GOOD-BYE

It's been fun, but I've decided to focus my efforts elsewhere. If I'd had a glitzy web-site I might have attracted a bigger audience but that's not my way and, as usual, I've paid the price. For those of you who have listened to this small voice screaming in the wilderness--THANKS!

I really fear for this country. As jobs and resources dwindle, disillusioned workers will be driven into the arms of the demagogues in the Christian Right. Palin, Beck, etc. pose a bigger thtreat to America than bin-Laden but we will not realize this until it's too late. "Liberal" Democrats are as much to blame as conservative Republicans. Clinton's Free-Trade took jobs from millions of voting workers and gave them to serfs who have no voice in their government. This is how we "spread democracy"? Obama's bail-outs and Insurance Care has further strengthened the corporations at the expense of our workers. His foreign policies will keep us continually at war. The drift toward facsism continues.

I have been lucky. I believe that I got to see America at its best. I'm afraid that future generations will see America at its worst.

I am haunted by the words of Charles Bukowski: "We have everything but we can't have it."
Compassion is the greatest human trait, but greed and cruelty are built into us too. All we can do is keep fighting the good fight. Keep fighting. Good luck.
Joe

We'll Drink A Toast To Your Success, Dmitry

Brilliant! Russia's president, Dmitry Medyedev, has decided to fight his nation's alcohol problem --not by introducing reforms to improve the lives of Russian citizens, but by doubling the price of vodka.
It will certainly benefit the rest of the world to monitor this bold experiment. If it is successful, perhaps we can fight obesity in America by doubling the price of food. Cancer might be eradicated by simply raising the cost of chemotherapy. Stay tuned.

Too Good To Last

3 days into the new year and I'm still in a relatively good mood. I'm sure it will pass. Especially when every time I turn on the radio there's a newsperson telling me how we're starting a new decade. (Did all of these people flunk 3rd grade arithmetic? Is there some new way of counting to 10?) I'd also like to remind these same people that there is no "N" in the word "legitimate" and that "disconnect" is a verb. Ah shit, here I go again--it's hopeless . . . But you know, that steak really was good.

A Good One

Well, the holiday season is finally over and it was a good one for me. I neither gave nor received any Christmas presents, and I never once heard Aaron Neville sing "Silent Night" nor any version of "The Little Drummer Boy"--both of which make me break out in hives.
Juneau, notorious for rowdy behavior, survived a full-blue-moon New Year's Eve without any more than the usual amount of drunken stupidity. Alaska's capital is equally notorious for its bad food, but on New Year's Day I was served a reasonably priced steak cooked to perfection.
All is calm. All is bright. Happy New Year.

"Would You Like Fries With . . . I Mean, Can I See Your Passport?"

The media is having a ball with the failed Christmas-day bombing attempt, but the incident is actually making me feel safer.
The 9/11 conspirators were intelligent, competent professionals. If after 9 years, that pathetic nut-job on the Northwest airliner is the best excuse for a terrorist that al-Qaida can come up with, they must really be hurting.

Also, this incident will finally force TSA to upgrade its staff. Instead of employing minimum-wage McDonalds rejects to protect our citizens, it might now start staffing airports with trained professionals as is the policy in other vulnerable countries.

Let me wish you good luck in the new year--you're probably going to need it.

I Try To Be A Compassionate Person, But . . .

What a strange coincidence! After posting yesterday's blog I turned on the radio right in the middle of a news clip about a pedestrian being run over by a train. The story was presented as a great tragedy, as it truly was for the hapless victim and his family--but maybe not for the gene pool.
Since they can veer out of control and end up in unexpected places, people are often hit by cars. Folks have been hit by cars while standing on their own front lawns (especially when people like me are driving).
However:
Since they tend to follow a set of tracks, the whereabouts of a train is fairly predictable and consistent. Also, they are relatively large and loud, allowing them to be seen and heard at quite a distance.
My condolences to the family of yesterday's train victim, but let's be honest--if it wasn't the train, wouldn't it have been something else?

Too Bad Those Kids Weren't In A Car Or Truck

Now that some lunatic has tried to blow up an airliner just before landing, experts have advised laws restricting passengers--just before landing. (These are the same experts who recognized the danger of sharp things after the 9/11 attacks, and the danger of liquid explosives after someone tried using them.)

The logic here reminds me of the logic leading to the federal law requiring buses to stop at all RR crossings (even when no train is coming).
Ever wonder about that one?
Back in the 1950's, a bus was hit by a train and several children died. Congress instantly determined that buses must be particularly prone to being hit by trains (to the extent that they are endangered even when no train is coming) and enacted the law that is still in effect. Cars, trucks, and motorcycles, of course, cannot be hit by trains--only buses.