If the words Boris Yeltsin, Russia, freedom, democracy, Bill Clinton, and Christianity appear to you to be an unlikely combination of words, consider the following email I received today from the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (another seemingly unlikely combination of words, not associated with the Southern Baptist Convention), abbreviated to save some space:
April 24, 2007
A reflection on Boris Yeltsin, Bill Clinton and religious liberty
By Carolyn Staley*
I have just read the news about the death today of Boris Yeltsin. It brought to mind a conversation that Bill Clinton related to me about a meeting he had with Yeltsin in 1994 -- a meeting during which he shared his faith with Yeltsin.
I was in Russia in January 1994 when President Clinton's mother, Virgina Clinton Kelley, died. [Staley was a soprano soloist for the Verdi "Requiem Mass." Detailed summary of how she got to Russia omitted. ]
About a week later, the president traveled to Russia, . . . Sarah Caldwell took a chamber orchestra to Moscow to perform for Clinton. . ., and I sang a group of American hymns with them to honor Clinton's visit and his mother's memory.
After the concert, Clinton asked me to please come by the hotel where his staff was staying in Moscow, so that we might visit for a while about his mother's funeral after an official trip to Yeltsin's dacha for dinner earlier that evening. . . Clinton told me that Yeltsin asked him many questions about how a democratic society worked. . . .
When I met with Clinton, he shared with me an account from dinner that evening. . . . He said that during dinner, Yeltsin leaned over to him and asked, "You're a Christian, aren't you?"
"Yes," President Clinton answered. "My faith is the most important thing in my life."
"Well, I have to do something about all these Christians coming to Russia. They are ruining our country [because the Russian Orthodox Church was threatened with demise]. Everyone is becoming a new Christian, a born-again Christian, and they are being rebaptized and putting crosses around their necks. It is ruining our country's culture."
President Clinton told me he looked at Yeltsin and said, "Democracy doesn't work that way. Either you're free or you're not. You can't have it both ways. You need to allow Christians the freedom to come into your country and preach and teach, and you have to allow the Russian people the freedom to choose their faith."
I thought to myself, "what a remarkable exchange. . . Clinton may very well have helped keep the doors to Russia open for Christians and the spread of Christianity beyond Russian Orthodoxy. President and also advocate for religious liberty." . . .
I have often wondered what might have been if Clinton and Yeltsin hadn't formed a warm friendship that allowed Yeltsin to ask such questions of Clinton as he did about his faith. . .
" The Rev. Carolyn Staley is an advocate of religious liberty, a longtime Baptist Joint Committee supporter and the minister of education at Pulaski Heights Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
making up for lost time
It's been nearly three weeks since I last blogged. Jogging and blogging have this in common: Get out of the habit and it is easy not to do it again. But, blogging is much less painful.
Clearing the desk of a few items that deserved more space in a blog entry of their own:
I am now, without a doubt, a member of the bourgeoisie, the class my generation tried to rebel against in the Sixties. The earmarks were there all along but the final indicator, the litmus test, the ultimate badge, is that I am going to have a sprinkler system in my front yard with a new lawn to go with it. I've never had a sprinkler system before and my lawn really took a beating with the prolonged droughts that Florida has experienced over the years. The city finally came through with reclaimed water in our neighborhood and I ran out of excuses not to install a sprinkler system. It will be operational whenever the city gets around to inspecting it. My back yard will continue to have "native Florida groundcover," meaning an amazing variety of weeds that are impervious to drought. I'm going to chop some of that out and plant some actual plants, but more about that later.
I am sick to death of CNN, again. This time the cause of illness is the steady diet of Don Imus' ugly face and uglier voice apologizing for talking like a fool, his critics who want his ugly head on a pole, and now [news flash] the sperm donor for Anna Nicole Smith's baby has been identified. He is grinning and waving his arms like he's done something commendable, and this will keep CNN running full speed for the rest of the month.
The good news must be that there's nothing going on in Iraq or Afghanistan worth mentioning. Surely CNN would tell us, wouldn't they?
One of my motivations for getting the sprinkler system and new lawn installed is that we are having guests from out of town over Memorial Day weekend and I want to make our house look a little spiffier. The women will be here for a bridal shower for our daughter. The men, including her fiance, are going fishing. The story is that he has never caught a fish. I've spent many hours with the same result, but this trip promises to change our luck and I'm looking forward to it. Six hours of trolling with a little bottom fishing thrown in ought to give us something for dinner besides pizza.
We went to Savannah the end of March for our anniversary. My souvenir of the trip is a book of ghost stories written by a former journalist (I don't believe this is why she is a former journalist). They are like the better UFO stories in the sense that the people telling them don't really want to talk about them or gain any publicity from them. There's an amazing number of ghost stories out of Savannah, and if only ten percent have any truth to them, Savannah is one spooky city.
Not all ghost stories should be dismissed out of hand. My father, never the kind to make up such a story, once had an encounter with the "presence" (for lack of a better word) of a young man who had a reputation for being a roughneck, but he had been killed in an accident a year or two earlier. Dad was a teenager at the time. He was walking home - a hike for some distance along a country road - when he felt or detected this young man's presence. "Don't be afraid," the young man said. So Dad walked on home, not afraid but not willing to hang around either.
This has turned out longer than I expected, and it is past time to get that book and pick up where I left off, a perfect thing to do on a rainy evening.
Clearing the desk of a few items that deserved more space in a blog entry of their own:
I am now, without a doubt, a member of the bourgeoisie, the class my generation tried to rebel against in the Sixties. The earmarks were there all along but the final indicator, the litmus test, the ultimate badge, is that I am going to have a sprinkler system in my front yard with a new lawn to go with it. I've never had a sprinkler system before and my lawn really took a beating with the prolonged droughts that Florida has experienced over the years. The city finally came through with reclaimed water in our neighborhood and I ran out of excuses not to install a sprinkler system. It will be operational whenever the city gets around to inspecting it. My back yard will continue to have "native Florida groundcover," meaning an amazing variety of weeds that are impervious to drought. I'm going to chop some of that out and plant some actual plants, but more about that later.
I am sick to death of CNN, again. This time the cause of illness is the steady diet of Don Imus' ugly face and uglier voice apologizing for talking like a fool, his critics who want his ugly head on a pole, and now [news flash] the sperm donor for Anna Nicole Smith's baby has been identified. He is grinning and waving his arms like he's done something commendable, and this will keep CNN running full speed for the rest of the month.
The good news must be that there's nothing going on in Iraq or Afghanistan worth mentioning. Surely CNN would tell us, wouldn't they?
One of my motivations for getting the sprinkler system and new lawn installed is that we are having guests from out of town over Memorial Day weekend and I want to make our house look a little spiffier. The women will be here for a bridal shower for our daughter. The men, including her fiance, are going fishing. The story is that he has never caught a fish. I've spent many hours with the same result, but this trip promises to change our luck and I'm looking forward to it. Six hours of trolling with a little bottom fishing thrown in ought to give us something for dinner besides pizza.
We went to Savannah the end of March for our anniversary. My souvenir of the trip is a book of ghost stories written by a former journalist (I don't believe this is why she is a former journalist). They are like the better UFO stories in the sense that the people telling them don't really want to talk about them or gain any publicity from them. There's an amazing number of ghost stories out of Savannah, and if only ten percent have any truth to them, Savannah is one spooky city.
Not all ghost stories should be dismissed out of hand. My father, never the kind to make up such a story, once had an encounter with the "presence" (for lack of a better word) of a young man who had a reputation for being a roughneck, but he had been killed in an accident a year or two earlier. Dad was a teenager at the time. He was walking home - a hike for some distance along a country road - when he felt or detected this young man's presence. "Don't be afraid," the young man said. So Dad walked on home, not afraid but not willing to hang around either.
This has turned out longer than I expected, and it is past time to get that book and pick up where I left off, a perfect thing to do on a rainy evening.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
driving down life's highways
I've come close to "buying the farm" on the highway more than once and I'm proud to tell you about it, mainly because I'm still here to tell you about it.
That thought occurred to me few days ago on my way to work after a truck veered from the center lane to the outside lane right in front of me, slowing down on his way to pulling off the road onto the shoulder. I've got to assume he was having mechanical problems.
I'd looked down for a second and looked up just in time to see the butt end of this truck dead ahead of me. I thought he was stopping. I hit the brake and pulled to the left, hearing my rear tires squeal, vaguely aware that there was a car in my blind spot on the left. There was no car there or I had more room than I thought, or that driver saw what was about to happen and moved left himself, and there was no collision.
I have come closer to checking out. Once, driving north on I-75 en route to Gainesville, I saw a car pulled over on the south-bound side. Looking ahead again, I saw a damned fool stopped dead on the highway in my lane to get a better look at the other car. There was a car in my blind spot and I was going too fast to stop in time so I ran off the road, shot past the moron parked on the highway, and came to a stop on the shoulder. I sat there and literally shuddered at the closeness of the call. The imbecile awakened and drove on up the road. Society should be happy I do not carry a gun in my car.
An even closer call came one evening when I was driving home from Lake Worth. State Road 70 is a good two-lane country road but they had a bridge under reconstruction and they'd built a temporary bridge next to it. I had to go left, then right, to get onto the temporary bridge. As I came around and looked ahead, I saw the headlights of one fool passing another on the bridge. I had maybe a foot of clearance on my right, and all I could do was jam on the brakes and hope - there was no time for a prayer. The driver being passed must have done the same thing, giving the lunatic room to complete his suicidal passing maneuver just barely in time.
I can think of a couple of other close calls, all of which demonstrate that (1) you can never, ever, take your eyes off of the traffic in front of you, and (2) you can believe that God does watch over fools including me and the brain-dead cretins I've met on the highway.
That thought occurred to me few days ago on my way to work after a truck veered from the center lane to the outside lane right in front of me, slowing down on his way to pulling off the road onto the shoulder. I've got to assume he was having mechanical problems.
I'd looked down for a second and looked up just in time to see the butt end of this truck dead ahead of me. I thought he was stopping. I hit the brake and pulled to the left, hearing my rear tires squeal, vaguely aware that there was a car in my blind spot on the left. There was no car there or I had more room than I thought, or that driver saw what was about to happen and moved left himself, and there was no collision.
I have come closer to checking out. Once, driving north on I-75 en route to Gainesville, I saw a car pulled over on the south-bound side. Looking ahead again, I saw a damned fool stopped dead on the highway in my lane to get a better look at the other car. There was a car in my blind spot and I was going too fast to stop in time so I ran off the road, shot past the moron parked on the highway, and came to a stop on the shoulder. I sat there and literally shuddered at the closeness of the call. The imbecile awakened and drove on up the road. Society should be happy I do not carry a gun in my car.
An even closer call came one evening when I was driving home from Lake Worth. State Road 70 is a good two-lane country road but they had a bridge under reconstruction and they'd built a temporary bridge next to it. I had to go left, then right, to get onto the temporary bridge. As I came around and looked ahead, I saw the headlights of one fool passing another on the bridge. I had maybe a foot of clearance on my right, and all I could do was jam on the brakes and hope - there was no time for a prayer. The driver being passed must have done the same thing, giving the lunatic room to complete his suicidal passing maneuver just barely in time.
I can think of a couple of other close calls, all of which demonstrate that (1) you can never, ever, take your eyes off of the traffic in front of you, and (2) you can believe that God does watch over fools including me and the brain-dead cretins I've met on the highway.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
old family photos
I stayed home for two days earlier this week with a hacking cough [hack hack]. I was in the in-between stage that I hate: Too sick to go share my "bug" at the office, too well to go to the emergency room. Too sick to mow my lawn (you folks up North can just be jealous), too well to be comatose.
That gave me time for a project that I've put off for a rainy weekend, which is to organize family photos. I have a ton of them. The first priority is the really, really old ones but they are all important, or at least the non-blurry photos that include people we know. Blurry photos of scenic shots just don't have any lasting appeal.
My main motive is to have them where I can grab and go if we have to evacuate due to a tornado or a hurricane. On Sunday I realized I didn't know where they were. After hours of searching I discovered I did a decent job a few years back of putting many of them in ring binders with those plastic (but "archival") sheet protectors. Problem was, I'd put them in a safe place, which in this house is a great way to lose all track until you stumble across them by accident. I'm still looking for the rest of them, including two I scanned last summer and then put in a safe place.
Here's one I found, fortunately. Taken about 1915 or 1916, it shows my dad (on the right) and his brother. You'd have to love it even if you didn't know who they were.
That gave me time for a project that I've put off for a rainy weekend, which is to organize family photos. I have a ton of them. The first priority is the really, really old ones but they are all important, or at least the non-blurry photos that include people we know. Blurry photos of scenic shots just don't have any lasting appeal.
My main motive is to have them where I can grab and go if we have to evacuate due to a tornado or a hurricane. On Sunday I realized I didn't know where they were. After hours of searching I discovered I did a decent job a few years back of putting many of them in ring binders with those plastic (but "archival") sheet protectors. Problem was, I'd put them in a safe place, which in this house is a great way to lose all track until you stumble across them by accident. I'm still looking for the rest of them, including two I scanned last summer and then put in a safe place.
Here's one I found, fortunately. Taken about 1915 or 1916, it shows my dad (on the right) and his brother. You'd have to love it even if you didn't know who they were.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
ancestors, cont'd
Now that you've met my great-grandfather, meet my grandfather. Known to the family as "Pa," he travelled Kentucky in a mule-drawn wagon selling home products made by the Raleigh Company to farm families. This was before the days of the mail-order catalog, and the business was good enough to let him support a family with five children. He died before I was born but I've met little old ladies from Kentucky who remembered him as the "Raleigh Man."
Pa was also known in his small town as an expert on horses. They had a farmer's market in town on Saturdays, and if a buyer questioned the age of a horse they'd call him in. He could tell the age of a horse by looking at its teeth and, as the saying goes, his word was law on that subject.
He was also a loving family man, and a teetotaler. While I was getting this photo ready to post I spilled some red wine on my keyboard. It doesn't seem to have fried the keyboard but I hope that wasn't Pa's way of telling me he disapproved of my drinking.
Pa was also known in his small town as an expert on horses. They had a farmer's market in town on Saturdays, and if a buyer questioned the age of a horse they'd call him in. He could tell the age of a horse by looking at its teeth and, as the saying goes, his word was law on that subject.
He was also a loving family man, and a teetotaler. While I was getting this photo ready to post I spilled some red wine on my keyboard. It doesn't seem to have fried the keyboard but I hope that wasn't Pa's way of telling me he disapproved of my drinking.
I'm not suddenly into ancestor worship, here. I'm just amazed to have learned within the past couple of days that this photo and the one below exist, and that I was able to get digital copies over the Internet just by asking. Cool!
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
ancestors
Let me introduce you to my great-grandfather. Born in 1832, he died when my father was two years old. He was a Kentucky man. I wish I could tell you his life story was a series of heroic deeds of pioneer days, but the best I can tell you is that he and his wife had eleven children over a span of 20 years and he supported his family by running a store. Considering the time and place, that's sounds heroic to me.
I didn't know this photo existed until yesterday. The original is in the possession of a distant cousin in Maryland. It was copied and distributed thanks to the magic of scanners and the Internet.
When I look at this photo on my monitor, enlarged to fill the screen, there seems to be a light in his eyes and he's looking directly at me. Click on the photo to enlarge it and tell me what you think.
I didn't know this photo existed until yesterday. The original is in the possession of a distant cousin in Maryland. It was copied and distributed thanks to the magic of scanners and the Internet.
When I look at this photo on my monitor, enlarged to fill the screen, there seems to be a light in his eyes and he's looking directly at me. Click on the photo to enlarge it and tell me what you think.
Monday, February 05, 2007
lunacy on Clearwater Beach, cont'd
Our local newspaper, which cannot stop fawning over bloated redevelopment projects, has done it again:
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/02/04/Northpinellas/Short_term_pain__for_.shtml
This seems to have been written with my earlier (unpublished) letter to the editor in front of the writer, for which I ought to be flattered.
Read it carefully. It is an admission of failure. Despite plans that have not borne fruit, they advocate plowing ahead (literally) by plowing up most of the existing parking on South Beach in hopes of what might be built two years from now.
We have friends with a business on the beach. Over the past two years they have lost money, big time. They are not likely to hold out for two more years.
Just because our city has planned to act like lunatics for several years does not mean that they must act like lunatics now.
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/02/04/Northpinellas/Short_term_pain__for_.shtml
This seems to have been written with my earlier (unpublished) letter to the editor in front of the writer, for which I ought to be flattered.
Read it carefully. It is an admission of failure. Despite plans that have not borne fruit, they advocate plowing ahead (literally) by plowing up most of the existing parking on South Beach in hopes of what might be built two years from now.
We have friends with a business on the beach. Over the past two years they have lost money, big time. They are not likely to hold out for two more years.
Just because our city has planned to act like lunatics for several years does not mean that they must act like lunatics now.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
lunacy on Clearwater Beach
I live in a city that was once known as a beautiful small town on the Gulf of Mexico. Lately, it shows evidence of being governed by imbeciles. But first, take a look at the following and tell me what you think:
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/02/01/Northpinellas/Deal_for_beach_parkin.shtml
I think this is lunacy. The city is removing, within the next few weeks, more than 500 of the 755 public parking spaces on Clearwater Beach to make way for a "revitalization" project. If we wait two years (perhaps riding bicycles to the beach in the meantime), we might be allowed to park in some of the spaces to be built for a Hyatt hotel.
Now the city is ready to spend $9 million for 300 spaces in a garage to be built more than a block from the beach for a condominium project. That garage might be available in two years, if all goes well. We are asked to be grateful because the City has set aside more than $12 million from a local tax called "Penny for Pinellas" for a parking garage, and the leftover cash can be spent on other "big-ticket city projects."
The City has a plan for the beach they call "Beach by Design." It is supposed to mean revitalization. I call it slow death. Hundreds of hotel rooms have already disappeared. The parking will all but disappear just in time for spring break and the summer tourist season.
A vast horde of winter (and summer) visitors no longer patronize shops and restaurants on the beach because they cannot stay there. I fear that their absence will be construed as meaning the beach needs less parking - a vicious cycle, a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I hope the City does not begin removing parking spaces from the beach until the voters have had their say on renewing "Penny for Pinellas," which comes up for a vote next month. I predict the tax will be trashed by voters who are tired of seeing vast sums of money spent on big-ticket city projects. Removing the spaces now runs the risk that the beach will be left in the lurch with totally inadequate parking, no money in the slush fund, and no relief in sight.
Why should I care, you might ask? I have lived in this town, off and on, since 1955. Every other town in this county looks better than it did ten years ago. My hometown is slowly going down the sewer pipe.
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/02/01/Northpinellas/Deal_for_beach_parkin.shtml
I think this is lunacy. The city is removing, within the next few weeks, more than 500 of the 755 public parking spaces on Clearwater Beach to make way for a "revitalization" project. If we wait two years (perhaps riding bicycles to the beach in the meantime), we might be allowed to park in some of the spaces to be built for a Hyatt hotel.
Now the city is ready to spend $9 million for 300 spaces in a garage to be built more than a block from the beach for a condominium project. That garage might be available in two years, if all goes well. We are asked to be grateful because the City has set aside more than $12 million from a local tax called "Penny for Pinellas" for a parking garage, and the leftover cash can be spent on other "big-ticket city projects."
The City has a plan for the beach they call "Beach by Design." It is supposed to mean revitalization. I call it slow death. Hundreds of hotel rooms have already disappeared. The parking will all but disappear just in time for spring break and the summer tourist season.
A vast horde of winter (and summer) visitors no longer patronize shops and restaurants on the beach because they cannot stay there. I fear that their absence will be construed as meaning the beach needs less parking - a vicious cycle, a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I hope the City does not begin removing parking spaces from the beach until the voters have had their say on renewing "Penny for Pinellas," which comes up for a vote next month. I predict the tax will be trashed by voters who are tired of seeing vast sums of money spent on big-ticket city projects. Removing the spaces now runs the risk that the beach will be left in the lurch with totally inadequate parking, no money in the slush fund, and no relief in sight.
Why should I care, you might ask? I have lived in this town, off and on, since 1955. Every other town in this county looks better than it did ten years ago. My hometown is slowly going down the sewer pipe.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
off to see the queen
We went off to see the queen last week - the movie, that is. "The Queen" was nominated for various awards and I think the lead actress won a trophy but I don't keep up with all that celebrity nonsense. But you've got to see the movie.
The royal family probably hated it but it gave us a behind-the-scenes view of what life must be like for Queen Elizabeth and it also lets us know that there is a real personality behind that stoic face. The story takes place right after Princess Diana was killed, which was very stressful for a lot of people including the Queen and her family. She wanted to keep it all private - that is, keep out of it entirely - because Diana was no longer "HRH." Eventually she had to give way, of course. Her ancestors could ignore public opinion, but that isn't the modern way of doing things and Tony Blair was newly elected and anxious to "modernize" UK government.
Who knew that Queen Elizabeth has had ten prime ministers, beginning with Winston Churchill? Who knew that the custom is for the newly elected prime minister to kneel before the Queen so she can ask if he will form her government for her (and the traditional answer is "yes")?
Who knew that she was a mechanic during "the war" (WWII) and is at home behind the steering wheel of a Land Rover, driving over country trails and across rivers?
Who knew that she could become teary-eyed upon seeing a 14-point deer that the hunters (including her grandsons) were after, and would shoo it away? Who knew that she hoped it didn't suffer after being wounded and then killed by somebody from a neighboring estate, in Scotland? Reality or metaphor, the deer scenes are powerful.
And who would know that kilts look like normal clothing when worn by the men of the royal family?
You've got to see the movie to believe all this.
The royal family probably hated it but it gave us a behind-the-scenes view of what life must be like for Queen Elizabeth and it also lets us know that there is a real personality behind that stoic face. The story takes place right after Princess Diana was killed, which was very stressful for a lot of people including the Queen and her family. She wanted to keep it all private - that is, keep out of it entirely - because Diana was no longer "HRH." Eventually she had to give way, of course. Her ancestors could ignore public opinion, but that isn't the modern way of doing things and Tony Blair was newly elected and anxious to "modernize" UK government.
Who knew that Queen Elizabeth has had ten prime ministers, beginning with Winston Churchill? Who knew that the custom is for the newly elected prime minister to kneel before the Queen so she can ask if he will form her government for her (and the traditional answer is "yes")?
Who knew that she was a mechanic during "the war" (WWII) and is at home behind the steering wheel of a Land Rover, driving over country trails and across rivers?
Who knew that she could become teary-eyed upon seeing a 14-point deer that the hunters (including her grandsons) were after, and would shoo it away? Who knew that she hoped it didn't suffer after being wounded and then killed by somebody from a neighboring estate, in Scotland? Reality or metaphor, the deer scenes are powerful.
And who would know that kilts look like normal clothing when worn by the men of the royal family?
You've got to see the movie to believe all this.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Uncle Jack turns 89!
I hope I look this good at Uncle Jack's age. He has slowed down physically but his mind is still sharp. One of his nieces gave him a computer game about World War II but his computer needs more memory to run it. It's his computer that has a memory problem, not his mind. That may be what a lifetime of reading can do for you!
That's his sister, Sally, with him. She and several carloads of family showed up yesterday at his and Geri's home for a surprise birthday party. Caught him by surprise, too.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
little things
This turned up in my in-box, and it may or may not be entirely true but it makes an important point:
The head of a company survived 9/11 because his son started kindergarten that morning.
Another fellow is alive because it was his turn to bring donuts.
One woman was late because her alarm clock didn't go off in time.
One was late because of being stuck on the NJ Turnpike because of an auto accident.
One of them missed his bus.
One spilled food on her clothes and had to take time to change.
One's car wouldn't start.
One went back to answer the telephone.
One had a child that dawdled and didn't get ready as soon as he should have.
One couldn't get a taxi.
One man put on a new pair of shoes that morning. Before he got to work, he developed a blister on his foot. He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid. That is why he is alive today.
Now when I am stuck in traffic, miss an elevator, turn back to answer a ringing telephone . . . all the little things that annoy me . . . I think to myself, this is exactly where God wants me to be at this very moment.
Next time your morning seems to be going wrong, the children are slow getting dressed, you can't find the car keys, or you hit every traffic light, don't get mad or frustrated. May God continue to bless you with all those annoying little things. Remember that there may be some good purpose for your being exactly where you at that moment in time.
The head of a company survived 9/11 because his son started kindergarten that morning.
Another fellow is alive because it was his turn to bring donuts.
One woman was late because her alarm clock didn't go off in time.
One was late because of being stuck on the NJ Turnpike because of an auto accident.
One of them missed his bus.
One spilled food on her clothes and had to take time to change.
One's car wouldn't start.
One went back to answer the telephone.
One had a child that dawdled and didn't get ready as soon as he should have.
One couldn't get a taxi.
One man put on a new pair of shoes that morning. Before he got to work, he developed a blister on his foot. He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid. That is why he is alive today.
Now when I am stuck in traffic, miss an elevator, turn back to answer a ringing telephone . . . all the little things that annoy me . . . I think to myself, this is exactly where God wants me to be at this very moment.
Next time your morning seems to be going wrong, the children are slow getting dressed, you can't find the car keys, or you hit every traffic light, don't get mad or frustrated. May God continue to bless you with all those annoying little things. Remember that there may be some good purpose for your being exactly where you at that moment in time.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
thinking ahead to the Super Bowl
It's been two weeks since I last blogged. I wonder if anybody noticed.
It is good, very good, to see Tony Dungy taking the Indianapolis Colts to the Super Bowl. He left a lot of fans behind in the Tampa Bay area when he was fired after the 2001 season. (How can fans fire the owners? Not buying tickets is the only way I can think of.) He is a class act and he knows football. When he arrived in 1996 the Bucs had had 13 consecutive losing seaons. Less than two years later they won a playoff game. He left a Bucs team good enough to win after the 2002 season.
This will be the first time a black head coach has taken a team to the Super Bowl in the 41-year history of the Super Bowl but, technically, he won't be the first. There will be two of them this year and Coach Lovie Smith beat him to it when the Chicago Bears won earlier in the day. Smith is another class act. He and Dungy are going to upgrade the Super Bowl to a nice-guy competition, imagine that.
Dungy hired Smith for his first NFL job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1996. Long-suffering Bucs fans have kept track of former Bucs players who have done good elsewhere and now we have the spectacle of two former coaches who have become head coaches elsewhere in the NFL and they have done just fine without the Bucs' organization and fickle fan support.
I'm not even a huge football fan. But I will be watching the game on Super Bowl Sunday, and I hope Tony Dungy and the Colts go all the way.
It is good, very good, to see Tony Dungy taking the Indianapolis Colts to the Super Bowl. He left a lot of fans behind in the Tampa Bay area when he was fired after the 2001 season. (How can fans fire the owners? Not buying tickets is the only way I can think of.) He is a class act and he knows football. When he arrived in 1996 the Bucs had had 13 consecutive losing seaons. Less than two years later they won a playoff game. He left a Bucs team good enough to win after the 2002 season.
This will be the first time a black head coach has taken a team to the Super Bowl in the 41-year history of the Super Bowl but, technically, he won't be the first. There will be two of them this year and Coach Lovie Smith beat him to it when the Chicago Bears won earlier in the day. Smith is another class act. He and Dungy are going to upgrade the Super Bowl to a nice-guy competition, imagine that.
Dungy hired Smith for his first NFL job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1996. Long-suffering Bucs fans have kept track of former Bucs players who have done good elsewhere and now we have the spectacle of two former coaches who have become head coaches elsewhere in the NFL and they have done just fine without the Bucs' organization and fickle fan support.
I'm not even a huge football fan. But I will be watching the game on Super Bowl Sunday, and I hope Tony Dungy and the Colts go all the way.
Monday, January 08, 2007
go, Gators
Being an FSU alumnus, I don't normally cheer for any team representing slithery reptiles from an institution of higher learning located in Hogtown, Florida. (That was the earlier name for Gainesville, renamed in honor of a Civil War general after the railroad came through. Hogtown is not a dignified name for a railroad station. They have a creek running through town, still named Hogtown Creek.)
Having said that, I'll be cheering for the Gators against Ohio State tonight for a couple of reasons. One is that the Gators are in the game and the FSU team is at home watching on TV. The other is that I still remember the sight of Coach Woody Hayes throwing a punch at a player from the other team when he got too close to the Ohio State sideline.
But if the Gators win, I won't be out in the streets setting fire to anything. I hope I'm still awake by the time the game ends. I'll be mumbling "go, Gators" with my eyes half closed.
Go, Gators.
ZZZzzzzz. . .
Having said that, I'll be cheering for the Gators against Ohio State tonight for a couple of reasons. One is that the Gators are in the game and the FSU team is at home watching on TV. The other is that I still remember the sight of Coach Woody Hayes throwing a punch at a player from the other team when he got too close to the Ohio State sideline.
But if the Gators win, I won't be out in the streets setting fire to anything. I hope I'm still awake by the time the game ends. I'll be mumbling "go, Gators" with my eyes half closed.
Go, Gators.
ZZZzzzzz. . .
Friday, January 05, 2007
my kind of book
The following is borrowed shamelessly from the St. Petersburg Times and the Associated Press:
There's a new book out about messy homes, offices, and lives, just in time for New Year's. The message is, stop worrying about it!
That's the case outlined by Eric Abrahamson, a professor of management at Columbia University, and journalist David H. Freedman in their new book, A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder.
Rather than feeling guilty about resolutions you have no intention of keeping, check out this list of New Year's anti-resolutions suggested by Freedman, also a columnist at Inc. magazine.
[condensed version follows]
- Feel fine about having a moderately cluttered house. A moderately messy home feels warmer, and more comfortable and nurturing, and reflects the interests and activities of the family. When people resonding to a survey calculated the amount of time they spent searching for misplaced items, it carved a mere nine minutes from their day.
- Feel fine about having a somewhat dirty house. Overexposure to fumes from cleaning products is a bigger risk than clutter or grime. Studies have found that children with limited exposure to dust and allergens are more likely to develop allergies later in life.
- Be more disorganized with your time. If you pack many rigidly scheduled tasks into the day, you'll shortchange almost everyone you deal with.
[here's my favorite]
- Have a messy desk. "Messy desks can be highly functional, with the most-needed documents ending up at hand and the less-important ones buried. People who said they keep a 'very neat desk' spend an average of 36 percent more time looking for things at work than people who said they keep a 'fairly messy' desk."
- Don't fight with partners or children over messiness. Studies have shown that kids study and function very well in messy environments.
[and here's my second favorite]
- Procrastinate more. "Procrastination is a form of prioritizing, and of letting as many things as possible take care of themselves or become irrelevant over time, without your having to waste effort on them."
I could buy this book but it would get lost in the clutter. I'll wait until the public library gets a recorded copy on CDs that I can play in my car going to and from work.
There's a new book out about messy homes, offices, and lives, just in time for New Year's. The message is, stop worrying about it!
That's the case outlined by Eric Abrahamson, a professor of management at Columbia University, and journalist David H. Freedman in their new book, A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder.
Rather than feeling guilty about resolutions you have no intention of keeping, check out this list of New Year's anti-resolutions suggested by Freedman, also a columnist at Inc. magazine.
[condensed version follows]
- Feel fine about having a moderately cluttered house. A moderately messy home feels warmer, and more comfortable and nurturing, and reflects the interests and activities of the family. When people resonding to a survey calculated the amount of time they spent searching for misplaced items, it carved a mere nine minutes from their day.
- Feel fine about having a somewhat dirty house. Overexposure to fumes from cleaning products is a bigger risk than clutter or grime. Studies have found that children with limited exposure to dust and allergens are more likely to develop allergies later in life.
- Be more disorganized with your time. If you pack many rigidly scheduled tasks into the day, you'll shortchange almost everyone you deal with.
[here's my favorite]
- Have a messy desk. "Messy desks can be highly functional, with the most-needed documents ending up at hand and the less-important ones buried. People who said they keep a 'very neat desk' spend an average of 36 percent more time looking for things at work than people who said they keep a 'fairly messy' desk."
- Don't fight with partners or children over messiness. Studies have shown that kids study and function very well in messy environments.
[and here's my second favorite]
- Procrastinate more. "Procrastination is a form of prioritizing, and of letting as many things as possible take care of themselves or become irrelevant over time, without your having to waste effort on them."
I could buy this book but it would get lost in the clutter. I'll wait until the public library gets a recorded copy on CDs that I can play in my car going to and from work.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
thoughts on another new year
The calendar has flipped its pages, and once again I am fooled into thinking this is a terribly significant event.
New Year's Day does make you ask some basic questions such as, why am I here, where did I come from, and where am I going, but these are questions we ought to ask every morning when we roll out of bed, or at least every Sunday when a fresh new week begins.
New Year's Day does give you some incentive to get started on long overdue projects like ridding the garage and closets of junk, trash, and unused neckties, but Saturday mornings are just as good a time as any to do that.
New Year's Day also give you another incentive to begin to think about getting ready to commence preparing for income tax day, but hey, not this week. Let's get the Christmas bills under control first.
I like New Year's Day. The shortest day of the year is behind us and the days are getting longer, again. It marks the middle of a relatively slack time where I work, and makes me want to do a little organizing of the debris that piles up during the year. This is why stores sell those huge boxes with lids for packing and storing stuff. What I really want is an industrial grade paper shredder than can handle a shovel full of paper at a time.
Our friends and relatives know not to expect a Christmas card from us before Christmas. We've sometimes mailed them before New Year's Day, but not this year. If we get them out before Valentine's Day, that's not too late. Christmas is something to celebrate all year long, anyway, right? Mailing Christmas cards is another way we celebrate the beginning of a new year. Maybe we'll get them out early next time. Or maybe not.
New Year's Day does make you ask some basic questions such as, why am I here, where did I come from, and where am I going, but these are questions we ought to ask every morning when we roll out of bed, or at least every Sunday when a fresh new week begins.
New Year's Day does give you some incentive to get started on long overdue projects like ridding the garage and closets of junk, trash, and unused neckties, but Saturday mornings are just as good a time as any to do that.
New Year's Day also give you another incentive to begin to think about getting ready to commence preparing for income tax day, but hey, not this week. Let's get the Christmas bills under control first.
I like New Year's Day. The shortest day of the year is behind us and the days are getting longer, again. It marks the middle of a relatively slack time where I work, and makes me want to do a little organizing of the debris that piles up during the year. This is why stores sell those huge boxes with lids for packing and storing stuff. What I really want is an industrial grade paper shredder than can handle a shovel full of paper at a time.
Our friends and relatives know not to expect a Christmas card from us before Christmas. We've sometimes mailed them before New Year's Day, but not this year. If we get them out before Valentine's Day, that's not too late. Christmas is something to celebrate all year long, anyway, right? Mailing Christmas cards is another way we celebrate the beginning of a new year. Maybe we'll get them out early next time. Or maybe not.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Merry Christmas from Florida no. 2
Behold the Christmas Cactus. We've discovered the secret for growing one: Hang it in a protected place and ignore it (but water now and then):
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Merry Christmas from Florida
This wreath was put together by one of our daughters from Boston using boughs from her brother's Christmas tree in Colorado. He and his wife are due in this evening, so this wreath is perfectly symbolic of having a family home for Christmas, or most of us, anyway. They wanted warm weather and they will get it, all week. Merry Christmas!
Friday, December 22, 2006
Aunt Susie meets Santa
"Meets" isn't the right word, here. When you are 91 years old, you've developed a long-standing friendship with the old boy. She was concerned that she was too old to sit in his lap, but everybody around her told her you are never too old. She almost had him sitting in her lap.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Aunt Susie turns 91
May we all look so good when we are this close to a century! (As usual, click on the photo to enlarge.)
Monday, December 18, 2006
congratulations, me
Time Magazine has named "you," meaning me (and by inference, you, because you are reading this), as "Person of the Year" for 2006. The theory is that I, and my roughly seven faithful readers, are controlling the Information Age. We are engaged in community and collaboration. We are writing WikiPedia, an on-line encyclopedia of dubious integrity, and we are loading up servers and filling the ether with home movies of our pet iguanas and photos of our tattoos on YouTube and MySpace.
Time Magazine has made a serious argument for bringing their silly tradition of naming sombody as the Person of the Year to a conclusion. Now.
Never mind the madmen who are murdering people around the world; never mind people like Bill and Linda Gates who are trying to find a good and humanitarian use for their billions of dollars; never mind . . . OK, you get the point. You could name somebody worthy of the honor.
But seriously, one person? for an entire year? for the entire world? Naming "you" as the person of the year is an easy out, and an admission that the concept is absurd.
If you want a more honest view of 2006, check out the St. Petersburg Times' annual Sour Orange Awards or Esquire Magazine's Dubious Achievements issue.
Time Magazine has made a serious argument for bringing their silly tradition of naming sombody as the Person of the Year to a conclusion. Now.
Never mind the madmen who are murdering people around the world; never mind people like Bill and Linda Gates who are trying to find a good and humanitarian use for their billions of dollars; never mind . . . OK, you get the point. You could name somebody worthy of the honor.
But seriously, one person? for an entire year? for the entire world? Naming "you" as the person of the year is an easy out, and an admission that the concept is absurd.
If you want a more honest view of 2006, check out the St. Petersburg Times' annual Sour Orange Awards or Esquire Magazine's Dubious Achievements issue.
Monday, December 11, 2006
finally
I promised to stay on the positive side for the rest of the holiday season. As you can see, I haven't been inspired to say much on the positive side.
I could tell you about my new HD television and my new DVD player that will "play" digital photos on the TV screen. We had friends over the other night who put on a spectacular digital slide show with their photos from Greece, Egypt, North Africa, and other places you've got to see to really appreciate. I could tell you how I got my audio hooked up digitally to my surround-sound system. But that would sound like bragging.
No, the good news for today is that we (the city I work for) won a federal lawsuit involving billboards. Not the huge kind of billboard you see along the Interstate Highway, but little mini-billboards that have sprouted up around town like weeds, renting at $7.00 a day. Some of them have been around for years, which was one of their arguments against code enforcement.
This case has been pending in court for more than a year since the last activity in the case. For the past six months, the case has been in an "any-day-now" status and the waiting has just about driven me crazy. (It would have been a very short drive.) We get notices of activities in the case electronically and I've been looking at my email morning, noon and night, waiting for notice that the word has come down from the mountain.
The case is not terribly monumental in the overall history of American jurisprudence but it will help our city look better and the decision meant a lot to me. I am not a gracious loser to begin with, and this one attracted the attention of one of our High Officials. Losing the case could have been career-threatening.
It ain't over yet. The fat lady doesn't sing until the appeal period has expired (or, if appealed, until that's been decided). But I've seen the fat lady in the dressing room, warming up her vocal cords, and she's wearing our costume. She's a very pretty fat lady and I hope she doesn't go wandering off too far.
I could tell you about my new HD television and my new DVD player that will "play" digital photos on the TV screen. We had friends over the other night who put on a spectacular digital slide show with their photos from Greece, Egypt, North Africa, and other places you've got to see to really appreciate. I could tell you how I got my audio hooked up digitally to my surround-sound system. But that would sound like bragging.
No, the good news for today is that we (the city I work for) won a federal lawsuit involving billboards. Not the huge kind of billboard you see along the Interstate Highway, but little mini-billboards that have sprouted up around town like weeds, renting at $7.00 a day. Some of them have been around for years, which was one of their arguments against code enforcement.
This case has been pending in court for more than a year since the last activity in the case. For the past six months, the case has been in an "any-day-now" status and the waiting has just about driven me crazy. (It would have been a very short drive.) We get notices of activities in the case electronically and I've been looking at my email morning, noon and night, waiting for notice that the word has come down from the mountain.
The case is not terribly monumental in the overall history of American jurisprudence but it will help our city look better and the decision meant a lot to me. I am not a gracious loser to begin with, and this one attracted the attention of one of our High Officials. Losing the case could have been career-threatening.
It ain't over yet. The fat lady doesn't sing until the appeal period has expired (or, if appealed, until that's been decided). But I've seen the fat lady in the dressing room, warming up her vocal cords, and she's wearing our costume. She's a very pretty fat lady and I hope she doesn't go wandering off too far.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
move over, Sean Connery
I've been a fan of Sean Connery since 'way back, beginning with his best James Bond film, From Russia with Love. That movie is my "gold standard" for Bond films and Connery has always been, in my humble opinion, the best Bond actor. Until tonight.
Tonight we saw Casino Royale, with Daniel Craig as Bond. Our group of six veteran movie fans agreed that this is probably the best Bond film ever and that Craig is (take your choice but you've gotta see the movie first) every bit as good as Connery, or even better. Our six-person jury didn't take a vote on that question.
Craig doesn't look as smooth and urbane as Connery does in a dinner jacket but he is tougher than all of the other Bond actors. They ran him through some extraordinarily difficult and implausible (aren't they all) stunt scenes, but he looks like he could have done it all without stunt doubles, even when he walked through a wall after jumping from the top of one construction crane to another and onto a rooftop. Craig kept reminding me of somebody and I finally realized who: He is Steve McQueen reincarnated with slight touches of Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman when he could play a bad guy with a straight face, and the cyborg from The Terminator. Only tougher. I mean, he could take Chuck Norris.
The movie runs nearly two and a half hours but doesn't drag for one minute, even near the end. It is pure Bond. Chase scenes? Check. High stakes poker? Check. The beautiful woman? Check. One is played by Eva Green, although she's the first I can remember not willing to hop right into bed on first meeting Bond. That role is played by a beautiful Mediterranean actress, Murino, wife of one of the bad guys. We are missing only the underwater Scuba diving scenes, boat chase scenes, sky diving scenes, and skiing scenes. Hmmm, OK, it isn't the composite of all Bond movies but they promise he will be back.
Can hardly wait!
Tonight we saw Casino Royale, with Daniel Craig as Bond. Our group of six veteran movie fans agreed that this is probably the best Bond film ever and that Craig is (take your choice but you've gotta see the movie first) every bit as good as Connery, or even better. Our six-person jury didn't take a vote on that question.
Craig doesn't look as smooth and urbane as Connery does in a dinner jacket but he is tougher than all of the other Bond actors. They ran him through some extraordinarily difficult and implausible (aren't they all) stunt scenes, but he looks like he could have done it all without stunt doubles, even when he walked through a wall after jumping from the top of one construction crane to another and onto a rooftop. Craig kept reminding me of somebody and I finally realized who: He is Steve McQueen reincarnated with slight touches of Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman when he could play a bad guy with a straight face, and the cyborg from The Terminator. Only tougher. I mean, he could take Chuck Norris.
The movie runs nearly two and a half hours but doesn't drag for one minute, even near the end. It is pure Bond. Chase scenes? Check. High stakes poker? Check. The beautiful woman? Check. One is played by Eva Green, although she's the first I can remember not willing to hop right into bed on first meeting Bond. That role is played by a beautiful Mediterranean actress, Murino, wife of one of the bad guys. We are missing only the underwater Scuba diving scenes, boat chase scenes, sky diving scenes, and skiing scenes. Hmmm, OK, it isn't the composite of all Bond movies but they promise he will be back.
Can hardly wait!
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
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.
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.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
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.
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.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
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.
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.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
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.
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.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
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.
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.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
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.
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.
Monday, November 06, 2006
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.
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.
Friday, November 03, 2006
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.
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.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
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.
"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.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Happy Halloween
This is one time of the year you miss your kids. Especially if they used to bring back more candy than you gave out!
On the left, three cute gremlins. Their brother (not in the picture) suffered the disadvantage of being too young to go out that year. Above right, he's learned to make up for lost time. Like a bandit, you might say.
Happy Hallowe'lections
Here are a couple of Halloween horror stories, both having to do with elections in Florida. Remember Florida, in 2000? The same party is still in control and nothing much has changed.
1. A court has ruled that election officials may provide written notice telling voters that a vote cast for a withdrawn candidate [Mark Foley (R)], whose name still appears on the ballot, will be counted as a vote for a replacement candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot [Foley resigned one month ago]. The Florida Secretary of State [Katherine Harris' old job, a position now occupied by Sue Cobb (R)] proposed to give a notice to voters addressing only the former and current Republican candidates. The court said that the notice failed to meet the impartiality requirement. Instead, they will use a notice at polling places that was provided by the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections [who are locally elected county officers]. The court found that notice to be a neutral, evenhanded, plain and concise statement of facts.
It would be to the Republicans' advantage to explain why a vote for Foley is not really a vote for Foley, but the Secretary of State cannot put together a proper notice.
2. Meanwhile, in Tallahassee, the local elections supervisor has been giving voting machine manufacturers unholy hell. He has demonstrated that voting machines made by the three manufacturers certified to do business in Florida can all be "hacked," altering the vote count. Did he get a thank-you note from Sue Cobb (R), the Florida Secretary of State? No. She has threatened to sue him and remove him from office for"undermining voter confidence." You can read about it here: http://www.sptimes.com/2006/10/31/State/Activist_inside_and_a.shtml
I'm going to do something on November 7 I thought I'd never do. I'm voting straight party ticket. I may have second thoughts if I have to vote for certain incumbents, but it will be a lesser-of-two-evils analysis. I'm taking a clothes pin with me in case I have to hold my nose while voting.
1. A court has ruled that election officials may provide written notice telling voters that a vote cast for a withdrawn candidate [Mark Foley (R)], whose name still appears on the ballot, will be counted as a vote for a replacement candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot [Foley resigned one month ago]. The Florida Secretary of State [Katherine Harris' old job, a position now occupied by Sue Cobb (R)] proposed to give a notice to voters addressing only the former and current Republican candidates. The court said that the notice failed to meet the impartiality requirement. Instead, they will use a notice at polling places that was provided by the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections [who are locally elected county officers]. The court found that notice to be a neutral, evenhanded, plain and concise statement of facts.
It would be to the Republicans' advantage to explain why a vote for Foley is not really a vote for Foley, but the Secretary of State cannot put together a proper notice.
2. Meanwhile, in Tallahassee, the local elections supervisor has been giving voting machine manufacturers unholy hell. He has demonstrated that voting machines made by the three manufacturers certified to do business in Florida can all be "hacked," altering the vote count. Did he get a thank-you note from Sue Cobb (R), the Florida Secretary of State? No. She has threatened to sue him and remove him from office for"undermining voter confidence." You can read about it here: http://www.sptimes.com/2006/10/31/State/Activist_inside_and_a.shtml
I'm going to do something on November 7 I thought I'd never do. I'm voting straight party ticket. I may have second thoughts if I have to vote for certain incumbents, but it will be a lesser-of-two-evils analysis. I'm taking a clothes pin with me in case I have to hold my nose while voting.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
if you wonder why time seems to speed up
This cartoon will be a mystery to our friends in the U.K. They don't "do" Thanksgiving and I don't think they get "into" Halloween. They don't over-commercialize Christmas, either. Lucky them.
Monday, October 23, 2006
never say never
Taking a break from vacation photos, let's think for a moment about the lowly Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Here you see placekicker Matt Bryant, with three seconds on the clock and the Eagles ahead by one, attempting a 62-yard field goal.
Yeah, right, we said. Game's over, we said. What time does the baseball game start, we asked.
He made it, straight down the middle with yards to spare. The ball went over the goal with so much air under it that he'd have broken the NFL record if he'd kicked the ball from two yards farther back.
A great lesson in nevers: Never give up, and never leave the game until it's over. The fat lady never had a chance to start singing. It was good.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
scenery in Scotland, part 4
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If you saw Rob Roy, you may remember this scene. These are the gardens at Drummond Castle (with daughter and mother-in-law decorating the first landing on the way down). First laid out in the early 1600's, it was the scene (in the movie) where Montrose was posing for his portrait, Rob Roy came to renegotiate his loan, Montrose asked him to perjure himself against Argyle, and he escaped into the Highlands. These gardens are magnificent. Even on a drizzling September day without much sunlight, there's enough color to dazzle you.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
driving in Scotland, part 2
In retrospect, I very much enjoyed driving a full-sized van over two-lane roads with narrow shoulders, on the "wrong" side of the road, especially in the rain. I can say that now because we survived, and because the inspector at the car rental return shop wrote "NND" ("no new damage") on the report at the end of the trip.
The Brits are polite people and they drive that way. Except for the honkers. Stop at a place where you aren't supposed to stop (such as, entering a traffic circle and stopping because you forgot to look right to see who's about to hit you, or stop to let pedestrians finish crossing the street) and the guy behind will honk - every time. That's OK, because a lot of accidents are caused by people stopping where they aren't supposed to stop. But, I remember being honked at in Germany only once. Maybe the other German drivers were getting ready to get out and beat me senseless with a bratwurst, but they didn't honk as much. In Scotland and Germany, I didn't see any obvious signs of road rage, and didn't drive by any fender-benders, either.
In Scotland, most of what you need to know is painted on the asphalt in large white letters. Like, "slow" as you approach an intersection. Like, arrows telling you which lanes are turn lanes and which are through lanes. Like, the speed limit, a number inside a large circle. They do have road signs. My favorite is the sign reading, "Slow down NOW." There was one sign, a red circle with a blue background, that I never did decide what it meant. After awhile you'd see another just like it but with a red diagonal line telling you that the mystery zone ended.
One thing they do not have is billboards. They don't even have the kind of small-sign clutter we've come to associate with cities. You might notice that while you are there, or you might not notice until you get back home and look at all your photos and realize their scenery is not trashed and cluttered with signs. In the U.S., our scenery is blocked by signs. In Scotland and other parts of the U.K. and Europe, where the scenery is spectacular at every turn in the road, may they never be cursed with such garbage.
When we returned the rental car I noticed a Japanese couple leaving in theirs, apparently having just arrived in Edinburgh. The lady was behind the wheel and she had a thoughtful, almost prayerful, expression on her face. They don't drive on the left in Japan, I've been told. I hope that she, too, was rewarded with an "NDD" at the end of their trip.
The Brits are polite people and they drive that way. Except for the honkers. Stop at a place where you aren't supposed to stop (such as, entering a traffic circle and stopping because you forgot to look right to see who's about to hit you, or stop to let pedestrians finish crossing the street) and the guy behind will honk - every time. That's OK, because a lot of accidents are caused by people stopping where they aren't supposed to stop. But, I remember being honked at in Germany only once. Maybe the other German drivers were getting ready to get out and beat me senseless with a bratwurst, but they didn't honk as much. In Scotland and Germany, I didn't see any obvious signs of road rage, and didn't drive by any fender-benders, either.
In Scotland, most of what you need to know is painted on the asphalt in large white letters. Like, "slow" as you approach an intersection. Like, arrows telling you which lanes are turn lanes and which are through lanes. Like, the speed limit, a number inside a large circle. They do have road signs. My favorite is the sign reading, "Slow down NOW." There was one sign, a red circle with a blue background, that I never did decide what it meant. After awhile you'd see another just like it but with a red diagonal line telling you that the mystery zone ended.
One thing they do not have is billboards. They don't even have the kind of small-sign clutter we've come to associate with cities. You might notice that while you are there, or you might not notice until you get back home and look at all your photos and realize their scenery is not trashed and cluttered with signs. In the U.S., our scenery is blocked by signs. In Scotland and other parts of the U.K. and Europe, where the scenery is spectacular at every turn in the road, may they never be cursed with such garbage.
When we returned the rental car I noticed a Japanese couple leaving in theirs, apparently having just arrived in Edinburgh. The lady was behind the wheel and she had a thoughtful, almost prayerful, expression on her face. They don't drive on the left in Japan, I've been told. I hope that she, too, was rewarded with an "NDD" at the end of their trip.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
eating in Scotland, part 2
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Earlier, I tried to upload a photo of sticky toffee. Here 'tis. Doesn't look like much in this photo but it tasted wonderful. This, from a restaurant in Crieff called Passion. We spent the rest of the trip trying to find one as good.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
travels in Scotland, part 2
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One aspect of Scotland that you notice right way is the friendliness of the Scots. Granted, those in the business of hosting tourists like us have an incentive to be friendly but their warmth and good humor is genuine. That extends to others you bump into along the way such as taxi drivers.
Pictured here is Galvelmore, the B and B in Crieff, west of Perth, where we stayed two nights. We found it using Google before we left and booked our rooms well in advance. It turned out to be a good choice.
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Galvelmore is owned and operated by Katy and David Galbraith and, naturally, I had to stay with someone who could be a (very) remote cousin. They have two young children, who were off to school by the time this picture was taken.
Monday, October 02, 2006
scenery in Scotland, part 3
Pictured here is Culcreuch Castle, near Fintry. (As usual, click to enlarge the photo.) As castles go, this is modest but it has been made into a fine hotel with a very good kitchen and bar, and it is the setting for about 200 weddings a year. The part of the building on the left is the original part. The first two or three floors were complete by 1400. The rest was added in more modern times. The date over the front door is 1721. We stayed in the bridal suite, on the top floor. It isn't often you wake up to look out over the battlements of a castle!
I went out of my way to find this for a personal reason (and, truly, this is off the beaten path). Back when my family was a Scottish clan with a chief, he lived here. His forebears lived elsewhere around Loch Lomond but this seems to be the only structure associated with the clan that is not a ruin. Alas, the chief was denounced as an outlaw in the early 1600's and fled to Ireland, losing his estates. His son was the last chief of the clan and since then we have been chiefless. No, I am not volunteering to become the next chief!
Sunday, October 01, 2006
scenery in Scotland, part 2
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The castles of Scotland range from well-kept Blair Castle (top photo) to Urquhart Castle, on the shores of Loch Ness (below). Blair Castle (check it out: http://www.blair-castle.co.uk/index.asp) has room after room stuffed with porcelain, embroidery, silver, oil portraits, medieval swords and armor, furniture, and a truly fine exhibit of the history of the Atholl Highlanders, "Europe's only remaining private army."
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At the other extreme is Urquhart Castle. This castle was taken, destroyed and rebuilt several times during its history. Check it out here:
http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/properties_sites_detail.htm?propertyID=PL_297
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