The Inside Corner

It seems that because California Law (under Prop 13) mandates a 2/3 vote to pass a budget, a minority can force very strange policies upon the majority. In this case the Republican party in California stood up for their core voters and passed a tax exemption on yachts. And the California Association of Nurses thought people ought to know, and produced the commercial listed above.

Right now, or maybe twenty years earlier.  With all due respect to those romantic ages, they had things like the plague, never knew what it meant to enjoy a fresh vegetable out of season,  didn't know that women were supposed to have orgasms,  lived in fleas and filth, and frankly 90% or more of the population lived in poverty or servitude.

Whereas now we live in a glorious age of computers,  ethnic restaurants and sex manuals.

I really love studying history, but I wouldn't want to live there.

Somehow I don't think Nikola Tesla had this in mind ;

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I worked this job before.   There's an unwritten rule about jobsite radios.   He who brings the radio calls the tunes.   Or talk as the case maybe.  A few weeks ago I arrived to do rough in (basically the pulling of wire and setting of boxes/raceways).  The electrician had a clock radio going, and he was listening to Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh.  You know, two of radio's  support groups for cranks. 

Osama, Obama

But I'm really getting to old to argue. I want to get my work done, not fight.  And conservatives aren't particularly interested in reality.  That's why they watch Fox and listen to guys like Limbaugh.  They don't want information, they want their prejuidices reinforced.   They want to be sure they're better and wiser than we are.  Don't want to hear they might be wrong.  Don't really want a clue.   There's really no point in debating.   So I concentrated on work.

On Friday I returned for rough in. This time the radio is playing Morning Edition, on NPR.   Actual news. Content.  I breathed a sigh of relief.   The same electrician is there, but also his boss an electrical engineer from Bulgaria, now pulling wire just like I am.  We speak a bit in Russian, and the rust flakes off my grammar.   But then I hear another voice in the background.

Osama, Obama

It's the other electrician, the guy who likes Glenn Beck, the guy from the hard right.

Osama, Obama

He recited those two names, over and over again like a catechism or a mantra.  Quietly, but loud enough that everyone can hear. 

Osama, Obama

It's nuts to me, insane, almost like he's building up for something, recinting the two together over and over like they really were related.  But in his eyes, the two men probably are.  They aren't conservatives.  One bombed America, the other wants to lead it in a direction away from the one he would choose.  Both are destructive acts.

Osama, Obama . . . .

What's he buliding up to?  What's he wanting to do?  Is he just doing this to annoy us? Or is he really losing it.   And then I remember the right wing tracts I've seen,  the angry rants ad calls for money with too much bold type. 

Osama, Obama

He's probably not the only one out there, and then I realize he can't be the only guy out there doing this.   There must be thousands of them out there, reciting their bloody mantra.   And I realize they're going to try and kill him. That when Obama recieves the nomination they have him so associated with Evil that they can't see this as a political assassination, but an act of positive good, the dethroning of a tyrant who would ruin their McCarthyite fantasies. 

Osama, Obama

Probably they won't succeed. Hopefully they won't succeed.  So far as I know no one has taken a shot at Dubya, and it isn't because everyone likes him.   I wonder if the Secret Service has become so thorough that getting close enough to him is all but impossible. Of course i do remember at least one attempt on Clinton where another right wing crank tried to crash his light plane into the Oval Office.  He failed of course, but there were plots.   Surely they won't stop trying, particularly if a black man rises to lead our nation.

Osama, Obama

But it takes only one slip.  And the right has something we don't, most of the ex-military types, the most hardcore.  When he blew up the Murrow Federal Building in Oklahoma City  Timothy McVeigh wore a t-shirt with a picture of Abraham Lincoln on it with the motto Sic Semper Tyrannis right below, a shirt right-wingnuts bought in droves following the bombing. 

Osama, Obama

And I begin to wonder if the man pulling wire in the next room might not be the guy with the rifle.

Apparently we have wizards teaching our impressionable  young children.

Really!

(running for puke bag)


with thanks to segnbora

I have a buddy with a free ticket to see Allan Holdsworth tomorrow night at the Thirsty Ear.  The company will be good.  Anyone interested in seeing the greatest electric guitarist in the world?

I first saw Allan  Holdsworth in 1982.    I went with Alex a guitarist whose high school band successfully covered Yes an the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Lou and two Daves all of whom were serious guitarists. I was playing a bit myself then,  spending my nights learning to play Rush's Limelight, which I did in fact get down, although I didn't have a whammy bar and couldn't quite cop the solo.  We were young we were players and we were there to see Holdsworth.

When we went home we hid our guitars. Nobody could bear to look at them.  We weren't worthy.
Think about this, he played with the Soft Machine, Gong, Tony Williams Lifetime, UK, and well, anybody else he chose to.   His fingers spanned seven frets while chording.   His fast legato-like runs showed he'd listened to a lot of Charlie Parker, and in fact Holdsworth was open about wanting to sound like he had a saxophone.  He innovated with the syntheaxe.  

And if he played it six months ago, he can't stand listening to it.  All he can hear is what he wished he'd played. Sometimes Holdsworth sounds like he's thinks he's the worst guitarist on earth.

The things is,  Allan Holdsworth is probably the greatest electric guitarist on Earth.  Numero Uno, number one and I doubt if even an egotist like Yngwie Malmsteen would disagree  Steve Vai might be the only guy who can transcribe his stuff, and Vai holds him in awe.

That first night I saw Holdsworth,   the opening band asked how many people in the audience were guitar players.  Almost everyone raised their  hands   Holdsworth is a guitarists' guitarist.   And he's at the Thirsty Ear in Grandview on Saturday night. I've got a ticket. So does one of the Dave's.  

You see, it's Holdsworth.

My TV seems to have improved.  Oh, it's not good but for now the problem seems to be a tiny purple spot in the upper left corner.  Instead of extending seven or so diagonal inches in, it's  more like an inch and a quarter.  Of course that's on normal cable broadcast as I haven't tried it again with the DVD player, which uses a specific video output.  Hopefully the same, but I used the DVD player the first time. 

If it's just an inch or so in the corner, I can live with it.   Which is a good thing because I priced TVs today.   Granted I am capable of buying anything I want. Credit cards do that for you.  But I do not wish to live a life of major indebtedness. And there are some decent HDTVs available starting at a bout $600 for a 32"  (the same manufacturer as bzarcher's tube, which has served us well for several hockey games and a Torchwood or two).  (note to self,  want to see that whole series, and Jekyll as well). But it strikes me that the best deals come in at about $1K which can, with careful shopping and willingness to get an open item-- get you around a 42" tube, which is one whale of a lot bigger than 30".

And then you have to figure a wall mount, which run from about $100-$300.    I have the chops to mount everything myself-- although free installation will be accepted if offered.  There is also a huge difference in the prices of competing sets.  Some is understandable with contrast ratio, refresh rate and 1080i vs 720p out there. Other price differences are harder to explain.  The simple fact is that one should never buy a TV without a lot of research, including a visit to the library to check out Consumer Reports. Reliability matters.

So I'm relieved that I might not need to shop for a new TV, or the (more likely) option of getting an older used set. Why become an early adopter?

For me at least, this turned out to be a pretty nice weekend.  Had a wonderful dinner Friday night with las,  haceldama,  bzarcher,  dklegman, and opalexian.   We saw Iron Man, which rocked as a film.   Yeah, it strained believablity on a few points, but it's a freakin' superhero movie!  It was fun and frankly Robert Downey jr. was the perfect Tony Stark.

But the best plus was one other companion, ef_111  Nancy and I met at Milleniacon and found it  very easy to chat with each other.  That led to an exchange of emails, lots of phone calls and that sort of things.   And a visit.   A long visit, and frankly I really liked having her around.

It seems that I've a new girlfriend.  Granted she lives in Cincinnati, which creates obstacles, but some people are worth a bit extra. It's a good way to begin the spring.

I decided to re-arrange my bedroom to take better advantage of the available furniture and the bedroom stereo.   So I decided the first thing to do was disconnect the TV and move it safely to the bed so all the furniture could be moved.  

Damned if it didn't pitch forward off the dresser as I pulled the last wire.  No, I didn't catch it.  

It still works, if you like lime green and purple people in the upper left  hand corner.     I expected the mask to be damaged and it was.   

At least I got 18 years of service out of it.   Must shop now.

But a fair number of laughs for hockey lovers.

In all honesty, I wasn't sure I wanted to go.  My friend Kevin and his wife Esther decided to publicly renew their marriage vows, as none of their family was there the first time.    Kevin asked me to go, and while he didn't push it, I know he really wanted me to come.   But the wedding was Friday night at six in the town of Ripon, Wisconsin, the birthplace of the Republican Party (of course back then they were quite a different party).  That's about a nine hour drive.  With a motel room and the gas, attendance would be moderately costly. So it was get up at six on Friday, drive to Wisconsin, try to catch a brief nap, get suited up.  And then to spend  the next five hours partying with people I've never met, as I expected the bride and groom to be occupied.

Turns out it was a really small wedding,  Kevin has three siblings and only his youngest sister made it.  The wedding was in Ripon because she has family there, even though she's a Filpina (yes , this is one of those marriages.  Strangely enough though, I think it will work because they really do love each other).  She has a couple sisters and a whole-midwestern branch of the family.  Including her parents who were visiting.

So there's maybe 25 people present.  His brother and I realize the post-wedding beer supply is low so we make a quick run.  I help his Mom get ice.   Esther gets ready in secret, like its the real day.   Her relatives (mostly women) are busy fussing. Food is brought in.  I've had dinner at Kevin's  house and  his mom can cook. So she makes American favorites and Esther's family makes Filipino favorites.  We  have enough food to feed fifty.

And then the justice of the peace arrives.  She's a petite middle aged woman with glases but a big grin as weddings seem to be a job she enjoys.  But the weather outside is awful.  It's been a great day,  with me running around with the sunroof open.   The clouds are dark and rain starts coming down big time.   A rumor comes down that there's a tornado warning, so I run outside to check it.  One has touched down a few miles north of Ripon.  I decide to head back to let people know. 

But there's Esther right outside in her wedding dress and she's beautiful as the dawn itself.   The judge is there in front of the arch and Kevin motions me over.  I ask what he wants.

"Stand here." As in right next to him.

"Stand right here?"

"That's right."

Wow. I'm in the wedding party and I never knew.   Kevin's sister gets the CD player going and then Esther enters. Tornados and monsoons aside, the wedding is one.  The two little boys carrying rings come up, and Esther's dad leads her forward.   The game is on.
The judge is grinning from ear to ear as she performs the ceremony, but that seems about normal.  Esther cries as she repeats her vows, but it's a good happy cry.   And then it's done and we're taking pictures.

I ended up in a spot arranged for me, two husbands of the Filipina sisters, and a few more Filipina women. I'm being set up with Manolo, who is quite pretty really,  but it feels weird for both of us.   The guy next to me Brian and I started talking.  He says he has in interest in military history.  Then he tells me that Roosevelt knew in advance about Pearl Harbor and hid it to get us into the war and to help in the upcoming election.

But today I'm feeling diplomatic and neglected to tell him the Presidential election took place in 1940.  Some right wing Christian stuff and so on come up.   I just let him rant on without a word. Then the subject turned to music and their he lives in the real world.   We have something in common. The other husband and I start chatting, while the filipina woman gossip in Tagalog, which of course I don't know.

The food was fabulous, the tornadoes stayed away and it turned out I had no problems finding people to talk to.  Kevin and Esther were busy, but with the small wedding  it wasn't difficult to find time.   Conversations started,  people made friends and I if I could have I'd have stayed another day and gone to the cheese factory with them.

That was fun.   Who'da thunk it?

The media unbiased.

I have never bought into the conservative claim that the media has a liberal bias. I mean who owns the media, right? Guess what, it isn't a bunch of flaming lefties, and if you own something you control it.

Of course the poster boy for conservative ire is the New York Times, who gave us Judith Miller's irresponsible reporting during the build up toward Iraq. And maybe the did break a story that the Defense Department had a bunch of the supposedly independent defense analysts on its payroll, the same people who've been telling us life is hunky dory in Iraq. The same people who say Moqtada al-Sadr has repeatedly called for his troops to 'hand over their arms' at the same time independent reporters are saying Iraqi army troops are handing over their arms, and Iraqi officers are leading their troops the other way. GRanted the Iraqi army is better, but still Iraq isn't all sweetness and light.

Nor does it make sense that Barack Obama's minister's 30 second sound byte should get lots of airplay, but the comments of John Hagee do not.

Who's John Hagee? Why he (along with televangelist Rod Parsley) is one of John McCain's religious advisors. Hagee blames anti-Semetism on the fact that Jews didn't always live up to their covennant with God, calls Catholicism a 'cult' and blames Huricane Katrina on New Orleans's willingness to hold a gay pride parade.

I guess Columbus is on God's list too.

Okay, some of this should come out in the general election. It had better. And I realize that America is racist enough to be more scared of angry black men talking of justice for all than it of white guys saying support Israel if you want the second coming. But really, when major political figures have fanatics and fruitcakes at their side, shouldn't America be told?

Wouldn't you have preferred to know that about George W. Bush in 2000?

Unbiased coverage isn't putting scientist on with a creationist. Cranks don't deserve coverage. It's about reasoned opinions, rooted in actual reality, discussing an issue independently. That's fair and free coverage. You don't prove you aren't biased by hiring people like the Weekly Standard's William Kristol, whom Jon Stewart once asked (and only half-jokingly) "Have you ever been right about anything?' Because he hasn't.

The media is not supposed to be a support group for our biases. It's supposed to be our watchdog. and when things go wrong we aren't supposed to deny they went wrong because it's ideologically inconvenient. We need a debate centered on reality.

Reality is not subject to ideological bias. Intepretations of what to do may differ, but the facts don't. Fairness isn't about parroting spin, it's about sleuthing out the truth.

This may seem really strange for a contractor, but I'm really glad we have building inspections.   Cutting corners is an easy way to make money and without inspections our buildings would stink. Oh many would be fine because of contractors who hate shoddy work, but in an environment where competitive bidding gets jobs,   well you know what they say about the lowest bidder.

But once in a while things fall through the cracks. Case in point an office building in Dublin I'm working on.  It has a new fire alarm system, not more than four years old from the model and type, and so you'd think it would be fine.  In fact, I sort of need it to be fine.  My company doesn't do big buildings complete. We do sections of buildings, so for me a floor of said building would be a decent size job.

So I come in, and when the rest of the building has been done right, I make the needed changes and get inspected.   I pass.

But in this building almost everything possible has been done wrong. Oh, the panel room looks great and it seems to work.  But none of the NAC panels on any of the floors were supervised, and some of the panels were wired wrong.  One floor didn't go off when I did the pretest (the one above the one I was working on.   I have wires to nowhere and wires  I'm not sure are landed in the right panel.  They were all laying on the grid, or wrapped around sprinkler pipes  (Can you say 'Code violation'?"  I expect a few problems but I don't expect to spend three days fixing other people's laziness.  Nor do  I expect to find the old system still above ceiling and in need of removal.  You see if it's there, for some reason the inspector wants it to work.   If it doesn't work, it needs to go away.  After all, is he supposed to know  the difference between the old bits and the stuff you put in when two smoke detectors are side by side.  He probably can in most places, but  that's not fair on the inspector. And bad work taking up space unnecessarily.

Somehow t his damned building slipped through the process, and my company will lose a  bunch of money fixing stuff that should have been fine.   We may get some back fixing some of the other stuff, but if you do it right the first time, these problems don't come up.

Tonight my neighbor ran a hose from my house over to hers, because her water has been shut off.  Granted a lot of that is because of her landlord,  Jeff, but still that's a depressing thought.

Barack Obama has recently caught a lot of (predictable) slack for saying that people in the country have been embittered by years of declining living standards turn to faith and religion.

When I heard him say that my first response was of two words, the second of which begins with S.

You just don't say things like that when you're a candidate.  I think he's right, a lot of political scientists think that  people worried about their economic future and feeling powerless to  deal with it often focus on values issues.  That's what people do, at least a lot of them and a lot of them form a voting block.  And I cringed when I heard the words of his former pastor Jeremiah Wright.   I didn't grow up in the church, much less the black church.   But when I read his speech responding to it, he found a way to both acknowledge the man Rev Wright and his ties to Obama and to deny the validity of his statements.  When he said racism was  real, but also an excuse, and something that flows both ways, he spoke the truth.  As Jon Stewart put it "a major American political figure treated us as if we were adults".

Here's the deal,   when Obama screws up, when he deals with a problem he defaults to the truth.  It may not be a pleasant truth, but it's the truth.  It was a screw up that showed he actually thinks about the world and what's actually happening in the real world.   That's character folks, real character, the kind of quality we ought to want in our leaders.   Acting folksy doesn't turn privileged Connecticut frat-boys into people who understand the common man,  saying you understand the world doesn't make it so.   

We've been through years now where our political leaders thought lying to the people was just something you did, and in the past eight years we've had a President who isn't sure what reality is, but it must fit his ideology.   When it came time for Ohio to vote in the primary I liked his communications skills versus Hillary's wonkiness, as I'm a natural wonk.    But her campaign tactics since have turned me away from Mrs.  Clinton.   When she screws up she spins.  When McCain screws up, he sucks up to his right wing.  When Obama screws up, he does so telling the truth.

I'm tired of dealing with leaders who thought nothing of lying to me, and treating me like I'm an idiot. I'd like a President who may not tell me everything I want to hear, but at least tells me what he's thinking. I'd like a President who actually lives in the real world rather than  carefully-constructed fabrication.   And I'd like a President who screws up telling the truth, rather than the kind of lies right and left in order to screw up.

Political scientists have a saying:  people get the government they deserve.  If America chooses spin-meisters who never dare to ruffle a feather over a person who screws up by speaking what most people know but fear to say, well we deserve what we've got coming 

It seems the Weekly World News is still around and online.  And Tuna blood suits Vampires just fine.    So hop on over and discover the Fountain of Vermouth. 

Nashville sucks!
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One of my best friends, Dayton artist Mark Martel chose to paint my portrait.  And then to hang it in his family home, where he'll have to look at it every day.  

I can think of no higher compliment, short of "I do".

Thanks my friend!

You're a Feminist! Congratulations!

You have a good idea of what sexism is, how to avoid it, and how to stand up for women and/or yourself. You might have read some basic Feminist literature or thought in passing, and thought that it was pretty good. Sometimes you baulk a little at overtly identifying yourself as a Feminist due to the negative stigma. Don't be ashamed of being right! Just keep on doing what you're doing and exploring more ways to treat everyone with respect because of their humanity, not their parts, and you're helping to fix the problem!


All Results:
The Wife Beater
The Antifeminist
The Traditionalist
The Egalitarian
The Basic Feminist
The True Feminist

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Link: The Feminist Test written by proudfeminist on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test View My Profile(proudfeminist)

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