... If you want to see a REAL weapon of mass destruction, watch me light a fart!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Decisions, decisions...
Since this is Extra Special Super Bitchin' Double-Throw-Down Typhoon Tuesday, I figgered I'd toss in maybe 2¢ worth.
The other day, Fixer wrote a great post about his decision as to which candidate to vote for today, and the next day he did a follow-on likening the President (Damn, it'll be good to put a capital 'P' on President again, God willing!) to a mechanic.
I'm gonna take this analogy a step farther and compare the President to the guy who makes the A- or C-guy decision: the service writer.
The service writer is the face of the repair shop to the customer. He greets the customer and listens to his tale of automotive woe. He writes down the complaint as to what the car is or isn't doing, and then assigns the work to a mechanic, who does the actual diagnosis, and then figures out an estimate of time and cost and relays this to the customer for his approval.
The service writer always tries to match the mechanic to the job as best he can. Some mechanics (like me 'n Fixer, ahem...) can do it all, but sometimes they can't. You don't necessarily want the large bozo who R&Rs Cummins engines doing an exacting electronic diagnosis, just as an example.
Most service writers have mechanical experience, but it is only really necessary that they are conversant with theory and practice. They don't have to be master mechanics to assign a job to one. Hell, you don't want mechanics talking with the customers either. Shudder!
One of the big skills in being a good service writer is the ability to put the customer at ease and make his upcoming expense palatable to him. Call it a sales job, or maybe tact and diplomacy, which are about the same thing. Nobody likes to get their car fixed (or pay taxes) but sometimes it's necessary.
The main thing is that they are honest and can communicate clearly to and from the customer. What you don't want is a rip-off who takes your money and your car still doesn't work right. As Presidents go, we already have one of those. Bush could fuck up a junkyard with a rubber hammer and charge for a precision repair.
Which brings up that the service writer is also the complaint department if there's a problem with the customer's car after the repair. He didn't do the work, but he gets the blame. It is his responsibilty to ensure the finished product is up to snuff. Mechanics will tell you it doesn't matter what happens in the shop, but when that car goes out, it has to be right. If it's not, it's the service writer who catches the initial heat, which will be passed along in due course.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that our President doesn't have to do the actual work himself. What he is, is the face of our government. As long as he has an idea of what it is that he wants to do, he has 'mechanics', such as SecState, SecDef, AG, etc., to carry out the actual work. He has to have honest people whom he can trust, since the work goes out with first his name on it as President of the United States and then in our name as Americans.
Like a mechanic, though, he should be smart, know what he's doing, take pride in his work, admit his mistakes and clean up the rare comeback with a public smile, no matter what might pass between him and the guy who did the job in the first place.
In light of the president we have now, the next one should also have good judgment and a sense of shame so he doesn't commit criminal acts and poor policy decisions that benefit the few at the expense of the many. I always get the feeling that Bush is laughing at us for being suckers for lettin' him get away with all his shit and for not coming for him with pitchforks like we should have.
From my standpoint on 'experience' not being the main quality I'm looking for in a President, I'll bet you've already guessed that I'm going to vote for Barack Obama. Sometimes you need to vote with your head, and sometimes with your heart. I'm old enough to remember the promise of John Kennedy, even though he never really got the chance to pull off very much of it. We believed in him and felt good about the future.
I'm also old enough that there aren't many years left to me to see a better America. The old ways don't work. A new one might, and that's the way I'm going. With hope in my heart.
The other day, Fixer wrote a great post about his decision as to which candidate to vote for today, and the next day he did a follow-on likening the President (Damn, it'll be good to put a capital 'P' on President again, God willing!) to a mechanic.
The Chimp took this nation apart and it barely runs. You gonna give your tools to the C-mechanic to fix it or to the A-guy?
I'm gonna take this analogy a step farther and compare the President to the guy who makes the A- or C-guy decision: the service writer.
The service writer is the face of the repair shop to the customer. He greets the customer and listens to his tale of automotive woe. He writes down the complaint as to what the car is or isn't doing, and then assigns the work to a mechanic, who does the actual diagnosis, and then figures out an estimate of time and cost and relays this to the customer for his approval.
The service writer always tries to match the mechanic to the job as best he can. Some mechanics (like me 'n Fixer, ahem...) can do it all, but sometimes they can't. You don't necessarily want the large bozo who R&Rs Cummins engines doing an exacting electronic diagnosis, just as an example.
Most service writers have mechanical experience, but it is only really necessary that they are conversant with theory and practice. They don't have to be master mechanics to assign a job to one. Hell, you don't want mechanics talking with the customers either. Shudder!
One of the big skills in being a good service writer is the ability to put the customer at ease and make his upcoming expense palatable to him. Call it a sales job, or maybe tact and diplomacy, which are about the same thing. Nobody likes to get their car fixed (or pay taxes) but sometimes it's necessary.
The main thing is that they are honest and can communicate clearly to and from the customer. What you don't want is a rip-off who takes your money and your car still doesn't work right. As Presidents go, we already have one of those. Bush could fuck up a junkyard with a rubber hammer and charge for a precision repair.
Which brings up that the service writer is also the complaint department if there's a problem with the customer's car after the repair. He didn't do the work, but he gets the blame. It is his responsibilty to ensure the finished product is up to snuff. Mechanics will tell you it doesn't matter what happens in the shop, but when that car goes out, it has to be right. If it's not, it's the service writer who catches the initial heat, which will be passed along in due course.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that our President doesn't have to do the actual work himself. What he is, is the face of our government. As long as he has an idea of what it is that he wants to do, he has 'mechanics', such as SecState, SecDef, AG, etc., to carry out the actual work. He has to have honest people whom he can trust, since the work goes out with first his name on it as President of the United States and then in our name as Americans.
Like a mechanic, though, he should be smart, know what he's doing, take pride in his work, admit his mistakes and clean up the rare comeback with a public smile, no matter what might pass between him and the guy who did the job in the first place.
In light of the president we have now, the next one should also have good judgment and a sense of shame so he doesn't commit criminal acts and poor policy decisions that benefit the few at the expense of the many. I always get the feeling that Bush is laughing at us for being suckers for lettin' him get away with all his shit and for not coming for him with pitchforks like we should have.
From my standpoint on 'experience' not being the main quality I'm looking for in a President, I'll bet you've already guessed that I'm going to vote for Barack Obama. Sometimes you need to vote with your head, and sometimes with your heart. I'm old enough to remember the promise of John Kennedy, even though he never really got the chance to pull off very much of it. We believed in him and felt good about the future.
I'm also old enough that there aren't many years left to me to see a better America. The old ways don't work. A new one might, and that's the way I'm going. With hope in my heart.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Football is a Republican game ...
Who knew? Carl has an excellent post up at Michael's place about the similarities between football and Republicans:
Like I said, who knew? Heh ...
...
Like Republicans, football coaches can demand a "recount" (video review) if things don't go their way, rather than rely on the fact that people make mistakes, life is unfair, and you have to deal with the consequences when luck breaks against you.
...
Football is about possession, too, so there's another parallel to Republicanism. The more time you "have," the more time they are the "have-nots," and Lord knows, the Republicans are all about the "haves"! I imagine interceptions and fumbles are a liberal Robin Hood plot in football to Republicans.
...
Like I said, who knew? Heh ...
Bourdain in NOLA
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations is in New Orleans tonight to see what changes have been wrought since Katrina. Should be good. 10 and 11PM on the Travel Channel.
The neocon candidate
If there's a better reason than this to wish for McCain's defeat, I haven't seen it.
Middle East Internet cable cut
Jerusalem Post
Submarines can do that. But whose? And why?
Ours used to fuck with Soviet undersea cables all the time to include tapping into them to listen in.
No ships were present when two marine cables carrying much of the Middle East's internet traffic were severed, announced Egypt's Ministry of Communications Sunday, contrary to earlier speculation about the causes of the cut.
The ministry had originally stated that a ship dropping its anchor on the two key cables was most likely responsible for Wednesday's cut in service that robbed Egypt, Saudi Arabia and India of much of their internet.
"A marine transport committee investigated the traffic of ships in the area, 12 hours before and after the malfunction, where the cables are located to figure out the possibility of being cut by a passing vessel and found out there were no passing ships at that time," said the statement.
The ministry added that the location, 8.3 kilometers (5 miles) from the port of Alexandria, was in a restricted area so ships would not have been allowed there to begin with.
Submarines can do that. But whose? And why?
Ours used to fuck with Soviet undersea cables all the time to include tapping into them to listen in.
Bush: As Valuable As Whale Shit?
Gore Vidal
The word 'ambergris' popped into my head, so I did a little research:
A piece o' shit, worth a lot of money, and can't get any lower because it's already at the bottom of the ocean. Yep, that's Bush all right.
Just as an afterthought, the Arabic word for whale shit, also the root of the word for the similar vegetal substance 'amber', is anbar. As in Anbar Province. Take it for what it's worth, which if it were whale shit would be a lot more than it is now.
While contemplating the ill-starred presidency of G.W. Bush, I looked about for some sort of divine analogy. As usual, when in need of enlightenment, I fell upon the Holy Bible, authorized King James version of 1611; turning by chance to the Book of Jonah, I read that Jonah, who, like Bush, chats with God, had suffered a falling out with the Almighty and thus became himself a jinx dogged by luck so bad that when a Stone Age cruise liner, thanks to his presence aboard, was about to sink in a storm at sea, the crew for safety’s sake threw him overboard and—Lo!—the storm abated. The three days and nights he subsequently spent in the belly of a nauseous whale must have seemed like a serious jinx to the digestion-challenged mammal who extruded him much as the decent opinion of mankind has done to Bush.
The word 'ambergris' popped into my head, so I did a little research:
According to the ancients, parfumeurs and Arab royalty, the old saying might as well go: "Worth its weight in whale waste"
But don't refer to it as "whale vomit"; scientists postulate that whales do not expel ambergris through their mouths. No one has ever seen a sperm whale excrete ambergris, although sperm whale expert Hal Whitehead of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, admits that it is assumed the voiding takes place as fecal excretion, because when first cast out, he says, "Well, it smells more like the back end than the front."
A piece o' shit, worth a lot of money, and can't get any lower because it's already at the bottom of the ocean. Yep, that's Bush all right.
Just as an afterthought, the Arabic word for whale shit, also the root of the word for the similar vegetal substance 'amber', is anbar. As in Anbar Province. Take it for what it's worth, which if it were whale shit would be a lot more than it is now.
Oh, the irony...
Ironic Times
The Mouse That Roared is still funny!
I hope great care is taken in choosing Bush's cellie as well. A 300lb transvestite biker rump ranger named Barbie would be about right.
Report: Military Unprepared for Attack on U.S. Soil
A small force, like one shown, could overwhelm our defenses.
The Mouse That Roared is still funny!
McCain Suggests Timetable For Iraq Withdrawal
Plan would have troops out by February, 2108.
Training Begun for 103 Secret Service Agents for Bush's Retirement
Not counting prison guards.
I hope great care is taken in choosing Bush's cellie as well. A 300lb transvestite biker rump ranger named Barbie would be about right.
China Chasing Down Dissidents in Preparation for Olympics
Those they can't catch make team.
Oy!
Super Duper, Holy Shit, Tsunami Tuesday can't come fast enough. God, I'm sick of the constant political ads.
Off to the shop ...
Off to the shop ...
Wow!
I don't know about you guys, but I'd have to say Skippy and Jon Swift's Blogroll Amnesty Day was a great success. Congrats to those guys for setting it up. Last night (while watching the game) I began stealing links from Skippy's pages (I got more to do tonight and I'm gonna glom the links from Jon too) and found a whole buncha great new blogs (I increased the size of our blogrolls by about 120 so far).
You know, the strength of Left Blogtopia (y!sctp!) is in the number and diversity of voices we have, not only Americans, but people from around the world who are aware enough to know that fortunes in their nations are directly tied to ours. It's a shame those of us who have the loudest voices turn their backs on the little guys but that's their problem. It's nice to see that most of us understand the meaning of the phrase "hang together or hang separately".
Thanks again to Skippy and Jon and the others who spearheaded Blogroll Amnesty Day.
And just a note: If I didn't get you up there last night, leave a link in comments on this post and I'll add you.
You know, the strength of Left Blogtopia (y!sctp!) is in the number and diversity of voices we have, not only Americans, but people from around the world who are aware enough to know that fortunes in their nations are directly tied to ours. It's a shame those of us who have the loudest voices turn their backs on the little guys but that's their problem. It's nice to see that most of us understand the meaning of the phrase "hang together or hang separately".
Thanks again to Skippy and Jon and the others who spearheaded Blogroll Amnesty Day.
And just a note: If I didn't get you up there last night, leave a link in comments on this post and I'll add you.
Michelle Obama
I caught her interview with Soledad yesterday. I don't know about you, but after listening to her, I wish she were running for President instead of her husband.
Champs!
Eli!
Contrary to what most believed would happen, the New York Football Giants are the Super Bowl Champions.
GLENDALE, Arizona (Reuters) - The New York Giants achieved one of the biggest upsets in NFL history with a 17-14 victory over the previously undefeated New England Patriots in the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Quarterback Eli Manning engineered a 12-play, 83-yard drive for the game-winner, connecting with Plaxico Burress in the left corner of the end zone just 35 seconds from time and triggered wild celebration on the Giants' sideline. [my em]
...
So, as we say here: "Yo, how 'bout dem Jints?"
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Nein!
A couple weeks back, I put up a post about the Marines leaving Iraq for Afghanistan. One of the reasons was because NATO was reluctant to send more troops to Afghanistan:
Well, it looks like the German politicians actually listen* to their constituents:
We'll hear more of this from the other NATO nations involved with our Afghanistan expedition as public opinion of the U.S. circles the bowl. The Chimp can't leave too soon at this point.
... Being just back from Europe, public opinion (anecdotal) is clearly against getting involved (or further involved) in anything American when it comes to foreign adventures, at least until we have a new President. We won't see any more European troops over there for a year at least ...
Well, it looks like the German politicians actually listen* to their constituents:
A bitter diplomatic row between Germany and the United States deepened yesterday after Berlin flatly rejected demands from Washington that it deploy troops in war-torn southern Afghanistan and angrily dismissed the request as "impertinent" and a "fantastic cheek".
...
Details of what was described as an "unusually stern" letter written by Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, to Franz Josef Jung, his German counterpart, were leaked to the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper yesterday.
...
Mr Jung later justified the German position insisting that there were "clear regional divisions" regarding troop deployment in Afghanistan. "Our current mandate only allows for German soldiers to be sent to the south in emergencies," he said. The issue is expected to come to a head next week when Nato defence ministers meet in Lithuania to discuss Afghanistan. Social Democrat MPs in Ms Merkel's conservative-led grand coalition government also argued strongly against the idea of sending troops south. Rainer Arnold, the party's defence spokesman, warned that the idea risked undermining the already shaky public support for Germany's entire Afghanistan mission. [my ems]
...
We'll hear more of this from the other NATO nations involved with our Afghanistan expedition as public opinion of the U.S. circles the bowl. The Chimp can't leave too soon at this point.
*Link thanks to Maru.
"The hills are alive...
...with the sound of single-cylinder engines!"
This is what I've been up to today. So has everyone else in the 'hood. I counted eight of these things runnin' all at once this morning:
I am dedicating this post to that little machine, which makes it possible (just barely, sometimes!) for me to live here. All the snow in my driveway is since yesterday afternoon.
Except for one winter when the thing was broke down, it has been clearing snow for 15 years. It is powered by 8 tired horses and one smelly ol' goat.
Kindly notice a unique feature, the crank-operated wind direction changer, nominally known as the 'discharge chute'. No matter which direction you want to throw the snow, a few turns of the crank will automatically change the wind direction so it is always discharged into the wind and thence onto the operator.
Should I ever move to the tropics, I think I'll take it with me. I think I've figured out how to harvest coconuts with it. Should be able to shoot 'em right into the bed of a pickup. I just gotta figure out how to climb a palm tree with it...
Somebody has kindly been removing my berms for me and today I caught him at it: it's Dave, who's a huntin' buddy of my next door neighbor Clancy. I may have blown the whole deal when I asked him, "Are you my berm fairy?". I gotta remember to put my brain in gear before engaging my mouth...
This is what I've been up to today. So has everyone else in the 'hood. I counted eight of these things runnin' all at once this morning:
Clicking will make it huge!
I am dedicating this post to that little machine, which makes it possible (just barely, sometimes!) for me to live here. All the snow in my driveway is since yesterday afternoon.
Except for one winter when the thing was broke down, it has been clearing snow for 15 years. It is powered by 8 tired horses and one smelly ol' goat.
Kindly notice a unique feature, the crank-operated wind direction changer, nominally known as the 'discharge chute'. No matter which direction you want to throw the snow, a few turns of the crank will automatically change the wind direction so it is always discharged into the wind and thence onto the operator.
Should I ever move to the tropics, I think I'll take it with me. I think I've figured out how to harvest coconuts with it. Should be able to shoot 'em right into the bed of a pickup. I just gotta figure out how to climb a palm tree with it...
Somebody has kindly been removing my berms for me and today I caught him at it: it's Dave, who's a huntin' buddy of my next door neighbor Clancy. I may have blown the whole deal when I asked him, "Are you my berm fairy?". I gotta remember to put my brain in gear before engaging my mouth...
Go Jints!
Pic thanks to the New York Football Giants.
Update:
If you're not into football, I just put up a post on my travel blog about family-friendly Disney cruises. Also on the blog, a heads up on a trip you might be interested in.
On Hillary*
Yesterday, in my post endorsing Mrs. Clinton for the Democratic nomination and the Presidency, I wrote a line I received several emails on basically saying I wasn't giving Obama enough credit:
Look at it this way. I can wheel my toolbox over to any idiot (not that I'm likening Obama to an idiot, no emails please) on the street, point him to a car, and say "have at it". That person will probably figure out how to take the car apart, using the large assortment of tools I just placed at his disposal, in a modicum of time.
Now, once it's a pile of parts on the floor, who are you gonna ask to put it back together so it runs like it did before? Me? (A mechanic with 35 years of experience, the majority of which came in the race engine field) Or him? (The poor schmuck who's looking at my tools for thefirst ... second time)
The Chimp took this nation apart and it barely runs. You gonna give your tools to the C-mechanic to fix it or to the A-guy?
Well back to work. I'm in the same situation Gord was last week, though without the company.
... With the moron named Bush, we saw it doesn't take much to fuck up a country but it takes an experienced hand to repair the damage ...
Look at it this way. I can wheel my toolbox over to any idiot (not that I'm likening Obama to an idiot, no emails please) on the street, point him to a car, and say "have at it". That person will probably figure out how to take the car apart, using the large assortment of tools I just placed at his disposal, in a modicum of time.
Now, once it's a pile of parts on the floor, who are you gonna ask to put it back together so it runs like it did before? Me? (A mechanic with 35 years of experience, the majority of which came in the race engine field) Or him? (The poor schmuck who's looking at my tools for the
The Chimp took this nation apart and it barely runs. You gonna give your tools to the C-mechanic to fix it or to the A-guy?
Well back to work. I'm in the same situation Gord was last week, though without the company.
*No pun intended but I don't think it would be a bad position to be in. Heh ...
American Classics
I'd have to say my favorite American composer is Aaron Copland. I got three from him today.
Appalachian Spring via the DePauw University Symphony Orchestra
And a note about the ELP offering: You classical purists might consider it drivel (in the same light as you consider the Bond girls) but I ask you to open your minds. Personally, I find it amazing the works of the old masters can translate so well into the modern era. It says a lot for the timeless nature of the classics.
Appalachian Spring via the DePauw University Symphony Orchestra
David Matthies, Conducting
Hoedown via Symphonic Orchestra of Poznan's music high-school
Fanfare for the Common Man via Emerson, Lake, and Palmer
And a note about the ELP offering: You classical purists might consider it drivel (in the same light as you consider the Bond girls) but I ask you to open your minds. Personally, I find it amazing the works of the old masters can translate so well into the modern era. It says a lot for the timeless nature of the classics.
Sounds about right ...
Mixter has a premonition:
I've said for a while now, Bush and the neocons won't leave quietly.
Update:
I was reading a post at the Swedish Meatballs (not work-safe) during my regular flyby through there and realized our brother Lurch did a treatment on it the other day and I forgot to blog about it (pothead). I'm stealing some quotes from Meatball but I'm going to send you to it through Lurch's page because I believe both posts should be read. This is so related to the snip I took from Mixter this morning:
Look for more little 'incidents' the closer we get to Election Day. I don't put it past Bush to try and pull a 'Giuliani' and try to overstay his term if this 'Cold War' we're fighting with Iran heats up.
...
McCain wins the GOP nomination. Clinton wins the Dem nomination.
Clinton wins the election; Gee Dubs starts WWIII before she takes office.
That's my call.
...
I've said for a while now, Bush and the neocons won't leave quietly.
Update:
I was reading a post at the Swedish Meatballs (not work-safe) during my regular flyby through there and realized our brother Lurch did a treatment on it the other day and I forgot to blog about it (pothead). I'm stealing some quotes from Meatball but I'm going to send you to it through Lurch's page because I believe both posts should be read. This is so related to the snip I took from Mixter this morning:
...
What happened in Millennium Challenge is that the Navy brass picked a prickly retired USMC vet named Paul van Ripen to play the Iranian commander facing a naval incursion--and van Riper, with nothing but small speedboats, civilian prop planes, and low-tech surface-to-surface missiles, managed to sink two-thirds of the US force by buzzing them with annoying but not openly hostile civilian craft, then attacking simultaneously with everything he had.
...
Of course Cheney or whoever else ordered the fleet into a shallow deathtrap like the Gulf was playing the same sleazy game, just with a bigger budget. The only possible reason to send a US fleet close to the Iranian coastline right now is that Cheney and his friends are desperate to provoke a war with Iran fast, before they have to leave office.
...
Look for more little 'incidents' the closer we get to Election Day. I don't put it past Bush to try and pull a 'Giuliani' and try to overstay his term if this 'Cold War' we're fighting with Iran heats up.
Blogroll Amnesty Day*
Our good pal Skippy the Bush Kangaroo has been doing yeoman's work bringing smaller blogs to the fore; hell, I update our blogrolls by stealing links from him. That said, I got too much shit to do today to individually list the good small blogs I've run across over the past year, but Skippy has a great list of them for you to visit. This evening, I'll be adding all the blogs he's highlighted to our blogroll (if they're not on it already). If you want to make sure you get on our blogroll, leave me a link in comments on this post and I'll add you. Unlike some of the major blogs who look at us the same way politicians do, no names but you know who you are, we here at the Brain have an extensive blogroll rivaling Skippy's and we're always happy to add new blogs. We're all in this together, ain't we?
Update:
See Jon Swift too.
*Yes! Skippy coined that phrase!
Update:
See Jon Swift too.
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