McCain’s pick because I could not hold a candle to either Obama or Biden. They are smarter, better educated and know a lot more about the world than I do.
People like Sarah Palin because they say “she’s just like me”. I could be like that too. However I remember that George W. Bush was liked once by these same people that also believed they could sit down and have a beer with him. Well, not a beer, coffee perhaps.
But getting back to being Vice President, I think I would like someone smarter than me….a lot smarter than me. Maybe pretty soon we’ll get to see someone in the media actually interview Mrs. Palin and find out just what she believes in, besides trying to ban books from her town library she did not believe appropriate, allegedly firing a state employee in Alaska for not firing her ex-brother-in-law, believing that teaching abstinence will prevent unwanted pregnancy (whoops), thinking that drilling the hell out of Alaska won’t harm its environment and will somehow make an immediate difference in the price of gas, and that being a Harvard Graduate and President of the Harvard Law Review but skipping a high paying job with a large law firm in favor of working with the less fortunate in poor neighborhoods makes you an elitist.
Can you hear Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men, as Col. Nathan R. Jessep, barking at the media “You want answers? You want answers?”. The media, “We want the truth.” Jessep, “You can’t handle the truth!” Perhaps not. But we need to ask anyway.
Friday, September 5, 2008
You Have To Love The Enthusiasm But What Is True And What Is A Stretch?
If you have watched the Republican Convention you saw two year Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and other Republican party supporters issue some fairly strong attacks against Senators Obama and Biden. However, Palin and her supporters had plenty of praise regarding her credentials to be Vice President. To some degree this is to be expected at a political party convention but I had to ask myself if some of what was said stretched the truth, perhaps just a little. Here are some quotes, judge for yourself.
Sarah Palin: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending...and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."
A Little Closer To The Truth: My understanding is, as mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as Governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."
Sarah Palin: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate."
A Little Closer To The Truth: Obama has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, Obama was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois, the first studying racial profiling by police and the second requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.
John McCain: In an interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson McCain said "She's been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply...She's responsible for 20 percent of the nation's energy supply. I'm entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America."
A Little Closer To The Truth: John McCain's phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she's no more "responsible" for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state - by population.
John McCain: McCain also stated on ABC, "She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard…She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities."
A Little Closer To The Truth: While Governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they report to the Defense Department, not their Governors. Alaska's national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations in the country.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for President of the United States."
A Little Closer To The Truth: I have to classify this as a major exaggeration and simply wrong. Palin received 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and received 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses but still received 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney: "We need change, all right - change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington - throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin."
A Little Closer To The Truth: This is an interesting perspective. George W. Bush, a conservative Republican, has been president for nearly eight years. And until last year, Republicans controlled Congress. Only since January 2007 have Democrats been in charge of the House and Senate. Under Bush the federal government has grown to be the largest in this country’s history.
Sarah Palin: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending...and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."
A Little Closer To The Truth: My understanding is, as mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as Governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."
Sarah Palin: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate."
A Little Closer To The Truth: Obama has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, Obama was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois, the first studying racial profiling by police and the second requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.
John McCain: In an interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson McCain said "She's been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply...She's responsible for 20 percent of the nation's energy supply. I'm entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America."
A Little Closer To The Truth: John McCain's phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she's no more "responsible" for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state - by population.
John McCain: McCain also stated on ABC, "She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard…She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities."
A Little Closer To The Truth: While Governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they report to the Defense Department, not their Governors. Alaska's national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations in the country.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for President of the United States."
A Little Closer To The Truth: I have to classify this as a major exaggeration and simply wrong. Palin received 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and received 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses but still received 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney: "We need change, all right - change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington - throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin."
A Little Closer To The Truth: This is an interesting perspective. George W. Bush, a conservative Republican, has been president for nearly eight years. And until last year, Republicans controlled Congress. Only since January 2007 have Democrats been in charge of the House and Senate. Under Bush the federal government has grown to be the largest in this country’s history.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Florida Delegates Get To Wear Turnpike Collector Shirts – Really!
All 114 Florida delegates to the Republican Convention received the Hawaiian-design shirts worn by tollbooth attendants on Florida toll roads. The shirts even say “Turnpike” on them. I can honestly say I have seen toll takers on the Florida Turnpike wearing these shirts!
So, the questions are:
Is wearing a toll collector’s shirt at a national Presidential convention just a teensy, weensy bit tacky?
Will they be able to wear them, legally, once back in Florida and stop folks on the streets where they live and collect tolls (ala scenes from the Mel Brooks movie Blazing Saddles)?
And, are they collecting any quarters, you know, to help offset the deficit?
So, the questions are:Is wearing a toll collector’s shirt at a national Presidential convention just a teensy, weensy bit tacky?
Will they be able to wear them, legally, once back in Florida and stop folks on the streets where they live and collect tolls (ala scenes from the Mel Brooks movie Blazing Saddles)?
And, are they collecting any quarters, you know, to help offset the deficit?
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
What Does It Mean To Lose A Loved One?
I wrote just over three weeks ago about the importance of Hospice to families in need of support when experiencing the painful last steps of losing a loved one. The mother of my brother’s wife passed away over this past weekend, losing a battle to cancer.
There is not a lot I can say about the process one goes through when a parent or other close family member passes away. You may have experienced a close personal loss, perhaps not, yet. You may have read about the several steps of grief but it is a lonely journey even when you understand it intellectually and think you are ready. Nobody really is.
I hope we can find the money for research so we can continue to look for ways to find cures for deceases that take our loved ones from us. Regardless of age, regardless of how well one may have lived their life, regardless of financial or social circumstances, cancer knows no boundaries. It kills.
I also hope you can find a way to support your local Hospice, where ever you live. In the case of my brother’s mother-in-law, they did wonders and worked their magic to help the family as much as possible as they went through that journey to the end that had to come.
In memory of Ada and others who leave us when it is their time to do so…
There is a season, And a time for every purpose under heaven.
A time to be born, a time to die; A time to plant, a time to reap.
A time to kill, a time to heal, A time to laugh, a time to weep.
There is a season, And a time for every purpose under heaven.
There is not a lot I can say about the process one goes through when a parent or other close family member passes away. You may have experienced a close personal loss, perhaps not, yet. You may have read about the several steps of grief but it is a lonely journey even when you understand it intellectually and think you are ready. Nobody really is.
I hope we can find the money for research so we can continue to look for ways to find cures for deceases that take our loved ones from us. Regardless of age, regardless of how well one may have lived their life, regardless of financial or social circumstances, cancer knows no boundaries. It kills.
I also hope you can find a way to support your local Hospice, where ever you live. In the case of my brother’s mother-in-law, they did wonders and worked their magic to help the family as much as possible as they went through that journey to the end that had to come.
In memory of Ada and others who leave us when it is their time to do so…
There is a season, And a time for every purpose under heaven.
A time to be born, a time to die; A time to plant, a time to reap.
A time to kill, a time to heal, A time to laugh, a time to weep.
There is a season, And a time for every purpose under heaven.
Monday, September 1, 2008
How Do We Celebrate Labor Day And Why
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September. The holiday originated in 1882 as the Central Labor Union (of New York City) sought to create "a day off for the working citizens". Congress made Labor Day a federal holiday in 1894. All fifty states have made Labor Day a state holiday. Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated by most Americans as the symbolic end of the summer.
But, while Labor Day is often regarded as a day of rest and is a National holiday folks who must work for a living rarely get the day off. While we celebrate certain religious holidays by closing just about everything, we take a holiday intended to recognize the working citizens within our country, and, we make them work.
What’s wrong with this picture?
If you read this in the morning but must then go to work, I want to thank you for being a working class citizen of this country. I will have the day off because I am self-employed, which another way of saying unemployed except when someone hires me to work. Honestly, if someone wanted me to work today, and promised to pay me, I would be right out there with you.
And if you read this after coming home from work, I want to thank you for being a working class citizen of this country. Because you went to work, our economy probably did a little better and I hope you made a decent wage today.
But if you are getting the day off and then go out to a movie, restaurant or going shopping, thank the folks that are working today to make your day off more enjoyable.
And last, if you are unemployed but would have preferred to work, I hope you could still enjoy your day, somehow, as I know the unemployment rates are up, wages are down and it seems to be getting harder and harder to find a reason to celebrate just about anything anymore.
Now then, let’s all get ready to go to work or look for a job tomorrow, except those of you have the luxury to stay home because you have retired. Who is left? Those folks who get paid for doing nothing, like most of the people we have elected into office….Happy Labor Day!
But, while Labor Day is often regarded as a day of rest and is a National holiday folks who must work for a living rarely get the day off. While we celebrate certain religious holidays by closing just about everything, we take a holiday intended to recognize the working citizens within our country, and, we make them work.
What’s wrong with this picture?
If you read this in the morning but must then go to work, I want to thank you for being a working class citizen of this country. I will have the day off because I am self-employed, which another way of saying unemployed except when someone hires me to work. Honestly, if someone wanted me to work today, and promised to pay me, I would be right out there with you.
And if you read this after coming home from work, I want to thank you for being a working class citizen of this country. Because you went to work, our economy probably did a little better and I hope you made a decent wage today.
But if you are getting the day off and then go out to a movie, restaurant or going shopping, thank the folks that are working today to make your day off more enjoyable.
And last, if you are unemployed but would have preferred to work, I hope you could still enjoy your day, somehow, as I know the unemployment rates are up, wages are down and it seems to be getting harder and harder to find a reason to celebrate just about anything anymore.
Now then, let’s all get ready to go to work or look for a job tomorrow, except those of you have the luxury to stay home because you have retired. Who is left? Those folks who get paid for doing nothing, like most of the people we have elected into office….Happy Labor Day!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Where Do You Get Your News?
I took Saturday off from writing as I was pretty worn out from following all the political news of the past week. I enjoyed learning things about the Democratic nominees that I had not known previously and was more than taken aback at the choice made by the Republican presumptive nominee.
While running errands in the morning yesterday I spoke with a Vietnamese American college student who just became a United States Citizen three days ago. She was born in Vietnam but raised in this country, has turned 18 and wanted to become a US Citizen. While congratulating her and applauding her decision to become a Citizen I asked if she now planned to vote in November. She replied she did but has become confused about her choices.
This young lady attends college on a full-ride scholarship and while she attends a local four year institution of higher learning so she can work in her family business during off days and weekends, she could have gone to just about any school of her choice in the country her grades were so good in high school. She has been taking advanced classes for years and intends to become a bio-chemist to help find cures to illnesses where none exist today. I mention this to point out this is not an average person of average intelligence.
I asked about what confusion she had with respect to selecting a Presidential candidate in November and her answer stunned me. She withheld stating her original preference by name but said she had intended to vote for someone that would be creating history by being the first from his race to ever be President (guess who). She went on to say she had read, on Internet message boards, if elected he likely would be assassinated, so now she was reconsidering. My mouth must have opened so wide a jumbo jet could have safely landed in my mouth. I asked if she was now considering voting for “the other” candidate because of what she read and she admitted she was conflicted. I asked if she knew anything about the Vice Presidential nominees from both parties. She stated she was trying to find out more. We talked a bit about each of the Presidential candidates and their running mates. It was clear to me she was not getting her news from “main stream” sources. I asked if she knew about the attempt on Gerald Ford’s life by Lynette “Squeaky” From, a female who tried to kill a white, male Republican President. She had never heard or read about that incident and it shocked her. I asked if she knew that a young man by the name of John Hinkley had tried to kill Ronald Reagan, another white, male Republican President. She had not heard or read about that either and was shocked again.
After a few other questions about the history of our Presidents and their brushes with being killed in office I suggested she use the Internet to obtain information about several topics. To start, the Secret Service’s reports regarding how many threats are made daily toward every major political figure from both political parties in our country. Then I suggested she go to the web sites of both Barack Obama and John McCain and read what they have to say about their visions for the future. And finally I suggested she try to find a neutral political news source, such a Politico.com., which has a reputation for being really fair and balanced and not taking sides in favor of one party or another while presenting good data and questions about all important issues of the day. She acknowledged she was a bit embarrassed about the fact she had been relying upon information that was not main stream enough to be accurate and agreed to try to find out more about each candidate and their respective party’s ideology so she could become a better informed voter in November.
I also had a haircut yesterday but instead of discussing sports like we normally do when I am in the chair, the conversation somehow turned to politics (honestly, I did not start it). Huge mistake. My barber, it turns out, gets her news from other than main stream sources as well. Unlike the young college student I had just spoken with one hour earlier, my barber is a middle aged single female who is living slightly above the poverty line and has had a fairly tough life. She started to tell me all that she had come to know about the chosen leaders of both parties and how upset she was about what she was learning.
Rather than go into our conversation let’s just say I could not wait to get my haircut and get out of the shop. I was attempting to have a conversation with a person who had fallen prey to a great deal of not only misinformation but disinformation, lies, and distortions about the candidates now running for President and Vice President and it made me ill to hear what was coming out of her mouth. Not so much because she was saying things I disagreed with but where she had obtained her information and the fact she believed it.
Yesterday’s events followed conversations with a few of my neighbors during the past couple of weeks that also made me wonder where they received their news. I sometimes feel I live on a different planet than just about everyone with whom I come into contact. Why do I seem to see the issues of the day and the potential solutions differently than so many others? Is it because of where I reside? Tampa, Florida is a melting pot of many types of people with varied backgrounds, some of whom moved here from the Mid-west. But I seem to be surrounded by people that live in caves and their ideology reflects the most primitive perspective imaginable. Am I an elitist? Hardly.
To say that I am completely informed and get absolutely 100% correct information in the news would be an over statement. But because I use various methods to get my information and feel I am better informed about what is true and what is not about important issues of the day, I am now more concerned than ever about the future of our country. I have heard and read the average American does not get accurate information from reliable sources when it comes to how our country is governed. While speaking to two people on a Saturday is not a scientific study, the fact that one is a very, very bright and well educated person and the other is not but neither had clue as to the truth of what has occurred or is occurring in terms of our politics in this country made my drive home very difficult for me.
I hope and pray my recent conversations with my neighbors, the student and my barber were isolated incidents, but, I fear they were not. Good luck to us all this coming November and as the politicians like to say, God Bless America!
While running errands in the morning yesterday I spoke with a Vietnamese American college student who just became a United States Citizen three days ago. She was born in Vietnam but raised in this country, has turned 18 and wanted to become a US Citizen. While congratulating her and applauding her decision to become a Citizen I asked if she now planned to vote in November. She replied she did but has become confused about her choices.
This young lady attends college on a full-ride scholarship and while she attends a local four year institution of higher learning so she can work in her family business during off days and weekends, she could have gone to just about any school of her choice in the country her grades were so good in high school. She has been taking advanced classes for years and intends to become a bio-chemist to help find cures to illnesses where none exist today. I mention this to point out this is not an average person of average intelligence.
I asked about what confusion she had with respect to selecting a Presidential candidate in November and her answer stunned me. She withheld stating her original preference by name but said she had intended to vote for someone that would be creating history by being the first from his race to ever be President (guess who). She went on to say she had read, on Internet message boards, if elected he likely would be assassinated, so now she was reconsidering. My mouth must have opened so wide a jumbo jet could have safely landed in my mouth. I asked if she was now considering voting for “the other” candidate because of what she read and she admitted she was conflicted. I asked if she knew anything about the Vice Presidential nominees from both parties. She stated she was trying to find out more. We talked a bit about each of the Presidential candidates and their running mates. It was clear to me she was not getting her news from “main stream” sources. I asked if she knew about the attempt on Gerald Ford’s life by Lynette “Squeaky” From, a female who tried to kill a white, male Republican President. She had never heard or read about that incident and it shocked her. I asked if she knew that a young man by the name of John Hinkley had tried to kill Ronald Reagan, another white, male Republican President. She had not heard or read about that either and was shocked again.
After a few other questions about the history of our Presidents and their brushes with being killed in office I suggested she use the Internet to obtain information about several topics. To start, the Secret Service’s reports regarding how many threats are made daily toward every major political figure from both political parties in our country. Then I suggested she go to the web sites of both Barack Obama and John McCain and read what they have to say about their visions for the future. And finally I suggested she try to find a neutral political news source, such a Politico.com., which has a reputation for being really fair and balanced and not taking sides in favor of one party or another while presenting good data and questions about all important issues of the day. She acknowledged she was a bit embarrassed about the fact she had been relying upon information that was not main stream enough to be accurate and agreed to try to find out more about each candidate and their respective party’s ideology so she could become a better informed voter in November.
I also had a haircut yesterday but instead of discussing sports like we normally do when I am in the chair, the conversation somehow turned to politics (honestly, I did not start it). Huge mistake. My barber, it turns out, gets her news from other than main stream sources as well. Unlike the young college student I had just spoken with one hour earlier, my barber is a middle aged single female who is living slightly above the poverty line and has had a fairly tough life. She started to tell me all that she had come to know about the chosen leaders of both parties and how upset she was about what she was learning.
Rather than go into our conversation let’s just say I could not wait to get my haircut and get out of the shop. I was attempting to have a conversation with a person who had fallen prey to a great deal of not only misinformation but disinformation, lies, and distortions about the candidates now running for President and Vice President and it made me ill to hear what was coming out of her mouth. Not so much because she was saying things I disagreed with but where she had obtained her information and the fact she believed it.
Yesterday’s events followed conversations with a few of my neighbors during the past couple of weeks that also made me wonder where they received their news. I sometimes feel I live on a different planet than just about everyone with whom I come into contact. Why do I seem to see the issues of the day and the potential solutions differently than so many others? Is it because of where I reside? Tampa, Florida is a melting pot of many types of people with varied backgrounds, some of whom moved here from the Mid-west. But I seem to be surrounded by people that live in caves and their ideology reflects the most primitive perspective imaginable. Am I an elitist? Hardly.
To say that I am completely informed and get absolutely 100% correct information in the news would be an over statement. But because I use various methods to get my information and feel I am better informed about what is true and what is not about important issues of the day, I am now more concerned than ever about the future of our country. I have heard and read the average American does not get accurate information from reliable sources when it comes to how our country is governed. While speaking to two people on a Saturday is not a scientific study, the fact that one is a very, very bright and well educated person and the other is not but neither had clue as to the truth of what has occurred or is occurring in terms of our politics in this country made my drive home very difficult for me.
I hope and pray my recent conversations with my neighbors, the student and my barber were isolated incidents, but, I fear they were not. Good luck to us all this coming November and as the politicians like to say, God Bless America!
Friday, August 29, 2008
Sarah Palin – John’s McCain Running Mate
Sarah Palin’s United States Vice Presidential Credentials:
Palin served two terms on the Wasilla City Council, a city in Alaska with fewer than 10,000 people. She became mayor of Wasilla. She is a current a first term Governor of the State of Alaska (she has been Mayor less than two years).
Reported strengths for the Republican ticket: She is young, attractive (was a runner up in the Miss Alaska beauty pageant), she is pro-life and pro-gun (lifetime NRA member) and is known to be a strong conservative.
All righty now…..
Palin served two terms on the Wasilla City Council, a city in Alaska with fewer than 10,000 people. She became mayor of Wasilla. She is a current a first term Governor of the State of Alaska (she has been Mayor less than two years).
Reported strengths for the Republican ticket: She is young, attractive (was a runner up in the Miss Alaska beauty pageant), she is pro-life and pro-gun (lifetime NRA member) and is known to be a strong conservative.
All righty now…..
From One Convention To Another
Well, the Democratic Convention is over and from all accounts everyone had a good time. More to the point, it seemed well orchestrated and in the end, there did seem to be unity all around. Having seen the energy and heard the messages from Hillary and Bill Clinton as well as Joe Biden, I have to say, I was impressed. The news wires are saying Barak Obama’s acceptance speech last night is being compared to great speeches with those given by former Presidential nominees, including John Kennedy. It appears the Democrats set up their convention to get the most bang for their bucks and made their points which led to an over the top and historic conclusion last night.
I have focused on the fact that the presumptive nominees (we only have one now, Obama is the nominee of his party) had to make really good selections for Vice President to convince the American People their combined ticket was better and the one to vote for. Joe Biden’s credentials are hard to take issue with. I heard Pat Buchanan comment early this morning, in his opinion the luckiest person in the world is the individual John McCain did not select to run with him as his Vice President. And Buchanan is a Republican.
In a previous post I wondered about the rumors that John McCain was considering selecting Joe Lieberman or Mitt Romney. Both seemed problematic from my perspective. But McCain has suggested he may have a surprise announcement for us today. Really? His choice is going to have to have a lot of merit not to backfire and make him look like he is doing something he as already accused Obama of doing, filling a gap in his own resume. Will he pander to the right wing element of his party? Will he pick a VP from a State in which he needs to win? Will he choose someone with a really strong economic background? Will he choose a woman to run with him in an effort to attract women who wanted Hillary to be President ask them to vote for him?
Today is the day McCain has said he will announce his pick for Vice President and the latest rumors include the following: Florida Governor Charlie Crist, Mitt Romney, Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge is also in the mix. Ridge, a McCain friend and former Pennsylvania governor, heads a consulting firm with his biggest drawback in Republican circles being his support for abortion rights. But, he also is from a key battleground state and like McCain, a decorated veteran. There may be others on McCain’s list that have not leaked out, however, these seem to be the top contenders.
I am thinking wouldn’t it be fun if his big surprise is former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani? I have not seen his name mentioned as prominently as any of the aforementioned potential selections. Why would McCain select Rudy? McCain is going to have an uphill battle in a lot of areas no matter whom he selects. And the Democrats are getting ready to pounce on him and pick him apart in a lot of areas. He was already roughed up pretty well by Bill Clinton and Joe Biden this week and the real games have not even begun. I think he may be looking for someone who is not considered a Washington insider but has managed a government. New York is as large as a small state in some respects. Rudy’s one time popularity just before and immediately after 2001 may be easier to resurrect than patching things up with Mitt Romney. Joe Lieberman is from outer space as far as main stream Republicans are concerned. Selecting a woman, any woman, will look like pandering. And it would be. He has to pick someone that can appear to have leadership capabilities and be President if he cannot not complete his term, so, age is important (McCain turns 72 today). Giuliani really never competed as a candidate, just spent his time in Florida and waited for the campaign to come to him. And, finally, McCain will need someone who can go after Obama, hard.
To get more serious, I would than have to go back and select Tom Ridge as my “for real” guess. Ridge was twice elected Governor of Pennsylvania and by some accounts left a positive legacy behind before accepting the role of Homeland Security Advisor. McCain will want to play up the fear factor and prove that the Republicans will have two men in the White House who can wage war against terrorism. Like Bush and Cheney. You know.
But, it be more fun to see Rudy. And trying to guess which Hollywood designer he would use to help him select his outfit for the Inaugural Balls…
I have focused on the fact that the presumptive nominees (we only have one now, Obama is the nominee of his party) had to make really good selections for Vice President to convince the American People their combined ticket was better and the one to vote for. Joe Biden’s credentials are hard to take issue with. I heard Pat Buchanan comment early this morning, in his opinion the luckiest person in the world is the individual John McCain did not select to run with him as his Vice President. And Buchanan is a Republican.
In a previous post I wondered about the rumors that John McCain was considering selecting Joe Lieberman or Mitt Romney. Both seemed problematic from my perspective. But McCain has suggested he may have a surprise announcement for us today. Really? His choice is going to have to have a lot of merit not to backfire and make him look like he is doing something he as already accused Obama of doing, filling a gap in his own resume. Will he pander to the right wing element of his party? Will he pick a VP from a State in which he needs to win? Will he choose someone with a really strong economic background? Will he choose a woman to run with him in an effort to attract women who wanted Hillary to be President ask them to vote for him?
Today is the day McCain has said he will announce his pick for Vice President and the latest rumors include the following: Florida Governor Charlie Crist, Mitt Romney, Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge is also in the mix. Ridge, a McCain friend and former Pennsylvania governor, heads a consulting firm with his biggest drawback in Republican circles being his support for abortion rights. But, he also is from a key battleground state and like McCain, a decorated veteran. There may be others on McCain’s list that have not leaked out, however, these seem to be the top contenders.
I am thinking wouldn’t it be fun if his big surprise is former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani? I have not seen his name mentioned as prominently as any of the aforementioned potential selections. Why would McCain select Rudy? McCain is going to have an uphill battle in a lot of areas no matter whom he selects. And the Democrats are getting ready to pounce on him and pick him apart in a lot of areas. He was already roughed up pretty well by Bill Clinton and Joe Biden this week and the real games have not even begun. I think he may be looking for someone who is not considered a Washington insider but has managed a government. New York is as large as a small state in some respects. Rudy’s one time popularity just before and immediately after 2001 may be easier to resurrect than patching things up with Mitt Romney. Joe Lieberman is from outer space as far as main stream Republicans are concerned. Selecting a woman, any woman, will look like pandering. And it would be. He has to pick someone that can appear to have leadership capabilities and be President if he cannot not complete his term, so, age is important (McCain turns 72 today). Giuliani really never competed as a candidate, just spent his time in Florida and waited for the campaign to come to him. And, finally, McCain will need someone who can go after Obama, hard.
To get more serious, I would than have to go back and select Tom Ridge as my “for real” guess. Ridge was twice elected Governor of Pennsylvania and by some accounts left a positive legacy behind before accepting the role of Homeland Security Advisor. McCain will want to play up the fear factor and prove that the Republicans will have two men in the White House who can wage war against terrorism. Like Bush and Cheney. You know.
But, it be more fun to see Rudy. And trying to guess which Hollywood designer he would use to help him select his outfit for the Inaugural Balls…
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Disgustingly Under The Influence
When I began to post blogs my goal was to cover a wide variety of topics. That having been said I find myself returning to a topic I already touched upon recently, folks making the choice to getting hammered and then climbing behind the wheel of a vehicle and driving.
Sheriff’s officials in Manatee County Florida are calling this a record. I call it a tragedy. We again must ask ourselves about an obvious lack of justice and a gross oversight by our judges and ask if the current penalities on our books regarding DUI are stiff enough.
A 41 year old woman was arrested last Saturday for driving under the influence for the 10th time. Ten times, in 10 years. Keep in mind, for every arrest of some person who gets caught they are only denting that person’s drinking and driving pattern. Nobody gets caught the first or only time they drink and drive.
The arrest came at 2:20am after this woman left a bar with someone. That person stated she was too drunk to drive so our Connoisseur of Cocktails volunteered to do the deed. Following her arrest she was able to post the $13,000 bond and was released….
Prior to her arrest Saturday, our Margarita Mama was arrested for DUI in Kentucky in 1988, in Tennessee in 1988 and 1993, in Georgia in 1999 and 2001 and in Florida in 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2005 according to records provided the Manatee Sheriff’s Department.
Along the way our Guinness Girl has been arrested multiple times on a charge of driving with a suspended or revoked license, a charge she was also arrested for this past Saturday.
A local lawyer has been quoted as saying anything beyond three prior convictions can lead to a prison term…so, what is wrong with our legal system? What part of the law don’t our judges get?
As I understand it, our Grey Goose Gal is an accountant so she can count. But, can she think? Does she have children or other family members that could be killed by someone like herself?
I can find no humor to inject into this piece. I have previously suggested contacting our State representatives to strengthen the laws. There is a wonderful organization devoted to stopping these types of abuses, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), of which I am a proud member. You can be a father or a non-parent and still donate funds to this organization. I don’t make many endorsements but I am making an exception today. Prior to joining several years ago I checked into where my donations went, what MADD did with my money and the money of other contributors. They do good things in terms of going after bad judges, trying to put more teeth into DUI laws and educating students in high schools, particularly around the times of the year when there are homecomings and proms, etc.
I am mad. I am asking you to join with me and get MADD. We have to stop these types of abuses, somehow.
Sheriff’s officials in Manatee County Florida are calling this a record. I call it a tragedy. We again must ask ourselves about an obvious lack of justice and a gross oversight by our judges and ask if the current penalities on our books regarding DUI are stiff enough.
A 41 year old woman was arrested last Saturday for driving under the influence for the 10th time. Ten times, in 10 years. Keep in mind, for every arrest of some person who gets caught they are only denting that person’s drinking and driving pattern. Nobody gets caught the first or only time they drink and drive.
The arrest came at 2:20am after this woman left a bar with someone. That person stated she was too drunk to drive so our Connoisseur of Cocktails volunteered to do the deed. Following her arrest she was able to post the $13,000 bond and was released….
Prior to her arrest Saturday, our Margarita Mama was arrested for DUI in Kentucky in 1988, in Tennessee in 1988 and 1993, in Georgia in 1999 and 2001 and in Florida in 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2005 according to records provided the Manatee Sheriff’s Department.
Along the way our Guinness Girl has been arrested multiple times on a charge of driving with a suspended or revoked license, a charge she was also arrested for this past Saturday.
A local lawyer has been quoted as saying anything beyond three prior convictions can lead to a prison term…so, what is wrong with our legal system? What part of the law don’t our judges get?
As I understand it, our Grey Goose Gal is an accountant so she can count. But, can she think? Does she have children or other family members that could be killed by someone like herself?
I can find no humor to inject into this piece. I have previously suggested contacting our State representatives to strengthen the laws. There is a wonderful organization devoted to stopping these types of abuses, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), of which I am a proud member. You can be a father or a non-parent and still donate funds to this organization. I don’t make many endorsements but I am making an exception today. Prior to joining several years ago I checked into where my donations went, what MADD did with my money and the money of other contributors. They do good things in terms of going after bad judges, trying to put more teeth into DUI laws and educating students in high schools, particularly around the times of the year when there are homecomings and proms, etc.
I am mad. I am asking you to join with me and get MADD. We have to stop these types of abuses, somehow.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Local Elections Are Important Too
Because so much of our focus is on the “big dance” right now we have to sometimes remind ourselves there is a lot going on everyday that has nothing to do with who becomes President in November.
Florida held a Primary election yesterday. We needed to address positions like county commissioners, school board seats, judges, etc.
I got to my local polling place about 10AM and discovered I was only the 21st person to show up at that point. I don’t know how many people are registered to vote where I do but from past experience in working at a polling location I have to guess several hundred. Voter apathy is understandable when this is a Primary and in Florida cannot “cross over”. We must vote only for someone in our chosen party. Independents cannot vote at all.
What struck me, besides the low turnout on a beautiful morning, was being met by the same cheerful, smiling and loyal poll workers at my precinct that greet me every time I vote. The gentleman sitting outside making sure nobody harassed anyone coming to vote is the same person I have seen every time I have voted in this particular location, which is several years. I got my usual big smile and greeting. Was he friendly or just lonely? I will say he was genuinely friendly, and, devoted. The same goes for the 6 to 8 workers inside. The place was empty when I entered so we joked about who would get me into their line to sign the necessary log and show my identification, etc. I told a quick joke and we all enjoyed a laugh. This is a group of folks that do what they do because they believe in something. There is no joy in standing or sitting in a polling location anywhere and spending your day making sure voters are properly directed so they can vote.
This year we used a new system of voting so there was bound to be some confusion. Oh, did I say new? Sorry, we have used this system before, just not recently. After the hanging chad debacle a few years ago (punch cards), Florida spent millions of dollars buying touch screen computers. Well, when it was discovered they could be hacked and there was absolutely no record of any voted recorded anywhere, Florida junked them. So, yesterday I used an optical scanner. This is the third system of voting I have used the last three times I have voted.
BUT, today’s Tampa Tribune headline blared “Glitches Mar Debut Of New Voting System”. Oh, no – here we go again. Problems with the system in Hillsborough County where I live resulted in long delays for candidates and voters awaiting results. Our esteemed and controversial Elections Supervisor, Buddy Johnson, who is up for re-election himself in November first said the problem was not with the poll workers but with the equipment. His best quote of the evening was “This is simply the posting of results…this has nothing to do with tabulation….the votes were safe and secure”. Huh? Posting in Hillsborough County began at 9PM which was much later than other counties in our area. At one point during a news conference Johnson stormed out of the room refusing to answer reporters’ questions.
The conversion to touch-screen machines cost Hillsborough County about $6 million. They are gone. The older and more reliable technology used in optical scanners we used yesterday was supposed to make the voting process simpler for the voters and provide quick and accurate results.
Later in the evening Mr. Johnson returned to address reports again, with more memorable quotes, like “Absolutely no issue with the tabulation of votes….it’s just a matter of getting them to the screen for you”. Well, that makes me feel warm, fuzzy and much better. But a salesman for the new machines was quoted as saying “It was a database issue we had to resolve”. That seemed to fly in the face of what Mr. Election Supervisor Johnson said. The final coup de grace was this quote from Johnson. “The elections business is not perfect…a delay is not a mistake. A delay is a delay…it’s the last office in the United State of America that should be politicized…there were virtually no issues today”. Well, that makes me feel even better than his earlier statements – nothing is perfect and mistakes in the counting of the one thing we rely on more than anything else in a democracy is whether our vote is correctly counted or counted at all. The first part of his quote referred to criticism he was receiving all evening and the second part of his quote dodged the issue of paper jams, voters not receiving a tear off receipt (I did not even know there was one).
So, we return the abyss of the last eight years as Florida, the fourth largest State in this country (in population) cannot seem, in my county at least, to figure out how to count votes. I think back to those poll workers I met in the morning and picture them tearing out their hair. Who could blame them? This was a test run for what promises to be a highly contested and crucial vote in Florida this November. Our Primary was a test to determine if we were ready. The obvious answer is “hell no, here we go again”.
Florida held a Primary election yesterday. We needed to address positions like county commissioners, school board seats, judges, etc.
I got to my local polling place about 10AM and discovered I was only the 21st person to show up at that point. I don’t know how many people are registered to vote where I do but from past experience in working at a polling location I have to guess several hundred. Voter apathy is understandable when this is a Primary and in Florida cannot “cross over”. We must vote only for someone in our chosen party. Independents cannot vote at all.
What struck me, besides the low turnout on a beautiful morning, was being met by the same cheerful, smiling and loyal poll workers at my precinct that greet me every time I vote. The gentleman sitting outside making sure nobody harassed anyone coming to vote is the same person I have seen every time I have voted in this particular location, which is several years. I got my usual big smile and greeting. Was he friendly or just lonely? I will say he was genuinely friendly, and, devoted. The same goes for the 6 to 8 workers inside. The place was empty when I entered so we joked about who would get me into their line to sign the necessary log and show my identification, etc. I told a quick joke and we all enjoyed a laugh. This is a group of folks that do what they do because they believe in something. There is no joy in standing or sitting in a polling location anywhere and spending your day making sure voters are properly directed so they can vote.
This year we used a new system of voting so there was bound to be some confusion. Oh, did I say new? Sorry, we have used this system before, just not recently. After the hanging chad debacle a few years ago (punch cards), Florida spent millions of dollars buying touch screen computers. Well, when it was discovered they could be hacked and there was absolutely no record of any voted recorded anywhere, Florida junked them. So, yesterday I used an optical scanner. This is the third system of voting I have used the last three times I have voted.
BUT, today’s Tampa Tribune headline blared “Glitches Mar Debut Of New Voting System”. Oh, no – here we go again. Problems with the system in Hillsborough County where I live resulted in long delays for candidates and voters awaiting results. Our esteemed and controversial Elections Supervisor, Buddy Johnson, who is up for re-election himself in November first said the problem was not with the poll workers but with the equipment. His best quote of the evening was “This is simply the posting of results…this has nothing to do with tabulation….the votes were safe and secure”. Huh? Posting in Hillsborough County began at 9PM which was much later than other counties in our area. At one point during a news conference Johnson stormed out of the room refusing to answer reporters’ questions.
The conversion to touch-screen machines cost Hillsborough County about $6 million. They are gone. The older and more reliable technology used in optical scanners we used yesterday was supposed to make the voting process simpler for the voters and provide quick and accurate results.
Later in the evening Mr. Johnson returned to address reports again, with more memorable quotes, like “Absolutely no issue with the tabulation of votes….it’s just a matter of getting them to the screen for you”. Well, that makes me feel warm, fuzzy and much better. But a salesman for the new machines was quoted as saying “It was a database issue we had to resolve”. That seemed to fly in the face of what Mr. Election Supervisor Johnson said. The final coup de grace was this quote from Johnson. “The elections business is not perfect…a delay is not a mistake. A delay is a delay…it’s the last office in the United State of America that should be politicized…there were virtually no issues today”. Well, that makes me feel even better than his earlier statements – nothing is perfect and mistakes in the counting of the one thing we rely on more than anything else in a democracy is whether our vote is correctly counted or counted at all. The first part of his quote referred to criticism he was receiving all evening and the second part of his quote dodged the issue of paper jams, voters not receiving a tear off receipt (I did not even know there was one).
So, we return the abyss of the last eight years as Florida, the fourth largest State in this country (in population) cannot seem, in my county at least, to figure out how to count votes. I think back to those poll workers I met in the morning and picture them tearing out their hair. Who could blame them? This was a test run for what promises to be a highly contested and crucial vote in Florida this November. Our Primary was a test to determine if we were ready. The obvious answer is “hell no, here we go again”.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
The Sprint To The Finish
Hello. My name is Jerry Rosen and I am a political junkie (this is where everyone in the room says, “Hi, Jerry”). Yes, I am and have been addicted to politics for as long as I can remember. I have been told I can get pretty passionate about my work, my family, just about anything – hey, I’m a passionate type of guy. So, it is hard to just watch the political dance and not want to stay informed. Sometimes I even have opinions (NO!). Yes.
I have been thinking back about the past year-and-a-half and how many twists and turns this county has been through. As we went through each primary caucus and election I was trying to understand the rules imposed by each State with respect to delegates. It just boggles my mind that as we have entered the first of two political conventions it is all coming down to a 70 day sprint to Election Day. Just a few debates, two for each Presidential nominee and one, or two, for the two Veep candidates.
The big guns are being dragged out now, the powder is about to be lit and the cannon balls are about to fly. I sense a very nasty contest in the next couple of months and that makes me sad. While I may be a political junkie I don’t enjoy negative politics regardless of the party or candidate that employs those types of tactics. I grew up in the Mid-west with values from the 1950s. Call me Beaver but I just don’t think either party has to spill blood to make their point.
I can understand each candidate thinks he’s the best thing since sliced bread. If you don’t have ego, you cannot be in this game. But I would much prefer to see candidates, at every level including local, state and national, define themselves for us and not try to define their opponent. We are obtaining more voters through stronger registration efforts every election cycle but there is one recurring theme I hear coming from the youngest and newest voters – stop with the negative stuff and tell us who you are and what you stand for.
And stop promising us you are going to turn straw into gold. Maybe that is where the term “spin” comes from? Without Congress no President can get anything passed. They don’t tell us “I would like to get the following things done when I am in the White House”. They say “On my first day in office I am going to turn the moon into green cheese!” “On the first day in office”. Have YOU kept track of all the first day in office promises that have been made or the first 30 or 60 day in office promises? Isn’t it just a little bit silly to think anyone believes either Presidential candidate can do even 10% of what they are promising? Have they forgotten they need the House of Representatives and the Senate to get the bills created, passed, conferenced and then sent to the White House to be signed into law? Oh, please.
What will occur during the next two months is not lost on the media. Cable TV and the networks are going to be at a fever pitch selling ads at the highest possible price every day and every night. Only this election is different for them because we have this thing called the World Wide Web. It has been around for many years but is now the main source of news for the majority of folks all around the world. We are getting close to ending the era of high cost ads for this once every four year event too. I know we are going in the direction of getting all our political news on the Internet, in e-mails and text messages but there is something about the pageantry and seeing speakers deliver memorable lines live on TV that I still enjoy.
Popcorn at the ready, football helmet on for safety (never know what is going to fly), waders on (it probably will get deep), TV with fresh batteries (just kidding), I am ready. Let the final days of this very important national election begin. Ya gotta love it…
I have been thinking back about the past year-and-a-half and how many twists and turns this county has been through. As we went through each primary caucus and election I was trying to understand the rules imposed by each State with respect to delegates. It just boggles my mind that as we have entered the first of two political conventions it is all coming down to a 70 day sprint to Election Day. Just a few debates, two for each Presidential nominee and one, or two, for the two Veep candidates.
The big guns are being dragged out now, the powder is about to be lit and the cannon balls are about to fly. I sense a very nasty contest in the next couple of months and that makes me sad. While I may be a political junkie I don’t enjoy negative politics regardless of the party or candidate that employs those types of tactics. I grew up in the Mid-west with values from the 1950s. Call me Beaver but I just don’t think either party has to spill blood to make their point.
I can understand each candidate thinks he’s the best thing since sliced bread. If you don’t have ego, you cannot be in this game. But I would much prefer to see candidates, at every level including local, state and national, define themselves for us and not try to define their opponent. We are obtaining more voters through stronger registration efforts every election cycle but there is one recurring theme I hear coming from the youngest and newest voters – stop with the negative stuff and tell us who you are and what you stand for.
And stop promising us you are going to turn straw into gold. Maybe that is where the term “spin” comes from? Without Congress no President can get anything passed. They don’t tell us “I would like to get the following things done when I am in the White House”. They say “On my first day in office I am going to turn the moon into green cheese!” “On the first day in office”. Have YOU kept track of all the first day in office promises that have been made or the first 30 or 60 day in office promises? Isn’t it just a little bit silly to think anyone believes either Presidential candidate can do even 10% of what they are promising? Have they forgotten they need the House of Representatives and the Senate to get the bills created, passed, conferenced and then sent to the White House to be signed into law? Oh, please.
What will occur during the next two months is not lost on the media. Cable TV and the networks are going to be at a fever pitch selling ads at the highest possible price every day and every night. Only this election is different for them because we have this thing called the World Wide Web. It has been around for many years but is now the main source of news for the majority of folks all around the world. We are getting close to ending the era of high cost ads for this once every four year event too. I know we are going in the direction of getting all our political news on the Internet, in e-mails and text messages but there is something about the pageantry and seeing speakers deliver memorable lines live on TV that I still enjoy.
Popcorn at the ready, football helmet on for safety (never know what is going to fly), waders on (it probably will get deep), TV with fresh batteries (just kidding), I am ready. Let the final days of this very important national election begin. Ya gotta love it…
Monday, August 25, 2008
Politics Makes Strange Bedfellows
The quote in the title is attributed to Charles Dudley Warner, a writer who lived between 1829 and 1900. I have no idea what Mr. Warner had in mind when he penned this now famous quote but I would love to get his take on what is occurring in our country today.
As we approach the second most anticipated event of the summer following the Olympic Games we now prepare for what also occurs every four years which can also be controversial and certainly is in steeped in politics. I refer to the Democrat and Republican nominating conventions. We have reached to point in time when the Presidential presumptive nominees announce the selections of their running mates and Vice President candidates for their respective parties. This is a “kind-of-important” event, depending upon whom you ask.
Some talking heads and drive-by bloviators seem to want you to believe the person selected to run on the same ticket with the person running for President could tip the scales for whom the average person would vote in November. Others will tell you no Presidential election in the past was ever decided based upon a running mate who may have been selected to be on the ticket as Vice President. I am not sure how much weight we should give the person selected to run with either Presidential candidate. But I have to say this year seems different.
To start, neither presumptive nominee was the front runner for his respective party when all the candidates started throwing their hats into the ring soooo long ago, declaring they wanted to be elected President this November. Certainly the hands down Democrat in the lead before the first votes were cast in New Hampshire and Iowa primaries was Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama, in retrospect, seems to have come from nowhere. And while several prominent Republicans were jockeying for the lead in their party during the early primaries (can you say Rudy?) John McCain’s campaign became so anemic he had to stop flying and start taking a bus. His campaign ran out of funds at one point forcing him to resort to taking vans and leaving the press to fend for themselves.
So, it now comes down to two Presidential candidates slugging it out to get the most votes in November. To get elected they are selecting the person they believe is the very best running mate they can convince to run with them (they only have to ask). Hopefully this will be somebody to whom the American public can relate and help them capture more votes in more States using our caca meme Electoral College (a topic for another day).
The Democrats are holding their convention first. Why? Because there is a sort-of long standing agreement that states the party in office gets to hold their convention AFTER the other guys go first. How cute is that. Anyway, that means Barack Obama needed to declare his running mate first, potentially giving McCain more time to make up his mind with respect to his selection.
That brings us to the first announcement in this game of one-upmanship. Barack Obama tried to text message loyal followers, and anyone else who signed up, in an effort to give the recipients a head’s up of a few minutes before the media learned his choice this past Saturday. However, the text messages were sent hours after the news actually leaked out. After much consternation, vetting, and declaring in advance the three areas of importance that helped him make his selection, we all got the news.
Obama, 47, a first-term Unitied States senator, said he had searched for a running mate who will be prepared to step in as president, who could help him govern and who would be independent. His pick? Joe Biden, currently the six-term senior senator from Delaware. I will pass on any personal comment regarding his selection so I can move onto what prompted this blog in the first place.
Up next, John McCain’s pick. One person who has been campaigning for McCain and has been widely speculated to be McCain’s choice for running mate is, ta da, Joe Lieberman. That’s right. The here-to-fore liberal Democrat who just eight years ago was his party’s standard-bearer carrying the Dem banner and running as Al Gore’s pick for Vice President. What the heck is this all about? Even the Republicans are confused and perplexed with this wide spread rumor. Some Republican big wigs are checking behind the scenes to determine if someone who is not a Republican can run for the second highest office in the land, on the Republican ticket. Hence, my strange bedfellow quote.
As I get older and go through more political seasons, I continue to think I have seen it all. But this year, a relatively young first term United States Senator who would be the first African American to ever be elected President is running against a self admitted “party maverick” who himself is running away from the very short coat tails of his sitting President and potentially selecting a relatively unpopular Democrat as a running mate, someone who only got re-elected in his last election bid by running as an Independent – well, it just gets weirder and weirder.
Oh, by the way, lest we take for granted Joe Lieberman is McCain’s pick for his running mate, Willard think of me as Ronald Reagan “Mitt” Romney is still in the running as a “true conservative”. One issue of several that immediately comes to mind is they may have to find a way to overcome the potential negative baggage that comes with McCain’s and Romney’s combined wealth. It is reported to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Some would have you believe it exceeds our country’s Gross National Product. The facts about the combined wealth of these two guys is no secret. Together they could be a small emerging country.
John McCain has released two years of tax returns. We have learned he earned $405,000 in 2007. We also learned that he’s giving his ex-wife $17,000 a year in alimony. What we did not learn is how much he’s getting from his current wife. That’s because the returns do not include the assets of Cindy McCain, whose beer fortune is estimated at more than $100 million - a reminder that if elected McCain would be the first president to have signed a prenuptial agreement. Now that makes interesting fodder for the evening news. The current Republican Party is hardly the party of Lincoln and the “people’s party”, the one with the “big tent” and room for everyone. Nope, not this year.
Hold on tight, the next few weeks kick off the last stage of what has been a long build-up to what promises to be grand finale. That’s why we do it this way every four years, right?
As we approach the second most anticipated event of the summer following the Olympic Games we now prepare for what also occurs every four years which can also be controversial and certainly is in steeped in politics. I refer to the Democrat and Republican nominating conventions. We have reached to point in time when the Presidential presumptive nominees announce the selections of their running mates and Vice President candidates for their respective parties. This is a “kind-of-important” event, depending upon whom you ask.
Some talking heads and drive-by bloviators seem to want you to believe the person selected to run on the same ticket with the person running for President could tip the scales for whom the average person would vote in November. Others will tell you no Presidential election in the past was ever decided based upon a running mate who may have been selected to be on the ticket as Vice President. I am not sure how much weight we should give the person selected to run with either Presidential candidate. But I have to say this year seems different.
To start, neither presumptive nominee was the front runner for his respective party when all the candidates started throwing their hats into the ring soooo long ago, declaring they wanted to be elected President this November. Certainly the hands down Democrat in the lead before the first votes were cast in New Hampshire and Iowa primaries was Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama, in retrospect, seems to have come from nowhere. And while several prominent Republicans were jockeying for the lead in their party during the early primaries (can you say Rudy?) John McCain’s campaign became so anemic he had to stop flying and start taking a bus. His campaign ran out of funds at one point forcing him to resort to taking vans and leaving the press to fend for themselves.
So, it now comes down to two Presidential candidates slugging it out to get the most votes in November. To get elected they are selecting the person they believe is the very best running mate they can convince to run with them (they only have to ask). Hopefully this will be somebody to whom the American public can relate and help them capture more votes in more States using our caca meme Electoral College (a topic for another day).
The Democrats are holding their convention first. Why? Because there is a sort-of long standing agreement that states the party in office gets to hold their convention AFTER the other guys go first. How cute is that. Anyway, that means Barack Obama needed to declare his running mate first, potentially giving McCain more time to make up his mind with respect to his selection.
That brings us to the first announcement in this game of one-upmanship. Barack Obama tried to text message loyal followers, and anyone else who signed up, in an effort to give the recipients a head’s up of a few minutes before the media learned his choice this past Saturday. However, the text messages were sent hours after the news actually leaked out. After much consternation, vetting, and declaring in advance the three areas of importance that helped him make his selection, we all got the news.
Obama, 47, a first-term Unitied States senator, said he had searched for a running mate who will be prepared to step in as president, who could help him govern and who would be independent. His pick? Joe Biden, currently the six-term senior senator from Delaware. I will pass on any personal comment regarding his selection so I can move onto what prompted this blog in the first place.
Up next, John McCain’s pick. One person who has been campaigning for McCain and has been widely speculated to be McCain’s choice for running mate is, ta da, Joe Lieberman. That’s right. The here-to-fore liberal Democrat who just eight years ago was his party’s standard-bearer carrying the Dem banner and running as Al Gore’s pick for Vice President. What the heck is this all about? Even the Republicans are confused and perplexed with this wide spread rumor. Some Republican big wigs are checking behind the scenes to determine if someone who is not a Republican can run for the second highest office in the land, on the Republican ticket. Hence, my strange bedfellow quote.
As I get older and go through more political seasons, I continue to think I have seen it all. But this year, a relatively young first term United States Senator who would be the first African American to ever be elected President is running against a self admitted “party maverick” who himself is running away from the very short coat tails of his sitting President and potentially selecting a relatively unpopular Democrat as a running mate, someone who only got re-elected in his last election bid by running as an Independent – well, it just gets weirder and weirder.
Oh, by the way, lest we take for granted Joe Lieberman is McCain’s pick for his running mate, Willard think of me as Ronald Reagan “Mitt” Romney is still in the running as a “true conservative”. One issue of several that immediately comes to mind is they may have to find a way to overcome the potential negative baggage that comes with McCain’s and Romney’s combined wealth. It is reported to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Some would have you believe it exceeds our country’s Gross National Product. The facts about the combined wealth of these two guys is no secret. Together they could be a small emerging country.
John McCain has released two years of tax returns. We have learned he earned $405,000 in 2007. We also learned that he’s giving his ex-wife $17,000 a year in alimony. What we did not learn is how much he’s getting from his current wife. That’s because the returns do not include the assets of Cindy McCain, whose beer fortune is estimated at more than $100 million - a reminder that if elected McCain would be the first president to have signed a prenuptial agreement. Now that makes interesting fodder for the evening news. The current Republican Party is hardly the party of Lincoln and the “people’s party”, the one with the “big tent” and room for everyone. Nope, not this year.
Hold on tight, the next few weeks kick off the last stage of what has been a long build-up to what promises to be grand finale. That’s why we do it this way every four years, right?
Sunday, August 24, 2008
China’s Olympics Over – Thank Goodness
NBC’s favorite number these days is the number of people who have tuned in at some point to U.S. television coverage of the Beijing Games. More than 200 million and counting.
China is basking in the glow of winning their 51st gold medal and received a pat on the back from International Olympic Committee on the last day of the Games today. The IOC has brushed aside criticism of its decision to hold the Games in China. It said Olympics could not solve all the world's problems and argued they had left a positive legacy for China.
Really? And what part of the following would be a positive legacy? Perhaps the IOC is impressed with the number of Chinese “volunteers” who helped guide their guests through and around certain parts of Beijing but did not allow them to go into or film many other parts of this vast country? Or, say, how about those Opening Ceremonies?
If you watched the Opening Ceremonies chances are you said something like, "no way that's possible" at least once. It turns out you were right. London's Telegraph newspaper reports some of the fireworks which appeared over Beijing during the television broadcast of the Olympic Opening Ceremony were actually computer generated. But hold on, it's not necessarily as bad as you think. The faked fireworks were actually set-off at the stadium but because of potential dangers in filming the display live from a helicopter viewers at home were shown a pre-recorded, computer-generated shot. It sounds dishonest but I'm not sure it's such a terrible thing. And the NBC broadcasting team brought it to us “live”. So, they were complicent. (That means they were in on it).
As if that was not enough to curl your javelin, just before the opening ceremony stared in the Bird’s Nest, China replaced Yang Peiyi, the seven year old little girl who was supposed to sing during Olympics opening ceremony. Why? Her teeth weren’t straight enough to represent her country. She just was not pretty enough. She was replaced by Lin Miaoke who performed in Yang Peiyi’s place, lip syncing. Beautiful little girl singing, a lie. Not so beautiful girl not singing, a worse lie. Everyone was blown away at what they heard and though what they were seeing. Priceless. Both girls will grow up with these memories to deal with….
But, folks, this is China and we should have expected more slight-of-hand, make that cheating, from the host country that now basks in glory and has received a thumbs-up from the IOC. Questions now are swirling around Chinese gymnast He Kexin. Was she indeed old enough to compete at these games? And will she be permitted to keep the two gold medals she “won”, including team gold and a tiebreaker over Nastia Liukin on the uneven bars.
It's about time these questions are being asked as the gymnastics competition ended last Tuesday. Liukin and most of the rest of the U.S. gymnasts are already back at home. But, here's the bad news. The IOC expects a decision as soon as today (or was that yesterday). I don't know about you but one day investigations sure don't seem overly thorough to me. It hints of being a PR move and simply an attempt to put this thing to rest. One U.S. national team coordinator has suggested getting rid of the age limits so everybody's on an even playing field. Oh, now that’s a great solution.
Where is all this going? To the closing ceremonies which I will not bother to watch. We all have been sold on the concept the Olympic Games were to held in the highest esteem in terms of countries sending participants from all over the globe to compete fairly, honestly and openly, without regard to politics, war or other issues that continue to put stress on the relationships of many countries represented at the games. The athletes themselves have always looked for the good at these games.
But the medals, just like the faked opening ceremony and cheating that has apparently occurred, are tarnished even before the games are closed. Ever sucked on metal? It leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Perhaps this where the term "getting Shanghaid" comes from?
China is basking in the glow of winning their 51st gold medal and received a pat on the back from International Olympic Committee on the last day of the Games today. The IOC has brushed aside criticism of its decision to hold the Games in China. It said Olympics could not solve all the world's problems and argued they had left a positive legacy for China.
Really? And what part of the following would be a positive legacy? Perhaps the IOC is impressed with the number of Chinese “volunteers” who helped guide their guests through and around certain parts of Beijing but did not allow them to go into or film many other parts of this vast country? Or, say, how about those Opening Ceremonies?
If you watched the Opening Ceremonies chances are you said something like, "no way that's possible" at least once. It turns out you were right. London's Telegraph newspaper reports some of the fireworks which appeared over Beijing during the television broadcast of the Olympic Opening Ceremony were actually computer generated. But hold on, it's not necessarily as bad as you think. The faked fireworks were actually set-off at the stadium but because of potential dangers in filming the display live from a helicopter viewers at home were shown a pre-recorded, computer-generated shot. It sounds dishonest but I'm not sure it's such a terrible thing. And the NBC broadcasting team brought it to us “live”. So, they were complicent. (That means they were in on it).
As if that was not enough to curl your javelin, just before the opening ceremony stared in the Bird’s Nest, China replaced Yang Peiyi, the seven year old little girl who was supposed to sing during Olympics opening ceremony. Why? Her teeth weren’t straight enough to represent her country. She just was not pretty enough. She was replaced by Lin Miaoke who performed in Yang Peiyi’s place, lip syncing. Beautiful little girl singing, a lie. Not so beautiful girl not singing, a worse lie. Everyone was blown away at what they heard and though what they were seeing. Priceless. Both girls will grow up with these memories to deal with….
But, folks, this is China and we should have expected more slight-of-hand, make that cheating, from the host country that now basks in glory and has received a thumbs-up from the IOC. Questions now are swirling around Chinese gymnast He Kexin. Was she indeed old enough to compete at these games? And will she be permitted to keep the two gold medals she “won”, including team gold and a tiebreaker over Nastia Liukin on the uneven bars.
It's about time these questions are being asked as the gymnastics competition ended last Tuesday. Liukin and most of the rest of the U.S. gymnasts are already back at home. But, here's the bad news. The IOC expects a decision as soon as today (or was that yesterday). I don't know about you but one day investigations sure don't seem overly thorough to me. It hints of being a PR move and simply an attempt to put this thing to rest. One U.S. national team coordinator has suggested getting rid of the age limits so everybody's on an even playing field. Oh, now that’s a great solution.
Where is all this going? To the closing ceremonies which I will not bother to watch. We all have been sold on the concept the Olympic Games were to held in the highest esteem in terms of countries sending participants from all over the globe to compete fairly, honestly and openly, without regard to politics, war or other issues that continue to put stress on the relationships of many countries represented at the games. The athletes themselves have always looked for the good at these games.
But the medals, just like the faked opening ceremony and cheating that has apparently occurred, are tarnished even before the games are closed. Ever sucked on metal? It leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Perhaps this where the term "getting Shanghaid" comes from?
Saturday, August 23, 2008
I Could Have Been Asked To Be Obama’s VP
As everyone knows by now, Joseph (just call me Joe) Biden, currently the senior United States Senator from Delaware has been selected to be the Democratic Party vice presidential candidate in the 2008 presidential election, as running mate of presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama.
I realized, in looking at Biden’s professional and personal vital we share many similarities. Biden and I were born in the 1940s (that’s all I’m going to say about that). He was born in one State but lives in another, me too. He began his professional career in 1972, I began mine in 1971. Biden has had a hair transplant (in front), I thought about having one, briefly. His hair has turned white, what hair I have left is going in that direction. Biden is known as a high energy passionate person who will fight hard for causes in which he believes, not even close there. He now wants to be a Vice President, I am already President of my own company. Biden has a reputation of talking too long, saying things that have come back to haunt him and has been accused of taking too long to say what he means…..Oh, oh, it may be time to stop.
I felt complled to tell both presumptive nominees if asked to be their running mates I would have to decline as I already have enough on my plate. There is a famous quote: If nominated I will not run, if elected I will not serve. I sent that quote via text message (that’s the new thing now, because Obama likes to do that) to both presumptive nominees which may explain, I think, why the media is not camped outside my door. Just a small black kitten. And that is only because I feed her every morning…
Who wants to be the attack dog that goes after the other party’s presidential candidate, attend funerals, and, you know, hold the second highest position in the land anyway.
Biden does…
I realized, in looking at Biden’s professional and personal vital we share many similarities. Biden and I were born in the 1940s (that’s all I’m going to say about that). He was born in one State but lives in another, me too. He began his professional career in 1972, I began mine in 1971. Biden has had a hair transplant (in front), I thought about having one, briefly. His hair has turned white, what hair I have left is going in that direction. Biden is known as a high energy passionate person who will fight hard for causes in which he believes, not even close there. He now wants to be a Vice President, I am already President of my own company. Biden has a reputation of talking too long, saying things that have come back to haunt him and has been accused of taking too long to say what he means…..Oh, oh, it may be time to stop.
I felt complled to tell both presumptive nominees if asked to be their running mates I would have to decline as I already have enough on my plate. There is a famous quote: If nominated I will not run, if elected I will not serve. I sent that quote via text message (that’s the new thing now, because Obama likes to do that) to both presumptive nominees which may explain, I think, why the media is not camped outside my door. Just a small black kitten. And that is only because I feed her every morning…
Who wants to be the attack dog that goes after the other party’s presidential candidate, attend funerals, and, you know, hold the second highest position in the land anyway.
Biden does…
Friday, August 22, 2008
How Many Deaths Caused By DUI Before Prison Becomes The Punishment
This past Tuesday evening in Clearwater, Florida a 58 year old man who has been convicted three times for driving under the influence hit a motorcycle carrying two young men, one 24 years old and one 25 years old. The two young men are dead. The drunk driver turned in front of them. The drunk driver was licensed and driving legally with the exception that his blood-alcohol content, which was tested twice, was 0.179 and 0.186. A driver in Florida is presumed intoxicated when his or her percentage is 0.08 or higher.
So, why write about this? I have always been concerned about people that drink and drive. When I taught our two children to drive, I concentrated more on what other people around them were doing than the basic mechanics of driving. I knew they would learn how to use the accelerator and brakes and be able to steer the car. My greatest concern for their safety on the road? Unexpected actions taken by others that could kill them. On the low end of my list of concerns were people that did not signal before changing lanes or people that stopped suddenly without notice. But on the high end of my concerns were people that did things one could reasonably expect them NOT to do, like blow threw a stop sign or red light. So we concentrated on a much higher level of defensive driving, awareness and learning to expect to unexpected.
Partially as a result of that driving education by dad and probably just because of our own family values, both of our children became the “always designated drivers” when going out with friends and they continue to do this today, in their 30s. Oh, they have a beer or two or glass of wine when out sometimes. But they are married so one can drink but the other does not and then drives. Strange in these days, but true. That, however, will not keep them and anyone riding with them from being killed by someone who has had multiple driving arrests for driving drunk and is still legally driving.
Let’s return to our drunk 58 year old killer in Clearwater. For starters, following this accident he left the scene but was stopped by another motorist and held until authorities arrived. This man’s license was revoked for longer and longer periods with each of his successive three previous convictions according to records with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. His license was revoked for 180 days in 1987 after his first drunken driving conviction. It was then revoked for 5 years in 1989 after another and in 1996 it was revoked for 10 years following a third conviction. Records indicate he won his license back last year. Thus, last Tuesday night, although intoxicated, he was driving with a current and legal license.
What should his punishment be this time? Since he killed two people I think not only are his driving days over but so is his freedom. But was this avoidable? Could the lives of the two men he killed been avoided if stiffer penalties had already been in place? I used the term “prison” in my title, not jail. Although I don’t have this man’s jail records along with the fact his license was revoked three times, I have to guess he may have spent a bit of time in “jail” for one or more of his previous offenses. But I draw a distinction between going to jail and losing the right to drive for awhile and doing “hard time” in prison for driving drunk. And I don’t think it should take two or more offenses plus the loss of life for our States to stiffen the penalties when dealing with habitual offenders.
Alcoholism is a problem in today’s society. I understand that. It may be safe to say our drunken driver has a problem that should have been addressed years ago. But getting drunk and driving has become a national epidemic and I don’t see the statistics improving. We certainly know what to do with drug users that are caught with marijuana, cocaine or crack. Some think we eve are too tough on drug users. How ironic.
So what additional teeth should we put into DUI laws when dealing with people that show complete disregard for themselves and others every time they get behind the wheel of a car intoxicated? How about using a sliding scale – say, the drunker they are, the more time they spend in jail, after the FIRST offence. After two, it doubles. Three times, my suggestion is to follow the same penalty used in Florida’s three strike rule. Hard time, with mandatory minimum sentences judges cannot get around.
If you feel the way I do I would ask that you make this a personal issue for yourself. Write or call your own State representatives. We need to strengthen the laws so what happened last Tuesday night in Clearwater, Florida and I am sure is occurring in every State every day and every evening can be stopped, dead.
So, why write about this? I have always been concerned about people that drink and drive. When I taught our two children to drive, I concentrated more on what other people around them were doing than the basic mechanics of driving. I knew they would learn how to use the accelerator and brakes and be able to steer the car. My greatest concern for their safety on the road? Unexpected actions taken by others that could kill them. On the low end of my list of concerns were people that did not signal before changing lanes or people that stopped suddenly without notice. But on the high end of my concerns were people that did things one could reasonably expect them NOT to do, like blow threw a stop sign or red light. So we concentrated on a much higher level of defensive driving, awareness and learning to expect to unexpected.
Partially as a result of that driving education by dad and probably just because of our own family values, both of our children became the “always designated drivers” when going out with friends and they continue to do this today, in their 30s. Oh, they have a beer or two or glass of wine when out sometimes. But they are married so one can drink but the other does not and then drives. Strange in these days, but true. That, however, will not keep them and anyone riding with them from being killed by someone who has had multiple driving arrests for driving drunk and is still legally driving.
Let’s return to our drunk 58 year old killer in Clearwater. For starters, following this accident he left the scene but was stopped by another motorist and held until authorities arrived. This man’s license was revoked for longer and longer periods with each of his successive three previous convictions according to records with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. His license was revoked for 180 days in 1987 after his first drunken driving conviction. It was then revoked for 5 years in 1989 after another and in 1996 it was revoked for 10 years following a third conviction. Records indicate he won his license back last year. Thus, last Tuesday night, although intoxicated, he was driving with a current and legal license.
What should his punishment be this time? Since he killed two people I think not only are his driving days over but so is his freedom. But was this avoidable? Could the lives of the two men he killed been avoided if stiffer penalties had already been in place? I used the term “prison” in my title, not jail. Although I don’t have this man’s jail records along with the fact his license was revoked three times, I have to guess he may have spent a bit of time in “jail” for one or more of his previous offenses. But I draw a distinction between going to jail and losing the right to drive for awhile and doing “hard time” in prison for driving drunk. And I don’t think it should take two or more offenses plus the loss of life for our States to stiffen the penalties when dealing with habitual offenders.
Alcoholism is a problem in today’s society. I understand that. It may be safe to say our drunken driver has a problem that should have been addressed years ago. But getting drunk and driving has become a national epidemic and I don’t see the statistics improving. We certainly know what to do with drug users that are caught with marijuana, cocaine or crack. Some think we eve are too tough on drug users. How ironic.
So what additional teeth should we put into DUI laws when dealing with people that show complete disregard for themselves and others every time they get behind the wheel of a car intoxicated? How about using a sliding scale – say, the drunker they are, the more time they spend in jail, after the FIRST offence. After two, it doubles. Three times, my suggestion is to follow the same penalty used in Florida’s three strike rule. Hard time, with mandatory minimum sentences judges cannot get around.
If you feel the way I do I would ask that you make this a personal issue for yourself. Write or call your own State representatives. We need to strengthen the laws so what happened last Tuesday night in Clearwater, Florida and I am sure is occurring in every State every day and every evening can be stopped, dead.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Personal Struggle Whether To Keep A Stray Animal
For the past several weeks I have befriended a small beautiful black kitten that has been visiting several homes where I live. At first the kitten, completely black, slender and with very unusual bright chartreuse eyes, never made a sound. It would allow me to approach but neither of us was comfortable with each other.
In the past week, things changed. Kitty, as I call “it” not knowing where it came from, not knowing if it is a full grown cat or kitten (I suspect this is a kitten) and not knowing whether it is a male or female, well, we have “bonded”. I took a chance and decided to see how friendly this kitten would be if fed. We adopted a cat almost ten years ago and I was giving some thought to adopting Kitty.
I found that Kitty seemed to show up in the mornings so Sunday morning I opened a can of tuna, placed a small amount in a Tupperware container and took it outside. I sat down on our front porch and waited to see what would happen. Surprise. One very happy kitten took a sniff of the tuna and devoured it. Suddenly I found out it could meow. Kitty began to brush up against me and just like that, we were “friends”.
I was still not sure how close I wanted to get, physically or mentally, to this little cat. It had been wondering our neighborhood for weeks. But I also began to think about the approaching tropical storm and maybe, just maybe, we could find a way to adopt each other.
Kitty never left the front of our house that day but would not come inside. After a bit more tuna the next day I attempted to take Kitty into the house. Surprisingly Kitty did not mind my picking it up. I was very aware I stood the chance of getting scratched or even bitten but took the chance. However, Kitty did not want to remain in the house and made that known immediately with very loud meows and a charge for the closed door. When Kitty could not exit through the front door, it tried the sliding patio doors. This cat went nuts being inside. So, I let Kitty out. But, this kitten did not go far. It just sat down and stayed near-by.
Later that day I went to a local store and purchased a small bag of cat food, litter and a small litter pan. I figured it was time for us to decide whether we could make this work, or not. Ten years ago I attempted a similar maneuver with a neighborhood cat and lost a bet to my wife that the cat would use the litter box and stay in the house. Why not try again?
My experiment has failed. Kitty has become more willing to come into the house to get food but will not use the litter box and after about an hour gets nuts if it cannot get back outside. I have become attached to Kitty and the feeling is mutual. However the interior of our house is not its place of choice to “hang out”. Our shrubs in the front of the house have become this kitten’s real home. Kitty watches the front door and always greets me when I step outside. Kitty has become very vocal and yesterday Kitty actually stayed inside the house for about two hours in the middle of the day, content to curl up with me, purring, if I stayed in one place.
I awoke today knowing I had to make a decision. I am not home all day every day. IF we were going to make the effort to take a cat who has become accustomed to living and surviving outside and try to convert it to an indoor cat, a lot of work lay ahead. But, it is also not fair to just feed this cat outside and call it a day. My wife and I travel sometimes and can’t ask a neighbor to add feeding Kitty to the list of getting our newspapers and mail when we are not home.
I had been focusing on two options. Plan A: Go the distance with making this cat ours. Take Kitty to the vet, get it the necessary shots and license, bring it back home and keep the door closed. Even after this cat has its nails clipped (we would not have them removed) there could be quite a challenge ahead. When we adopted, actually rescued our other cat, that was a much easier transition but it had a tragic ending for us. Rambo, as he was known in the neighborhood, became very ill within six months of our bringing him into our home. We had already “put down” a pet dog we had owned for ten years and now faced putting Rambo down as well. I swore we would never go through that again. Yet, here I am asking myself what to do. Plan B: Just ignore Kitty, starting today. No more interaction, no food – tell it to “take off” – it was doing just fine until I became attached to it.
But, I have decided neither Plan A nor Plan B are going to work. I have been up since 5am with business matters on my mind and realized I was already feeling a great deal of stress about what to do with Kitty. That is when I remembered our local SPCA, a place that has an excellent reputation for placing animals in good homes. Some animal shelters do not accept stays and make you take a found animal to the County shelter. I refuse to do that. The SPCA is much farther away, in Largo, but, I made the decision this morning that I will feed Kitty today, get a pet carrier later in the day and either tomorrow or Saturday take Kitty to the best place for it to go. They will do the right thing in terms of shots, and, getting this adorable kitten adopted. My sense is if Kitty starts over with a new family after being in a shelter for a few days or even a few weeks, it can and will be able to adopt to a new environment but not if it stays in our neighborhood.
Immediately after thinking this through, about an hour ago, I felt a sense of relief. I know this cat will not be euthanized, it stands a good chance of finding a loving home and I can move on with my life, stress free again. Well, not stress free, but without a guilty conscience about this cat, to whom I have really become attached. I realized the problem was one I created and one I had to solve. Thus, that’s it. Time to take some food out to Kitty as bringing it back into the house to trying to convince this cat to stay is just folly. I now have a plan. And a clean conscience. I am going to miss this new little friend but this is the right thing to do….
In the past week, things changed. Kitty, as I call “it” not knowing where it came from, not knowing if it is a full grown cat or kitten (I suspect this is a kitten) and not knowing whether it is a male or female, well, we have “bonded”. I took a chance and decided to see how friendly this kitten would be if fed. We adopted a cat almost ten years ago and I was giving some thought to adopting Kitty.
I found that Kitty seemed to show up in the mornings so Sunday morning I opened a can of tuna, placed a small amount in a Tupperware container and took it outside. I sat down on our front porch and waited to see what would happen. Surprise. One very happy kitten took a sniff of the tuna and devoured it. Suddenly I found out it could meow. Kitty began to brush up against me and just like that, we were “friends”.
I was still not sure how close I wanted to get, physically or mentally, to this little cat. It had been wondering our neighborhood for weeks. But I also began to think about the approaching tropical storm and maybe, just maybe, we could find a way to adopt each other.
Kitty never left the front of our house that day but would not come inside. After a bit more tuna the next day I attempted to take Kitty into the house. Surprisingly Kitty did not mind my picking it up. I was very aware I stood the chance of getting scratched or even bitten but took the chance. However, Kitty did not want to remain in the house and made that known immediately with very loud meows and a charge for the closed door. When Kitty could not exit through the front door, it tried the sliding patio doors. This cat went nuts being inside. So, I let Kitty out. But, this kitten did not go far. It just sat down and stayed near-by.
Later that day I went to a local store and purchased a small bag of cat food, litter and a small litter pan. I figured it was time for us to decide whether we could make this work, or not. Ten years ago I attempted a similar maneuver with a neighborhood cat and lost a bet to my wife that the cat would use the litter box and stay in the house. Why not try again?
My experiment has failed. Kitty has become more willing to come into the house to get food but will not use the litter box and after about an hour gets nuts if it cannot get back outside. I have become attached to Kitty and the feeling is mutual. However the interior of our house is not its place of choice to “hang out”. Our shrubs in the front of the house have become this kitten’s real home. Kitty watches the front door and always greets me when I step outside. Kitty has become very vocal and yesterday Kitty actually stayed inside the house for about two hours in the middle of the day, content to curl up with me, purring, if I stayed in one place.
I awoke today knowing I had to make a decision. I am not home all day every day. IF we were going to make the effort to take a cat who has become accustomed to living and surviving outside and try to convert it to an indoor cat, a lot of work lay ahead. But, it is also not fair to just feed this cat outside and call it a day. My wife and I travel sometimes and can’t ask a neighbor to add feeding Kitty to the list of getting our newspapers and mail when we are not home.
I had been focusing on two options. Plan A: Go the distance with making this cat ours. Take Kitty to the vet, get it the necessary shots and license, bring it back home and keep the door closed. Even after this cat has its nails clipped (we would not have them removed) there could be quite a challenge ahead. When we adopted, actually rescued our other cat, that was a much easier transition but it had a tragic ending for us. Rambo, as he was known in the neighborhood, became very ill within six months of our bringing him into our home. We had already “put down” a pet dog we had owned for ten years and now faced putting Rambo down as well. I swore we would never go through that again. Yet, here I am asking myself what to do. Plan B: Just ignore Kitty, starting today. No more interaction, no food – tell it to “take off” – it was doing just fine until I became attached to it.
But, I have decided neither Plan A nor Plan B are going to work. I have been up since 5am with business matters on my mind and realized I was already feeling a great deal of stress about what to do with Kitty. That is when I remembered our local SPCA, a place that has an excellent reputation for placing animals in good homes. Some animal shelters do not accept stays and make you take a found animal to the County shelter. I refuse to do that. The SPCA is much farther away, in Largo, but, I made the decision this morning that I will feed Kitty today, get a pet carrier later in the day and either tomorrow or Saturday take Kitty to the best place for it to go. They will do the right thing in terms of shots, and, getting this adorable kitten adopted. My sense is if Kitty starts over with a new family after being in a shelter for a few days or even a few weeks, it can and will be able to adopt to a new environment but not if it stays in our neighborhood.
Immediately after thinking this through, about an hour ago, I felt a sense of relief. I know this cat will not be euthanized, it stands a good chance of finding a loving home and I can move on with my life, stress free again. Well, not stress free, but without a guilty conscience about this cat, to whom I have really become attached. I realized the problem was one I created and one I had to solve. Thus, that’s it. Time to take some food out to Kitty as bringing it back into the house to trying to convince this cat to stay is just folly. I now have a plan. And a clean conscience. I am going to miss this new little friend but this is the right thing to do….
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Why Do We Continue To Remain A Fossil Fuel Dependent Nation
Since at least the mid-1970s we have known that we, the United States, had to find alternative sources of fuel and not only to become less dependent upon foreign countries for oil but get involved in developing alternative and renewable sources of energy. With global warming no longer a contested issue but with oil dependency still an issue we continue to talk about drilling in the continental shelf off the coast of the U. S., in the Atlantic, in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida and in the Pacific off the coast of California.
Because this is an election year we are seeing the presumptive candidates from both parties either taking stronger positions for drilling (McCain) or changing their positions and being more open to drilling (Obama). Even the Democrats' stance against offshore drilling has shifted more with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaling last Saturday her willingness to consider opening up more coastal areas to oil and gas exploration.
I recently read an article written by Scott Cendrowski in Fortune Magazine in which he reminds us a Union Oil well blew out off the coast of Santa Barbara some 40 years ago, spilling more than 3 million gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean. The slick that formed spread across 800 square miles and led to the ban on offshore drilling.
The 22 oil rigs in the Pacific constructed before the ban are producing 70,000 barrels of oil a day. However we know the drilling ban could be in serious jeopardy due to the increased pressure being brought by George W. Bush and, more importantly, the positions currently being taken by McCain and Obama.
Consider this. Approximately 3 million barrels per day is what proponents of offshore drilling say reversing the ban would contribute to world oil supplies. That is about 3.5% of today’s daily global production of 86 million barrels per day which is not even a drop in a 55 gallon barrel.
Add to that the fact it will take until the year 2013 before any significant amount of new oil would hit the market if the ban were to be lifted tomorrow. Even the lobbyists pushing for drilling offshore don’t dispute this. It can take up to 2 years just to get delivery of a leased rig. Conducting seismic research and developing test wells can take 3 years or more and it could take twice as long searching in the less explored Atlantic coast.
I am reminded of an argument between two movie characters in The American President:
Lewis Rothschild: You have a deeper love of this country than any man I've ever known. And I want to know what it says to you that in the past seven weeks, 59% of Americans have begun to question your patriotism.
President Andrew Shepherd: Look, if the people want to listen to-...
Lewis Rothschild: They don't have a choice! Bob Rumson is the only one doing the talking! People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they'll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand.
President Andrew Shepherd: Lewis, we've had presidents who were beloved, who couldn't find a coherent sentence with two hands and a flashlight. People don't drink the sand because they're thirsty. They drink the sand because they don't know the difference.
What is the analogy? The American people quickly grew tired of paying high prices for gas at the pump and have been led to believe the quick fix is to drill for more oil. They could not be more wrong.
So the country that just over 40 years ago took about a decade to put a man on the moon after making that a priority has been unable to develop alternative fuel resources in this country during the past 30+ years. Why not? Last thought. The offshore drilling ban went into effect way back in 1982 when Ronald Reagan was President. Do you suppose Nancy told Ronnie to “just say no”?
Because this is an election year we are seeing the presumptive candidates from both parties either taking stronger positions for drilling (McCain) or changing their positions and being more open to drilling (Obama). Even the Democrats' stance against offshore drilling has shifted more with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaling last Saturday her willingness to consider opening up more coastal areas to oil and gas exploration.
I recently read an article written by Scott Cendrowski in Fortune Magazine in which he reminds us a Union Oil well blew out off the coast of Santa Barbara some 40 years ago, spilling more than 3 million gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean. The slick that formed spread across 800 square miles and led to the ban on offshore drilling.
The 22 oil rigs in the Pacific constructed before the ban are producing 70,000 barrels of oil a day. However we know the drilling ban could be in serious jeopardy due to the increased pressure being brought by George W. Bush and, more importantly, the positions currently being taken by McCain and Obama.
Consider this. Approximately 3 million barrels per day is what proponents of offshore drilling say reversing the ban would contribute to world oil supplies. That is about 3.5% of today’s daily global production of 86 million barrels per day which is not even a drop in a 55 gallon barrel.
Add to that the fact it will take until the year 2013 before any significant amount of new oil would hit the market if the ban were to be lifted tomorrow. Even the lobbyists pushing for drilling offshore don’t dispute this. It can take up to 2 years just to get delivery of a leased rig. Conducting seismic research and developing test wells can take 3 years or more and it could take twice as long searching in the less explored Atlantic coast.
I am reminded of an argument between two movie characters in The American President:
Lewis Rothschild: You have a deeper love of this country than any man I've ever known. And I want to know what it says to you that in the past seven weeks, 59% of Americans have begun to question your patriotism.
President Andrew Shepherd: Look, if the people want to listen to-...
Lewis Rothschild: They don't have a choice! Bob Rumson is the only one doing the talking! People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they'll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They're so thirsty for it they'll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there's no water, they'll drink the sand.
President Andrew Shepherd: Lewis, we've had presidents who were beloved, who couldn't find a coherent sentence with two hands and a flashlight. People don't drink the sand because they're thirsty. They drink the sand because they don't know the difference.
What is the analogy? The American people quickly grew tired of paying high prices for gas at the pump and have been led to believe the quick fix is to drill for more oil. They could not be more wrong.
So the country that just over 40 years ago took about a decade to put a man on the moon after making that a priority has been unable to develop alternative fuel resources in this country during the past 30+ years. Why not? Last thought. The offshore drilling ban went into effect way back in 1982 when Ronald Reagan was President. Do you suppose Nancy told Ronnie to “just say no”?
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Storms Like Fay Give Hurricanes A Bad Name
Having lived in Florida over 25 years we have seen everything from weak tropical storms to strong hurricanes but until they actually make landfall we have never been able to predict if or when they would hit or miss us. Nor have we actually known prior to any storm actually coming ashore how dangerous a storm it would be. Well, even though Fay has come ashore, we still don’t.
If you have not been following Fay, she arrived much farther south than originally predicted. The first projected path showed the Tampa Bay region as its target, then the potential landfall area became Sarasota, then Ft. Myers and eventually Naples, which turned out be the closest and best “guess”.
Tropical storms and hurricanes get their energy from warm tropical waters and lose their energy once over land. Not Fay. This storm, which as of this writing has yet to reach 74 mph, the wind speed needed to be named a hurricane. Fay came ashore with winds of approximately 60 mph. But Fay has done something no meteorologist in the Tampa Bay area can remember. She has gained intensity over land and her highest over land recorded wind speed around the center of the storm so far has been 65mph. Strangest of all we have seen recorded video of satellite photos briefly showing an eye wall while Fay was near Lake Okeechobee. Eye walls typically can only occur inside a hurricane. One of our TV meteorologists with 25 years experience stated this storm may become a dissertation for someone’s PhD.
I started writing this article hours ago but delayed completing it because Fay slowed and changed course so uncharacteristically that our local weather experts and The National Hurricane Center are still not certain where Fay will go next. The current path takes Fay out into the Atlantic where she is expected to become a category 1 hurricane, then make a left turn due to a high pressure ridge in the Atlantic that will push her back toward the center of Florida, again. The Tampa Bay area, we I live, has had no rain and we have experienced nothing out of the ordinary in terms of wind gusts, yet. While this storm was supposed to be gone by now, it is lingering and poses a threat to even more people it has not met thus far. The damage from this tropical storm looks and feels like that of a hurricane to those it has affected in South Florida, which came as a surprise to the folks that live anywhere where Fay has traveled today.
Because science has not yet been able to predict, with any degree of certainty, the actual path a tropical storm or hurricane may take, there has been tendency by local government officials, and even the local media, to hype all approaching storms in the name of saving lives. Nobody wants to underestimate how dangerous a particular storm may turn out to be. But when storms don’t live up to expectations they can create problems in the future. Folks that evacuated or purchased extra batteries, water and dry food only to find out they did not need to do so may not prepare properly the next time a storm approaches and in some cases and this could lead to a fatal decision. I saw several interviews during this evening’s local news showing disgruntled folks who evacuated and feel they did so unnecessarily.
While my wife and I are grateful Fay did not live up to her advanced billing by slowing down and changing course away from where we live, we still feel bad for those who remained in her path. The good news this has not been a strong, killer storm. But while Fay has remained a tropical storm and has not yet made it to hurricane status this story is not over. And the bad news is the next time Floridians get the exact same type of watches and warnings, many who may have prepared for this storm may not prepare for the next and that could prove to be a fatal mistake.
So although I lowered the water in my pool in anticipation of a huge rain storm, brought in my all my pool furniture and removed anything in my yard that could fly in a strong wind I now have to take the time to put everything back. And, depending what happens in the next 48 hours, I may have to fill the pool. Fay may take that left turn I mentioned earlier, come back in our direction and bring a lot of rain.
Either way, will I prepare in exactly the same way the next time we get a hurricane watch or warning? You bet. Will I be disappointed if it does not live up to expectations? No way. Tomorrow or the next day I will turn on the Bee Gees 1970s hit while working on my lanai and turn it up so even the neighbors can hear it, Staying Alive…..
If you have not been following Fay, she arrived much farther south than originally predicted. The first projected path showed the Tampa Bay region as its target, then the potential landfall area became Sarasota, then Ft. Myers and eventually Naples, which turned out be the closest and best “guess”.
Tropical storms and hurricanes get their energy from warm tropical waters and lose their energy once over land. Not Fay. This storm, which as of this writing has yet to reach 74 mph, the wind speed needed to be named a hurricane. Fay came ashore with winds of approximately 60 mph. But Fay has done something no meteorologist in the Tampa Bay area can remember. She has gained intensity over land and her highest over land recorded wind speed around the center of the storm so far has been 65mph. Strangest of all we have seen recorded video of satellite photos briefly showing an eye wall while Fay was near Lake Okeechobee. Eye walls typically can only occur inside a hurricane. One of our TV meteorologists with 25 years experience stated this storm may become a dissertation for someone’s PhD.
I started writing this article hours ago but delayed completing it because Fay slowed and changed course so uncharacteristically that our local weather experts and The National Hurricane Center are still not certain where Fay will go next. The current path takes Fay out into the Atlantic where she is expected to become a category 1 hurricane, then make a left turn due to a high pressure ridge in the Atlantic that will push her back toward the center of Florida, again. The Tampa Bay area, we I live, has had no rain and we have experienced nothing out of the ordinary in terms of wind gusts, yet. While this storm was supposed to be gone by now, it is lingering and poses a threat to even more people it has not met thus far. The damage from this tropical storm looks and feels like that of a hurricane to those it has affected in South Florida, which came as a surprise to the folks that live anywhere where Fay has traveled today.
Because science has not yet been able to predict, with any degree of certainty, the actual path a tropical storm or hurricane may take, there has been tendency by local government officials, and even the local media, to hype all approaching storms in the name of saving lives. Nobody wants to underestimate how dangerous a particular storm may turn out to be. But when storms don’t live up to expectations they can create problems in the future. Folks that evacuated or purchased extra batteries, water and dry food only to find out they did not need to do so may not prepare properly the next time a storm approaches and in some cases and this could lead to a fatal decision. I saw several interviews during this evening’s local news showing disgruntled folks who evacuated and feel they did so unnecessarily.
While my wife and I are grateful Fay did not live up to her advanced billing by slowing down and changing course away from where we live, we still feel bad for those who remained in her path. The good news this has not been a strong, killer storm. But while Fay has remained a tropical storm and has not yet made it to hurricane status this story is not over. And the bad news is the next time Floridians get the exact same type of watches and warnings, many who may have prepared for this storm may not prepare for the next and that could prove to be a fatal mistake.
So although I lowered the water in my pool in anticipation of a huge rain storm, brought in my all my pool furniture and removed anything in my yard that could fly in a strong wind I now have to take the time to put everything back. And, depending what happens in the next 48 hours, I may have to fill the pool. Fay may take that left turn I mentioned earlier, come back in our direction and bring a lot of rain.
Either way, will I prepare in exactly the same way the next time we get a hurricane watch or warning? You bet. Will I be disappointed if it does not live up to expectations? No way. Tomorrow or the next day I will turn on the Bee Gees 1970s hit while working on my lanai and turn it up so even the neighbors can hear it, Staying Alive…..
Monday, August 18, 2008
Fay, Fay, Go Away, Find Some Other Place To Play
Well, as another hurricane season winds up for the pitch, Florida has been put on full alert that we may have a problem. Unlike folks who live in tornado and earthquake prone areas we get several days notice when a hurricane is approaching.
Our home has an on-demand “whole-house” 15Kw air cooled generator that will literally run everything we need to remain in our home in the event of a major power outage. We don’t even have to re-fill the generator with gasoline or kerosene. There are two huge gravity fed propane “tank farms” in our neighborhood that serve every home. Folks can cook, dry their clothes and/or heat their water using propane or electric. Our generator is connected to our gas meter and the propane tanks so our supply is certain to last at least a few weeks if necessary. We also have the state-of-the-art Dade County Certified (South Florida’s newest code) translucent window and door protection panels made from a space age plastic composite. And, we have braces for the garage door which is the weakest point of entry from high winds in any home. If air breaches our home the roof could lift and the walls could cave-in. So even with the generator running we could find ourselves working on our computers or watching TV in a driving rain storm with high winds and pieces of metal and other dangerous objects falling on us. The generator was a good business decision because I work from home. The need for the panels and garage door braces occurred to me a year after we had the generator installed. We could have power on in the house but lose the roof and walls in a major storm.
What is interesting about this annual dance in hurricane season is trying to out-guess the weather people that are vying for air time in our local area. Which person do we believe about which “spaghetti models” they are showing us. And what about the margin or cone of error which the National Weather Service has expanded. Sure, there is a little thin line that shows a “probable course” the storm could take but the cone of error covers the entire State of Florida, at least as of this morning.
Located 18 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico we are not in any danger of a storm surge. At an elevation of between 60-65 feet above sea level we are not likely to incur flooding either. Finally, we have a hip roof which is favorable to a pitched/gable end roof in high winds. With all the above in place we are likely to be OK in terms of physical damage to our home. Our pantry and extra freezer are fully stocked so I think we are most likely “ready” regardless how close a serious storm comes to where we live. I just have to bring our pool furniture inside, put up the panels and lock down.
The real inconvenience in a major storm would be the loss of power at the local gas stations and grocery stores, most of which do not have generators. A direct hit in our area would mean no power for probably two weeks or so. We may be fine during that period but the vast majority of our neighbors would not.
And then there is the cat that has been apparently abandoned recently by one of our neighbors. He has been hanging around our house for a few weeks. I went out yesterday to get cat food and a litter box…..in the event we do get “hit” I thought we might have at least one four legged house guest for while. Apparently I wasted my money. The cat (or kitten – I cannot tell) has other ideas. He (or she) is willing to eat the food I purchased, outside. Coming into the house and staying is another problem entirely. I hate the thought of leaving this little cat outside tomorrow but it did not like being inside yesterday at all and would not stay.
It is now time to get the latest updates and begin preparations. Even with these types of occasional summer inconveniences I would not want to live anywhere else, as strange as that may seem to some.
Our home has an on-demand “whole-house” 15Kw air cooled generator that will literally run everything we need to remain in our home in the event of a major power outage. We don’t even have to re-fill the generator with gasoline or kerosene. There are two huge gravity fed propane “tank farms” in our neighborhood that serve every home. Folks can cook, dry their clothes and/or heat their water using propane or electric. Our generator is connected to our gas meter and the propane tanks so our supply is certain to last at least a few weeks if necessary. We also have the state-of-the-art Dade County Certified (South Florida’s newest code) translucent window and door protection panels made from a space age plastic composite. And, we have braces for the garage door which is the weakest point of entry from high winds in any home. If air breaches our home the roof could lift and the walls could cave-in. So even with the generator running we could find ourselves working on our computers or watching TV in a driving rain storm with high winds and pieces of metal and other dangerous objects falling on us. The generator was a good business decision because I work from home. The need for the panels and garage door braces occurred to me a year after we had the generator installed. We could have power on in the house but lose the roof and walls in a major storm.
What is interesting about this annual dance in hurricane season is trying to out-guess the weather people that are vying for air time in our local area. Which person do we believe about which “spaghetti models” they are showing us. And what about the margin or cone of error which the National Weather Service has expanded. Sure, there is a little thin line that shows a “probable course” the storm could take but the cone of error covers the entire State of Florida, at least as of this morning.
Located 18 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico we are not in any danger of a storm surge. At an elevation of between 60-65 feet above sea level we are not likely to incur flooding either. Finally, we have a hip roof which is favorable to a pitched/gable end roof in high winds. With all the above in place we are likely to be OK in terms of physical damage to our home. Our pantry and extra freezer are fully stocked so I think we are most likely “ready” regardless how close a serious storm comes to where we live. I just have to bring our pool furniture inside, put up the panels and lock down.
The real inconvenience in a major storm would be the loss of power at the local gas stations and grocery stores, most of which do not have generators. A direct hit in our area would mean no power for probably two weeks or so. We may be fine during that period but the vast majority of our neighbors would not.
And then there is the cat that has been apparently abandoned recently by one of our neighbors. He has been hanging around our house for a few weeks. I went out yesterday to get cat food and a litter box…..in the event we do get “hit” I thought we might have at least one four legged house guest for while. Apparently I wasted my money. The cat (or kitten – I cannot tell) has other ideas. He (or she) is willing to eat the food I purchased, outside. Coming into the house and staying is another problem entirely. I hate the thought of leaving this little cat outside tomorrow but it did not like being inside yesterday at all and would not stay.
It is now time to get the latest updates and begin preparations. Even with these types of occasional summer inconveniences I would not want to live anywhere else, as strange as that may seem to some.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
I Have Decided To Compete In The Next Olympics
I have been wondering for years what I really wanted to be when I grew up and I think it has come down to the question, what am I best at doing? After reading about the phenomenal successes of Michael Phelps at the Beijing Summer Olympics I have had an Epiphany. Michael Phelps and I share enough similarities for me to believe I can compete as a professional athlete.
OK, you can stop laughing now. Check this out. I have read Mike’s height and arm span – are the same. And so are mine! He has an oversized trunk. The one I used to take to camp is exactly that, oversized. His legs are shorter than the average person and I don’t need to even go there. Mike swims in his own pool. I have a pool. I also read something about his lactate – well I have some lactose intolerance so, once again, I can be just like Mike (where have we heard that slogan before).
Here’s the best part, and, the clincher. I read Mike’s real secret to his success is his typical daily diet which contains, are you ready – 12,000 calories! Wow! His secret weapon is his diet.
Take, for example, his typical breakfast of three fried-egg sandwiches with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise, two cups of coffee, one five-egg omelet, one bowl of grits, three slices of French toast, and three chocolate-chip pancakes. That was JUST breakfast! Mike’s typical lunch consists of one pound of pasta, two ham-and-cheese sandwiches, and a few energy drinks. And for dinner? How about one pound of pasta, an entire pizza and some energy drinks. Obviously he cuts WAY back at dinner. I figure the energy drinks are to give him the energy he needs to eat all the other stuff he ingests.
But I look at it this way. Over the years I have tried to learn how to play both the violin and piano without a great deal of success with either. I did play some little league baseball but like the kid Paul Stooky of Peter, Paul and Mary sings about I ended up in right field and always was picked to bat last. I was in a play with a serious theme as a Senior in high school about an English cad that kills his aunt and gets a girl pregnant. I changed my voice inflection while delivering some of my lines (in a Cockney accent) and got laughs in places not exactly intended by the playwright…so, I ended up, in business.
But, in looking at what Michael Phelps eats every day, I figure if I cut back, just a little…anything can happen!
OK, you can stop laughing now. Check this out. I have read Mike’s height and arm span – are the same. And so are mine! He has an oversized trunk. The one I used to take to camp is exactly that, oversized. His legs are shorter than the average person and I don’t need to even go there. Mike swims in his own pool. I have a pool. I also read something about his lactate – well I have some lactose intolerance so, once again, I can be just like Mike (where have we heard that slogan before).
Here’s the best part, and, the clincher. I read Mike’s real secret to his success is his typical daily diet which contains, are you ready – 12,000 calories! Wow! His secret weapon is his diet.
Take, for example, his typical breakfast of three fried-egg sandwiches with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise, two cups of coffee, one five-egg omelet, one bowl of grits, three slices of French toast, and three chocolate-chip pancakes. That was JUST breakfast! Mike’s typical lunch consists of one pound of pasta, two ham-and-cheese sandwiches, and a few energy drinks. And for dinner? How about one pound of pasta, an entire pizza and some energy drinks. Obviously he cuts WAY back at dinner. I figure the energy drinks are to give him the energy he needs to eat all the other stuff he ingests.
But I look at it this way. Over the years I have tried to learn how to play both the violin and piano without a great deal of success with either. I did play some little league baseball but like the kid Paul Stooky of Peter, Paul and Mary sings about I ended up in right field and always was picked to bat last. I was in a play with a serious theme as a Senior in high school about an English cad that kills his aunt and gets a girl pregnant. I changed my voice inflection while delivering some of my lines (in a Cockney accent) and got laughs in places not exactly intended by the playwright…so, I ended up, in business.
But, in looking at what Michael Phelps eats every day, I figure if I cut back, just a little…anything can happen!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
It’s A Great Time To Be A Sports Fan In Tampa Bay!
First I need to clarify where Tampa Bay is and why this is a sore subject with some folks living in the Tampa area. The city of Tampa is actually a peninsula surrounded by two bodies of water, McKay Bay and Tampa Bay. Over the years, with the establishment of a professional football team, professional arena football team, professional ice hockey team and professional baseball team there has been a great deal of in-fighting among the local big wigs as to where these teams should have stadiums. At times it became quite contentious as to even what the real team name should be as well. The Lightening actually started playing in St. Petersburg but now have a beautiful arena in Tampa. The Rays (formally Devil Rays) are called the Tampa Bay Rays but play in a dome located in St. Petersburg. Because the Buccaneers (football), Storm (arena football), Lightning (hockey) and Rays (baseball) play in different cities within the greater Tampa Bay area, they are known as the Tampa Bay (fill in the blanks), thus giving some viewers on television who have never visited the area or looked at a map the idea that Tampa’s name is, indeed, Tampa Bay. OK, enough about geography.
As I have previously written, I am watching in complete awe, a baseball team stay in first place in its division for most of this season after finishing in last place every year since it began playing here eleven years ago. The team has just lost three of its best players and still continues to win. Last night the game went into extra innings and I think every player on the team had to play at some point due to the strain on the line-up. I have previously predicted Evan Longeria, the phenomenal rookie third baseman would be named Rookie Of The Year, however he was recently hit by a pitch and the ball broke a bone in one of his wrists. He his expected to return before the season is over but when he left he was leading the team in home runs, runs batted in, batting average, and I don’t know what else. I don’t know what the rules are in professional baseball when your statistics are negatively affected due to an injury and a shortened season but I am hoping he can return to the line-up soon and that his injury will not keep him from continuing his great play on the field. Either way, I have a new prediction. Based upon the fact it is only the middle of August and this team has already broken every previous team record and won more games than in any previous year I am predicting the Rays manager will be named Manager Of The Year.
If you have never seen his photo everyone makes fun of Madden because of his 1950s eyeglass frames. And it is fun to watch the Rays, who play all home games in a dome, go to some city where they have to play a day game in bright sunlight. They hate it. Even the manager wears matching 1950s sunglasses. Conversely, the teams that play the Rays hate playing in the Tropicana dome in St. Petersburg due to its quirky construction, which is kind of like playing inside a big circus tent. The ceiling is suspended by rings connected to – I don’t know what. But the rings actually hang over parts of the field and can be hit by high fly balls. Major League Baseball had to make up new rules covering what happens when certain rings are hit by fly balls. The batter could get a single, double or even a home run depending upon which ring he hits. Nuts? You bet. But fun nuts.
I really wanted to write today to get out the great story of what is going on in Little League Baseball. The Little League Baseball World Series started play yesterday in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Why is this important to Tampa Bay this year? Because Tampa Bay (here we go again) has a team in the World Series! The city of Tampa is rather small but is surrounded by a lot of small communities that are not incorporated. You may have heard of Carrollwood or Northdale. We used to live in Carrollwood Village then Citrus Park and now we live in Lutz, all of which are really post office address names in unincorporated Hillsborough County. A little league baseball team that plays in Citrus Park has done well enough this year to get into and through the regional playoffs and make it all the way to the Little League World Series. Their uniforms are a great looking green and gold. I mention this because I actually turned on the TV yesterday afternoon to watch this team play live on ESPN. I was disappointed as soon as I turned on my TV because one team was wearing blue uniforms the other team was wearing some caca meme yellow and reddish orange colors. And the logo on the yellow uniforms said Southeast. But then one of the announcers referred to Tampa doing really well early in the game so I started to pay closer attention. Here’s the actual run down. Nobody knows where the heck Citrus Park is nor do they care. The team from Citrus Park is now being recognized in the World Series as a team from Tampa. That’s fine. But this team does not just represent Tampa. Nor does it just represent the State of Florida. They represent the Southeast United States! Of course our headline in the sports page today was “Easy Opener For Citrus Park”.
There are only eight teams from the United States in the World Series and another eight teams from elsewhere in the world, sixteen in all. And, oh by the way, in yesterday’s opening game with Citrus Park / Tampa wearing the uniforms of the Southeast Little League Champions playing the Midwest Champions from South Dakota the game was stopped after only four endings because the score was 10-0, Tampa / Citrus Park / Southeast / whatever. In little league baseball there is a “mercy” rule. If either team is ahead by 10 or more runs after four full innings they stop the game. Check your local ESPN listings as the playoffs continue for the next two weeks. These kids play as well as the pros and are fun to watch.
Yes, it’s a good time to be a sports fan in – anywhere close to Tampa! Only fish live in Tampa Bay and I don’t think they enjoy getting hooked on or by sports…..
As I have previously written, I am watching in complete awe, a baseball team stay in first place in its division for most of this season after finishing in last place every year since it began playing here eleven years ago. The team has just lost three of its best players and still continues to win. Last night the game went into extra innings and I think every player on the team had to play at some point due to the strain on the line-up. I have previously predicted Evan Longeria, the phenomenal rookie third baseman would be named Rookie Of The Year, however he was recently hit by a pitch and the ball broke a bone in one of his wrists. He his expected to return before the season is over but when he left he was leading the team in home runs, runs batted in, batting average, and I don’t know what else. I don’t know what the rules are in professional baseball when your statistics are negatively affected due to an injury and a shortened season but I am hoping he can return to the line-up soon and that his injury will not keep him from continuing his great play on the field. Either way, I have a new prediction. Based upon the fact it is only the middle of August and this team has already broken every previous team record and won more games than in any previous year I am predicting the Rays manager will be named Manager Of The Year.
If you have never seen his photo everyone makes fun of Madden because of his 1950s eyeglass frames. And it is fun to watch the Rays, who play all home games in a dome, go to some city where they have to play a day game in bright sunlight. They hate it. Even the manager wears matching 1950s sunglasses. Conversely, the teams that play the Rays hate playing in the Tropicana dome in St. Petersburg due to its quirky construction, which is kind of like playing inside a big circus tent. The ceiling is suspended by rings connected to – I don’t know what. But the rings actually hang over parts of the field and can be hit by high fly balls. Major League Baseball had to make up new rules covering what happens when certain rings are hit by fly balls. The batter could get a single, double or even a home run depending upon which ring he hits. Nuts? You bet. But fun nuts.
I really wanted to write today to get out the great story of what is going on in Little League Baseball. The Little League Baseball World Series started play yesterday in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Why is this important to Tampa Bay this year? Because Tampa Bay (here we go again) has a team in the World Series! The city of Tampa is rather small but is surrounded by a lot of small communities that are not incorporated. You may have heard of Carrollwood or Northdale. We used to live in Carrollwood Village then Citrus Park and now we live in Lutz, all of which are really post office address names in unincorporated Hillsborough County. A little league baseball team that plays in Citrus Park has done well enough this year to get into and through the regional playoffs and make it all the way to the Little League World Series. Their uniforms are a great looking green and gold. I mention this because I actually turned on the TV yesterday afternoon to watch this team play live on ESPN. I was disappointed as soon as I turned on my TV because one team was wearing blue uniforms the other team was wearing some caca meme yellow and reddish orange colors. And the logo on the yellow uniforms said Southeast. But then one of the announcers referred to Tampa doing really well early in the game so I started to pay closer attention. Here’s the actual run down. Nobody knows where the heck Citrus Park is nor do they care. The team from Citrus Park is now being recognized in the World Series as a team from Tampa. That’s fine. But this team does not just represent Tampa. Nor does it just represent the State of Florida. They represent the Southeast United States! Of course our headline in the sports page today was “Easy Opener For Citrus Park”.
There are only eight teams from the United States in the World Series and another eight teams from elsewhere in the world, sixteen in all. And, oh by the way, in yesterday’s opening game with Citrus Park / Tampa wearing the uniforms of the Southeast Little League Champions playing the Midwest Champions from South Dakota the game was stopped after only four endings because the score was 10-0, Tampa / Citrus Park / Southeast / whatever. In little league baseball there is a “mercy” rule. If either team is ahead by 10 or more runs after four full innings they stop the game. Check your local ESPN listings as the playoffs continue for the next two weeks. These kids play as well as the pros and are fun to watch.
Yes, it’s a good time to be a sports fan in – anywhere close to Tampa! Only fish live in Tampa Bay and I don’t think they enjoy getting hooked on or by sports…..
Friday, August 15, 2008
Paying Homage To George Carlin
I guess just about everybody who does not spend their time living under a rock knows by now George Carlin passed away recently. Actually he died on June 22nd. Unfortunately, because he used so much profanity in his comedic routine many people only associated obscene humor with his name. But George Denis Patrick Carlin was more than just a stand up comedian, actor and author. He broke ground in areas nobody had successfully gone before. The Smothers Brothers certainly gave it a go and lost their hit TV show as a result of pushing the envelop. But nobody stayed in the public eye as long as Carlin, actually sticking his thumb in as many eyes as he could along the way. After trying conventional stand up humor and failing he grew his hair into a pony tail, grew a beard, wore only black clothing during his public routine (something we now see a lot) and took on the edge for which he became famous. From his early days after inventing the now famous Hippy Dippy Weatherman character to his breakthrough as a rebel who dared to say “The Seven Dirty Words You Cannot Say On TV” (radio or in print for that matter) Carlin’s work as a great artist took off.
Because his work is so prolific it would be impossible to chronicle his best quotes in one writing. Having said that, I would like to share some of my favorite quotes and quips, especially for those following my writings that never had a chance to see or hear George either on TV or in person. Hence:
“As a matter of principle, I never attend the first annual anything”. “Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy”. “If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted”?
George also made fun of redundancies in our lexicon. Once again, some of my George Carlin favorites:
“Added bonus; Exactly right; Future potential; Money-back refund; True fact; Revert back; Joint cooperation; Total abstinence; Subject matter; Honest truth; Audible gasp; Gather together; First time ever”……the list could go for pages. “Close proximity; Foreign imports; Linger on”.
We lost someone and something important when George Carlin left us. Oh, sure, he was a controversial figure and was either loved or hated depending upon a person’s beliefs where to draw the line in a public forum. But many of his routines contained more than off color humor. His poem about “Hair” came at a time when this country was having trouble dealing with long haired “hippies”. We seem to have been able to bridge that gap and move on to being up tight about other socially unpopular issues, from men wearing earrings to everyone getting tattoos. I am not taking a position on any issues considered politically incorrect. I have simply been going back to many of George Carlin’s writings and thinking how outrageous he was to so many at the time when now it is obvious many of his thoughts and routines on the stage have transcended modernity.
Like him or not George Carlin knew how to get our attention and he made some of us think about things, much of which may have been outside the comfort zone of many, but he made us think. I will leave you with my all time George Carlin favorites, which are two of his many oxymorons: “Original copy” and “Open secret”. George was original and he was open. But nothing about him could be considered an oxymoron.
If you are already a fan of George Carlin, or not, and would like to see where all the quotes in this writing came from I suggest you purchase your own copy of Brain Droppings by George Carlin, still available on the Internet.
Because his work is so prolific it would be impossible to chronicle his best quotes in one writing. Having said that, I would like to share some of my favorite quotes and quips, especially for those following my writings that never had a chance to see or hear George either on TV or in person. Hence:
“As a matter of principle, I never attend the first annual anything”. “Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy”. “If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted”?
George also made fun of redundancies in our lexicon. Once again, some of my George Carlin favorites:
“Added bonus; Exactly right; Future potential; Money-back refund; True fact; Revert back; Joint cooperation; Total abstinence; Subject matter; Honest truth; Audible gasp; Gather together; First time ever”……the list could go for pages. “Close proximity; Foreign imports; Linger on”.
We lost someone and something important when George Carlin left us. Oh, sure, he was a controversial figure and was either loved or hated depending upon a person’s beliefs where to draw the line in a public forum. But many of his routines contained more than off color humor. His poem about “Hair” came at a time when this country was having trouble dealing with long haired “hippies”. We seem to have been able to bridge that gap and move on to being up tight about other socially unpopular issues, from men wearing earrings to everyone getting tattoos. I am not taking a position on any issues considered politically incorrect. I have simply been going back to many of George Carlin’s writings and thinking how outrageous he was to so many at the time when now it is obvious many of his thoughts and routines on the stage have transcended modernity.
Like him or not George Carlin knew how to get our attention and he made some of us think about things, much of which may have been outside the comfort zone of many, but he made us think. I will leave you with my all time George Carlin favorites, which are two of his many oxymorons: “Original copy” and “Open secret”. George was original and he was open. But nothing about him could be considered an oxymoron.
If you are already a fan of George Carlin, or not, and would like to see where all the quotes in this writing came from I suggest you purchase your own copy of Brain Droppings by George Carlin, still available on the Internet.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Just Another Day In The Courtroom, Actually Two Of Them
Yesterday I spent about two thirds of my day in a place that has become familiar to me but would not be familiar to most of my friends in Tampa and a place no family member of mine has been. I spent several hours in the George E. Holcomb Courthouse in which legal issues coming before the 13th District Judicial Circuit are heard.
In February, 2006 I became a Guardian ad Litem. A Guardian is a volunteer that stands up for the rights of abused, neglected and abandoned children who find themselves in foster care and end up being shuffled through the child welfare system. We see children to whom we are assigned on a regular basis and we represent them in court with the assistance of a Guardian ad Litem Program attorney. While only a few close friends and my family know I am a volunteer in this program most don’t know the five sibling case I accepted in February, 2006 is still active after being in the court system for 34 months. Most cases don’t last this long. The case I accepted is far from “normal” in terms of its complexity and the time it has taken to work its way through the legal system including a maze of hearings and a trial. My work in the program, which is kept confidential, took me to an another administrative hearing yesterday as we attempt to bring closure to this stage of the lives of the children with whom I work and represent.
Guardians must keep accurate records of visits, phone calls and contacts with anyone in their cases. My records indicate I have met with over 50 people (school teachers, counselors, foster care parents, physicians, therapists, law enforcement personnel, etc), some several times. I have visited with the children over 40 times (some visits are with one child alone, some are combined). I have represented them in court more than two dozen times since I accepted their case. We have shared good times and bad, happy times and sad. I have seen them on holidays and on each of their birthdays. For over two and a half years they were separated after being removed from their home by a Child Protection Investigator following-up on a tip. They then lived in several different foster homes and only saw each other as a group of five, on average, once or twice a month. Currently they are living together with relatives located out-of-state and doing better in school than at anytime in their past. When I speak to them by telephone I hear happy kids. Until yesterday I thought this case was scheduled to come to a close by the end of this year, more than three years after it was opened. However, due to some unexpected legal “wrinkles” I learned this case will go into early next year. During court I was asked by the presiding judge to take on a sixth child, born to the mother in this case in the middle of legal proceedings under way in on effort to terminate her parental rights. Who turns down a judge that leans over his bench, smiles at you and in open court suggests you are one of the strongest Guardians in the County and then suggests you would be his personal choice to take the infant into this case, a child who has no Guardian ad Litem yet? Nobody I know. I accepted. So now my five sibling case is a six sibling case, but it’s not the end of the world. This case is moving forward and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I am but an instrument needed by the Dependency Court, and a small one at that. I do what I can to provide the added oversight for children who can’t speak for themselves in a very complicated legal system that is overburdened and underserved.
I have been asked several times how I ended up with this particular case. It began the night I graduated from the required training course to become a Guardian ad Litem, after I took my oath and was sworn in. While my fellow graduating classmates were being served cake and ice cream two Guardian ad Litem attorneys suggested I take a look a table full of file folders rather than stand in line for the desert being served. So with a program attorney on each arm we sauntered over to the table of files. I noticed some were in green folders, some were in plain manila folders but one was on top, in a red folder, with a Post-It-Note stuck to it. The note said “Needs GAL ASAP”. I opened the cover and read a summary of the case within the folder. The Court had assigned this case to the Guardian ad Litem Program due to the nature and level of expected difficulty of the case but that was three months earlier. And no Guardian ad Litem had yet agreed to accept this case as their own. I quickly read the summary and laughed out loud about the absurdity of taking on such a difficult case as my first one. Neither attorney laughed with me or said a word. I continued to open and read the summaries of other files in the other folders. But I kept coming back to the red folder. After approximately ten minutes I just stopped, picked up the red folder and slowly read the summary, carefully one more time. I then stepped back from the table and said “I’ll take this one”. The two attorneys then laughed loudly, gave each other a high five and told me to return to the office the next day to pick up all the corresponding materials and a more complete folder.
On my way to find what was left of the cake and ice cream one of the attorneys stopped me and asked why I made the decision to select this case. She admitted to me they were hoping I would but remained curious why I did it. My answer was simple. I did not volunteer to take only easy cases. This case was lingering, looked like a huge challenge, and after surveying my classmates with whom I had just graduated I determined none of them would have taken it. I took this case because I felt confident that what I had learned in the Guardian ad Litem classes added to my own life experiences would help me get through this case with a good outcome for the children.
I mentioned I was in two courtrooms yesterday. Following the Guardian ad Litem Hearing I attended another Hearing in which I was represented by legal counsel. Earlier this year I brought a lawsuit against a firm that did not pay me following my completion of consulting services for them last November. This situation was, of course, quite different than my court experience earlier in the day. Once again I cannot go into details as the case is pending but I could not help but compare how my day was going and the differences between dependency court and civil court in terms of the relevant laws and legal proceedings. In my more than 30 years in business I have had plenty of contract law exposure. Money lawsuits and courtrooms are not foreign to me. But this is the first time I have sued someone since becoming self-employed because they have not paid me.
We were in court to present an argument for a Summary Judgment. Simply put, my attorney and I felt our case was “open and shut”. I was asked to perform an assignment. We had a written agreement covering the details of the assignment and my fee. I completed the assignment. The client has not paid. The defendant is now represented by his third attorney. Two others that previously were defending him, for reasons I should not discuss, are doing so no longer.
The current defense counsel seems to want to make this into a Supreme Court case. They asked for and managed to get a second delay in the proceedings yesterday. This request came in open court without any affidavits or motions being filed prior to our arrival in court. Typically these kinds of maneuvers are not accepted by most judges. That was not the case yesterday. The request for a continuance was requested by the defense team so they could acquire additional discovery from me and others involved in my case. Sadly, the continuance was granted. I completed this assignment last November. At the rate we are going we could be hearing this case about a year after I did the work for which I was not paid. And people wonder why suing someone is sometimes discouraged by those in the legal profession.
Today is another day and I have other “fish to fry”. Actually, I don’t eat fried fish, but I certainly will be working on my Guardian ad Litem responsibilities and working toward obtaining additional clients. Those who pay on time…
In February, 2006 I became a Guardian ad Litem. A Guardian is a volunteer that stands up for the rights of abused, neglected and abandoned children who find themselves in foster care and end up being shuffled through the child welfare system. We see children to whom we are assigned on a regular basis and we represent them in court with the assistance of a Guardian ad Litem Program attorney. While only a few close friends and my family know I am a volunteer in this program most don’t know the five sibling case I accepted in February, 2006 is still active after being in the court system for 34 months. Most cases don’t last this long. The case I accepted is far from “normal” in terms of its complexity and the time it has taken to work its way through the legal system including a maze of hearings and a trial. My work in the program, which is kept confidential, took me to an another administrative hearing yesterday as we attempt to bring closure to this stage of the lives of the children with whom I work and represent.
Guardians must keep accurate records of visits, phone calls and contacts with anyone in their cases. My records indicate I have met with over 50 people (school teachers, counselors, foster care parents, physicians, therapists, law enforcement personnel, etc), some several times. I have visited with the children over 40 times (some visits are with one child alone, some are combined). I have represented them in court more than two dozen times since I accepted their case. We have shared good times and bad, happy times and sad. I have seen them on holidays and on each of their birthdays. For over two and a half years they were separated after being removed from their home by a Child Protection Investigator following-up on a tip. They then lived in several different foster homes and only saw each other as a group of five, on average, once or twice a month. Currently they are living together with relatives located out-of-state and doing better in school than at anytime in their past. When I speak to them by telephone I hear happy kids. Until yesterday I thought this case was scheduled to come to a close by the end of this year, more than three years after it was opened. However, due to some unexpected legal “wrinkles” I learned this case will go into early next year. During court I was asked by the presiding judge to take on a sixth child, born to the mother in this case in the middle of legal proceedings under way in on effort to terminate her parental rights. Who turns down a judge that leans over his bench, smiles at you and in open court suggests you are one of the strongest Guardians in the County and then suggests you would be his personal choice to take the infant into this case, a child who has no Guardian ad Litem yet? Nobody I know. I accepted. So now my five sibling case is a six sibling case, but it’s not the end of the world. This case is moving forward and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I am but an instrument needed by the Dependency Court, and a small one at that. I do what I can to provide the added oversight for children who can’t speak for themselves in a very complicated legal system that is overburdened and underserved.
I have been asked several times how I ended up with this particular case. It began the night I graduated from the required training course to become a Guardian ad Litem, after I took my oath and was sworn in. While my fellow graduating classmates were being served cake and ice cream two Guardian ad Litem attorneys suggested I take a look a table full of file folders rather than stand in line for the desert being served. So with a program attorney on each arm we sauntered over to the table of files. I noticed some were in green folders, some were in plain manila folders but one was on top, in a red folder, with a Post-It-Note stuck to it. The note said “Needs GAL ASAP”. I opened the cover and read a summary of the case within the folder. The Court had assigned this case to the Guardian ad Litem Program due to the nature and level of expected difficulty of the case but that was three months earlier. And no Guardian ad Litem had yet agreed to accept this case as their own. I quickly read the summary and laughed out loud about the absurdity of taking on such a difficult case as my first one. Neither attorney laughed with me or said a word. I continued to open and read the summaries of other files in the other folders. But I kept coming back to the red folder. After approximately ten minutes I just stopped, picked up the red folder and slowly read the summary, carefully one more time. I then stepped back from the table and said “I’ll take this one”. The two attorneys then laughed loudly, gave each other a high five and told me to return to the office the next day to pick up all the corresponding materials and a more complete folder.
On my way to find what was left of the cake and ice cream one of the attorneys stopped me and asked why I made the decision to select this case. She admitted to me they were hoping I would but remained curious why I did it. My answer was simple. I did not volunteer to take only easy cases. This case was lingering, looked like a huge challenge, and after surveying my classmates with whom I had just graduated I determined none of them would have taken it. I took this case because I felt confident that what I had learned in the Guardian ad Litem classes added to my own life experiences would help me get through this case with a good outcome for the children.
I mentioned I was in two courtrooms yesterday. Following the Guardian ad Litem Hearing I attended another Hearing in which I was represented by legal counsel. Earlier this year I brought a lawsuit against a firm that did not pay me following my completion of consulting services for them last November. This situation was, of course, quite different than my court experience earlier in the day. Once again I cannot go into details as the case is pending but I could not help but compare how my day was going and the differences between dependency court and civil court in terms of the relevant laws and legal proceedings. In my more than 30 years in business I have had plenty of contract law exposure. Money lawsuits and courtrooms are not foreign to me. But this is the first time I have sued someone since becoming self-employed because they have not paid me.
We were in court to present an argument for a Summary Judgment. Simply put, my attorney and I felt our case was “open and shut”. I was asked to perform an assignment. We had a written agreement covering the details of the assignment and my fee. I completed the assignment. The client has not paid. The defendant is now represented by his third attorney. Two others that previously were defending him, for reasons I should not discuss, are doing so no longer.
The current defense counsel seems to want to make this into a Supreme Court case. They asked for and managed to get a second delay in the proceedings yesterday. This request came in open court without any affidavits or motions being filed prior to our arrival in court. Typically these kinds of maneuvers are not accepted by most judges. That was not the case yesterday. The request for a continuance was requested by the defense team so they could acquire additional discovery from me and others involved in my case. Sadly, the continuance was granted. I completed this assignment last November. At the rate we are going we could be hearing this case about a year after I did the work for which I was not paid. And people wonder why suing someone is sometimes discouraged by those in the legal profession.
Today is another day and I have other “fish to fry”. Actually, I don’t eat fried fish, but I certainly will be working on my Guardian ad Litem responsibilities and working toward obtaining additional clients. Those who pay on time…
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