Sunday, February 28, 2010
Chaos

Politics is much like playing chess. Much of it is about strategy. Today many of my news feeds refer to the "51" vote strategy. Simply put, the Democrats know that they no longer have a filibuster proof majority and without that any vote can be stalled in the Senate. But with the "51" vote strategy they can get all of the Republicans to vote publicly against health care which is, in essence, a vote against providing good, affordable health care to the people. It will not move forward but in this election year it will be gold as everyone in the House and 1/3 of the Senate has to run for election this fall. The campaign slogans are being readied as we speak. They will say that Republican so and so is not in favor of good health care but is in favor of supporting the big insurance companies and doctors who pay themselves too much. This vote might just secure the next election for the Democrats the same way George W. secured it for the Democrats in 2008. Something about a silver lining.
Another day, another 748 miles. I just put new tires on the Honda and at this rate I will need to replace them in a month or two. School ends on April 29 and I am back for a wedding on May 1. I wonder if it will snow in Phoenix in May? I hope not. I am sure the opposite will be true and instead of not wanting snow I will be praying for snow. Such a low satisfaction level. I am a true American. Never happy.
An assassination is the targeted killing of a public figure. Assassinations may be prompted by religious, ideological, political, or military reasons. Additionally, assassins may be motivated by financial gain, revenge, or personal public recognition. Assassination may also refer to the government-sanctioned killing of opponents or to targeted attacks on high-profile enemy combatants. A high ranking official in Hamas was assassinated in Dubai recently. Everyone is pointing the finger at Israel. Some think that it might have been done by others, a faction opposed to Hamas in Gaza. Some things do not make any sense. The assassins used the names and forged passports of real people from England. Very sloppy. The assassins were photographed many times in the hotel and other places and the police have clear closeup photos of the suspect. Not very professional. The victim was smothered with a pillow in his hotel room. That does not make sense if it was a professional hit. This morning people are asking if the most highly trained and proficient intelligence group in the world, Israel, would have ever made all these mistakes. Either Israel made these mistakes on purpose to make people think that it was another group or the world economic crises has caused Israel to hire some real idiots in order to reduce costs.
The humidity
inside my house
remains at
about 10%
year round
regardless
of snow
or rain
outside.
It will
go up
a bit
in the morning
after my shower
but for the most part
it stays the same.
But even without
the humidity
going up
it seems
that the cold
recently
has been
much colder
than normal.
Not just
the temperature
but the fact
that it is now
bone chilling.
Goes right
to the core.
I turn up the heat
and it does not
make a difference.
I can
put on
a few layers
of clothing
and I am still cold.
I feel great.
I am
eating and working out
normally.
Nothing
in my life
has changed
other than
the fact
that I am
cold all the time.
I have
a huge hot tub
in my living room
and maybe
it is time
to crank it up
and dump
copious amounts
of moisture
into the air.
Maybe
sitting in
105 degree water
will help.
This morning they reported that over forty people have been trapped in avalanches in Colorado this year even with the lack of snow in some places. Fortunately most have lived to ski another day. Over the weekend two people were caught in an avalanche on Loveland Pass and fortunately were rescued. One of the rescuers was a member of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center who was driving over the pass and just happened to be in the right place at the right time. After spending a lot of my life digging out and removing dead bodies from avalanche chutes I still do not understand why back country skiers take the risk. Most of the deaths are people who are very experienced skiers who should know better. They woke up that morning hearing the warnings on the local radio and TV stations about what to avoid to stay out of trouble. Then they go right to the place where avalanches are most likely. This past weekend there was a death where skiers were skiing below other skiers and were trapped when the snow above them broke loose and slid down on them. It is almost as if they are tempting fate knowing that there was a high probability that the snow would give way and kill them. As Mark Twain once said. "If common sense were so common there would be more of it." Stupid is as stupid does.
This morning's news reported that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Iran is moving toward becoming a military dictatorship. Nice that she said it openly when most people have felt that way for a long time. The current government is more repressive than many during the cold war. It is all about control. Control information and you can control the minds of the people. Suppress free speech and eliminate dissidents. As I think about this it might have a positive reaction. The people in Iran listen to news from the western world and once they start thinking about the perception of others of their government they might do something to stop the effort. President Mahmud Ahmadinejad feels that he has everything under control but I think he is mistaken. People can only be pushed so far before they push back.
I have been reading everything I can find on the shootings recently at the University of Alabama-Huntsville. This morning I read that the Harvard educated shooter/professor had also shot and killed her brother several years ago in Massachusetts. The shooting was ruled "accidental" and the DA and the Police Chief at the time allegedly ordered her released. As a retired police officer with more than thirty years experience something smells bad about that whole thing. First of all no one can find the investigation reports from that shooting. Second, the brother was shot three times. If someone is shot three times it is not an "accident." The police chief is retired and the DA at the time is now a congressman. I can see a TV docudrama in the future.
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. In case you did not get my card (that darn Post Office) here is my Valentine's Card for you and the rest of the world. As we are spending so much time this weekend talking about love and caring for one another, I want to talk about another four letter word. Hate. Hate is a bad thing. Hate is negative energy. We should never hate anything. We should do our very best to love and forgive. I am not saying that it is not appropriate to dislike something. I dislike coconut. You might even say that I hate coconut. It is tasteless and it only gets stuck in your teeth. I really dislike people who do not tell the truth. Like Fox News and what's her name the former vice presidential candidate from Alaska. But I don't hate them. Fox News is a joke and very funny so that is a good thing. The former vice presidential candidate from Alaska is also one of the funniest people I have ever seen. I start to laugh even before she opens her mouth. But I don't hate her. She is entertainment. In fact she is the brightest thing in the Republican party. You remember the Republican Party. A bunch to doddering old men who sit around talking about World War II and how that was the best time of their lives. But I don't hate them. In fact if I had not run out of Valentine's Cards I would send one to them and tell them that I don't hate them. In fact I love them. I just don't agree with them.
Bill Clinton had a procedure on his heart yesterday after complaining of chest discomfort for a couple of days. He had bypass surgery a few years ago and they announced that the procedure yesterday was a logical and normal event after heart surgery. We all remember when he was president that he would go jogging with the secret service and eventually end up in McDonalds eating a double cheeseburger. That kind of behavior will catch up to you at some point and possibly kill you. Bill Clinton has said in the past that heart problems run in his family. Not that I am talking about Bill Clinton but the biggest health problem facing all of us today is obesity. More than half of our adult population is considered obese according to the widely accepted "BMI" or body mass index. People are not naturally obese. You become obese from your eating behaviors. The old myth of being "big boned" just is not true. A couple of my friends have had bypass surgery and it worked for about a year with a dramatic weight loss but then they gained it all back because their behavior did not change. It is really up to you and I. We choose to be normal and healthy or we choose to be overweight and unhealthy. It is not easy to lose weight. Short of quitting smoking I think it is the hardest thing to accomplish. I smoked and quit after thirty years in 1986. I have weighed as much as 250 pounds in 1968 and today I weigh 198. My blood pressure is under control. My cholesterol is now low. My resting pulse rate is in the 50s. Both of my parents died from strokes. I feel great. I wish good health for all of you and especially Bill Clinton.
The Colorado State Legislature is moving very fast to move very backwards. To help save the state budget they are removing some provisions that prohibit taxing certain things. In other words they are raising taxes. Yesterday they decided to tax products with sugar but it had an interesting twist. They will not tax candy with wheat. Some candy bars like Twix are chocolate covered cookies or crackers. They will not be taxed. Interesting that Colorado is a major wheat producer. Something about the hand that feeds you. The sponsor said yesterday that they excluded wheat candy bars because many other states had excluded them too. That list was probably the same as the list of wheat producing states. That is the same excuse that children use, "All the other kids get to do it."
Heard an interesting piece this morning on profiling. Profiling is where a police officer or a security person will use a name, skin color or dress to profile a person into certain types that represent a known hazard. It is fully racist but I also believe that everyone does it to a certain extent. If people say they are not then they are not telling the truth. We all walk around with certain preconceived notions about people and how we expect them to behave. It is wrong but I am not sure what the alternative is short of a frontal lobotomy.