Monday, August 25, 2003
0 comments"Six-teen Can-dles!"
...and a Flashlight.
A week later, and still no coherent discussion on our national energy woes.
It's enough to make you go back and TURN EVERYTHING OFF, light a candle, and have a pleasant conversation with friends and family. Just like last week. And just say "to hell" with poliiticians and utility execs, all.
On August 14, we had the chance to stand outside our building and look up at the stars. We saw the big dipper that night! For the first time in years. All of those damn lights make them so hard to see...
(Oh, yeah..., over time we had forgotten about all of these quiet, non-electric niceties. But, after a four and a half mile walk home last week, all of them actually felt pretty good. And fun.)
From our end, New Yorkers were all that you heard. Plucky, friendly, calm, etc.—all that we're proud of here.
Of course, as one of the many who have lived through all three now, I have a theory as to why it was more like '65, and not like '77.
I fully and thoroughly disagree with the press assessments of '77 being a time of animals. Or of '65 or '03 being times of good-good people.
Primarily, the '65 and '03 blackouts occurred in the late summer afternoon. This year's was at 4:14 pm, and I recall 1965's as going down, approx. 5:00 pm-ish, since I remember listening to perhaps the world's greatest disc jockey of all time, Dan Ingram of WABC Music Radio77 at the precise minute everything other than our trusty transistor radios shut off.
This, I believe, gave everyone three to four hours of daylight to comprehend what was going on, bitch, moan, realize they were safe, become aware of the safety or peril of those around them and begin to figure out strategies for themselves. How to get home; how to find loved ones; how to deal with the melting ice cream, etc.
Acknowledged difficulties bond people. It's that simple.
In 1977, it was a brutally hot night, with high humidity and no breeze. Also, it was approximately 10:00 pm. I was sitting at home, in front of a fairly useless fan, watching the tail end of a terrible movie I had been hoping would distract me from how hot it was. I was fifteen minutes away from the end of this movie, riding it out doggedly to the end, then sputter, sputter, pop. Dark. (I never have learned how that movie ended.)
Instead of things merely no longer working, as in the two other blackouts, 8 million people were plunged into sudden, total darkness. In an instant, everyone was alone in the dark The only light came from the headlights of cars, which if you've ever tried navigating through an otherwise dark parking lot after an event, you'll know this casts an eerie, unearthly, Salvador Dali glow on everything. Everything is thrown off. Mostly, your balance.
In '77, everyone's first reaction was fear. Then, anger. Then, panic. Then, pow. It's not such a great leap of imagination that it would turn into a scene from The Day of the Locusts.
If it happened at 10:00 pm this year, you'd again be seeing scores of accounts of the base inhumanity of "these East Coast savages."
You see, it's all in the timing...
***
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posted by Gotham 1:14 AM
Sunday, August 24, 2003
0 commentsA Moment of Random Even-handedness...
Yesterday, I mentioned the Political Strikes.com site. If you haven't as yet checked it out, I urge you to do so.
In an attack of fair play, I must also recommend another political cartoon site, this time, one that sits on the right-hand side of the aisle—The Lemon.
Very funny as well.
Thanks to Kevin Drum at Calpundit for pointing both of those out.
***
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posted by Gotham 11:29 AM
Saturday, August 23, 2003
0 commentsAn Epiphany
I have just seen brilliance!
I am loathe to use such a term, normally, but I have just followed a few links and ended up on the Political Strikes.com blog site.
It is a left-leaning, photo-cartoon site that is extremely funny.
What struck me, and made me laugh the hardest was one from the archives from 8/16/2002. It's an archived page, so you'll have to scroll down to the one with the "double/Bush" dated 08/16/02 and click on the "Click Here To Play!" box.
It is a take-off on the movie, Sliding Doors, that starred Gwyneth Paltrow a couple of years back. I warn you that it's long and involved and you'll need to let it evolve, but I promise you that it is well worth the effort and time.
Not only is the creativity and joke ability very high-level, it's astoundingly close to what actually happened seven months later—up to a point, of course. Very well done.
Check it out.
posted by Gotham 6:18 PM
0 commentsRex Americanus
I could sit here and howl on an ongoing basis about the flaws I see in the current administration in Washington, DC.
But simply put, these flaws and their impact have been laid out concisely by Ramsey Clark, former Attorney General during the Johnson administration, and I cannot add to the power of what he has drawn up.
(It's interesting to note here that the current Bush administration is the only one in memory which has been attacked on an on-going basis not only by members of the opposition party's previous administrations, but also by members of previous administrations of ITS OWN PARTY. My word...)
This Clark site page is tough stuff, but a very important part of the dialogue.
Yes, obviously, this is the same Ramsey Clark who remains among the favorite ongoing targets for the venom of the rabid Neo-Con right. I must say that it's impressive to see someone with the guts to take that much crap for that many years and stand true to their principles.
Whom do the rabid right's media attack dogs save the most derision and condescension for? That's the tip off. Disdain is their primary weapon against those they fear. Simple math: the greater the caustic derision, the greater the fear.
It's important to be aware of who the main targets are. It's fairly safe to assume that these targets are those viewed as the greatest threats to the right (i.e., those with ideas that threaten the right's world view and longing for one-party power, and to whom people might actually listen and perhaps be swayed by).
These are the people who come in for the full nudge-nudge, wink-wink, "you know and I know better, don't we, that (whichever person who disagrees with us) is really a moron," type of oozing, sarcastic appeal to the brain-stem level of their programming.
Ramsey has long been one of their favorite bogeymen. When they got tired of bashing ol' Earl Warren, they found Ramsey Clark.
As an aside, years ago, I developed the Rex Reed Principle to help me deal with the performing arts, and it has served me well for decades. However, I now also see possibilities for its implementation on a national, political scale.
Simply put, the RRP describes a scenario where, no matter what the person noted states (any topic applies), if the polar opposite course is followed, peace of mind and joy awaits.
Rex Reed stands as a pillar of consistency. Everything he loves, I am assured of hating. All that he loathes, I can embrace fully and happily.
In my unformed youth, I initially followed Reed's advice, suffering great personal peril. I have sat through dreck which he trumpeted as artistic genius. I have, unfortunately, missed films and performances of value and taste, solely because his was the only (and negative) review I saw of it. Later, I would learn of its being a piece of great value and insight by others who had seen or heard it, or by my finally catching up with it at a much later date.
Hence, the RRP: "Whatever he says, I do the exact opposite, and I will be well served."
This is a principle I have followed steadfastly over the years, and I have, in fact, been well served.
Applying this principle to the larger world around us, the same approach can be taken with the conservative media, whose approach runs towards the "We report; you swallow." model.
Therefore, those they trumpet, I must give serious consideration to opposing. Those they disparage, I must seek out and consider embracing what they propose.
Hey, it's served me well so far...
Thanks, Rex!
***
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posted by Gotham 5:08 PM
Friday, August 22, 2003
0 comments"Remember the Alamo!...
Remember the Maine!...
Remember... Remember...
(what was it again we wanted them to remember?")
This line from The New York Times story by Felicity Barringer jumped out at me this morning:
"Using the bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad as a rallying cry, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell sought today to build support for a new Security Council resolution that would persuade other major nations to contribute more troops and aid to secure and rebuild Iraq under the aegis of the American-led occupation.
His appeal was not rejected out of hand by any Council members, but it met with a wary response from Germany and Russia and an icy rebuke from France."
Using the bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad as a rallying cry?
The administration's hubris in going back to the UN over the last week or so, not really saying we wanted their help now, but that any assistance they gave (which we really didn't need) would still be entirely on our terms and under our control was embarrassing enough.
But now, rubbing their faces in the mess that we have made, not even apologizing for our part in the deaths of their colleagues, then turning it all into a sort of rallying cry, plucky Molly Pitcher moment, I would have thought was outside even the flabby ethical structure of the Bush administration.
***
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posted by Gotham 2:19 PM
Wednesday, August 20, 2003
0 commentsChaos and confusion in Baghdad
... so says this BBC story by Susannah Price.
This best represents our actions and successes to this point in Iraq. The U.S. military is still waiting for the hordes of flag-waving Iraqis, welcoming their liberators. Instead, our soldiers just get shot at.
At some point, we are going to have to face the fact that this whole Iraqi situation is thoroughly out of control, and an absolute disaster.
We are losing this war.
Bush proved twice that he couldn't run a company; we're still waiting to see if he can run a war.
Here's a horribly ironic thought:
Saddam never brought al Qaeda to Iraq; Bush did.
***
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posted by Gotham 12:39 AM
Tuesday, August 19, 2003
0 commentsWaiting for the Crime Wave
I just can't put it any other way:
What are these morons thinking?
How much pain and suffering and misery has the Bush administration visited upon our once proud and great country?
And how much more will they be allowed to get away with?
They have things so mucked up for the average American that the backlash is only waiting to move down from the horizon and begin rolling for their greedy necks.
They have created a pool of millions of angry people. Yes, they've done a fine job of manipulating your anger to this point. They've used the Australian Rupert Murdoch's Fox News Channel and the hate-filled and Republican-financed legions of Talk Radio hatchetmen to keep most of you in a tizzy and mad at the guy next to you, rather than at the people who are actually responsible for making this mess. That provides them with cover for the time being, allowing them to proceed with business as usual. But when does this anger take on a life of its own?
There are three million of you who have been summarily thrown out of work over the last three years since Bush took power. A noble sacrifice on your part, in order to salvage the investment income of a Rockefeller heir or a few perks for a number of CEOs.
There are those of you who are part of that unemployment number who have fully gone through your unemployment benefits, and who have given up and stopped looking, living on more credit debt, loans, depletion of your retirement benefits and help from your families.
There are actually those of you who are the unfortunate wretches who have won the musical chairs prize: You've got a job! And you're now saddled with a demeaning, stress-filled job that is boring, soul-starving and aimed merely at providing some useless service or product to people who don't need it and certainly can't afford it—since they're out of work, most likely. Of course, disgruntled customers and clients curse you out all day long; the managers look at you like vermin, tell you to do more and work longer hours because you're damned lucky to have a job, then turn down your many vacation requests and tell you there are no raises again this year. Remember: This is what they're referring to when you see stories about "productivity gains": more work for you. The odd part? You STILL don't have any money!
The Bush administration happily points to woeful, flat economic data, and bellows that the sky is rising. To give you some perspective to any of these useless economic twaddle stories—floated by the administration in order to have you believe things are supposedly getting better—this administration oversaw the elimination of 93,750 jobs EVERY MONTH for the 32 months since the Bushmen took over. Again, if they were able to somehow reverse the process and replace or create 93,750 jobs EVERY MONTH, it would take them until 2006 just to return to where they were at Bush's Inaugural. According to Paul Krugman in The New York Times, it would take an ongoing recovery of over 3.5% - 4.0% over the next year to come anywhere close to creating that kind of reconstruction of the workforce.
But, those jobs are never coming back. Period. Never. Most of them have been Nafta'd to China and anyplace al Queda has a foothold. American business interests and al Queda are oddly identical—both are interested in finding the poorest peoples they can each exploit. Same guys; just different tailors.
During the '90s, both the economy and its job creation, and the access to wealth spun out of Republican hands. But, they've made great strides in reining in both control of the Internet, and the overall economy. From now on, there'll be no more of this entrepreneurial, "New Economy" riff-raff raising false hopes among the populace. Good solid, white businessmen can return to making the important deals that matter, and everyone else can return to being happy over what they are given.
But at what point do the American people just oversaturate with the greed of others while they scrounge for scraps in the richest country in the world before they turn to crime?
When will it begin when no one with an income over six figures is safe in America? When do Americans realize enough is enough and jump into action, realizing it IS ALL ABOUT THE MONEY.
When do little old ladies start carjacking SUVs? When do the overcharged fans attack baseball players who don't run out ground balls on their way to their limos or new Rolls Royce?
When will CEOs be forced into time-shares of both their primary AND summer homes—at gunpoint?
Results were just released this week that showed that, in 1991, 21% of the American population had been convicted of a crime and sentenced to jail time. That's a horrifying statistic.
But what's worse, even though they were the days of Daddy Bush's solo White House tour, those were relatively good days—with more jobs than now, and money to be had.
What will the 2004 jail numbers reach?
***
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posted by Gotham 2:22 AM
Monday, August 18, 2003
0 commentsRandom Americana
It's always good to see good news the first thing on a Monday morning.
And here are companion thoughts from Sunday's Times Magazine:
...for people out of work, unemployment is always 100 percent, while for people who do have work it's zero, even if only three of them remain.
Is it me, or has President Bush been clearing the same brush off his ranch since midway through the 2000 primaries? Is this another example of how he is able to finish things, such as he did with the Texas Rangers Baseball Club, or Harken Oil, or finding Osama Bin Laden or Saddam or the Anthrax Guy.
Or do you suppose his staff just keeps putting it back? Just waiting for the next campaign trip or working vacation?
The New York Times on Monday also reports:
[Arnold] Schwarzenegger's entry also pushed President Bush into saying for the first time that he is engaged in politicking for 2004, a way-off-message admission. When asked if he was "going to do anything for Arnold," Mr. Bush replied, "I'm going to campaign for George W., as you know." Two days later, the president had zoomed back on track at a Bush-Cheney '04 lunch in Irvine, Calif., when he repeated the line from his fund-raising stump speech that "right now I'm focused on the people's business" and "the political season will come in its own time."
"The political season," it seems, has decided its own sweet time is now.
And, obviously, for those of you who don't speak Republican, being "focused on the people's business" means "rich people's business," which does not necessarily entail getting you "people" a decent job:
Of course, the California trip was hardly a failure in that the Bush campaign collected another $2 million to add to the $40 million it already has.
Which, if you're paying close attention, is already 21% of the $193m total Bush raised in 2000, and we're still a little over 14 months away from the election!
It's odd that with the amount of venom the Bush administration has leveled at law firms as an industry, they still appear towards the top of Bush's contributors. Blank, Rome, etc. are in for $149,750. Hayes & Boone are signed up for $141,400 and Akin, Gump, etc. is in for $70,750. Let's keep an eye on all of this, and see if they can get tort reform killed this coming term. Or that new house in the Hamptons, at the very least.
Speaking of which, let's look at campaign contributions in perspective (as reported in Capital Eye, the newletter of The Center for Responsive Politics):
Here are top Bush/Cheney 1999-2002 donors—six heavyweights now all looking to turn a buck at the expense of the people of Iraq.
***
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posted by Gotham 1:52 AM
Thursday, August 07, 2003
0 comments"here we go loop-de-loop,
here we go loop-de-li..."
I love these guys. My, oh my!
To begin, please take a look at this short, bland, but typical wire service business earnings report story. I promise, it's brief.
Now, let's read it backwards, to see if we can follow the activities described and deconstruct the trail of what's actually contained in this article. And how it all impacts on you.
First:
"...corporate fraud..."
You (the consumer/small investor) are cheated, swindled or merely gouged by the actions of the Directors and/or Officers of any given public corporation.
Second:
You (and/or the proper authorities) approach said firm with the intention of giving it every opportunity to confess, say "Oops, our bad!" and make restitution, and then discipline/rebuke/terminate the people involved.
You (and/or the proper authorities) are summarily rebuffed.
Third:
"...numerous corporate fraud claims."
In your righteous indignation and anger, You (and/or the proper authorities) utilize the courts to compel said company to 'fess up and do the right thing.
Fourth:
The courts rule against the company, forcing it to come up with the funds to cover both the basic and punitive costs of their executives' crimes—whether the ruling also involves jail time for any or all of these corporate leaders, or not.
Fifth:
"...Insurers in general have been wracked by increased claims against companies' directors and officers. ..."
The penalized company then turns around and invokes a claim on the D&O insurance it has been carrying for just such an eventuality. The insurance company promptly covers the costs of the misdeeds of the corporation's Directors and/or Officers.
Hang in, here's where it gets creative and fun!
Sixth:
"...Premiums for D&O insurance have increased sharply in the wake of numerous corporate fraud claims...."
Yes, you saw it correctly. The insurance company actually covers the costs of a crime! The insurer then raises its rates for this corporation's D&O coverage.
The offending corporation now needs to cover those costs, so it raises its prices/rates/fees to You (the consumer/small investor) and reduces its workforce to cover the added expenses. By doing so, it won't take a hit on Wall St., and will look proactive in controlling its costs (of doing business in an illegal manner) and be able to keep its stock price up and its institutional investors happy. So, Your cost of using their products or services goes up, and if You're unlucky enough to work for this offending corporation, You also lose Your job.
It gets better!
Seventh:
"...the second-largest U.S. business insurer, on Thursday said quarterly profit rose helped by rate increases and growth in premiums in its property and casualty business, and that it will cut its work force by 5 percent to reduce costs.
The Chicago-based insurer, majority-owned by conglomerate ... , reported a second-quarter profit of $70 million, or 25 cents a share, compared with $31 million, or 14 cents a share, a year ago.
The company also said that its second-quarter results included a $308 million after-tax 'unfavorable net' reserve development. The reserve development involves charges for directors and officers coverages, workers compensation and an arbitration ruling involving a property loss and an interruption of business. ..."
Since this is now happening a lot, the insurance company needs to cover its shortfall from covering the fraud costs of our public corporation(s).
Somehow or other, of course, it escapes the Officers of the insurance company that no longer covering the results of a corporate crime might be a solution to their problem.
Happily, however, the insurance company realizes it can still end up smelling like a rose by availing itself of the opportunity to increase every business's premiums (who of course raise their prices, and lay off their workers) and lay off its own workers. By so doing, it looks fabulous to Wall St. when it releases its next quarterly numbers. So, Your cost of using this insurance company (not to mention all of the ripple-effect companies) rises dramatically and, yes, those of You unlucky enough to work for this insurance corporation (and all of the ripple-effect companies), You lose Your jobs as well.
All because the Directors and/or Officers of a major U.S. corporation committed a crime to line their own pockets and got caught.
And because You utilized Your right to not be ripped off.
We see, again, that no good deed goes unpunished.
And since these types of activities are just jake with everyone in the Bush administration, it's now easier to see just how the Republicans could have presided over the incredible hemorrhaging of three million jobs in only three years. And why everything around you seems to cost so much more—even though the Fed says there's no inflation!
"Victims' Rights" doesn't enter into this at all.
No. It's "just business."
***
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posted by Gotham 2:41 PM
