So, last night I had a dream that Chuck and I got married. It was quite a dream; we discussed it after being challenged - again - as to how long and why were weren't a couple. In the discussion, we just decided to plan for it .. kind of funny.
I told Chuck about it, and his response was "Clairee, are you HIGH?"
Upon reflection, I couldn't do any better if that scenario came to pass.
DJHJD
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Friday, August 04, 2006
Friday folderol
Today is Jenny Hunter's birthday. I should call her and wish her a happy birthday, I suppose. I'm ambivalent about it, but I know it's what I should do.
"Cuban dictator Fidel Castro is still in the hospital with a serious medical condition. Castro said that a half century of Communist rule seemed like a good idea right up until the point he was rushed to the hospital in a '55 Oldsmobile."
---Conan O'Brien
"President Bush has rejected calls for an immediate cease-fire [in Lebanon] on the grounds that he'd prefer a "sustainable" cease-fire. It makes sense. He doesn't want the killing to stop until he's sure it will stop. So there will be more killing until the president's convinced that there will be no more killing. Or everyone else runs out of people."
---Jon Stewart
"President Bush had his annual medical exam this week. The doctors said the president remains in excellent health and is fit for duty. In fact, so fit today the National Guard called and said, `So how about serving your time now?'.
---Jay Leno
Okay, so I've dialed Mrs. Hunter's phone number.. and that's no longer her phone number. Let's see if she's still advertising with Centerpoint. Nope, she's not.
The guy from Minnie called again today. He WANTS to sell that car. I think he's pregnant with it. He's so darned anxious about it. "When are you coming up? I'll pick you up at the airport!"
I bet you would, bub.
Fascinating article about China's economic growth and whether it's headed for a meltdown. It's short and sweet, and raises some interesting points that would tend to counter the commonly held belief that China will own everything in ten years.
Waiting for a handyman to come by and give me an estimate for several things here, not the least of which is going to be repairing whatever circuit breaker blew up Tuesday night and left me without indirect kitchen lighting and a microwave.
"Cuban dictator Fidel Castro is still in the hospital with a serious medical condition. Castro said that a half century of Communist rule seemed like a good idea right up until the point he was rushed to the hospital in a '55 Oldsmobile."
---Conan O'Brien
"President Bush has rejected calls for an immediate cease-fire [in Lebanon] on the grounds that he'd prefer a "sustainable" cease-fire. It makes sense. He doesn't want the killing to stop until he's sure it will stop. So there will be more killing until the president's convinced that there will be no more killing. Or everyone else runs out of people."
---Jon Stewart
"President Bush had his annual medical exam this week. The doctors said the president remains in excellent health and is fit for duty. In fact, so fit today the National Guard called and said, `So how about serving your time now?'.
---Jay Leno
Okay, so I've dialed Mrs. Hunter's phone number.. and that's no longer her phone number. Let's see if she's still advertising with Centerpoint. Nope, she's not.
The guy from Minnie called again today. He WANTS to sell that car. I think he's pregnant with it. He's so darned anxious about it. "When are you coming up? I'll pick you up at the airport!"
I bet you would, bub.
Fascinating article about China's economic growth and whether it's headed for a meltdown. It's short and sweet, and raises some interesting points that would tend to counter the commonly held belief that China will own everything in ten years.
Waiting for a handyman to come by and give me an estimate for several things here, not the least of which is going to be repairing whatever circuit breaker blew up Tuesday night and left me without indirect kitchen lighting and a microwave.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Thursday chaffering
chaffer (CHAF-uhr) verb tr., intr.
1. To haggle; to bargain.
2. To bandy words; to chatter.
noun
Bargaining or haggling.
[From Middle English chaffare, eventually from Old English ceap (trade, purchase), precursor of English cheap + faru (journey).]
Thanks to wordsmith.com
Today, we lead with two fascinating articles from USA Today; first, the Federal deficit is a lie. L-I-E. If I had prepared tax returns that used the accounting rules the Feds use, I'd be in prison. For a long time.
Take your pick, either the Federal deficit was really $760 Billion, or it was $3.5 Trillion. If they were using accounting in the same manner that business corporations are required to use, the actual deficit was $3.5 Trillion.
How do those tax cuts feel about now?
Second, we see that the United States has almost no history of welcoming anyone who's not straight, white, Christian and wealthy.
Garage door repair guy scheduled. Now, I have to find a handyman/electrician.
1. To haggle; to bargain.
2. To bandy words; to chatter.
noun
Bargaining or haggling.
[From Middle English chaffare, eventually from Old English ceap (trade, purchase), precursor of English cheap + faru (journey).]
Thanks to wordsmith.com
Today, we lead with two fascinating articles from USA Today; first, the Federal deficit is a lie. L-I-E. If I had prepared tax returns that used the accounting rules the Feds use, I'd be in prison. For a long time.
Take your pick, either the Federal deficit was really $760 Billion, or it was $3.5 Trillion. If they were using accounting in the same manner that business corporations are required to use, the actual deficit was $3.5 Trillion.
How do those tax cuts feel about now?
Second, we see that the United States has almost no history of welcoming anyone who's not straight, white, Christian and wealthy.
Garage door repair guy scheduled. Now, I have to find a handyman/electrician.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Hump day - hither and yon day
It's not quite time for leaving to the Clinic for my follow up appointment; banking this morning was easy. Very few emails - I spent about twenty minutes unsubscribing for lists that were to have given me information about how to market my website - it was all a bunch of horse hockey, inasmuch as they were all trying to sell me something, and they swap the lists around. So, I was getting twenty of these idiot emails each day, sometimes three and four times from the same sender, telling me that I shouldn't buy this program! It's free (if I sign up for this special offer.
What crap. I'd been deleting them, and last night finally got fed up and just nuked 'em all. So, the email load this morning was much lower.
I was all excited last night; I washed the new sheets (after I figured out another place to plug in the washing machine) and I also laundered the silk duvet cover - all of which are the same lovely shade of merlot red. I've never bought $75 sheets before, even though that's not what I paid for these sheets, that's what they were at retail before the mark down and my big discount coupon. I was so excited to slide in between them last night, and this morning discovered that I had not pulled the sheet back, I had just slept beneath the comforter. Ah, well. There's tonight.
Ruby's transmission started slipping last night on the way home from Bed, Bath & Beyond - that was enough to set one's brain to spinning, I can tell you.
Watched "Twisted" with Samuel Jackson and Ashley Judd last night. Oof. It was twisted, yes it was. She was manipulated and twisted in the wind; it wasn't easy to figure out who the actual killer was until the very last scene. There was an actorin the film who had a non-speaking role; Ashley picks him up in a bar and takes him to his place for athletic sex. What a body! Woof.
Somewhere in between my efforts to launder the sheets, make dinner, clean house, work on the computer, and so on - I managed to trip a circuit breaker last night. This circuit stretches from the laundry room, all around the kitchen counters to the microwave - it's funky. I still haven't figured out how to bring it all back to life, which means that there's a LOONG extension cord in the dining room to get my coffee maker enough power to produce java.
I think this house just needs a lot of electrical help.
WE INTERRUPT THIS BLOG FOR SOME BREAKING NEWS
From Daily Kos
BREAKING: Bush Grants Self Permission To Grant Self More Power
In a decisive 1-0 decision Monday, President Bush voted to grant the president the constitutional power to grant himself additional powers.
The Presidential Empowerment Act, which the president hand-drafted on his own Oval Office stationery and promptly signed into law, provides Bush with full authority to permit himself to authorize increased jurisdiction over the three branches of the federal government, provided that the president considers it in his best interest to do so. "In a time of war, the president must have the power he needs to make the tough decisions including, if need be, the decision to grant himself even more power," Bush said. "To do otherwise would be playing into the hands of our enemies." ...
Senior administration officials lauded Bush's decision, saying that current presidential powers over presidential power were "far too limited." ...
Despite the president's new powers, the role of Congress and the Supreme Court has not been overlooked. Under the new law, both enjoy the newly broadened ability to grant the president the authority to increase his presidential powers. ... Republicans fearful that the president's new power undermines their ability to grant him more power have proposed a new law that would allow senators to permit him to grant himself more power, with or without presidential approval.
WE NOW RETURN YOU TO YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED RAMBLING
Okay, maybe not - this is too juicy for words - From tpmmuckraker
In Congress, the French Fries Are Back
In an unannounced move, the House cafeteria has removed the terms "freedom fries" and "freedom toast" from its offerings, and has reverted to using the dishes' more common names, "french fries" and "french toast."
Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), who had implemented the change in 2003 in a fit of hollow but PR-friendly patriotism, refused to comment on the switch. "We don't have a comment for your story," a spokesman for Ney said.
Owing to his notably unpatriotic involvement in the Abramoff scandal, Ney was several months ago forced to step down from his post as chair of the House Administration Committee, which oversees the cafeteria menu, among other things. The change appears to have been made by Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-MI), although he too declined comment.
An indictment for Ney is rumored to be mere weeks away, which could send him to prison. If that's the case, we wonder: will he rename it "the freedom house?"
Okay, NOW we can get back to the meaningless tripe.
I need more coffee before I can continue, so you'll have to assume that there's a pause here.
Okay, we're back.
Yesterday, as I was driving home from downtown, I was cruising out the Westpark toll road at about 65 mph, and was passed by a black Phaeton - non-factory grill, all badges removed, limo tint on the windows, big wheels, Louisiana plates - they were going about 85 mph. Everyone was staring at that car - what IS it? It looked HOT. And me having just found that little plastic scraper tool to remove badges from a car.
I did NOT win the Mega Millions last night. Bastards.
I have to get work going here - so I'm going to close this out and see about that.
(later)
A day of long meetings and short doctor visits. I finally cracked into the huge pile of filing stuff that was in the wire
basket; my intention is to have that all fully put away tonight so that tomorrow morning, I have only to work on client work with nothing of my own lingering about choking up my productivity.
Amazing what I found in there. Shit that should have just been put away or thrown away. Stuff that could have easily been put into a file, if you made a file for it. I can tell that going through the file drawers later is going to be a trip through dreamland. I should have taken a more hands on approach to it.
I think only once in my professional life did I have someone else managing the files for me that it was organized and worked out. What is up with THAT? When I manage my files myself, my attention to detail gets bogged down if I don't have a lot going on, and I just shove stuff into folders, but when I have a LOT going on, it gets VERY detailed and organized. And, I've been moving into having a lot going on.
Note to file: If dinner plans haven't been fully secured by 6:00, don't agree to go.
My cable modem is acting up again tonight - in frustration, I just unplugged it and took the battery out. It doesn't want to reboot, it doesn't have to. Maybe after I eat dinner so farcking late that my blood sugar will again be sky high tomorrow, it will feel more like cooperating. TWC is allegedly coming out tomorrow to work on it.
And, I still don't know just what the heck to do with the busted circuit breaker.
Back to the car, for another trip down the freeway. Only four days into this tank of gas, and it's almost gone, because I allowed myself to agree to appointments and engagements that were solo trips, instead of combining trips as I usually try to do. Tomorrow, I'm not starting the bastard.
Watch the transmission drop out of it tonight to accomodate my desire.
(later)
Dinner with Chuck and his Maracas from Caracas. That poor boy. How can he compete? Ah, well. It was good to spend some time with Chuck.
Then, it was TomTime - that was nice enough. Came home, and now I'm fiddling with the computer. I need to get into bed here fairly soon. I'm shopping on Froogle to see if I can find a non-factory grill for a Phaeton, like the one I saw yesterday.
What crap. I'd been deleting them, and last night finally got fed up and just nuked 'em all. So, the email load this morning was much lower.
I was all excited last night; I washed the new sheets (after I figured out another place to plug in the washing machine) and I also laundered the silk duvet cover - all of which are the same lovely shade of merlot red. I've never bought $75 sheets before, even though that's not what I paid for these sheets, that's what they were at retail before the mark down and my big discount coupon. I was so excited to slide in between them last night, and this morning discovered that I had not pulled the sheet back, I had just slept beneath the comforter. Ah, well. There's tonight.
Ruby's transmission started slipping last night on the way home from Bed, Bath & Beyond - that was enough to set one's brain to spinning, I can tell you.
Watched "Twisted" with Samuel Jackson and Ashley Judd last night. Oof. It was twisted, yes it was. She was manipulated and twisted in the wind; it wasn't easy to figure out who the actual killer was until the very last scene. There was an actorin the film who had a non-speaking role; Ashley picks him up in a bar and takes him to his place for athletic sex. What a body! Woof.
Somewhere in between my efforts to launder the sheets, make dinner, clean house, work on the computer, and so on - I managed to trip a circuit breaker last night. This circuit stretches from the laundry room, all around the kitchen counters to the microwave - it's funky. I still haven't figured out how to bring it all back to life, which means that there's a LOONG extension cord in the dining room to get my coffee maker enough power to produce java.
I think this house just needs a lot of electrical help.
WE INTERRUPT THIS BLOG FOR SOME BREAKING NEWS
From Daily Kos
BREAKING: Bush Grants Self Permission To Grant Self More Power
In a decisive 1-0 decision Monday, President Bush voted to grant the president the constitutional power to grant himself additional powers.
The Presidential Empowerment Act, which the president hand-drafted on his own Oval Office stationery and promptly signed into law, provides Bush with full authority to permit himself to authorize increased jurisdiction over the three branches of the federal government, provided that the president considers it in his best interest to do so. "In a time of war, the president must have the power he needs to make the tough decisions including, if need be, the decision to grant himself even more power," Bush said. "To do otherwise would be playing into the hands of our enemies." ...
Senior administration officials lauded Bush's decision, saying that current presidential powers over presidential power were "far too limited." ...
Despite the president's new powers, the role of Congress and the Supreme Court has not been overlooked. Under the new law, both enjoy the newly broadened ability to grant the president the authority to increase his presidential powers. ... Republicans fearful that the president's new power undermines their ability to grant him more power have proposed a new law that would allow senators to permit him to grant himself more power, with or without presidential approval.
WE NOW RETURN YOU TO YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED RAMBLING
Okay, maybe not - this is too juicy for words - From tpmmuckraker
In Congress, the French Fries Are Back
In an unannounced move, the House cafeteria has removed the terms "freedom fries" and "freedom toast" from its offerings, and has reverted to using the dishes' more common names, "french fries" and "french toast."
Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), who had implemented the change in 2003 in a fit of hollow but PR-friendly patriotism, refused to comment on the switch. "We don't have a comment for your story," a spokesman for Ney said.
Owing to his notably unpatriotic involvement in the Abramoff scandal, Ney was several months ago forced to step down from his post as chair of the House Administration Committee, which oversees the cafeteria menu, among other things. The change appears to have been made by Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-MI), although he too declined comment.
An indictment for Ney is rumored to be mere weeks away, which could send him to prison. If that's the case, we wonder: will he rename it "the freedom house?"
Okay, NOW we can get back to the meaningless tripe.
I need more coffee before I can continue, so you'll have to assume that there's a pause here.
Okay, we're back.
Yesterday, as I was driving home from downtown, I was cruising out the Westpark toll road at about 65 mph, and was passed by a black Phaeton - non-factory grill, all badges removed, limo tint on the windows, big wheels, Louisiana plates - they were going about 85 mph. Everyone was staring at that car - what IS it? It looked HOT. And me having just found that little plastic scraper tool to remove badges from a car.
I did NOT win the Mega Millions last night. Bastards.
I have to get work going here - so I'm going to close this out and see about that.
(later)
A day of long meetings and short doctor visits. I finally cracked into the huge pile of filing stuff that was in the wire
basket; my intention is to have that all fully put away tonight so that tomorrow morning, I have only to work on client work with nothing of my own lingering about choking up my productivity.
Amazing what I found in there. Shit that should have just been put away or thrown away. Stuff that could have easily been put into a file, if you made a file for it. I can tell that going through the file drawers later is going to be a trip through dreamland. I should have taken a more hands on approach to it.
I think only once in my professional life did I have someone else managing the files for me that it was organized and worked out. What is up with THAT? When I manage my files myself, my attention to detail gets bogged down if I don't have a lot going on, and I just shove stuff into folders, but when I have a LOT going on, it gets VERY detailed and organized. And, I've been moving into having a lot going on.
Note to file: If dinner plans haven't been fully secured by 6:00, don't agree to go.
My cable modem is acting up again tonight - in frustration, I just unplugged it and took the battery out. It doesn't want to reboot, it doesn't have to. Maybe after I eat dinner so farcking late that my blood sugar will again be sky high tomorrow, it will feel more like cooperating. TWC is allegedly coming out tomorrow to work on it.
And, I still don't know just what the heck to do with the busted circuit breaker.
Back to the car, for another trip down the freeway. Only four days into this tank of gas, and it's almost gone, because I allowed myself to agree to appointments and engagements that were solo trips, instead of combining trips as I usually try to do. Tomorrow, I'm not starting the bastard.
Watch the transmission drop out of it tonight to accomodate my desire.
(later)
Dinner with Chuck and his Maracas from Caracas. That poor boy. How can he compete? Ah, well. It was good to spend some time with Chuck.
Then, it was TomTime - that was nice enough. Came home, and now I'm fiddling with the computer. I need to get into bed here fairly soon. I'm shopping on Froogle to see if I can find a non-factory grill for a Phaeton, like the one I saw yesterday.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Tuesday - time to change the calendar
One of the best moments of each fortnight is when we get to change over the kitchen calendar to the next incredible beefcake picture - it's the Deaux Sade calendar of the French Rugby team .. oof! I sometimes would forget for days and days to change the calendar, but Bram's enthusiasm for the next artistic naked male photo means that I usually wake up the first day of the next picture to find it already turned over.
Bram's been so wiped out by his work schedule that he forgot to change the calendar over.
Bram's been so wiped out by his work schedule that he forgot to change the calendar over.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Cuba Libre!!
CUBA: THE ACCIDENTAL REVOLUTION
AIRS SUNDAY, JULY 30 & AUGUST 6 ON CBC TELEVISION'S
THE NATURE OF THINGS WITH DAVID SUZUKI
Cuba: The Accidental Revolution are two one-hour documentaries celebrating the country's success in providing for itself in the face of a massive economic crisis, and how it's latest revolutions, an agricultural revolution and a revolution in science and medicine are having repercussions around the world.
Cuba: The Accidental Revolution (Part 1), airing Sunday, July 30 at 7 P.M. on CBC Television, examines Cuba's response to the food crisis created by the collapse of the Soviet Bloc in 1989. At one time Cuba's agrarian culture was as conventional as the rest of the world. It experienced its first "Green Revolution" when Russia was supplying Cuba with chemical and mechanical "inputs." However, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 ended all of that, and almost overnight threw Cuba's whole economic system into crisis. Factories closed, food supplies plummeted. Within a year the country had lost over 80% of its foreign trade. With the loss of their export markets and the foreign exchange to pay for imports, Cuba was unable to feed its population and the country was thrown into a crisis. The average daily caloric intake of Cubans dropped by a third.
Without fertilizer and pesticides, Cubans turned to organic methods. Without fuel and machinery parts, Cubans turned to oxen. Without fuel to transport food, Cubans started to grow food in the cities where it is consumed. Urban gardens were established in vacant lots, school playgrounds, patios and back yards. As a result Cuba created the largest program in sustainable agriculture ever undertaken. By 1999 Cuba's agricultural production had recovered and in some cases reached historic levels.
In Cuba: The Accidental Revolution (Part 2), airing Sunday, August 6 at 7 P.M. on CBC Television, we learn that the country has been blockaded since 1961, but today Cuba has the highest quality of life in the region, the highest life expectancy, and one of the highest literacy rates in all of Latin America.
With the collapse of the Soviet Bloc, Cuba lost the foreign exchange needed to pay for expensive drugs and medicines. As a result, much of Cuba's medicine today is based on medicinal plants. These are grown on farms, processed in small labs and made available to patients through an extensive network of medical clinics. Today Cuba's advances in alternative medicine could have important consequences for other countries around the world.
Cuba boasts other firsts as well: The Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Havana is regarded as the flagship biosciences lab in the developing world. Cuban scientists are working on an HIV vaccine, a meningitis vaccine, a Hepatitis C vaccine, and other pharmaceuticals.
Cuba has also embarked on a program of medical internationalism. There are 25,000 Cuba doctors serving in 68 poor countries around the world. The Latin American School of Medical Science has 10,000 students from developing countries primarily in Latin America and the Caribbean. They are educated for free with the understanding they will return to their home countries to practice.
Fidel Castro has survived many perils and at 78, he is rumoured to suffer from a number of afflictions. As his health declines the world wonders: what will become of Cuba's Green Revolution after he is gone? Even now Castro presides over a political system, which although socialist, has an economy where bartering and quasi-entrepreneurial practice seemingly influence many trades and professions, including the "green" sector. There is also ever-increasing pressure from Canada and European nations for the U.S. to come to terms with Cuba's political dissent.
Will Cuba's "Green Revolution" become a blueprint for sustainable agriculture, medicine, and biotechnology, or will it be swept aside by the economic weight of foreign investors? Or will the public clamour for consumer goods from a weary people, fed up with lack of choice, overwhelm contemporary Cuba? Will Cuba's enormous experiment in sustainable development be maintained if the U.S. embargo is lifted and Cuba is exposed to the brutal arena of world trade? Whatever the future of Cuba's accidental revolution, Castro and his country has shown that alternatives do exist.
Cuba: The Accidental Revolution is produced, written and directed by Ray Burley. Michael Allder is executive producer of THE NATURE OF THINGS WITH DAVID SUZUKI.
AIRS SUNDAY, JULY 30 & AUGUST 6 ON CBC TELEVISION'S
THE NATURE OF THINGS WITH DAVID SUZUKI
Cuba: The Accidental Revolution are two one-hour documentaries celebrating the country's success in providing for itself in the face of a massive economic crisis, and how it's latest revolutions, an agricultural revolution and a revolution in science and medicine are having repercussions around the world.
Cuba: The Accidental Revolution (Part 1), airing Sunday, July 30 at 7 P.M. on CBC Television, examines Cuba's response to the food crisis created by the collapse of the Soviet Bloc in 1989. At one time Cuba's agrarian culture was as conventional as the rest of the world. It experienced its first "Green Revolution" when Russia was supplying Cuba with chemical and mechanical "inputs." However, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 ended all of that, and almost overnight threw Cuba's whole economic system into crisis. Factories closed, food supplies plummeted. Within a year the country had lost over 80% of its foreign trade. With the loss of their export markets and the foreign exchange to pay for imports, Cuba was unable to feed its population and the country was thrown into a crisis. The average daily caloric intake of Cubans dropped by a third.
Without fertilizer and pesticides, Cubans turned to organic methods. Without fuel and machinery parts, Cubans turned to oxen. Without fuel to transport food, Cubans started to grow food in the cities where it is consumed. Urban gardens were established in vacant lots, school playgrounds, patios and back yards. As a result Cuba created the largest program in sustainable agriculture ever undertaken. By 1999 Cuba's agricultural production had recovered and in some cases reached historic levels.
In Cuba: The Accidental Revolution (Part 2), airing Sunday, August 6 at 7 P.M. on CBC Television, we learn that the country has been blockaded since 1961, but today Cuba has the highest quality of life in the region, the highest life expectancy, and one of the highest literacy rates in all of Latin America.
With the collapse of the Soviet Bloc, Cuba lost the foreign exchange needed to pay for expensive drugs and medicines. As a result, much of Cuba's medicine today is based on medicinal plants. These are grown on farms, processed in small labs and made available to patients through an extensive network of medical clinics. Today Cuba's advances in alternative medicine could have important consequences for other countries around the world.
Cuba boasts other firsts as well: The Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Havana is regarded as the flagship biosciences lab in the developing world. Cuban scientists are working on an HIV vaccine, a meningitis vaccine, a Hepatitis C vaccine, and other pharmaceuticals.
Cuba has also embarked on a program of medical internationalism. There are 25,000 Cuba doctors serving in 68 poor countries around the world. The Latin American School of Medical Science has 10,000 students from developing countries primarily in Latin America and the Caribbean. They are educated for free with the understanding they will return to their home countries to practice.
Fidel Castro has survived many perils and at 78, he is rumoured to suffer from a number of afflictions. As his health declines the world wonders: what will become of Cuba's Green Revolution after he is gone? Even now Castro presides over a political system, which although socialist, has an economy where bartering and quasi-entrepreneurial practice seemingly influence many trades and professions, including the "green" sector. There is also ever-increasing pressure from Canada and European nations for the U.S. to come to terms with Cuba's political dissent.
Will Cuba's "Green Revolution" become a blueprint for sustainable agriculture, medicine, and biotechnology, or will it be swept aside by the economic weight of foreign investors? Or will the public clamour for consumer goods from a weary people, fed up with lack of choice, overwhelm contemporary Cuba? Will Cuba's enormous experiment in sustainable development be maintained if the U.S. embargo is lifted and Cuba is exposed to the brutal arena of world trade? Whatever the future of Cuba's accidental revolution, Castro and his country has shown that alternatives do exist.
Cuba: The Accidental Revolution is produced, written and directed by Ray Burley. Michael Allder is executive producer of THE NATURE OF THINGS WITH DAVID SUZUKI.
Monday, Monday ver. 827.01
A glorious, sunny morning again - I'm on track to get everything done before 9:00 that I need to do, and reading things on the internest that are compelling and interesting.
If you're so motivated, have a look at two articles:
This one is a fascinating discussion of psychology, and how our small tribal psychology stays with us today in societies that are too large for it to work in. The suggestion is that, in a Darwinian analysis, there hasn't been enough time for our tribal thought patterns to adjust to the huge societies, and as a result, we're killing each other off just as we would have if we were protecting our village of 40 kinfolk.
This article documents government questionnaires about spending policy and reflects that, regardless of what Fox News says, the large number of Americans do NOT believe in eliminating social programs, funding for national parks, infrastructure development and so forth. So, from whence this driving need to cut taxes and eliminate all spending but that into the pockets of our biggest campaign contributors and the Defense budget?
Perhaps you should re-read article #1. Just a thought.
More cool articles - Thisabout the pastoral cost of not being fanatically conservative.
If you're so motivated, have a look at two articles:
This one is a fascinating discussion of psychology, and how our small tribal psychology stays with us today in societies that are too large for it to work in. The suggestion is that, in a Darwinian analysis, there hasn't been enough time for our tribal thought patterns to adjust to the huge societies, and as a result, we're killing each other off just as we would have if we were protecting our village of 40 kinfolk.
This article documents government questionnaires about spending policy and reflects that, regardless of what Fox News says, the large number of Americans do NOT believe in eliminating social programs, funding for national parks, infrastructure development and so forth. So, from whence this driving need to cut taxes and eliminate all spending but that into the pockets of our biggest campaign contributors and the Defense budget?
Perhaps you should re-read article #1. Just a thought.
More cool articles - Thisabout the pastoral cost of not being fanatically conservative.
My mom used to call this "cutting off your nose.."
From Daily Kos
The "Stained Polo" Paradox
by proudlattedrinker
Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 10:55:50 AM PDT
In economic thought a paradox is the unintuitive outcome of a theory, which points up an unsupported assumption in its logic. It illuminates a weakness in the theory, a warning that its structure does not reflect reality. The "Stained Polo" Paradox is staring American corporations in the face, and they refuse to see it.
In her book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, writer Barbara Ehrenreich describes her undercover stint as a Wal-Mart employee. Because Wal-Mart requires their "associates" to report to work in collared shirts, a co-worker had been keeping tabs on a polo shirt that was due to be marked down. When the price adjustment went into effect, she examined the shirt and discovered a stain. She and Barbara agreed that the stain should result in a further markdown. A manager rejected the deal. Even with the employee discount, the co-worker was unable to afford the marked down, stained polo shirt.
Let that concept sink in for a moment, as it did not sink in for Wal-Mart: their employees cannot afford the goods Wal-Mart sells.
The consequences of ignoring this paradox, on the flip:
* proudlattedrinker's diary :: ::
*
They obviously don't see the paradox. After all, a yacht broker may not be able to afford a yacht themselves. But they should be able to afford a motor boat, a small sailboat, or even a Zodiac dinghy. Yachts are the top of the scale, and it's understandable that a yacht-related employee would move down the scale for their own personal use. And they don't have to own a yacht in order to sell yachts.
It is an entirely different matter for an employee of Wal-Mart to not be able to afford a shirt required by Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart, by its own proclaimed goal, is the bottom of the scale. There is nowhere else for an employee to move down except off the retail map entirely, and "shop" at the local Salvation Army.
It puts a whole new meaning into the term "race to the bottom."
American business is busy slashing wages. They assume a closed system, where their slashing wages exists in a vacuum, separate and unequal to their base's buying power. But that is not the reality. The reality is that with lowered wages, income shrinks inexorably. And sales are inexorably based on income.
The true bottom line here is not the recent quarterly numbers, which show profits going up after the latest round of slashing. The result of their slashing, in the next quarter, is lowered sales. The true bottom line is: Who Can Afford to Buy What They Have to Sell.
They are shrinking that pool of consumers themselves, with all the speed and efficiency of a flu outbreak. It's an infectious disease they are spreading with no thought of how the ripples will roll back. It's not just the people who lose their jobs who can't afford to buy the things they used to make. The people who get those jobs, at the lowered wages, can't afford to buy the things they make.
The very top of American business feel themselves immune. They aren't slashing their own wages. They are murdering their workforce to keep from slashing their profits. But they can't murder the workforce without murdering their own consumer base. Don't they realize the workforce IS their consumer base?
The American economy is built on mass production and mass consumption. Mass, as we know from physics, is energy which can be converted from one form to another, but it cannot be created or destroyed. Mass production has to have its equal and opposite force, mass consumption.
Taking the mass out of consumption will also take the mass out of production. Now economy of scale no longer works to lower prices, and they go up. The mass is less able to afford goods at the higher prices, which drives the prices up more for those still able to buy. Which reduces the pool of those able to buy, pushing production down still more.
It's not even economics at this point. It's physics.
What are the consequences of ignoring The "Stained Polo" Paradox?
Soon the ones at the top are the only ones left, and they grab the money and run, letting the company itself, and the pensions with it, sink beneath the waves. They don't start a new company and make new jobs, either. They will whine about the "unfavorable business climate" they created themselves. They will sit on capital, as they are doing now, and complain about how it is shrinking because the economy is not growing.
They will hide in their gated communities, guarded by security personnel getting the tiny minimum wage so that the uniforms have to be bought by their employers, yet another expense that is devouring their stolen capital. They turn up their stereos, hideously expensive now that there is not enough workforce to support economy of scale. They listen to electronic classical, not for the status or the trends, but because out-of-copyright compositions played by one musician on a computer is all that can be produced within the collapsed music industry. They wake from drugged sleep, from nightmares lit by mobs with torches, to push the volume in their sweatshop speakers ever higher, to drown out that sound, that terrible sound.
That sound of Madame Defarge's knitting needles. Click, click, click.
Will they remember The "Stained Polo" Paradox? That warning that their assumptions are not in line with reality? Perhaps.
That woman pawing through the Salvation Army bin, before the bags get sorted, because she can't even afford the pittance the Salvation Army would charge her for the privilege of buying something on a hanger. That woman who once worked for them, until the company went under, and she couldn't get medical care for the child who died in her arms.
That woman's face, in their nightmares, by torchlight.
The "Stained Polo" Paradox
by proudlattedrinker
Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 10:55:50 AM PDT
In economic thought a paradox is the unintuitive outcome of a theory, which points up an unsupported assumption in its logic. It illuminates a weakness in the theory, a warning that its structure does not reflect reality. The "Stained Polo" Paradox is staring American corporations in the face, and they refuse to see it.
In her book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, writer Barbara Ehrenreich describes her undercover stint as a Wal-Mart employee. Because Wal-Mart requires their "associates" to report to work in collared shirts, a co-worker had been keeping tabs on a polo shirt that was due to be marked down. When the price adjustment went into effect, she examined the shirt and discovered a stain. She and Barbara agreed that the stain should result in a further markdown. A manager rejected the deal. Even with the employee discount, the co-worker was unable to afford the marked down, stained polo shirt.
Let that concept sink in for a moment, as it did not sink in for Wal-Mart: their employees cannot afford the goods Wal-Mart sells.
The consequences of ignoring this paradox, on the flip:
* proudlattedrinker's diary :: ::
*
They obviously don't see the paradox. After all, a yacht broker may not be able to afford a yacht themselves. But they should be able to afford a motor boat, a small sailboat, or even a Zodiac dinghy. Yachts are the top of the scale, and it's understandable that a yacht-related employee would move down the scale for their own personal use. And they don't have to own a yacht in order to sell yachts.
It is an entirely different matter for an employee of Wal-Mart to not be able to afford a shirt required by Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart, by its own proclaimed goal, is the bottom of the scale. There is nowhere else for an employee to move down except off the retail map entirely, and "shop" at the local Salvation Army.
It puts a whole new meaning into the term "race to the bottom."
American business is busy slashing wages. They assume a closed system, where their slashing wages exists in a vacuum, separate and unequal to their base's buying power. But that is not the reality. The reality is that with lowered wages, income shrinks inexorably. And sales are inexorably based on income.
The true bottom line here is not the recent quarterly numbers, which show profits going up after the latest round of slashing. The result of their slashing, in the next quarter, is lowered sales. The true bottom line is: Who Can Afford to Buy What They Have to Sell.
They are shrinking that pool of consumers themselves, with all the speed and efficiency of a flu outbreak. It's an infectious disease they are spreading with no thought of how the ripples will roll back. It's not just the people who lose their jobs who can't afford to buy the things they used to make. The people who get those jobs, at the lowered wages, can't afford to buy the things they make.
The very top of American business feel themselves immune. They aren't slashing their own wages. They are murdering their workforce to keep from slashing their profits. But they can't murder the workforce without murdering their own consumer base. Don't they realize the workforce IS their consumer base?
The American economy is built on mass production and mass consumption. Mass, as we know from physics, is energy which can be converted from one form to another, but it cannot be created or destroyed. Mass production has to have its equal and opposite force, mass consumption.
Taking the mass out of consumption will also take the mass out of production. Now economy of scale no longer works to lower prices, and they go up. The mass is less able to afford goods at the higher prices, which drives the prices up more for those still able to buy. Which reduces the pool of those able to buy, pushing production down still more.
It's not even economics at this point. It's physics.
What are the consequences of ignoring The "Stained Polo" Paradox?
Soon the ones at the top are the only ones left, and they grab the money and run, letting the company itself, and the pensions with it, sink beneath the waves. They don't start a new company and make new jobs, either. They will whine about the "unfavorable business climate" they created themselves. They will sit on capital, as they are doing now, and complain about how it is shrinking because the economy is not growing.
They will hide in their gated communities, guarded by security personnel getting the tiny minimum wage so that the uniforms have to be bought by their employers, yet another expense that is devouring their stolen capital. They turn up their stereos, hideously expensive now that there is not enough workforce to support economy of scale. They listen to electronic classical, not for the status or the trends, but because out-of-copyright compositions played by one musician on a computer is all that can be produced within the collapsed music industry. They wake from drugged sleep, from nightmares lit by mobs with torches, to push the volume in their sweatshop speakers ever higher, to drown out that sound, that terrible sound.
That sound of Madame Defarge's knitting needles. Click, click, click.
Will they remember The "Stained Polo" Paradox? That warning that their assumptions are not in line with reality? Perhaps.
That woman pawing through the Salvation Army bin, before the bags get sorted, because she can't even afford the pittance the Salvation Army would charge her for the privilege of buying something on a hanger. That woman who once worked for them, until the company went under, and she couldn't get medical care for the child who died in her arms.
That woman's face, in their nightmares, by torchlight.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Sunday evening
Okay, just finished writing an answer to my brother's letter, and Mr. Felder and I are trying to cook up how many ways Bram's airplane can taxi across O'Hare field before they can take off. They left the gate nearly a half hour ago, and he's not in the air yet.
You ask how I can tell? Wizardry.
YAY! He's finally in the air! Out of the Windy City, but still flying over northern Illinois.
I cleaned the office tonight (I'm still behind on the filing, though.) Got all my files together to deliver to the office in the morning. Have the mail put together to go out.
I'm going to have to get to bed here, so I can be up in time to fill the bird feeder, take out the trash, run by the bank to transfer money, and drop off these files by 8:30. Ooof!
You ask how I can tell? Wizardry.
YAY! He's finally in the air! Out of the Windy City, but still flying over northern Illinois.
I cleaned the office tonight (I'm still behind on the filing, though.) Got all my files together to deliver to the office in the morning. Have the mail put together to go out.
I'm going to have to get to bed here, so I can be up in time to fill the bird feeder, take out the trash, run by the bank to transfer money, and drop off these files by 8:30. Ooof!
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