I believe that, with CNN and Faux News having moved on to other stories, most people in the USA have probably forgotten all abotu Katrina and Rita, and the devastation heaped on the Gulf Coast, and particularly on New Orleans.
I believe most people ALSO believe that the Feds gave a ton of money to New Orleans as disaster relief, and that New Orleans and Louisiana squandered the money, and have no justification for complaint.
The above is grossly inaccurate.
As with everything else the US Government has touched over the last several years, the entire Katrina-related operations undertaken were primarily a case of managing the media, and incompetently screwing up everything else.
Details HERE.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
Too busy lately to properly update this blog.
Over the last 3 weeks I've been too busy to take time to update this page. I regret that; there have been many things I wanted to record here, mostly forgotten by now.
Tonight isn't much different. I've been unusually exhausted for the last several days, and wanted to go to bed early tonight. Yet it's now 3:05am, I'm engrossed in a movie on cable (Heist, with Gene Hackman), and just now starting this entry. Anyone with half-a-brain can reasonably conclude I'm an idiot.
So I'm going to try and keep this brief. I just want to try and jot down a few quick notes.
Yesterday evening, going through the mail, I encountered a return-postage-paid survey sent to me by the DSCC. At the end of the survey, there was the expected request for a donation.
I'm a registered voter. I'm registered as an INDEPENDENT. Given that our country was hijacked several years ago by the absolute worst people to ever occupy our government at it's highest levels, I began donating money (not much, but some) to various Democratic campaigns, to try and help eliminate the Republican politicians that have been doing so much harm to our country and the world. Nevertheless, I am still an INDEPENDENT.
Since I began donating to various Dem campaigns, the Natl Dem party has assumed that because I donated money, I am a member of the Democratic Party. Actually, all the donations mean is that I have a minimal amount of wisdom, empathy, and intelligence. Maybe that does make me a Democrat, hmmm......
Back to the point - this presumption on the part of the Democratic Party leadership has been a low-level irritant to me for a while. It seems to me this happens nearly every time I make a donation anywhere. Several years ago, I made the mistake of donating to some Jewish Charity that probably nobody has ever heard of. Since then, we get solicited at least once a week from some organization asking for donations to help a family in Israel put Shabbat dinner on the table. I give plenty to my synagogue and a select few other legitimate groups, and we no longer even answer the phone if CallerID indicates an unrecognized Brooklyn number.
So that's the background. At the end of this survey from the DSCC, there was the usual plea for cash, but it was worded such that by donating, I would become a proud member of the DSCC.
I declined to provide more money. It REALLY doesn't help their case that I received this mailing on the same day I read about their latest capitulation to the White House. They're Spineless.
(ASIDE: The movie, HEIST, just ended. Pretty good.)
So, that's one point I wanted to mention.
Another political point - For once, I'm actually pretty pleased with several of the potential Democratic nominees for Pres. I don't like Hillary, but I think she could make a good President, though I do have some reservations about her. I like what I know about Bill Richardson. I don't believe he's got even a snowball's chance in hell of winning the nomination, but I kind-of like Kucinich. I don't dislike Obama, and his optimism is extremely refreshing. I'm still holding out very strong hope that Gore will step in and win it all (again). And even if he doesn't, I just read an incredible speech by John Edwards. Read it yourself. I actually like, and would be proud to have as President Bill Richardson, Barack Obama, Denis Kucinich, John Edwards, or Al Gore. I could easily get behind any one of them. Hell, if we could get a Gore-Edwards White House, I think that would be a wonderful start to repairing the tragic damage that has been done to our country since the current goon squad began their occupation of the White House.
Shifting Gears...
I frequently fill out surveys online for a couple of polling organizations. I seldom remember having dreams. I only believe I actually do dream because according to established science everybody dreams, whether they recall doing so or not.
Well, the two seemingly unconnected facts above come together. I actually remember a dream I had last night. AND, I remember answering a survey question that asked if I recall my dreams or not. Ironically, I can't think of any survey I've filled out that asked the question about dreams, and for all I know, I encountered that particular survey question in a dream!
So, what do I recall about last night's dream? It was a little odd, and probably of no interest to most people. I remember standing in front of a videogame store in a mall, similar to Babbage's or Electronics Boutique, looking at the display in front and struggling over a decision of whether or not to buy one or several games. To a videogame afficionado though, the specifics just might be a little interesting.
I was trying to select among 3 brand-new games for the Sega Saturn. The Saturn went off the market in late-1998, according to Wikipedia. Also, I was never a very big Saturn fan, and have hardly played the system. So it's strange that it would make such an appearance in my dream. Just to be clear, my dream occurred, as far as I can tell, in the present.
There were 3 titles I was considering for purchase. Two were games packaged similarly to the Saturn Netlink. White box, grey and blue lettering, very clean looking. Of the two titles, I cannot remember one, and the other was some 2007 version of a baseball game. The games were about $50 each. The third title was in a larger box, though it was styled similarly. This title was a "Teach Yourself Spanish" program, and with purchase a 'free' Japanese Zen Garden was included in the package. This item was about $70.
I distinctly recall trying to decide whether or not to get all three titles, or just the two games, or just the Zen Garden/Spanish instructional program.
Dreams Are Weird.
I wish I could write more - previously this week I saw my first Opera (not the web browser), I let my wife drive my car for the first time since I bought it in November, lots of things have been going on at work, my wife & I just celebrated our 8th anniversary, I recently received my copy, #108 of 250, of Adventure II for the Atari 5200, and many other happenings, but it's now 4:50am, and I really need to hit the sack before work tomorrow. I'm really bad at keeping things brief.
Tonight isn't much different. I've been unusually exhausted for the last several days, and wanted to go to bed early tonight. Yet it's now 3:05am, I'm engrossed in a movie on cable (Heist, with Gene Hackman), and just now starting this entry. Anyone with half-a-brain can reasonably conclude I'm an idiot.
So I'm going to try and keep this brief. I just want to try and jot down a few quick notes.
Yesterday evening, going through the mail, I encountered a return-postage-paid survey sent to me by the DSCC. At the end of the survey, there was the expected request for a donation.
I'm a registered voter. I'm registered as an INDEPENDENT. Given that our country was hijacked several years ago by the absolute worst people to ever occupy our government at it's highest levels, I began donating money (not much, but some) to various Democratic campaigns, to try and help eliminate the Republican politicians that have been doing so much harm to our country and the world. Nevertheless, I am still an INDEPENDENT.
Since I began donating to various Dem campaigns, the Natl Dem party has assumed that because I donated money, I am a member of the Democratic Party. Actually, all the donations mean is that I have a minimal amount of wisdom, empathy, and intelligence. Maybe that does make me a Democrat, hmmm......
Back to the point - this presumption on the part of the Democratic Party leadership has been a low-level irritant to me for a while. It seems to me this happens nearly every time I make a donation anywhere. Several years ago, I made the mistake of donating to some Jewish Charity that probably nobody has ever heard of. Since then, we get solicited at least once a week from some organization asking for donations to help a family in Israel put Shabbat dinner on the table. I give plenty to my synagogue and a select few other legitimate groups, and we no longer even answer the phone if CallerID indicates an unrecognized Brooklyn number.
So that's the background. At the end of this survey from the DSCC, there was the usual plea for cash, but it was worded such that by donating, I would become a proud member of the DSCC.
I declined to provide more money. It REALLY doesn't help their case that I received this mailing on the same day I read about their latest capitulation to the White House. They're Spineless.
(ASIDE: The movie, HEIST, just ended. Pretty good.)
So, that's one point I wanted to mention.
Another political point - For once, I'm actually pretty pleased with several of the potential Democratic nominees for Pres. I don't like Hillary, but I think she could make a good President, though I do have some reservations about her. I like what I know about Bill Richardson. I don't believe he's got even a snowball's chance in hell of winning the nomination, but I kind-of like Kucinich. I don't dislike Obama, and his optimism is extremely refreshing. I'm still holding out very strong hope that Gore will step in and win it all (again). And even if he doesn't, I just read an incredible speech by John Edwards. Read it yourself. I actually like, and would be proud to have as President Bill Richardson, Barack Obama, Denis Kucinich, John Edwards, or Al Gore. I could easily get behind any one of them. Hell, if we could get a Gore-Edwards White House, I think that would be a wonderful start to repairing the tragic damage that has been done to our country since the current goon squad began their occupation of the White House.
Shifting Gears...
I frequently fill out surveys online for a couple of polling organizations. I seldom remember having dreams. I only believe I actually do dream because according to established science everybody dreams, whether they recall doing so or not.
Well, the two seemingly unconnected facts above come together. I actually remember a dream I had last night. AND, I remember answering a survey question that asked if I recall my dreams or not. Ironically, I can't think of any survey I've filled out that asked the question about dreams, and for all I know, I encountered that particular survey question in a dream!
So, what do I recall about last night's dream? It was a little odd, and probably of no interest to most people. I remember standing in front of a videogame store in a mall, similar to Babbage's or Electronics Boutique, looking at the display in front and struggling over a decision of whether or not to buy one or several games. To a videogame afficionado though, the specifics just might be a little interesting.
I was trying to select among 3 brand-new games for the Sega Saturn. The Saturn went off the market in late-1998, according to Wikipedia. Also, I was never a very big Saturn fan, and have hardly played the system. So it's strange that it would make such an appearance in my dream. Just to be clear, my dream occurred, as far as I can tell, in the present.
There were 3 titles I was considering for purchase. Two were games packaged similarly to the Saturn Netlink. White box, grey and blue lettering, very clean looking. Of the two titles, I cannot remember one, and the other was some 2007 version of a baseball game. The games were about $50 each. The third title was in a larger box, though it was styled similarly. This title was a "Teach Yourself Spanish" program, and with purchase a 'free' Japanese Zen Garden was included in the package. This item was about $70.
I distinctly recall trying to decide whether or not to get all three titles, or just the two games, or just the Zen Garden/Spanish instructional program.
Dreams Are Weird.
I wish I could write more - previously this week I saw my first Opera (not the web browser), I let my wife drive my car for the first time since I bought it in November, lots of things have been going on at work, my wife & I just celebrated our 8th anniversary, I recently received my copy, #108 of 250, of Adventure II for the Atari 5200, and many other happenings, but it's now 4:50am, and I really need to hit the sack before work tomorrow. I'm really bad at keeping things brief.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Did some reading tonight.
Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.
-- Albert Einstein
Early this evening I headed for Newark International Airport to catch a flight to Atlanta. I will be visiting a client tomorrow and Wednesday to install Microsoft CRM. Wednesday evening I return to NJ, the land of 20° swings from one day to the next.
I seldom fly, driving whenever possible, as the flying experience became dreadful over the last 25 years or so. When I arrived at the airport, I used the eCheck in kiosk, and was offered a seating choice! And the Exit Row was still available! I got myself a seat with no seat in front of it! I had more leg room than the high rollers in First Class. Of course, my seat was barely wider than a 6-pack, and the seatback reclined whenever I leaned back, even without me pressing the button to lean back. Also, going through security on my way to the gate, I had to throw out an unopened tube of toothpaste, an unopened bottle of water, and my shaving cream. At least the air travel experience held true to expectations.
My laptop is a little big, and very unwieldy in the cramped space of an airline seat, so on tonight's flight I didn't even try to take the laptop out of it's bag. I thought about taking out the Gameboy, but it wasn't worth the effort either.
I'd brought with me a book that I'd been wanting to read for several years - Driving Mr. Albert. On the flight down, I read the first 96 pages, almost halfway through the book. It's an entertaining book, and I spent a lot of thought wondering whether or not it's actually true, or a work of fiction. Every so often I'd come across a great quote, such as the one up above.
Now, I need to get some sleep.
-- Albert Einstein
Early this evening I headed for Newark International Airport to catch a flight to Atlanta. I will be visiting a client tomorrow and Wednesday to install Microsoft CRM. Wednesday evening I return to NJ, the land of 20° swings from one day to the next.
I seldom fly, driving whenever possible, as the flying experience became dreadful over the last 25 years or so. When I arrived at the airport, I used the eCheck in kiosk, and was offered a seating choice! And the Exit Row was still available! I got myself a seat with no seat in front of it! I had more leg room than the high rollers in First Class. Of course, my seat was barely wider than a 6-pack, and the seatback reclined whenever I leaned back, even without me pressing the button to lean back. Also, going through security on my way to the gate, I had to throw out an unopened tube of toothpaste, an unopened bottle of water, and my shaving cream. At least the air travel experience held true to expectations.
My laptop is a little big, and very unwieldy in the cramped space of an airline seat, so on tonight's flight I didn't even try to take the laptop out of it's bag. I thought about taking out the Gameboy, but it wasn't worth the effort either.
I'd brought with me a book that I'd been wanting to read for several years - Driving Mr. Albert. On the flight down, I read the first 96 pages, almost halfway through the book. It's an entertaining book, and I spent a lot of thought wondering whether or not it's actually true, or a work of fiction. Every so often I'd come across a great quote, such as the one up above.
Now, I need to get some sleep.
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