Dump! While much of the nation was unpacking bathing gear and inflating beach balls, a few days ago I sat staring into a near whiteout – easily 2 feet on the ground and snow predicted to continue for another 24 hours or so. Good (and deep) things come to he who waits. Then in the blink of an eye brilliant sunshine was making fast work of the 40+ inches that ultimately descended. Sad that such great beauty vanishes overnight, but perhaps a metaphor for much of our daily experience.
The local populace has for months bemoaned the lack of moisture, particularly as a massive beetle infestation has decimated hundreds of acres of pine forest. Apparently reduced moisture combined with diminished forestation conspire to produce effects of which I am largely ignorant but have been assured will be horrific. Be careful what you wish for; April snow showers bring May runoff.
And as I was assured that spring was on its way to the Gallatin Valley, I grabbed some shorts and Tees and headed for Montana. An unremarkable drive north on I-25 turned déjà-vuish as I merged west on I-90 and found, you guessed it, another whiteout. Seventy degrees yesterday, 8 inches of white stuff today, and seventy degrees tomorrow. Just another reminder from Mother N. that it is most unwise to anticipate her.
#####
Just when I took on Twitter with a few snide comments, there has been a virtual blizzard of interest in the technology. Politicians, teachers, and emergency management officials have joined the usual suspects -- tweens, starlets, druggies and the like to increase visibility and massively expand usage.
I still find the majority of its application to be narcissistic and self absorbed, announcing to the world factoids that only a mother might evidence interest in, n’est pas? See how I cleverly avoided ending the last sentence with a preposition! Perhaps it’s true that good can be found anywhere, if one is willing to rummage through the persiflage.
#####
As the ursine population awakes from hibernation, so do those who respond to natural and man (and woman) inflicted carnage. While disasters can occur on any day of the calendar, spring-to-fall is high season for tornados, floods, forest fires, and of course hurricanes. I am now receiving requests to “stand by for deployment”, but here I sit ployed, waiting for the glass to break and the alarm to sound.
It will be interesting to see if the new Administration jiggers the national response system and in what way. One silver lined post-Katrina advancement has been the use of technology to stage, transit, and track equipment and material moving in response to disasters. There really was not a gross lack of response to Katrina/Rita/Wilma, just dismal coordination and terribly inefficient application of human resources and material dispatch. I sat in Montgomery, Alabama for 4 days after Katrina watching the televised pleas of the Mississippi and Louisiana Governors for assistance of any and all kinds, while my Red Cross handlers swore and affirmed that no credible assistance requests had been submitted.
Improved logistics management would certainly be of some comfort to the FEMA functionary who, some 10 days after Katrina departed Hattiesburg, came upon a parked 18-wheeler sporting a large “FEMA Disaster Relief” placard. Obviously abandoned, he cut the padlock, threw open the doors, and was swept away by an 8-foot wall of water, a result of the transformation that ice undergoes when subjected to the snail-like plodding of the federal bureaucracy.
#####
Being neither politician nor government official, I am most reluctant to make predictions, as without the aforementioned protective cover I fully expect to be held at some point accountable. But I will venture the thought that the North Dakota native recently convicted and sentenced to an eight year term by an Iranian tribunal will likely be released down the road. Such regimes have a consistent record of dragooning the innocent and then at some future date, after a suitable period of torture and usually as a negotiating ploy, release the wrongly confined as “a humanitarian gesture,” much to the delight of loonies of the stripe who believe that Castro has brought paradise to the Isle of Cuba.
#####
I find much of organized religion (I keep wondering if the unorganized component is any better) to be overbearing, sensibility challenged, and somewhat disjointed, but I question the motives of those who harbor a pathological need to mock and ridicule. Whistling past the graveyard?
Some years ago an acquaintance passed away, the result of a tragic (some say freak, but the word freaks me out) accident. Such was his stature in the community that the Episcopal Diocese sent a luminary to preside at the interment. She faced a chock-a-block sanctuary and with appropriate solemnity began: “I know many of you are asking how and why such a senseless act could come to pass? I am here to help you understand.”
I felt hair rise on my neck and a butterfly or two danced about my sternum. Could this possibly be my long sought logical, believable explanation of the meaning of life, its origins, passage, and beyond? I held my breath, as did I imagine the assembled throng. There followed a good forty minutes of the most appalling psychobabble imaginable, heavily larded with the standard warning – we don’t have a clue what’s going on here, but if you don’t believe absolutely and unquestionably, you are a dunce and fool, and you better be prepared to don asbestos underwear, as eternal fire will figure prominently in your everlasting future.
Despite all this, I have no quarrel with those who find solace in religion. We all need something to get us through the day, be it The Word, love of family, satisfaction of achievement, or bourbon.
#####
Radio is a mental salve on long car journeys such as the 11 hour transit from Georgetown to Bozeman. Hearing a snippet of a song, “she was baptized in dirty water” reminded me why I like country music.
And then there are the items that almost make one veer across the center line, like the lady who commented “my car got into an accident.” Yup, sure did. All by its own self I gather. And an NPR story of parents suing a school district which, to conserve gasoline, redrew bus routes that resulted in some students having to walk up to three blocks from home to access transportation.
In 2009 when children are found to be obese, do-gooders blame (and sue) McDonalds, with apparently no recognition that 50 years ago children exercised the extremities below their knees to access the 3 Rs, while today their tushies are massaged by upholstered seats as they are motored to classes on social networking and politically correct speech, resulting in severe atrophy to both ends of their delicate corpi.
#####
…I have for some time been predicting that the Adventure is morphing into spring. Il arrive. One of these days. Address all complaints to Mother Nature. Il n'est pas de ma faute.
.
.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
2009-10 GRORGETOWN
I am such a schlub. Alas, I am not one of the 9 million among us that fortuitously qualifies for government je ne sais quoi – not a “bailout”, that’s a nasty word reserved for villainous bankers and larcenous financial moguls. Neither, according to my President, a “handout,” but simply a mechanism to “put more money into their pockets.” Say what?
What a yutz I’ve been. I didn’t live beyond my means, I didn’t buy a $750,000 McMansion on a $25,000 salary. When I took my kids to Disneyland on spring break we stayed in a Ramada, not within the opulence of the Magic Kingdom. Skiing was no Vail slopeside condo, but a Quality Inn downtown Salt Lake City, or the clean but spartan (tho misnamed) Luxury Inn, managed by Russian Gregori and his somewhat scary accomplice Natasha. We naively conserved and saved, salted away, like the idiot squirrel, a few nuts for the winter.
All the while those wiser than I, those who bolstered the economy by spending 125% of their income, those who pursued the good life with wild abandon on a wing and a prayer, tackling with gusto enterprises I would never in my wildest dreams consider, these are now “the qualified.” These victims of capitalism will be rescued, plucked from the clutches of economic predators, and their deficiencies remedied by who – why we schlubs of course. And yes I know there are the truly downtrodden and deserving, but most of these didn’t participate in “the splurge,” and thus also don’t “qualify”.
#####
On this Easter Sunday there are a number of sunrise services here in the Rockies, the most popular apparently at the Red Rocks Amphitheater. The event is heavily advertised on radio and TV, always with the tag line “no admission charge and parking is free.” I assume Jesus would approve.
#####
In my youth at the height of American anti-communism, the phrase “Better dead than red” was fashionable. Even as a child something didn’t ring quite true here. A current idiocy (they do appear in abundance nowadays) is “Don’t resist. Give the bad guys anything they want.” Such is the drama playing out off the Somali coast, where ransom for the safe return of the Mersk Alabama captain is being described as “a normal cost of doing business.”
Paul Krugman on the Stephanopoulos Sunday news show today referred to piracy as “a minor irritant, like mugging”!!!!! I wonder if Captain Richard Phillips finds it so, stuffed into a covered lifeboat with no food or sanitary facilities. Might Mr. K. consider trading places and suffer this “minor irritant”?
Ethnic gangs tried this tack in the New York, Boston, and Chicago neighborhoods of a younger America, and while remnants still undoubtedly exist today, “pay for protection” is no longer a common component of commerce for the local green grocer or at the corner filling station.
Wholesale coercion failed because a few brave souls risked (and sometimes lost) their lives by refusing to be bullied, in part, I suspect, due to (an admirable) stubborn independence, but also from realization that bad behavior tolerated leads to – guess what? – more (much more) of the same.
What’s a measly few million compared to a $250 million vessel carrying $100 million of cargo? Well, a great deal if you consider that rewarding bad behavior will surely escalate the practice. Most kindergarten teachers know this well, although our current mania to reward all and punish none may well slowly turn our schools into miniature versions of Mogadishu.
In a former life I played a modest role in an educational institution that was occasional blackmailed with threats of the nature that “if you don’t give our Susie the “A” she clearly deserves – the assigned “B” might wither the enthusiasm of Ivy League admissions' staff – we will trash your name in the community and bring a lawsuit for good measure”.
Discussion invariably turned to “what must we concede to make this go away,” and predictably caused smoke to emanate from my auditory protrusions. Due partly to my petulant tantrums, no concessions were offered and threats dissolved as they usually do when birthed by cowardice or craven motivation, although I understand that in today’s progressive climate such occurrences are “a normal cost of doing (educational) business”. I have previously remarked that in my day if I came home with a note of reprimand from the teacher I was taken to the woodshed. Today parents hire a lawyer and sue the school. Progress, d’ya think?
It has just been announced that Captain Phillips has been freed after remaining pirates were cut down by U. S. Navy gunfire. Perhaps the Danish fleet owners falling all over themselves to pay ransom will now wish to seek out a flag other than the Stars and Stripes to fly, perhaps one laced with colors of the sun.
#####
Colorado has joined a growing number of les Etats proposing in-state and in many cases free college tuition for “the undocumented” – the currently preferred progressive iteration of “illegal,” (does sound far more benign, hein?). Right-wing trogs narrowly defeated the measure, and as a card carrying knuckle-dragger myself, I approved, but admittedly with a distinct personal bias.
I am currently enmeshed in a generous helping of education debt, the majority attributable to out-of-state tuition obligations. It is indeed vexing to contemplate that except for the misfortune of “documentation,” I might be consuming wine with a cork rather than screw-cap.
I am in fact an admirer of the Hispanic work ethic and family values, but as I contemplate the hot button immigration issue, my thoughts turn to those south-of-the-border schlubs whose misplaced faith in law caused them to wait in long lines at American Consulates that they might add their names to even longer lists of those desiring to immigrate legally and lawfully.
#####
There have emerged equal dollops of fawning and derision over arrival at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue of the “first dog.” Any talisman that can deliver a measure of normalcy to the “first children” should be welcomed and not hyped. Despite the obvious percs due their position, children in the political spotlight exist in a stifling bubble. The Clintons requested, and in large measure received consideration for their daughter. Consideration the Bush twins never were granted – recall the left-wing campaign to draft and ship them to Iraq. And apparently the Palin daughter’s saga is destined to provide a healthy measure of progressive sniggering for some time to come.
#####
Despite attempts to break the habit, I do find myself tuned to C-SPAN with discomforting regularity. While the guest segments are generally informative, the call-in portions entertain in ways to which the great comedians can only aspire. This morning in soliciting solutions to Somali piracy, two of five callers demanded criminal investigation of Bush. No direct connection was alleged, simply a metaphysical conviction that all planetary evil stems from the man from Midland.
Not surprising, as I note there are still gobs of progressives that begin each and every political statement with the plaint “After Bush stole the 2000 election…”
#####
And as this post appears to emerge almost entirely political (je suis coupable…), I close acknowledging the mini-bruhaha twixt our new VEEP and former Bush staffers. It seems that VP Biden, tutored at the knee of his predecessor, inventor of the Internet Al Gore, is spreading the word that he regularly “dressed down” George Bush, castigating him in private Oval Office meetings that mysteriously were never entered into official White House logs. Stealth politics, ya gotta love it.
#####
…the adventure suffers a bit from cabin fever…having passed generous snippets of time hereabouts over several decades, but only in winter…the questions emerges whether it is time to move on…yet at the moment a fierce Easter snow squall gives pause…
.
.
What a yutz I’ve been. I didn’t live beyond my means, I didn’t buy a $750,000 McMansion on a $25,000 salary. When I took my kids to Disneyland on spring break we stayed in a Ramada, not within the opulence of the Magic Kingdom. Skiing was no Vail slopeside condo, but a Quality Inn downtown Salt Lake City, or the clean but spartan (tho misnamed) Luxury Inn, managed by Russian Gregori and his somewhat scary accomplice Natasha. We naively conserved and saved, salted away, like the idiot squirrel, a few nuts for the winter.
All the while those wiser than I, those who bolstered the economy by spending 125% of their income, those who pursued the good life with wild abandon on a wing and a prayer, tackling with gusto enterprises I would never in my wildest dreams consider, these are now “the qualified.” These victims of capitalism will be rescued, plucked from the clutches of economic predators, and their deficiencies remedied by who – why we schlubs of course. And yes I know there are the truly downtrodden and deserving, but most of these didn’t participate in “the splurge,” and thus also don’t “qualify”.
#####
On this Easter Sunday there are a number of sunrise services here in the Rockies, the most popular apparently at the Red Rocks Amphitheater. The event is heavily advertised on radio and TV, always with the tag line “no admission charge and parking is free.” I assume Jesus would approve.
#####
In my youth at the height of American anti-communism, the phrase “Better dead than red” was fashionable. Even as a child something didn’t ring quite true here. A current idiocy (they do appear in abundance nowadays) is “Don’t resist. Give the bad guys anything they want.” Such is the drama playing out off the Somali coast, where ransom for the safe return of the Mersk Alabama captain is being described as “a normal cost of doing business.”
Paul Krugman on the Stephanopoulos Sunday news show today referred to piracy as “a minor irritant, like mugging”!!!!! I wonder if Captain Richard Phillips finds it so, stuffed into a covered lifeboat with no food or sanitary facilities. Might Mr. K. consider trading places and suffer this “minor irritant”?
Ethnic gangs tried this tack in the New York, Boston, and Chicago neighborhoods of a younger America, and while remnants still undoubtedly exist today, “pay for protection” is no longer a common component of commerce for the local green grocer or at the corner filling station.
Wholesale coercion failed because a few brave souls risked (and sometimes lost) their lives by refusing to be bullied, in part, I suspect, due to (an admirable) stubborn independence, but also from realization that bad behavior tolerated leads to – guess what? – more (much more) of the same.
What’s a measly few million compared to a $250 million vessel carrying $100 million of cargo? Well, a great deal if you consider that rewarding bad behavior will surely escalate the practice. Most kindergarten teachers know this well, although our current mania to reward all and punish none may well slowly turn our schools into miniature versions of Mogadishu.
In a former life I played a modest role in an educational institution that was occasional blackmailed with threats of the nature that “if you don’t give our Susie the “A” she clearly deserves – the assigned “B” might wither the enthusiasm of Ivy League admissions' staff – we will trash your name in the community and bring a lawsuit for good measure”.
Discussion invariably turned to “what must we concede to make this go away,” and predictably caused smoke to emanate from my auditory protrusions. Due partly to my petulant tantrums, no concessions were offered and threats dissolved as they usually do when birthed by cowardice or craven motivation, although I understand that in today’s progressive climate such occurrences are “a normal cost of doing (educational) business”. I have previously remarked that in my day if I came home with a note of reprimand from the teacher I was taken to the woodshed. Today parents hire a lawyer and sue the school. Progress, d’ya think?
It has just been announced that Captain Phillips has been freed after remaining pirates were cut down by U. S. Navy gunfire. Perhaps the Danish fleet owners falling all over themselves to pay ransom will now wish to seek out a flag other than the Stars and Stripes to fly, perhaps one laced with colors of the sun.
#####
Colorado has joined a growing number of les Etats proposing in-state and in many cases free college tuition for “the undocumented” – the currently preferred progressive iteration of “illegal,” (does sound far more benign, hein?). Right-wing trogs narrowly defeated the measure, and as a card carrying knuckle-dragger myself, I approved, but admittedly with a distinct personal bias.
I am currently enmeshed in a generous helping of education debt, the majority attributable to out-of-state tuition obligations. It is indeed vexing to contemplate that except for the misfortune of “documentation,” I might be consuming wine with a cork rather than screw-cap.
I am in fact an admirer of the Hispanic work ethic and family values, but as I contemplate the hot button immigration issue, my thoughts turn to those south-of-the-border schlubs whose misplaced faith in law caused them to wait in long lines at American Consulates that they might add their names to even longer lists of those desiring to immigrate legally and lawfully.
#####
There have emerged equal dollops of fawning and derision over arrival at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue of the “first dog.” Any talisman that can deliver a measure of normalcy to the “first children” should be welcomed and not hyped. Despite the obvious percs due their position, children in the political spotlight exist in a stifling bubble. The Clintons requested, and in large measure received consideration for their daughter. Consideration the Bush twins never were granted – recall the left-wing campaign to draft and ship them to Iraq. And apparently the Palin daughter’s saga is destined to provide a healthy measure of progressive sniggering for some time to come.
#####
Despite attempts to break the habit, I do find myself tuned to C-SPAN with discomforting regularity. While the guest segments are generally informative, the call-in portions entertain in ways to which the great comedians can only aspire. This morning in soliciting solutions to Somali piracy, two of five callers demanded criminal investigation of Bush. No direct connection was alleged, simply a metaphysical conviction that all planetary evil stems from the man from Midland.
Not surprising, as I note there are still gobs of progressives that begin each and every political statement with the plaint “After Bush stole the 2000 election…”
#####
And as this post appears to emerge almost entirely political (je suis coupable…), I close acknowledging the mini-bruhaha twixt our new VEEP and former Bush staffers. It seems that VP Biden, tutored at the knee of his predecessor, inventor of the Internet Al Gore, is spreading the word that he regularly “dressed down” George Bush, castigating him in private Oval Office meetings that mysteriously were never entered into official White House logs. Stealth politics, ya gotta love it.
#####
…the adventure suffers a bit from cabin fever…having passed generous snippets of time hereabouts over several decades, but only in winter…the questions emerges whether it is time to move on…yet at the moment a fierce Easter snow squall gives pause…
.
.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
2009-09 GEORGETOWN
No dump, but nearly a foot of white, not-quite-as-fluffy as that which arrived in January, laden as it is with spring moisture. But enough to guarantee another good week on the mountain. Then I suspect Mother Nature will wave her celestial wand and transform the winter wonderland into a summer paradise, replete with mosquitoes, tourists, and other friends of the earth.
#####
Municipal elections take place here next week, and the hot mayoral issue appears to rest on which candidate is more adroit at securing “grant” funds for the town. A fascinating concept whereby the government collects taxes then returns a portion to those most adept at masterful prose and mystical mathematical manipulation. I have seen enormous grant largess reposing untouched in government closets while pleas for essentials from those less proficient at milking the public bosom are rejected or ignored.
#####
In true AlGorian fashion the feel-good world last Saturday turned out the lights in homage to Earth Hour. Just imagine –the Sydney Opera House, the Egyptian Pyramids, meme le Tour Eiffel, dark -- for an entire 60 minutes! Be still my heart.
Emblematic of our former VEEP commandeering a private jet and winging across the country to give a one hour speech lecturing me on my unconscionable despoliation of the planet. I’ve said before, your carbon footprint against mine any day Al. When last I made this observation, an intrepid watchdog responded that Al’s contributions dwarf mine and therefore he should be granted leeway. Point debatable, but accepted. It is precisely this argument that liberals haughtily reject when Americans note that our advanced level of productivity should cut us some slack in comparison to a developing world that pollutes with abandon. Touché
Earth Hour is empty symbolism run amok. For a solid decade the EU warned and threatened several member nations over violations of end-of-life vehicle disposal (i.e. junk car) regulations. Finally they had enough and fined the miscreants a full 10,000 Euros each!!! Showed them, didn’t they! Press releases crowed over this courageous stand, and myriad additional examples have since tumbled forth describing similar merciless EU crackdowns on recalcitrant national scoundrels.
Now imagine taking a shiny penny (or EU centime if you will) and chopping it into a hundred pieces, then fining you or me one of these snippets. Roughly the equivalent of fining a sovereign European state 10,000 Euros. But it sure seems to help these folks sleep better at night, and encourage morally superior wagging of accusatory fingers at the North American and Asian nations that refuse to participate in the charade.
France – the City of Light – that shines a spotlight on everything from statuary genitalia to tulips in the Tuileries, could show serious commitment by bathing itself in darkness one day a week, or perhaps stifling diplomacy (the greatest planetary contribution to carbon dioxide emissions) on occasion.
#####
How fast the winds do shift. Europe fell into near delirium over candidate Obama, anointing him “President of the World,” but now he is “leading the way to hell” according to the EU President. Yet his wit, smile, and soaring rhetoric keeps the throngs in thrall, even as thousands march demanding an end to Capitalism.
He remains a rock star for the masses, and elicits interesting parallels to events on our shores. Both here and in Europe the man (and woman) in the street is mesmerized by his exceptional oratory, while the business and professional communities remain skeptical. But he did a number on the other 19 G’s, extracting a $2 trillion promise to aid in the global fix.
A note of caution here. Governments have a vexing way of reneging on promises, largely because they are not accountable, at least (for politicians) until the next election cycle, and for functionaries, never. I deem it a metaphysical certainty that much of the $2 trillion largess proffered by the G-20 will never find its way into the planetary pocket.
As to my President’s reception in Europe, as enthusiastic (or arguably more) than he receives here -- surprising? D‘ya think? When his words suggest that America will be moving closer to or even (shudder) adopting the European model, should anyone be surprised that Europeans respond with raucous approval?
Europe has become quite comfortable allowing the USA to lead the charge and pay the bills (doubters: witness Afghanistan, a war that Europe supports by mouth but not with boots on the ground). It will be quite a shock when Europe twigs that replacing the despised “go it alone” Bush with a multilateral Obama means it will now be expected to assume a leadership role in fiscal and human commitment as well as by means of oratory. Be careful what you wish for.
#####
Bird strikes are much in the news at the moment, and it occurred to me that the prime malefactors appear to be Canadian Geese. Not, mind you, Mexican geese, nor Al Qaeda geese. The French wisely consume the edible parts of these winged terrorists and I have never heard of a collision over Lille or Toulouse. Something to think about –A?
#####
The adventure transitions to Springtime in the Rockies…one can almost hear the Von Trapp family singing in the background…
.
.
#####
Municipal elections take place here next week, and the hot mayoral issue appears to rest on which candidate is more adroit at securing “grant” funds for the town. A fascinating concept whereby the government collects taxes then returns a portion to those most adept at masterful prose and mystical mathematical manipulation. I have seen enormous grant largess reposing untouched in government closets while pleas for essentials from those less proficient at milking the public bosom are rejected or ignored.
#####
In true AlGorian fashion the feel-good world last Saturday turned out the lights in homage to Earth Hour. Just imagine –the Sydney Opera House, the Egyptian Pyramids, meme le Tour Eiffel, dark -- for an entire 60 minutes! Be still my heart.
Emblematic of our former VEEP commandeering a private jet and winging across the country to give a one hour speech lecturing me on my unconscionable despoliation of the planet. I’ve said before, your carbon footprint against mine any day Al. When last I made this observation, an intrepid watchdog responded that Al’s contributions dwarf mine and therefore he should be granted leeway. Point debatable, but accepted. It is precisely this argument that liberals haughtily reject when Americans note that our advanced level of productivity should cut us some slack in comparison to a developing world that pollutes with abandon. Touché
Earth Hour is empty symbolism run amok. For a solid decade the EU warned and threatened several member nations over violations of end-of-life vehicle disposal (i.e. junk car) regulations. Finally they had enough and fined the miscreants a full 10,000 Euros each!!! Showed them, didn’t they! Press releases crowed over this courageous stand, and myriad additional examples have since tumbled forth describing similar merciless EU crackdowns on recalcitrant national scoundrels.
Now imagine taking a shiny penny (or EU centime if you will) and chopping it into a hundred pieces, then fining you or me one of these snippets. Roughly the equivalent of fining a sovereign European state 10,000 Euros. But it sure seems to help these folks sleep better at night, and encourage morally superior wagging of accusatory fingers at the North American and Asian nations that refuse to participate in the charade.
France – the City of Light – that shines a spotlight on everything from statuary genitalia to tulips in the Tuileries, could show serious commitment by bathing itself in darkness one day a week, or perhaps stifling diplomacy (the greatest planetary contribution to carbon dioxide emissions) on occasion.
#####
How fast the winds do shift. Europe fell into near delirium over candidate Obama, anointing him “President of the World,” but now he is “leading the way to hell” according to the EU President. Yet his wit, smile, and soaring rhetoric keeps the throngs in thrall, even as thousands march demanding an end to Capitalism.
He remains a rock star for the masses, and elicits interesting parallels to events on our shores. Both here and in Europe the man (and woman) in the street is mesmerized by his exceptional oratory, while the business and professional communities remain skeptical. But he did a number on the other 19 G’s, extracting a $2 trillion promise to aid in the global fix.
A note of caution here. Governments have a vexing way of reneging on promises, largely because they are not accountable, at least (for politicians) until the next election cycle, and for functionaries, never. I deem it a metaphysical certainty that much of the $2 trillion largess proffered by the G-20 will never find its way into the planetary pocket.
As to my President’s reception in Europe, as enthusiastic (or arguably more) than he receives here -- surprising? D‘ya think? When his words suggest that America will be moving closer to or even (shudder) adopting the European model, should anyone be surprised that Europeans respond with raucous approval?
Europe has become quite comfortable allowing the USA to lead the charge and pay the bills (doubters: witness Afghanistan, a war that Europe supports by mouth but not with boots on the ground). It will be quite a shock when Europe twigs that replacing the despised “go it alone” Bush with a multilateral Obama means it will now be expected to assume a leadership role in fiscal and human commitment as well as by means of oratory. Be careful what you wish for.
#####
Bird strikes are much in the news at the moment, and it occurred to me that the prime malefactors appear to be Canadian Geese. Not, mind you, Mexican geese, nor Al Qaeda geese. The French wisely consume the edible parts of these winged terrorists and I have never heard of a collision over Lille or Toulouse. Something to think about –A?
#####
The adventure transitions to Springtime in the Rockies…one can almost hear the Von Trapp family singing in the background…
.
.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
2009-08 GEORGETOWN
Senator George McGovern is on TV with a “public service” announcement condemning Cardcheck legislation, the odious attempt to remove the secret ballot from union organizing campaigns. The effort by arguably the nation’s most liberal politician and unabashed union supporter has sent shivers through the progressive community. And it got me to thinking about courage.
Like heroism, the appellation of courage has been grossly misapplied of late. Nancy Pelosi has been labeled courageous by progressives; likewise Limbaugh by right wing zealots. Balderdash! Leading a pack of sheep does not require courage.
Courage springs from agonizing and often painful decisions that can bring condemnation, vilification, or ostracism, not to mention risk to personal safety. Arlan Spector and Maine’s two Senators displayed courage by breaking with their party and voting for the Stimulus. You don’t have to agree with such decisions to recognize the courage involved in pursuing the unpopular. Folks quick to so label their favorite savants should spend a bit more time consulting Webster…..
#####
I am occasionally asked why I am a conservative (the unspoken thought from liberals being that “your knuckles don’t appear to drag the ground and your IQ doesn’t appear to rest in the low double digits, so how on earth can you claim the appellation). I have actually had liberal acquaintances express disbelief at how an apparently intelligent soul could embrace the unthinkable. The steel-trap closed mind at work.
Let me count the ways!
One inescapable rationale that springs immediately to mind is my skepticism of Big Government, honed during a decade of federal employment and another as a federal contractor.
There are myriad examples of government ineptitude, perhaps none more stark than the Securities and Exchange Commission. I know “they don’t have enough money” (the perennial progressive plaint – where spending cures all ills), nor “enough staff,” but as early as 1998, serious professionals warned of the Madoff ponzi scheme, handing the feds a clear cut case on a silver platter as it were, but our government was too busy rounding up taxi drivers who bought 100 Microsoft options based on “insider information,” i.e. something they heard a passenger say on the journey from JFK to Wall St.
Crowing press releases flow like Guinness on St. Paddy’s Day. “Look at us, look how we are protecting the investing public.” Right! And note that while it is now fashionable to lump all financial executives into a single “thieves and blaggards” category, not a single SEC bureaucrat has been singled out.
Then come the AIG bonuses. Someone (!) inserted language in the Stimulus legislation authorizing the payments (interesting when bedfellows fall out, and pointing fingers grow as Pinocchio’s nose). Then rather than admit a mistake, Congress rushed to pass a clearly unconstitutional remedy (I learned about ex-post facto laws in 7th grade Civics.) Our President courageously accepted responsibility, but in the next breath (as he will forevermore) claimed it really wasn’t his fault because all planetary evil was created in the decade before his arrival. “Je suis coupable, mais c’est pas ma faute.”
And now as the size of government is poised to expand by 25%, we are destined to be treated to more of the same. I can’t wait. Government everywhere is the poster child for the absence of individual responsibility – the cloak of invisibility that permits limitless culpability sans accountability. “Je suis coupable..."
#####
I received an e-mail the other day offering me a “complimentary colon cleanse.” It’s not the first time that someone has offered to resurface that section of my anatomy, but never via the Internet. And I thought the nadir arrived the day I received simultaneous solicitations for breast enhancement and reduction of same. Just when you thought it was safe to leave the house…
#####
In 1919 Robert Goddard published his theories of rocket flight which postulated that man (and woman) might one day reach the moon. The treatise was ridiculed in a New York Times editorial that sniffed "Dr. Goddard seems to lack the knowledge of physics that is ladled out daily in high schools." Despite this unambiguous condemnation from the editorial geniuses of Manhattan, NASA named its legendary flight center in Goddard’s honor. Our self-proclaimed “paper of record” does seem to have a knack…
#####
I have never before had the opportunity to take advantage of spring skiing. I love the warmth but not the ice nor spring break crowds, where it seems the overwhelming majority are first-timers wooed to intermediate slopes that seem virtually flat from below and precipitous from above. When time on the lift is equally divided between riding and sitting motionless, it’s time to hit the pub.
And just when I thought I had sufficiently suppressed the voices, they have resurfaced with strains of “Natasha,” “Sonny” (Bono), and “Michael” (Kennedy). When I began the sport, only professional racers donned “brain buckets,” and not all of them. Perhaps it’s time…
#####
Just as Craigslist presented me with a plethora of short term accommodation options (Las Cruces, NM was a leading candidate), I have been informed that the long-time summer tenant scheduled to displace me come May will be a no-show this year, affording the possibility of extending my current lodging. Decisions, decisions. But on my walk today up Guanella Pass, a cerulean sky and dazzling sunlight reflecting off a thousand vertical foot of crag, seemed to be inviting me to stay on a bit. And because the Red Ram will, for the moment dodge foreclosure by operating in bankruptcy, Killians will continue to flow at Happy Hour. Another compelling reason.
#####
Just as the Adventure was resigned to morphing into spring, the “high country” is poised to receive perhaps the heaviest snow of the season. Dancing with Mother Nature is always a treat…
.
.
Like heroism, the appellation of courage has been grossly misapplied of late. Nancy Pelosi has been labeled courageous by progressives; likewise Limbaugh by right wing zealots. Balderdash! Leading a pack of sheep does not require courage.
Courage springs from agonizing and often painful decisions that can bring condemnation, vilification, or ostracism, not to mention risk to personal safety. Arlan Spector and Maine’s two Senators displayed courage by breaking with their party and voting for the Stimulus. You don’t have to agree with such decisions to recognize the courage involved in pursuing the unpopular. Folks quick to so label their favorite savants should spend a bit more time consulting Webster…..
#####
I am occasionally asked why I am a conservative (the unspoken thought from liberals being that “your knuckles don’t appear to drag the ground and your IQ doesn’t appear to rest in the low double digits, so how on earth can you claim the appellation). I have actually had liberal acquaintances express disbelief at how an apparently intelligent soul could embrace the unthinkable. The steel-trap closed mind at work.
Let me count the ways!
One inescapable rationale that springs immediately to mind is my skepticism of Big Government, honed during a decade of federal employment and another as a federal contractor.
There are myriad examples of government ineptitude, perhaps none more stark than the Securities and Exchange Commission. I know “they don’t have enough money” (the perennial progressive plaint – where spending cures all ills), nor “enough staff,” but as early as 1998, serious professionals warned of the Madoff ponzi scheme, handing the feds a clear cut case on a silver platter as it were, but our government was too busy rounding up taxi drivers who bought 100 Microsoft options based on “insider information,” i.e. something they heard a passenger say on the journey from JFK to Wall St.
Crowing press releases flow like Guinness on St. Paddy’s Day. “Look at us, look how we are protecting the investing public.” Right! And note that while it is now fashionable to lump all financial executives into a single “thieves and blaggards” category, not a single SEC bureaucrat has been singled out.
Then come the AIG bonuses. Someone (!) inserted language in the Stimulus legislation authorizing the payments (interesting when bedfellows fall out, and pointing fingers grow as Pinocchio’s nose). Then rather than admit a mistake, Congress rushed to pass a clearly unconstitutional remedy (I learned about ex-post facto laws in 7th grade Civics.) Our President courageously accepted responsibility, but in the next breath (as he will forevermore) claimed it really wasn’t his fault because all planetary evil was created in the decade before his arrival. “Je suis coupable, mais c’est pas ma faute.”
And now as the size of government is poised to expand by 25%, we are destined to be treated to more of the same. I can’t wait. Government everywhere is the poster child for the absence of individual responsibility – the cloak of invisibility that permits limitless culpability sans accountability. “Je suis coupable..."
#####
I received an e-mail the other day offering me a “complimentary colon cleanse.” It’s not the first time that someone has offered to resurface that section of my anatomy, but never via the Internet. And I thought the nadir arrived the day I received simultaneous solicitations for breast enhancement and reduction of same. Just when you thought it was safe to leave the house…
#####
In 1919 Robert Goddard published his theories of rocket flight which postulated that man (and woman) might one day reach the moon. The treatise was ridiculed in a New York Times editorial that sniffed "Dr. Goddard seems to lack the knowledge of physics that is ladled out daily in high schools." Despite this unambiguous condemnation from the editorial geniuses of Manhattan, NASA named its legendary flight center in Goddard’s honor. Our self-proclaimed “paper of record” does seem to have a knack…
#####
I have never before had the opportunity to take advantage of spring skiing. I love the warmth but not the ice nor spring break crowds, where it seems the overwhelming majority are first-timers wooed to intermediate slopes that seem virtually flat from below and precipitous from above. When time on the lift is equally divided between riding and sitting motionless, it’s time to hit the pub.
And just when I thought I had sufficiently suppressed the voices, they have resurfaced with strains of “Natasha,” “Sonny” (Bono), and “Michael” (Kennedy). When I began the sport, only professional racers donned “brain buckets,” and not all of them. Perhaps it’s time…
#####
Just as Craigslist presented me with a plethora of short term accommodation options (Las Cruces, NM was a leading candidate), I have been informed that the long-time summer tenant scheduled to displace me come May will be a no-show this year, affording the possibility of extending my current lodging. Decisions, decisions. But on my walk today up Guanella Pass, a cerulean sky and dazzling sunlight reflecting off a thousand vertical foot of crag, seemed to be inviting me to stay on a bit. And because the Red Ram will, for the moment dodge foreclosure by operating in bankruptcy, Killians will continue to flow at Happy Hour. Another compelling reason.
#####
Just as the Adventure was resigned to morphing into spring, the “high country” is poised to receive perhaps the heaviest snow of the season. Dancing with Mother Nature is always a treat…
.
.
Monday, March 9, 2009
2009-07 GEORGETOWN
A truly depressing weekend spent with C-SPAN. After several well reasoned and upbeat presentations at CPAC – the Conservative Political Action Committee, came Rush Limbaugh who gathered riotous applause by asking those assembled to pray for the failure of the Obama Administration. Well, he claimed afterward that he only wished for Obama’s policies to fail. No matter. For the moment Obama’s policies are America’s policies, and to petition for their failure fits nicely with the "General Betrayus" mindset.
Now LMBC and MNM, I have deep concern over the new Administration’s ambitious plans to expand Government, and particularly the Pelosi effort to advance a social agenda under the guise of economic stimulus, but I must accept that those who professed to advance conservative principles this past decade spiraled miserably off the mark, and there is always (or should be) a price to pay for failure.
Democrats are giddy over their good fortune. Rahm Emanual bestowed “defacto leader of the Republican party” upon Limbaugh, and RNC Chairman Michael Steele didn’t help when he condemned the speech then quickly apologized.
Depressing indeed, and moreso as malevolence from the left seems to vanish with the speed of light while that from the right hangs long and low, as grey smoke from a long extinguished campfire.
#####
The remainder of the weekend was consumed by coverage of Tavis Smiley’s State of the Black Union. I learned that two centuries of evil are about to be replaced by an enlightened era of color. The unspeakable atrocities committed by those hitherto in charge will now be replaced by peace and love, and of course retribution against past malefactors.
#####
It should come as no surprise that one of the first forays of the tax scofflaw Treasury Secretary is to go after – you got it, tax scofflaws. But in the way that politicians can carry hypocrisy to insane levels, he has promised House and Senate committees that exposed perps will be subject to “appropriate punishment,” widely interpreted to mean jail time for serious offenders. Do as I say…
Can we now put to rest the aspect of “change” that promised to expunge (Republican) corruption and usher in a new area of transparency and fairness. Let he without sin…
#####
Last week while the U. S. east coast was pummeled by 6-12”, here in the Rocky Mountain west there was recorded a record temperature of 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Mother Nature has a truly bizarre sense of humor. And yet the locals remember 2003 when March came in like a lamb and several weeks later there was a record 7’ (yes, 84”) snowfall.
#####
One certain predictor of aging (in addition to wrinkles, liver spots, and multiple trips to the loo in the night), is a distain for innovation. As a self-styled techno-junkie I didn‘t believe I would fall victim to the hi-tech iteration of this malady. Yet now comes Twitter, which Wikipedia tells me is a “social networking” service that allows users to send and read other users' updates on their current activities (known as “tweets”) -- texts limited to 140 characters in length. I gather this means that when one prepares to cut toenails, defrost the fridge, or take Fido for his annual toilletage, we can so inform close friends and miscellaneous acquaintances.
Now I do understand that after the gas explosion that leveled (among others) the Rocking-R-Bar and Boodles restaurant in Bozeman, MT (two establishments where I have taken my custom while residing in that fair city) – “tweets” were used by locals to let friends and family know they had escaped the carnage. A great idea, and proof that even within (most) idiocy there exists a kernel of redeeming social value.
I have grave reservations as to whether anyone on this planet gives a damn about the BLOGS I periodically inflict on mankind, but I know with metaphysical certitude that no one has even miniscule curiosity about my flossing, preening, or evacuating. Could it be that those who Twitter are known as “twits.”
#####
It is commonly accepted that politicians of every stripe make promises that are routinely bent, broken, or simply ignored. And yet when a new paradigm is invoked vowing to change all that, I think it not unrealistic to hold the invokers to a higher standard.
My new President has promised so much to so many, with words so un-minced as to be electric in their delivery. Two passages quoted directly from his address to the Joint Session of Congress are illustrative and deserve to be placed in a four-year time capsule, to be later retrieved and re-examined.
“And yesterday, I held a fiscal summit where I pledged to cut the deficit in half by the end of my first term in office.”
“If your family earns less than $250,000 a year -- a quarter million dollars a year -- you will not see your taxes increased a single dime. I repeat: Not one single dime. Not a dime.”
Now these are unequivocal statements, bold and concrete promises. I suggest that delivery on these and others will (and should) guarantee a second term for the President. And while failure might not be a deal-breaker, it will be interesting to see whether in that event he faces the American people in 4-year’s time with the same candor he now displays, or whether he will revert to the time-honored plaint of politicians everywhere, as in the words of the French Culture Minister, “Je suis coupable, mais c’est pas ma faute.”
But the beauty of politics is that all involved are endowed with an infinite number of “Get out of Jail Free” cards. Even the White House admits that the “Cap and Trade” energy tax will cost all Americans in the future, but they respond that it’s not exactly a “tax,” and so I guess the Administration can slide here on a technicality.
Speaking of Cap & Trade, does it seem a bit disingenuous that the environmental guru Al Gore can now continue to use his private jet simply by paying for the extra carbon he spews across the planet? Isn’t that what the Robber Barons of old (and successful businessfolk that followed) have been accused of – using their wealth to pollute and defile?
#####
The Adventure suffers a bit from cabin fever, but ambles along…
.
.
Now LMBC and MNM, I have deep concern over the new Administration’s ambitious plans to expand Government, and particularly the Pelosi effort to advance a social agenda under the guise of economic stimulus, but I must accept that those who professed to advance conservative principles this past decade spiraled miserably off the mark, and there is always (or should be) a price to pay for failure.
Democrats are giddy over their good fortune. Rahm Emanual bestowed “defacto leader of the Republican party” upon Limbaugh, and RNC Chairman Michael Steele didn’t help when he condemned the speech then quickly apologized.
Depressing indeed, and moreso as malevolence from the left seems to vanish with the speed of light while that from the right hangs long and low, as grey smoke from a long extinguished campfire.
#####
The remainder of the weekend was consumed by coverage of Tavis Smiley’s State of the Black Union. I learned that two centuries of evil are about to be replaced by an enlightened era of color. The unspeakable atrocities committed by those hitherto in charge will now be replaced by peace and love, and of course retribution against past malefactors.
#####
It should come as no surprise that one of the first forays of the tax scofflaw Treasury Secretary is to go after – you got it, tax scofflaws. But in the way that politicians can carry hypocrisy to insane levels, he has promised House and Senate committees that exposed perps will be subject to “appropriate punishment,” widely interpreted to mean jail time for serious offenders. Do as I say…
Can we now put to rest the aspect of “change” that promised to expunge (Republican) corruption and usher in a new area of transparency and fairness. Let he without sin…
#####
Last week while the U. S. east coast was pummeled by 6-12”, here in the Rocky Mountain west there was recorded a record temperature of 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Mother Nature has a truly bizarre sense of humor. And yet the locals remember 2003 when March came in like a lamb and several weeks later there was a record 7’ (yes, 84”) snowfall.
#####
One certain predictor of aging (in addition to wrinkles, liver spots, and multiple trips to the loo in the night), is a distain for innovation. As a self-styled techno-junkie I didn‘t believe I would fall victim to the hi-tech iteration of this malady. Yet now comes Twitter, which Wikipedia tells me is a “social networking” service that allows users to send and read other users' updates on their current activities (known as “tweets”) -- texts limited to 140 characters in length. I gather this means that when one prepares to cut toenails, defrost the fridge, or take Fido for his annual toilletage, we can so inform close friends and miscellaneous acquaintances.
Now I do understand that after the gas explosion that leveled (among others) the Rocking-R-Bar and Boodles restaurant in Bozeman, MT (two establishments where I have taken my custom while residing in that fair city) – “tweets” were used by locals to let friends and family know they had escaped the carnage. A great idea, and proof that even within (most) idiocy there exists a kernel of redeeming social value.
I have grave reservations as to whether anyone on this planet gives a damn about the BLOGS I periodically inflict on mankind, but I know with metaphysical certitude that no one has even miniscule curiosity about my flossing, preening, or evacuating. Could it be that those who Twitter are known as “twits.”
#####
It is commonly accepted that politicians of every stripe make promises that are routinely bent, broken, or simply ignored. And yet when a new paradigm is invoked vowing to change all that, I think it not unrealistic to hold the invokers to a higher standard.
My new President has promised so much to so many, with words so un-minced as to be electric in their delivery. Two passages quoted directly from his address to the Joint Session of Congress are illustrative and deserve to be placed in a four-year time capsule, to be later retrieved and re-examined.
“And yesterday, I held a fiscal summit where I pledged to cut the deficit in half by the end of my first term in office.”
“If your family earns less than $250,000 a year -- a quarter million dollars a year -- you will not see your taxes increased a single dime. I repeat: Not one single dime. Not a dime.”
Now these are unequivocal statements, bold and concrete promises. I suggest that delivery on these and others will (and should) guarantee a second term for the President. And while failure might not be a deal-breaker, it will be interesting to see whether in that event he faces the American people in 4-year’s time with the same candor he now displays, or whether he will revert to the time-honored plaint of politicians everywhere, as in the words of the French Culture Minister, “Je suis coupable, mais c’est pas ma faute.”
But the beauty of politics is that all involved are endowed with an infinite number of “Get out of Jail Free” cards. Even the White House admits that the “Cap and Trade” energy tax will cost all Americans in the future, but they respond that it’s not exactly a “tax,” and so I guess the Administration can slide here on a technicality.
Speaking of Cap & Trade, does it seem a bit disingenuous that the environmental guru Al Gore can now continue to use his private jet simply by paying for the extra carbon he spews across the planet? Isn’t that what the Robber Barons of old (and successful businessfolk that followed) have been accused of – using their wealth to pollute and defile?
#####
The Adventure suffers a bit from cabin fever, but ambles along…
.
.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
2009-06 GEORGETOWN
Diane Sawyer of Good Morning America is on a tear exposing “Mountain Dew Mouth,” a condition in Appalachia (but apparently nowhere else!) that causes rampant tooth decay even in the very young through excessive consumption of the sugary soft drink. These folks are “victims”, and I have visions of ruthless soft drink executives force feeding their product down the throats of helpless mountaineers. I thought we had dealt with this issue when the Courts refused to accept the nonsense that a teenager who ate up to a dozen Big Macs a day was a “victim” of the McDonalds Corporation.
We seem oblivious to the reality that it’s about education and providing a framework in which to make positive choices, but it’s so much easier to simply assign blame. In much of America neither children nor their parents (unless you’re Asian) are much motivated toward education (unless it’s feel-good), and as a result, basic knowledge of nutrition, fractions, fitness, adjectives, and percentages takes a back seat to in-depth familiarity with Heavy Metal, fashion trends, and SMS texting.
Then when someone consumes insane amounts of fatty acids and blossoms into morbid obesity, or loses the $750,000 home they bought on a $25,000 salary, they are “victims,” with no mention of even a modicum of responsibility on their part. We have elevated “the dog ate my homework” and “it’s anybody’s fault but mine” to frightening heights. When I was young and came home with a note from the teacher describing an indiscretion, I was taken to the woodshed. Today parents hire a lawyer and sue the school.
#####
I used to organize “events,” and now that my commercial value rests somewhere between yodeling and hospital volunteer directing patients to the urinalysis room, I have been musing over getting back in the game. I’m contemplating a Las Vegas Smile-Off between Nancy Pelosi and Giada Pamela De Laurentiis (the Italian TV-chef with the alluring décolletage and even more prominent choppers).
And speaking of Mme. Speaker, might there be any truth to the rumor that some renegade Republican snuck into the House Chamber and hotwired her seat before the President’s address to Congress? Reminiscent of a star struck pre-teen at a Beatles concert.
#####
I recently attended a Fasching celebration, a once prominent and now languishing item on the annual Georgetown social calendar. Analogous to Mardi Gras, Karneval, and Swiss Fastnacht, it celebrates the coming of Lent with colorful attire, buffoonery, and bountiful libation. Centuries old in Europe, it began here in the 1950s, grace of mid-western implants of Germanic ancestry. From humble origins it reached a pinnacle in the following decade when the celebration boasted balls, banquets, and parades lasting 9 days, and when local donations and commercial sponsors sent the elected King and Queen to Munich to acquire first-hand understanding of the ancient tradition.
But the event has dwindled to a microcosm of its former grandeur, and this year’s affair took place in the modest Community Center on a chilly Friday evening before Ash Wednesday. After several formal presentations, the highlight of which was a matron describing in exquisite and exhaustive detail her 4 decades of Fasching delights, all assembled and I, apparently the sole attendee with less than a quarter century of Fasching tenure, were treated to a visual presentation, a half-century retrospective of Faschings past.
The first 300 or so slides were fascinating, but things began to unravel as several Queens of old took to tense debate over the identity of certain faces depicted on the screen. Ancient Kings huddled in the rear lusting after the liquid refreshment guarded by an antediluvian courtier under strict orders that not a drop should pass before the secession of formalities. A rousing good time was had by the hundred plus there to remember and me to discover.
#####
There is a sub-controversy over whether Americans on-balance approve or reject the Stimulus package. It’s fashionable to suggest that only inside-the-beltway Republicans are in the negative, while the rest of America is giddy in its enthusiasm. My take is that politicians of whatever stripe are enthusiastic – when did you ever encounter one who declined the opportunity to acquire and spend (someone else’s) money? And those who stand to be enriched are understandably overjoyed.
It is, however, the shrinking pool (the schlubs) who will pay the tab, not today or tomorrow but surely sometime in the future when the bill comes due. It is, sadly, our children and theirs who will be asked to repay the trillions or suffer from its default. Flash: it is reported that several Republican Governors contemplate refusing Stimulus largesse! Can you even contemplate the insanity? Refusing “free” government money?? Good golly Ms. Molly!!! And the Governator who says” send it all to me.” You can’t imagine the emotion that springs within me at the thought of my tax money being used to subsidize the California lifestyle.
#####
Michelle Obama on a televised tour of the White House kitchen spoke of the challenge to staff in preparing green vegetables that would be acceptable to the First Daughters. Many years ago I was taken to a restaurant in suburban Atlanta, famous for authentic Soul food. I recall the cuisine to be superb, but left a neat pile of collard greens on my plate, when an imposing matronly server walked up and bellowed in my ear “Eat’cha greens.” Worked for me.
#####
…the adventure appears determined to morph into springtime, but old timers simply smile when I inquire whether winter is truly past. To this point however, my quest for snow has been thwarted by the mildest winter in the memory of many here…
.
.
We seem oblivious to the reality that it’s about education and providing a framework in which to make positive choices, but it’s so much easier to simply assign blame. In much of America neither children nor their parents (unless you’re Asian) are much motivated toward education (unless it’s feel-good), and as a result, basic knowledge of nutrition, fractions, fitness, adjectives, and percentages takes a back seat to in-depth familiarity with Heavy Metal, fashion trends, and SMS texting.
Then when someone consumes insane amounts of fatty acids and blossoms into morbid obesity, or loses the $750,000 home they bought on a $25,000 salary, they are “victims,” with no mention of even a modicum of responsibility on their part. We have elevated “the dog ate my homework” and “it’s anybody’s fault but mine” to frightening heights. When I was young and came home with a note from the teacher describing an indiscretion, I was taken to the woodshed. Today parents hire a lawyer and sue the school.
#####
I used to organize “events,” and now that my commercial value rests somewhere between yodeling and hospital volunteer directing patients to the urinalysis room, I have been musing over getting back in the game. I’m contemplating a Las Vegas Smile-Off between Nancy Pelosi and Giada Pamela De Laurentiis (the Italian TV-chef with the alluring décolletage and even more prominent choppers).
And speaking of Mme. Speaker, might there be any truth to the rumor that some renegade Republican snuck into the House Chamber and hotwired her seat before the President’s address to Congress? Reminiscent of a star struck pre-teen at a Beatles concert.
#####
I recently attended a Fasching celebration, a once prominent and now languishing item on the annual Georgetown social calendar. Analogous to Mardi Gras, Karneval, and Swiss Fastnacht, it celebrates the coming of Lent with colorful attire, buffoonery, and bountiful libation. Centuries old in Europe, it began here in the 1950s, grace of mid-western implants of Germanic ancestry. From humble origins it reached a pinnacle in the following decade when the celebration boasted balls, banquets, and parades lasting 9 days, and when local donations and commercial sponsors sent the elected King and Queen to Munich to acquire first-hand understanding of the ancient tradition.
But the event has dwindled to a microcosm of its former grandeur, and this year’s affair took place in the modest Community Center on a chilly Friday evening before Ash Wednesday. After several formal presentations, the highlight of which was a matron describing in exquisite and exhaustive detail her 4 decades of Fasching delights, all assembled and I, apparently the sole attendee with less than a quarter century of Fasching tenure, were treated to a visual presentation, a half-century retrospective of Faschings past.
The first 300 or so slides were fascinating, but things began to unravel as several Queens of old took to tense debate over the identity of certain faces depicted on the screen. Ancient Kings huddled in the rear lusting after the liquid refreshment guarded by an antediluvian courtier under strict orders that not a drop should pass before the secession of formalities. A rousing good time was had by the hundred plus there to remember and me to discover.
#####
There is a sub-controversy over whether Americans on-balance approve or reject the Stimulus package. It’s fashionable to suggest that only inside-the-beltway Republicans are in the negative, while the rest of America is giddy in its enthusiasm. My take is that politicians of whatever stripe are enthusiastic – when did you ever encounter one who declined the opportunity to acquire and spend (someone else’s) money? And those who stand to be enriched are understandably overjoyed.
It is, however, the shrinking pool (the schlubs) who will pay the tab, not today or tomorrow but surely sometime in the future when the bill comes due. It is, sadly, our children and theirs who will be asked to repay the trillions or suffer from its default. Flash: it is reported that several Republican Governors contemplate refusing Stimulus largesse! Can you even contemplate the insanity? Refusing “free” government money?? Good golly Ms. Molly!!! And the Governator who says” send it all to me.” You can’t imagine the emotion that springs within me at the thought of my tax money being used to subsidize the California lifestyle.
#####
Michelle Obama on a televised tour of the White House kitchen spoke of the challenge to staff in preparing green vegetables that would be acceptable to the First Daughters. Many years ago I was taken to a restaurant in suburban Atlanta, famous for authentic Soul food. I recall the cuisine to be superb, but left a neat pile of collard greens on my plate, when an imposing matronly server walked up and bellowed in my ear “Eat’cha greens.” Worked for me.
#####
…the adventure appears determined to morph into springtime, but old timers simply smile when I inquire whether winter is truly past. To this point however, my quest for snow has been thwarted by the mildest winter in the memory of many here…
.
.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
2009-05 GEORGETOWN
Despite some trepidation after my recent chute sur piste, I trudged back to the mountain and after one tentative run I was back in the saddle progressing at speed. The problem is that the voices, once undistinguished from the wind, then merely vague whispers, are now growing in volume. A French friend once remarked, after I professed my love of the raw oyster, “une huitre mauvaise,” just one bad one (is all it takes). I’m not sure, but the voices may be saying “une chute mauvaise…”
Regardless, I am once again a skier, desperately clinging to the hope I will survive at least until the nirvana of securing a free Senior’s Pass. I must report, however, that since attaining age 60, ski resorts have systematically raised the required age just ahead of me. At most mountains the magic number is now 70, and I have little doubt that as I claw my way to that exalted place, the threshold will again be bumped slightly beyond my reach.
#####
Dick Durbin, in response to Republican kvetching over the Stimulus Package, opined on the Senate floor “I wonder where the tears have been these last eight years when their President doubled the national debt?” Hold on, cowboy. Deep in the last century when I studied Civics (which I gather has been largely removed from the curriculum because it bores students and fails to impart warm fuzzies), I was taught that it is Congress that appropriates funds (and therefore controls spending). Has this changed? Has my fear of the early Alzheimer’s become a reality?
Now, granted, the President kept the Veto in his pocket and blatently encouraged spending, and yes, Republicans (not conservatives but Republicans) were in charge for six of those eight. But for Durbin, considered one of the more intellectually nimble of the federal Solonic community, to so charge is a startling indication of baseline intelligence in Washington (or perhaps more accurately what Washington considers to be the baseline intelligence of the American people).
And then comes Maxine Waters, unable even to read intelligibly the questions for bank CEOs written by her staff. In these days of challenge, whenever a ray of optimism peaks through, 15 minutes of C-SPAN is sure to yank me back to reality. As per Pogo, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” The widely regarded Atlantic Monthly commented about Waters “It's like watching your crazy aunt challenge your boyfriend to prove that fairies aren't real.” A generous evaluation I would say.
#####
I was recently warned to be careful of viruses before clicking on all the e-Valentine cards in my in-box. Just one more annoyance from which I have been spared.
#####
And so the die has been cast. If the Stimulus works, full credit should rightly accrue to the Administration and congressional Democrats. Failure should vindicate Republicans, who overwhelmingly turned their back on the legislation. (Enough crowing about bi-partisan support --3 votes does not bi-partisanship make: 1.4% of all Republicans; 0.5% of all of Congress). But wouldn’t it be nice if for once we could honestly evaluate results and declare a winner?
Alas, it will not be. Failure will cause Democrats to say it wasn’t their fault at all and find somewhere else on which to hang the blame (I’ve predicted Bush with be available to fill that void for years to come). Republicans will disclaim success no matter how obvious it appears. Politics is what it is, and we are not better for it.
#####
I confess that each time I hear my President speak I am bedazzled and can’t imagine a more mesmerizing experience, yet the next time is always more eloquent. If Barack Obama executes but one-third in reality what he delivers in rhetoric, we will have found in truth a man for the ages. But the down side, and there always is one, is that if he fails to deliver on the soaring oratory, disillusionment and despair may rise to epic proportions.
In the tsunami of his first 30 days and the euphoria surrounding the Stimulus, there has been a tidal wave of “what’s in it for me,” and virtual absence of the Kennedian “ask not what your country can do for you.” Perhaps the saddest part of this entire drama so far is the fact that the winners are the least responsible, and we poor schlubs who lived within our means, didn’t buy houses we couldn’t afford, and didn’t invest with charlatans promising wholly unrealistic gains, are once again paying the bills.
Sadly it is always so. Along the Gulf Coast, those who can’t be bothered with buying insurance and funding protective measures are rewarded with pastel-colored, furnished double-wide mobile homes from FEMA (i.e. from you and me), while responsible homeowners are left to fight with their insurance companies over whether damage was caused by wind or water (i.e. by definition, the plague that caused the destruction is that from which you are not (or least) insured).
#####
One of the most emotionally wrenching of human experiences is to be faced with a policy you neither support nor believe in, yet need desperately to witness its success. We already have ample evidence of how the radical left approaches such dilemmas (and yes I know you have heard it before but it is so starkly descriptive –“General Betrayus.”) How anyone could wish for the destruction of a society in order to further its political and social aims is, well, unspeakable.
I have grave reservations that current political efforts will return our planet to stability and our nation to promise, but I must hope (and work) for its success, even though it means that core values I live by will be relegated, perhaps for decades, but not forever, to backroom status. Part of the price we pay (some of us, anyway) for civilization is that we allow ourselves to be persuaded that there is a solution other than the one we favor.
…it has been a mild winter, and the snow I had hoped for has been sparse. But the adventure continues and with a seasonal change on the horizon, thoughts turn to new venues…
.
.
Regardless, I am once again a skier, desperately clinging to the hope I will survive at least until the nirvana of securing a free Senior’s Pass. I must report, however, that since attaining age 60, ski resorts have systematically raised the required age just ahead of me. At most mountains the magic number is now 70, and I have little doubt that as I claw my way to that exalted place, the threshold will again be bumped slightly beyond my reach.
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Dick Durbin, in response to Republican kvetching over the Stimulus Package, opined on the Senate floor “I wonder where the tears have been these last eight years when their President doubled the national debt?” Hold on, cowboy. Deep in the last century when I studied Civics (which I gather has been largely removed from the curriculum because it bores students and fails to impart warm fuzzies), I was taught that it is Congress that appropriates funds (and therefore controls spending). Has this changed? Has my fear of the early Alzheimer’s become a reality?
Now, granted, the President kept the Veto in his pocket and blatently encouraged spending, and yes, Republicans (not conservatives but Republicans) were in charge for six of those eight. But for Durbin, considered one of the more intellectually nimble of the federal Solonic community, to so charge is a startling indication of baseline intelligence in Washington (or perhaps more accurately what Washington considers to be the baseline intelligence of the American people).
And then comes Maxine Waters, unable even to read intelligibly the questions for bank CEOs written by her staff. In these days of challenge, whenever a ray of optimism peaks through, 15 minutes of C-SPAN is sure to yank me back to reality. As per Pogo, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” The widely regarded Atlantic Monthly commented about Waters “It's like watching your crazy aunt challenge your boyfriend to prove that fairies aren't real.” A generous evaluation I would say.
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I was recently warned to be careful of viruses before clicking on all the e-Valentine cards in my in-box. Just one more annoyance from which I have been spared.
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And so the die has been cast. If the Stimulus works, full credit should rightly accrue to the Administration and congressional Democrats. Failure should vindicate Republicans, who overwhelmingly turned their back on the legislation. (Enough crowing about bi-partisan support --3 votes does not bi-partisanship make: 1.4% of all Republicans; 0.5% of all of Congress). But wouldn’t it be nice if for once we could honestly evaluate results and declare a winner?
Alas, it will not be. Failure will cause Democrats to say it wasn’t their fault at all and find somewhere else on which to hang the blame (I’ve predicted Bush with be available to fill that void for years to come). Republicans will disclaim success no matter how obvious it appears. Politics is what it is, and we are not better for it.
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I confess that each time I hear my President speak I am bedazzled and can’t imagine a more mesmerizing experience, yet the next time is always more eloquent. If Barack Obama executes but one-third in reality what he delivers in rhetoric, we will have found in truth a man for the ages. But the down side, and there always is one, is that if he fails to deliver on the soaring oratory, disillusionment and despair may rise to epic proportions.
In the tsunami of his first 30 days and the euphoria surrounding the Stimulus, there has been a tidal wave of “what’s in it for me,” and virtual absence of the Kennedian “ask not what your country can do for you.” Perhaps the saddest part of this entire drama so far is the fact that the winners are the least responsible, and we poor schlubs who lived within our means, didn’t buy houses we couldn’t afford, and didn’t invest with charlatans promising wholly unrealistic gains, are once again paying the bills.
Sadly it is always so. Along the Gulf Coast, those who can’t be bothered with buying insurance and funding protective measures are rewarded with pastel-colored, furnished double-wide mobile homes from FEMA (i.e. from you and me), while responsible homeowners are left to fight with their insurance companies over whether damage was caused by wind or water (i.e. by definition, the plague that caused the destruction is that from which you are not (or least) insured).
#####
One of the most emotionally wrenching of human experiences is to be faced with a policy you neither support nor believe in, yet need desperately to witness its success. We already have ample evidence of how the radical left approaches such dilemmas (and yes I know you have heard it before but it is so starkly descriptive –“General Betrayus.”) How anyone could wish for the destruction of a society in order to further its political and social aims is, well, unspeakable.
I have grave reservations that current political efforts will return our planet to stability and our nation to promise, but I must hope (and work) for its success, even though it means that core values I live by will be relegated, perhaps for decades, but not forever, to backroom status. Part of the price we pay (some of us, anyway) for civilization is that we allow ourselves to be persuaded that there is a solution other than the one we favor.
…it has been a mild winter, and the snow I had hoped for has been sparse. But the adventure continues and with a seasonal change on the horizon, thoughts turn to new venues…
.
.
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