Labels: press any key

The Back Story: I was was living in Oregon. I met a rather intriguing woman who lived in Washington (state). She was talented, engaging, and intelligent. She was also very suspicious by nature.

It turns out that she and some friends had escaped from a communal-living, mind-controlling, and basically weird cult. They moved, stealthily, a few times - until they were hundreds of miles away from the cult (physically). Philosophically and emotionally they had grown to where they were worlds away - but had to lay low because the cult's head a*hole took it personally when someone checked out. Even worse, my new friends did the books (accounting) and some of the business management for the cult. They knew where the skeletons were kept. Their paranoia was well founded.

In late autumn I visited her for a few days. That visit helped break through her general distrust for humanity. She actually laughed again, after years of repression. And ... well, you'll see...

I had to leave early because one of those legendary Pacific Northwest storms was closing in fast. News reports indicated that I couldn't go south via the direct route because of landslides and flooding. To get to Oregon I had to go through Seattle and then south on the interstate. Getting to Seattle required a ride on one of the Washington State Ferries. The storm, with gale-force winds and a wind chill below zero (F), didn't affect the ferry. If anything, it made the ride almost magical. It certainly was inspiring. That's where the poem begins: on the ferry. Note: I made it home OK.

The Gift That Warmed

Winter's chill gripped the night,
A frigid blast cut to the bone,
Ice crackled underfoot,
Storm loomed o'head.
Yet I felt strangely warm.

Was it warm winter wear?
Wool Watchcap and down parka?
Thermal socks and longjohns?
Heavy sweater and gloves?

Or was it the glow in my heart?
A gift you gave to me.
It wasn't just your meals and your songs,
Your friends and your wine and your body in the night.

It was your way of saying,
Things you've never shared,
In these tumultuous times of your life.
When you gave me your trust.

Labels: cult, northwest, paranoia, poetry, storm, trust

The chemist's representation of a chocolate molecule:

Now you can ask for it by name.

Labels: chocolate, molecule

Labels: Computer Security

An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing.

A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, 'Can I also sit like you and do nothing?'

The eagle answered: 'Sure, why not.'

So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested.

All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit, and ate it.

Moral of the story:

To be sitting around and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

The GOP governors conference discussed ways to appeal to more voters this past weekend. They must stop denying science. Polls show that while thirty percent of Republicans believe in evolution, only three percent of monkeys believe in Republicans.

-- Argus Hamilton

Labels: evolution

Top-down Economics:

1. People are out of work because the economy is bad.
2. aka "Supply-Side Economics" and "Socialism for the Rich"
   
3. Highlights:
   • Tax cuts for the wealthy
   • 'tinkle-down' wealth
   • growing monopolies
   • increasing national debt
   • law of the jungle markets
4. The solution to economic slumps: wait it out (and give the wealthy more tax cuts)
5. High Times (all featured tax cuts for the wealthy and deficit spending):
   • 1929-1932 (stock market crash, liquidity crisis, 25% unemployment)
   • 1969-1976 (inflation, weakening dollar, wage-and-price controls, 'stagflation')
   • 1981-1992 (sluggish economy, huge market crash in 1987)
   • 2001-2008 (high unemployment, declining average family income, record deficit spending)

Bottom-up Economics:

1. The economy is bad because people are out of work.
2. aka "Demand-Side Economics" and "Capitalism for the People"
   
3. Highlights:
   • Tax policy that WORKS
   • entrepreneurial growth
   • low unemployment
   • paying down debt
   • businesses subject to oversight
4. The solution to economic slumps: create jobs
5. High Times (all started with tax increases or with relatively high taxes):
   • 1933-1940 (economy recovered from disasters of 1929-1932)
   • 1941-1952 (booming economy)
   • 1960-1968 (booming economy)
   • 1993-2000 (longest sustained economic boom in US history)
     

Labels: capitalism, demand-side, market crash, socialism, stagflation, supply-side, Tax cuts for the wealthy

November 16, Great Northwet

It's mid-November and I'm still snarfing down blackberries and raspberries. They're still sweet, juicy, tasty. And they're north of the 48th and they're still here in November.

Previously, in Truth for Dummies

Monday, November 3, 2008

But It's November!
I've been picking - and eating and enjoying - raspberries and blackberries. In November. North of the 48th parallel.They've been some damn fine berries¹, too.

¹ OK, they're not berries; they're brambles. They're still sweet, juicy, tasty. And they're north of the 48th and in November.

Labels: blackberries, brambles, raspberries

"Politically Correct" is a term intended to shift attention away from the speaker's bigotry and onto the target of that bigotry. It's a variation of 'blaming the victim.' That said, let's learn more about "political correctness."

First, an example:

• Kentuckians, Tennesseans and West Virginians will no longer be referred to as 'Hillbillies.' You must now refer to them as
  'Appalachian-Americans' .
  Or better
  'Culturally-and-Intellectually-Challenged Appalachian-Americans.'
  Or most PC descriptively
  'Vermillion' (or 'Carmine')-Tinted-Posterior-Cervical-Sheathed Americans'

Now that we understand the concept -

How To Speak About Women And Be Politically Correct:

• She is not a 'Babe' or a 'Chick'
  She is a 'Mammarily-Enhanced American.'
  
  
• She is not 'Easy'
  She is 'Horizontally Accessible.'
  
  
• She is not a 'Dumb Blonde'
  She is a 'Light-Haired Detour Off The Information Superhighway.'
  
  
• She has not 'Been Around'
  She is a 'Previously Enjoyed Companion.'
  
  
• She does not 'Nag' you
  She becomes 'Verbally Repetitive.'
  
  
• She is not a 'Two-bit Hooker'
  She is a ' Low Cost Provider.'

How To Speak About Men And Be Politically Correct:

• He does not have a 'Beer Gut'
  He has developed a 'Liquid Grain Storage Facility.'
  
  
• He is not a 'Bad Dancer'
  He is 'Overly Caucasian.'
  
  
• He does not 'Get Lost All The Time'
  He 'Investigates Alternative Destinations.'
  
  
• He is not 'Balding'
  He is in 'Follicle Regression.'
  
  
• He does not act like a 'Total Ass'
  He develops a case of 'Rectal-Cranial Inversion.'
  
  
• It's not his 'Crack' you see hanging out of his pants
  It's 'Southward-Directed Cleavage.'

As the comedian Mort Sahl would say, "is there anyone I haven't offended yet?"

Labels: pc, politically correct

Barack Obama, My President
By Mike Huckabee

It's no secret that I personally supported John McCain for president. I agreed with him on core issues and he and I are in the same party, but I also truly believe he's an extraordinary and honorable American hero.

I campaigned hard for him - to the point of losing my voice in fact. But Americans elected Barack Obama and it's time to put the election behind us and the country in front of us.

Barack Obama wasn't my choice, but come January 20, he will be my president. I will pray for him and his family. I want him to be successful in leading our country. I will not seek to see all of his faults and none of his qualities.

Some of President Bush's harsh critics went beyond loyal opposition and engaged in angry, vile and mean-spirited hate.

Those of us who found that kind of attitude and behavior despicable can hardly engage in similar conduct toward a President Obama.

We can show our true patriotism conducting ourselves in the way that we wanted people to have treated President Bush.

In my lifetime, I saw the revolting and repulsive indignities of racism manifested in people of color being subjected to separate schools, waiting rooms, seating areas in theaters and water fountains.

It's an embarrassing part of our nation's history that we can never ignore. The evil, selfish - yes, sinful - treatment of other Americans because of color cannot be erased. But we can all celebrate that on this Election Day, a man was elected to live in the White House who 50 years ago would have at best been able to serve coffee there.

It means that when mothers put their children to bed, they will be able to tell them that there are no limits to their opportunities in America and young black children will be able to know that their pathway to the top is not necessarily limited to sports or entertainment, but might be through education, hard work and public service.

Surely, even the most partisan Republican can appreciate that.

If Barack Obama pushes tax increases, indifference to the sanctity of life or same sex marriages, I'll strongly and loudly disagree.

But I will still show him the respect that he has earned having been elected president of the United States.

Yes, my president.
Fox News

Labels: huckabee, my president, obama

Letter & Lyric To Clancy
1977

About noon, after a clear mountain morning in May
I thought about you again.
But then, it's not hard to do.
It happens all the time.
Like works of art hung in the gallery,
Are my memories of our too brief times together.
Would you like to step inside my mind
And let me show you my etchings?

I never treatly you fairly, really.
The only piece of me that I offered,
Offered no promise of tomorrow,
Or even tonight.
The rest of me was committed.
Not so much to the woman as to the children.
They needed a Daddy as much as I needed to be one.
But now all the loose ends of my life are up for grabs.

I'm not asking you to commit
Or to change your life for something you've never known.
But up here in God's Country we welcome summer guests.
Please accept my invitation to
Walk and talk and touchMilk the goat and gather eggsBe pampered like I always promised,But never took, never gave, the time to do.Hear my poems and songs and barnyard soundsAnd see what it's like to beHigh in the mountains with me.

For those of you with short memories...

There were some highly influential people who worked for months to convince us that

• Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction.
• If we invade Iraq our troops would be greeted as liberators (do you remember "roses and sweets....")
• Saddam Hussein worked with and supported terrorists
• Our original deployment of troops would be adequate
• Oil revenues would fund the reconstruction
• Our troops had adequate body armor
• It was NOT about oil, even thought the original name was the freudian-slippage Operation Iraqi Liberation (I'm not making that up)
  
• "5 weeks, certainly not 5 months..."
  
  and the tallest of tall tales
  
  
• Mission Accomplished
  

Granted, it all worked out OK, but....

Those same people have told us that if we don't hurry up and give away a trillion or so dollars to Wall Street's Rogue's Gallery - our nation's most crooked and corrupt - then the world as we know it just might end soon. Kind of like this:


Dilbert.com 2008-11-08

The "hurry up and invade some country" set of, um, fibs - took months of hammering to convince enough people. This time it only took a few days. Same liars, same rubes.

I realize it's a bit late, but to quote our liar-in-chief:
"Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."

Labels: body armor, greeted as liberators, oir revenues, reconstruction, saddam, terrorists, wmd

Americans were ready for change. By golly, they are going to get that badly-needed change. The following is the text of a letter from the founder and CEO of retailing giant Amazon.com

Dear Customers,

Wrap rage describes the frustration we humans feel when trying to free a product from a nearly impenetrable package.

Some products are hermetically sealed inside plastic clamshell cases, while others (especially toys) use plastic-coated steel-wire ties. Without the right tools, wire ties can be painful and time-consuming to untwist.

Today, we are excited to announce the beginning of a multi-year initiative designed to alleviate wrap rage - Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging. Amazon is working with leading manufacturers to deliver products inside smaller, easy-to-open, recyclable cardboard boxes with less packaging material (and no frustrating plastic clamshells or wire ties).

One of the first products to launch with Frustration-Free Packaging is the Fisher-Price Imaginext Adventures Pirate Ship, which is now delivered in an easy-to-open, recyclable cardboard box. The new packaging eliminates:

• 36 inches of plastic-coated steel-wire ties
• 1,576.5 square inches of printed corrugated package inserts
• 36.1 square inches of folding carton materials
• 175.25 square inches of PVC blisters 3.5 square inches of ABS molded styrene
• Two molded plastic fasteners.
  

We've launched Frustration-Free Packaging with 19 best-selling items from Fisher-Price, Mattel, Microsoft, and electronics manufacturer Transcend.

It will take many years, but our vision is to offer our entire catalog of products in Frustration-Free Packaging. We offer our sincere thanks to these companies for working with us in this effort - we truly appreciate it. In addition to making packages easier to open, a major goal of the Frustration-Free Packaging initiative is to be more environmentally friendly by using less packaging material. We've also launched a number of projects across the company to reduce waste and save energy."

Sincerely,
Jeff Bezos
Founder and CEO Amazon.com

Labels: amazon, frustration, packaging, rage

"Convicted Felon." "Convicted" is part of the definition of "felon," thus making the expression redundant.

"Felon" will do just fine, thank you.

Labels: convicted, felon, redundancy, redundant

Labels: $150, 000, alaska, constitution, Corrupt Bastards Club, corruption, felon, governor, Marcus, murkowski, Neiman, palin, senator, stevens

Seattle Sports And Culture Fans Mourn Death Of Tuba Man

To sports fans across Seattle, Ed McMichael was an icon - a gentle giant whose tuba sounds outside area ball parks rang consistent, regardless of the action inside.

What fans may not have known about the Tuba Man was that for 10 years he was principal tubist with the Bellevue Philharmonic and played with the Cascade Symphony, before growing bored with orchestras and hitting the streets. He once said his dream was to play "O Canada" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" on the mound at Safeco Field. Seattle, a town with street entertainers seemingly everywhere, had the quintessential busker: a quirky musician beloved by all who heard him play.

McMichael, 53, died Monday, nine days after police say he was kicked and beaten by a group of juveniles near a bus stop in the 500 block of Mercer Street. Police have arrested two 15-year-olds in connection with the assault.

The Tuba Man's death has led to an outpouring of sadness and anger from those whose encounters with him left a lasting impression. His brother, Kelsey "Bud" McMichael, is surprised by the impact Ed had on this city. "My brother never really sought that notoriety," said Kelsey McMichael, who flew up from Florida to help his brother after the assault. "He didn't really want to be popular. Yet everything he did drew that out. It's amazing thinking back at all the names people called him: 'Crazy. Weird. Gentle giant.' Everyone had an opinion about him."

For 20 years, Ed McMichael was a fixture at Mariners, Sonics and Seahawks games and around Seattle Center - trading his talent for spare change. "Any of us attending a Seahawks game always got a chance to say hello and give him some pocket change for his playing tunes," said Ross Cook of Gig Harbor.

Cook recalled that in 2003, his then-25-year-old son stopped to talk with the Tuba Man before a Seahawks game and asked if he'd ever actually attended a game. When he learned he had not, he bought him a ticket to sit with him and a friend. "My son says Tuba Man had the time of his life at the game, and once people in the general-seating area around them recognized him, they began sending peanuts, hot dogs and beverages over 'gratis' to welcome him." [ don't be surprised - we're talking about Seattle ]

One of tens of thousands of stories about the Tuba Man: "one of the highlights of any trip to Safeco or KeyArena was hearing the music from the Tuba Man. I remember going to a TBirds game at the Key many, many, years ago..." complete story.... Seattle P-I       Seattle Times      Art Thiel, Resident Smart-Ass       KOMO-TV

My comments:

1. Tuba Man also entertained patrons who were attending cultural events at the old Opera House (and, I'm told, at Seattle's Benaroya Hall).
2. Tuba Man inspired and encouraged a young friend of mine - a teenager at the time - to play his cello for passers-by at a Mariners Game.
3. I'll be among the hundreds of thousands who will miss him.
4. OK, Seattle - it's time for a statue. I'm thinking between Safeco and Quest Field. Or Fremont.... (Seattle insiders' joke). "Mr. Allen, paging Mr. Allen."
5. I once called out to him "Fantasia on the Dargason." He immediately played the tuba solo from the opening bars. Then I tried "Smoke on the Water." Duh-oh. He nailed it. After "Sgt. Pepper" and "Stardust" it was clear that he was going to win. The guy was an oom-pah juke box. He loved his music and the modest living he made bringing smiles to all.
6. I'll miss you, Tuba Man. Too shall your city.

Update: Memorial Fund Established

Go to any Bank of America branch and you can donate to the Edward "The Tuba Man" McMichael Memorial Fund or send checks and money orders made out to Edward "The Tuba Man" McMichael Memorial Fund to PO BOX 4985, Federal Way, WA 98063.

Area musicians are invited to bring their instruments for a musical remembrance of "The Tuba Man" on Saturday, November 8 at McCaw Hall. Details

Labels: seattle, tuba man

Through the course of his presidential Campaign, Barack Obama has often used the expressions "This is the moment" or "This is our moment."

His November 4, 2008 victory speech was no exception. In Grant Park, Chicago his last paragraphs read:

"This is our chance to answer that call.

This is our moment. This is our time....

to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes We Can."

Every time I hear Barack say "This is the moment", I have several reactions:

• I get emotional, including hopeful and proud
• I get a chill up and down my spine (quite literally)
• I think of one of my all-time favorite songs, written for and performed at the 1994 World Games: Moody Blues' This Is The Moment

For your listening and reading pleasure:
Moody Blues, This Is The Moment, 1994 (0.56 MB).

---

Note: that music file is intentionally low-quality for 2 reasons

1. to keep the file's size small for faster loading
2. to encourage you to purchase the song, rather than to download it as a freebie; please do not pirate music
   

---

This is the moment, this is the day
This is the moment, when I know
I am on my way.
Every endeavor, I have made ever
Is coming into play, is here and now today.

This is the moment, this the time
When the momentum, and the moment
Are in rhyme.
Give me this moment, my precious chance
I'll gather up my best, and make some sense at last.

This is the moment, when all I've done
All of the dreaming, scheming and screaming
Become one.
This is the day, just see it shine
When all that I have lived for becomes mine.

This is the moment, this is the hour
When I can open up, tomorrow
Like a flower.
And put my hand to everything I plan
To fulfill my grand desire, see all my stars align.

This is the moment, my final test
Destiny beckoned, I never reckoned
Second best.
I won't look back, I must not fall
This is the moment, the sweetest moment
Of them all.

This is the moment, so double the odds
This day or never, I'll sit forever
With the gods.
When I look back I will recall
Moment for moment, this was the moment
The greatest moment of them all.

Labels: moody blues, obama, this is the moment

Labels: fear, hope, obama, president

Dear Red States:

We've decided we're leaving.

We Blue Staters are going to form our own country. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation.

In case you aren't aware, we are more than just New York, Massachusetts, and California. We are also Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, all of the Northeast, and an ever-growing number of states whose residents have recently gotten smarter (and gone blue).

Here's a quick overview of the split:

• We get stem cell research and the best beaches.
  You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states.
  
  
• We get Bill Gates.
  You get Ken Lay.
  
  
• We get the Statue of Liberty.
  You get Dollywood.
  
  
• We get Intel and Microsoft.
  You get WorldCom.
  
  
• We get Harvard.
  You get Ole' Miss.
  
  
• We get 85 percent of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs.
  You get Alabama.
  
  
• We pay (and now will get to keep) two-thirds of the tax revenue.
  You get to make the red states pay their fair share.
  
  
• Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families.
  You get a bunch of single moms.
  
  
• We get planned families.
  You get the the states with the highest percentages of teen pregnancies.
  
  
• We get the statesmen.
  You get George Bush and Dick Cheney.
  
  
• We get world leaders like Madelyn Albright, national leaders like Christine Whitman, scientists - including Sally Ride, most of the best women novelists, musicians, and artists.
  You get beauty queens like Miss South Carolina and Sarah Palin.
  
  
• We get the entrepreneurs who are building tomorrow's Green technology.
  You get the leftovers once "Drill, Baby, Drill" has drained your resources.
  
  
• We get West Side Story, Citizen Kane, Rocky.
  You get Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Deliverance.
  
  
• We get the highest percentages of people who actually read their books and newspapers.
  You get a wanna-be who claims to read all of them, any of them and a bunch of people who thump their book.
  

Please be aware that our nation will be pro-choice and anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids they're apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don't care if you don't show pictures of their children's caskets coming home. You could also ask the ChickenHawks who dominate the GOP. Those are the ones who advocate war, but never get around to participating in the glory.

We do wish you success in Iraq , and hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.

With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80 percent of the fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple and lettuce, 92 percent of the nation's fresh fruit, 95 percent of America's Quality wines (you can serve French wines - or more likely, Bud and moonshine at state dinners) 90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high-tech industry, most of the U.S.low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods / sequoias / condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools, plus Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT.

With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88 percent of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs), 92 percent of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the tornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100 percent of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, and USC (that's University of South Carolina, not the world-renowned University of Southern California).

In addition, your populace will be home to intellectual giants --

• 38 percent of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale.
  
  
• 62 percent believe life is sacred (unless we're discussing the death penalty, wars of aggression, or gun laws).
  
  
• 44 percent say that evolution is "only a theory" - the same 44% who don't understand enough science to know what a theory really is.
  
  
• 53 percent that Saddam was involved in 9/11.
  and
• 61 percent of you crazy bastards believe you are people with higher morals then we elitists.

Lucky you. Considering how much you embrace diversity, equality, and civil rights, you get the most of states with the highest percentages of non-white residents. You'll get to dust off those Jim Crow laws and poll taxes. We hope you saved all that Confederate currency.

Because we understand Matthew 22:39, we still love you.

-- Blue States

PS: we're taking the good pot, too. You can have that dirt weed they grow in Mexico.

Labels: blue state, red state

I've been picking - and eating and enjoying - raspberries and blackberries. In November. North of the 48th parallel.

They've been some damn fine berries¹, too.

¹ OK, they're not berries; they're brambles. They're still sweet, juicy, tasty. And they're north of the 48th and in November.

Labels: berries, blackberries, raspberries

Stolen from New Yorker magazine

Labels: blog, blogging

"On the day President Bush took office, the national debt stood at $5.727 trillion. The latest number from the Treasury Department shows the national debt now stands at more than $9.849 trillion. That's a 71.9 percent increase on Mr. Bush's watch."
-- CBS News, 9/29/08

Labels: bush, george w. mccain, john mc bush, national debt