A Ripple Over These Thousand Hills

Corrupticut Continues

2012-01-22T16:12:00.002-06:00

The GOP leadership in Washington does not have a monopoly on the absence of integrity. Politicians in Connecticut continue to seek ways to surpass them in acting on behalf of insiders rather than the common good. Here's the latest in this long running saga.

A painting or a snapshot?

2011-12-20T22:23:00.002-06:00

I'm considering my pace these days. I also am spending more time really looking around and trying to appreciate what I am seeing. I have decided that I want to paint my life more than take a gazillion fast photos.

Just one teeny tiny tax

2011-12-07T08:28:00.002-06:00

A financial transactions tax of just one tenth of one percent (.001) would produce enough revenue from the NYSE alone to cover ONE THIRD of the deficit reduction dollars Tea Party Republicans are demanding. This minuscule increase in the cost of a trade would produce $20 Billion dollars in new tax revenue annually.

Whenever the subject comes up it is severely attacked as unfair, unworkable, job-killing, etc. Yet no one says anything against raising the SALES tax that you and I pay on items everyday. If you check the record you will see that those Tea Party folks have often supported INCREASES in the sales tax (usually surreptitiously by eliminating exemptions). So why is a teeny tiny tax on the things bought by those who destroyed the economy such a bad thing when a HUGE tax added to the cost of stuff I need to live so evil and unfair? It sure would slow down micro-trading wouldn't it? Do you think that might be one of the reasons this will never see the floor of the House?

Major Employers Connecticut

2011-11-14T18:46:00.002-06:00

The State of Connecticut employs approximately 27,000 people in Executive Branch positions. This does not include the folks in the Judicial Branch or in higher education. All told there are somewhere around 42,00 people who draw their paycheck directly from the state. That is more than the top two employers from this list combined. And note that one of the top two employers in the state is in the supermarket business. The vast majority of those jobs are part time and low pay. If you look at the list closely you will see that there are only 4 large employers who actually make anything. In total they employ about 42,000 people, the same number of folks who work for the state. Add up the other major employers providing good jobs that aren't hospitals or universities and you have roughly another 63,000 jobs. The rest of the list is service industry positions, half are financial services, but a good chunk of the employers are health care and retail jobs.mostly lower pay, usually part time. So what does this all amount to? It means that of the major employers in Connecticut, roughly ONE THIRD of the decent jobs offered are paid directly by tax dollars. Add in all those teachers employed by the cities and towns and you discover that there is only one major employer in Connecticut -- government! But it's not all bad news. Roughly 1.7 million people have jobs in Connecticut. So the government paid workers and the folks working for the companies on this list only account for about 5% of the work force. Most of us work for small companies, or mom and pop type operations. So if we just told all the big boys to hit the road when they try to stick us up for incentives most of us would still have our jobs. Maybe we don't need to pay ESPN millions to add a few new positions.

Asking the Right Questions

2011-11-03T08:24:00.003-05:00

One of the biggest things in finding a solution to a problem is being able to ask the right questions. That's one thing I like about David Brooks. He looks beyond the obvious and the conventional wisdom to ask what might just be the right questions. Doesn't always have the answers, but the right questions get on the path to the right solutions. Problem with the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street is that they have solutions before even asking the questions. So they frame the circumstances to fit. But what we really need is for leaders to take the whole reality and frame it in a way that allows us to get our brains around it, and then to help us to ask the right questions.

And here's a blog post related to church that also comes out of asking one of the right questions: in this case, what is right with the Church?

Some Relevant Bible Quotes

2011-04-27T16:13:00.005-05:00

He who has ears, let him hear. "To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: " 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.' For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' But wisdom is proved right by her actions."
-- Jesus, speaking of the Pharisees, as recorded in Matthew's Gospel

I've pretty much given up on expecting any sort of words or actions with even the slightest bit of integrity from anyone in the Republican party. Today President Obama released a second, longer version of his birth certificate. So what was the response from people like Donald Trump and Mitt Romney and the RNC Chairman? "What President Obama should really be releasing is a jobs plan." For the past year these folks have been constantly raising questions as to the legitimacy of Obama's citizenship and demanding he give better proof that he fulfills the constitutional requirements for holding the office of president. So when he does they complain that he's wasting time on unimportant things.

I have plenty of issues with the Democrats as well, and find most of them cynically manipulative in their campaigning. And individually there are plenty who are corrupt. Senator Dodd from my state got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, as did Rep. Rangel of NY. But I don't find the policy positions and political philosophy of the Democrats to be morally bankrupt and biblically corrupt. But the party that tries to wrap itself in the mantle of Jesus has become exactly that. Consider this short excerpt from God's Politics, the blog of Jim Wallis and Sojourners

Doom to you who legislate evil, who make laws that make victims — laws that make misery for the poor, that rob my destitute people of dignity, exploiting defenseless widows, taking advantage of homeless children. What will you have to say on Judgment Day, when Doomsday arrives out of the blue? Who will you get to help you? What good will your money do you? (Isaiah 10:1-3, The Message)

Ryan’s budget seems to follow, almost line by line, the “oppressive statues” Isaiah rails against.
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Here's what Wallis says in the blog post in the paragraphs that lead to the above quote:

It is reported that Congressman Paul Ryan makes every member of his staff read philosopher Ayn Rand, the shameless promoter of the gospel of aggressive self-interest. This makes sense to me as I read Congressman Ryan’s new budget proposal. I wish he had his staff reading the Bible instead.

While widely lauded by conservatives, Congressman Ryan’s budget isn’t really about deficit reduction. It’s about choices — choices that will determine what kind of a country we become. And Paul Ryan has made the choice to hurt people who don’t have the political clout to defend themselves. Two-thirds of the long-term budget cuts that Ryan proposed are directed at modest and low-income people, as well as the poorest of the poor at home and abroad. At the same time, he proposed tax cuts up to 30 percent for some of our country’s wealthiest corporations. Let me say that again: Two-thirds of the cuts come at the expense of already struggling people and families, while corporations posting record profits get tax breaks. In short, the most vulnerable members of society are being attacked by Ryan and his supporters. This makes them bullies.

In dramatic contrast, Ryan has chosen to help the people who need help the least. Wealthy individuals and companies reap a windfall of benefits in Ryan’s plan — with tax cuts and breaks, continued subsidies and loopholes for every powerful special interest, and increased corporate welfare payments from the government. Congressman Ryan and his supporters have carefully and faithfully rewarded the rich people who make their campaign contributions, and, in most cases, have also rewarded themselves as rich people. This makes them corrupt.

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I struggle with the way that Wallis at times is a liberal left version of Jerry Falwell, et al. At times he infers that only those who agree with his politics are faithfully following Jesus. Imagine that! From Falwell to Dobson to Colson to Huckabee we've heard this over and over again from the Republican wing of the American church. Seems like now some Democrats have adopted the same playbook.

BUT one cannot just dismiss out of hand the ways that the very things for which Israel was judged by God are EXACTLY the things that are the policies promoted by the latest conservatives while at the same time they promote themselves as the defenders of Christian America.

I don't believe that Jesus has a preference for any political party, or that any one philosophy of government is THE biblically correct system of government. But I do believe that there are some very specific things God desires from government and business and community leaders. And that there are some very specific things that God condemns. Promoting greed at the expense of the vulnerable is one of them.

Who do you know?

2011-03-30T22:44:00.002-05:00

My prior post addressed the question, "How do you know?"
Its context was framed by my opinion that Life becomes most valuable when one enters into a right relationship with God. Some theologists prefer to say that one grows aware of the existence of such a relationship and responds to the summons God issues. In either case, the response to the Spirit of our Creator is a dividing line between life lived before and life lived after. That is something for another post, I think.
Tonight I am thinking about the question which would follow "How do you know?" To me, the next logical question or extension of the same question is "How do you know who you know?"
In other words, if I have faith in my relationship with God and answer the question of how I know by saying the knowledge is part of my gift and my relationship, one can ask how do I know my relationship is with God and not something else?
The something else could be another force or spirit, my own ego or, as a friend put it, "or perhaps being in relationship with the idea of God."
For me, the test I would lay before one who claims relationship with God (as I do before myself often) is to examine who is glorified by this relationship. If the one claiming such a relationship also claims special status or glory for themselves, then I suspect they are misled. If personal gain or power is derived or sought through the relationship, they are missing the point. If the relationship is due to a worthiness or special action on their part, the spirit of the relationship is lying about its origin. If the author of the relationship demands glory and worship, it is an impostor who has tricked its partner.
If the person claiming such a relationship says they have done nothing special to have been given such a gift, that they have no claim on such a gift or relationship and in fact don't deserve it at all, I think they are on track. If they say that the relationship with God was offered before they understood it, that in entering into such relationship they still remain unworthy (except through being deemed so by God) and that they are most certainly not divine, they are spot on.
If their response to the knowledge of such relationship is one of wonder, amazement and deep gratitude, they probably are heading to the right place.
If one is able to say, "God/Creator has made me for His glory and I hope that my actions reflect (and not earn me) a response to the love given to me," then that person understands our insignificance as well as our true worth.
Then, after all this, I think one can say how they know who they know.

How Do You Know?

2011-03-28T22:06:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago, a group of good friends gathered to celebrate an anniversary. While enjoying a great dinner and excellent company, our conversation turned to topical events. When the subject of Charlie Sheen came up, I expressed two opinions - 1) that I was able to relate to nearly every attitude he had been quoted on regarding whether or not he was ashamed of his partying (he's not, I'm not - it happened) and 2) that his choices of how he was leading his life really had no impact on whether his life was of merit or not; that is to say that because he was focused on his own happiness and buzz was no different than the civic leader who performed innumerable acts of charity solely for the social status it brought them.
Opinion #1 came from hearing so many people speak about how miserable and sad Charlie Sheen must be. Their thoughts were those of someone who has not experienced "life on the bus," has not been driven to get higher than logic says is possible and who thinks that anyone who delves into such a world must do so out of desperation and misery. I'm here to tell you that you are missing the point entirely. I told them and I tell you that I think Charlie is having a HELL of a good time and that life is probably really good from his point of view right about now. For a person that enjoys being effed up, the combination of unlimited funds, friends to party with and a fairly good quality supply of dope, life doesn't get much better.
To start with, it isn't tomorrow that holds any allure for those of us that have lived (or are living) in this world. What is so great about tomorrow if today is going to suck? And today DOES suck if I have a chance to get totally wasted/high, be in a world no one else can describe or share fully but others on the same ride can 100% relate to and have all my worldly needs taken care of.
Which is to say, I have a place to hang, my belly isn't hurting from hunger and I AM EFFED UP.
The fact that the high is artificial and derives its power from power I (the user) cede to it matters not. It is really, really, really fun for those of us who want to ride the tiger. The ONLY reason I am still not riding that bus, tiger or train is because I found something I value more. I still don't give a flying f**k about your values.
Opinion #2 is tied to #1 in that YOUR values about what makes a life worthwhile is something that worries me not in the least. I have come to understand that my life and its value is not anything that a human being can place value on. Our purpose doesn't come from this life, its origin is beyond our control, our (natural) time here isn't our determination and how others regard us immaterial. For me, Life is about being in relationship with God, celebrating the blessings surrounding me (including Life and Awareness of His presence with me) and partaking in the intoxication which comes from this realization.
Any life lived apart from relationship with God is the same and of equal worth (or lack thereof), I expressed. It is only when one is in relationship with God that the Meaning of Life becomes apparent and perspective allows one to deal with "trials" accurately, I said.
The question which followed, posed by one of my better friends, has haunted me since that evening. "How do you know?" she asked. "How do you know you are in relationship with God?"
I have searched for the proper answer since she said it.
I'm not sure there is an answer that will satisfy the mind that demands proof on this question. In some ways, asking someone to prove faith is like attempting to push water. Something gets moved, but it doesn't much resemble what it was when the push started.
Instead, let's look at this from a different point of view.
Have you ever had a problem or challenge that the answer to was proving very elusive? You have spent much time contemplating this issue, working it over both in your conscious mind and your subconscious. It has occupied your thoughts for longer than you expected it would. All your training and experience has led you to believe that you ought to know this. You believe you should know it. Yet it isn't there- you don't know the answer. Until.
Maybe it happened while you slept. Or your mind had seemingly led the problem aside for a moment. Until.
Until you knew the answer to the problem - you knew the tactic to take to solve it. Or you finally identified what the root cause was and were able to plan the steps to resolve it. But suddenly, instantly and unquestionably, you knew. Many times we can't explain how we know - we just somehow know.
Consider beauty.
We can define beauty, we can talk about beauty. We can contrast the concept of beauty with ugly. We can give examples of what is considered beautiful, reciting what we have heard from others. But until we experience something beauty, it is only an abstract concept for us. A hollow world without tone or quality; it is something but it is not a part of our world. Yet.
But when we experience beauty (not just observe it), it changes everything about the word for us. Suddenly and eternally, beauty becomes a part of our life. Its absence is noticed, mourned. Its presence celebrated.
So, how do you know something is beautiful or creates beauty? Can you quantify it? Define it using absolutes? Create a definition for it that will allow one with no experience with it to read and then understand beauty?

Some things are simply known, in and of themselves, apart from the rules which seek to govern all the other aspects of our lives. And that is the absolute joy of faith, which can only be a gift.

Holiday

2010-12-07T05:36:00.002-06:00

First of all, let me state that I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven & earth; I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, begotten, not made; I believe in the Holy Spirit.
It's Christmas season again. I see the decorations and lights going up on the homes and businesses. I hear people talking about shopping and gift selection. About which party they are going to and whether or not everything will get done. I hear the clock ticking in my head as we count down to Christmas Eve and the family is all coming to our house and there are still not doors on 7 of the cabinets in the kitchen.
"STOP!" I want to scream, "Do you know WHY all this is going on?"
Some people tell us organized religion is irrelevant to the world now. It is a corrupt system set up to secure power for the elite leaders of the various religions & a crutch for the simple minded. I am not sure I would disagree. I, too, prefer to be called spiritual rather than religious.
And yet...
as I watch the preparations for the Christmas celebrations take place and participate with friends from church in annual activities which mark the season, I become so thankful for what organized religion has provided me.
"Lo, unto to them is born this day a child, who is Christ, the Lord."
Organized religion is a corrupt system, for it is system of mankind. It can be nothing but. It does not mean that ALL aspects of it are evil or that ALL participants in leadership roles are corrupt. Statements have been made that the Church in the name of Christ has killed more people than anything else. This may be so. But the charities of all the churches around the world are in literally saving lives in incredible numbers. Medical mission trips, schools and universities founded by churches, and acting as a funnel point for getting money to the right places to do the most good are tangible examples of organized religion doing great things.
The leaders of organized religions or local congregations amass power. True. With power comes responsibility. SOMEONE has to make sure things get done. The older I get, the more I realize how much work it takes for "things" to work right. There was a time when people looked to their local church/priest/minister for social services. A quiet knock on the door late at night, hat in hand, asking for money to purchase breakfast for the family tomorrow still happens. Most of us have no idea how often or even WHO asked. But trust me, it does. Because the government services offices closes at 5 and that is when the pink slips get handed out, too. Lots of times those "corrupt leaders" are dipping their hands into their own pockets for that $20 bill for a meal or $100 to get the electricity/water/gas turned back on because it's going to be cold tonight.
Religion CAN be a crutch for the simple minded. But how far can you walk with a broken leg if you don't have a crutch? I find it ironic that many who demean the camaraderie of church people as herd mentality and label having faith & belief simple-mindedness belong to civic organizations or attend therapy.
But these examples of the good that can come out of churches STILL doesn't get to the heart of the matter or the reason for the season.
"Inside, you will find Him wrapped in swaddling clothes, laying in a manger."
This celebration and this season is all about God being willing to do whatever it takes to bring us to Him. It meant being willing to hurt as a human, and dying as a man to bridge a gap we could never leap across.
Whether or not you agree with my first statements above, pause this end of year and consider what is your place in the cosmos. Why are you here? Does any of this matter? And to whom does it matter?
Quiet yourself. Quiet the world around you. Go deep inside where no one else sees. Where no voice has ever whispered a lie to you.
There's a calm waiting for you there.
THAT is your Creator, waiting for you to come back.
THAT is Christmas. Let's go home for the holidays.
Peace

Corrupticut. Will vote fraud steal the election in Connecticut?

2010-11-04T15:49:00.004-05:00

It's about 2 days since the polls closed here in Connecticut. I'd say it was 45 hours since the polls closed, but that's not true. It's only true for 168 towns. In Bridgeport the polls were ordered by a judge to stay open an extra 2 hours because several polling places ran out of ballots. The gubernatorial election results are close enough that both major party candidates are claiming to have won. The Secretary of State will not declare a winner until the vote counts from Bridgeport are certified. She has already certified the results from ALL the other towns. It is expected that the small lead the Republican Tom Foley currently has will be overcome by the votes coming in from Bridgeport and that the Democrat Dannel Malloy will be elected. That's all well and good given that Bridgeport is heavily Democratic and past results have strongly supported Democratic candidates.

BUT HERE"S THE KICKER. The results thus far from Bridgeport showing 15 of 25 precincts reporting do NOT REGISTER A SINGLE VOTE FOR THE INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE TOM MARSH. Not one single vote. For a person who received 1-2 % of the votes in almost EVERY other town in the state. The only other towns in which the official results posted on the SOTS website where Marsh did not get at least 1% of the vote were Canaan, Easton and Shelton. It seems incredibly suspect to me that with over 25,000 votes already counted in Bridgeport not one single voter opted for someone other than the major party candidates. Did the party hacks working behind the scenes stuffing the ballot box forget there was a third person on the ballot? OOPS. It's things like this that make me less and less comfortable that elections in the United States are fair and honest. Somehow I think our elections have a lot more shenanigans involved than we care to acknowledge. Maybe former President Jimmy Carter and former Prime Minister Tony Blair can find time to monitor the next major election here in Connecticut?

Oh, and lest you think that this rant is the work of a Foley supporter let me be very clear. I DID NOT VOTE FOR TOM FOLEY. Nor am I a Tea Party sympathizer. I was even once an elected delegate to the Tarrant County (TX) Democratic Party convention. Did this election reveal an electorate fed up with the status quo? You betcha!

Patriotism or Zealousy?

2010-09-25T21:01:00.002-05:00

"next to of course god america i
love you land of the pilgrims' and so forth oh
say can you see by the dawn's early my
country tis of centuries come and go
and are no more what of it we should worry
in every language even deafanddumb
thy sons acclaim your glorious name by gorry
by jingo by gee by gosh by gum
why talk of beauty what could be more beaut-
iful than these heroic happy dead
who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter
they did not stop to think they died instead
then shall the voice of liberty be mute?"

He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water
- e.e. cummings

I read this poem in the weeks leading up to 9/11 and thought I needed to get it posted. Like most things this year, time got away from me before I was able to get it up for commentary. It seems that may have actually been a good thing.
For this week the Texas Board of Education has issued an advisory to the editors/publishers of social studies textbooks, letting them know that textbooks submitted with an anti-Christian. pro-Muslim bias will not be acceptable and therefore won't be permitted to be used in Texas public school classrooms. Which means they likely will not be published, since Texas is the second largest market for such books in the country.
Crazy.
i admit to not having read a social studies textbook for more than 20 years. But it makes me cringe to hear and see all the anti-Muslin hysteria taking place right now. A Muslim center in lower Manhattan? So what? I mean, really? THAT is twisting your nuts? There are WAY more important things to worry about than that. This is NOT consecrated ground we are talking about here. Certainly what happened on 9/11 was tragic. Certainly is was an affront to the American lifestyle, which has been one of freedom and opportunity for a couple centuries. But the Muslim center being proposed is NOT at ground zero. To me, this represents a chance for the US to demonstrate what makes it so different from (and so envied by) much of the world - we allow respectful disagreement and opposition. We embrace the strengths of our minority populations and are willing to utilize them for the betterment of the whole. We protect those minorities from suppression by populists and it is our diversity which has not allowed fascists to gain power.
But it seems to me America is very close to losing those ideals. Constant finger pointing and blame assigning has created gridlock in Washington between the two dominant parties. Now it appears a couple of focal points are developing which will allow Americans to focus their frustrations in a dangerous and unified fashion - inept bureaucrats (Washington's Big Government) and Islam.
If the time I did spend reading social studies books served me well, I learned that Hitler was ushered into power on the shoulders of a movement seeking the answer of who was to blame for difficult times. His ascension to the presidency of Germany wasn't the result of a coup or revolution. He was elected by an outside group that was going to fix the system (can you say Tea Party?).
I am not calling the Tea Party candidates Nazis. I am saying Americans need to hold each other accountable for our actions and assume responsibility for participating in our democratic republic with wisdom and vigor. Or we risk being like those who "rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter."

Do We Really Value Children?

2010-05-10T07:31:00.002-05:00

Ross Douthat makes a compelling case in this NYT OpED piece that acceptance or rejection of abortion is the most significant difference in why the liberal regions of the country exhibit a seemingly more stable family life as evidenced by lower divorce rates, fewer teen births, and higher household incomes. Extrapolating from his thesis suggests that both the family stability in liberal areas and the family instability in most red states reflects how little both groups truly value children.

Teen pregnancy rates are about even in all regions, but the abortion rate is much, much higher in the blue states. There a child is deeply valued (think trophy children in upper middle suburbs) as long as they aren't an inconvenience or get in the way of the parents push toward the good life. (If my teen keeps her baby how will she ever do college? If my son has to support a child now with a job he'll be starting on the bottom rungs of the success ladder.) Yet for all the talk of valuing life in the red states, the life of a child still plays second fiddle to the parents desires. Abstinence and setting aside ones own desires for the sake of the future of the children that are the inevitable result of sexual activity isn't inculcated into family values.

The proof of all this. Teen birth rates AND abortion rates are lower in a few sections of the country, both red and blue, where valuing children appears to receive more than lip service. Douthat briefly references Mormon Utah among those places.

Yes, I know I painted a caricature of a very complex issue when it comes to choosing abortion or carrying a child to term. But in some respects the abortion debate is a tangent to a bigger question. Do we really deeply value the life of children in our culture, or do we just hold a more sophisticated version of the agrarian disposable child philosophy that some contend was common in the early centuries of American life? What do you think?

Draft picks, Economics and Fantasy Sports

2010-04-05T15:32:00.003-05:00

According to this economist I have it correct when it comes to our fantasy sports drafts: I always hope I get a mid-draft position of 5-7 (out of 14) rather than one of the top 3 slots, or get stuck down the bottom. While we don't have to pay for the players we draft with dollars, we use a serpentine draft system so that the player picking 14th in round one picks first in round 2, etc. So that first or second pick in the draft really costs you in the second round. And by the time we're in the middle rounds of the draft and the player pool is thinning at certain positions it hurts even more. As for his comments about CEO's -- we all know what it's like to work for a prima donna boss!

2010-03-27T08:14:00.000-05:00

While commuting to work yesterday on the Sportster, I had the thought that riding a motorcycle is very akin to skydiving and tripping. All three activities are supposed expressions of individualism and freedom yet by their nature require adherence to certain rules in order to increase the chances of an enjoyable outcome. If you deviate from those rules, there is a very real possibility of pain or death. All three provide an illusion of control, but for those involved in them the knowledge of how limited that control is both scary and freeing. Influences both internal and external could easily destroy that limited control in all three. And should one commence either of these three pursuits, it should be done with the awareness that once it begins, there isn't a return button to go back to the beginning. You just have to make it through to the other end, so you might as well enjoy the process completely. Although it is easier to pull a motorcycle over than stop a freefall half way down. Of the three, motorcycling is far easier and repeatable. **DISCLAIMER** I am not advocating any of these as activities others should try. This is simply an observation about personal experiences and their similarities. Respect the law. Ride with a helmet (mostly). :-)

Time to Declare a New Major

2010-03-13T15:38:00.003-06:00

My wife says I'm the perpetual student. Every few months or so I find another reason to think about going back to school. But now I have the ultimate reason -- I can do an undergraduate degree in Grateful Dead Studies and then follow it up with post-grad research and a doctorate with a thesis like "The Confluence of Hallucinogenics and The Jesus Movement" and connecting the spiritual quest of the Deadheads and the early Jesus People in California and New England. And here's the respected university that is making all this possible: University of California at Santa Cruz. Check out the NYT article

Science and the Bible Once Again Agree

2010-03-11T09:24:00.004-06:00

Actually, the order of the universe and the Bible have ALWAYS been in agreement -- it's just our framing of what each says that have made us think they disagreed!

I'm a student of the Bible who takes what it says seriously. Probably even more seriously, in my estimation, than the Bible Thumpers who can't tell the difference between a text book and a holy book. So when I read articles about advances in medicine and science I don't worry about whether or not they're grounded in a literalist reading of the first chapters of Genesis. I read the Bible literally (I take it at it's word) but not in a literalist sense. But I don't mythologize the Bible readings either to make them compatible with a world view formed by a personal philosophy that gives greater credence to the works of man (scientific research) over the works of God (the inspiration of the Spirit in the writing of the Bible).

One of the deepest, most fundamental Truths found in the Creation Story in the Bible is that the world was created perfect and is now in a fallen state. And that the cause of that fall -- Sin -- has continuing repercussions in all aspects of the universe. Now comes an article in the NYTimes about a shift in focus in genetic research. Read the whole article for a clearer take on the whole subject, but the excerpt below shows just how much the Bible and what the research shows both reveal this truth.

"The results of this costly international exercise have been disappointing. About 2,000 sites on the human genome have been statistically linked with various diseases, but in many cases the sites are not inside working genes, suggesting there may be some conceptual flaw in the statistics. And in most diseases the culprit DNA was linked to only a small portion of all the cases of the disease. It seemed that natural selection has weeded out any disease-causing mutation before it becomes common.

The finding implies that common diseases, surprisingly, are caused by rare, not common, mutations. In the last few months, researchers have begun to conclude that a new approach is needed, one based on decoding the entire genome of patients." -- from March 10, 2010 NY Times Disease Cause is Pinpointed with Genome

Earlier research findings from the Genome Project have shown how there is a brokenness to humanity that goes right to our very foundational core. And now this research shows how it continues to strike at us at that bedrock level. Combine this with the knowledge gained from Quantum Physics that shows how a change in anything causes structural change in neighboring matter and once again we see science using one language and the Bible another to confirm the truth of the fallen state of humanity. Now if only we could recognize that the genome is not the cure for the disease (once we recognize that Sin is the disease) -- the blood of Jesus is the cure. Science rocks, but Jesus rules.

You Don't Need to Drink the Tea to Hate the Health Care Bill

2010-03-09T11:43:00.003-06:00

I am NOT a Tea Party person. I share their anger at the dysfunctional unresponsive bunch of politicians currently residing in the halls of Congress, but hey, we put them there! And the Glen Beck's of the world sound an awful lot like the ranters of the late 60's and early 70's on the left (The Walmart Hippies).

But here's some real rational reasons to hate the inedible sausage of a law being produced in Washington under the guise of health care reform.

Why the devout Islamic world ignores what the secular West says

2010-02-25T12:47:00.002-06:00

Dr. Stanley Fish has an opinionator column in the NY Times that has direct implications for formulating an effective policy by Western governments for dealing with the Islamic nations. It's time for us to recognize the arrogance of our assumption that grounding law and social policy in secular reasoning is somehow an inately superior way of ordering society than a theocracy. Our illogical fear of a religious framework for governance keeps us from entering fruitful conversation with devout Muslims around topics of fundamental human rights. As Fish's essay points out the underlying basis for our support for many of the basic freedoms we enjoy doesn't lie in pure secular reason. Initially, one can argue, they came from a shared moral (yes, religious!) conviction. A common acceptance of certain Judeo-Christian precepts as being universally True and of ultimate value was the unspoken foundation for the West developing these societal norms. It is precisely because they are now norms shared across the religious and non-religious landscape of Western societies that has freed them from the necessity of being rooted in religious moral convictions. It's time to stop trying to force devout Muslims to engage in the intellectual charade we play in the West. A devout Islamic theocracy is not inherently jihadist. By demanding a divorce between politics and religion in Islamic nations we undermine those who share our values. We are playing into the hands of the Islamist jihadists.

too many things to deal with

2010-02-14T08:07:00.002-06:00

It seems there are conservatives that are quite upset with President Obama directly mentioning the US Supreme Court decision regarding corporate contributions during his State of the Union address. Give me a break. These are the same people that were willing to invoke the machinations of the Constitution when Bill Clinton got a Lewinsky in a coat closet. Oh yeah, THAT was worthy of bringing governance to a halt over.

It snowed about 10 inches around the DFW area on Thursday. On Friday, I realized that live oak trees don't grow in the north because they are not designed to support that much snow. More broken branches than in a tornado's aftermath. It has all melted away now, but it still isn't in the sixties yet. :-(

It's NBA All-Star weekend in Dallas. It seems that celebrity sighting has come to the area full force. I'm sorry, but I don't care if that IS Lebron... he isn't planning to make my mortgage payment.

Either I am beginning to have some really intense, odd dreams or am beginning to remember them. I am amused, whichever it is.

I clicked on an ad on the Dallas Morning News website site. It had to do with stimulus money being available to pay for college. Apparently, in completing a form to receive more information, I have applied to 4 online universities. The submit button hadn't refreshed before my phone rang with one of the schools contacting me. Thursday was spent fielding/ignoring calls from the others. There is an entire industry of call center boiler room operations that has developed based in internet inquiries. They screen a person a bit then connect them to another level of screening. Everyone is getting paid for each level of phone call, I am pretty sure. So I spoke with everyone - I am supporting the economic recovery. Until I reached the persons that are making commission. You can spot them right away. The questions all changed and they began attempting to close the deal. When they realize I was only mildly interested, they moved on pretty rapidly. But it was very cool to learn how that all works.

Are you KIDDING me?

2010-01-16T09:24:00.002-06:00

Many, many years ago my church discontinued direct support of unknown persons out of concern for the welfare of church staff. There had been some uncomfortable moments for the church secretary (who is often the lone person in the building) when people who came in expecting cash handouts were instead offered groceries. So instead, we affiliated with the Metrocrest Social Services Center. They have been a good organization that has assisted thousands of persons of need. They are professionally staffed and well respected for the work they do.
Each month, Covenant Presbyterian designates a special offering recipient. January 2010 is Metrocrest month. When an organization is designated as our donation target, a brief explanation of their mission and programs is printed in our worship bulletin.
The description of Metroplex included the news that the service center is still assisting families displaced from Hurricane Katrina. Huh?
I feel badly for those impacted by the terrible storm. Surely their lives were totally disrupted. Recovery, in all senses, likely seemed impossible for many. Yet that is the only option we are left with in this world, isn't it?
So to hear that a charity located hundreds of miles away is still assisting displaced persons that came to DFW in the wake of the storm five years ago bothers me. I want to know why do they still need help? Job training programs should have been able to get them new skills. There are still plenty of jobs in this area that are hiring, albeit at low wages. But make some freaking progress here, people.
I have been a Kennedy Democrat for as long as I remember. I am reading True Compass right now. I can't imagine Joseph Kennedy, Sr. thinking it okay for able persons to live off the efforts of others.
Nope.
Time to give those folks a cut off date and move them along. There are others that need our help.

KISS for Climate Change

2009-12-15T08:51:00.002-06:00

Earlier I posted David Brooks simple solution to our economic troubles. Now another NYT writer chimes in with the simple solution for all the wrangling in Copenhagen. It really is pretty simple. And sounds reasonable and doable. Of course every solution to any problem has it's flaws. Read it for yourselves.

"I have not been true to my values and the behavior..."

2009-12-11T06:10:00.001-06:00

This line was in the opening paragraph of a statement Tiger Woods made about the recent revelations regarding his personal life. I would counter by saying that Tiger has, in fact, been true to his values as we all are. Our actions demonstrate them far better than our mouths will.
Like many people in the world, I think Tiger would say he is a good person, overall. He may even fall into the category of people who will say they are "spiritual." Persons who have a problem with "organized religion" but want to believe they are able to maintain a relationship with God because of their own actions. People who are dismayed by the actions of others and surprised by their own failings, but vow to do better. These are commendable thoughts and are shared by those of us within organized religion.
But for me, it is the values I profess to share with Christians that do far more to hold my behavior in check than my own. I see examples of my willingness to step over my own values everywhere - it is easy to overeat. I don't exercise as I know I should (and tell myself I will start doing over and over again). Consider how popular New Year's Resolutions are.
There is something about standing with friends and saying in unison "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth..." that makes me rethink whether I am willing to do things that my heart/mind wants to.

A KISS to the Economy

2009-12-09T08:34:00.002-06:00

David Brooks has an op-ed that offers a fairly simple, and non-partisan plan for re-invigorating the economy. But his most salient point is that what he suggests is nothing new, simply what we as a nation have done since our founding in a variety of ways whenever we fall into an economic depression following an irrational boom. Interesting reading, but sadly, in our current political climate these ideas would never get consideration beyond one day's exposure in the NYT or blogs like this which exist in oblivion.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/opinion/08brooks.html?th&emc=th

Baseball!

2009-11-06T14:46:00.003-06:00

Ok, congratulations to the New York Yankees on winning the World Series for their 27th championship. While I have not been a die hard Yanks fan for many years now, I admit to rooting for them against the Phillies. Except Texeria. Couldn't do it and was glad to see him strike out to end a threat. As it is, his ego is likely to be even further off the charts. Just because someone has the money to pay you an insane amount, it doesn't mean you are the greatest Yankees first baseman ever. There was a fellow there for a few years named Lou Gehrig and you aren't even within shouting distance of his shadow yet. Heck, you aren't even Chris Chamblis yet. But we'll see how it goes. Gay-Rod is starting to come around, so there may be hope for you.
Mr. Jeter, Mr. Petite, Mr. Rivera and Mr. Posada are real Yankees to me. They are the ones I was rooting most for.

The Rangers announced the signing today of Clint Hurdle to be their next hitting coach. I was looking at the Cardinals decision to hire Mark McGwire and thought maybe Texas should consider Rafael Palmeiro...

Word around the metroplex is that Hurdle has really been hired to be the next manager of the Rangers. I hope not. I was hoping they would continue to develop small ball mentality with Ron Washington. We need a centerfielder that can fly for our park. I worry that maybe Hurdle is bringing the Colorado approach to Arlington. Except we aren't 5200 feet up.

Wall Street Smarts

2009-10-16T12:38:00.002-05:00

A NYTimes Op-Ed by Calvin Trillin

Illustration by Enid Noten

“IF you really want to know why the financial system nearly collapsed in the fall of 2008, I can tell you in one simple sentence.”

The statement came from a man sitting three or four stools away from me in a sparsely populated Midtown bar, where I was waiting for a friend. “But I have to buy you a drink to hear it?” I asked.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “I can buy my own drinks. My 401(k) is intact. I got out of the market 8 or 10 years ago, when I saw what was happening.”

He did indeed look capable of buying his own drinks — one of which, a dry martini, straight up, was on the bar in front of him. He was a well-preserved, gray-haired man of about retirement age, dressed in the same sort of clothes he must have worn on some Ivy League campus in the late ’50s or early ’60s — a tweed jacket, gray pants, a blue button-down shirt and a club tie that, seen from a distance, seemed adorned with tiny brussels sprouts.

“O.K.,” I said. “Let’s hear it.”

“The financial system nearly collapsed,” he said, “because smart guys had started working on Wall Street.” He took a sip of his martini, and stared straight at the row of bottles behind the bar, as if the conversation was now over.

“But weren’t there smart guys on Wall Street in the first place?” I asked.

He looked at me the way a mathematics teacher might look at a child who, despite heroic efforts by the teacher, seemed incapable of learning the most rudimentary principles of long division. “You are either a lot younger than you look or you don’t have much of a memory,” he said. “One of the speakers at my 25th reunion said that, according to a survey he had done of those attending, income was now precisely in inverse proportion to academic standing in the class, and that was partly because everyone in the lower third of the class had become a Wall Street millionaire.”

I reflected on my own college class, of roughly the same era. The top student had been appointed a federal appeals court judge — earning, by Wall Street standards, tip money. A lot of the people with similarly impressive academic records became professors. I could picture the future titans of Wall Street dozing in the back rows of some gut course like Geology 101, popularly known as Rocks for Jocks.

“That actually sounds more or less accurate,” I said.

“Of course it’s accurate,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong: the guys from the lower third of the class who went to Wall Street had a lot of nice qualities. Most of them were pleasant enough. They made a good impression. And now we realize that by the standards that came later, they weren’t really greedy. They just wanted a nice house in Greenwich and maybe a sailboat. A lot of them were from families that had always been on Wall Street, so they were accustomed to nice houses in Greenwich. They didn’t feel the need to leverage the entire business so they could make the sort of money that easily supports the second oceangoing yacht.”

“So what happened?”

“I told you what happened. Smart guys started going to Wall Street.”

“Why?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” he said, making a practiced gesture with his eyebrows that caused the bartender to get started mixing another martini.

“Two things happened. One is that the amount of money that could be made on Wall Street with hedge fund and private equity operations became just mind-blowing. At the same time, college was getting so expensive that people from reasonably prosperous families were graduating with huge debts. So even the smart guys went to Wall Street, maybe telling themselves that in a few years they’d have so much money they could then become professors or legal-services lawyers or whatever they’d wanted to be in the first place. That’s when you started reading stories about the percentage of the graduating class of Harvard College who planned to go into the financial industry or go to business school so they could then go into the financial industry. That’s when you started reading about these geniuses from M.I.T. and Caltech who instead of going to graduate school in physics went to Wall Street to calculate arbitrage odds.”

“But you still haven’t told me how that brought on the financial crisis.”

“Did you ever hear the word ‘derivatives’?” he said. “Do you think our guys could have invented, say, credit default swaps? Give me a break! They couldn’t have done the math.”

“Why do I get the feeling that there’s one more step in this scenario?” I said.

“Because there is,” he said. “When the smart guys started this business of securitizing things that didn’t even exist in the first place, who was running the firms they worked for? Our guys! The lower third of the class! Guys who didn’t have the foggiest notion of what a credit default swap was. All our guys knew was that they were getting disgustingly rich, and they had gotten to like that. All of that easy money had eaten away at their sense of enoughness.”

“So having smart guys there almost caused Wall Street to collapse.”

“You got it,” he said. “It took you awhile, but you got it.”

The theory sounded too simple to be true, but right offhand I couldn’t find any flaws in it. I found myself contemplating the sort of havoc a horde of smart guys could wreak in other industries. I saw those industries falling one by one, done in by superior intelligence. “I think I need a drink,” I said.

He nodded at my glass and made another one of those eyebrow gestures to the bartender. “Please,” he said. “Allow me.”

Calvin Trillin is the author, most recently, of “Deciding the Next Decider: The 2008 Presidential Race in Rhyme.”

This Just In...

2009-10-13T14:13:00.001-05:00

Breaking News!
President Barack Obama has been awarded the Heisman Trophy.

Thank you, Rangers

2009-10-05T14:40:00.002-05:00

The last month of the baseball season has been very difficult for the hometown team. The Texas Rangers had a great run though. No one that I heard before the season started was picking this team to finish in second place, play meaningful game deep into September and win with pitching and defense.
Scott Feldman wasn't able to get 20 wins but this might be a breakout year for him. At the least, he has earned himself consideration for a number one starter position. And a hefty contract, too.
All the other players worked their butts off for manager Ron Washington. Good for them, better for Wash. I hope he comes back and continues the growth process for himself and his players.
Ownership questions continue to be the major stumbling block for the team right now. Tom Hicks is in serious financial straights and his two Dallas area major league teams are suffering for it, as is his English Premier League team.
Fittingly, Ian Kinsler struck out to end the 2009 season. I hope that hitting 30 homers doesn't adversely effect his growth as a hitter.

The American Justice System

2009-09-29T09:37:00.002-05:00

Roman Polanski has been arrested in Switzerland in connection with a warrant issued many years ago. He will be charged with the rape of a thirteen year old girl that occurred more than thirty years ago.
I doubt many in the world expect this to get to trial or even an arraignment. I am not sure I believe that it will, given Mr. Polanski's many influential friends both in this country and abroad. But one of the foundations of American liberty and The Constitution is equal justice for all. As the United States engages in nation building activities across the globe, it is important that we attempt to uphold that principal. Plaxico Buress has begun serving a sentence for stupidity, but it was a mandated one. He broke the law of New York and is now paying his debt to society. Bernie Madoff will likely never leave prison to spend the fortunes he stole from his clients. Why should Mr. Polanski be different?
Of course I don't believe that everyone is treated the same under the law. Texas leads the nation in both executions and freeing persons wrongly convicted of crimes. There is a trial now in the hands of the jury dealing with corruption in Dallas City Hall. Many feel Don Hill will be convicted solely because he is a black man that had achieved political and economic power. Others think he will get off for the same reasons.
But Roman Polanski stands accused of a heinous crime for which he should be tried. Should a jury or judge determine that there is no benefit to his spending time in prison or find him not guilty, then the system will have functioned as envisioned by the founding fathers. Should political pressure be exerted and the entire episode swept away under the guise of his being a good man who has produced a lifetime of attonement through his work, perhaps those who view our actions abroad as imperialism will be right.
That isn't working to make me more secure.

To Arthur

2009-09-22T07:08:00.002-05:00

Thursday, at 17:59 Dublin time, folks all across the globe are invited to raise a glass of Guiness and toast Arthur. That time marks the 250th anniversary of the moment when Guiness signed the lease on the famous brewery. So September 24th I'll go to lunch at the local Irish pub and raise a glass "To Arthur."

It'll be 1 minute before 1:00 PM my time. Too early for a glass of stout? Probably. But once every 250 years I can be lenient. What time will it be where you are? And will you join me in a toast?

I bet it'd be easier in California. There's something pleasantly decadent about drinking beer for breakfast... maybe Rat will let us know.

Cough. They're (Cough) Learning How to Win

2009-09-17T09:40:00.002-05:00

To say that the Rangers choked in the Oakland series would be unfair and a mean slam against a team that has exceeded expectations. And that has played through injuries and distractions and other obstacles all season. So everyone just expected that they'd play through losing Hamilton and Young for this series also. Or that the fatigue wouldn't be a factor for young players.

This week-end's series against the Angels is for all the marbles. Sweep and they've got a good shot at postseason play. Win the series and they're still in the hunt. Lose the series and it will take a Colorado Rockies type miracle. Get swept and they can spend the rest of the season polishing their golf clubs.

But, honestly, in hot stove league debates last winter who really believed that the Texas Rangers would be playing a series with major playoff implications with just slightly more than 2 weeks left in the regular season?

The losing streak of the last week is disappointing, but it is NOT a choke. It's good players who've never been here before -- and who have performed well all season -- learning that champions find that little something that somehow guts out a win when everything is falling apart and nothing is going right. It's comparable to the pitcher who learns how to keep his team in the game on the days he doesn't have his stuff.

The starters have done that. But it didn't magically happen. They had to push through a tough season last year, and some ugly starts early this year to get there. And now the position players are learning what it takes on their part.

I'm not writing off this team for this year. Yes, the postseason does look unlikely. But there's still a lot of exciting baseball ahead for the Rangers. And if they find that something that championship teams have in the next 2 weeks, oh baby, October baseball 2010 on Fox from the Ball Park in Arlington!

When Grace Backfires

2009-09-10T15:22:00.003-05:00

The following essay is from the Sojo web site; the blogs of the Sojourners magazine community. Campolo writes about how some folks don't respond in happily-ever-after storybook fashion to our attempts to minister in love. And how the more fully we see some folks the more deeply we despise their character. And how sometimes, though we hope it doesn't, from there we move into a deep dislike of them -- personally. Unconditional love isn't easy. Not sure it's even humanly possible. Matter of fact, I'm convinced it ISN'T humanly possible. That's why I need to make myself a vessel for God's grace, as opposed to a dispenser of it.

So how are we as Christians to respond to those who do not wish to change, have no desire to be transformed by God's love and grace, and expect that our loving them means that we will not only provide them assistance to overcome their material problems, but that we will affirm them in their sinful activity, or extol the virtue of their poor character?

When Grace Backfires

by Bart Campolo 09-08-2009

In 1958 the Teddy Bears released the song “To know him is to love him,” which might as well have been called “To know, know, know, him is to love, love, love, him,” since that’s the way everybody remembers it. Either way, you get the idea: There’s this great guy out there, and the closer you get to him, the better you’re going to feel about him and, in all likelihood, the better he’s going to feel about spending time with you. After all, who doesn’t like being loved for who they really are?

Of course, there is no rule that says you can’t choose instead to get close to a lousy person, no matter how mean, lazy, stupid, violent, or unbelievably selfish he or she might be. On the contrary, there are plenty of rules saying we should do just that, in the name of Jesus. And there are plenty of stories and proverbs suggesting that when we do, wonderful things can happen. And so they do, especially early on in the relationship.

The problem is that to love, love, love a lousy person over a long period of time is … well, to find out just how lousy they are. It is to see for yourself, over and over again, why the rest of the world has left that person alone. In other words, in some cases, the closer you get to someone, the worse you are going to feel about them and, eventually, the worse they are going to feel about spending time with you. After all, who doesn’t hate being disdained for who they really are?

This isn’t an idle meditation on the Teddy Bears’ one and only hit. This is me trying to figure out why some folks who used to love being with me don’t want to be with me anymore, even though all I’ve done is care and help and give and forgive … and quietly lose respect for them even as they fall ever deeper into my debt. Okay, so maybe I’ve already figured out why.

I know I always say this thing is more about loving people than trying to fix them, but it turns out I have been secretly hoping that if our little core group set a tone of mutual love, we would unleash the “inner good neighbor” in everybody else, and a true fellowship of friends would emerge, wherein everybody genuinely cared about each other. It never occurred to me that if folks couldn’t — or just didn’t want to — start improving their lives or giving back to the group, the warmth they initially enjoyed might end up feeling like some kind of negative judgment. It never occurred to me that grace could backfire.

God, how do you keep loving people who can’t stand being known? If you pray, ask that for me.

Bart Campolo is a veteran urban minister and activist who speaks, writes, and blogs about grace, faith, loving relationships, and social justice. Bart is the leader of The Walnut Hills Fellowship in inner-city Cincinnati. He is also founder of Mission Year, which recruits committed young adults to live and work among the poor in inner-city neighborhoods across the U.S., and executive director of EAPE, which develops and supports innovative, cost-effective mission projects around the world.

Who Are These Guys?

2009-09-05T08:46:00.002-05:00

Scott Feldman got his 15th win last night. It was a club record 7th consecutive road win. He tied the Rangers' season record with his 11th victory away from Arlington.
Neftali Feliz got his second career save. His walk to strikeout ratio improved again. He has struckout 28 batters and thrown 4 balls to 1 batter since being called up to the majors. His ERA is 0.41 in 22 innings of work. The one run he has allowed was also the only extra base hit he has given up - a home run in Oakland a month ago.
Julio Borbon stole his 12th base.
Elvis Andrus went 2 for 3 with a walk batting second.
Chris Davis lined a two out double to the fence in left center field (the opposite field) following a Nelson Cruz walk.
Cruz's walk came after he fell behind in the count 0-2. I believe he fouled off 4 or 5 pitches. It was a thing of beauty.
Cruz also hit his 31st home run. He becomes only the third Texas Ranger to hit 30 homers in his first full season at the major league level. Pete Incaviglia (1986) & Reuben Sierra (1987) are the previous players to achieve this.
Rangers fans are having a blast at The Ballpark this year watching these guys mature. As Marlon Byrd said, "Our little boys have become big boys fast. They aren't scared. They're having fun."
Let's hope that higher expectations for next year don't change this. And let's hope for October baseball in 2009!

September baseball

2009-08-28T06:42:00.001-05:00

We still have a few days to go, but after taking 2 of 3 from the NY Yankees in the Bronx this week, it appears as though there will be baseball games that have playoff implications for the home team in Arlington this year. Four games behind the Angels with seven to play against them puts the Rangers in contention for the division lead. They only trail Boston by a game and a half for the wild card spot, too. Let's see how they do this weekend playing their last series ever at the Metrodome.
This could be great! Jerry Jones' worst nightmare - something that might take some precious media time away from his Cowboys and their new stadium.
Happy Friday.

The New Chosen People?

2009-08-21T08:18:00.002-05:00

A couple of months ago, I rode down to Austin for the ROT rally. A friend and I rode down I-35 on Friday night. The skies threatened to dump a deluge on us for most of the last 2 hours we were on the road. As we neared Austin, traffic was really starting to get heavy as well. Road construction had the pavement very uneven, wind gusts were near 30 mph and the traffic lanes were shifting randomly.
Just north of Georgetown, there is an exit for a new toll road that runs parallel to the interstate. My friend Jennifer had told me about this road before I left and it seemed like a perfect option right when we neared it. We slid onto the exit ramp for it and the world changed.
There were no cars on it for the 20 miles or so that Ardy and I rode south on it. Ok, the liberals in Austin are fundamentally opposed to paying tolls, so that wasn't so surprising. But the rain showers stopped as soon as we got on it, too. We saw lightning bolts descending from the skies on both sides of us. Sheets of rain were pounding down there as well; we could see the curtains of them illuminated by distant city lights and the sun's rays beyond the horizon. But not a drop of water fell on us until we exited the toll road and got on the free portion of Mopac below 183 in north Austin.
This morning, there was heavy rain all around Dallas/Fort Worth. I could tell that it had rained on the Bush Tollway just a few minutes before the other commuters and I were traveling down it. But not very much rain was falling on us. It actually only began to rain south of Belt Line Road, which is the free portion of Hwy 161. Hmmm.
In the Old Testament, the story of the Jewish people is told. Commonly referred to as God's Chosen People, this is really a messed up bunch of people and the stories are those evidence of it. Incest, infraticide, adultery and warring factions are all laid out right there. Most of them involve a single disfunctional family. I believe they were so messed up that God figured they REALLY needed His help.
Which brings me to the new ones....
Claiming a special relationship with God that makes their position uniquely rightgeous, maybe the right wing fundies of the Republican Party are the new messed up people needing His intervention. Evidence? Well, riding on their favored toll roads I didn't get wet.
Enjoy your day.

Where's your bling?

2009-08-19T15:01:00.000-05:00

I have arrived at 50 years of age with an urge to begin measuring things in my life. I know that many people have been keeping score far longer or earlier than that but I often get to parties late.
I have told myself forever that I prefer to use a different yardstick to measure. On many levels I know this to be an cop out, a method of insuring I can't be failing if I am not playing by the same rules. It also is a way to mask my laziness!
But on other levels, the older I get, the more I realize that perhaps the way I have been measuring things around me is an appropriate measure of how one uses a lifetime. For isn't that what ultimately it comes down to? What did you do with your time here?
I am never going to be rich monetarily. I don't have the drive to put the effort into that. I admire those that do in many ways. The people that know how to make money usually are very good at getting things done. They complete things. They have self discipline and use it.
Many people that haven't reached my age seem to look at the stuff which surrounds one as a measure of how they are doing. Car parked outside. House bigger than you need. Really nice designer clothes. Lifestyle. Accessories such as the iPhone or pretty jewelry.
It has become fashionable to not speak about such things since the current economic downturn began. People are competing now to see who can be least conspicuous in the display of wealth. But they are still looking and measuring.
I have so many blessings around me that it is difficult to not fall into the trap of taking them for granted. I look at the men I know that are nearing the end of their lives (over 80). Most of them have been retired for quite a while now but have not stopped living. Almost all of them now treasure time as much as anything. Especially time spent with family, friends and doing things they love. There is a peacefulness that surrounds them. I know not every moment of their day is perfect. Many have illnesses or other conditions which could easily stress out someone. Rarely do I hear those I admire most complaining about it. Instead, their bling is in the intangibles. It shows and it gives me hope that perhaps I can learn from them. Maybe I can achieve a level of contentedness that rivals theirs. In fact, I would say that overall I am pretty happy with waking up everyday.
So, my question for you is, are you happy? Where is your bling?

Pudge is back!

2009-08-18T15:00:00.002-05:00

I was around when he arrived as a fresh-faced 18 year old with a love of picking lazy baserunners off first base. He had a cannon for an arm and was awesome against would be base stealers. When his bat got hot, he could carry the team for a few games. Unfortunately, he was prone to chasing sliders and curve balls low and away.
But Ivan Rodriguez was one of the key components on the Ranger teams of the late 1990s that made the playoffs and won division titles. His return to the team shouldn't hurt the chances of that happening again this year. Pudge has agreed to be a back up player on a team full of rookies and thin at catcher (since the starter is now on the disabled list). Taylor Teagarden and many others can learn alot about the game from him. When Houston played in Arlington earlier this year, Pudge set the record for most games caught all-time. I remember during an interview with him that aired locally, he spent some time talking about how good players like Nolan Ryan and Charlie Hough were to him when he came to the Rangers. He spoke about doing the same for the young players he was around in Houston. I hope that he is sincere and takes that role seriously.
It would be a big change from the man that left Texas so many years ago. I mean, seriously, who has an 8 foot tall statue of themself in their yard if they aren't a little cocky?
Welcome back, Pudge. Now let's go catch some Angels.

That was soooooo cool.

2009-08-16T07:48:00.003-05:00

My first memories of really following a baseball team is back in 1967. I'm not sure why, but in a house full of NY Yankee fans (the team was terrible at the time), in a town full of Boston Red Sox fans, I became a fan of Lou Brock, Curt Flood, Roger Maris, Orlando Cepeda, Mike Shannon, Tim McCarver, Javier Javier, Del Maxvill and a pitching core anchored by Bob Gibson. Those Cardinals mangaged to win a 7 game World Series that October, postponing the joy of Red Sox Nation yet again. Oh, wait. THAT must be why I was rooting so hard for the Cardinals....
Anyway, last night the Texas Rangers faced that same team from Boston. The night before, the Rangers had blown near-certain victory by allowing 6 runs in the ninth inning; 5 of them came after 2 were out. With rookies playing catcher, pitcher, shortstop and left field, the game hinted at the future for the Texas team.
Leadoff hitter Pedro Borbon singled, then stole second. It was the first of a team record tying four steals in the game for the young outfielder. In the second inning, his two out single scored shortstop Elvis Andrus, who stole 3 bases himself. Andrus stole third base in the fourth inning as the Red Sox played tight on the corners anticipating a Borbon bunt. Borbon later drove him in with a single, one of his four hits on the night.
Ian Kinsler stole the other base for the team.
Derek Holland was able to throw all of his pitches for strikes and pitched into the seventh. Another rookie, Neftali Feliz, who is setting major league records with his outings, pitched the eigth and ninth innings.
All the rookies on the field will not be eligible for free agency until after the 2014 season. Good times could be in Arlington for awhile. And it reminds me of those old Cardinal teams, with Brock getting on and stealing second...

Yell louder, God can't hear you...

2009-08-14T07:02:00.001-05:00

First of all, please know that the title there is very tongue in cheek. I'm not suggesting one need be more earnest or fervent to get God's attention. I believe that when you give Him your attention, you receive His.
But I often get emails suggesting that we should all send the email on to all the people we care about so that God can see how many of us are praying about something and we can change His mind or get Him to answer us in the manner we desire. Something like this line -

"If you do and they comply, we will lift up millions and millions of prayers a day to our Creator. He will hear, and will answer."

I love the person that sent this to me, but I have difficulty with this premise. I haven't got much time this morning to really think about this, but I will and I think I will post more on it later. But it seems to me as a Christian, one who claims a personal relationship with Christ, that I don't really need millions and millions of others to get my point heard.
Hope you are having a great day today.

Azteca Intimidates

2009-08-13T12:00:00.002-05:00

The US lost to Mexico in Mexico City 2-1 yesterday. That result was no surprise. Mexico has only lost once at Azteca in the history of the stadium. It is an incredibly intimidating venue. Altitude, smog, heat, and 100,000 plus "fans" raining bodily fluids down onto any opponent who ventures near the sidelines makes the place one where your mind can easily be distracted with thoughts of survival instead of the play on the field. Unfortunately, yesterday also revealed how intimidating the place can be for a referee. The man in middle from Panama did a decent job in calling the game. And in keeping a heated match under control. But he was clearly inconsistent with displaying the yellow. Three American defenders were cautioned for hard fouls that were mirrored many times by Mexicans who at the worst were shown a wag of a finger, and mostly were simply whistled for the infraction. Two incidents that in any other venue would be deemed worthy of possible red cards did not even see the ref do so much as point to his pocket, let alone show even a yellow card. In one a Mexican player grabbed Benny Feilhaber by the throat. Yes, Feilhaber played it for all it was worth when he fell back onto the ground as if hit by a blitzing linebacker. But a referee can not allow an opponent to put their hands on another player without sanctioning them. Actions like that commonly draw a straight red. In this case there wasn't any card shown at all, and from the tv footage it even appeared as if there wasn't even a verbal warning. Then late in the match when the game was still tied and El Tri was desperately looking for the go-ahead goal a Mexican forward charged Gooch as he had picked up the ball after it went over the end line for a goal kick and attempted to rip the ball out of his hands. Good game management by the ref avoids escalating the tension with an unnecessary card, but this wasn't simply where the player ran up and grabbed onto the ball. The player literally barrelled into Oneweyu at a near full run in an attempt to dislodge the ball and grab it from his hands. Yes, he thought it was a corner, not a goal kick, and that Gooch was trying to slow play, but if Gooch had not seen him coming he could easily have been injured, in spite of the size differential between he and his assailant. So what's the big deal about the cards? At issue is that by showing yellow to certain American players, but not to Mexican players for the same level of infractions, the referee has unfairly penalized the US for it's upcoming match vs. El Salvador, and has not similarly punished the Mexican team. The race to qualify is so tight this year among the top 4 teams in the region that this advantage/disadvantage could be the difference between a team finishing first in the hexagonal, or finishing fourth and being pushed into a playoff match against a South American team in order to qualify for South Africa. The ref showed his skill at officiating and did a good job with calling match, except, unfortunately, for this one way in which he was clearly intimidated by the atmosphere. Either that, or my assessment of his performance is totally off and the guy stinks! His record in other high level matches suggests he is very competent, but like anyone else who goes into Azteca, he was thinking about whether or not he would be going back out in one piece.

Better Than the Ivies

2009-08-08T10:12:00.002-05:00

Forbes just put out it's list of college rankings. Interestingly they've got West Point on top. And Ivies don't dominate the top ten. But if you check out their ranking criteria and compare it to the criteria US News uses, it makes sense. The Forbes list focuses on life after college such as post-grads in fellowship programs like Rhodes scholars and pay rates for alumni; USNews list focuses on life before college and prestige items like selectivity and SAT scores. If you find your school in the top 100 of both lists I think you've got a good chance of having a top notch education.

And in the better than the Ivies category: Saint Mary's College of Maryland ranked higher than some Ivies, including Dartmouth, in the Forbes list. Just a little bragging since we have an alumnus in the family. Gotta help build that prestige for the old school network.... As for the other colleges in the family, I'm on page 4 of the listings and haven't seen any of them yet.

2 Back in the Wild Card

2009-08-07T07:43:00.002-05:00

Accuscore only gives the Rangers a 39% chance of making the playoffs. And with the way the Angels are playing it may be too much to expect the Rangers to win the division. But if you look at the wild card race, it really comes down to 5 teams, and the Rangers are one of them. The 5 are: Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Angels, and Rangers. Two of them are going to win their division (AL East, AL West). The other 3 are the only teams with a realistic chance of being the wild card. And the Rays are fading and will be facing the Yankees and Red Sox a bunch come September. Which bodes well for Texas. Even if they don't make the playoffs this year, just playing games that mean something in late August and September will help this team make big strides. World Series in 2011?

Next 10 Days Could Decide Fate of Rangers

2009-08-03T14:03:00.001-05:00

Here's Gil LeBreton's column from August 3 in the FT Worth Star-Telegram

They survived the 100-degree days of July. They survived the .225 hitting days of June.

They have survived losing their closer, their leadoff hitter and their hero from last season’s Home Run Derby.

If manager Ron Washington’s Texas Rangers have proven anything this season, it’s that they are resilient. Adaptable. Stubborn.

The perfect qualities, if you ask me, for chasing the division-leading Angels.

How do you catch a team that never seems to lose?

When the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim completed their three-game sweep of Minnesota on Sunday, 13-4, it raised their record over the last 15 games to 13-2. They are 16-3 in their last 19 road games.

On June 11, the Angels were 29-29 and trailed the Rangers by 4 1/2 games. Since that date, the Angels are 34-11 — the best record in the major leagues.

Going into Sunday’s game, the Rangers were 24-19 during the same span. Not a bad ledger — the same pace over an entire season would bring them 90 wins — but they lost nine games to the Angels in the standings.

The Angels, granted, have had their own share of problems, beginning with rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart’s tragic death April 9. As of late, both Torii Hunter and Vladimir Guerrero have been on the disabled list.

But if anyone can catch Los Angeles, it’s going to have to be the Rangers, who’ve already beaten the Angels seven of nine times.

The Rangers’ 10-game road trip begins tonight with the first of four games in Oakland. They’ll face the Angels in Anaheim for three games beginning Friday.

We’ve made the mistake already this season of declaring a particular road trip as win-or-bust. The Rangers have survived every hiccup, even when the lineup hasn’t had the services of Josh Hamilton, Ian Kinsler and Frankie Francisco.

The Rangers, you could say, have even survived pneumonia (Francisco) and the swine flu (Vicente Padilla).

Yet, the Angels never seem to lose. Pardon me for scratching my head over this.

They were supposed to be head and shoulders above the rest of the AL West in pitching. And no doubt, any staff would find room for a Jered Weaver or a John Lackey.

But here’s a profile to digest — 12th in the American League in ERA, 12th in hits allowed, 10th in strikeouts, first in number of starting pitchers used (12) and first in number of rookie pitchers (10) employed.

The Rangers’ staff has better numbers in almost every category.

One month of unfamiliar statistics could be a fluke. Two months could be deemed an anomaly. But here it is August, and Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux’s staff ranks ahead of the Red Sox and Angels in hits allowed and ahead of the Yankees and Angels in ERA.

It’s their hitting, in other words, that will determine the Rangers’ fate between now and October.

Two major things have to improve if they expect to catch the Angels. Kinsler, for one, might think his 23 home runs are irreplaceable, but against right-handed pitchers he’s batting .206 with a .283 on-base percentage — worse than any other leadoff hitter in the majors.

Secondly, Hamilton needs to continue to find his swing. His .220 average and 29 RBI after Sunday’s game has had a ripple effect on the entire lineup.

Fortunately for the Rangers, June is over, taking its hitting drought with it. Like a bear waking from a long nap, Rangers hitters are stretching and starting to find themselves.

While Hamilton still looks for the key that will unlock his season, third baseman Michael Young has lifted the team on his shoulders and carried it on his back. It’s as if something happened at the All-Star Game that has elevated Young’s game to another level.

If they’re going to chase the Angels, the Rangers would be wise to follow him.

The club failed to add Roy Halladay — or anyone else, for that matter — at last week’s non-waiver trading deadline. Manager Washington, for one, could have used the extra help. Boston, the Rangers’ closest rival in the wild-card race, strengthened itself with deadline trades.

Beginning tonight in Oakland, 25 of the Rangers’ next 35 games will be on the road.

Recent history tells us they’re too stubborn to let that bother them.

If anyone can catch the Angels, we’ll probably soon find out.

GIL LeBRETON, 817-390-7760

Living in the Wake of the Flood

2009-07-30T14:49:00.002-05:00

So, brother Wake has been staying with us for a week and a half while taking some continuing education classes at SMU. I really enjoyed having him around for the time he was here. We talked about some different things, we cooked some good food, discovered some fine local beer, meandered around my neighborhood and just hung out. He learned the TV shows I am enslaved by, and he also was able to witness my laziness firsthand (as if he needed a reminder). He got to spend more time with Nicki than ever and realized again how much of an urban environment the Metroplex is. He left for Connecticut today with a planned stop at his brother-in-law's home near Paris, Texas. I will miss him. No question he was the proper choice for Best Man at my wedding over 25 years ago.

Roy Halladay talk
There has been much talk around Dallas about the Rangers acquiring pitcher Roy Halladay from the Toronto Blue Jays to bolster their chances of making the playoffs. The Blue Jay's asking price for Halladay is steep. They need top quality prospects that are near certainties to make the jump to the major league level this season or next in order to build the team to compete in baseball's toughest division. The Phillies had been the most likely new team for Halladay but the management of that team decided against selling the future for the season and a half that Halladay is under contract for.
The likelihood of the Texas Rangers being able to resign Halladay after his current contract expires is not good. Big time pitchers command very high dollars in the baseball world and the Rangers ownership group is not fiscally prepared to shell out that level of pay to one arm again. So one has to look at what it is a trade would bring to the team.
While the action of going out and getting an ace would let fans and veteran players like Michael Young know the seriousness about winning the team has, how much impact would it actually be likely to have?
The Rangers at this point have 63 games remaining in the regular season. A starting pitcher will likely make no more than 9 starts. Assuming Halladay arrives ready to pitch effectively (he has lost 2 of his last 3 starts), one might expect him to go 7-2 in that period at best. Rangers' starters have done a very fine job all season long and it could be argued that they would likely amass a record of about 6-3 or 5-2 with a couple of no decisions in the same games Halladay might start.
So that leaves us with the conclusion that the Rangers would be giving up 3 or 4 prospects for one or two more wins in the regular season. That is a price I feel is too steep.
If the goal of obtaining Halladay is for a run in the post season, it makes more sense to trade for him. But Halladay hasn't pitched in the post season and baseball history is littered with superstars with gaudy regular season numbers that performed poorly in the post season (think ARod for recent flops).
The Rangers have concentrated on developing a productive farm system the past few years. Let's not deviate from that to reach for what could easily turn into fool's gold in the end. I will root hard for this team to make the playoffs. But I wasn't expecting it to happen this year anyway, so I will be keeping an eye on the future, too.

Investing and Trading are NOT the Same Thing

2009-07-24T10:11:00.002-05:00

Investing is buying shares in a company for the purpose of sharing in that company's profits. Trading is looking to profit from the exchange of shares. This article identifies exactly why we need a very high tax on capital gains on short term holdings of stocks and other investments. And any loopholes that let the traders either avoid those taxes, or pass them on to mutual fund shareholders need to be closed.

Why the hell did I foot the bill for these guys to be able to go back to doing the same thing they did before that collapsed the financial markets a year ago? Talk about enabling someone's gambling addiction!!!!!!

Go Rangers

2009-07-23T15:23:00.002-05:00

So here it is, nearly August and the Texas Rangers are still in the thick of things in the American League West race. While they did hit a rough patch for a bit and have relinquished their hold on first place, they seem to have righted the ship. Last night they completed a three game sweep of the Boston Red Sox. The first place Boston Red Sox.
They are not scoring runs in great numbers right now. Instead, they are winning old-school style with pitching, defense and smart base running. It has been a joy to watch them become an aggressive team on the base paths and hitters willing to take a walk. SO DIFFERENT!
They may not make the playoffs this year. They may not next. But they have gotten my attention a week before Cowboys training camp opens and I'm not the only one paying attention this year. Good for them.
Thanks, Nolan Ryan.

SS-DD

2009-07-21T16:39:00.001-05:00

Mark Brooks hits the nail on the head once again with this op-ed.

It is arrogant to think Christians have exclusive knowledge of God

2009-07-13T14:00:00.001-05:00

Click the link to see Chaco Canyon
Psalm 19 (Today's New International Version)
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.

3 They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.

4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,

5 which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

6 It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.

7 The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.

8 The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.

9 The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever.
The ordinances of the LORD are sure,
and all of them are righteous.

10 They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb.

11 By them your servant is warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.

12 But who can discern their own errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.

13 Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then I will be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.

14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

The ruins in Chaco Canyon were constructed between the 9th and 13th centuries by a people with no written alphabet. Yet, the walls on many of the buildings are aligned to within 1/3 of a degree of true north. Many of the buildings are perfectly aligned with each other, even though they are many miles apart and not visible to each other.
Like many ancient peoples, they accurately mark the solar seasons. They are, however, the first known ancients to accurately mark the nearly 19 lunar cycle - that being the time it takes the moon's rising and setting to move from its northern most point to the southern most and back.
Several of the ruins, when plotted on the north/south and east/west walls form bisecting lines which create a cross.
Scientists have said that the largest ruins do not display indications of being inhabited, which would make their purpose unknown. BTW, we are talking about buildings the size of the Roman Coliseum.
When I first heard these things while watching the documentary Mysteries of Chaco Canyon on PBS, the first thing that came to my mind was Psalm 19. It seems pretty clear to me that these people understood how marvelous Creation is, and their place in it. While the name they use for Christ was probably different, I'm guessing they also trusted their Creator for their preservation and reconciliation. Pretty cool.

But who lives there?

2009-07-12T08:12:00.002-05:00

The BBC website has an article about health care that compares McAllen, Texas with El Paso. The average cost per patient for care in McAllen is far higher than that of El Paso. The article also includes the comment that McAllen has become a hub of high tech health care, with many new hospitals and complexes being constructed in the recent past.
While it does examine the first thoughts which come to mind in (the doctors own the hospitals and out-patient clinics), the article does not specifically mention an analysis of age demographics for the region. It attempts to compare similar medical conditions, but I believe McAllen has become a retiree center, both for people to move to permanently as well as the annual influx of snowbirds escaping northern winters.
It would be interesting to me if that data was also collected. I would expect it to take more money to treat the elderly than the general population.

Where Do We Send the Bill?

2009-06-23T09:24:00.002-05:00

I've been complaining that one of the most basic things has been missing from the health care reform debate in America: who is responsible for paying for health care? Is it the individual's responsibility or a societal obligation? And without answering that question we can't move forward on fixing the problems. Finally, a national op-ed that raises the same concern. It doesn't answer the question, but does point towards some answers.

Jon & Kate + 8

2009-06-23T06:19:00.002-05:00

For some reason, this show has been one of those events you can't help watch, like a train wreck or car accident caught on video.
My daughter started my wife on it a couple years ago. I have watched more episodes than I care to admit, but will say I have never turned the channel to it. I have been the "bystander" type viewer, i.e. in the room and wanting to spend time with my wife. I know that someday I will have to account to God for this time and totally count on grace covering this sin as well!
I did not see the most recent episode, but apparently it was announced the couple has separated and divorce proceedings beginning. I'm sad for the kids. I'm sad for the couple. But not surprised. Money, fame and a perception of power can bring out the worst in people. I know it would me.
Thank God I have avoided all three of those traps!

Another hand in my pocket....

2009-06-17T15:02:00.002-05:00

It seems the North Texas Turnpike Authority board is comprised of AIG executives. There are plans afoot to increase Dallas area toll rates by 32% in order to cover a shortfall in revenue. Of course the bench level for revenue was based on assumptions and expected travel levels. The reason the need for revenue is so dire is because the board paid too much for the right to administer tolls on Sam Rayburn Highway (the new 121 from Grapevine to McKinney). Traffic flow for that road has never reached its anticipated level.
The billions of dollars the board bid for the rights to that road were funded through bonds. The bond holders were promised a rate of return based on the anticipated level of traffic. If the cash flow for NTTA dips too low, the interest rate on the bonds increases, raising the cost.
Just like the smart guys at AIG, the NTTA board never considered failure a possibility. I mean, sure it was in the contract, but c'mon, we're talking Frisco and McKinney here. Lots of room to keep growing. Growth never stops. Especially in North Texas.
Guess what? It has slowed considerably.
And that means that NTTA will increase rates not to pay for more and better roads. Nope, it's gonna raise the rates I pay to drive Texas Department of Transportation roads to cover THEIR bad business decision.
We need a plan to get rid of the sons of guns.

ROT

2009-06-12T16:30:00.001-05:00

I'm about to get on the road for a trip down to Austin for the Republic of Texas Bike Rally.
I hope we get there before Robbie Knievel attempts to jump 18 Budweiser trucks in front of the state capital tonight at 11!
Peace.

You may need to be on the bus for this one....

2009-06-07T07:29:00.001-05:00

A Deadhead and his dog walked into a bar. The Deadhead said to the bartender, "Can I have a beer? I don’t have any money, but I have this talking dog." The bartender said, "If your dog can really talk, I’ll give you a beer on the house." The Deadhead said to the dog, "Hey, what’s your favorite Dead song?" The dog barked, "Wharf, Wharf, Wharf." The bartender, furious, threw the Deadhead and the dog out of the bar. Once outside, the dog turned to the Deadhead and said, "Maybe I should have said Dark Star."

this was taken from another site on myspace.

One game doesn't tell the entire story.

2009-06-03T06:56:00.002-05:00

I only saw the score scroll across the ticker on ESPN last night. 12-3. Ok. So the Yankees hammered the Rangers again. No time to panic. It's a long, long season.
I heard an analysis done yesterday, in advance of this very difficult stretch of the Rangers schedule, that broke it down series by series for the next 28 games. This block of games will include series with the Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Detroit. The idea was to take a long view of it and wait to decide whether it is a season with promise and real playoff potential or another fool's gold spring.
If the Rangers go through this, their most difficult period, with a record of 13-15, they will still be 8 games over .500. That should keep them in contention. That pace means they will lose several "important" series. But, so what?
I guess the news about Josh Hamilton makes achieving even this modest goal more difficult, but Jon Daniels has done an excellent job of assembling good depth on this team. Let's see how the summer goes.
PLAY BALL!

Garden news. Crime blotter update.

2009-05-30T12:47:00.002-05:00

It has been a little bit since I droned on and on about the garden plot. Here's a picture of what it looked like about a month ago. You can see the Black Seed Simpson lettuce I have been eating lots and lots of, as well as the potatoes, the carrots, the onions and broccoli that was moving toward ripeness at the time. Since this is a community garden plot, often someone else with the space adjacent to yours will making inappropriate plantings, such as the cucumber vines that are planted next to and among the potatoes. Or the squash that is next to the spinach and radishes in the upper left corner. Fortunately, the radishes had plenty of time to finish before getting overrun.
In the onion patch about in between the rows of lettuce was a very successful bulb growing. It was about the size of a baseball on Tuesday night, when I saw it last, poking above the ground. On the other end of its row was another beauty starting to call out as well.
This morning when I arrived to harvest and tend to the plantings, both were gone! Alas, another peril of the community garden has been shown. In some ways I am a bit perturbed. But on the other hand, I am pretty happy that the work I put into getting the ground ready and then tending to the plants was recognized by someone else. I am also glad that the produce was taken and consumed, rather than forgotten to rot in the dirt like much of the strawberries in the space to the south (left) of mine.
Anyway, the lettuce has been a bit bitter for a week or so. A fellow grower and good friend suggests cutting the plants to the ground and seeing if the new growth is also bitter. Glen suggests that perhaps the plants are a bit "mature" and hence are not as flavorful as before.
I have removed the inside most row completely. I had some carrots and the rest of those should be wonderful. The potatoes will come out next weekend as new potatoes, I think. There are only eight plants there, so that is only about 25 spuds. I may let them go 3 more weekends.
The remaining 2 onions will come out by next weekend, the carrots are about ready as well. I have some bell pepper transplants to get in their place but it may be too late for those to set fruit for the early crop. They may do better in the fall.
The are nine cantaloupe vines looking like they are setting fruit. We will have more cucumbers than we can eat and the zucchini, squash and beans look like the Fourth of July will have plenty of fresh vegetables! Okra is growing well, as is the basil and tomato plants.
This is WAY more fun than growing and cutting grass.

A Affordable Pool & Spa, dba The Backyard Place

2009-05-24T07:26:00.002-05:00

It was either 7 or 8 springs ago, I don't remember which, that we discovered our pool surface was falling apart and needed replacement. I am pretty sure it was after our first winter here but it might have been the second.
I tried to be a good shopper and make certain I was going to get value for such a large expenditure of the family's meager finances. I called three different companies that advertised such services. I met with representatives from each of the outfits. It was late April/early May, so we were just heading into peak pool installation and service season in North Texas. One bid was quite low compared to the other two and he could start tomorrow. Um, no, thank you very much.
The second was a bit higher than the third and he also said his crew could be there in the next day or so.
The third man, when we met poolside, surveyed the ugly mess that non-circulating water begins to look like. He hadn't measured anything yet, although he had a tape measure handy, although with his metal notebook. John looked me straight in the eye and said, "I'll give you a bid to resurface your pool. Our crew is running flat out right now, so we won't be able to schedule in until probably sometime next week. But I won't do the job now. You realize your pool has a leak somewhere?"
I had known this, but operating from ignorance, I had assumed I would be able to locate it a patch it up on my own later, after the wife and kids were lazing in the water. In the meantime, I would continue to add an inch or two of water every couple days and call it the cost of doing business.
John continued, "If you have your pool redone and then learn the leak is in the main drain line, then you will be looking at having to resurface it again after that is dug up and repaired. It would be better for you to find the leak, fix it and then have the plaster finished."
He measured the pool and gave me the bid for the job the others would not get. His price for that was a few hundred dollars below the highest estimate I had received. He also provided me an estimate on what the leak repair cost could be, depending on where they found it. His company, A Affordable Pool & Spa, got the job. John also spent time with me, instructing me on the operation of the filter equipment after they repaired the below ground leak and some above ground leaks near the pumps. He was able to demonstrate how the breaks above ground were the result of freeze damage and coached me in the way I presented this evidence to my homeowners insurance company so it would be covered. Initially, they had denied the claim. After I used John's magic words and method, they covered it and more.
Fast forward to last weekend, when we returned from our beach vacation. The pool pump was no longer running. Ugh. I spent last Sunday taking it apart, along with the timer mechanisms for the pump and pool sweep. Both timers have been in need of replacement for a couple years. After I had the pump disconnected, I loaded into the back of my truck and headed to the chain-store pool supply place. My friend Kevin calls it "The $20 Store," since nothing there costs less than $20. Their diagnosis was that the pump and impeller needed replacing. Cost of $390 plus tax.
"It'll be about $420 total. I think I can get my manager to let me put the impeller on the pump right now, although we have lots of other bench labor in front of you," the clerk said as he headed toward the rear of the store with my pump. "You do want to get it, right?"
Cool your pipes, Turbo.
I felt as though I was being hustled again (after having it done to you so many times, you sort of begin to sense it). "I need to wait until next weekend," I said. I left with the pump. I knew there had to be a cheaper solution.
While driving home from dinner a few night later, Stephanie pointed out a pool store. I recognized the name as the company that had fixed us up before, and now it appeared they had a retail outlet. When I looked online, I was sure it was the same people.
Yesterday, I took my pump in. Jeff, John's boyhood friend and business partner, tested it and pronounced it dead. Replacement cost for a new pump? $329. What about an impeller? "There is nothing to go wrong with those. You don't need one, unless you just want to spend another $40. Leave the old one with me and I'll swap it onto the new pump. We don't charge for bench labor."
I bought the pump and a couple other pieces I needed from them. I also received good information on the installation of it. When I went to pick it up, there was just enough silicone adhesive to apply to an O-ring gasket Jeff had told me about. He had said the tube of adhesive was $13 but that tube would have been enough to replace fifty motors. Instead it was squeezed into a plastic bag and tied off. I cut the corner of the bag and applied it like a cake decorator.
The pump and time box installs finished just as dark came on last night. The pump ran overnight and it appears there are no leaks. Swimming season is hours away.
And if you live in North Dallas, visit these guys for your pool supplies. They do business the right way.

American Jesus

2009-05-19T08:36:00.002-05:00

All the uproar over Dan Brown's books and the movies made from them usually miss the deeper issues. This OP ED doesn't.

And it has some great sound bites:

"In the Brownian worldview, all religions — even Roman Catholicism — have the potential to be wonderful, so long as we can get over the idea that any one of them might be particularly true."

"...where both liberal and conservative believers often encounter a God who’s too busy validating their particular version of the American Dream to raise a peep about, say, how much money they’re making or how many times they’ve been married."

"...he serves up a Jesus who’s a thoroughly modern sort of messiah — sexy, worldly, and Goddess-worshiping, with a wife and kids, a house in the Galilean suburbs, and no delusions about his own divinity."

Is it another mirage?

2009-05-17T07:28:00.002-05:00

I KNOW better. Really. Been here, done this before.
The Texas Rangers are in first place. I don't even have to look, the calendar must say it's May.
There are actual t-shirts worn around the DFW area that poke fun at this repeating situation - "Start fast. Finish early." That has been the team's unofficial slogan since it moved to Texas from Washington way back when. Except for the more recent seasons, when the Rangers decided to avoid any semblance of pressure by losing loads of games in April and burying themselves early.
But nearly all of the faces have changed now, and so has the manner in which they win. Oh, they still hit home runs. I think currently they lead the majors in them, so that hasn't changed. But what has become apparent to many baseball people is that the Texas Rangers appear to reflect an understanding of the way the really good teams add to their win totals season after season - with pitching and defense.
While driving back from our recent vacation to the Redneck Riviera (Fort Morgan, AL), I was listening to an NPR show dedicated to the science aspects of baseball. The main item being discussed was whether or not the new Yankee Stadium was going to be a home run park (too early to tell). But an analysis of the season so far had one of the participants mention how much better the pitching for the Rangers appeared to be now that the team was playing good defense. The same pitchers as last year suddenly have lowered ERAs. He attributed it to changes made behind them. Michael Young, an outstanding hitter (of course; Rangers? Hello?), has been moved to third base in order for an outstanding fielding shortstop to shore up the middle infield. Elvis Andrus was said to be one of those "generation" shortstops, a la Ozzie Smith. His defense has been all that. Who knew he could handle major league pitching as he has so far? Young's limited range is masked at third but his steady play and good hands show why he is a pro's pro. Josh Hamilton can run down lots of balls in center field that in seasons past made it to the wall. Mark Grace referred to Marlon Byrd as "a very good outfielder" in yesterday's telecast of the Rangers win over the Angels.
Grace also pointed out the outstanding fundamentals that led to the Rangers first run. After Ian Kinsler was hit with the second pitch of the game, leading to Angels' starter John Lackey's ejection, he stole second base. Young, batting cleanup, moved him to third with a ground out to second base. It was as fine an at-bat as Young could have had. He took three pitches to start with; the pitcher for the Angels had to enter the game without notice due to Lackey's ejection. While he was afforded all the time he needed to physically warm-up, his mind was most likely still playing catch up. Those first three pitches were balls. 3-0 count. Probably a fast ball coming. Of course Young is taking the pitch. But Kinsler is still in the game, playing manager Ron Washington style. He takes a very good lead and is off with the first motion of Loux, the new Angels pitcher. There is no chance to throw him out, even with the fastball down the middle for strike one. Young pushes the next pitch to the right side of the infield and is an easy out for the second baseman. But now Kinsler is standing on third with one out. He crosses the plate a few moments later when Hamilton lifts the low, outside pitch to left for an easy sacrifice flyball. One runs, no hits, no one left on base when Hank Blalock (now playing first after Young's move to third) flies out to end the inning. The game ends with the Rangers winning 5-3 without the benefit of an extrabase hit. Starter Vicente Padilla goes an improbable eight innings, after needing more than eighty pitches to get through the first five, perhaps providing some early evidence that team president Nolan Ryan's emphasis on conditioning for pitchers is paying benefits.
Yes, Rangers diehards have been here before. We know Johnny Oates isn't on the bench. Temperatures are just starting to touch the 90s with regularity. But things look a bit different through these rose colored glasses this spring and we are so thirsty for another taste of a meaningful August and September. It would be very, very cool indeed if the Rangers could stay on the top the of the AL West and the Dallas Morning News Sports page for an extended time and keep the Cowboys and the new stadium regulated to "below the fold" territory.

Supreme Justice

2009-05-12T07:43:00.002-05:00

Consider this: is it truly justice if things always go the way you want. Are any of us so perfect in our opinions and understanding that our way is always the right way?

The appointment and confirmation process for Supreme Court justices has devolved into such a spitting contest of partisans that any sense of perspective is lost. If we boil down what the advocates on all sides are saying when they talk about qualifications is that they want a justice who will decide things their way. As if we were god-like in our knowledge and understanding.

The better test, in my not so humble opinion, is not of a nominee's views, but of their intellect and integrity. Are they sharp enough to hone in on small but critical points? Are they educated enough to bring a broad understanding to the decision making process? Are they intellectually curious enough to explore opinions outside their own? Are they honest enough with themselves to recognize their own biases? Are they of deep enough character to make the difficult choice because it is what is right even when not only does the general population disagree, and the majority of their colleagues disagree, but even their own personal views and political leanings are opposed to such a decision? But because a decision is logically consistent with the constitution and is the right and just thing to do will they still do it, in spite of their own feelings?

The dog and pony show that will open this summer in the Senate will never answer these questions. I knew the questions before. I never thought about how counter productive the Judiciary hearings are until just now when I read this OP ED from Stephen L. Carter. (You may remember his book "The Culture of Disbelief" from a decade or so ago.)

An OP ED for all those who turn off the radio and listen to the tires sing or put the top down and crank the tunes on the 2 lane without lines

2009-05-11T08:06:00.002-05:00

Something different from Stanley Fish

look twice, ok?

2009-05-06T14:59:00.001-05:00

Faith is not Anti-thetical to Reason

2009-05-04T08:52:00.002-05:00

As a teen there was a certain pleasure in the pseudo-intellectual affirmation of atheism and decrying religion as superstition. (That such an exercise was an "affirmation" should have revealed its fallacy, but alas, the idealism of youth is blind!) As our cultural pendulum swings away from the pull of the Religious Right there is once again a rising assertion of the intellectual superiority of being areligious (not irreligious, but a-religious). And some folks are using a carefully culled reading of scientific discoveries to reassert the claim of faith as synonymous with superstition. Which I find hysterical because the more I come to understand about quantum physics and the more I read about the findings of geneticists and the genome project the more Truth I find in Genesis. The Christianity of Paul and the early Church wasn't one where you parked your brain at the door. The letter to the Romans is incredibly challenging intellectually if we're willing to give more than a cursory read. The Cappadocian fathers wrestled with existential questions as deeply and more as any of our current philosophers and critics of religion. With that said, you may find this blog posting by Stanley Fish interesting. http://fish.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/god-talk/?th&emc=th

Garden...

2009-05-04T06:57:00.002-05:00

Ok, this will likely get pretty boring (or even MORE boring) but I am geeked about eating stuff I grew...
Yesterday I transplanted zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers, basil and green bell peppers. I think these should all be producing about the end of June, if not before. Someone else has some cucumbers in as well.
There are a dozen cantaloupe plants up in the bed, too. Stephanie ate the strawberry that was ready yesterday. There had been one the day before I thought was about ripe. Apparently so, as the birds had eaten half of it by the time I got there in the afternoon.

A rainy Saturday

2009-05-02T22:41:00.002-05:00

Most years, this first weekend in May finds me down in Hunt, Texas at the Synod of the Sun Presbyterian Men's Conference. Last year I was invited to be the recreation leader and wound up staying in one of the nicest housing rooms on Mo Ranch. In fact, the weekend's keynote speaker and I were in adjoining rooms and shared a bath. Pretty heady for an old stoner boy.
I had begun to think the survey responses had indicated a great deal of displeasure with the job I had done; I was not asked to return until early in April. I agreed to do it again and was looking forward to the ride down through some of the prettier routes in Texas.
But then last week at work, I broke a toe on my right foot. The doctor's orders for rest and 2 hours per day walking made it necessary for me to cancel on Mo. I expect to be cleared for all activities on Monday. But with a beach vacation looming, with its attendant beach combing walks, I did not want to risk straining the other muscles in my leg with abnormal strides compensating for the damaged toe.
So I was home for the rainy day. I managed to pick enough lettuce, spinach and radishes from my plot at the community garden before the rain came that we should be eating salad every night this week! 2 full gallon zip lock bags of lettuce, a sandwich bag worth of spinach and 7 radishes. I can't wait for the cantaloupe plants I planted a couple of weeks ago to start producing! Oh, and there was a strawberry that was about ripe, along with another 3 or 4 that will be ready later this week. Broccoli plants are doing well, the carrots are definitely growing taller (under the ground is a mystery), the onions are starting to bulb up really well and the potatoes are getting out of control for sure. But the lettuce! Wow. I am really liking this stuff. I harvested a bunch last weekend and there was more and better today! It is a Simpson variety of leaf lettuce. Also, there are flowers on the jalapeno, red bell peppers and Roma tomatoes. Okra bed is doing pretty good, too. Although the nutsedge is liking our dirt maybe more than the cultivated plants. Not sure how to get rid of that stuff in an organic garden!
The skies did open up though and lots of water fell. The pool is very full and I am glad not to have any leaks in the (self) repaired roof.
We booked the rental mini-van for next week's beach trip. I can't wait for a week of being a slug and not feeling any guilt about it!

12.5% of Gross Earnings

2009-04-16T15:02:00.003-05:00

That's the amount of money the federal government took from my wife and I last year that is not considered income tax. It is not money "saved" for me in the Social Security Trust Fund. It is the FICA and Medicare TAX we paid that goes into that account and is used to pay current benefits of the Social Security program. Our percentage is higher than the average person's because I have self-employment income on which I pay the full percentage of the tax. For all of you employed by someone else your employer pays half the tax and the other half is deducted from your paycheck.

Of course you all knew about this even before I said anything. So why mention it? Because if you added what you paid last year in FICA and Medicare taxes to what you paid in income taxes I think a lot of folks would be shocked to discover what their actual federal tax rate is. If you think you're only paying 15% or less because of your nominal tax bracket, think again. And if you were feeling generous towards your Congressional representation after you saw how small your adjusted gross income was compared to your actual gross income, and thought how wonderful that you were only paying this nice low percentage on the adjusted amount, think again. I'm pretty sure that if you worked the numbers you'd discover that the total income tax you paid was at least the same percentage of your gross income as your nominal rate, if not higher.

Now do this: add what you actually paid in income taxes to what you actually paid in FICA and Medicare taxes. That's your actual federal tax liability. Now divide that by your total gross income. That's your actual federal tax rate. Still feeling generous?
Unless you are a high earner with significant income above the cap on FICA and Medicare taxation I would expect your total tax liability to hit 20% or more of your income. That means 1 in every 5 dollars you earned went to the federal treasury. Now add what you paid in state taxes -- don't forget all those sale tax dollars! Add in your local property taxes, users fees and other governmental assessments. Doesn't leave a large percentage of your income at your disposal does it?

My dad while alive was a strong proponent of a flat tax on all income with no deductions. There is much to be said against such a simple idea and all the problems inherent in such a system. But one thing would be true. The amount we pay in taxes would be transparent. That's what bothers me the most. Our current system with all its convoluted deductions, credits, and taxes that are not called taxes obscures from view the real cost of our government. Government and the utilities -- neither one will give you a straight answer on what something costs. Our tax bills are just like the cable or mobile phone bill, full of "fees" or other misnamed additions that take extra dollars from our pockets. And the assumption is that we aren't paying attention so they can get away with doing it. Anyone else actually notice? Anyone else bothered by it?

Easter, etc.

2009-04-13T14:58:00.002-05:00

So I logged onto Facebook this morning and read a post from my friend Gary. He mentioned he heard a preacher this weekend talking about a Jewish man who told him that according to how the Jew understands it, Christians have things WAY mixed up.
He believes that Christians get the importance of the two major holidays on our religious calendars out of balance. Easter, he argues, should be the biggest festival, that time when we would be sharing gifts and celebrating. Without Easter, he reasons, there is no completion to the cycle that is begun (representatively) with Christmas.
I was thinking the same thing this weekend. But then I did have a little bit of a flash. I don't think he is 100% right, either. I think it may be looked at this way - Christmas is when we get the Gift, so it is appropriate to give gifts. BUT...
Easter is when the tomb was opened. THAT is the time when we get to OPEN the gift!
I doubt anyone would want to stare at the pile of presents for 4 months though.......

Nicki (our youngest) moved back home on Friday. She didn't get out and find any reasons to stay in Atlanta, and I am pretty sure that her decision to move there never factored in everything she would be giving up by relocating her entire life. So now she is back home after a 2 month vacation! One instance of sassiness though and she starts paying rent!

The Texas Rangers weekend trip to Detroit exposed their bullpen pitching for what it is - a collection of maybe major leaguers, more likely minor leaguers or players wringing a few more dollars out of the system before having to enter the real world. If we can go .500 this year, most folks around here will consider it a successful season.

Some Big East humility and pride

2009-04-08T14:36:00.002-05:00

OK. So UConn and Villanova spit the bit in the Men's Final Four.
I don't know if the Huskies would have faired much better against UNC than MSU did.

But how about the women's tourney? Both finalists were from the Big East and Geno's team was ready to paste whatever opponent was rolled out in front of them. Great job, ladies. And that man can coach. Which no one is denying anymore.
I heard it said that Pat Summit is getting the Huskies/Volunteers thing back on track. Good. I look forward to seeing how it goes.

OPENING DAY

2009-04-04T09:12:00.003-05:00

Monday the Sox and Yankees begin another season. And just as I was getting ready to start wearing a NY cap with my Red Sox hoodie the organization gets a new Steinbrenner who it seems is going to be an even more meddlesome owner than his dad in his prime. Maybe I can ignore Hal for a few years just as I ignored George.

But what the Boss really accomplished was for me to look closely at the Rangers while I was in Texas. And I found a new team. And it looks like their ship is righted and is no longer floundering in heavy seas. They remind me a lot of the Twins in the late 90's. Stockpiling talent in the minors, developing players who'll compete with each other for roster spots, pushing everyone to get better. And keeping a solid professional veteran presence in the clubhouse of the big club. Even .500 may be too much to ask for this year, but next year or the year after the Angels are going to be looking up at the Rangers backsides.

More NCAA FUN!

2009-03-28T08:51:00.003-05:00

I'm totally shocked. Usually by this stage of the tournament I've got one region left alive on my Yahoo bracket. This year I got 7 out of 8 right in the Elite 8. My only miss was Mizzou over Memphis. But seeing Memphis lose was worth it. Of course the danger now is that Mizzou is going to spoil the party by beating UConn -- which is a very real possibility. That team can play.

Now on to the women's party where parity is beginning to emerge. But I'm fairly certain UConn has enough grit to make it through to the title and a perfect season. Unless the good old girls network at the NCAA assigns one of their favorite incompentent refs to do the Stanford-UConn semifinal. I don't know how things look and sound in other parts of the country, but over the last 5-10 years the group of elite female head coaches who have been around since the 80's appear to have a chip on their shoulder. Especially over men like UConn's Geno getting good press. But not just the guys. They seem to resent the rise of the new coaches like Coales, and Goestetnerkor? and they definitely never liked Carol Peck. When I read between the lines on what I see and hear in the interviews is a sense that they resent these folks who've crashed their party uninvited. And it's the uninvited part that's clear. They've got their proteges, but its the other up and coming coaches that seem to rankle their feathers and whose success they begrudge. Maybe it's just me reading too much into it, but it sure seems that way. And it seems like Summitt, VanDerveer, and Conradt and the other greats have had too much sway in the tournament committee. Of course now that UConn has become a powerhouse and an ESPN media darling they get special treatment as well. But I like them so it doesn't bug me to see that!

Big Beast?

2009-03-27T08:48:00.002-05:00

Results from the first day of the Sweet 16 suggests we may see something like 1985 once again. For those who wonder, that was the year 3 out of the Final Four were from the Big East and Villanova shocked Georgetown for the title. Now for Louisville and the 'Cuse to uphold the league's destiny tonight.

But, just in case the Big Beast is clawless, the Big XII is showing some real muscle as well -- can you say MISSOURI Tigers (not Memphis! bye, bye Calipari and the perfect hair.)

Substantive Polling

2009-03-26T08:20:00.002-05:00

We speak of a politician being poll-driven in only negative terms. The implication is that if a pol uses polling to help set their governing strategy they are simply pandering. In this op-ed Friedman describes a way in which polling data is incredibly useful in real governance. It's using polls to understand what is being heard. And then tailoring your message accordingly, not to manipulate, but to inspire or lead the people toward greater good.

More AIG Fun

2009-03-25T09:17:00.002-05:00

The AG's of NY and CT have been blustering about "naming names" and threatening to force the public disclosure of those who just got retention payments from AIG. I'm real unhappy that we've thrown money into Wall Street where folks worshiped the god of the free market and haven't let the firms suffer the wrath of the god they've served. But Cuomo and Blumenthal are little more than publicity hounds -- they're grandstanding knowing full well that the culprits behind the meltdown have all moved on. (Check out this link to a resignation letter from a top AIG exec).

And that's the way it always seem to be when folks stop looking long term, get overly focused on short term results and reward those producing those short term gains without regard for the long term consequences. Some folks catch on to the game right away, drive short term results recklessly ignoring the fallout, and then ride the wave up to promotions with other firms (where they repeat the process). Only a few hang around to deal with their messes. I saw this in the grocery business. And I saw the loyal and ethical employees pay the price. Why were these charlatans rewarded and the good guys penalized? Because the top of the food chain at the companies were ignoring anything except the immediate gain. And why were they managing in that way? Because that's what the Board of Directors was looking at - the short term stock price gains. And why would directors recklessly drive a company into the ground? In one case with one company I worked for it was because of outside pressure from a take-over group that labeled the company as "under-producing" and a likely target for a leveraged buy-out and subsequent sale of the pieces. Which meant that long term results were irrelevant to the job security of upper management. And that all those stock options they were being paid thanks to the structure of the tax code had more value by playing the traders' game than if they ran the company in the best interests of investors. By the time the company was sold and dismantled all the hot shots were long gone. The only people left were those older employees who were hoping to hang on until retirement, those lifers who "believed" in the company, and those of us who were too dumb to read the writing on the wall or whose options were too limited to let us escape. After all, if every other candidate for new jobs is showing incredible numbers on their resumes and you've got only solid gains to put on stage the only folks looking for you are the ones who see the house of cards for what it is. And since so many companies were in the house of cards group and so few looking long term the job opportunities for the responsible folks aren't very many.

So, am I bitter? No. Just tired of watching us go round and round on this same old merry-go-round and seeing that the talk radio/tv talking heads don't get it and that the public is -- in the words of Willie Stark -- hicks.

March Madness

2009-03-20T16:41:00.002-05:00

For the past few years, Wake has sent me an invitation to a fantasy sports tournament bracket contest. I have consistently better his selections and he invests far more time into the process than I do.

Guess what?

I didn't get an invitation this year.......

It killed me to write down Memphis and UNC in the title game. No way I could have John Calipari as the champ....

AIG - what your dollars purchased.

2009-03-17T18:38:00.001-05:00

The Center for Responsible Politics has posted a list of politicians that received money from AIG. Is yours on the list?

The Robber Barons are Always There

2009-03-13T09:02:00.002-05:00

From time immortal, or at least since there has been institutional societal governance, there have been those who combine immoral activity and their connection to power to rape the coffers of others for their own gain. In the US the term Robber Baron was used to describe the railroad and steel profiteers who made huge sums of money at the expense of the citizenry in the 1800's. Wall Street's upper echelon are worthy heirs to the title. Consider this essay.

Some Old Soul

2009-03-11T19:03:00.003-05:00

a very cool music link. VINYL BABY!!

Ran across this blog with old soul tunes from VINYL. Check out tighten up. There's some Buddy Miles too
EDIT: i made it into a link... wake wasn't that awake when he posted this. :-) Kurt

Modern Medicine and the Computer Age

2009-03-06T09:52:00.005-06:00

Op-Ed Contributor

Published: March 5, 2009

A version of this article appeared in print on March 6, 2009, on page A27 of the New York edition.

The Computer Will See You Now

By ANNE ARMSTRONG-COBEN

FOR 20 years, I practiced pediatric medicine with a “paper chart.” I would sit with my young patients and their families, chart in my lap, making eye contact and listening to their stories. I could take patients’ histories in the order they wanted to tell them or as I wanted to ask. I could draw pictures of birthmarks, rashes or injuries. I loved how patients could participate in their own charts — illustrating their cognitive development as they went from showing me how they could draw a line at age 2 and a circle at 3 to proudly writing their names at 5.

Now that I’ve been using a computer to keep patient records — a practice that I once looked forward to — my participation with patients too often consists of keeping them away from the keyboard while I’m working, for fear they’ll push a button that implodes all that I have just documented.

We have all heard about the wonderful ways in which electronic medical records are supposed to transform our broken health care system — by eradicating illegible handwriting and enabling doctors to share patients’ records with one another more easily. The recently passed federal stimulus package provides doctors and hospitals with $17 billion worth of incentive payments to switch to electronic records. The benefits may be real, but we should not sacrifice too much for them.

The problem is not just with pediatrics. Doctors in every specialty struggle daily to figure out a way to keep the computer from interfering with what should be going on in the exam room — making that crucial connection between doctor and patient. I find myself apologizing often, as I stare at a series of questions and boxes to be clicked on the screen and try to adapt them to the patient sitting before me. I am forced to bring up questions in the order they appear, to ask the parents of a laughing 2-year-old if she is “in pain,” and to restrain my potty mouth when the computer malfunctions or the screen locks up. I advise teenagers to limit computer time as I sit before one myself for hours each day until my own eyes twitch and my neck starts to spasm.

In short, the computer depersonalizes medicine. It ignores nuances that we do not measure but clearly influence care. In the past, I could pick up a chart and flip through it easily. Looking at a note, I could picture the visit and recall the story. Now a chart is a generic outline, screens filled with clicked boxes. Room is provided for text, but in the computer’s font, important points often get lost. I have half-joked with residents that they could type “child has no head” in the middle of a computer record — and it might be missed.

A box clicked unintentionally is as detrimental as an order written illegibly — maybe worse because it looks official. It takes more effort and thought to write a prescription than to pull up a menu of medications and click a box. I have seen how choosing the wrong box can lead to the wrong drug being prescribed.

So before we embrace the inevitable, there should be more discussion and study of electronic records, or at a minimum acknowledgment of the downside. A hybrid may be the answer — perhaps electronic records should be kept only on tablet computers, allowing the provider to write or draw, and to face the patient.

The personal relationships we build in primary care must remain a priority, because they are integral to improved health outcomes. Let us not forget this as we put keyboards and screens within the intimate walls of our medical homes.

Anne Armstrong-Coben is an assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at Columbia.

Somehow it doesn't make sense to me to use a doctor's time doing data entry. My mother-in-law was a medical transcriptionist at a hospital for many years. If I understood her description of her job correctly one of the things she did was to type up the charts from the doctors' written and verbal notes made during rounds. These medical records were then used by doctors in subsequent examinations and by the billing department in making insurance claims, etc. She started in the job in a pre-computing era, but by the time she retired her work was fully computerized. I'm no computer guru, and my expertise in medical operations is even more limited. But I wonder, as we pour money into health care reform, and looks for savings, why not use trained support staff to click the boxes and fill out the forms. If a pediatrician or other doctor thinks it's important for something the patient writes or draws to be included in their chart then why not just scan it into the record. There has to be a simple way to gain all the benefits we expect from electronic medical records without turning highly trained and educated practitioners into clerk-typists.

2009-03-03T08:25:00.002-06:00

There is great little book that the people of power and influence should read, Only Yesterday. (Actually, they should have read it in the mid-90's as I recommended then). Published in 1931 shortly after the Crash of '29 and as the economy was in total freefall, it's a history of the Roaring 20's written by a prominent newspaperman of the era, Frederick Lewis Allen. He mostly chronicles the trends and cultural and technological changes of the period, but since the '20's was also a period of economic boom and the average guy getting wealthy, he spends quite a bit of time dealing with economics. One of the things he points out is that the Crash was in some respects inevitable since most folks "wealth" was really only paper wealth. There was no real money behind their asset holdings, only credit. And that the economy and the growth of the big corporations was all based upon future earnings. So with everything based upon the wealth of overextended average families, when the weight broke their backs...

Paul Krugman, the Nobel economist and NYT columnist wrote again about the saving glut - the easy money that fueled the bubble - and how we must deal with that before we can get the global economy stable. He ends his column by saying we're still looking for the way out of the mess we're in. The implication in that line is that we don't know how to fix the economy. I'm not as sharp as Krugman, nor as educated, or knowledgable in economics and finance. But I have come to one conclusion. Average folks get ahead in the long haul by saving more than they spend.

The average person should not be trying to build great wealth by inclusion in a "culture of ownership" as Bush expressed it. Owning some equities is a good thing. But the average Joe isn't going to build financial security through the appreciating value of the assets he's holding. Assets gain value, but they also lose value. And their is no magic economy that can protect everyone from the effects of lost value. So when we all sunk our savings into equity heavy vehicles and watched our paper wealth soar, we also needed to remember that just as that value can go up, so too, it can go down. Or basing our financial stability in the value of our housing. I got wiped out completely in the 80's when the housing market bubble in Texas burst into little pieces.

There are some folks who aren't being clobbered by the latest economic follies. They're folks who know first-hand the effects of the Great Depression. They're homeowners, but they don't consider their houses as part of their investment portfolio. It just made sense to get something back on the money they've spent on housing through the years. So if you have to pay for a place to live, why not own it?

These folks do own some stocks; mostly staid old companies whose stock price has been pretty stable over the years, rising no faster than the Dow, and often not even keeping pace. But they're stocks in companies that have paid a decent dividend year in and year out - that make money even if they're not flashy. But most of their money is in various savings instruments. A solid nest egg in savings accounts/cd's. And the rest in various holdings of bonds and other simple, basic financial instruments.

I found it interesting that the CEO of AIG said yesterday that his company's core business, its insurance operations, was solid and profitable. What was ripping the largest corporation in the financial sector into shreds was all the other instruments they were involved with such as the CDO's or whatever they're called. It was all those fancy investments that the big brains had developed that were responsible for the collapse of the giant. And which I'm stuck paying for.

No, I'll never travel in Krugman's circle. But I do see the way out. For us little guys to save more than we spend over the long haul. To make simple low risk investments. And to let the high fliers soar when the wind is favorable, and let them crash when it's not. Because if Main Street isn't counting on Wall Street for its wealth then we can survive ok when things come crashing down in the financial sectors. When our wealth is centered in real transactions involving actual commodities, not speculation, then the rise and fall of the speculators doesn't hold us hostage. It's what Fred Allen wrote about in 1930. It's what we need to remember in 2009.

I'm such a fangirl.....

2009-02-28T20:41:00.006-06:00

Last Thursday night, after spending my time with the A Sense of Place crew, I hooked it up to Denton and a concert by Son Volt. I was pretty excited and enjoyed myself immensely. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I decided I needed a souvenir to take away from the evening. I decided I was going to get the set list that was under the pedal steel/keyboard player's guitar. This is how close to him I was standing -

During the encore, I positioned myself so that I would be able to gather my prize without too much trouble. 3 song encore nears completion; as the last few chords of Windfall are echoing through the bar, I am getting ready...
When the song ends and the clapping starts, I am edging even closer to the stage. Like a salmon swimming upstream, I am going against the flow, heading directly toward my prize.
But, alas, it was not to be. For while I was the fish going against the current, an eagle swoops in from the side and snatches the printed song ledger just as I got to the stage edge.
"Dude," I moaned.
"Sorry," said the Victor, although I am sure he didn't mean it. In fact, my pain made his gain that much sweeter in his mind - I could see it in his eyes and grin.
Not ready to give up, my attention shifted to the list that was on top of the amp behind where frontman Jay Farrar had stood. A roadie. Perhaps one of the techs would be willing to give it to me. Here comes one now from behind the curtain! He has returned after securing the microphones first thing. Now he will begin to take the instruments offstage.
Wait... NOOO! Who is that kid climbing on the stage? The tech is obviously wondering the same thing as the young man boldly hustles over to the amp, grabs the list and shows the tech that his incursion is pretty much benign by holding it up like a trophy.
Suddenly I am aware that I am standing next to another man who calls to the tech. The tech looks over with a face that says, "Can't you see I am working on something important and don't have time to be bothered by fans. It's 12:40 A.M. and we need to get going."
"Can I have one of the setlists?" the man queries. Annoyed, the tech grabs the one the lead guitarist had on his amp and heads toward us. "Hey, this guy wants one, too." says the fan but the tech acts like he didn't hear and goes off to get the "most important task in the world (other than curing cancer)" done so he can go party with the band.
Saddened, I begin to turn. But one last glance to the curtain reveals another person coming through - it's Andrew Duplantis himself! I think the bass player was on the way to join the pedal steel player at the back bar, visiting with some friends they had acknowledged earlier in the show. But I seemed to catch his eye for he stepped close enough to hear my request. He stepped back to his Ampeg SVT amp and speaker cabinet which looked very much like one I used to own, tugged the handwritten sheet of paper off the side and slipped it into my hand. A hearty thanks and an Obama hand bump later we were headed in opposite directions - him to get his drink and me having the lady at the door say, "Sir. SIR!" as I was about to go outside.
"You can't leave with that in your pocket"
Laughing as I remembered the empty Shiner Boch stuffed where my wallet usually goes, I apologized and placed it in the trash barrel by the door before stepping into the warm night air singing
May the wind take your troubles away,
May the wind take your troubles away.
Both feet on the floor,
Two hands on the wheel
May the wind takes your troubles away....

Chores. They saved me chores....

2009-02-19T09:50:00.000-06:00

You know, I think I said the other day that the girls had hung the curtains in Nicki's room. Actually, they were not. I was told to get on that the night I got there. Nini told me this was part of the tasks I had in store me; part of the purpose of my making the trip to Atlanta.
In the morning, I discovered there was even more on the Honey-Do list. Not too much, but still....
You know that song There's A Hole In The Bucket, Dear Liza? Well, that is how this began. I went to hang those curtains and discovered the only tools available to do the work consisted of a straight blade screwdriver, a 3 inch wide level, a tape measure and a phillips head insert to go into a ratchet handle.
Being a man, this didn't turn into an insurmountable obstacle like the one in the song, but rather an opportunity AND a way to procrastinate. What could be better than that?
Opportunity in the form of a chance to shop/go somewhere for tools. :-)
Procrastination in the form of "Dear, I would love to get that done for you, but we lack the necessary tools to do an adequate job without risking damage to the apartment walls."
A brief search on the internet and I determined that there was a Harbor Freight Tools located less than 20 miles away in an area of Greater Atlanta that Hannah had not traveled to.
"Kennesaw?" she exclaimed when I brought it up, "that is outside of the perimeter!" Apparently perimeter is the term they use in Atlanta for the encircling interstate.
When I mentioned that we could combine the trip there with an excursion out for breakfast the next morning, my trio of estrogen generators decided this was indeed a quality idea.
I searched their online ads and put together a shopping list of items I thought were needed. I am a male, after all, and need to have specific things to hunt down when I venture into a store. However, there is a weirdness that happens to guys when they enter Harbor Freight locations. We are confronted with a vast array of tools, some of which we have seen and many that we knew existed but hadn't ever encountered before. This opportunity to touch so many tools, a veritable font of macho reinforcement, will actually make us get in touch with our feminine side! We begin to meander up and down each aisle, imagining the possibilities of handiwork we could accomplish with each new device we see. We store this information away, knowing that someday it may be necessary for us to go back and get that tool for the one time in our life we may need it.
So, having determined the evening before that we should leave the girls' apartment by 1 PM the next morning, we set out near 2. Since breakfast had been promised, we headed for the Cracker Barrel located in Kennesaw.
Hannah was very worried that we were going to get stuck in the dreaded and feared Atlanta traffic. I think she only knows of this phenomenon by reputation. I don't think she leaves the apartment much!
Anyway, we ate, we found the store and we were able to get some of those basic tools that every household should have if they are of limited budget and don't pay someone to do any of the chores behind changing a light bulb. Given that our girls are just starting out, they will need to do some of these things for themselves for a while. We spent about $75 (I told Nini it was a combination of house-warming and JJ's birthday presents) and purchased an electric drill, drill bits, a screwdriver set (phillips and straight blades in various sizes and handle lengths, all of which are magnetized so the screw doesn't fall off), a set of pliers (needle nose, regular, channel locks and snips) and a toolbox to store them all in.
When we returned to the apartment (as traffic was getting heavier), I hung those curtains you see in the picture as well as the DVD/CD racks on either side of the TV. Then I had a beer. It was a great day.

Monkey Busines

2009-02-18T08:40:00.002-06:00

Ok, I admit to feeling sad for the woman whose chimp went crazy the other day and attacked her friend, and her and the police that were sent to the rescue. I am not a fan of suffering.
But come one. Enough is enough and I am tired of it being the topic du jour on every media outlet. Including mine!

Who wins? Who won?

2009-02-12T11:13:00.002-06:00

I read this morning about the passage of the rescue plan that was passed by the Congress. The NY Times concluded that the passage would have been impossible without the support some of those mentioned in Wake's previous post. Yet only 3 Republican senators voted for the package.
Mitch McConnell is still sounding the call that the GOP was shut out of the process and thus unable to really get in on negotiations over areas of compromise. I hope that Sen. McConnell will soon be able to let us know exactly which of his proposals wasn't examined. I would expect to hear which portion of the package his party feels a mistake and what their alternative measure would be. I'd love to hear him express which portion of the GOP package he would be willing to let go of in exchange for what Democratic initiative.
But I doubt we will hear much beyond the usual name-calling and fault-finding that both sides have chosen to employ in their battle.
The time is now for President Obama to find some measure of quality in a GOP proposal and use his position to get it through Congress, thereby leading the charge to bipartisanship he trumpets.

The Policy Wonk-a-be Rants

2009-02-06T07:51:00.002-06:00

Seems a role I've held on this blog is that of wannabe policy wonk. So here's an alert: rant ahead. Those affiliated with the ostrich party will want to stop reading now.

The centrist movement I've been looking for over the past 2 decades may be in an emerging state. We had the Gang of 14 pop up in the Senate last year to deal with judicial appointments in a non-partisan, less ideologically warped manner (nothing wrong with partisanship and ideology, they just can't be the be-all and end-all of politics). Now, led by a Midwestern Democrat and a New England Republican, another gang is emerging. This one is not obstructionist like the tax-cut pushing, Limbaugh fearing wacko wing of the GOP which is still worshiping at the altar of free market economics though most of them couldn't pass ECON 101 with crib notes! - they've never heard of a basic economic concept called Second Best that deals with markets that aren't responsive to pure supply and demand. Nor is this a gang of special-interest beholden pork barrel filling jack-asses (which also come in the New Right Republican flavor as well as the traditional Democrat Party varieties).

This gang is actually bringing to life the rhetoric of our President. They are acting upon the principles and hopes he outlined as a candidate and in his speeches as president-elect. They're providing the leadership he called for, and suggested he would provide, in his Inaugural address. So, what will be the result for the stimulus bill? Will it end up being like the bank bailout bill - robbing average Americans to put money into the pockets of politically connected oligarchs? As much as I want to just cover my ears when the GOP right gets cranked up, they are correct in their complaint that much of the bill as currently constituted does not effectively stimulate the economy but instead creates unsustainable government largess for Democratic insider constituencies. And the GOP push for business and investment tax cuts is just idiocy. But will this bill be the change we hope for?

Will it be more of the same old thing - or will the Center prevail and this bill become a true investment in America that works for the common good? Money for rebuilding crumbling, but critical infrastructure. Seed money for R&D into energy and transportation that increases our national security and our environmental health. Investments based upon sound economic and scientific positions, not driven by political expediency and votes. Grants and contracts that go to those best able to leverage the investment into true, sustainable growth, not doled out to cronies or political donors. Well, ok, maybe that's too much to hope for in the first go-round. But if the Center holds, and President Obama is willing to step out and lead, we can begin the long slow movement to having a government that represents and acts on our ideals, that truly is about what's best in America. Or we can continue our descent to ruin by living out Alexis de Tocqueville's prophecy: "The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money."

She's Gone...

2009-02-03T14:40:00.006-06:00

Ok. So the real title of the song is He's Gone, but I still having been humming it since we took Nicki to Atlanta. Here are some pictures from the trip.
This is what her room looked like when I arrived. There had been trips to Ikea and Target getting all the needed accessories. The curtains were made and hung. Lamps picked out. Side tables. They had been pretty busy, those 3 women.

Of course, there was always time for silliness, especially when Nicki is facing the choice between work or play! I can't believe they still play dress up, though. Those two used to create some spectacular outfits when there was the clothes basket in Nicki's room back on Winterhaven. I might have to add some of those pictures to the web one of these days.

They both are pretty good at laying down and doing nothing but enjoying life. We all think that is important. :-)

Super Bowl Sunday chores

2009-02-01T16:11:00.002-06:00

It is still pretty cool for a New England raised guy to spend the afternoon of Super Bowl Sunday doing yardwork, instead of ice skating or shoveling snow. I think that I may have found a new tradition this year, too.
It is the perfect time of year to do the trimming of evergreen shrubs in my part of Texas. It is considered the dead of winter (we had ice on Tuesday, freezing fog Wednesday morning), so the new growth hasn't begun.
In 2 weeks time there will be buds and daffodils in bloom (I saw some in Louisana in bloom last weekend driving back from Atlanta). A retired aborologist/professor from Texas A & M mentioned this morning on a gardening show that he expects spring to come a little early this year with peach trees likely to bloom before the end of the month.
So, just as many people use Valentine's Day as the timing of when to trim back their rose bushes, I think Super Bowl Sunday will be the weekend my shrubs get their annual haircut.
Peace, y'all.

I should have let someone else do it...

2009-01-30T10:11:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago, the forklift we use in our day to day operation stopped working. The battery died. The service company came and left a rental, hauled the old one off to their shop. Repair estimate for the battery was $5,200 for a new one. Rebuilt battery was priced at $4500. This lift has been satisfactory so far, but recent changes in our product line indicated the need for higher lifting capacity.
The owner of our company asked us to investigate the cost for a replacement unit with the needed upgraded capacity. I spent quite a bit of time researching options. They were presented to our owner, who indicated his desired choice. A used Nissan forklift for $9,500. It was shipped from New Jersey to the local equipment dealer and repainted. We waited until the ice and moisture on the roads were gone and the lift was delivered yesterday.
It didn't work coming off the flatbed wrecker. A mechanic is supposed to come (as directed by the dealer) today to check it out, although the conversation I had with the dealer indicated "it was working perfectly when we had at the shop."
It has already been paid for.
I am sensing the coming of a battle over this.
I knew I should have let someone else deal with this whole thing from the start.....
No risk, no reward, right?

Sports Talk

2009-01-28T15:03:00.002-06:00

As it does most every year at this time, the sports radio shows are filled with opinions on how to improve the Cowboys, what they need to do to fix the mess the team is in, who to fire, who to trade and get a better option. blah blah blah. i find some of it interesting, some entertaining and others indicative of why Darwin had it right.
But the most interesting this week has been the discussion of the Dallas Mavericks and their woes. This team won 60 and 70 games for a few years in a row, had a 2 game to none lead in the NBA Finals a few years back and is still considered by its fans to be an "elite" franchise. Oops. Were the playoffs to start tomorrow, the Mavs would be outside looking in.
So the current theme is that they need to trade Dirk Nowitzski and get a leader. Most who hold this opinion get mad that Dirk is not a vocal leader who "wills" his team to victory be taking over games and simply overpowering the opponent.
"He is nothing but a role player," is the complaint.
Hello? Michael Jordan was a role player... Magic johnson was a role player. So was Larry Bird. And so is Dirk. It is just that his role isn't the one you want him to fill and the fact that he is better at his role than nearly every other player in the world still disappoints. Bummer.
I think the Mavs SHOULD trade him. To a team whose fans will adore and value what he is and maybe let him win a championship. I imagine the Cavs would be thinking his game would go well with LeBron's and give them a great chance to get past the Celtics. And I'd root for them!

Interesting. Comforting thoughts

2009-01-27T09:36:00.003-06:00

I have been reading The Shack by William Paul Young (Jenn recommended it). It is a surprising book filled with interesting nuggets.
One of the most provocative ideas I have come across deals with the Ten Commandments. There is a dialog taking place in the novel concerning the origin and purpose of those words of scripture. Have you ever considered the commandments to be not rules or laws but a promise? And that Jesus Christ is both the fulfillment AND the promise?
How is my world changed when instead of considering my failures against the measure of those words, I consider the condition of fulfilling those as a description of my future? Prophecy instead of the basis for judgement?
"Thou shalt not" as a trait, not an expectation or aspiration.
wow.
How can this happen? only by the grace of God. and my willingness to participate in a relationship with the Creator that will enable it to come to pass.
Spend a moment today to consider all the rules and prohibitions you think you know about Christianity and religion, then put them in that light. What sort of being will you be then?

We're baaacccckkk

2009-01-25T17:40:00.002-06:00

Ok,
It was a fun trip over to Atlanta to check out where the girls are and drive my wife home. Cute apartment. Four flights of stairs up from the parking garage, although they use the elevator. I walked the stairs. Down was easy. Up made me wonder what I was doing....
Hannah took us around the city on Friday a little, after we made a trip to the Georgia Aquarium. I'm thinking Atlanta looks like a fun place to live, really. I especially liked Little Five Points.
We made the drive back over 2 days. Most of the trip happened yesterday. We drove from Atlanta to Monroe, LA. We spent the night in the Quality Inn there; Stephanie and Nicki stayed there on the way out and said it was okay. Our room there last night though wasn't so great. The shower/tub didn't drain at all when Stephanie showered. I HATE standing in water while showering so I waited until we got home. I did let the front desk know and will be sending the complaint letter to the general manager of the location. They did offer to send someone to the room right away to fix it, but I was ready to hit the road anyway. We'll see. I just don't feel as though we received the full value of what we paid for the room and will say so in the letter.
Back home and back to work tomorrow. It's all good.

New links

2009-01-20T16:46:00.002-06:00

Hey, I know I haven't been posting much and likely no one bothers coming by anymore. BUT, if you do and haven't noticed, I have added a couple new links over there ------------------------------->>>>

One of them I think is FANTASTIC. That would be lala.com. They seem to have most every album in the rock era available for a free listen (one time) or you can search by song. Set an account up and they will search wherever you point their "music mover" and if you already have an MP3 of something in their database/library, they make it available to your library. The cool thing about that is you can sign on from anywhere you have internet access and your library is there for you.!
You also get to add 50 songs to your library for free (a signing bonus, if you will). And the songs are only $.10 each. Yeah, that's right. A dime to access almost any song from anywhere. Buying access to the entire album is even cheaper per song.
If you want to have the songs be a bit more mobile with an MP3 download, it is pretty cheap to purchase.
These guys seem to have figured out a way to retail music in the digital download age to those of us who don't want to steal but also don't want to pay for a lot of extra crap (like record companies underwriting Jonas Brothers tours and neglecting the independent types).
The other music blog I haven't looked at much yet, but if Maceo says it is ok, then I think it will be.

The Nest Is Empty

2009-01-19T09:23:00.003-06:00

Yesterday, my wife and daughter started out on the two vehicle caravan that will take Nicki to Atlanta and my life to another stage. As the departure date as approached, many people have asked me questions relating to how my life will change when there are no children living in the home. They have ranged from inappropriate inquiries on intimacy (which were met with equally inappropriate responses) to whether we expect a "budget bonanza" since we are no longer footing the bill for their housing costs.
Initially, I didn't think it was that big of a deal. My kids have moved. And your point is?
But as I went to bed last night and habitually reached to close the bedroom door, I paused. Why? Why did I need to close the door? There was no one else in my house. I wasn't going to be disturbed or roused from sleep by a child coming home at 1, 2, or 3. I didn't need to worry about embarrassing my child with a view of my bed clothes glimpsed as they went down the hall to their own room.
I mean, it is just another stage of life that those of us fortunate enough to live long enough go through. It is the order of things, proceeding in the way it has since the time of Eden. I count my blessings that we were able to see them become adults, seemingly free of the demons that I voluntarily consorted with at their age. Both my girls have learned what it means to be told no because money isn't available to satisfy capricious whims. I hope they have learned to value effort and wisdom acquired through teachings or experience. To date, their choices have been good ones, or at least not the sort that will permanently alter their lives to the negative. They are great kids and pretty good people, if I do say so myself.
So quit asking me about being an "empty nester." It hasn't effected me one way or the other. My life is the same.

I closed the bedroom door before turning out the light.

President Joe Biden?

2009-01-14T09:56:00.002-06:00

ok, i'm not an expert on constitutional law, but i had a thought the other morning that puzzles me.
i seem to remember from Dr. Lynch's or Mr. Lobo's social studies classes that the real job of the Vice President is to be President of the US Senate. And be first in line of succession.
So, the US Congress is in session now, working to pass the spending authorizations that president-elect Obama has requested. And it is the new Senate. So Joe Biden is working in his new role.
So does that mean that if President Bush were to become incapacitated in the next few days or even die, that Joe Biden would become the President until the inauguration?

Social Skills, Coping Mechanisms: They're Proper Manners

2009-01-13T07:39:00.002-06:00

Being from the generation that rejected social conventions as unnatural constraints on "real" human interaction it's interesting as a grandfather to discover that our parents had it right all along. Manners matter. Check out the link from the title.

I was home for Christmas.....

2008-12-29T15:50:00.005-06:00

31. (Jennifer is mostly hidden behind her dad.)
That's how many people were in my living room Christmas Eve.
Christmas Eve is the traditional family gathering time for my wife's clan. That is when the gift exchange among brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles, grandparents and "friends" happens. It has been this way since before I was dating her. When I came on the scene, we went to her maternal grandparents' home. Mom's 2 brothers were there, and their progenies. Most of them had not married yet, although my wife's sisters and brothers had provided the first of that generation's great grandchildren to Walito and Walita. It seemed as though, since their passing, the tradition was also dying.
We haven't gathered with the aunts and uncles on Christmas Eve for many years. We haven't had it at the same location every year either. I worried that since the passing of my mother-in-law five years ago, it would be another tradition regulated to the "remember the good old days" category. I didn't recognize the natural gap occurring.
Of the 31, there were seven children this year under the age of 10. There was my 84 year old father-in-law. There was the group of siblings and spouses I belong to in the middle aged group (45 to 65, as if any of us will live to 130!). There was our kids. And then their kids, with their own kids. It was awesome.
As the night rolled on and I observed the older siblings interacting the way they always have, and the cousins greeting each other with awareness and not the familiarity that comes from prolonged interaction like when they were kids together, and the newest generation just beginning to know each other, I was able to put myself back in time and see where I fit back then. I observed the "new" parents taling and interacting more with their siblings than cousins. It is the normal way of things.
One thing I did insist on as soon as everyone we expected to be there had arrived - a group photo. At first there was considerable resistance to the idea, but eventually there was joy when the picture was snapped and the family realized the next time this group gathered like this, it could be for a funeral and there would be one less missing.
We missed Brad and Jayme not being able to be there, but I am so thankful to have found home for the holidays.

TODAY our President will be Elected

2008-12-15T09:43:00.004-06:00

I'm a strong opponent of our moving to a national direct election system -- countrywide popular vote winner-take-all presidential election. I've given the reasons in detail in other posts so I won't go into that at length. Suffice it to say that doing so would actually make our votes worth LESS than the value they hold now. But what if we stuck with the electoral college system of voting, but allocated votes differently? Under the proposal below, voters in Austin would be relevant to the Texas presidential vote. Right now Texas is a safe GOP state, so even though the Austin area might vote heavily Democratic, their votes are overwhelmed by the GOP votes across the rest of the state. By allocating electors district by district those votes count, both statewide and nationally. And by giving 2 electoral votes to the candidate that wins the popular vote in the state you insure that the concerns of the top 10 population centers aren't the only issues candidates must address. Read the op-ed and tell me what you think.

A Ballot Buddy System

By RANDALL LANE

Published: December 15, 2008

THE 2008 presidential election actually ends today, when the people whose votes truly count, the 538 electors chosen by voters to reflect their candidate preference, convene in each state to cast their ballots. The result might lack drama — 365 electoral votes for Barack Obama, 173 for John McCain — but when a high school biology teacher named William Forsee walks into Nebraska’s Capitol in Lincoln this afternoon, some history will be made.

Nebraska went for John McCain by 15 percentage points. Yet Mr. Forsee, a resident of Bellevue, just outside Omaha, will cast his electoral vote for Mr. Obama — the first time since 1892 that any state has chosen to split its slate.

Nebraska and Maine are the only two states that now apportion some of their electoral votes by Congressional district rather than give them all to the statewide winner. (Mr. Obama won all four of Maine’s electoral votes.) It explains why both Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton campaigned in Omaha during the closing weeks of this year’s campaign.

Election theorists talk nobly of moving America’s presidential election to a popular vote, but that would require a Constitutional amendment. Swing states would never pass it, because it would mean giving up their influence. Neither would small states, which have a disproportionate influence in the Electoral College. But if every state apportioned its electoral votes as Maine and Nebraska do — one for each Congressional district, plus two for the overall state winner — millions more voters would suddenly become worthy of the candidates’ attention.

What’s stopping the safe states from making themselves more politically relevant? The understandable reluctance of one party to unilaterally improve the presidential prospects of the other. A failed initiative in California earlier this year to move to district-based apportionment was denounced for what it was — an attempt by Republicans to siphon off sure Democratic electoral votes under the guise of election reform.

But here’s a bipartisan solution: an electoral vote buddy system. Red and blue states of similar size should pair up and pass state laws to apportion their electoral votes by district.

It would seem counterintuitive for a Democratic legislature in New York to cede a portion of its sure 31 Democratic electoral votes, but not if it opens up some of Texas’ 34 votes for the party. Washington State could make its 11 electoral votes relevant, in tandem with Tennessee, which also has 11. In this past election, voters in Louisiana (nine electoral votes) and Mississippi (six) could have focused the candidates’ views on Hurricane Katrina rebuilding had they buddied with New Jersey, which has 15 electoral votes. That might have also yielded more debate about urban transportation issues.

Imagine how different the campaign would have looked if Mr. Obama, rather than making repeat visits to Denver and Dayton, Ohio, had stopped in San Antonio and Houston, while Mr. McCain held rallies in areas of relative Republican strength in New York like Dutchess County and Staten Island.

As most of the electors now cast votes that were ceded by the other party well before the Iowa caucuses, perhaps their state legislatures will take notice of Nebraska’s William Forsee, whose ballot was never taken for granted, and start looking around for a buddy.

Randall Lane, the former Washington bureau chief for Forbes, is the editor in chief of Doubledown Media.

Support For The Soldiers. Shop Sears.

2008-12-12T10:55:00.003-06:00

I have despaired over the "brand whore" attitude of the next generation of the family. There are 8 and 9 years olds that will only wear clothes that come from either American Eagle or Aeropostle (or something like that). My own daughters will never think it chic or even acceptable to buy from old name department stores.
But I have realized that I, too, have that attitude in many ways as well. In fact, I remember that when I was about that same age, I was afflicted with it, too. There was one time that Mom brought me some new jeans as part of my "back-to-school" wardrobe. I threw a fit when I saw the "Buckskins" label on them. Jeans from Sears?? NO WAY I was wearing them. Ever. She wound up exchanging them for some dark green Wranglers (not as cool as Levi's, but when I wore those with the dark paisley shirt, I was pretty cool).
Sears hasn't ever been in my mind as a retail outlet for much more than tools or appliances. I have found them to be a good outlet for the work boots I wear now.
But an email came across my desk about a month ago that has made me rethink the position.
For most employers, when a worker is called up to active duty, either in the Guard or one of the "regular" service units, it creates a hardship. By law, the employer is required to hold a position open for that person to return to. That is the minimum requirement, as I understand it. Health insurance, seniority and other fringe benefits are not required to be maintained. Insurance can usually be continued under COBRA, but that often costs more than if they were still clocking in every day. For many of our military personnel, this, coupled with the reduction in wages a call up means, results in their families becoming uninsured.
Sears, I have learned, continues all insurance coverages and other benefits in the employee's absence. Sears also voluntarily makes up the difference in wages, so that the families can maintain the same lifestyle. Company spokespersons have said Sears feels it is "the right thing to do."
You can verify this on Snopes website.
I'm for sure getting some presents there. And I'm telling the clerks and managers why.

Livestock Tax - Is B.S. really the cause?

2008-12-11T11:23:00.002-06:00

Recently, I was told about a proposal by the EPA for what is essentially a livestock tax. The rough proposal would apparently require farm operations of both modest and large scale size to obtain permits because of the amount of methane gases produced by their herds. The goal is to reduce air pollution.
I am not, by any measure, an expert on either air pollution or farming. Some would say I am an expert on bulls***t.
But a brief time of thinking about this proposal leads one to the conclusion that it is either a poorly thought out idea born of the elitist belief that government can solve complex problems with the wave of a law making pen or a governmental money grab.
The different articles I have read on the story indicate that a farm with more than 25 dairy cows would be subject to the penalty/permit requirement. Estimates I have seen are $175 per dairy cow, or $4375 for the smallest effected operations. Beef cattle ranches of more than 50 head would be hit with the same fees, or $87.50 per animal. I have been talking with one of my co-workers about purchasing an interest in a calf he is raising. He told me that I could expect the animal to weigh about 800 pounds at the time of slaughter, and that 75% of the weight should be in food grade product.
Ok, so adding fifteen cents/pound to the overhead of raising the animals doesn't sound so bad. But you can be sure that it won't be only fifteen cents when it hits the shelves of the local grocer. But the federal government would only get the benefit of that $87.50 per animal. If you are like me, you think, why would the government be that concerned with getting paid like that? Let's take it to scale to see the motivation for that.
A few years ago, I worked for a tannery. We sold leather to shoe and furniture manufacturers both domestically and globally. Some of the leather was "finished" in Maine. Much of it was exported to other finishing operations around the world. US leather is a prized commodity for people that make leather because of its quality. I was stunned to learn that our initial processing plant in Saint Jo, MO. was processing (at the time) 50,000 hides per week! Much of the beef production was going to fast food producers but even still.....
Let's do some math now... (Rat, I know you already have finished this calculation)... 50,000 times $87.50 equals $4,375,000. A WEEK. $227,500,000 in new annual revenue for the federal government, disguised as an environmental action step to improve air quality.
And that is just for the beef cattle. We haven't touched the dairies, hog farms and chicken operations.
I realize this is just a drop in the bucket for monies the Feds need now, after all these bailouts. Heck, this doesn't even pay for one AIG executive seminar weekend! But it will impact many small producers and ultimately do nothing to improve the quality of our air.
If greenhouse gases were controllable and regional, there might be some logic behind the action. But by moving production to another location in the world (you don't seriously think McDonald's is going to stop selling hamburgers, do you?), we increase the costs and INCREASE THE CARBON FOOTPRINT of the hamburger by making it necessary to transport the beef greater distances. I'm sure there will not be a requirement for all transported food products to be moved via hybrid vehicles!
I want my legislators to be looking for ways to encourage more local food production, looking for ways to get Americans off our couches and exercising (remember The President's Council on Physical Fitness?) and leave the meat alone.

It's Not the Banter; it's the Tribalism

2008-12-09T08:28:00.003-06:00

I read this essay in the NY Times, In Defense of Teasing. In it the author points out all the benefits of teasing, and how, as usual, we throw the baby out with the bath water in our attempts to eliminate bullying. What struck me as I was reading was how we try to resolve a complex issue by attacking a singular symptom. He writes how teasing is a form of making social connections. And is used in denoting social rank. We got me to thinking how for the those of high status, their teasing of very low status folks is just maintaining the social pecking order. Which wouldn't be harmful if it weren't malicious and was a means of inclusion -- making social connections. If it were simply about establishing boundaries, even if those markers were exclusionary, it would still be benign. "We're the in group and you're not part of it." We convey messages of power in all sorts of ways. Not an issue. Where it has become a real problem is that the social connection between the powerful and the powerless has evolved past the point of declaring the weak as social non-entities to delivering the message that even their humanity is in question. We are more concerned with the welfare of stray animals than we are the homeless and vulnerable. The message begins to be delivered in elementary school, gets firmly planted in middle school, and is set in concrete by high school. And sadly, we the adults, are the ones who establish it and reinforce it with out children. How often do you in subtle and not so subtle ways join your children in marking their tribal boundaries. "Burger flipper" "Trailer trash" "Drama Queen" "Nerd" "Geek" and even simply "Loser" Think about it.

Hey, bro, there's a term for it!

2008-12-01T16:27:00.002-06:00

Last week, during my annual physical, I brought up the fact that over the last two or three months I have been "losing" normal words in conversation. You know, I'll be talking to someone and not be able to get a word like "doghouse" to make its way to my mouth. I can see the image of a doghouse in my head, I can describe in ornate detail what one looks like. I can tell you where the last one we had was situated in the yard. I just can't say "doghouse" at that moment.
It gets sort of frustrating, especially for one who has loved the sound of his own voice as much as I have over the years. It doesn't happen often to me. It isn't anything I have been able to pattern or predict.
But it is irritating. And apparently not that uncommon. Dr. Katie even mentioned the term.
"We call that 'expressive aphasia'," she said when I told her. "It is most likely nothing. Stress can bring it on. How has your stress level been?"
Well, Doc, other than LOSING MY MIND, things are peachy!!
I told her I have no idea, I bury stress and don't pay attention to it.
"We'll watch it for 6 months or so and see if it doesn't get better. Expressive Aphasia can be a sign of nothing. Or it can be a sign of something serious."
Great bedside manner, there, Doc. Gimme 6 months to worry....
:-)

Thanks

2008-11-29T21:40:00.002-06:00

It is that weekend for Americans to reflect and pause to give thanks for the many blessings we have.
It seems especially important when we contrast what is happening in India and the US. We are not perfect. We have violence that others could characterize as terrorism.
But we ultimately are all Americans, and I believe have the desire for good things for our country, though some have different ideas about what that means.
Peace to all who stop by, and may you feel God's grace.