Slit Eyes Look At Life

Yes, Again

2011-11-30T22:28:00.000-05:00

Our long-weekend road trip to Florida for Uncle Hal's service didn't count, of course, vacation-wise (although Someone insisted on a swing through Orlando and the Disney Marketplace on the way home from that). No, the vacation came in the last week of July, 2010. And why would anyone in their right mind go to Florida in July? To ask the question is to provide the answer.

After a day with cousin Paula in Boynton Beach, we went to the Radisson in Kissimee again, staying several days. It was rather hot, of course, but overall we enjoyed ourselves.

This blog is turning into a chronicle of Florida journeys. I'm really just trying to catch up. Our 2011 trek took place in late September/early October, since our 2010 trip at that time worked out so well. Still fairly hot without being blistering, and not crowded at all: too soon after the beginning of the school year for anyone to vacation. Again at the Radisson, this time staying five days with a great rate. We endured a vacation-club presentation to get a 50% discount on Disney tickets, and went to the Magic Kingdom again. It rained in the afternoon, but sporadically enough that we were able to avoid the worst showers. The park closed at 7:00 PM in order to open again for Mickey's Halloween Party, which cost an additional arm and leg. Needless to say, we didn't stay for it.

Other than those showers, the weather was cooperative, with a big storm rolling in only as we left Saturday morning and staying with us to Jacksonville. The rest of the trip was smooth sailing.

I bought myself a new camera, a Canon EOS DSLR, that I am very pleased with. I have to get the hang of the auto-focus, but otherwise it's great. I find that I literally can't give away my old film SLR, a Canon AE-1 Program. It's still working fine, with a good 70-210 zoom, but it's been overtaken by the digital revolution.

We returned home to find in my email pictures from a friend's Italy trip. This couple previously had gone to Hawaii and San Francisco. Maybe we can get some variety in our holidays. I really would like to sit out next year and build our funds, so we are not living on spaghetti for months after every vacation. We really want to bring the grand-nieces and their mother with us to Florida; the youngest will be five-and-a-half in summer 2013, and that's a good age to have and remember experiences.

Hal Ewing, 1930-2010

2011-11-30T22:19:00.000-05:00

My post for March 02, 2010, "Florida, Take Two" told of our second 2009 vacation. I spoke of how old my Uncle Hal seemed. He passed away on Sunday, May 23, 2010, eight months after we last saw him in October 2009. Harold J. Ewing was born on July 26, 1930, and was 79 when he died. He faded physically in his last weeks, I'm told, but was still mentally alert. There was enough time to gather his immediate family and they were at his side when he passed.

A memorial service was held the next Saturday, May 29th, and Sue and I were able to attend; we took that Friday off and drove down, leaving Thursday evening as usual. It was Memorial Day weekend, which gave us enough time for the trip. The ceremony was at the church of one of Hal's daughters. It was informal, with some prayer and then the family and friends eulogizing him. He was well-loved and regarded, and I think would have appreciated the laughter which the anecdotes from friends, family and co-workers elicited.

Afterwards, the family and some guests went to a Cuban restaurant, one of his favorites, and had lunch.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-05T10:34:00.000-04:00

I am not a Halloween fanatic, as my niece is, but I do enjoy seeing all the young folks out and enjoying themselves. We decorate the house with some nice lighted window decorations upstairs, and lighted plastic pumpkins in the basement windows, and some scarecrows in the yard. This year the scarecrows stayed in the garage, and the pumpkin's bulbs all failed, but the window decorations were admired by several kids.

The past few years the weather has been mild, and this year was no exception. In my southeast corner of Connecticut, the unprecedented October snow two days before was relatively light, only a couple of inches, quickly melted. The rest of the state was socked with over a foot, and power lost over most of that, since with leaves still on the trees they held the wet snow and broke under the strain. In many towns, trick-or-treating was postponed until the next Saturday: too dangerous with downed power lines and dangling branches.

My town went forward with our celebration, however, and I rushed to get home, arriving at 6:00pm. My wife was working that night, and she didn't mind: she doesn't like giving out candy. I insisted this time on buying it myself; she tends to buy a variety of different candy, and I end up being the one who has to decide whether a particular kid gets, say, an Almond Joy (good) or Gummy Bears (lame). And she over-buys; we still have candy from last year. I got six bags of Fun-Size Snickers, and two just-in-case bags of Peanut M&Ms packs. For the little kids, a bag of mini-Tootsie Pops rounded out the supplies.

We live in a development of roughly 50 houses that has only one entrance, so no through-traffic. A lot of people bring their kids over as a result. I was eager to get started, and it was already dark when I got home. I hooked a trouble light outside the garage to cast better light on our steps, and had the car pulled up close to the house. SiriusXM satellite radio had a channel dedicated to spooky sounds, and I rolled the windows down and had that blasting out on the car stereo. I prefer to sit outside, rather than coming to the door repeatedly. It gives me a good view of the scene. I brought out a chair and small table. The table had a bowl for the Snickers, and one for the lollipops, and my toy stuffed cat. The latter is very realistic, and fooled many kids-- they'd come creeping up to it, to see if it would react when they petted it.

I was set up by 6:15pm, and just in time: a lot of trick-or-treaters for about an hour, and then a lull with another set of groups from about 7:30 to 8:00. Just a few after that, and I went inside at 8:30, finally dousing the decorations and porch light at 9:00pm. I went through 5 bags of Snickers (saving one for myself) and half one of M&Ms, and about half of the lollipops: because they were so small I was giving out two at a time, though. Figuring about 20 bars per bag, that's a good 120-odd trick-or-treaters: a good turn-out. Not too many older kids this year, though; past years they used to go around in groups later in the evening, and it was fun watching them messing around as they paraded the street.

Good costumes, too: an excellent Michael Jackson, complete with sunglasses, which the kid had to keep looking over in the dark; one home-made robot head, a cardboard box with blinking lights for eyes; many Jasons and Freddies and vampires. Cute little girls, and sturdy young Army men. All were saying "thank you," and I am always a jerk and insist on them saying "Trick Or Treat!"

One thing I did notice: I could see about 16 houses from my steps, and only seven had lights on. Next door is vacant; the family opposite is on shift work and did light up after about 8:00, missing most of the traffic. Slim pickings. The kids and parents all seemed to be having a good time, and I certainly did; I went through three cups of (decaf) coffee and only three Snickers.

Dietary Righteousness

2011-04-06T21:23:00.000-04:00

I have Type II diabetes. After a long period of gradually increasing pills and shots, I have begun using an insulin pump. This delivers quick-acting insulin in small doses around the clock, mimicking the action of the pancreas.

With the pump, there is an associated Palm app to calculate the extra doses for meals, but Palm Pilots are no longer made: you get a Palm-based phone instead. I don't need another device to lug around; I have a perfectly good (better, in fact) iPhone app for counting carbs (CarbsControl). The only thing it lacks is the calculation function to convert grams of carbs into units of insulin. The dosage must be tailored to the individual, but given the factor and the formula I can calculate it myself.

So I'm at the doctor's office. In the break room, actually, discussing carb counting with a traveling specialist from the insulin pump folks. I demonstrated the iPhone app. A nurse/staffer comes in and grabs a bagel with a schmear from the bag someone brought, and mentions how she usually eats only whole grains. The specialist volunteers that I could tell her how many carbs were in the bagel. I obligingly look it up: one Dunkin' Donuts plain bagel (no cream cheese): 63g carbs, 320 calories.

The nurse goes into a spiel as to how she just made pancakes for her children for breakfast: quinoa with blueberries and chocolate chips. Quinoa is high in protein, has all the essential amino acids, etc. etc. Mixed with frozen organic blueberries, Ghirardelli dark chocolate, and of course her home-made pancake batter: organic flour and aluminum-free baking soda, eggs from her own free-range chickens, flax seed-- I interject, her kids will never be out of the bathroom; oh, no, you get used to it, she says, and continues. You make a big batch and freeze it, see, so it doesn't take long to prepare...

She has been detailing this recipe for five minutes. My eyes are glazing over, and hers are glowing in dietary righteousness. She doesn't like to eat too much meat, but bought a side of beef in collaboration with a few friends-- she never gets red meat from the grocery store. Her kids, I comment, will be saying, "Hot dog? What's that?" and the nurse exclaims, "Oh, they've never had a hot dog. One had a turkey dog once, but the younger one, two and a half and never had a hot dog." She herself is 40, she told us. I said, "You're going to eat right, organic, whole-grain, and walk out the door and get hit by a bus. Just for the record, for breakfast I have a bowl of low-sugar instant oatmeal, that I eat standing at the sink." That prompted the nurse: "Oh, the regular oatmeal is better, and takes just as long to make: I add agave syrup because it has a low glycemic index, and some walnuts, and..."

The specialist and I went back to our carb-counting.

The Power of Smartphones

2011-03-06T00:49:00.000-05:00

I was at CVS last night when an older man came up to me and asked the name of the battery manufacturer in Pawcatuck (CT). I didn't know off-hand (though I was a good choice to ask, given my appearance and age). "What kind of batteries?" I asked him. "Batteries for submarines, and like that," he told me, and turned away. "Hold on," I said, and pulled out my trusty iPhone. A quick Google of "pawcatuck batteries" gave me the answer. "Yardney?" "That's it!" he exclaimed. "What is that magic device?" "An iPhone," I showed him. Interesting-- I couldn't tell if he was unfamiliar with the idea of an Internet search, or just unaware that you could do one from your phone.

Rent-A-Kid

2011-03-06T00:48:00.001-05:00

During the week of President's Day, the local schools had snow-day makeup classes during what was originally scheduled as a winter vacation. My grand-nieces from NJ still had off, though. My wife and I both took vacation from work that week, and I drove down from Hartford after work Friday and picked up the two oldest, eight and six. The 3-yo was sick, and still not potty-trained, so two strikes and she's not coming.

Saturday while Sue was working we went to the Submarine Force Museum and USS Nautilus, which doesn't really interest her. The kids had a blast, and it was free! Touring the boat was cool, and so was seeing a 688i submarine heading out to sea (unusual for a Saturday), though it was so cold and windy on the pier we didn't linger to watch.

In the museum proper there was a President's Day scavenger hunt (find these specific exhibits for the USS George Washington, USS John Adams, and USS Thomas Jefferson). They made an instant friend or two and played on the steering and diving station, the BCP, and fire control station while I chatted with the resident SubVet, another former QM. They launched torpedos and missiles, and rescued men overboard, and had a grand time flipping switches and pushing buttons.

I gave them a two-wheeler lesson, starting with the 6-yo. I tried pushing her, while exhorting her to balance. She oversteered and we took a dump; I managed to avoid landing on her and she was unscathed but refused to try again. The 8-yo did better, since I learned my lesson and took it a bit easier. We are on a big hill, but there is a fairly level spot in front of the house. I am not up to running around too much, so I pushed her up the slight slope while she pedaled, and she coasted back with her feet down to practice balancing. It is something you have to practice, but the poor weather precluded any more sessions. Eight is pretty old to not ride a bike, to my way of thinking, and I would have liked to have had her zooming around on her own before they left. Maybe in the spring. I'll bet once the younger girl sees her sister having such fun she will be anxious to ride herself.

We hit the Mystic Aquarium, too. I am not a big fish person, but the kids enjoyed it. It was just under $80 for the four of us, with a discount of a few dollars courtesy of our supermarket loyalty card.

We saw the blue lobster that was caught last year in the mouth of the Thames River, and the sea lion show, and saw the beluga whales getting trained. The African penguins interested the 8-yo, since she was studying penguins in school. She had told me that King penguins could dive to 400 feet. I didn't believe it (that's pretty deep) but looked it up, and sure enough she was right. Learn something new...

The rest of the week the weather was cold, windy, rainy; we went to TJMaxx (twice!) so Sue could show the girls off to her co-workers, and to Macy's at the mall so her friend at the makeup counter could meet them and give them a little work-up. Then downstairs for a bit in the play area. The next day we went to the park, a really nice one, but it was so blustery for those of us not running around that we went back to the mall and spent another hour and a half in the play area again.

The girls each had new Webkinz, and together we set up their online accounts. I have my old computer in the (finished) basement set up for them, safely isolated from my network, and the older girl went to town on it: you earn "money" to buy your Webkinz food and items by winning points in various arcade games. She monopolized the computer to such an extent that I let her sister play "Angry Birds" on my PC upstairs. She had trouble mastering my trackball but it kept her happy.

They got plenty of exercise running up and downstairs while playing. We don't care to keep them inside in front of the TV or the computer, but the weather dictated they stay in. Come summer we just throw them outside, in the old tradition.

To the astonishment of their mother, both girls were well-behaved. I took them to see Mr. B, the resident cat of a local insurance agency, and they were perfect angels. They had to come with us while we had our taxes done, and they played quietly with some activity books they brought. The only downside to having them is what incredibly picky eaters they are. One likes this, the other doesn't. We went for Mexican; one had a taco with just meat. No lettuce, no tomato, no sauce, nothing. They like pizza, but one doesn't like cheese: she picks off the pepperoni and eats it, then picks off the cheese and eats just the crust. She also doesn't like cold sandwiches. No PB&J for either. One likes hamburgers, not the other. At least this time they both like hot dogs: last time we had them the hamburger girl wouldn't eat hot dogs. They are lucky they have Aunt Sue around, because if I had my way they would still be sitting at the table with the food I made for them congealing on their plates. At some point I believe in giving a choice: eat it, or starve.

We took them home on Sunday. We had planned for their mother to bring the youngest up on Friday and then bring them all home herself, but she was still sick. It is a 2.5- to 3-hour trip each way; not horrible if you don't hit any traffic. We hope to have them up again in the summer: they love to visit our local beach.

The Big Apple

2011-02-13T10:31:00.000-05:00

The last time I was in NYC, it was to see the tree at Rockefeller Center with Susan. The trip was notable because I managed to hit the Lincoln Tunnel: it was sunny, and as we exited the tunnel I was swapping to my prescription sunglasses. A tire brushed the Jersey barrier which was fastened down with protruding spikes, which kind of ruins the point of a Jersey barrier: it ripped a hole in my tire and I had to change it while squeezed onto the shoulder.

That was in the mid-Nineties. No further visits to see What Rudy Hath Wrought, until Sue expressed a desire to see the famed Disney Store in Times Square, surely a magnificence that exceeded the massive one at Disney World. We picked a weekend with two criteria: she had to be off that weekend, and it had to be between storms. As it happened, it started snowing as we left the city, but that's neither here nor there.

Sue was underwhelmed by the whole experience. Back in the days before I drove, I used the Port Authority Bus Terminal a lot, Greyhounding from New London and catching the locals to home in NJ. Or I'd take the Amtrak to/from New London, and walk between the PABT and Penn Station. Sometimes I'd stroll around for a bit. So, I had the basic area down; it's the easy section of town, with everything clustered together and the avenues and streets in the basic grid. We drove from Connecticut, stopping for brunch at 10:00 AM. Sue wasn't really hungry, but I knew if we waited and she had a pretzel or something in the city, she wouldn't want dinner. Her two goals were to see the Disney Store, and have a meal in a Real New York Deli. If she could have convinced me to drive to Brooklyn or Coney Island (the "old country" of her parents) we would have gone there for dinner.

We took the Lincoln Tunnel to the PABT, avoiding any hard objects at the sides of the road, and parked there at about 1:00 PM: it was easiest, and I wasn't going to drive in circles to save a few bucks.

Out into the streets: they were pretty clear, snow-wise, except for piles of slush at every corner. I was impressed at the absence of the X-rated shops, and the pedestrian sections of the square. So, okay, points for improvements. It was still crowded, and I hate crowds, but we worked our way north, pausing to snap photos of the New Year's ball. We went right past the Disney store: the facade is impressive from across the street, but the entrance itself is just a pair of doors, and we didn't notice the signs above our heads. We went up 7th Avenue and finally cut across to Broadway and back, asking Elmo and SpongeBob for directions outside the M&M store. From that side of the street we could see our goal.

The Disney Store was Not Too Much.

Narrow, filled with standard Disney stuff. The employees were standard-issue nice and friendly. Sue had expected more from the website descriptions and the wide-angle photos. She (after much waffling) got a NYC-themed Disney T-shirt. I explained how expensive Times Square real estate was, but she was still disappointed. We then schlepped up to F.A.O. Schwartz, which was quite a bit bigger, and looked around. It was then getting dark, and we headed back to the Carnegie and Stage Delis. Sue checked out the menus (I had previewed them from home, and warned her how large the sandwiches were, and expensive) and, as predicted, decided she wasn't that hungry and it was too much to spend. We saw down a side street one of the Famous Famiglia pizzerias which for reasons unknown had a branch in Maitland, FL, in the plaza next to where I was living in the late 80s, and also in Groton, CT, since under new management. I was tempted...

Arriving back at the Port Authority, it was getting cold and flurrying, and Sue wanted to leave. It was after 5:00 PM, and it cost us $28.00 (!!!!) for parking. I had thought of going up an avenue to the Cross-Bronx for the sight-seeing, but decided, nah, just get out of there through NJ. Sue wanted the scenic route, though, so off we went. The scenery was mainly rows of cars buried in snow from the plows-- evidence of how you don't need a car in NYC, and also of how valuable a parking spot is. We finally made it to Connecticut, where we had a late dinner in West Haven and on to home.

Verdict: bleah. She wants to go to Coney Island when the weather is nicer to visit relatives, but otherwise Sue is unimpressed with the glamour of the Big City. Fine by me.

My First Car

2010-11-08T21:39:00.002-05:00

My FIL just passed around an email showing some automobiles from the 1950s. I replied with the following:

My first car, inherited from my grandmother, was a 1966 Chevy II (AKA Nova). This is her with her new baby.

4-door, straight-six engine with the vaunted 2-speed Power-Glide automatic transmission. On the highway it was like driving in passing gear.

I got a lot of offers from mechanics-- even a sedan was valued for racing. I learned to work on cars on it: it was dirt-simple, power nothing, no A/C and you could climb into the engine compartment. It was considered a compact car, but I could roll my 10-speed bicycle into the back seat. I can only get my bike into my current minivan if I take out all the seats.

I remember when I took out the AM radio and put in a AM/FM stereo cassette player. No way could I get it to fill the gaping hole left by the radio, so I just braced it and it hung there in the dash. To put in the speakers on the deck behind the rear seats was an adventure: nowadays the deck is plastic, or cardboard with a few metal braces. In this car it was thick sheet steel, with a zig-zag fold from one side to the other to stiffen it. I had to use a jigsaw from underneath in the trunk, with the shavings falling in my face, through the fold, and then file to fit. What a chore. Sounded nice, though.

When I traded it in on a used 1982 Trans-Am, it was at Valenti's in Mystic. As I was driving it into the dealer for the last time, someone was leaving-- in a 1966 Chevy II wagon! He gave me a big grin and wave, and I felt like a heel, a traitor. I got over it, though: mmm, but that Trans-Am was nice!

Florida, Take Two

2010-03-02T19:09:00.001-05:00

We left on a Friday evening, last weekend in September. Same drive routine, but we first went to Boynton Beach this time to visit my uncle. We stayed, reluctantly, at a Holiday Inn Express; our last experience with them, in Albany about 2001, was not a good one. They have vastly improved: this one was very nice, and the free breakfast was decent as these things go. We'd stay there again.

My uncle is getting old. Very old. He tries to stay active but he is not as vigorous as he'd like to be. We first came upon him as he was working in the yard and he looked like hell, exhausted. He was much better when we met him next day for lunch.

On (or up) to Orlando. We stayed at the Radisson Resort Orlando-Celebration, which is just the other side of I-4 from the 192 Disney World entrance. Our history with hotels is spotty: we like Hampton Inns, and Sue is rather picky otherwise. We have stayed at various places she disliked, and picking anyplace is a crapshoot. This place she liked: likes so much, in fact, that she wants to go back there.

The season helped: it was still hot, but being September-October not too many tourists were around; the hotel was not close to full. We just hung around one of the pools, tried a drink or two from the pool-side bar, and just bummed around the area. A visit to the Disney Marketplace was enough to satisfy Sue's Mickey jones. We were ready to leave for home, and Sue hadn't actually been *in* the pool yet; she went in finally the morning we checked out. They have a waterfall, and a small waterslide, and Sue went down it several times. When I tell this to people that know her, they refuse to believe it; luckily I have photographic proof.

We swung by Daytona Beach on the way north, got a bit of sun and some Wally Wings and so to home. A much better experience this time around.

Pop Century

2010-02-28T11:26:00.004-05:00

I wasn't expecting much; I figured it would be clean, reasonable, and without too many frills. Boy, was I right. We had come to expect certain amenities: in-room coffee-maker, Internet, refrigerator (for my drugs). None of that here. Well, they did have Internet, for a steep fee. I kept my drugs in my insulated lunchbox with ice. For coffee, off to the cafeteria. It was a basic, bed-shower-TV motel, with a vague 80's motif: wall art and linen had images of old toys and movies and such. The complex is divided in to decades: 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. We had a huge Mickey Mouse phone outside our room; opposite was a giant Big Wheels trike. Under construction between was a super-sized foos-ball court. One of the three pools was shaped like a computer (in the 90s section). I was not too impressed, but then I must maintain my cynical air at all times.

The cafeteria was bleah. It was basically a food court, with uninspiring selections at a high price (surprise!). I watched them make an omlette from fresh eggs, and it still was bland and rubbery. The bacon cheeseburger wasn't up to McDonald's standards. And so on. And the stupid drinks-- go and figure out the stupid coffee dispenser. Nothing at Disney, I exclaimed in frustration, can be simple: not content with just a nozzle with a flip-handle, it has to be some pressure-driven thing where the delivery lags the handle by a few seconds. Flip-- nothing. Flip-- nothing. Flip and hold, hold, hold: finally it starts pouring. Let go: it's still pouring! Arrrgh!

We did the Magic Kingdom; due to the season and the weather, it wasn't too busy and we didn't have any monster lines. We don't do the thrill rides, so the Haunted Mansion and Small World got our business. We were in line with a British family; I'll bet they were happy to get out of the soggy United Kingdom to Sunny Florida!

The drive home was uneventful (we stage from Jacksonville and do the rest in one shot, getting home at about 3:00AM), although again it rained most of the way. The next day, Memorial Day, was actually nice and I was able to cut the grass. Yahoo. Altogether, a fairly disappointing trip. So, we went back again!

Wet 'N Not-So-Wild

2010-02-28T11:15:00.004-05:00

We took a trip to Florida in April 2009.

I have relatives there, and as a kid made regular summer trips with my father to visit everyone, staying with my grandparents in Hialeah (a Miami suburb). I routinely got a severe sunburn in the first visit to the beach. If I wasn't smart enough to learn to protect myself, I now wonder why my father wasn't, either. I resignedly await my melanoma.

While in the Navy, I was stationed in Orlando for two and a half years. I hated it. It's hot, it's flat, it's boring. I went to the beach maybe four times while I was there, and to Epcot once when a friend visited. I was very happy to go back to New London and to sea duty again.

Then I married. Where did Sue want to go on our honeymoon? You guessed it-- Disney World. After that we went regularly-- while in the service, and for three years after, I was able to use the military resort at Disney, Shades of Green-- and now we stay with my uncle in Boynton Beach. We drive from Connecticut, because I like to, and we have friends and relatives everywhere from Kingsland, GA (just north of the Florida border) to Hollywood (just north of Miami). Flying down and then putting those miles on a rental doesn't seem as much fun.

So, in 2008 we didn't go: saving money. In 2009, we had enough saved up, and were able to realize Sue's ambition: staying at a Disney resort again. We lost access to Shades of Green in 2000, and since then stayed outside the park, when we stayed there at all. We didn't go to the theme parks every year; just going to the "no admission" Disney Village / Marketplace was enough to satisfy Sue most of the time. This time, we decided to go to the Magic Kingdom; it had been a while. We made reservations at one of the "value" resorts, Pop Century.

We usually will start our vacation on Friday, so that we can leave Thursday evening and get a head start. We drive six hours plus traffic to just south of Washington, DC. that night. This gets us past all the traffic in one shot. The next day it's an easy twelve hours or so to Jacksonville. This time the trip down was okay; we were able to go a bit early, 1:00 PM, to overnight at a reasonable hour, and Friday stayed in Jacksonville. We visited with a friend in Fernandina Beach, who was my neighbor in both Orlando and Groton.

The next morning, we drove to Daytona Beach where we hoped to visit my cousin, and stay overnight Saturday while waiting for our check-in time at Disney on Sunday. My cousin was not available: something had come up. Fine, we can go to the beach instead; or not, since it was about to rain. Oh, yeah, the rain: it rained when we left. It rained all the way down the coast. And now it was raining in Daytona Beach. And then Sue was hit by a bug that took her down for the count. The hotel let us check in before 3 PM, and she went to bed and stayed there. I was ready to take her to the emergency room to be looked at. I was thinking we'd have to cancel our reservations and just go back home, she was so bad, and wouldn't she be disappointed.

Little did I reckon with her ambition: she'd crawl out of her deathbed to get to Disney, and in truth she felt better in the morning with a solid 18 hours of sleep. Off we went to the resort.

Posting For The Sake Of Posting

2010-02-28T09:17:00.002-05:00

Yes, I am still alive. Since last spring, we have gone to Florida. Twice. I guess I will post on that soon. In the meantime, I have today started a Facebook page, mainly to drive home to myself how few friends I really have.

The Joys Of Home Ownership

2009-03-23T22:48:00.002-04:00

Until I bought a house, I never was a carpenter. Or an electrician, or a plumber. That's what I told the real plumber as he worked in my bathroom.

Again with the toilet-- it was leaking from the wax seal, so time to replace it again. Perhaps I didn't fasten it down tight enough last time, for fear of cracking the toilet. Perhaps I'm just too fat. Hmmm. Didn't fasten it tight enough. So off to Lowe's, and a super-heavy-duty wax ring. Drained the tank, turning my hands blue in the process, and took it off. Meantime I am also doing laundry while Sue is at work, so I then have to scrub my hands clean while I fold. Then back to the toilet.

Off with the base, scrub off the old wax, and-- hey! the flange is cracked! The flange, which is plastic, sits on the drainpipe and is fastened to the floor; the toilet bolts to it, with "johnny bolts." One johnny bolt hole in the flange is cracked; with it like that the toilet will always rock, and the seal will always break. A quick investigation shows the flange replacement to be beyond my capabilities, so a call to the plumber (Roto-Rooter: 24/7 service: I did try a local first) is in order.

The plumber estimates a $600 repair, knocked down to $400 since I already removed the toilet. Luckily we can access the drainpipe from the basement. Luckily we have another full bath downstairs, since he came back on Monday to do the repair, cutting the drainpipe and installing a fitting to aid in future replacement if necessary. The metal flange seemed kind of flimsy, so we went with a plastic one again, a bit sturdier than the original. It took him two hours. $400 seemed reasonable to me, parts and labor.

But the great thing is, at some point I had wanted to replace our toilet, but have the new one professionally installed just to make sure it was done right: here was my chance. Only $89 at Lowe's with a serendipitous $10 coupon for a elongated (fat, remember?) high (16.5"-- kitchen chair-height) low-flush efficiency toilet. I was leery of the low-flush bit; that usually means you have to flush twice, but reading the reviews online it seemed this one was okay. And it is! Remarkable. The acid test still remains: my 6-year-old grand-niece, who clogged the old toilet at least once on each visit.

The old toilet is sitting in my garage, adding to the pile of stuff-to-take-to-the-dump-someday. Sue didn't like my idea of turning it into a planter.

$500. Even after my tax refund came in, I am no longer flush.

Squirrels

2009-03-19T21:55:00.002-04:00

After I've been so nice to them; all winter I've been putting out peanuts to compensate for the lack of acorns, and the ingrates are burrowing into my hollow tree. I put tin plates over the holes, and the bastards are digging under them.

This weekend I'll see about stacking some rocks and building up the dirt around the trunk. I'll have to have it covered up before the chipmunks show up again.

Vanity Plates

2008-11-01T22:05:00.003-04:00

The other day I saw a car with the vanity plate: "MOONLT"

Yes, the car was a Hyundai Sonata.

Ha! Ha! I get it! But what will they do when they get another car?

There's a car I sometimes see on my commute with a vanity plate something like "68 MSTG". And yes, the car is a... Mazda. Or Toyota-- in any event, not a Mustang. Perhaps it's shorthand for a bumper sticker reading, "My Other Car Is A...", or perhaps he's recalling a past glory. Or maybe he's too cheap to trade in plates he's already paid for.

Halloween

2008-11-01T21:52:00.002-04:00

A very good evening. I live in a quiet development with only one entrance: no through traffic. People from other neighborhoods bring their kids here to trick-or-treat. On nice Halloween nights as last night was, I sit on the steps with the bowl of candy, so I don't have to hide behind the door and let the bugs in with each opening. It also affords me the opportunity to watch the folks in the streets.

This time I remembered the soreness in certain parts of my anatomy from several hours on concrete steps, and brought out a chair and a small table for the bowls. I also had my stuffed (toy) cat on my lap; it fooled many kids and quite a few adults even when they were standing right in front of me. Last year I removed the bushes that had flanked the stairs and so had a nice view. The neighbors on either side were also staked outside. Across the street they were, too, with a fire going in one of those patio fireplace bowl-on-a-stand things.

I get a kick out of watching all the kids, from the first-timers to the older kids. There were a lot of good costumes-- Dorothy from "The Wizard Of Oz" was big-- and even the older kids had made the effort. The roving bands of mid-teenagers were fun to see as they kidded around in the street, and then politely said "Thank you," as I gave them their treats. Everyone had a good time. First caller just after 6PM, and I packed it in, lights out, at 8:40.

Unexpected Visitors

2008-09-01T10:20:00.004-04:00

I have (finally!) cleared out the brush and leaves from the stone wall that backs my property; on the other side is a chain-link fence and some woods, city property lining a "military access highway" that, I'm told, can't be developed. Nice for us: we have a nice woods to look into rather than someone else's yard, and I can dump my leaves and brush over the fence.

The remaining "messy" corner had vines overgrowing saplings and bushes, with dead leaves and fallen stones from the wall interspersed. I went in with rake and clippers, and cleared it all out. I was pulling vines 12 feet long out of the trees, and pulling up roots another ten feet long from the ground. Piled them all into garbage cans and over the fence. I cut down one sapling to make room for another to grow, and cleared away the mountain laurel shrub (the state flower!) so it gets some sun.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered some of the vines were poison ivy. This was several days later, when I broke out in a massive rash. Now, three weeks later, the last of it is fading. There are still some clumps of poison ivy about, and I'll remove them today, being a bit more careful this time.

I also discovered a gap in the chain link fence; there's a small hole underneath the fence at one point I knew about: it's how the neighborhood cats get through. This one, though, is a large gap that's pulled away from the post. Perhaps that's how the coyote came in.

We suspected there were coyotes in the woods, with the deer and what-have-you; each winter some neighborhood cats would disappear without a trace. One morning this summer, though, Sue calls me to the window: "Whose dog is that?" No dog: a coyote in our yard, trying to find a way back into the woods. I called the police, not with any expectation that they could do anything but just to serve notice that there was a wild carnivore roaming the neighborhood.

One of the missing cats is Vern, who is pictured in an earlier post. He made a habit of hanging around my yard, thanks to the woods access and my bird feeder.

With him gone, and the wall cleared away, residents of the wall are coming out to avail themselves of the seed. The pictured chipmunk (with a couple of tufted titmouses) is one of two; this one figured out that he is too light to trigger the spring on my squirrel-proof feeder. I have also seen a field mouse, a big ol' fat one, chowing down at the base of the tree. I was more concerned about snakes in the stone wall, but there can't be any if the rodents are running around like that.

There's a cat from down the street that's discovered our woods access, and if he continues to come around perhaps the situation will take care of itself. Circle of life, and all that. In the meantime, the tree is going hollow, so I'll have to cover up the hole to keep the animals out.

The YouTube Trap

2008-07-19T10:54:00.002-04:00

I was caught again-- someone sent me a link to a YouTube video, which led to another, and another. It started with a Muppet Show link, which led me to viewing a couple of favorites, such as Rowlf the Dog and Sam the American Eagle singing Gilbert and Sullivan's "Tit Willow". Which led, of course, to Victor Borge. Then Steve Allen hosting the original Tonight Show. Then the Marx Brothers, and Groucho singing "Lydia The Tattooed Lady."

An hour or so later, I was finally able to stagger off to bed.

Re: Gummitch

2008-06-13T08:13:00.002-04:00

I used to comment (sparingly) on the various blogs I read as "Gummitch." Lately there has been another established gummitch posting, and so I switched to "steverino."

I've tried to change my name here, but with no success; so, Gummitch I remain here, and steverino elsewhere.

Beer

2008-06-13T08:07:00.003-04:00

Over at The Washington Monthly, there is a discussion about beer and the possible hostile takeover of Anheuser-Busch by a Belgian company. The discussion mentions the various quality of Belgian beer vs. Budweiser, and someone throws in a comment about Dutch beer.

Which reminds me of the last annual "Oktoberfest" I attended at the Submarine Base here in Groton. Someone was apparently disturbed at the potential negative connotations of the word, because it was now called "Autumnfest". While it did still have a beer stand, the beers served were Heineken and Amstel Light. Two Dutch beers.

Royal Flush

2008-03-10T21:21:00.002-04:00

An interesting train of thought: balancing my glasses on the edge of the sink the other morning led me to remember the cautionary tale my mother told me: as a child she had put her glasses on the rounded top of the toilet tank, they slipped off, and broke on the floor. I grew up in that same house, with that same toilet, and so I have been careful evermore, even now when glasses are so much more robust, and toilets tank lids are flat and (in my house) covered with magazines and Sudoku books.

Which could lead me down one path, of thinking how these little anecdotes survive in a family; everyone is familiar with family sayings and phrases that outsiders don't understand. Deep thoughts, indeed. Instead, I thought of low-flush toilets.

The family that now lives in the house in which my mother and I (and her mother, too, now that I think of it) grew up made extensive renovations to it: it needed them, being built in 1910. They added some rooms, opened up my pathetically small bedroom into the next one and made it the master bedroom, and so on. And renovated the bathroom. New toilet (flat tank lid). I was thinking, then, of how silly they were to get rid of that old toilet, despite the danger posed by the rounded top; it was sturdy, reliable, and was definitely not low-flow. I had heard how people were bidding up the price on old toilets because of how poorly the new mandated low-flow toilets worked. I have encountered a few bad toilets myself. And, despite the decent operation of my current unit, I persisted in my prejudice against them.

Uncle Cecil to the rescue: that same day, the topic du jour: Do low-flush toilets actually save water? The answer: yes they do. And they work better than ever.

As a matter of fact, as mentioned, I have had very little problem with the flushing aspect of my unit, despite my best efforts. The only issue I have with the thing is with the guts; I must replace the flapper every other year, and the float assembly every four. Never had to do that with Mom's toilet. Hmmph. I've gotten pretty good at it; and I have finally gotten the downstairs toilet adjusted so I get a full flush every time: it's a small tank and a tight squeeze, but I've gotten every inch out of it. I finally realized that the inside of the tank lid isn't level with the top of the tank itself, which means the float unit can extend out a bit more. I even replaced the wax seal on the upstairs toilet, taking the whole thing out. The stuff you do when you're a homeowner.

Do Serial Killers Carry Umbrellas?

2008-01-20T07:09:00.000-05:00

A few days ago I gave a ride to a hitchhiker. It was 40 degrees and raining, and he looked OK. And had an umbrella. He was headed to New London from Groton, so I was able to at least get him over the river.

Curiously, thinking of the "serial killer" angle, I never took a good look at him. Round-faced, darkish skin was the impression I got; but I couldn't tell you if he was black or Hispanic, or white and tanned, for that matter. I guess I should re-read my "Hardy Boys Detective Handbook" on how to be observant.

Sue goes ballistic if I say I picked up a hitcher, but at some point being paranoid has to defer to being human.

Lethal Injection

2008-01-02T10:36:00.000-05:00

I just don't get the problem here. I am opposed to the death penalty altogether; I don't deny there are people whom we are better off without, but because there are major problems with identifying such people, and the risk so high of wrongly executing somebody, better to not execute anyone at all.

But that's not the issue here. Setting aside the death penalty issue, it should be readily agreed that the method employed should be humane. That is the ostensible reason for the electric chair, the gas chamber, and lethal injection itself. Given that there is reasonable doubt that the chemical "cocktail" used in the injection is pain-free, what is the problem with changing it? Isn't it a no-brainer?

Ah. There's the problem.

Looking Back

2008-01-01T19:26:00.000-05:00

No, not looking back on the year past; looking way back.

In 2004 there was a reunion of my first sub, USS Kamehameha (SSBN 642), across the river in New London. I dug out some of my old photos and put them in an album, identifying the people I knew and supplying stickies and a pen so anyone could add notes. It went over well, and I promised to scan the photos and burn them to CD to distribute.

Three years later, I finally got around to it. Thanks to the miracles of modern technology, instead of burning to CD I posted them to a Picasa web album (thanks, Google!). Here they are.

I have been corresponding with some old shipmates, and we've been trying to figure out just when that first patrol, in which we of the Gold crew brought the ship from the US to Scotland, took place. We have narrowed it down to 1983, since we did our Poseidon missile test launch (DASO) from Florida before we went over. We watched a Space Shuttle launch while in Florida, and, matching a list of DASO launches with Shuttle launches, that has to be Challenger, STS-6, April 4, 1983.

Fun getting back in touch with old shipmates.

So I have a Mac

2008-01-01T18:44:00.000-05:00

As promised long ago, my Mac post.

My PC at work died; an old, slow machine, to which I had added (out-of-pocket) a 256K DIMM to bring it to a whopping 512K RAM. Not really missed, to say the least. I was able to salvage the contents of the hard drive, so no problem there. My supervisor, your typical Anything But Microsoft geek, preferred that I get a Mac. So he ordered me a Mac Mini with 1GB Ram and an 80GB HD. Sure, fine.

All I really use the computer for, at work, is a web browser, email, and a terminal window; and since I had just shifted all my email to Gmail (a browser-based email), even that was reduced. Even so, while not an MS-lover, I had at least beaten XP into submission; I had it set up the way I liked, I had bought (again, out-of-pocket) an SSH client (SecureCRT) that I preferred, and various test apps and utilities. Now I had to do the same for the Mac.

First, the SSH client: with SecureCRT I can open a separate window to each of 5-6 servers, each in a different color scheme: this allows me to easily keep track of which server I'm on. The latest version I bought added a tabbed interface, so now I can have one window, with a tab for each session. Not possible with the Mac; but since OS X is Unix-based, the ssh client is built in; and I found a free utility, JellyfiSSH, that "bookmarks" terminal sessions, so I can use that to open multiple color-coded sessions, at least. The new OS version, Leopard, seems to offer a tabbed terminal built-in. Hunh.

The browser is not an issue, really; I use Opera, and there is a Mac version available; but gmail doesn't work as well with the Mac version. I found a browser that uses the Mozilla Gecko engine, called Camino, and it does the gmail for me, as well as interfaces with some firewall devices we use that don't like Opera (on the PC, I used Internet Explorer for those). I also have to use Safari, which I don't care for, just to access my Sirius Satellite Radio streaming broadcast: the plug-in only works on it. So I'm running three separate browsers.

I found a free text editor, TextWrangler, that I use instead of the standard TextEdit. I just like it better. And I had to find a wrap-the-cursor around the screen utility, because I use a trackball and that sort of thing makes sense for trackballs (and touchpads). And so on. A utility that locks the screen for when I am away from my desk, without me having to log out, or hibernate, or anything: just lock the screen and input devices: thank you.

Printing: we have a Canon multipurpose device. It uses a parallel cable. The Mac is USB-only. Got a USB-to-parallel cable, and it don't work: the cable does, but there are no drivers for this thing. I am using my sup's personal USB printer, and we're working on getting a new one from the company.

The worst part of the whole deal is Windows: there are one or two apps, particularly our billing/service-order management app, that are Windows-only. With the Mac I got Parallels, an app that lets me load Windows XP (any OS, actually) within a virtual machine running on the Mac (sort of like Apple's own BootCamp, without the reboot). It takes 512K of my 1GB RAM (any less and Windows would suck wind), and I can forget about doing anything else while it loads. When I am careful, I have no problems running Windows apps within it; setting up the networking to connect to the office network over a VPN was tricky, but it is working okay now. Point being it would all be unnecessary if I had just been given a PC in the first place.

All that said, the Mac isn't too bad. Nice wide-screen monitor, the CPU is zippy, and I can work on it with no problems. It just brings its own set of frustrations with it, after I had gotten used to the ones that come with XP. In addition, the keyboard (using the Apple key and so on) is different than what I am using at home: the key strokes, anyway, since I am using the same type of keyboard, not a Mac keyboard (and my own Logitech MarbleMouse trackball). And the close button for the window being in the upper left rather than the upper right. It's the shifting back and forth, work to home, that generates the (mild) confusion.

And thus endeth my Mac post.

Happy Birthday

2007-11-30T21:11:00.000-05:00

How did I spend my holidays? On Black Friday, which I consider a holiday because I have off and my wife Sue works, I visited the Book Barn and got a good hour and a half of Quality Lap Time, mostly with Tiger (pictured)-- I didn't see Mrs. Howell, my favorite lap-kitty. Tiger is okay, a bit cranky because he hurt his hips at some point, and if you are too aggressive scratching there he will snap at you. Once, before I learned this, he took a swat at my hand; I let him, rather than pull away. He wasn't actually attacking: what he did was just grab my hand (with his claws, half-extended: how else for a cat?) and pull it up to his head, which is where he wanted me to scratch. After that incident I saw the note the Book Barn staff had posted telling of his injury, and then I understood. So we had a nice time, he all curled up on my chest (my belly makes a nice shelf) and me reading the book I bought, "Dreadnought," about the buildup to WWI.

The following Tuesday (Nov. 27) I had off, too: my 45th birthday. Birthdays are given as a holiday by my employer. I went this time to a local insurance company, Bailey's Insurance, who I can recommend as a friendly, cat-loving establishment: even though I don't do business with them, they welcome my visits. Mr. B lives there, and on the weekends I would see Mr. B in the window (their office is next to the Post Office). I finally stopped in during the week and they were more than gracious about me meeting the cat, and Mr. B loved it. It got so, they told me later, that anyone sitting in the chair I always used had Mr. B right there wanting his cuddle. He is a polite cat, though, and waits to be invited before he will jump up. Pictured is a photo they took on 21AUG07; that's me and my chins on the left,
and Mr. B on the right. They just aquired a kitten, already a young cat (7mos or so, now), a stray. Also affectionate. So that's my birthday: I enjoyed it, but rather pathetic, no? I don't even have my own cats to blog about. I have to grab my chances as I can. Vern the neighbor's cat still comes by, but the last time, Sue was home, and I couldn't let him in. He didn't want to be petted: he wanted his fix, and left in a huff (oh, you can tell, all right).

Steve

Worth Noting...

2007-11-30T21:05:00.000-05:00

Reading about lobbyists reminded me of this, which I did first hear of via Molly Ivins:

"If you can’t take their money, drink their whiskey, screw their women, and vote against ‘em anyway, you don’t belong in the Legislature” is a quote by Molly Ivins (1944-2007) that’s often attributed to Texas politics. It was first used by Jesse Unruh (1922-1987) in California politics in the 1970s. Unruh was talking then about lobbyists.

--The Big Apple

--Steve

Big Game

2007-11-04T08:20:00.001-05:00

Since my wife had to work yesterday, today she wants to get in some shopping. By god I am going to be in the house with the TV on by 4:15 if I have to drag her out of the checkout line. Pats-Colts: can't miss it.

Quality Cat Time

2007-11-04T08:14:00.000-05:00

I got in some quality cat time yesterday: my wife was working, it was windy, cool, and raining (thanks, TS Noel), and the cats at the book store were bound to welcome some cozy laps.

Mrs. Howell and one of the several black cats were on the porch at the Book Barn in Niantic; thanks to a kid who grabbed the black cat (Mrs. Meow, I learned later) and brought her inside, I was able to claim her chair. Mrs. Howell on my lap, a good book I found to read; I was set. Then Mrs. Meow escaped the kid and got back outside, making a beeline for "her" chair. I persuaded her to try my chest: I am so fat there is a nice shelf on my belly, with an assisting arm. She was happy to curl up, and I got a good double-cat hour in before duty called and I had to leave.

Steve

Pet Peeve

2007-11-04T08:09:00.000-05:00

Hitting the button to activate the "Walk" signal, and then, looking up, seeing no traffic and crossing, threreby leaving the cars to sit there for another 30 seconds or so. I've seen people do this without breaking stride.

I understand that in some places, including NYC, some or all of the buttons are disabled: placebo buttons. In downtown Hartford where I work there is never so much traffic that a healthy person cannot cross with the light. Of course, I don't mind justified use: old, wheelchair, kids in strollers, and so on; who bugs me are the same bozos that get on the elevator and hit the button for their floor and the "close doors" button in rapid succession: screw everyone else.

Steve

Cat Tales

2007-08-21T22:20:00.000-04:00

Sunday I saw Vern the neighbor's cat in the yard-- we have a bird feeder, and access to the woods-- and he was acting frisky, climbing a bit up a tree and sharpening his claws on a stump. Then he looked up on our deck to see if I was there. I went to the sliding door and he ran right up.

He's sort of friendly; he will rub and be affectionate, and then suddenly start hissing and bite and run off. I have let him in the house before, where he does a quick tour and then leaves. Needless to say, this is when Sue isn't home-- she is mildly allergic, but mainly just doesn't like animals. I have given him catnip on the rug by the door, and that's what he wanted Sunday: he knew just where I keep it and was all excited when I took it out.

This stuff is 20 years old: I got it when I first got Alice and Trixie as kittens in Florida; it was some special "weed", not your run-of-the-mill Hartz stuff. I keep it in an old peanut butter jar. It's a mark of how often I treated the cats that I still have any left after all this time.

So Vern got a good dose, rolling and rubbing in the pinch I put on the carpet. Sue was squalling all the while-- "Get that cat out of my house!" but I let Vern have his fill, and then he left. I had to vacuum immediately. The picture is Vern on the wall in the back yard, taken that same Memorial Day weekend before I went to the hospital.

Today, Tuesday, I telecommuted, as I try to do once a week to save some gas (110 mile round-trip commute). I took advantage of the weekday at home to visit a nearby office, Bailey's Insurance, in a shopping plaza. They have an in-house cat, Mr. B, who just loves me: a long-haired orange tabby. They have just adopted a stray kitten, but Mr. B, who was hiding from the kitten in his play tunnel, came right out when he recognized me and jumped in my lap. He loves to be scratched and rub his chin, and I was covered with hair. I had a good 15-20 minute visit, lowering my blood pressure, before I had to put him down and leave.

This is what I'm reduced to in order to get my pet fixes. I also play with Sophie, the black Lab next door. Come the cooler weather, when the cats come back inside, I can visit the Book Barn in Niantic, who have about 20 cats-- grab a book and a seat and get a good hour or more of Lap Time (Mrs. Howell is my favorite).

Knock, Knock, Knockin'

2007-08-21T22:13:00.000-04:00

I was feeling tired leading up to the long Memorial Day weekend, and by Sunday was panting for breath just standing up to walk to the next room. Must be some bug, that will go away if I just rest, huh? Memorial Day I did nothing but sit in my La-Z-Boy. Just getting up to pee was a major event-- being a Type-II diabetic I pee often, and I would stand there with my head spinning and heart racing. Tuesday I stayed home from work, and finally I got the hint when I threw up some bright red blood. Ah-ha! Bleeding ulcer! So *that's* why I was shitting this black goo (oh, yeah, that's what digested blood looks like: now I remember). So when Sue got home she drove me to the clinic (the bloody sink really impressed her). Thinking I might pass out, I told Sue to tell them I had an ulcer and needed blood. The clinic doesn't do blood. Hunh. They sent me right over to the hospital via ambulance.

At the hospital I went straight to ICU where they gave me four units, did an endoscopy, and patched up some severe bleeding in my stomach. I put off going to the hospital for so long I almost bled to death. The doctor later told me that it was one of the longest endoscopys he had done in 30 years; I was coming out of the sedative they give you (no anaesthetic) towards the end-- not pleasant.

They were poised for emergency surgery the next morning because the doctors weren't sure they plugged all the holes, but they had. The remainder of the time until Sunday --two days in ICU, four days in a private room-- they spent pumping blood back into me-- nine units total! --and checking to see that my blood count was going up as it should: checking for leaks, as it were. The long time in hospital was due to it not going up as they expected, but neither was it going down as if I were bleeding. They finally let me go home, with me feeling fine and out of ICU from Thursday on, just lying and sitting around the hospital room. I finished a large book, and enjoyed looking out all week on the bright sunshine. The day I was released, it poured rain. Figures.

I actually went back in for an overnight: I was released on a Sunday, and beginning on about Tuesday my legs/ankles/feet were swelling up: I was retaining water. I called my doctor and he had me come in, and he gave me a high-powered diuretic to take Thurs/Fri/Sat and come see him again Saturday. It was like turning on a tap at first-- peeing every five minutes. Finally died down but I was still up every 20 minutes: hard to sleep (I had the same issue during my hospital stay, once they restored my fluids). The swelling went down: between visits to the Doc, Thursday to Saturday, I lost 25 pounds in water! The overall hospital stay I lost for real about 20 pounds.

So now the swelling is gone, but I am beginning to feel dizzy standing up again Sunday night and Monday morning. Am I still bleeding internally? No other symptoms, but better safe than sorry: Sue drove me to the emergency room Monday morning; I was dizzy and sweating profusely but still ambulatory. They did a blood test and I was down, way down, on potassium, and my other levels were screwed up, too: between the transfusions and the diuretic, I was AFU. So they kept me overnight (had to share a room this time) and pumped me full of fluids again. Since then I've been okay, but taking plenty of iron pills while I build up my red blood cells.

I went for a follow-up endoscopy a couple months later: nothing. They see an old, healed ulcer, and this current one is healed. Nothing to indicate a cause, no tumor, nada. I'm still on stomach pills, but that's it: goodbye, have a nice day, don't come back. Go figure.

Scribendi Cacoethes

2007-07-08T22:17:00.000-04:00

I have lots of things to post about. I compose marvelous essays on many topics, but when it comes time to set them down I run out of time. Tonight I have Things To Do, and I have to get up a bit earlier than usual in order to drop my car off at the shop (safety inspection for buying out my leased car, and timing belt replacement). There's another topic for you.

I will give up most of the political stuff (after all, I have been so verbose on it lately), and just tell the none of you that read this about my daily life and the random thoughts that cross my mind.

I can bore you with the thrilling saga of my Recent Brush With Death, via an upper GI (gastro-intestinal) bleed-- procrastination on my part carried out until I almost bled dry, literally. My adventures with my PC: I am having a Mac thrust upon me. And more!

Stay tuned...

Department of Wretched Excess

2007-03-10T20:35:00.000-05:00

People driving RVs will frequently tow another vehicle behind them-- a small car, maybe, for tooling around in while the RV is at a campsite.

Today I passed a large RV towing a Hummer H2. Not only does an H2 suck up gas (about 9.6 mpg around town), but it weighs three tons! Imagine towing that around, just to cruise to the convenience store! Let's be generous; maybe they go off-roading in it at their destinations... no, who am I kidding. This thing was tricked out and immaculate.

People are just amazing.

Outrage Overload, Again

2007-02-10T09:46:00.000-05:00

By the end of the day, I'm just weary-- tired of the constant beat of news, the sense that the world is going to hell while the powers that be do nothing. Heck, the Senate won't even debate the issues, much less do anything about them.

Global warming, Iraq, Iran, for Pete's sake; Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, and on and on.

Healthcare, taxes, the economy, income disparity, jobs (or lack thereof), energy policy, environmental policy, et cetera, et cetera.

I am reducing the list of blogs to my right to better represent a good list of what I keep up with; for example Froomkin's White House Watch is a good daily summary.

I guess the most immediate thing to worry about, and work to prevent, is an attack on Iran. Via Froomkin, among others, here's a snippet from James Fallows:

"Deciding what to do next about Iraq is hard -- on the merits, and in the politics. It's hard on the merits because whatever comes next, from 'surge' to 'get out now' and everything in between, will involve suffering, misery, and dishonor. It's just a question of by whom and for how long. On a balance-of-misery basis, my own view changed last year from 'we can't afford to leave' to ' we can't afford to stay.' And the whole issue is hard in its politics because even Democrats too young to remember Vietnam know that future Karl Roves will dog them for decades with accusations of 'cut-and-run' and 'betraying' troops unless they can get Republicans to stand with them on limiting funding and forcing the policy to change.

"By comparison, Iran is easy: on the merits, in the politics. War with Iran would be a catastrophe that would make us look back fondly on the minor inconvenience of being bogged down in Iraq. While the Congress flounders about what, exactly, it can do about Iraq, it can do something useful, while it still matters, in making clear that it will authorize no money and provide no endorsement for military action against Iran."

Super Bowl

2007-02-04T10:56:00.000-05:00

Today is the Super Bowl, and I am rooting for the Colts in a half-hearted way. I am a Patriots fan, and was sorry to see them lose, but at least now we'll see if Peyton Manning can overcome his past. He has been winning Big Games lately to get this far, and I suspect he will be able to pick apart the Bears defense with little trouble.

On the menu is my famous chili, to which I will add a bit of leftover sausage: chili is a work of art, with no set recipe. The downside to "flavoring to taste" is that as the process continues, I get inured to the spiciness, and the end result is a little hotter than others care for: I always have to make it a bit less hot than I think is proper. Not that anyone will be with us: the problem with a football party is that I want to watch the game, and with a bunch of people around it's hard to concentrate.

I just thought: maybe I'd want some beer: but now it is Sunday, and this is Connecticut: package (liquor) stores are closed. Ah, well, no big deal.

From the gathering yesterday we brought home some pastry and such, plus I have my creampuffs. We have some cheddar cheese, but will have to pick up some more crackers. Tomorrow it's back to eating properly.

Get-Together in New Jersey

2007-02-04T10:49:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I went to a get-together in New Jersey; a bunch of school friends we met again at the class reunion in November. It was a very pleasant gathering; we were able to talk now as we weren't able in the party noise, and the food was good. I had made the Stella D'oro Anginetti Creampuffs, but left them in the fridge, and so I am eating them myself.

I am starting up a group blog that I am hopeful the others will want to join, and maybe we can keep in touch better that way.

Still Here

2006-11-27T21:51:00.000-05:00

I'm still alive, and posting will resume shortly. I plead outrage burnout, a bad chest cold, and an overwhelming lethargy.

I am 44 years old today, and I just attended my 25th anniversary High School reunion. I will have thoughts on each of these momentous events to share with you.

The political stuff will be muted, now. I am still doing my reading, but it will take a while to recharge. You will just have to suffer my maunderings on other subjects for a while.

At the same time, I am posting new material to my Navy website, www.qmss.com. That will take priority until I can generate some new content to keep it from getting stale.

And now I'm tired and I'm going to bed. I'm getting old, after all.

The United States: A Beacon Of Democracy

2006-10-27T21:45:00.000-04:00

Setting the example. From Dan Froomkin:

Nick Wadhams writes for the Associated Press: "Several governments around the world have tried to rebut criticism of how they handle detainees by claiming they are only following the U.S. example in fighting terrorism, the U.N. special rapporteur on torture said Monday.

"Manfred Nowak said that when he criticizes governments for their questionable treatment of detainees, they respond by telling him that if the United States does something, it must be all right."

To Bolivian And Back Again

2006-10-22T08:43:00.000-04:00

...So I'm back. Been busy at work and home, and too tired to write. My promised "next post" was foiled by none other than Paul Krugman, who wrote on that same subject: that voting in this election and next should be on party lines, regardless of the individual. Any Republican elected to office is going to enable the Bush Administration, and we can't afford that.

Here in Connecticut I had a certain regard for both Chris Shays and Nancy Johnson. Whenever I heard of Shays, he was speaking sense against some Republican position; and I had heard nothing against Johnson (neither of whom represent my district). Now, however, not only do I think they should be kicked out just for being Republican, they have been showing their true colors; Johnson's ads have been truly misleading and mendacious, and Shays is allowing his mouth to override his brain.

The polls here show Lieberman in the lead over Lamont; wherever you see a cluster of GOP yard signs, there is sure to be a "I'm Sticking With Joe" sign among them. He is the pet of the right wing, and we can only hope Lamont comes through. My own yard boasts two Lamont signs, a Courtney for Congress sign (US 2nd District) and a "Had Enough? Vote Democratic" sign.

The Big Picture

2006-10-12T12:03:00.000-04:00

I used to get irritated with actors or sports figures who supported a particular charity, typically a disease with which they were afflicted: Christopher Reeves and spinal injuries, Michael J. Fox and Parkinson's. But eventually I understood: there are so many causes, from drought and starvation in Africa to Muscular Dystrophy-- no on can possibly cover all of them, or even keep in a persistent state of agitation at the tribulations in the world. Narrowing your focus to a particular problem and trusting others to pick up their share is rational and legitimate.

So, too, with political discourse. There are so many issues that can get your blood pressure up that it becomes necessary to limit yourself to a few choice ones at most and let the rest take care of themselves.

Some topics of particular interest to me:

The recent bill authorizing torture and unlimited detention without legal recourse, even of American citizens
The war in Iraq, which comes with several subheads: the continuing incompetence in the overall policy (if any), the lies that led to the invasion itself, the corruption endemic in the letting and execution of contracts, the stubborn refusal to acknowledge facts when they conflict with political desires, and so on ad nauseum.
Lack of oversight by Congress and the usurpation of power by the Executive Branch
Rampant corruption in Congress and the inordinate power wielded by lobbyists

Those are the biggies off the top of my head. Others that come to mind that are useful for beating up Republicans on, and are in and of themselves important, but don't threaten the republic (in no particular order):

The Republican leadership's handling of the Foley issue, ignoring a problem for political reasons and then covering it up when exposed (sorry)
The economy: driving every decision to the benefit of Big Business
Tax policy: the enrichment of the already rich on the backs of the middle and lower classes
Environmental policy: the watering-down of the Clean Air Act, the opening of national forests to lumbering, the relaxing of regulations all around, and on and on
Energy policy: the focus on drilling for more oil rather than on increasing fuel economy standards or renewable resources

There are many more, and my one-line summaries don't do justice, of course, to the complexities of each, but I'm running out of my lunch hour here. The real focus should be on defeating the Republicans in November. More on that later.

How I Learned To Stop Worrying...

2006-10-09T20:43:00.000-04:00

How many people are going to use that line? Lots, I'll bet. It's appropriate. That North Korea felt that now was the time to test a nuclear device says a lot about the opinion held by them of the United States. President Bush has his trifecta-- he has managed to take his "Axis of Evil" and make our situation with each worse. Forget Teddy Roosevelt: Bush has his own policy: "Speak loudly, but carry a limp dick." And there's no chance of scoring any Viagra until January, 2009.

Here's David Wallechinsky in The Huffington Post. It's short, so I am copying the whole thing.

In his State of the Union address on January 29, 2002, President Bush dubbed North Korea, Iran and Iraq an "axis of evil." When he invaded Iraq fourteen months later and overthrew Saddam Hussein, many Americans thought that this would teach a lesson to the leaders of the other two axis members, Kim Jong-il of North Korea and the ruling mullahs of Iran.

They did learn a lesson...but it wasn't the one the Bush administration intended. The North Koreans and the Iranians looked around the world and saw that countries that had nuclear weapons, like Pakistan and China, were not in danger of being invaded by George Bush, while Saddam Hussein, who didn't have a nuclear weapons program, was in prison and being tried for war crimes. If you were the leaders of North Korea or Iran, what would you do to ensure that your country would not be invaded by the United States? Easy call: you build nuclear weapons, which is exactly what both of them are doing. Nice going, Mister President.

Here's a brief excerpt of what Glenn Greenwald has to say:

Independent of how well or poorly the Clinton administration dealt with North Korea -- and there is room for reasonable debate on that question -- there is no getting around several facts: (a) the North Korean threat has grown substantially during the Bush presidency; (b) the course we have followed for managing that threat has failed on every level; and (c) our ability to credibly threaten any military confrontation is virtually nonexistent.

It may seem to be a sideshow, that there is all this finger-pointing going on: shouldn't we be working on resolving the issues? Well, that would be nice, but a) we should know how we got to this point so that we don't repeat our mistakes, and b) from a political standpoint, you know the right is going to be vigorously pointing the other way (Clinton, anyone?). There has been one party in charge for the last six years, and it ain't been the Democrats, and Bill Clinton hasn't been President.

Here is Eric Alterman, in his new Altercation blog site, with some background, taken from The Book on Bush. He has much of interest; read the whole thing. This is a sample:

Bush had already undermined the extremely sensitive negotiations under way to bring the North Korean regime into the international system. When South Korean president (and Nobel laureate) Kim Dae Jung visited Washington six weeks after Bush took office, Bush humiliated both his guest and his own secretary of state by publicly repudiating the negotiations after both had just publicly endorsed them. (Powell had termed their continuation "a no-brainer.")

Kevin Drum at Washington Monthly floats the possibility that the test may have been a dud. Brad Plumer has a post up in which he discusses the situation, with many good links to more information.

And Kevin Drum (again) quotes Glenn Kessler reporting that administration officials have been eagerly anticipating the North Korean's test. Kevin sums up:

Let's recap: The Bush/Cheney administration took a bad situation with Iraq and made it even worse. They've taken a bad situation with Iran and made it even worse (see here, here, and here). They've taken a bad situation with North Korea and made it even worse (see Fred Kaplan here). At every step along the way, they've deliberately taken actions that cut off any possibility of solving our geopolitical problems with anything other than military force.

Once is a singular event. Twice might be a coincidence. But three times? That's a policy. Encouraging these "clarifying events" appears to be the main goal of the Bush administration. This is not the way to make America safer.

The Armed Forces is in no condition to invade Grenada again, much less face North Korea. Air strikes, naval bombardment, cruise missiles, sure; and the response to that will be a massive land attack over the DMZ. South Korea will enjoy that scenario. And what of Japan? I wouldn't be surprised to learn they are cranking up their own nuclear research-- the Israel of the Far East. Who could blame them? Thank our Limp-Dick Diplomacy.

Thank You, Folks. I'm Here All Week

2006-10-07T09:49:00.000-04:00

This one is hilarious. Via Atrios, go here to see a Congressman brag about "how the Republican government does so much for the people. His example? Katrina." The audience laughs at him. Priceless!

Habeas Corpus, RIP

2006-10-07T09:46:00.000-04:00

From Froomkin, President Bush in one of his rabble-rousing speeches says:

...one senior Democrat, their ranking member on the Judiciary Committee, compared the brave Americans who question the terrorists to the Taliban and Saddam Hussein. I believe this exposes a dangerous mind-set on the part of Democrats in the United States Congress. You can't defend America if you can't tell the difference between brave CIA officers who protect their fellow citizens and brutal dictators who kill their citizens. (Applause.)

"I'm not making any of this up. (Laughter.)"

"Ah, but of course," says Froomkin, "Bush was making it up." Here is a portion of the speech by Senator Patrick Leahy, and you really should go and read the rest of the quote at the link above:

Initially, you are not very worried. After all, this is America. You are innocent, and you have faith in American justice. You know your rights, and you say: I would like to talk to a lawyer. But no lawyer comes. Once again, since you know your rights, you refuse to answer any further questions. Then the interrogators get angry. Then comes solitary confinement, then fierce dogs, then freezing cold that induces hypothermia, then waterboarding, then threats of being sent to a country where you know you will be tortured, then Guantanamo. And then nothing, for years, for decades, for the rest of your life.

That may sound like an experience from some oppressive and authoritarian regime, something that may have happened under the Taliban, something that Saddam Hussein might have ordered or something out of Kafka.

Welcome to your new United States of America.

Pretty Obvious

2006-10-04T20:14:00.000-04:00

From The Carpetbagger Report (via Atrios). Go and read the whole thing; as a Republican spokesman, Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) leaves something to be desired:

LAHOOD: It just — it's a program that simply is flawed. It has its flaws. We should fix it. And then if it's a valuable program, perhaps bring it back.

MILES O'BRIEN [CNN]: Well, that's kind of a sorry state of affairs. In essence, what you're saying is that members of Congress can't be trusted to be around young people.

LAHOOD: Well, that's pretty obvious.

I really have nothing to add to The Carpetbagger but, "Heh. Indeed."

They Knew, After All

2006-10-03T07:02:00.000-04:00

Update to my previous post: George Tenet told select members of the 9/11 Commission about the July 10, 2001 meeting. They chose not to pass that to the whole commission, nor to put it in the final report.

But wait-- there's more! Seems that the original presentation was given not only to Rice, but to Donald Rumsfeld and John Ashcroft as well:

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and former Attorney General John Ashcroft received the same CIA briefing about an imminent al-Qaida strike on an American target that was given to the White House two months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The State Department's disclosure Monday that the pair was briefed within a week after then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice was told about the threat on July 10, 2001, raised new questions about what the Bush administration did in response, and about why so many officials have claimed they never received or don't remember the warning...

Former CIA Director George Tenet gave the independent Sept. 11, 2001, commission the same briefing on Jan. 28, 2004, but the commission made no mention of the warning in its 428-page final report. According to three former senior intelligence officials, Tenet testified to commissioner Richard Ben-Veniste and to Philip Zelikow, the panel's executive director and the principal author of its report, who's now Rice's top adviser.

hat tip Josh Marshall

She's Not Called A Secretary For Nothin'

2006-10-02T20:50:00.000-04:00

This is a bit from the 9/11 Commission's questioning of Condoleezza Rice. It was quoted by Greg Mitchell in this piece about the July 10, 2001 meeting Condi didn't mention.

It tells you all you need to know about your Secretary of State: she's perfectly willing to act, as soon as someone tells her to. Hello? Condi? You're at the top of the chain of command-- you're supposed to initiate these things! If the whole administration works this way, it would explain a lot: one decisive man (*cough* Cheney *cough*) could run the show. (emphasis mine)

ROEMER: So, Dr. Rice, let's say that the FBI is the key here. You say that the FBI was tasked with trying to find out what the domestic threat was. We have done thousands of interviews here at the 9/11 Commission. We've gone through literally millions of pieces of paper. To date, we have found nobody -- nobody at the FBI who knows anything about a tasking of field offices.

We have talked to the director at the time of the FBI during this threat period, Mr. Pickard. He says he did not tell the field offices to do this.

And we have talked to the special agents in charge. They don't have any recollection of receiving a notice of threat.
Nothing went down the chain to the FBI field offices on spiking of information, on knowledge of al Qaeda in the country, and still, the FBI doesn't do anything.

Isn't that some of the responsibility of the national security advisor?

RICE: The responsibility for the FBI to do what it was asked was the FBI's responsibility. Now, I...

ROEMER: You don't think there's any responsibility back to the advisor to the president...

RICE: I believe that the responsibility -- again, the crisis management here was done by the CSG. They tasked these things. If there was any reason to believe that I needed to do something or that Andy Card needed to do something, I would have been expected to be asked to do it. We were not asked to do it. In fact, as I've...

ROEMER: But don't you ask somebody to do it? You're not asking somebody to do it. Why wouldn't you initiate that?

RICE: Mr. Roemer, I was responding to the threat spike and to where the information was. The information was about what might happen in the Persian Gulf, what might happen in Israel, what might happen in North Africa. We responded to that, and we responded vigorously.

(updated to correct spelling errors)

Republican Page Scandal:Gay=Predator

2006-10-02T07:06:00.000-04:00

I have nothing to add to the multiple commenters on this from the blogs to the right of this page; the initial revelation is bad enough, but what makes it really significant (from a national point of view) is the appalling initial concealment of the activity, and the subsequent cover-up.

This, however, via Glenn Greenwald, is pretty pathetic:

After reviewing the fact that Hastert was told months ago about the e-mails sent by Foley to the 16-year-old page (a fact which Hastert first categorically denied and -- after Reps. Reynolds and Boehner both said they told Hastert -- he now claims not to recall), Hinderaker offers this defense of Hastert:

I've never been Speaker of the House, but I can imagine that such a conversation would not be among the most significant Hastert has had in the last year, and would not necessarily make a deep impression. Foley was, I take it, generally assumed to be gay.

Hinderaker then devotes two paragraphs to discussing the cases of Gerry Studds and Barney Frank -- two other gay Congressmen involved in sex scandals (with individuals of legal age) -- and Hinderaker then says:

So I'm not particularly surprised that Foley wrote some "over-friendly"--I'm sure I would find them creepy--emails to one or more underage pages.

So as best I can tell, this is Hinderaker's defense: Hastert knew that Foley was gay, so it would hardly have been a surprise to Hastert to learn that Foley was harassing underage pages. Hastert is a very busy and important man and something as unsurprising as the fact that the homosexual Foley was a sexual predator pursuing underage pages would hardly have been news to Hastert and certainly isn't anything that should have prompted his attention. A gay Congressman pursues minors, the sun comes up in the morning. That's just the way the world works. Why would Hastert take notice?

So, as far as Hindraker (of the Powerline blog) is concerned, a man lusting after young boys is standard operating procedure for a gay person, and nothing to be surprised at. Pedophile == gay, and vice-versa, case closed.

I just don't know what to say; draw your own conclusions and let me hear them in comments.

AFK

2006-09-28T20:35:00.000-04:00

I have been away for a bit, having a personal life. I have accumulated a whole backlog of links and opinions, but they essentially boil down to this:

Congress is about to legalize torture, and the indefinite detention (without recourse to lawyers, or judges, or anything) of anyone the administration decides is an enemy combatant, with that term expanded to include, well, anyone. Including American citizens on U.S. soil.

The only reason they are letting the illegal wiretapping remain illegal is because they can't get their act together in time to pass a bill exculpating Bush and his minions for their crimes.

The march to Iran continues.

And so, to quote Vonnegut, it goes.

And I just dropped $400 replacing the ignition switch on my 11-year-old Honda minivan. We don't even have a heavy keyring; it just went. Which actually isn't bad when you spread that and the other minor repairs over 11 years, I guess.

Go read Digby, all of it. It'll do ya good.

Get Ready! Get Ready!The W-o-o-o-r-l-l-l-d Is Coming To An End!

2006-09-21T22:16:00.000-04:00

Ten points if you can name that source.

This is via Billmon:

The End of Eden
James Lovelock Says This Time We've Pushed the Earth Too Far
[...]
He measured atmospheric gases and ocean temperatures, and examined forests tropical and arboreal (last year a forest the size of Italy burned in rapidly heating Siberia, releasing from the permafrost a vast sink of methane, which contributes to global warming). He found Gaia trapped in a vicious cycle of positive-feedback loops -- from air to water, everything is getting warmer at once. The nature of Earth's biosphere is that, under pressure from industrialization, it resists such heating, and then it resists some more.

Then, he says, it adjusts. Within the next decade or two, Lovelock forecasts, Gaia will hike her thermostat by at least 10 degrees. Earth, he predicts, will be hotter than at any time since the Eocene Age 55 million years ago, when crocodiles swam in the Arctic Ocean.

"There's no realization of how quickly and irreversibly the planet is changing," Lovelock says. "Maybe 200 million people will migrate close to the Arctic and survive this. Even if we took extraordinary steps, it would take the world 1,000 years to recover."
[...]

Plan B

2006-09-21T22:15:00.000-04:00

Kevin Drum reports:

The Biting Beaver tells a harrowing story of trying to obtain emergency contraception in rural Ohio. First her doctor told her to call the ER, then a parade of nurses hemmed and hawed over the phone, until finally a fourth nurse told her what was going on...

I am currently suffering from outrage overload, and so I am refusing to make any comment on anything less than a nuclear first strike against a non-threatening, non-nuclear country, or perhaps the end of the world, the subject of my next post.

The March To Iran

2006-09-18T20:31:00.000-04:00

Serious people think the administration is building up to attacking Iran, in a replay of the buildup to Iraq. How dumb does Cheney, Rove, et al., think we are? Pretty dumb: they are following the same gameplan. But who's to say they are wrong? This is not getting the attention it deserves. Especially since, with the armed forces mired in Iraq and Afghanistan, the administration is ready and more than willing to let the nuclear genie out of the bottle.

Froomkin picks up the following:

Warren P. Strobel and John Walcott write for McClatchy Newspapers:
"In an echo of the intelligence wars that preceded the U.S. invasion of Iraq, a high-stakes struggle is brewing within the Bush administration and in Congress over Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program and involvement in terrorism. . . .

"Some officials at the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the State Department said they're concerned that the offices of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney may be receiving a stream of questionable information that originates with Iranian exiles, including a discredited arms dealer, Manucher Ghorbanifar, who played a role in the 1980s Iran-Contra scandal. . . .

"Officials at all three agencies said they suspect that the dubious information may include claims that Iran directed Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, to kidnap two Israeli soldiers in July; that Iran's nuclear program is moving faster than generally believed; and that the Iranian people are eager to join foreign efforts to overthrow their theocratic rulers."

Voted For Bush? Okay, You're In.

2006-09-18T20:29:00.000-04:00

Billmon comments on the WaPo article from over the weekend: despite everyone knowing the CPA was messed up, only now are the details being confirmed:

The RNC Branch Office on the Tigris

As long-time readers of Whiskey Bar may recall, that was my pet nickname for the Coalition Provisional Authority, or CPA -- the unloved, unwanted, unmourned and completely unsuccessful agency assigned the job of running Iraq after the 2003 invasion.

My own personal favorite fuck up was when the CPA couldn't even get its own name right on its own web site, and thus informed the world that it was the Coalition Provincial Authority -- no doubt to demonstrate its intention to turn Iraq into the Canada of the Middle East. But that was an example of ruthless Prussian efficiency compared to the CPA's performance of its other responsibilities, such as fixing the power grid, getting the oil flowing, rebuilding the health care system, etc. etc. etc. Aside from the Pentagon, no single entity did more to give us the Iraq we know today. And they'd better hope God has mercy on their souls. I know I wouldn't.

The reasons for the CPA's FEMA-like failures were both polymorphous and perverse, but the biggest problem (not counting the complete lack of pre-war planning, the petty bureacratic squabbles between Defense and State, the utter cluelessness of Doug Feith and Donald Rumsfeld, and the sheer absurdity of trying to govern Iraq with a few thousand Americans, most of whom didn't speak Arabic and couldn't have found Baghdad on a map before they arrived -- and in some cases even after they did) was the Cheney Administration's deliberate decision to fill the CPA's ranks almost entirely with GOP party workers, campaign donors, hack politicians, think tank interns and assorted relatives of neocon VIPs, like Michael Ledeen's daughter. Thus the nickname...

Read the whole thing.

K-k-k-katie, You're My Lady

2006-09-15T20:56:00.000-04:00

From Atrios, comes this pointer to a Media Matters article on the new CBS Evening News feature, "Free Speech."

Seems that after over a week, they have had several right-wingers, including Rush Limbaugh (!), to present their take on things, but no left or progressive speakers. Who would have guessed? That's your liberal media at work.

Gerson is the third Republican or conservative to be featured in the "Free Speech" segment since it debuted on CBS on September 5 -- he followed nationally syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. In that time, not one progressive media figure or Democrat has been featured.

Gerson, who left the White House in June, was recently hired by The Washington Post as an op-ed columnist.

I read that on her first night (I don't watch it myself), Katie said that she was going to help temper the discourse, and on hand to help her? Good ol' Rush, who single-handedly manages to inflame that same discourse. There's a reason I don't watch.

Mike Luckovich Cartoon: Where's Osama?

2006-09-15T20:55:00.000-04:00

Rather than run some risk of copyright infringment, I'll just link to it-- have a look!

We've Heard This One Already

2006-09-15T20:51:00.000-04:00

We've been through this all before; are we going to sit and let the administration blow smoke up our bums again?

The following is from an interview with Joseph Cirincione, director of the Non-Proliferation Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace:

It's very reminiscent of the coordinated campaign that we saw before the Iraq war. You have cabinet officials, the president, and the vice president giving major speeches on the subject. They're labeling Iran the central or main threat. They try to link Iran to the war on terror, even to 9/11 itself, by talking about Iran as the central banker for terrorism, or the main state sponsor for terrorism. Officials have leaked information to the press just in the last couple of weeks that claims that the Iranian nuclear program is further advanced than it really is.

And there seems to be a concerted effort to convey this threat as imminent, without using that word, and that action will soon have to be taken. And, finally, you hear a drumbeat from both the neoconservatives and the Israeli lobby arguing for military action on Iran. None of this is conclusive in and of itself, but together they really present a very ominous picture. And it is now my working hypothesis that at least some members of the administration, including the vice president of the United States, have made up their mind that the preferred option is to strike Iran and that a military strike will destabilize the regime and contribute to their longtime goal of overthrowing the government of Iran...

I believe a military strike would consolidate the hold of the Islamic government, not loosen it. If you want to keep President [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad in power for the next five years, launch a strike on an Iranian facility. There is no doubt in my mind that the Iranian people would rally around the government and would become convinced that what the government has been telling them is true, that the main threat to the Iranian people comes from the United States or the U.S.-Israeli alliance. I can't think of any more counterproductive move if you have the goal of enabling the Iranian people to choose their own government, than to launch a military strike against Iran now.

Link courtesy Tristero at Hullabaloo

Popeye Moment

2006-09-14T20:46:00.000-04:00

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) has had all she can stands, she can't stands no more:

"In light of the rantings that went on for 30 minutes by two colleagues from the other side, I'd like to state for the record that America is not tired of fighting terrorism; America is tired of the wrongheaded and boneheaded leadership of the Republican party that has sent six and a half billion a month to Iraq while the front line was Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. That led this country to attack Saddam Hussein, when we were attacked by Osama bin Laden. Who captured a man who did not attack the country and let loose a man that did. Americans are tired of boneheaded Republican leadership that alienates our allies when we need them the most. Americans are most certainly tired of leadership that despite documenting mistake after mistake after mistake, even of their own party admitting mistakes, never admit they do anything wrong. That's the kind of leadership Americans are tired of."

She concluded,

"I'm not going to sit here as a Democrat and let the Republican leadership come to the floor and talk about Democrats not making us safe. They're the ones in charge and Osama bin Laden is still at loose."

Let's hope a few more Democrats eat their spinach.

h/t Atrios

Military Tribunals

2006-09-14T20:43:00.000-04:00

Hilzoy of Obsidian Wings writes:

I have now read the new draft of the Graham/Warner bill on military commissions... It's very bad...

Our country ought to stand for certain values, including freedom, fairness, and the rule of law. But we do not stand for these values if we allow this bill to be passed in its current form. We do not stand for freedom if we allow our government to toss people in prison without any recourse at all. We do not stand for fairness if we do not allow them the chance to show that they are innocent, or require that the innocent be set free. And we do not stand for the rule of law if we allow our government to strip people of the right to argue that they have committed no act of aggression against us, and thus should not be imprisoned.

Welsh Sheep Poo Paper

2006-09-14T09:17:00.000-04:00

Try making some yourself (sheep poo not included)!

Sheep Poo Paper

About That Dream...

2006-09-13T20:55:00.000-04:00

Perhaps the dream post seemed pointless. Perhaps it was. But at least if I use the phrase "Banana Chorus" again, you'll know what I was talking about.

And the dream made sense at the time...

Wookie In Waiting

2006-09-13T20:50:00.000-04:00

From Talking Points Memo:

Bush's beard? Middle school teacher Gary Weddle pledged he wouldn't shave his beard until bin Laden was captured. Click here to see his very long beard.
-- Josh Marshall

No comment to add.

Music To Soothe The Savage Breast

2006-09-13T07:11:00.000-04:00

Two songs to promote. The first I think is by Harry Shearer, and dates from the first Bush-Kerry "Hard Work" debate. It is a version of the classic jazz piece. I don't recall where I got it from, so I'll just make it available from my server.

The second is recent; a song recorded by Rickie Lee Jones, "Have You Had Enough?". A nifty, jazzy campaign song.

I Had A Dream

2006-09-13T07:10:00.000-04:00

I had a very strange dream last night, a result no doubt of watching some video of the 9/11 attacks. I didn't have live access to a TV at the time, and don't watch a lot of news, and so missed a lot of the video coverage at the time; it was pretty affecting.

The dream culminated with a large "office" filled with monkeys, all working on a difficult problem. One monkey said, "Banana," and by the end there was an orgiastic frenzy of monkeys all leaping around screaming "Banana! Banana!"

I'm afraid I won't be able to see President Bush speaking again without imagining him saying, "banana", and the Banana Chorus backing him up.

Vote Republican: Or Die!

2006-09-12T21:27:00.000-04:00

I saw a TV ad by Nancy Johnson, a congressman (R-CT) running for re-election. It featured a woman who had lost a loved one in the WTC on 9/11. The camera panned from her mournful face across her end table, decorated with a framed picture and a model (!) of the Twin Towers. I thought it was pretty bad, blatantly using this woman's grief for political ends. Then I saw this:

Yep, it's come to this: If you don't vote for the pro-war candidate in your district, you will die. That's literally the message in a new ad that a conservative think tank, The Center For Security Policy, has now released in time for the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11. The ad shows images of the burning Twin Towers and Americans held hostage and concludes by flashing on the screen: "Vote as if your life depends on it. Because it does."

Check it out-- you can see the ad at the above link. It is running, among other places, in Upstate NY.

h/t Atrios (also for the title!)

From Gulag To Gitmo

2006-09-12T21:24:00.000-04:00

I've been catching up a bit. Dan Froomkin writes a daily column for the Washington Post online, blogrolled at the right under "White House Briefing." He pulls and comments on various articles and media concerning the White House (duh!) and Administration. Here's a bit concerning President Bush's speech Wednesday, September 6, 2006, when he disclosed (acknowledged) the existence of those "secret" overseas prisons:

A skeptical view on what Bush said yesterday suggests that under the cover of some impressive-sounding but fragmentary and in some cases dubious disclosures, the president was actually making some very controversial demands.

He was, in fact, calling for the CIA to continue to be allowed to use interrogation tactics that many people would reasonably consider torture; he was demanding retroactive legal immunity for American interrogators who used tactics that many people would reasonably consider torture; he was calling for the unprecedented admission of coerced evidence in an American legal proceeding; and after all those years of refusing to give Congress any role in this matter, he was insisting that they take action in a matter of days.

What has become of us, as many have said before me, when we are actually debating the proper use of torture! Shouldn't that be a rather brief debate? What about holding prisoners without any of the basic rights we take for granted? What about ignoring the Geneva Convention? Who could have imagined any such discussion just a few years ago?

Communicate

2006-09-10T10:19:00.000-04:00

The previous post is one of those things that slip under the radar of most people. You know, and I know, that everything the Bush administration does is subsumed by the political imperative; nothing bad must ever be admitted. President Bush is one of, if not the Worst President Ever (a blog commonplace, abbreviated WPE). His is not just a case of maladministration, but of active and intentional transformation of the government to suit his agenda.

How to communicate this to the mass of Americans not obsessively following politics as we do (I'm making an assumption, here)? Get out and talk about it: at the water-cooler, at get-togethers; make it part of the common conversation. Griping amongst ourselves is not going to do it.

My neighbor is my gauge; she is a stay-at-home mother going to school (off-and-on) to become a nurse. She doesn't follow current events. It's hard to speak of elections to her; she votes as her husband tells her to. If I can get through to her in a casual way, without haranguing her or turning her off to the whole idea, then I feel that progress is being made: perhaps her new-found attitude will percolate out to friends and relatives. And so on, and so on...

Creative bookkeeping, bodycount edition

2006-09-10T10:11:00.000-04:00

(as opposed to "bodycount addition")
Gee, things are looking up in Baghdad, aren't they? Violence is waaaay down:

This article via Atrios of Eschaton

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. officials, seeking a way to measure the results of a program aimed at decreasing violence in Baghdad, aren't counting scores of dead killed in car bombings and mortar attacks as victims of the country's sectarian violence.

In a distinction previously undisclosed, U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Johnson said Friday that the United States is including in its tabulations of sectarian violence only deaths of individuals killed in drive-by shootings or by torture and execution.

That has allowed U.S. officials to boast that the number of deaths from sectarian violence in Baghdad declined by more than 52 percent in August over July.

But it eliminates from tabulation huge numbers of people whose deaths are certainly part of the ongoing conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. Not included, for example, are scores of people who died in a highly coordinated bombing that leveled an entire apartment building in eastern Baghdad, a stronghold of rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Johnson declined to provide an actual number for the U.S. tally of August deaths or for July, when the Baghdad city morgue counted a record 1,855 violent deaths.

Violent deaths for August, a morgue official told McClatchy Newspapers on Friday, totaled 1,526, a 17.7 percent decline from July and about the same as died violently in June...

My First Post

2006-09-08T21:38:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my blog. Why not, everyone else has one. I do a lot of online reading, and end up sending links and comments to a small circle of friends. I'm sure they appreciate that I have ample time to do so while they are hard at work (who wouldn't?), but perhaps it would be better to just post my links here instead.

Don't expect too much in the way of original thought; by the time I catch up to this stuff others have said it better, and I'll just link to them.

I will, however, add such trivial thoughts as cross my mind on occasion, to relieve the monotony.

Enjoy!