Ruminate

Among other amazing things I can do are:

• Without using my hands, lift my pinky toe over the next to, then those two toes over the next, etc. My toes are truly second fingers.
• Slice a bunch of cheese without really paying attention and then dump some Ritz crackers out of the bag and the quantities will be perfectly matched every time. Never an extra cracker or two, never a lonely piece of cheese. It’s scary, I tell you.
• Remain convinced, while not really believing in a higher power, that the higher power nonetheless is constantly changing things like the number on a an overturned card so that what it will be when it is turned over is subject to change due to how badly I want it to be a specific value, or how unkind I’ve been that day. Maybe that’s just karma.

Am I the only basketball fan on the planet who thinks Michael Jordan’s comeback is a bad idea? I know he’s a competitor and I know that he supposedly doesn’t care about going out on a high note… but let’s get real. This is a person who achieved everything possible in the sport, was widely acclaimed as the best player of all time, who ends his first career as a champion, then comes back to win more times, and then retires after hitting a last second, picture perfect shot to win it all. You can’t tell me he doesn’t know how special that is. And now he wants to tarnish all of that by making an ill-advised comeback with one of the worst teams in the league at an age when, even if he dominates, he can never be back to where he was before personally, or with his team?

I hate it when Google, which is the best search engine on the planet, asks me “Did you mean X” when I have a typo and then, when I press the link for the search, it returns no results anyway.

I mean, really. What the hell is that? It is like the guy in the old cop comedy that says “oh, you mean a guy about 5′6″, sandy brown hair, scar on one cheek, four fingers on his left hand?” And when the cop answers in the affirmative, the yukster says “Haven’t seen him.”

This article: “Why Do They Hate Americans” has been forwarded and mentioned many times. If you haven’t seen it, it provides some cogent analysis about what lies beneath the venomous anti-American sentiment in Afghanistan, Lebanon, and other places.

I also recommend “The Roots of Muslim Rage” which is more than ten years old, but more relevant than ever.

Chris’ Law of Web Advertising states that the more obnoxious web advertising gets, the closer to death the web site dishing out the advertising must be. Salon magazine has gone from standard banner ads, to multiple sizes and placements, to pop-up windows, to a combination of all of the above plus a subscription service, plus annoying “interstitial” ads that you must pass through to get to the content for which you’ve already endured tens or even hundreds of ads to find. Sad. I still think Salon (along with Slate) is one of the best web publications around, in terms of content, but it is quickly going downhill. I fear it will not be here at all in a year.

• Remember that kid who downed a pack of Pop Rocks candy and a warm coke and died when his stomach exploded? Well, Ben & Jerry’s Kaberry Kaboom is oddly addictive, it has pop rock candy in it, and it won’t kill you…
• I dont trust people who change their names… unless they change their name to a traditionally given Indian name or something…
• Were you also fascinated when K.I.T.T. the good, crime-fighting car met up with K.A.R.R. the evil crime-fighting Car? Did you also want to see what happened when an “indestructible force” ran head on into an “immovable object”? Would it really be the end of the planet? You can find out about this and a lot more at KnightRider Online

NPR’s Performance Today has been playing excerpts from some of the many memorial performances that have been taking place around the country. It is incredible to hear this music, much of it by American composers, as well as old patriotic classes, in the context of last week’s attacks. Suddenly music that might have been the background for the next episode of The West Wing is the background for our lives, for those who lost their lives, for our country’s future. How strange also to hear a conductor announce they will perform the piece after a three-minute silence and that there be no applause at the end either, just more silence. And then a piece that would have been white noise while working on something else suddenly has the ability to move me to tears…

What can be said that is not already being said everywhere? I remain in the distinct minority when it comes to calling for care and consideration before undertaking military engagement. I’d like to think that those who died, if they could speak to us now, would advocate the same thing. A military action that satisfies political expedience and our normal desire for retribution ultimately saves few lives.

A few things I do know…

• You should donate something. If you can’t be there, donate a few dollars through Amazon, Pay Pal, or the Red Cross.
• You should talk to your children instead of letting the television talk to them.
• You should get on with your life. No one who has died would cherish the thought that their tragedy has become a stopper on someone else’s life. The only way to wash the bad taste of anti-American celebration is by not letting the terrorist action win by forcing you to change your life.
• You should savor what you have. It is hard to comprehend over 5000 innocents dead. If you have to, imagine that it was one of your best friends, or your mother or father. Sit quietly and put yourself in that place until it brings you to tears. Multiply that by 5000. Then raise it many more powers of ten to come near real grief.

On one hand, I have sympathy for airline companies who are asking for financial help to get them through these difficult financial times. There have been reports of at least two smaller, regional carriers who have actually folded completely already, though they were admittedly struggling before. But outside of military action, doesn’t the number one way that we are supposed to be protecting ourselves now involve increased airport security? And don’t the airlines pay (or in this case, not pay) for this security? So, isn’t this just a little bit of reaping what they sow? After all, they are the ones who put (often otherwise unemployable) people in nearly minimum wage jobs and then trust our safety to them. They ignored multiple studies and Congressional panel recommendations about how to enhance airline security. They spent their time figuring out how much they could save by substituting pretzels for peanuts, by removing that piece of wilted lettuce from our trays. Now they ask us to pay because thei “security” failed?

I am slowly working on getting all kinds of material brought over to this new site using the remnants of my old, dearly-departed web site. Please be patient… all good things in their own time…