Babble-On 29

Wherein my faith in the human race waxes and wanes ... (mostly wanes)

Much Ado About Mammograms - Kids, Kids! Can we all settle down and stop shouting? I haven't met the woman yet who likes getting mammograms, who clamors for the right to get them at the earliest possible age. Even so, the announcement from some panel somewhere suggesting that women wait to start regular yearly testing until age 50 drew outrage from numerous interested parties. I say 'parties' since I am guessing most individual women under the age of 50 met the news with a sigh of relief and an easing of dread. But I'll bet the mammography business is concerned about these new guidelines and have the troops mobilized in earnest. Including, surprisingly, Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sibelius. Does anybody in government talk with each other about these things before they are pronounced to the general public? I can't wait for the memo on colonoscopy.

Fox News Vs The White House - Is there anything the White House can do to get some positive press out of Fox News? Appoint Rupert Murdoch Ambassador to Australia? Wait, he's from there. And even if they did throw something Rupert's way, it wouldn't be enough. Fox seems to truly have it in for the Obama administration, giving a never-ending series of Republican representatives and think-tankers an uncritical platform for sniping. The 'reporting' is most definitely not 'objective', unless by 'objective' you mean some sort of goal or agenda. But Fox may be shooting itself in the foot. What would they do for news if a Republican administration was back in the White House?

Airborne Maneuvers - I've been flying around the country a lot lately, and I must say overall the experience has boosted my attitude about people around this great country. Today though, I witnessed the sleaziest example of petty self-indulgence I've ever seen while traveling. It was almost enough to erase that attitude boost. You know what I'm talking about - you, the woman and her companion traveling from Houston to Austin who scammed your way into the early boarding group by falsely claiming you were accompanying the young minor girl who was in line in front of you. Was it worth trading integrity to board a few minutes earlier? You pulled it off with great aplomb, though. I don't know what you do for a living now, but consider a new career on Fox News. And a colonoscopy ...

Slash, Beware!

While on the road, I like to intersperse bouts of work with bouts of watching TV programs I don't get to watch while at home. The latter includes just about anything on the National Geographic Channel, so I was happy to take a break from critiquing the work of others and tune in 'Expedition Great White'.

The show was about research being conducted at Guadalupe Island, off the coast of Mexico. Which just happens to be where I photographed my buddy 'Slash', whose grin graces this blog. Naturally I was interested.

After closing the laptop and turning to the TV, I settled in with a coffee in hand to watch my friends in action, anticipating them gliding about and generally looking pleased with themselves. The reality of what I saw had me spluttering coffee on my shirt and exclaiming my shock to the hotel room (and several floors above and below).

What I witnessed was a fishing trip, basically. A prolonged struggle in which a shark is hooked and drug about the ocean by a boat for an hour until its life seemed suspended by a slender thread. Then this magnificent animal is pulled onto a platform and hoisted above water, a hose shoved in its mouth pumping water through its gills (much faster and more turbulently than it would naturally). It then gets tagged, sampled, and generally gloated over.

At that point I could watch no more. I assume the shark was shoved back in the water at some point, and a voice over probably said the shark would be no worse for the experience. Don't you believe it. There's no way a struggle like that would leave a shark unharmed. Great Whites have amazing recuperative ability it's true, but it takes time to recover, and one luxury no creature in the great food chain that is the ocean ever has enough of is time to recover from wounds, recover strength to fight rivals (and Great Whites do compete with each other), or recover strength to capture prey.

Instead of beautiful science, I witnessed gross and unnecessary cruelty. I hope true marine scientists and conservationists the world over will voice their concern over this 'research' practice.

The shark I saw when I tuned in had Slash's dappled sides, but I hope that was just a coincidence. I hope Slash was well away from the Island that day and that he and his brothers and sisters can find some peace.

Space: Live from Houston

For some odd reason I don't think of Space when I am in Houston. Even though there's a 1/15th scale Shuttle in Houston Hobby Airport and the phrase 'Houston, we have a problem' is a settled part of the language.

When I think about Houston I think of Oil, Lyle Lovett, and 'Middle Age Crazy'. And strangely I think of Larry Hagman, even though his J.R. Ewing stalked the streets of Dallas. But I guess there's some logic embedded there, since Hagman played an astronaut in 'I Dream of Jeanie'.

Despite my lack of recognition, Houston is all about Space. It is the home of NASA's Johnson Space Center, from which our missions into Space are controlled. Growing up as I did a stone's throw from the Cape in Florida I always wondered why the big control center would be in Houston and not in Florida. The reason, of course, had everything to do with President Lyndon Johnson, a Texan, and not geography. I was proud of Florida and ticked at the perceived slight. But it could have been worse. Johnson could have hailed from Alaska (Nome Space Center?)

All this thinking of Space was conjured up by a headline in the news today of the Space Shuttle Atlantis rocketing off to resupply the International Space Station. And another headline about the Leonid Meteor Shower - supposedly the 'strongest' of the year. North America should see about 30 to 60 meteors and hour and in Asia, 200 to 300. Reading those two together made me think: Is this really a good time to be sending up the Shuttle? I mean, is there a possibility it could get shot-peened, and not in a good way?

Well, maybe those meteors are small, about the size and consistency of dust bunnies, and won't cause any harm. Just in case, though, here's hoping NASA has it's heat resistant tile repair down pat. Or insurance. Do Geckos live in Houston?

Blogoversary the First

October 29, 2009, was the first anniversary of this blog. But there was no time to stop and celebrate, since I was busy traveling for my paying gig.

Turns out that oversight was OK, since the last item posted on this blog was the 200th, which means two milestones to cheer.

When I started this list of rants, I hoped to share a few observations and have a little fun.

I also needed an outlet for the verbal magma building up deep within the volcanic chamber that is my mind. My friends were getting a little tired of eruptions all too frequently interrupting dinner conversation. The digressions, soap box speeches, and stream of consciousness diatribes strained relationships. They had to stop. Hence this blog.

And I am happy to report some progress. Maybe in another year and another 200 I'll have the problem licked.

In the meantime, If this column of sorts provides a little light reading for you out there in the websphere, that's great too. Let me hear from you now and again ...

A Brave Move

In the short time he has resided in the White House, Barack Obama has made some gutsy and controversial moves. None quite match the bravery of his recent decision to put the 9/11 suspects on public trial in New York City, the scene of the crime.

I say 'his' decision, although Attorney General Eric Holder is the man directly responsible for the move. Even though the Attorney General is independent of the Chief Executive, it would be hard to imagine Mr. Holder operating without the President's approval on this matter. So let's give Mr. Obama a big thumbs up on this one. It's a brave move. And it's risky.

First off, all of the juicy information garnered through 'enhanced interrogation techniques' by the minions of the Bush Administration won't be admissible in a civilian court. That leaves the prosecutors only evidence gathered through legal means. Hopefully the Bush team remembered to do enough of that in between waterboarding sessions.

The move is also risky since defense attorneys will have plenty of ammunition to claim forced confessions, inappropriate venue, and all sorts of misconduct, in their efforts to get charges reduced or even dropped. In our country, the defense in criminal cases often gets a bad rap -except in TV shows from the 50s, 60s and 70s, when they were heroes - like Perry Mason. In this case even Perry Mason would be booed on the streets for his efforts. But providing a vigorous defense for even the obviously guilty is the most important component of the foundation of our justice system. Hard to swallow at times, like this time, but true.

My guess is the defense will start their case with a motion to change venue, claiming the defendants won't get an impartial hearing in New York. That's not a difficult claim to support, so the judge will have a tough decision. But where to hold the trial if not New York? I really wouldn't want to be that judge.

Finally, the riskiest aspect of this bold move is the opportunity it may give the defendants to attempt to legitimize the 9/11 attacks. Such an attempt wouldn't change the outcome of the trial, but it could serve as a powerful recruiting tool for anti-US extremists worldwide.

Still, we have to trust the President and his Attorney General on this move. Their motive in doing this is clear - to change this 'War on Terror' into the international, cooperative, civilian police action it should always have been from the beginning. To separate the hunt for Al-Qaeda (and Bin Laden) from military efforts to settle the Bush legacy in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And that's a good thing. And a Brave Move.

Eight Plus Ten

Listening to the radio news the other day, my attention was seized by a commentator's report that some in the US Armed Forces believe we might be in Afghanistan for as long as ten more years.

Pardon me? TEN MORE YEARS ?

If I am not mistaken, we've already been there for nearly eight long and bloody years. Another ten of those can hardly be contemplated.

I recall our leaders back in late '01 and early '02 telling us we would go in there, straighten things out, get the populace (a sturdy and resilient bunch) back into good trim, and then get the hell out. I remember them bristling with indignation when anyone suggested we'd be there for more than a year, let alone three, five, or (unthinkable) eight.

I remember talk of self-reliance. After all, native Afghan militias run by friendly warlords did most of the Taliban butt-kicking, with a little help from US air support. There was no talk of any US troop requirements long term. We were just there to find Bin Laden and cart him off to Gitmo.

But somehow, while we were focused on the morass of Iraq, things changed in Afghanistan. Or, the false reality we were fed was lifted to reveal the truth of the matter. Or, the reality was changed to suit someone's best interest (but not ours). No matter why, things were suddenly different, and instead of the done deal we thought it was, the little country that has thwarted invaders for thousands of years has retaken center stage as our thorniest problem.

Luckily, this problem can be de-thorned and resolved quite quickly. Simply stated, let's get out of there as fast as our planes, trucks, and ships can move us. Say 'Goodbye and Thanks for All the Dust' to that corrupt guy Karzai and pick up our chips and leave the table.

Tough as it is to walk away from all that effort, to leave all that human sacrifice of lives and time unrequited, it is better to do so than suffer through ten more years. We do not want or need another decade of our presence irritating the locals into ever deeper levels of mistrust and hatred, until there's not a US sympathizer left and all hope of a positive US influence on the region has been dashed.

Let's back way and take a different tack. Allow the Afghanis to work out their government as they see fit, and when they do, step in with help and aid in rebuilding their country (or building it in the first place - heck, we have lots of unemployed engineers right now). Or, if we find the government they form distasteful, we can just leave them alone and focus our efforts on helping Pakistan and India (i.e., the guys with the nukes), and, lest we forget, Iraq.

Eight Plus Ten? Fool Us Once, But Not Again ...

Welcome To The Fall

Sitting in Los Angeles you wouldn't know Autumn was upon you. Nights become slightly colder and gradually longer, yet the days stay warm and bright. The End of Summer sneaks up, leaving you blissfully unaware until some event wakes you up to seasonal reality.

For me, in LA, that Event was always Halloween. Hunting for last minute costumes for the kids, gathering with friends, and eating candy, perhaps by the first lit fireplace since March, all get me in the mood for the colder slice of year. All-Hallows tunes me up for the grander Holidays, and girds me against the coming of slightly less warm days and much colder nights.

This year, a business trip took me to the Great Midwest, where the changing color of the trees offered a spoiler to this year's Pumpkin Fest. I was reminded that folks living in many areas of this great country receive earlier (and harsher) cues for the arrival of Fall.

Leaves of red and gold may be beautiful to look at from the warmth of a heated car, or when seen through the window of a cozy house, but I'll pass on the frosty experience of viewing them outdoors. I believe I can live with my usual timing, my unawareness until Halloween taps me on my skull, points to the calendar and says 'Wake Up, It's Fall'.