I don’t tweet, but if I did, here are some of the things I might have tweeted over the past year or so. Actually, most of these are taken from FacdBook Status posts over the past year, in roughly reverse order. Read and laugh…or ponder or yawn, as the case may be.
If you've run out of things to worry about, worry about the people who make and design those novelty glasses they sell for New Year’s Eve. You see then telecast from Times Square. All through the 80s and 90s and through last year, each year had two nice circular numbers for the eye-holes. 2000 thru 2009 were perfect 0s in the center. Where will the other eye-hold be in 2011?
I don't often watch Larry King Live. Usually watching something else, such as The Rachel Maddow Show, or not watching anything. But I will catch his last show in about five minutes. CNN won't be the same without those suspenders.
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." —John Fitzgerald Kennedy
I am disappointed that the Hillsborough County Transit Initiative was voted down. Most of these have taken two or three tries, so may two years from now. In other election news: Most of the results are in. Wow, what a bloodbath! I am so unhappy about most of the results. We will have a Tea Party Senator, woo-pee! We keep our wonderful congresswoman, but Orlando loses a truely great congressman. So it goes.
I am amazed and appalled and a little embarrassed that Florida allowed Rick Scott to buy the governorship of this sate. We know he's a crook. I thin it would serve us right if he were indicted for other crimes that are still in question, and had to run the state from a jail cell. This clown is enough to give kids nightmares, and their parents too. He looks like a reject from a factory making Bobble-Head Skellitors!
Just finished watching the Rally to Restory Sanity (and / or Fear) on Comedy Central. Jon Stewart's closing speech was the high point of the event. We almost went to see it live —even booked a hotel room — but changed our minds several days ago. Too busy. But it would have been fun!
I am happy to post one of my wife's favorite quotes: "If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be cynical. Well, that's nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down." —Ray Bradbury
"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment." —Will Rogers
The Beatles were pioneers. They took many ground-breaking steps that introduced innovations, both artistic and technical, that we now consider quite common. Beatles Firsts: First use of intentionally included acoustic feedback: "I Feel Fine." First Grunge Songs: "Helter Skelter" and "I Want You / She's so Heavy." First modern Progressive Rock Song: "A Day in the Life." I am sure there are others. Discuss.
I read "The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook; a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal" by Ben Mezrich (Doubleday, 2009). The film The Social Network is based on this book. Athough parts of the book are told in a rather cinematic style, I still can't imagine they were able to make much of a movie from it. I'll see the movie eventually, and maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.
Your mouth should be boarded up.Talking all day with nothing to say.Your shallow proclamations, all this information..."—Porcupine Tree, “Fear of a Blank Planet"
"He not busy being born is busy dying." — Bob Dylan
Last night I dreamed a ridiculous, but fairly complicated, attack ad for and against people who aren’t even running. Is any more proof needed to support the conclusion that the political ads on TV are driving me insane? Oh well, happy Friday, everyone!
I like all types of rock and roll. Hard rock and heavy metal bands have some of the greatest guitar work, best percussion, and most meaningful lyrics in the Solar System. What I don’t understand is why some of the metal singers seem to by trying to imitate the Cookie Monster, sometimes damaging or ruining what might otherwise be awesome songs. What’s up with that?
Apparently NPR listeners voted, and here are the Top 100 Killer Thrillers of all time. There are some gread reads here, and some I would have omitted. If they had to include a John Grisham book, I am glad it was “A Time to Kill.” I would have added other books and sorted this list differently, but I guess that's probably true for all of us.
Why is there no rhyming moniker for a film for guys -- like "click-flick" or "kid-vid" for women or children, respectively. I know the word rhyming with "flick" that could refer to a guy, but it woud be insulting and crude and would sound too much like porn, and that is NOT what I am referring to.
“The tragedy of life is not that the beautiful things die young. It is that they grow old and mean.” — Raymond Chandler
"How's That Hopey Changey Thing Workin' Out For Ya?" — Sarah Palin.Much better than that crazy, wacko thing you and John McCain had in store for us," respnd I. No matter how much or how little Obama & Co. are able to accomplish while in power, we will all be so much better off that we would have been had you and your band of psychos... gotten yourselves elected. Whew! Talk about dodging a bullet!
Rock and roll was once considered the devil's music. Then they came out with Christian Rock and Contemporary Christian music, and even Christian metal. I guess their motto was, If you can't beat it, ruin it.
"To be a student and not a revolutionary is a contradiction."— Salvador Allende
"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day." Attributed to Frank Sinatra
Unless life also hands you some water and some sugar, your lemonaide is going to suck. — This quote shamelessly stolen from my friend Steve's Facebook status of a couple of weeks ago.
Vuvuzelas! Get your vuvuzelas here — only half price. Great for weddings, christenings,, funerals, and other special occasions. Ideal for cocktail parties, public transportation, and meetings at work. Come on, guys, don't you want to impress the ladies?
I sometimes see doors bearing signs saying "This Door Mist Be Kept Closed At All Times." It seems like a waste of a door, doesn't it? Maybe they should have used a wall in stead?
We have turned off the "Fasten Seatbelts" sign. You are now free to move about your homes.
Who is your real best friend? Try this experiment. It really works. Put your dog and your spouse in the trunk of your car for an hour. When you open the trunk, which one is really happy to see you? (You know, I’m just kidding, right?)
"If you want to go fast, go alone. But, if you want to go far, go together." — African Proverb
If you divide 355 by 113 you will get3.1415929203539823008849557522124... which is very close to π (pi):3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445... an irrational number which has been computer to the billions of digits, but has never been seen to end or to repeat a series of digits. Oh yeah — you're welcome!
“Reality is whatever refuses to go away when I stop believing in it.” —Philip K. Dick
I think a great name for a restaurant would be "What Health Code?" You would either go out of business within two weeks, or, word would get around, people would appreciate the unusual and daring name, you would get a lot of free publicity, and you would clean up, so to speak — perhaps without having to actually clean up.
I want to ask Sarah Palin, How's that off-shore drilling thing working out for ya? I guess the tea-baggers' motto should have been "Spill baby spill!"
"One should respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny." —Bertrand Russell
I hear that Sarah Palin is not really impressed with her new iPad. She says, "it's not nearly as absorbent as I thought it would be."
A couple of years ago, I decided getting older wasn't all that un-cool, when I found out Ozfest had an AARP discount. Rock on fellow geezers! Or is it geez on fellow rockers?
I, like so many others, am suffering from record amounts of oak pollen in the air. Why can't oak trees find a better way to have sex? Maybe they could do it lke the animals do. That would be interesting to watch — but you wouldn't want want to get too close to two oak trees mating.
"You must pay for your sins. If you have already paid, please disregard this notice." — Sem Levenson
Demetri Martin talked about the appropriateness of certain actions in "Good, Bad, Interesting," a segment of his clever and funny Comedy Centeral show. An example: Proposing a Toast: Good — at a wedding. Bad — When you are the bartender at the wedding. Interesting — when you are handing the doctor a urine sample.
Music is like candy. so much better after the (w)rappers are gone.
A sign on the ice machine in my office breakroom reads in part: "Our new ice machine is 'touch free.' You only need to hold your cup in front of the sensors and the ice or water will dispense." I remarked out loud, "I don't think I've ever seen 'dispense' used as an intransitive verb." A lady who heard me said, "Oh no, you're a grammar geek." Yep, I guess guilty as charged.
If they want the Discovery Channel to live up to its name, the cable companies should move it around. Maybe they could put it on a different channel every day.
Thanks for reading. See you next year!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
WikiLeaks
Let’s talk about secrets. A secret is something that somebody doesn’t want somebody else to know.
Some people keep secrets that should not be kept. Some governments keep secrets which fall into this category. Some people want to know everyone’s secrets, including, perhaps, those which they have no business knowing. We call these latter, “nosey.”
I think most of us are a little nosey. I know I am. I read William Poundstone’s Big Secrets: The Uncensored Truth About All Sorts of Stuff You Are Never Supposed to Know (Morrow, 1983) and Bigger Secrets: More than 125 Things They Prayed You'd Never Find Out (Houghton Mifflin Co., 1986) with gusto, not long after they came out. Topics covered include how David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear and what is in Coca Cola and in Colonel Sanders’ secret chicken recipe. In this decade, I read 50 Things You’re Not Supposed To Know by Russ Kick (The Disinformation Co., Ltd., 2003), which tells us that Carl Sagan and Richard Feynman both smoked weed. Wow, two of the most intelligent humans who ever lived were potheads? Kind of dashes cold water into that “This is your brain on drugs’ skillet, don’t you think?
But, I tune away from Extra! and Entertainment Tonight as quickly as possible. There are so many so-called celebrity secrets that I just don’t give a rats’ belch about. And I am not one of those people who, if I use your bathroom, is likely to open your medicine cabinet, just to see what prescription meds you might be taking. I will, however, take a look at your bookshelves and your CDs, f they are on display. I might try to glimpse the title of a book being read by a passenger seated next to me on a plane, but I would never try to read what’s on his or her laptop screen.
WikiLeaks (www.wikileaks.org or www.wikileaks.info or www.wikileaks.ch) and Julian Assange, the site’s editor-in-chief and spokesperson, have managed to garner much publicity for themselves, and most of it has not been positive. Some people love WikiLeaks, while others hate it. The WikiLeaks homepage benignly states, “Have documents the world needs to see? We help you safely get the truth out.” That certainly sounds favorable to truth, justice, and the American Way, doesn’t it?
It is said to contain well over a million documents, including about 250,000 diplomatic cables, which were released in one post-Thanksgiving document dump. Yes, you know that more than one television comedian enjoyed commenting on the size of the dump that takes place after Thanksgiving. Some of the documents were embarrassing to the US and other countries, many of them in the way a high-school student might be embarrassed when her friends find out she has a secret crush on the captain of the chess team. Some of them appear to be a lot more damaging to our countries foreign relations and military involvements.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is one of several republicans who has called Assange a terrorist. Some have said he deserves the death penalty for endangering our military. On the other hand, Assange has been the recipient of several awards, from organizations ranging from Amnesty International to Time Magazine.
I have mixed feelings about WikiLeaks. On the one hand, I don’t like my government’s keeping secrets from me, unless there is a real danger of terrible events taking place, should the information get out. I am sure our government often errs on the side of keeping too much information secret, and that is probably a bad thing. WikiLeaks has, no doubt, uncovered a lot of secrets which should have never been hidden in the first place, and has unearthed some things which are just plain trivial. It has also shown us some thins we should know, such as footage of American troops murdering civilians in Iraq. This is something we need to know about, in spite of the fact that this knowledge could impact our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Such potential harm just does not warrant such a coverup. WikiLeaks has done some of the work of the US news media, and they have been quick to pick up and continue the spread of these facts and allegations. Just mentioning WikiLeaks and its founder gives the site publicity. Yes some of that is negative, but any publicity has to encourage the curious to log on to the site or one its mirrors just to see what the fuss is about. Even this blog entry might further that furor.
I think that WikiLeaks is doing us a service and a favor, and maybe it is filing a void, left by our own news media, with its diminishing budgets for newsgathering and increased reliance on information fed it by press releases over facts elicited by footwork and research.
However, I am too cautious to jump on the WikiLeaks bandwagon. Some of the information being leaked may not be complete or may be inaccurate. There may be some things that concerned Americans really don’t want or need to know and don’t want our enemies – or even our friend – to know. We must remember that Julian Assange is not an American. If nothing else, we might feel a bit shamed that an Australian is revealing information which perhaps should have been first shown to us by own media
Some things need to be kept secret for the sake of personal privacy and safety. You wouldn’t want someone to post your Social Security and credit card numbers for the world to see. But, if your potential babysitter has a prior conviction for child abuse, you would certainly want to be able to find out about that.
We praise Woodward and Bernstein for shining a light on the shady dealings of the Nixon Administration. However, most of us condemn Robert Novak for blowing Valerie Plame’s CIA cover, effectively ending her career with that agency. Woodward and Bernstein were idealistic, young journalists who were doing their best to report the truth to the people of America. Novak was a bitter, old troll of a man, who outed Plame as a way of seeking revenge. After all, Novak’s own autobiography is called The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington (Crown Forum, 2007). Novak died in 2009 and I am sure that some believe he is now contending with the real prince of darkness!
Some people keep secrets that should not be kept. Some governments keep secrets which fall into this category. Some people want to know everyone’s secrets, including, perhaps, those which they have no business knowing. We call these latter, “nosey.”
I think most of us are a little nosey. I know I am. I read William Poundstone’s Big Secrets: The Uncensored Truth About All Sorts of Stuff You Are Never Supposed to Know (Morrow, 1983) and Bigger Secrets: More than 125 Things They Prayed You'd Never Find Out (Houghton Mifflin Co., 1986) with gusto, not long after they came out. Topics covered include how David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear and what is in Coca Cola and in Colonel Sanders’ secret chicken recipe. In this decade, I read 50 Things You’re Not Supposed To Know by Russ Kick (The Disinformation Co., Ltd., 2003), which tells us that Carl Sagan and Richard Feynman both smoked weed. Wow, two of the most intelligent humans who ever lived were potheads? Kind of dashes cold water into that “This is your brain on drugs’ skillet, don’t you think?
But, I tune away from Extra! and Entertainment Tonight as quickly as possible. There are so many so-called celebrity secrets that I just don’t give a rats’ belch about. And I am not one of those people who, if I use your bathroom, is likely to open your medicine cabinet, just to see what prescription meds you might be taking. I will, however, take a look at your bookshelves and your CDs, f they are on display. I might try to glimpse the title of a book being read by a passenger seated next to me on a plane, but I would never try to read what’s on his or her laptop screen.
WikiLeaks (www.wikileaks.org or www.wikileaks.info or www.wikileaks.ch) and Julian Assange, the site’s editor-in-chief and spokesperson, have managed to garner much publicity for themselves, and most of it has not been positive. Some people love WikiLeaks, while others hate it. The WikiLeaks homepage benignly states, “Have documents the world needs to see? We help you safely get the truth out.” That certainly sounds favorable to truth, justice, and the American Way, doesn’t it?
It is said to contain well over a million documents, including about 250,000 diplomatic cables, which were released in one post-Thanksgiving document dump. Yes, you know that more than one television comedian enjoyed commenting on the size of the dump that takes place after Thanksgiving. Some of the documents were embarrassing to the US and other countries, many of them in the way a high-school student might be embarrassed when her friends find out she has a secret crush on the captain of the chess team. Some of them appear to be a lot more damaging to our countries foreign relations and military involvements.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is one of several republicans who has called Assange a terrorist. Some have said he deserves the death penalty for endangering our military. On the other hand, Assange has been the recipient of several awards, from organizations ranging from Amnesty International to Time Magazine.
I have mixed feelings about WikiLeaks. On the one hand, I don’t like my government’s keeping secrets from me, unless there is a real danger of terrible events taking place, should the information get out. I am sure our government often errs on the side of keeping too much information secret, and that is probably a bad thing. WikiLeaks has, no doubt, uncovered a lot of secrets which should have never been hidden in the first place, and has unearthed some things which are just plain trivial. It has also shown us some thins we should know, such as footage of American troops murdering civilians in Iraq. This is something we need to know about, in spite of the fact that this knowledge could impact our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Such potential harm just does not warrant such a coverup. WikiLeaks has done some of the work of the US news media, and they have been quick to pick up and continue the spread of these facts and allegations. Just mentioning WikiLeaks and its founder gives the site publicity. Yes some of that is negative, but any publicity has to encourage the curious to log on to the site or one its mirrors just to see what the fuss is about. Even this blog entry might further that furor.
I think that WikiLeaks is doing us a service and a favor, and maybe it is filing a void, left by our own news media, with its diminishing budgets for newsgathering and increased reliance on information fed it by press releases over facts elicited by footwork and research.
However, I am too cautious to jump on the WikiLeaks bandwagon. Some of the information being leaked may not be complete or may be inaccurate. There may be some things that concerned Americans really don’t want or need to know and don’t want our enemies – or even our friend – to know. We must remember that Julian Assange is not an American. If nothing else, we might feel a bit shamed that an Australian is revealing information which perhaps should have been first shown to us by own media
Some things need to be kept secret for the sake of personal privacy and safety. You wouldn’t want someone to post your Social Security and credit card numbers for the world to see. But, if your potential babysitter has a prior conviction for child abuse, you would certainly want to be able to find out about that.
We praise Woodward and Bernstein for shining a light on the shady dealings of the Nixon Administration. However, most of us condemn Robert Novak for blowing Valerie Plame’s CIA cover, effectively ending her career with that agency. Woodward and Bernstein were idealistic, young journalists who were doing their best to report the truth to the people of America. Novak was a bitter, old troll of a man, who outed Plame as a way of seeking revenge. After all, Novak’s own autobiography is called The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington (Crown Forum, 2007). Novak died in 2009 and I am sure that some believe he is now contending with the real prince of darkness!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Obama Calls it a "Compromise" – I Call it a Surrender
President Barack Obama has chosen to “Compromise” with the Republicans in Congress, and is advocating an extension in the Bush-era tax cuts for all taxpayers – including the rich – and d a losing of the inheritance tax.
I am disappointed – even disgusted – that President Obama has caved into the hostage-takers and has turned his back on and directed his anger at us, his supporters.
Next to the Iraq war, the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy are the worst development to come out o the Bush presidency. To see Obama give in to the continuation of these cuts, causes me pain. Add the proposed changes to the Inheritance Tax, and what you have is a sucker-punch to those who have supported the causes the Obama pledged to support.
I have been an Obama supporter all through the election process, and have continued to support his administration as he has worked to implement the policies he campaigned on. But, this recent “compromise” with the Republicans is not worthy of that label, and not worthy of the faith the electorate placed in him, two years ago. This is not a compromise, it is a surrender. With a compromise, you give something you can afford and get something that is worth sacrificing for. As much as I favor the extension of Unemployment benefits to those who need them so much, this extension is far to small a crumb to warrant discarding principles and adding nearly a trillion dollars to the already ballooning deficit. This extension of benefits won’t even help those who need it most and are most likely to spend the money where it will do the economy the most good, those who have been looking for work for more than 99 weeks. I don’t understand why Obama seems to show such scorn to those who point these details out.
As much as I favor tax cuts for middle-class earners, I will gladly give up the middle-class tax break if it means the Bush-era tax breaks – all of them – are allowed to expire. Let the Republicans take the blame for not extending Unemployment benefits. This is mostly their mess, anyway, and it saddens me that Obama will go down in history as the Democratic president that added to it and made it worse.
By being so quick to cut unsavory deals with domestic hostage-takers, isn't Obama sending a very dangerous message to other potential hostage-takers around the world?
I am disappointed – even disgusted – that President Obama has caved into the hostage-takers and has turned his back on and directed his anger at us, his supporters.
Next to the Iraq war, the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy are the worst development to come out o the Bush presidency. To see Obama give in to the continuation of these cuts, causes me pain. Add the proposed changes to the Inheritance Tax, and what you have is a sucker-punch to those who have supported the causes the Obama pledged to support.
I have been an Obama supporter all through the election process, and have continued to support his administration as he has worked to implement the policies he campaigned on. But, this recent “compromise” with the Republicans is not worthy of that label, and not worthy of the faith the electorate placed in him, two years ago. This is not a compromise, it is a surrender. With a compromise, you give something you can afford and get something that is worth sacrificing for. As much as I favor the extension of Unemployment benefits to those who need them so much, this extension is far to small a crumb to warrant discarding principles and adding nearly a trillion dollars to the already ballooning deficit. This extension of benefits won’t even help those who need it most and are most likely to spend the money where it will do the economy the most good, those who have been looking for work for more than 99 weeks. I don’t understand why Obama seems to show such scorn to those who point these details out.
As much as I favor tax cuts for middle-class earners, I will gladly give up the middle-class tax break if it means the Bush-era tax breaks – all of them – are allowed to expire. Let the Republicans take the blame for not extending Unemployment benefits. This is mostly their mess, anyway, and it saddens me that Obama will go down in history as the Democratic president that added to it and made it worse.
By being so quick to cut unsavory deals with domestic hostage-takers, isn't Obama sending a very dangerous message to other potential hostage-takers around the world?
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