Specter of Government Frivolity

The specter of government frivolity and waste has reared its ugly and expensive head. The former and sometimes mourned party of fiscal responsibility has conceded the field to whomever wishes to declare themselves an adult and take leadership of this country. Yet another horseman of the apocalypse has trotted through town, alerting us that the end is here. Here is the headline on Boston.com:

[Senator] Specter calls for outside probe

What’s that a probe of, you might wonder (as if most of you don’t already know). Is it:

• a probe of risky lending practices?
• a probe of compromises of our defense intelligence?
• a probe of civil liberties violations?
• a probe of Executive Branch corruption?
• a probe of election mishandling?
• a probe of disaster preparedness?
• a probe of terrorism vulnerabilities in our nation’s ports?
• a probe of the effectiveness of the war on drugs and/or our drug laws?
• a probe of the social problems plaguing city schools?
• a probe of energy policy, which has failed to bring us viable alternatives to oil?
• a probe of speculation in the price of oil?
• a probe of science policy being twisted by Executive Branch politics?
• a probe of Iraq policies?

I could go on, but you get the idea. It’s none of those things. It’s a probe of football because Arlen Specter is unhappy that his favorite team lost. And after the NFL decided not to continue to pursue the Patriots taping “scandal,” he wants to force more scrutiny by wasting government funds paying independent investigators. As far as I can tell, no laws were broken; nobody has even speculated any laws were broken.

Perhaps he hasn’t been out of his office lately, but we’re in a motor-truckin’ recession out here. We don’t need the Republicans running the NFL, we need them to be adults and lead the country in solving actual problems. I’m sorry if the real world is too boring.

What’s next? A government probe into why the last Start Trek movie sucked so badly and why “Enterprise” turned off its fanbase? GIVE ME A MOTOR-TRUCKIN’ BREAK. It’s entertainment.

bonehead republican football geeks, specter, football, patriots, taping scandal

Money + Wind = Less Money

Yesterday was a pretty windy day.

Ryan and I were on our way to No Problemo restaurant at the corner of Williams St. and Purchase St. in New Bedford. (If you haven’t been in a while, they’ve opened up a new full-service sit-down dining area.)

I needed to use the ATM across the street, so we approached the bank’s vestibule. As I opened the door, which was still closing from someone who had just entered, I noticed a woman who was snatching at the air. She began to yell at me.

“Close the door! close the door!”

I realized she was trying to catch her money, which was flying around the vestibule as a result of the string wind currents. I tried to reverse and close the door, fighting both the wind and the door’s anti-slamming mechanism, but I was too late. The $20 bill flew out of the door when it was about 4 inches ajar and flew toward the street.

Then, caught in an eddy, it circled back around. Ryan and I tried to grab for it before it buried itself in the corner of the alcove. Ryan cornered it and ended its escape-attempt.

We entered the vestibule and gave the woman her 20, which seemed small comfort to her since she had lost $40 more behind a heavy, bolted, locked box next to the wall. Ryan made an attempt at helping her while I used the ATM, but the box wouldn’t budge. Some sort of security guard showed up, but never said a word. At this point there were 5 of us in the closet-sixed space: the woman, Ryan, another woman who was waiting for the ATM, the stoic guard and myself.

In retrospect, I think the guard was there because he was worried that we were trying to rob the bank. Maybe Ryan trying to move the lockbox made him nervous. But, the whole time we were there the woman was freaking out about the money she couldn’t reach. The security guard decided to get some fresh air, and we recommended to the woman that she talk to the management, and perhaps get something she could use to fish out the money.

I don’t know what they eventally did for her, but in my view if the money is still in the bank, you can see it but cannot reach it, it hasn’t been officially withdrawn from your account.

odd,bank,money,atm, New Bedford

Fire + Wind = More Fire

This story appeared in teh New Bedford Standard times:

An early morning fire at 31 Princeton Street is being blamed on a lit fire-safe cigarette. This is the second New Bedford fire in two months believed to have been caused by this type of cigarette, which is designed to prevent accidental fires. […]

He noted that the fire was likely caused by a Marlboro Medium fire-safe cigarette left in an ashtray that was placed on a windowsill. Fire-safe cigarettes are constructed with bands of slow-burning paper that are supposed to cause the cigarette to go out if left unattended for an extended amount of time. The ashtray with the lit cigarette fell onto an unused bed, igniting it.

My hypothesis is that “fire-safe cigarette” is a misnomer. Things that are fire safe do not cause fires, and thus these cigarettes are not fire safe. But I applaud the efforts of the Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes just the same.

The website of the Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes states:

Fire-safe cigarettes are a proven, practical, and effective way to eliminate the risk of cigarette-ignited fires.

but also:

Is it possible for a “fire-safe” cigarette to ignite furniture or bedding?
All cigarettes have the potential to ignite fires, but the use of “fire-safe” technology provides a tremendous reduction in those risks. A fire-safe cigarette cuts off the burning time before most cigarettes are able to ignite things like furniture or bedding material.

My understanding is that these are safer. But not safe. These cigarettes are mandated in MA, and the Coalition has statistics showing that cigarette-related fires have dropped. So that’s good.

But it never makes sense to leave a cigarette unattended. I imagine it was placed on the sill so that the smoke wouldn’t enter the house. Possibly someone in the building objects to the smoke. Maybe the wind blew the ashtray over and nobody was around to notice it. In any case, it’s clear that “fore-safe” or not, you’re taking a big risk if you leave your cigarette lying around.

fire,fire-safe,fire-safe cigarettes,smoking

News Dump

More of what’s going on here and elsewhere.

First, a positive note on Maggie’s blog. A surprisingly amicable exchange between neighbors. Perhaps that’s what happens when you offer to pay for something for your neighbor. Still and all, good to see we can agree on something, even if it is the destruction of a mulberry tree. It’s a male mulburry, so I wonder if the female next to it won’t be so full of berries once this one is gone. I hear they wind-pollinate, so I guess it depends on whether there are any other male trees in the area. Since males are more common, we’ll probably still see lots of berries.

Two Big Strikes

I was struck by this story. A local woman drives into a telephone pole. She complains “something’s wrong” with her steering, but it turns out she can’t pass the impairment test — counting backwards from 86. Oops, looks like her car is full of bags of heroin. Eighty-three, to be precise. I wonder if that’s one of the numbers she missed in the impairment test.

Fewer than 48 hours later, the police had to pry her fingers from around her husband’s throat and arrest her again.

I can’t say for sure my town is going downhill. You make your own conclusions. Credit for the assist in the arrest goes to the woman herself, for alerting police by driving into a telephone pole. That’s good citizen self-policing, right there.

Politics

Somerset ousted a selectwoman. She says now she’s free to speak her mind, so I’ll be looking forward to some exciting issues of the Spectator. OK, not really. But possible future blogfodder anyhow.

Knife-Point Robberies

A Domino’s Delivery guy was robbed at knife-point in New Bedford. It’s the ninth reported food-delivery robbery this year for New Bedford. There was a mugging at knifepoint in the morning at the university recently. Crime in Fall River is up, as well. Massachusetts hasn’t been hit as hard as many other states in this recession, but if crime is any indicator, it’s hit this region of Massachusetts pretty badly.

Rail, Bus, what’s the diff?

The governor made SouthCoast rail one of his top transportation goals. At the end of April we saw that one of the “rail” proposals has turned into a bus. That’s right, instead of a rail, they’d get a bus driver to shuttle people up to South Station. It’s one of five scenarios, but, really.

Dur Stupid News!

Like American Gladiators, only without the tights.*

Proposed ballot question would abolish state income tax

Did you know that the income tax is largely a formality now, since Massachusetts has learned how to create money from thin air? That’s how government programs are really funded. The money they collect from your income tax is actually spent on tea, which is then dumped into Boston Harbor amid cries of “No representation without taxation!” So, why have an income tax at all?

In 2002, we voted this same measure, and 45% of the public bit. This is our second attempt at pulling the rug out from our government and throwing the Commonwealth into chaos.

Lakeville woman charged with assault in cinema

A woman is charged with assault after allegedly attacking another woman during a showing of “Baby Mama” in Taunton. It’s Taunton. Is anyone surprised?

It’s thought that the attacker was provoked by the sound of laughter. Since it couldn’t possibly have been related to the film, she assumed she was the target of derision and the ensuing melee involved her 16 year-old daughter as well. For the win, Mrs. Crocker. If you were worried you were being laughed at then, you are now officially “The Dangerous-Crazy Lakeville Woman Who Attacks Mirthful People.”

ITEM!

JENNA BUSH WEDDING PHOTOS RELEASED! causing a massive earthquake in China.

The next one is for Chuck:

Life Immitates Art.

Dennis Farina arrested. In an airport. It almost doesn’t matter why. Serrano’s got the disks! He’s got the disks!

Warning, NSFW language and Midnight Run spoilers:

Bonus video: Midnight Run the “WARNING NSFW LANGUAGE, I’M REALLY SERIOUS” version

Oddest Choice of Photo Award

… goes to this story in the Sunday Times Online. Lebanon tense after Hezbollah power grab. In a stunning leopard print and jazzy golden minidress.

Really Loco Local

In Somerset, we’re voting in one of the least-talked-about races of this political season. I’d tell you all about it, but then I might be held responsible for tragic asleep-at-the-keyboard mishaps. Don’t surf tired!

[* Not in the way you thought I meant that. Actually, this is nothing like American Gladiators.]

Ennui Shotgun

• 6 Excellent Firefox Extensions Made To Save Your Time (addons,firefox,web,tools)
  • I like saving time! You like too! Install, install!
• DrawerGeeks: Batman (art,cartoon,drawing,comics,kaiju,batman)
  • Different takes on Batman. If you go back up to the index, the "Design a Sith" is kinda cool, too. And the Godzilla variations gave me a chuckle.
• PMOG - Passively Multiplayer Online Game (game,online)
  • It’s a game where your websurfing gets you points. I will send you an invite if you want to try it. It’s a game, but also a place to find interesting links as you follow "missions" other people have organized.
• Compulse (game,flash)
  • One of those get-the-ball-to-hit-the-exit games.
• Free Star Wars book (audio,book,download,free,starwars)
  • Del Rey is giving away a free Star Wars novel, either in PDF or audio format, to encourage people to buy the next novel. It’s set right after SW:RotJ and contains familiar characters. Hat tip, Leslie.
• The ABCs of securing your wireless network (howto,article,networking,wifi,wireless)
  • Do you have wireless at home? Then you really should read this article which summarizes the basics in clear language and will steer you in the direction of acceptably home networking.
• Quotably.com - Follow Twitter Conversations (mashup,twitter)
  • Ever want to see your Twitter feed as conversations instead of just a list of tweets? This tool tries to organize tweets that way. Does a pretty good job. See who your friends are talking to, too.
• TwitterSnooze! v0.1 (mashup,tool,twitter)
  • Overly-chatty folks on your twitter feed? Give yourself a break by snoozing them with TwitterSnooze. Hat tip @geechee_girl
• Free sheet music on 8notes.com (violin,free,music,sheet,download,reference,resources)
• • Sheet music and more for musicians.

I think I surf too much. And I surf weird stuff too much. I dreamt the other night that I was surfing the internet and looking at an EVP website (i.e. a website with supposed recordings of supernatural voices recorded electronically). I listened to a couple of the recordings, and they were creepy but not unusual. I listened to one of them about three times, trying to hear a voice. My dreaming brain did a pretty good job generating an appropriately garbled sound that kind of sounded like a voice.

But how sad is it that I’m spending time dreaming about websites with that sort of BS? Other people are out there dreaming that they can do amazing or exciting things, dangerous things, forbidden things, daring things. I’m dreaming that I came across a weird website.

Teaching Wizardry

Educating our youth population efficiently and effectively is a difficult proposition. I know many people who work hard to find ways to improve methods of education.

But not all the problems teachers face are with the approach, curriculum or methods. Some problems are societal. You don’t have to look far to find students who cannot focus on their studies because their school is plagued with poverty, hunger, the drug trade, and prostitution. Middle school is difficult enough without these factors.

It’s all the worse, then, that we have to deal with superstition as well.

Pat Sinclair, who oversees substitute teachers in the Pasco County School District, was on the phone. She told Piculas there had been a complaint about his performance at Rushe Middle School in Land O’ Lakes.

He asked what she meant.

“She said, ‘You’ve been accused of wizardry,’ ” Piculas said.

What was his crime? He made a toothpick disappear with some slight of hand and transparent tape. And then showed the kids how to do it.

Whatever other reasons that the school district said they fired him, this appears to have been a precipitating event. It shouldn’t have even merited mention.

Think about all that mankind has learned and how it helps us make a little bit of sense out of the world around us. Think of our hopes for the future, which rest upon our friends and neighbors having some understanding of the world with all of its complexities. I am amazed we make any progress at all.

(Hat tip to Bob on EAForums.)

(P.S. If anyone doubts that teen prostitution is aproblem in schools:

The number of girls being sexually exploited through prostitution is rising rapidly in Boston, with 12 times as many cases of teen prostitution in the first nine months of 2005 as in all of 2003.

)

Technorati : wizardry witchcraft education school superstition religion

Museum Nostalgia

Summer is coming, and that usually means a lot of museum visits for us. But I fear we might be cutting back on some of our summertime adventures because of increases in gas prices.

When I was my daughters’ ages, this is what kids in Massachusetts thought of when someone mentioned the science museum and the aquarium:

Nostalgia!

McCain/Bush Not Troops Best Friends

I just read the Op-Ed Doing the Troops Wrong by Bob Herbert. It discusses Jim Webb’s no-brainer proposal for a new GI Bill.

He points out that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nomination hopefuls, both support Webb’s proposal. Then he says this:

Well, you might be surprised at who is not supporting this effort. The Bush administration opposes it, and so does Senator John McCain.

Surprised? Only if you’ve bought into Republican and right-wing radio rhetoric.

I’m not surprised, and neither should you be. How many stories do we need to read about veterans getting short shrift before we get the message that the Republican party talks a good game about supporting the troops, but if you scratch the surface it turns out that Republicans and warbloggers are most enthusiastic about the troops when we’re talking about sending them places to fight. And they love the opinions of the troops when that opinion is “LET US FIGHT!”

The support for the troops begins to evaporate when the troops return; it becomes largely symbolic. When the troops return, they sometimes return with a different opinion about war. An opinion less enthusiastic about war doesn’t quite mesh with warblogger chickenhawk thinking. To them, our returning troops are more useful as quiet symbols, like the flag.

These people can have a lot of trouble returning from their tours. We owe it to them to help, and funding their education is a winning proposition. Don’t forget this when someone wants you to equate flag-waving with patriotism. Don’t let McCain get away with the political cover of his watered-down counter-proposal.

Actions speak louder than lapel pins.

Happy “Drink Like A”

Happy Drink Like a Mexican Day!

Having survived “Drink Like an Irishman Day!” (the exclamation point is part of the name) you are now in the midst of “Drink Like a Mexican Day!”

In the interest of being a more fair and balanced society, the government is renaming all holidays to more accurately reflect their observance, and offer guidance to the would-be reveler. I offer you a table with the provisional new names of various holidays.

St. Patrick’s Day

Suggestions for additional days welcome in the comments.

Technorati : cinco de mayo, drink, holiday, humor, st. patrick’s day

Goat Diapering Update

I would be shirking my duty to you, dear reader, if I did not pass the knowledge on to you as soon as new information about goat diapering reaches my ears^*.

I was first introduced to goat diapering when we had a petting zoo birthday party on a rainy day, and the nice lady diapered the goat so that we wouldn’t have as big a cleanup job in our exercise room.

I have learened that not only is goat diapering popular in Iraq, but Islamist extremists are murdering Iraqis for failing to diaper their goats. They’re not worried about cleanup; these are outdoor goats, after all. They’re worried about modesty. They believe that un-diapered goats are too much of a sexual enticement to good muslim men. In other words, when a man has sex with a goat, it’s the goat’s fault.

But faulting the goat makes no sense, right? Goats can’t diaper themselves. Clearly it’s the fault of the guy who failed to put a diaper on the goat. And retribution is swift and absolute: death comes to those who fail to diaper their goats.

My source is this NPR story. Iraq Still Manages to Shock by John Hendren.

Hat tip to Heretical Ideas blog for bringing this to my attention.

[* New to this blog? We were, at one time, Number One in Goat Diapering because of a post “I believe in Goats” about a petting zoo we had in our house.

If that’s not enough of a blast-from-the-past, I bring you the unrelated Great Buntloaf Incident of 2005. Maggie and I are overdue to host a dinner party. We have pictures, but the bundtloaf recipe has been lost to the ages.]

Technorati : goat diapering, iraq, islam, odd, offbeat

Better Is Easy

If you’re running the show, and you want to be a good leader, my understanding of leadership implies a vision, a plan, and then goals that are milestones toward that end. This is my only understanding of actual leadership vs. simply “being in charge” or “administrating.” That is to say, there is a difference between administration and leadership.

To make a somewhat geeky reference, when I think of administration, I think of the Steward of Gondor. And when I think of leadership, I think of Aragorn. Sorry, but it seemed like a nice example, even if it does come with a lot of baggage.

To let you know what started me thinking along these lines, I was reading the excellent local blog A View From Battleship Cove and the post “School Surplus.” Lefty is talking about the possibility of improvements in the city of Fall River, and he makes the sensible observation that changes should fit into the fabric of the city. (Nice play on words for the Spindle City, by the way, Lefty.) This post is not really a response to Lefty, or an effort to address the subject of his post, but it did get me thinking.

It made me think of the difference between improvements and a vision. It made me think of a comment that my old boss JJK used to say about certain situations: “Better is easy; good is hard.” It made me think of lessons my father, an expert in large project management, tried to teach me about how showing progress (real progress) often does not tell you anything about whether you’re any closer to achieving your goals.

And I think this relates to administration vs. leadership because successful administration simply administers, keeping a system alive with little measurable improvement or deterioration. Progress can be reported here or there, but it is not progress toward anything specific. Like a healthy-looking raise that is outpaced by inflation, or a tax cut that is consumed by rising costs of living, it is something that looks good enough to distract you from a deeper understanding of your situation.

My point is not to defame administrators or administration. It can be hard work keeping a system going. And sometimes the status quo is good and nobody sees a need for much change. But I do think that “progress” is a concept misused by many administrators to put off criticism in times when people want a leader. In my opinion, it’s better not to tout treading water as progress.

Leaders can be distinguished by their vision. Of course, any nut with an imagination can have a vision. And that’s most nuts. But a leader should also have a plan to achieve that vision. And such a plan should have milestones which are true measures of progress.

I am not an expert on city planning, but when people complain about their municipality, I wonder if they ought not to ask their elected officials whether they are administrators or leaders. One is appropriate for a content population and the other is appropriate for times when real improvement is being called for. Are elected officials fulfilling the needs of the people by leading when leadership is needed? And if they say they are leading, are they exhibiting the attributes of leadership, not only in the charisma that we associate with some leaders, but in the presence of a vision and a plan and milestones that add up to the achievement of a goal?

Good is hard. You can get away with a lot if you can just avoid being tied to goals and milestones. You can spend a lot of time and money.

Free Comic Book Day!

Remember that this upcoming Saturday is Free Comic Book Day.

Free Comic Book Day is a single day when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their stores.

I’ll be stopping in with the kids at StillPoint comics at their new location in Fall River. Check them out if you’re in the SouthCoast. Bring the kids! Or, use the participating store locator. Newbury Comics is also participating.

Technorati : comics, free

To Do Backfill

Here’s an indication that I am not using my To Do list efficiently.

I find myself doing critical tasks that are not on my To Do list, and so I don’t get to cross them off the list when I am done. So my crossed-off list looks paltry, even when I’m making progress on critical tasks.

I guess this means that I need to capture critical tasks to my To Do list better, and perhaps get more detailed with breaking them down. Perhaps as soon as I am about to do something that is not on my To Do list, I should take that as an indication that I need to spend a few moments fixing my To Do list. Because, not only should the list help me plan, it ought to give me some indication of progress as I cross stuff off, no? That’s a form of motivation.

On the other hand, there are times when there are many small, unwritten but priority tasks so small that they take only a few short minutes to complete. In some organizational systems you’re encouraged to handle microtasks and get them out of the way rather than track them.

That makes sense. But I still think you should backfill those tasks if you get some satisfaction out of crossing them off. Plus, your crossed-off list is more accurate if it includes those tasks.

Technorati : todo organization

Sunday Links

Like a Shotgun Post, only more Sunday-riffic.

• Crazy Spider-Man Tattoo (tattoo,spider-man,crazy)
  • I like Spider-Man, too, but this is a bit much.
• Soldier Sues Army, Saying His Atheism Led to Threats - New York Times (atheism,military,religion)
  • “People like you are not holding up the Constitution and are going against what the founding fathers, who were Christians, wanted for America!”
• Pregnancy Tips (funny,humor,pictures)
  • Important pictorial guide to a healthy pregnancy.
• Goth…Tart (pictures,photo,funny)
  • What birds think of each other
• Instant Rimshot (audio,entertainment,humor)
  • You never know when you’re going to need that little flair of accompaniment. It could be the difference between breaking or making your next joke.