The politicians who advocate a federal gas tax holiday can't be serious - can they? Does Hillary really believe the gas companies won't turn around and raise the price of gas if they have to pay another tax? How do you spell "pandering?"
The federal gas tax is 18.4 cents per gallon. If you are paying $3.50/gallon, that's 5.25% of the total, and as prices go up, the percentage drops. That would short-change the federal government by some $9 billion, which wouldn't normally break my heart except this money is supposed to go to road and bridge maintenance and replacement. Did you know that the U.S. national debt is already 9.35 TRILLION dollars? Check this out: http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/
5.25 percent is chump change. How'd you like to save about 15 percent without crippling the federal budget, and without worrying about the "holiday" coming to an end?
Saving 15 percent (or 52.5 cents/gallon if you are paying $3.50/gallon) is easy.
S. L. O. W. -- D. O. W. N.
I don't mean become a slowpoke, and I don't mean become the guy who crawls along while traffic backs up and road rage mounts. I do mean, don't speed. No jack-rabbit starts. Take it easy. Keep the passing lane open, but stick to the speed limit or a little less. Let all those SUV's and pick-up trucks go by.
If you drive 10 mph faster, your fuel consumption drops 4 mpg. Or, slow down by 10 mpg and your mileage will get 4 mpg better. If you are getting 24 mpg driving fast, getting 28 mpg is a 16.7 percent improvement.
Those are test results and "results may vary," but you get the point. My car was getting 33 or 34 mpg until the last fill-up, and then it was only 31.94 mpg. I think I've spent too much time driving with the hammer down, and I'm going to be more conscientious about my speed. Better mileage means stopping for gas less often and spending less on fuel over the long term. That would beat this silly gas tax holiday idea.
Monday, May 05, 2008
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Dioner Navarro tags one
A week ago, the Rays looked great against the Red Sox. They aren't looking so hot this weekend at Fenway. C'est la guerre. I took this from the upper deck.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
catching up
A few notes to catch up on some odd topics:
OK, so Hillary won in Pennsylvania, despite my prognostication to the contrary. She was ten points ahead going in and ten points ahead at the end, and all that sound and fury didn't signify much. She's still treading water. If Obama can shake loose from that lunatic minister who appears devoted to sinking Obama's candidacy, he will win.
I think it would be only fair for a lunatic NOW leader to resurrect the Equal Rights Amendment over the next few weeks. By lunatic I mean strident and obnoxious, the kind who would love Hillary to death by conjuring up all the old Uppity Women fears that some people still have. My wife was a NOW member and we were disappointed the Florida Legislature wouldn't ratify the ERA, but that was 30+ years ago. It is time to trot out those ERA demons again, like the fear of unisex bathrooms. Believe it or not, that was an actual "talking point" by ERA opponents. If that were to happen now, Hillary would hate it.
I'm glad she's still a contender. I think the party ought to make its decision at the convention, not months ahead of time. This infuriates the former "news" media, which should now be called the entertainment media, because they want their talking-head pontificators to preside over the selection process. I don't smoke but I'm not a delegate either, so I say, let 'em decide in smoke-filled rooms like they have for two hundred years.
Changing subjects: My daughter in California is now paying $3.999999 cents a gallon for gasoline. It's no mere coincidence that the gas prices are going up just as the federal tax rebate checks are going out in the mail. How clever that the U.S. oil cabal, who have friends in high places in Washington, jacked up the prices in time to siphon off the tax rebate checks. This is clumsier than a direct subsidy from Washington but just as effective, and it is better than having those federal rebate checks going to the Chinese suppliers of goods at Wal-Mart. (My check will go back to the bank account from which I paid my income tax this year. You can't get more patriotic than that.) Prediction: Gas prices will stabilize and come down after the rebate checks have been spent to pay off gasoline credit cards.
Changing subjects again: I just dropped a bundle on a new Nikon digital single-lens reflex camera, and a telephoto lens. The telephoto has an image stabilization feature that works nicely. From the upper deck at the Tropicana Dome, I shot some pictures of various Rays and Red Sox pitchers and batters . . . available light, hand-held telephoto . . . and stopped not only the batters but the ball in mid-flight. In one shot, I got the ball as it made contact with the bat, or vice versa. I'll post that photo here, later.
Speaking of the Rays: They now have a winning season going for them, which they've never had so "late" in the season during their miserable franchise history. They swept the Red Sox 3-0 here, then took the Orioles 2-1 in Baltimore. Now they face the Red Sox again, in Bahston, and we'll see what kind of team they really are. I think they are a VERY good team this year. Their infield is near-perfect, their batters score when they need to, and the pitching staff finally has the talent to win.
I'm happy to see the Rays beat the Red Sox because it happens so seldom. Just as long as the Red Sox stay ahead of the Yankees.
OK, so Hillary won in Pennsylvania, despite my prognostication to the contrary. She was ten points ahead going in and ten points ahead at the end, and all that sound and fury didn't signify much. She's still treading water. If Obama can shake loose from that lunatic minister who appears devoted to sinking Obama's candidacy, he will win.
I think it would be only fair for a lunatic NOW leader to resurrect the Equal Rights Amendment over the next few weeks. By lunatic I mean strident and obnoxious, the kind who would love Hillary to death by conjuring up all the old Uppity Women fears that some people still have. My wife was a NOW member and we were disappointed the Florida Legislature wouldn't ratify the ERA, but that was 30+ years ago. It is time to trot out those ERA demons again, like the fear of unisex bathrooms. Believe it or not, that was an actual "talking point" by ERA opponents. If that were to happen now, Hillary would hate it.
I'm glad she's still a contender. I think the party ought to make its decision at the convention, not months ahead of time. This infuriates the former "news" media, which should now be called the entertainment media, because they want their talking-head pontificators to preside over the selection process. I don't smoke but I'm not a delegate either, so I say, let 'em decide in smoke-filled rooms like they have for two hundred years.
Changing subjects: My daughter in California is now paying $3.999999 cents a gallon for gasoline. It's no mere coincidence that the gas prices are going up just as the federal tax rebate checks are going out in the mail. How clever that the U.S. oil cabal, who have friends in high places in Washington, jacked up the prices in time to siphon off the tax rebate checks. This is clumsier than a direct subsidy from Washington but just as effective, and it is better than having those federal rebate checks going to the Chinese suppliers of goods at Wal-Mart. (My check will go back to the bank account from which I paid my income tax this year. You can't get more patriotic than that.) Prediction: Gas prices will stabilize and come down after the rebate checks have been spent to pay off gasoline credit cards.
Changing subjects again: I just dropped a bundle on a new Nikon digital single-lens reflex camera, and a telephoto lens. The telephoto has an image stabilization feature that works nicely. From the upper deck at the Tropicana Dome, I shot some pictures of various Rays and Red Sox pitchers and batters . . . available light, hand-held telephoto . . . and stopped not only the batters but the ball in mid-flight. In one shot, I got the ball as it made contact with the bat, or vice versa. I'll post that photo here, later.
Speaking of the Rays: They now have a winning season going for them, which they've never had so "late" in the season during their miserable franchise history. They swept the Red Sox 3-0 here, then took the Orioles 2-1 in Baltimore. Now they face the Red Sox again, in Bahston, and we'll see what kind of team they really are. I think they are a VERY good team this year. Their infield is near-perfect, their batters score when they need to, and the pitching staff finally has the talent to win.
I'm happy to see the Rays beat the Red Sox because it happens so seldom. Just as long as the Red Sox stay ahead of the Yankees.
Monday, April 21, 2008
election day in Pennsylvania, thank God
Tomorrow is election day in Pennsylvania. I really look forward to seeing the results.
I have much more confidence in the voters of Pennsylvania than I have in any of the political talking heads of the "news" media. All they've talked about for weeks is the significance of comments about people who "cling" to their religious beliefs, their guns, and their disdain for people not like them.
What does it mean to "cling?" If you wake up in the morning and thank God for allowing you to make it through another night, if you pray a dozen times a day for minor miracles such as an open parking space in front of the courthouse when you are about to be late for a hearing, or for a safe flight to North Carolna and return, you are clinging to a religious belief.
Is there anything wrong with that? No. Absolutely not.
The same can be said for "clinging" to the belief that you can defend yourself with a gun. If you believe that you can find it when you need it, load it, put a round in the chamber, release the safety, aim it, and not shoot yourself in the foot or shoot a neighbor or a family member while trying to shoot a bad guy. . .go ahead. Believe what you want. Cling to that belief. It's as American as the coonskin cap and the Kentucky long rifle.
The disdain for people not like you is human nature. Just remember that we have a Constitution that is predicated on the idea that all men, and women, are created equal, and don't actually do anything stupid. Others have likely looked upon you with disdain, too.
Back to Pennsylvania. I was at dinner with fellow book club refugees, five of us, and I was the only one predicting that Obama will edge Hillary out tomorrow. My guess was, by five percent.
We shall see. I can hardly wait.
I have much more confidence in the voters of Pennsylvania than I have in any of the political talking heads of the "news" media. All they've talked about for weeks is the significance of comments about people who "cling" to their religious beliefs, their guns, and their disdain for people not like them.
What does it mean to "cling?" If you wake up in the morning and thank God for allowing you to make it through another night, if you pray a dozen times a day for minor miracles such as an open parking space in front of the courthouse when you are about to be late for a hearing, or for a safe flight to North Carolna and return, you are clinging to a religious belief.
Is there anything wrong with that? No. Absolutely not.
The same can be said for "clinging" to the belief that you can defend yourself with a gun. If you believe that you can find it when you need it, load it, put a round in the chamber, release the safety, aim it, and not shoot yourself in the foot or shoot a neighbor or a family member while trying to shoot a bad guy. . .go ahead. Believe what you want. Cling to that belief. It's as American as the coonskin cap and the Kentucky long rifle.
The disdain for people not like you is human nature. Just remember that we have a Constitution that is predicated on the idea that all men, and women, are created equal, and don't actually do anything stupid. Others have likely looked upon you with disdain, too.
Back to Pennsylvania. I was at dinner with fellow book club refugees, five of us, and I was the only one predicting that Obama will edge Hillary out tomorrow. My guess was, by five percent.
We shall see. I can hardly wait.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
baseball season
I love the beginning of baseball season. Spring training is the surest sign that Spring is in the air, and once the season starts you can count on a newspaper headline such as the following:
"NY Yankees unearth buried Red Sox jersey from new stadium"
You can see the whole story below, but the gist of the story is that a construction worker buried a Red Sox jersey in a service corridor in the new Yankees Stadium, and they had to use a jackhammer to get it out from under two feet of concrete. It was a #34 jersey for David "Big Papi" Ortiz.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-yankees-cursefoiled&prov=ap&type=lgns
"NY Yankees unearth buried Red Sox jersey from new stadium"
You can see the whole story below, but the gist of the story is that a construction worker buried a Red Sox jersey in a service corridor in the new Yankees Stadium, and they had to use a jackhammer to get it out from under two feet of concrete. It was a #34 jersey for David "Big Papi" Ortiz.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-yankees-cursefoiled&prov=ap&type=lgns
Monday, March 24, 2008
Monday, March 03, 2008
Baptist church, Louisville, circa 1950
In an earlier phase of my life I was a Southern Baptist. In this photo, I was attending Vacation Bible School at the tender age of 6, more or less. I thought I knew the name of the church but, as it turns out, I was wrong. I'll post this here in hopes that somebody, somewhere, might recognize it. The architecture is unusual for a Baptist church but you have to admire the window.
Sunday, March 02, 2008
9 trillion is a BIG number
A few days ago I said the national debt is $9 trillion. That's $9,000,000,000, I said.
It occurred to me this morning that I was off by a factor of one thousand. $9,000,000,000 is a mere nine billion dollars.
Nine trillion of anything is actually 9,000,000,000,000, and an alert reader pointed that out (see below).
I wish I could claim to have done that just to see if anybody is actually reading this blog. I'm glad to see somebody is.
It occurred to me this morning that I was off by a factor of one thousand. $9,000,000,000 is a mere nine billion dollars.
Nine trillion of anything is actually 9,000,000,000,000, and an alert reader pointed that out (see below).
I wish I could claim to have done that just to see if anybody is actually reading this blog. I'm glad to see somebody is.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Sadie Hawkins Day
I wasn't kidding about Sadie Hawkins Day (see below). It always puzzled me that Al Capp didn't associate it with Leap Day or Leap Year, but it worked.
Sadie Hawkins Day
Originally uploaded by galbr8th
Leap Day!
This is a "free day" we get once every four years, so make the best of it! It ought to be a national holiday so we could sleep in, or get up early to go fishing or skiing, or wait for something magical to happen, like the one day every hundred years when the Scottish village of Brigadoon reappears.
But, no. It will be just another day at work for most of us, an imperfect way to make the calendar coincide with the time required for the Earth to encircle the Sun.
Consider this: We have presidential elections every Leap Year. We have the Summer Olympics every Leap Year. I was born in a Leap Year but, thankfully, not on Leap Day, or else I'd have had a lifetime of confusion and joking about when to celebrate my birthday (the correct answer should be: every Saturday night).
One quaint custom associated with Leap Day is that this is when a woman may propose marriage, and a variation is that she may do so on any day of a Leap Year. This reminds me of Sadie Hawkins Day, which became a feature of Al Capp's "Li'l Abner," and if you don't know who that was, just look up Sadie Hawkins in Wikipedia. In Tarpon Springs, FL, where we once lived, they celebrated Sadie Hawkins Day with a street dance downtown. For boys like me, Sadie Hawkins Day was a scary thought. Now that I'm older and somewhat wiser, I think it should be revived.
But, no. It will be just another day at work for most of us, an imperfect way to make the calendar coincide with the time required for the Earth to encircle the Sun.
Consider this: We have presidential elections every Leap Year. We have the Summer Olympics every Leap Year. I was born in a Leap Year but, thankfully, not on Leap Day, or else I'd have had a lifetime of confusion and joking about when to celebrate my birthday (the correct answer should be: every Saturday night).
One quaint custom associated with Leap Day is that this is when a woman may propose marriage, and a variation is that she may do so on any day of a Leap Year. This reminds me of Sadie Hawkins Day, which became a feature of Al Capp's "Li'l Abner," and if you don't know who that was, just look up Sadie Hawkins in Wikipedia. In Tarpon Springs, FL, where we once lived, they celebrated Sadie Hawkins Day with a street dance downtown. For boys like me, Sadie Hawkins Day was a scary thought. Now that I'm older and somewhat wiser, I think it should be revived.
Monday, February 25, 2008
federal tax refund blues
One of these days I'll be getting one of those federal tax refunds. According to Prez Bush, who has only 47 weeks left in office, we are supposed to give the national economy a big shot in the arm by. . . uh, rushing out to spend it. Yes, we can all go to Wal-Mart or one of the other big chain retailers and load up our shopping carts with more products made in China.
Yessiree, that will do the old economy a lot of good.
My first thought was to put it in the savings account, the one from which I withdrew money last year to pay my federal income tax bill. That will give my personal economy a small shot in the arm.
My second thought was to use it to pay my dentist, my dermatologist, and the plastic surgeon who removed a couple of "skin tags" from my face. (Never let a dermatologist get near you with a scalpel in hand.) I might have money left over to apply towards a new pair of contact lenses. None of those good doctors are Chinese. On the other hand, they might rush out and spend my money at Wal-Mart, or to repair their Mercedes or BMWs.
No, I am going to search diligently for American-made products sold by Americans. I almost had a heart attack a few months ago when I found an American-made pruning tool on sale at Sears. And, I just bought a new blazer, made in Chicago by Hart Schaeffner and Marx, the oldest American clothing maker. (Never mind those German-sounding names.)
You can see that I'm already well down the road to giving the American economy a shot in the arm.
What I cannot figure out is, how can we spend six gazillion dollars a month on an overseas war, send refund checks to taxpayers, and promise "no new taxes?" Oh, right. It's an election year, time for the politicians to perform sleight of hand behind blue smoke.
p.s. The national debt is now $9 trillion. That's $9,000,000,000. Enjoy that refund check.
Yessiree, that will do the old economy a lot of good.
My first thought was to put it in the savings account, the one from which I withdrew money last year to pay my federal income tax bill. That will give my personal economy a small shot in the arm.
My second thought was to use it to pay my dentist, my dermatologist, and the plastic surgeon who removed a couple of "skin tags" from my face. (Never let a dermatologist get near you with a scalpel in hand.) I might have money left over to apply towards a new pair of contact lenses. None of those good doctors are Chinese. On the other hand, they might rush out and spend my money at Wal-Mart, or to repair their Mercedes or BMWs.
No, I am going to search diligently for American-made products sold by Americans. I almost had a heart attack a few months ago when I found an American-made pruning tool on sale at Sears. And, I just bought a new blazer, made in Chicago by Hart Schaeffner and Marx, the oldest American clothing maker. (Never mind those German-sounding names.)
You can see that I'm already well down the road to giving the American economy a shot in the arm.
What I cannot figure out is, how can we spend six gazillion dollars a month on an overseas war, send refund checks to taxpayers, and promise "no new taxes?" Oh, right. It's an election year, time for the politicians to perform sleight of hand behind blue smoke.
p.s. The national debt is now $9 trillion. That's $9,000,000,000. Enjoy that refund check.
Friday, February 22, 2008
aaahh, the weekend
Let's hear it for weekends. Over the past few weeks I have labored over the defense of a code enforcement board decision, the defense of the denial of a high-rise hotel, and a response to a motion to dismiss our complaint against a cable company. I will spare you the details, but there was a point early in January when everything appeared to be due at the same time and I was feeling borderline panic. Then I saw that it was not that bad - one item was due two weeks ago and it got done on time. The others were due the end of this week but another lawyer did nearly all the work on one of them, leaving me time to work on the other. By noon today I was ready to put my feet on my desk and, if I was allowed to keep a bottle of Scotch in my office, pour myself one. Now I will look good, bad or indifferent depending upon the whim of a judge who may have come to work after a bad breakfast and a fight with his or her spouse.
I'm looking at a weekend that is unseasonably warm. To my children and relatives-in-law in Boston and Philadelphia, eat your hearts out. There are only two times a year when I feel motivated to do gardening work, and the Spring gardening bug has bit me . . . in February, when they are still digging bodies out of the snow in other parts of the country. Tomorrow I will get out and do a little gardening work, unless it rains. [Pause while praying for rain.]
We have a critter living in the walls of our house. It left calling cards in a bathroom closet, so we (that is, I) cleaned out the stuff that was stored on the floor of the closet and our exterminator put down two traps. We (that is, I) also put back in place the board that covers the opening where a plumber can access the bathtub fixtures. This morning, something was making a big racket inside the closet but it wasn't a critter stuck to the traps. The board was still in place. Whatever it was had to be bigger than your average mouse or rat to make so much noise trying to dislodge the board, like maybe a possum or a 'coon. I'm afraid I may have to get my father's old .380 automatic and shoot the beast. The last time he used it, he shot a pocket gopher that was tearing up his front yard. I'm not sure I want to use it inside the house, though. It will make a helluva mess. If I could rent an anaconda or a rat snake, I'd turn it loose inside the walls of the house but if I do that, I will be living alone.
Apparently it is part of a man's job description to deal with rodents, from trapping or poisoning them to removing their carcasses. Women don't do this. They may deliver babies but they don't exterminate rodents. That's an overgeneralization - old farm women may do it, and grizzled old Marine Corps sergeants of the female variety may do it, but not your average housewife.
Aaahh, Spring in Florida. Hurricane season is just around the corner. It doesn't get any better than this.
I'm looking at a weekend that is unseasonably warm. To my children and relatives-in-law in Boston and Philadelphia, eat your hearts out. There are only two times a year when I feel motivated to do gardening work, and the Spring gardening bug has bit me . . . in February, when they are still digging bodies out of the snow in other parts of the country. Tomorrow I will get out and do a little gardening work, unless it rains. [Pause while praying for rain.]
We have a critter living in the walls of our house. It left calling cards in a bathroom closet, so we (that is, I) cleaned out the stuff that was stored on the floor of the closet and our exterminator put down two traps. We (that is, I) also put back in place the board that covers the opening where a plumber can access the bathtub fixtures. This morning, something was making a big racket inside the closet but it wasn't a critter stuck to the traps. The board was still in place. Whatever it was had to be bigger than your average mouse or rat to make so much noise trying to dislodge the board, like maybe a possum or a 'coon. I'm afraid I may have to get my father's old .380 automatic and shoot the beast. The last time he used it, he shot a pocket gopher that was tearing up his front yard. I'm not sure I want to use it inside the house, though. It will make a helluva mess. If I could rent an anaconda or a rat snake, I'd turn it loose inside the walls of the house but if I do that, I will be living alone.
Apparently it is part of a man's job description to deal with rodents, from trapping or poisoning them to removing their carcasses. Women don't do this. They may deliver babies but they don't exterminate rodents. That's an overgeneralization - old farm women may do it, and grizzled old Marine Corps sergeants of the female variety may do it, but not your average housewife.
Aaahh, Spring in Florida. Hurricane season is just around the corner. It doesn't get any better than this.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Happy Chinese New Year!
Taken in San Francisco, not China, and taken in October, not this month - but happy new year anyway!
Monday, January 28, 2008
"TSA tester slips mock bomb past airport security"
Just when I thought it was safe to fly again. This happened at MY AIRPORT, the one my wife and I use, the one my children use whenever they come home for a visit:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/01/28/tsa.bombtest/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/01/28/tsa.bombtest/index.html
Sunday, January 27, 2008
In memory of Bobby Fischer
It's hard to remember nowadays how much attention the world paid to a chess tournament in 1972, when a kid from Brooklyn went up against the chess champion of the USSR and won. The cold war was still "hot" and the US was still in Viet Nam. Americans, who mostly don't play chess, got caught up in a 21-game tournament that ran for two months, with Fischer making demands for more money and the removal of a TV camera, and engaging in what Spassky complained was "psychological" warfare. That's Fischer on the right in this photo. Spassky, on the left, was the product of a Soviet system that groomed championship chess players and rewarded them well.
Sadly, Fischer went 'round the bend as he got older, dying of kidney failure on January 17. I'd rather not remember him as the anti-Semitic, anti-American recluse that he became. I'd rather remember him as the kid who took on the USSR and beat them at the chessboard.
Obama wins -- in South Carolina!
A new day is dawning in American politics.
You'll see that worn-out cliche more and more between now and November, but this is one cliche that happens to be true.
Barack Obama pulled in 55 percent of the vote, routing Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. This is big news, but not because he is from Illinois, and not because South Carolina people still tell stories about Sherman's infamous march to the sea as if it happened last year.
This is huge because he is the first black candidate for President to be taken seriously. Yes, we aren't supposed to vote for or against a candidate because of the candidate's race, or gender, or religion. But many voters do. You would have expected many South Carolinians to have voted for John Edwards because he is a photogenic white guy who was born in South Carolina . . . but Edwards placed a poor third with 18 percent, winning only his home county.
Obama inspires a lot of people but don't take my word for it. Believe Caroline Kennedy, who wrote in a New York Times op-ed piece: "I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them . . . But for the first time, I believe I have found a man who could be that president - and not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans."
You'll see that worn-out cliche more and more between now and November, but this is one cliche that happens to be true.
Barack Obama pulled in 55 percent of the vote, routing Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. This is big news, but not because he is from Illinois, and not because South Carolina people still tell stories about Sherman's infamous march to the sea as if it happened last year.
This is huge because he is the first black candidate for President to be taken seriously. Yes, we aren't supposed to vote for or against a candidate because of the candidate's race, or gender, or religion. But many voters do. You would have expected many South Carolinians to have voted for John Edwards because he is a photogenic white guy who was born in South Carolina . . . but Edwards placed a poor third with 18 percent, winning only his home county.
Obama inspires a lot of people but don't take my word for it. Believe Caroline Kennedy, who wrote in a New York Times op-ed piece: "I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them . . . But for the first time, I believe I have found a man who could be that president - and not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans."
Thursday, January 24, 2008
farewell to the "A-Train"
Mike Alstott, a six-time Pro Bowl player and a big favorite with Bucs fans for eleven seasons, announced his retirement from the game this week. Those of us who thought he was underutilized by Jon Gruden even before his neck injury are sad to see him go.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
one year, and counting down, for George W. Bush
As of tonight, January 20, 2008, the term of George W. Bush as President of the United States has exactly one year remaining . . . that's 365 days, if my little count-down computer has factored Leap Day into the equation correctly.
That's 366 days too many. I want him out of office yesterday.
It isn't just Dubya who bothers me as much as his circle of cronies and friends - the "Neocons" - who have been the puppet masters since he was elected.
Americans and the world have had to tolerate the Bush Administration for seven long years. Having to tolerate another year with the Bushies in office makes me envy the UK's Parliamentary system, where they can vote the rascal out with a "vote of no confidence." Would that work here? It might, but it assumes a certain level of competence in Congress and a desire to do the right thing for the nation regardless of political party dogma, all of which has been conspicuously lacking.
One more year.
That's 366 days too many. I want him out of office yesterday.
It isn't just Dubya who bothers me as much as his circle of cronies and friends - the "Neocons" - who have been the puppet masters since he was elected.
Americans and the world have had to tolerate the Bush Administration for seven long years. Having to tolerate another year with the Bushies in office makes me envy the UK's Parliamentary system, where they can vote the rascal out with a "vote of no confidence." Would that work here? It might, but it assumes a certain level of competence in Congress and a desire to do the right thing for the nation regardless of political party dogma, all of which has been conspicuously lacking.
One more year.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
hey, let's go to a movie
Time was, movies were a great escape. Comedies, musicals, the cowboy who always got the girl at the end, car chases in which only the bad guys crashed and burned, or the occasional James Bond spy thriller were just what you needed to disappear for a few hours and re-emerge with a lighter step.
In the last two days we've seen "Atonement," which left me depressed after the surprise ending caught me totally off guard, and "Sweeney Todd," which left my skin crawling.
"Sweeney Todd" is a dark 19th-century edition of "Devil in the White City" meets "Soylent Green" in London, with the main character played by Jack the Ripper, and with all the brightness and cheer of "Phantom of the Opera."
There is no disputing that Johnny Depp is a fine actor, and he should win an award for this one. In his next movie he should portray Vlad the Impaler, or maybe the Vampire LeStat.
I can't believe they released "Sweeney Todd" four days before Christmas. It would have been a good Halloween movie, but I agree with Garrison Keillor's comment that it was a long two hours and you get tired of the color gray after awhile. For him, the high point was after the movie when a tall woman (he could tell, by the size of her feet) wearing a long black coat emerged from a stall in the men's room and walked purposefully out. His column became a plug for correcting the inequities in men's and women's public bathrooms (the latter always being too small) and a plea for architects to forget their love of symmetry, go back to the drawing boards, and do the right thing for women. Otherwise, he predicts, the line between men's and women's bathrooms will be erased and men will have lost the last male preserve. Speaking as a guy who has stood lookout while my favorite lady avoided the ridiculously long line to the women's bathroom, I agree wholeheartedly.
But, back to the movies. I need a good escape, something along the lines of "Run Silent, Run Deep," in which Clark Gable teaches the crew how to take out an enemy tanker, then take out the approaching destroyer with a bow shot followed by a rapid descent ("DIVE, DIVE"). Now, that's my idea of great escape. Literally.
In the last two days we've seen "Atonement," which left me depressed after the surprise ending caught me totally off guard, and "Sweeney Todd," which left my skin crawling.
"Sweeney Todd" is a dark 19th-century edition of "Devil in the White City" meets "Soylent Green" in London, with the main character played by Jack the Ripper, and with all the brightness and cheer of "Phantom of the Opera."
There is no disputing that Johnny Depp is a fine actor, and he should win an award for this one. In his next movie he should portray Vlad the Impaler, or maybe the Vampire LeStat.
I can't believe they released "Sweeney Todd" four days before Christmas. It would have been a good Halloween movie, but I agree with Garrison Keillor's comment that it was a long two hours and you get tired of the color gray after awhile. For him, the high point was after the movie when a tall woman (he could tell, by the size of her feet) wearing a long black coat emerged from a stall in the men's room and walked purposefully out. His column became a plug for correcting the inequities in men's and women's public bathrooms (the latter always being too small) and a plea for architects to forget their love of symmetry, go back to the drawing boards, and do the right thing for women. Otherwise, he predicts, the line between men's and women's bathrooms will be erased and men will have lost the last male preserve. Speaking as a guy who has stood lookout while my favorite lady avoided the ridiculously long line to the women's bathroom, I agree wholeheartedly.
But, back to the movies. I need a good escape, something along the lines of "Run Silent, Run Deep," in which Clark Gable teaches the crew how to take out an enemy tanker, then take out the approaching destroyer with a bow shot followed by a rapid descent ("DIVE, DIVE"). Now, that's my idea of great escape. Literally.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
music from the 80's
In collecting music for my iPod I've discovered, to my surprise, that the music I like best is not the music from the 60's but the music from the 80's. Don't ask me why. There's no accounting for personal taste, whim or caprice. "It has a good beat and you can dance to it."
Here's a great video compilation of snippets from the music videos of the 80's featuring the top hits for each year of that decade. Ten minutes for ten years and worth almost every second of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TddFnTB_7IM&feature=related
Here's a great video compilation of snippets from the music videos of the 80's featuring the top hits for each year of that decade. Ten minutes for ten years and worth almost every second of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TddFnTB_7IM&feature=related
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