what a hoot!

What a motley collection of characters. Julianne Moore and Gwyneth Paltrow will be offended to be seen in this collection of mugshots, so don't tell them. I hope the government's face-recognition software is better than this. I was hoping Sean Connery would show up as a match:

http://www.myheritage.com

happy holidays - please!

My entries over the past several months have been on the dark side, the result of reading too much about the Current Occupant and the War for Democracy. Enough, already. Between now and the end of December I'm going to focus on good news, no matter what.

Good news from Iraq: In a story the other day about the latest round of carnage, there were a few paragraphs tucked away that sounded hopeful. In "mixed" neighborhoods, where Sunnis and Shiites live, there are Sunni families and Shiite families who are looking out for each other and protecting each other, despite the risk of being called collaborators. Friendship trumps fanaticism, how about that? Let's keep hoping. . .

Good news from Florida: Hurricane season draws to a close in a few days. This year we've had zero hurricanes to make landfall in the U.S. and only three tropical storms in Florida.

Good news from our extended family: We've made it nearly to the end of the year and everybody is doing just fine. That includes Aunt Susie, who will be 91 next month. She's been in hospitals and nursing homes since August but she's feeling no pain and has few complaints. She's getting along.

May we all get along for all of next year.

got it

Got the new TV -- a 42-inch Panasonic plasma TV. It took me all evening to set it up, mainly because I had to disassemble everything connected to the old set (DVD player, tape player, receiver, speakers) to make room for it. All that fun stuff was assembled several Christmases ago when our M.I.T. students were home for the holidays. I don't think they even looked at the manuals. Now I have to wait until the end of next week for the cable company's tech guy to come around and install the HD digital box. Here's what it looks like:
http://www.hdtvsolutions.com/Panasonic-TH-42PX6U.htm

This isn't billed as a 1080p set, but the specifications say it is compatible with 1080i and 1080p with an HDMI device connected to it.

I have no idea what that means. I'll figure it out shortly. I need a new hobby anyway and this TV may become my next one.

high tech

I'm not the highest of high-tech people. I try not to get left too far behind, although I have a tendency to hold on to high-tech toys long after they ought to be replaced. In my defense, I've gotta say that sometimes, if you wait awhile, the prices drop from outrageous to merely unreasonable and it's time to get the new toy.

Case in point: Flat-screen TV's. I don't mean those cathode-ray TV's that happen to have flat screens. I mean the truly flat, plasma or LCD television sets that look like they are painted on the wall and give you pictures that knock you out.

The first one I ever saw was in a showroom in Boston. The price was something like $10-12 thousand dollars and I would have bought one on the spot but it was too big to take home on the airplane. That, and the fact that I couldn't afford the down payment, kept me from enjoying a picture so perfect I didn't know such a thing could exist.

Happily, the prices have dropped over the years to the point that they can fit into the budget if you eliminate frivolous expenses like lunch. Santa Claus has decided that our tired old TV, the one that we fine-tune by swatting it on the side whenever the colors fade to black, is ready for replacement, and he's thinking of making an early delivery before all the stores sell out. Santa is a smart old bird.

I have another high-tech story for you. I work for a government (pronounced "gummint") agency, but I'm not in the main building. I've been wishing I had a TV in my office so I could watch meetings live but that would entail running cable into my office, probably at my personal expense. I was pondering that problem when I discovered that our meetings are now carried live over the computer by means of a thing called "streaming video." This is very cool. I've been able to listen to the audio, which means I can grab my jacket and hustle over if I need to be in attendance for some reason, but now I can watch, too.

We work with computers and e-mail, and rely upon e-mail to get work done. I've exchanged significant work product with employees I've never actually met. The dark side of that is that our system gets deluged with spam, to the tune of 30,000 pieces of spam per month. Our system of moats and dragons keeps almost all of it out. People who generate such garbage should be dragged into the streets and shot, but don't get me started on that.

post-election Blue(s)

A few quick thought before getting into the "river of steel" for the commute home:

The U.S. shifted toward blue (Democratic) last week, although Florida is more purple than blue or red. The lone dissenter on the Hillsborough County Commission, a Democrat, woke up Wednesday to discover she's now a Congresswoman in a Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. That means the people who beat up on her during all her time on the county commission will have to deal with her to get favors from Congress. I can hear them pleading for bipartisanship, a word that does not exist in the Republican dictionary. Yuk, yuk,. . .

In our county we had a race between two lightweights for a seat in the State Senate. One of them (my kids know her from high school) ran what had to be the ugliest, nastiest, smear campaign in the country and I am happy to report that she lost. There were several other races that went to the victims of extremely negative campaigning. This year, a lot of voters just got sick the negative ads.

Judging from letters to the editor of the local paper, a common reaction among die-hard Republicans is, okay, let's see what kind of a mess the Democrats can create in the next two years. Two years to untangle the mess than has been created in the past six years? That's asking a lot but here's the curious thing: Some of the Democrats are more conservative that the Republicans they beat. This is going to confuse the people who can't think or speak of public issues without relying on the "liberal" and "conservative" labels.

I just finished Woodward's book, State of Denial. Everybody should read it but I caution you that it will not leave you feeling optimistic.

Rumsfeld should have resigned in 2004

Donald Rumsfeld should have resigned or been booted two years ago. According to Bob Woodward's new book, State of Denial, which is a book you should read, Bush's chief of staff Andy Card was lobbying to have Rumsfeld replaced after the 2004 election. Bush sent Colin Powell packing and named Condoleeza Rice as Secretary of State but just couldn't dump Rumsfeld. If he had done so two years ago, and replaced him with somebody willing to listen to Rice and the generals, who knows where we would be in Iraq today.

The unwillingness to listen to the generals or to anybody else with a contrary opinion has been the chief distinguishing failure of Rumsfeld, Bush and Cheney. Questions and contrary opinions are viewed as disloyalty, and disloyalty is viewed as giving aid and comfort to the terrorists abroad and at home.

None of them are lawyers. A law school education is three years of questions and answers, the "Socratic method." In practice, lawyers eat, breathe and dream questions. You'd better be able to give plausible answers to questions from your clients, partners, and particularly judges.

Bush and Rumsfeld were in the military, as pilots. You have to wonder what they learned from their experience. Army and Marine officers have one purpose in life and that is to get the mission accomplished, and to do it smartly while protecting your troops. Doing it smartly means changing with the fortunes or misfortunes of war. Bush and Rumsfeld locked themselves into getting into Iraq with no clear plan for getting out, no clear definition of "victory," and no tolerance for questions or contrary opinions. The election on Tuesday sent them a message and it is a pity they weren't sent that message in 2004.

Election Day

I did something today I've never done before.

I voted straight party ticket.

Not only that, we had a raft of proposed amendments to the state constitution and the county charter on the ballot, and I voted no on all of them. We also had something called "merit retention," which asks if various supreme court justices and appellate court judges ought to be retained in office. Consistent with my contrarian attitude, I voted no on every one of them, too.

We had only one non-partisan race on the ballot, for a seat on the school board. This gave me a choice between a man and a woman. What to do? I voted for the man because I know his mother.

Just before pushing the big button on the final computer screen that casts your votes onto a little magnetic card to be counted by a computer (we can hope), I got a screen with all my votes summarized. Wow. Every vote was a "Dem" or a "no" with the one exception of the mother's son. Very impressive!

It was fun! Brainless! Almost irresponsible! How easy it was - no need to think!

I know people who have voted that way all their lives. They are mostly Republicans, who vote like my grandmother used to vote. She'd vote straight party ticket even in a primary election, or so she thought.

I may have lost half my votes, but I'm not sure it matters much. I believe all the candidates are liars, cheats, and thieves because they've been telling me so for several months, so having a "blue" crook instead of a "red" crook may make no difference.

But it was fun, free entertainment for about five minutes or so.

Saddam and Election Day

I lost a bet when the verdict - and sentence - came down on Saddam Hussein. I'd bet five bucks he would be acquitted because "he's a Muslim - one of us," and he'd be released and back in office just like Osama was allowed to escape to his cave.

Now, the Current Occupant of the White house and his cronies are betting this will (a) signal the end of the war in Iraq and (b) signal the American voters that "holding the course" is the only proper way to vote tomorrow because that will make us all safer from terrorists. "Holding the course" will appeal to a lot of voters. Making us safer? Ending the war? Don't count on it.

Most of our European "allies" (so to speak) are opposed to putting the man to death. Why turn him into a martyr? Good question. Martyrs have this annoying habit of remaining "alive" in human consciousness for centuries. About 30 percent of Iraqis are Sunnis, and most of them will carry the desire to avenge the death of Saddam into the 22nd Century and beyond. Let him rot in jail.

The coincidence (?) that the decision came down two days before Election Day looks an awful lot like more than a coincidence to us cynics. This, from the Gainesville (FL) Sun: "The White House said the timing of the announcement, two days before Election Day, had nothing to do with American politics and had been dictated by the Iraqi court. But Bush moved quickly to put it to use in what has been his central strategic imperative over the past week: trying to rouse Republican voters to turn out." (Italics added.) If you believe the timing had nothing to do with American politics, I know of some waterfront property in Florida you should buy from me.

Meanwhile, the official newspapers of all of the branches of the American armed forces have issued a joint editorial calling for Secretary of War Rumsfeld to leave. That is truly remarkable. If the Current Occupant had sacked Rummy two years ago in favor of a secretary who listened to the generals and who had an objective larger than dumping Saddam, he might have a legacy worth saving. He didn't, and he doesn't.

where's the apology??

First, let me tell you that, as a veteran, I was offended by Kerry's bad choke of a joke and I sent an e-mail to his official web site address telling him so. He has apologized (but not, I'm sure, as a consequence of my e-mail).

That was yesterday's news.

On the subject of apologies, the Current Occupant of the White House owes the American public (and others) a few apologies. The following is borrowed shamelessly from author and comedian Steve Young. Actually, his list is up to 36 and I am sharing only a few of them:

by Steve Young
November 3, 2006 --
Hollywood (apj.us) --

Within any problem lies an answer, so said Einstein. Kerry botches a joke about Bush. Republicans demand an apology to the troops and their families. A problem for Democrats? Only if they don't seek the answer inside the problem. The answer? Republicans want to call for apologies when defaming, undermining and letting down our troops -- so let's get this party started!

COMMERCIAL #1
Run Bush's hysterical search for WMD at the White House Press Corps Dinner.
Ending Graphic: Where is the apology?

COMMERCIAL #2
Run Rumsfeld's "Go to war with the army you have, not the one you want."
Ending Graphic: Where is the apology?

COMMERCIAL #3
Run Cheney's "The insurgency, if you will, is in its last throes."
Ending Graphic: Where is the apology?

[You are getting the idea, so I'll edit this to a shorter list.]

COMMERCIAL #5
Run Bush's "Brownie, you're doin' a heckuva job."
Ending Graphic: Where is the apology?

COMMERCIAL #6
Run Cheney's "We will, in fact, be greeted as liberators."
Ending Graphic: Where is the apology?

COMMERCIAL #9
Run Rumsfeld saying that he couldn't see the war going past six months.
Ending Graphic: Where is the apology?

COMMERCIAL #12
Run Bush's admission that he just doesn't think that much about bin Laden.
Ending Graphic: Where is the apology?

COMMERCIAL #13
Run Bush's "Bring it on."
Ending Graphic: Where is the apology?

COMMERCIAL #14
Run the faces of the 655,000 dead Iraqis
Ending Graphic: Where is the apology?

COMMERCIAL #21
Pharmaceutical lobby writing the pharmaceutical legislation
Ending Graphic: Where is the apology?

COMMERCIAL #22
Outing a CIA Agent.
Ending Graphic: Where is the apology?

COMMERCIAL #24
For cutting veterans' benefits until the Democrats embarrassed them into uncutting.
Ending Graphic: Where is the apology?

COMMERCIAL #25
For sending the troops into harm's way underequipped.
Ending Graphic: Where is the apology?

COMMERCIAL #26
For losing billion$ meant to rebuild Iraq
Ending Graphic: Where is the apology?

COMMERCIAL #30
For not taking the advice of generals, then blaming them.
Ending Graphic: Where is the apology?

COMMERCIAL #33
For borrowing trillions from our children's future, placing it in the pockets of the wealthiest Americans and calling it a booming economy.
Ending Graphic: Where is the apology?

COMMERCIAL #34
Run photos of the flag-draped coffins of our young heroes we're not supposed to see.
Ending Graphic: Where is the apology?

COMMERCIAL #35
"Mission Accomplished"
Ending Graphic...Where is the G-d F$#@ING APOLOGY?

COMMERCIAL #36
THE LIBERAL MAINSTREAM MEDIA™ WHO LET ALL OF THIS CRAP GO DOWN WITHOUT 1/10TH THE COVERAGE THEY GAVE KERRY'S BOTCHED JOKE!
Ending Graphic: Where is the apology?

I mean, ya know, what's fair is fair.

I canna take this abuse any longer

Here's your typical political campaign advertisement, heard on TV in Florida:

"My opponent, _______, is a tax-and-spend liberal. She (*) has voted for tax increases 28 times. She's voted to protect child molesters, give amnesty to illegals, raise your insurance rates, and place your children at risk. She's spent money lavishly on herself, thanks to the contributions of the gambling industry. She wants to promote the liberal agendaat the expense of family values. She favors gun control, abortion, and gay rights. She voted against legislation making English the official language and protecting the sanctity of marriage beween a man and a woman. She wants to cut and run, not stay the course. Call __________ and tell her we can't afford her. I'm _________ and I approve this message."

*or, substitute "he"

Meanwhile, she is running this advertisement:

"My opponent, _______, is a tax-and-spend liberal. He (*) has voted for tax increases 28 times. He's voted to protect child molesters, give amnesty to illegals, raise your property taxes, and place your children at risk. He's spent money lavishly on himself, thanks to the contributions of the insurance industry. He wants to promote the liberal agenda at the expense of family values. He favors gun control, abortion, and gay rights. He voted against legislation making English the official language and protecting the sanctity of marriage beween a man and a woman. He wants to cut and run, not stay the course. Call __________ and tell him we can't afford him. I'm _________ and I approve this message."

*or, substitute "she"

At this point, all the ads have run together. Being a trusting soul I believe all of them. All of the candidates are up to no good but I've decided the Democratic crooks are a better bet than the Republican crooks. Next Tuesday, the ads will stop. I can hardly wait.

more scenery in Scotland

I'm not through talking about Scotland, yet. There was a lot to see and do, and it also takes my mind off the incredibly stupid and outrageously moronic political ads we are forced to watch every two minutes on TV.

Pictured here is a tower, part of Drummond Castle (click to enlarge, as usual). I like this for a couple of reasons. I could tell you that the light in the window is there because of ghosts flitting around upstairs, but in truth, this 500-year-old castle is privately occupied. You can read more about it here: http://cdronan.addr.com/castle.html

I got to see some of the inhabitants get in their car and drive off, presumably to go to the big city to catch a show. They appeared from a distance to be fairly normal people although they looked at us like they were just tolerating tourists at the end of a long tourist season. I wouldn't mind living in a castle like this but I wouldn't want to pay the taxes on it. I'd spend my time snooping around in nooks and crannies to find out where the bodies are buried, so to speak. In a castle this old, I wouldn't be shocked to find a ghost or two.