I enjoy all the year-end lists that pop up on the WWW around this time, mostly because they demonstrate that if there’s one thing the Web’s good at, it’s making lists. I also enjoy realizing that there’s about a snowball’s chance in hell that I’ll get around to reading, seeing, and listening to all of the books, films, TV shows, and music that all of these lists tell you it’s essential to have consumed.

One movie that seems to have popped up on a lot of lists is Alexander Payne’s “Sideways,” which Steve and I saw this weekend. I wouldn’t say it’s a masterpiece or anything, but I would wager that it’s a hell of a lot better than most of the movies released this past year. Nevertheless, just as was the case with “Lost in Translation” (another excellent movie) last year, when the critical consensus starts getting too huge, the detractors have to show up to make sure the “favorite” is knocked down a couple of pegs (or two). Thus, the boring, stale dweeb AO Scott of the New York Times, whose opinion about film is about as valuable to me as that of the sponge sitting on my kitchen sink, says that “Sideways” is the “most drastically overrated film of the year.” NP Thompson says that the movie “plays like a dumb sitcom.”

I thought the film was excellent, understated, and well-observed. Few people in the showing we were at seemed to get it, though; most of the hilarious moments were greeted by silence. Maybe it’s because it’s a completely California movie — the movie’s set in San Diego and Santa Barbara County, and the characters typify a kind of California self-absorption that’s hard to understand (or to find amusing) unless you’ve lived in California or know Californians. Oh well. I still think it’s well worth seeing, even if you hate California (maybe even more worth it, in that instance).

Anyway, I’m hardly one to speak about current movies. I only saw seven new releases in the theater in 2004, which seems like a pathetically small number, but there are very few movies I’m willing to fork out the bucks and go through the public ritual of seeing anymore. “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” sounds like an intriguing premise, but I’m tired of excusing movies with the exasperatingly untalented and overrated Jim Carrey in them just because they have a good premise (e.g., “The Truman Show”). “Before Sunset” is being praised to the skies, but I thought “Before Sunrise” was uninspiring, so why should I like “Sunset”? “Bad Education” is getting a lot of raves, but I have yet to see an Almodóvar film that I’ve liked. So it goes.

As for music, well, I’m even less able to offer worthwhile comment there. My musical discovery of the year was Ella Fitzgerald’s songbook box set, the last album of which was released in 1964, so that should tell you something about my level of hipness. However, I do listen to new music on the Web once in a while, and one album that really impressed me (that I haven’t yet bought) is the Fiery Furnaces’ Blueberry Boat, which is feverish, bizarre, insane, and inspired all at once. The Strokes’ Room on Fire was released in 2003, but I didn’t hear it till 2004; I liked the instrumentation, but you have to get past the whiny, braying, processed lead vocalist to get to the instrumentation, which is too big a hurdle for me. (Also, the main riff of the leadoff track, “What Ever Happened?”, sounds too much like a ripoff of the chugging riff of Stevie Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen” to be taken seriously.) What I’ve heard of the most overpraised album of 2004, Arcade Fire’s Funeral, didn’t set me on fire. I loved PJ Harvey’s Uh Huh Her, which is no huge leap forward, but at this point even PJ Harvey in a holding pattern is superior to most of the crap out there. I didn’t hear a single new hip-hop or R&B album that I liked, which is pretty sad.

Today comes news that « the Emperor is planning permanent gulags in a number of countries to hold persons merely suspected of … well, doing something of which the Emperor does not approve »:

‘The Bush administration is preparing plans for possible lifetime detention of suspected terrorists, including hundreds whom the government does not have enough evidence to charge in courts, The Washington Post reported Sunday. Citing intelligence, defense and diplomatic officials, the newspaper said the Pentagon and the CIA had asked the White House to decide on a more permanent approach for those it would not set free or turn over to courts at home or abroad. As part of a solution, the Defense Department, which holds 500 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, plans to ask the U.S. Congress for $25 million to build a 200-bed prison to hold detainees who are unlikely to ever go through a military tribunal for lack of evidence, defense officials told the newspaper.’

Folks, we’re no longer living in the America into which I was born and raised. This is something very different, very ugly and very evil.

The Republic is dead. Long live the Empire, eh?

It’s 55 degrees outside ….. the snow has almost melted ….. the radio announcer just said that if this isn’t a record warm temperature for New Year’s Eve it must be close.

Sigh.

While the Emperor stubbornly sits on his ass in Crawford and turns a Norwegian official’s comments about rich countries being stingy into a fascist agit-prop campaign against the UN, « donations via Amazon to the International Red Cross are over $2.3 million and rising ».

With the death toll topping 80,000 today and climbing, every penny will be needed to make a difference. Even while the absent Emperor and his minions waste time with their propaganda campaign against the UN and the hapless Norwegian, they were shamed into raising official US aid to a total of $35 million. « They finally trotted out Caligula at Crawford today », almost a week after the disaster (and days after snarkily bitching about President Clinton’s statement days ago) for the prayer-and-piousness dog-and-pony show, along with ‘I’ve got an idea! Another coalition of the willing! Yeah! And a warning system! That’s the ticket!’

What an embarrassment.

Meanwhile, we should give and do what we can … let the world know that we’re not all ignorant, angry, mean fascists.

It’s hard for me to write anything about Christmas without coming across as cynical and bitter and old and jaded and all that stuff.

So I won’t.

I’m thankful for Frank and for Bayley and for David and all my other friends. I’m thankful for my nice, comfortable warm home and a full stomach. I’m thankful for still being alive and that some people still want to put up with me.

I’m thankful for the opportunity to have some impact on childrens’ lives in the classroom. I’m thankful for the opportunity to get my master’s degree at one of the Empire’s premiere educational institutions.

I love the snow, my new Jeep, and sitting around all weekend watching movies with Frank. I love my bicycle, my leather chair and cuddling up to a warm beagle between us on a cold wintry night.

I’m thankful to start a new year and have more adventures.

I hope to get a handle on the arthritis in ‘05. I hope to lose 20 pounds and be in better shape so I can be a bike stud next summer. I hope to make it through my April sojourn in Oklahoma more or less intact. I hope to be able to get my grad program successfully underway and halfway done by this time next year. And I hope to not get creamed by a Michigan driver in ‘05.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Looks like « USAirways’ CWA unit is the latest union to cave to bankruptcy/liquidation threats »

‘Reservations and gate agents at US Airways approved a new contract Thursday that cuts pay by 13 percent and provides the airline some of the relief it says it needs to avoid imminent liquidation. The Communications Workers of America, which represents nearly 6,000 passenger service employees at the bankrupt airline, said that 60 percent of members who cast ballots voted to approve the deal, which runs though 2011. The deal is expected to save the airline $137 million a year. “This ratification is very important to our future success as it shows our ability to work collaboratively with our employees toward common goals and solutions. Today, we have drawn much closer to becoming a stronger, more competitive airline,” said Jerrold Glass, the airline’s senior vice president of employee relations. Thursday’s vote gives the airline ratified deals with two of its four major unions: the CWA and the pilots’ union. It still needs ratified deals from its flight attendants and its machinists’ union. CWA leaders had urged approval of the deal. They said the pay cuts, while steep, are much less than the 34 percent cuts initially sought by the airline. The contract cuts pay for most CWA employees by 13 percent, with top scale now at $18 an hour. Employees would not receive pay raises until at least 2008.’

I love that quote from the Sr. VP of ‘Employee Relations’: ’… our ability to work collaboratively with our employees toward common goals and solutions.’

Whatta loada horse hockey.

What actually happened, ‘Jerrold’, was that your airline threatened its employees with the complete loss of their jobs via liquidation; instead of standing firm and unemployed, the workers voted to take a big ol’ pay cut and keep a paycheck that will be marginally better than unemployment compensation and might last marginally longer. And they’ll do it again and again every time you ask them to or you’ll have the judge ram it down their throats.

And if USAirways does liquidate, as an ‘executive’ Jerrold will land pretty soft pretty much anywhere; the workers will land … in not so good circumstances.

I’ll add USAirways to my list of sucky airlines that need to join Eastern in the great airline graveyard in the sky. Sorry, USAirways employees, but your executives (and hence your airline) are irredeemably amoral.

Looks like United wins another one; « Independence Air is about to scuttle its independence »:

‘Independence Air, which has struggled since its launch six months ago as an independent low-fare carrier, has been asked by bankrupt United Airlines to return as a feeder carrier, a company spokesman said on Thursday. Rick DeLisi, a spokesman for Independence Air’s Dulles-based corporate parent, Flyi Inc., said the company received an unsolicited request from UAL Corp.’s United to bid on the regional feeder routes. He said that the company has discussed the issue with United, but declined to confirm that the company actually submitted a bid. “We have always said that we would be open to listening to any idea,” DeLisi said. Flyi executives had previously stated they would consider a return to flying as a regional carrier. … Flyi, formerly known as Atlantic Coast Airlines, embarked on the Independence Air experiment after United Airlines filed for bankruptcy and sought to sharply curtail the profit margins of its regional carriers. Though some analysts questioned the wisdom of trying to run a low-fare airline with regional jets, which generally have higher unit costs, Flyi executives said the potential rewards of establishing a successful independent carrier outweighed the risks.’

Basically what we have here, then, is that badly mismanaged and fiscally irresponsible United, operating under the guise of bankruptcy, has royally screwed over its unions and its regional carrier ‘partners,’ yet again.

Lesson: If you’re too stupid to run your airline properly even during tough times, just run screaming to a judge and you’ll get what you want anyway.

I’m sorry, but United needs to join Pan American, Braniff, Eastern, etc., in the graveyard of once-proud, once-great, but now ridiculously awful airlines. If you’re a United employee, I’m sorry for that sentiment, but … well … take it up with the idiots at the home office in Elk Grove.

2004-12-26 01:04:59

We spent quite a bit of time driving around in the Jeep today. The seven inches of snow and hard-packed ice on side streets were quite fun.

The Grand was rock-solid and never slipped or slid unless I forced it to. In some ways, it’’s a bit boring. But I’‘ve never been accused of being a live-on-the-edge kinda guy anyway.

The heater and heated seats are awesome; you build up a sweat pretty quick. I hate driving in a coat anyway, so that comes off, even though the temp gauge reads 10 degrees.

Almost a month, 550 miles and counting, and I’‘m still very, very happy. (Well, mostly. We won’‘t talk about the gas mileage.)

Well, I see that, on a day which is supposed to be the holiest to ‘Jesus is my hero’ types like himself, the « Emperor delivers his most hypocritical Christmas message ever »

’[The Emperor] on Saturday urged Americans to help the neediest among them by volunteering to care for the sick, the elderly and the poor in a Christmas day call for compassion. “Many of our fellow Americans still suffer from the effects of illness or poverty, others fight cruel addictions, or cope with division in their families, or grieve the loss of a loved one,” he said in his weekly radio address. “Christmastime reminds each of us that we have a duty to our fellow citizens, that we are called to love our neighbor just as we would like to be loved ourselves,” Bush added. “By volunteering our time and talents where they are needed most, we help heal the sick, comfort those who suffer, and bring hope to those who despair, one heart and one soul at a time.”’

Pardon me while I retch violently.

That was the Emperor’s words. Lest we forget, here are the Emperor’s actions:

’‘In one of the first signs of the effects of the ever tightening federal budget, in the past two months the Bush administration has reduced its contributions to global food aid programs aimed at helping millions of people climb out of poverty. With the budget deficit growing and [the Emperor] promising to reduce spending, the administration has told representatives of several charities that it was unable to honor some earlier promises and would have money to pay for food only in emergency crises like that in Darfur, in western Sudan. The cutbacks, estimated by some charities at up to $100 million, come at a time when the number of hungry in the world is rising for the first time in years and all food programs are being stretched.

‘As a result, Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services and other charities have suspended or eliminated programs that were intended to help the poor feed themselves through improvements in farming, education and health. “We have between five and seven million people who have been affected by these cuts,” said Lisa Kuennen, a food aid expert at Catholic Relief Services. “We had approval for all of these programs, often a year in advance. We hired staff, signed agreements with governments and with local partners, and now we have had to delay everything.” Ms. Kuennen said Catholic Relief Services had to cut back programs in Indonesia, Malawi and Madagascar, among other countries.’

Now, I’m not supposed to judge my fellow man. So I’ll just have to take comfort in the hope that someday, God will judge this man for BOTH his words and actions.

Small comfort, but it’ll have to suffice in order for us to get through the next four years of hell the Emperor will unleash.

Merry Christmas, my ass.

On Christmas Day, the one day of the year when ‘Goodwill Toward Men’ is supposed to prevail, comes news that « our post-retirement future is in the hands of a buncha nuts and partisan political hacks »:

‘Nearly everyone agrees that it will be hard, perhaps impossible, for [the Emperor] to overhaul Social Security without bipartisan support. But the parties have not been this far apart ideologically on Capitol Hill for decades, some analysts say. And many Democrats assert that the last four years under Mr. Bush have only deepened the division and mistrust. Democratic leaders are careful to say they are willing to engage in bipartisan discussions about the problems facing Social Security, with “no preconditions on either side,” as Representative Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the House, put it last week. The [emperor] himself said Thursday that he understood that “I have a responsibility to reach out to members of both political parties and I will meet that responsibility.” But leading Democrats say [the Emperor] is beginning his Social Security drive with some unacceptable preconditions. Indeed, Democratic leaders dispute the Republicans’ central assertions: that the problems facing Social Security constitute a crisis, and that diverting payroll taxes to private investment accounts is the way to solve it. Social Security trustees have estimated that without changes, the system will start running short of money to pay full benefits in 38 years. “If we allow them to frame it that way — that there is a crisis, therefore we must go to private accounts — if we allow them to frame it that way, the fact is, we’ve perpetrated a huge fraud,” said Senator Byron L. Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota and chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee. Moreover, any serious effort to build a bipartisan coalition is bucking some powerful trends. The latest analysis of roll-call votes by Congressional Quarterly showed that 2003 was the most partisan year of the past five decades studied, and 2004 was only slightly less so.’

Good lord. We are SO screwed when we hit retirement age.

I switched the tires on the Bobcat today from the smooth good-weather ones to the knobby snow/mountain tires for winter. It’s time to go try the thing out on the snow and ice. I’m eager to get back in shape and get things going so I can be ready to do some serious riding this summer.

I’ll probably do myself an injury.

« Our Life in Michigan – Christmas Day 2004 »

« Our Life in Michigan – Christmas Day 2004 »

« Our Life in Michigan – First Big Snowfall of Winter »

It’s really grand out there, but this stuff is so dry and fluffy, one cannot make a decent snowman [sniff]. Still, it’s about time we had something fluffy and white on the ground.

The beagle, however, much prefers the couch …

It took a while … a very long while … but finally a « Florida appeals court has upheld an award to a flight attendant who blamed secondhand smoke on airliners for bronchitis and sinus disease »:

‘A state appeals court upheld a $500,000 award to a flight attendant who blamed secondhand smoke on airliners for her bronchitis and sinus trouble—a decision Wednesday that could clear the way for damage trials on up to 3,000 similar claims. The ruling for former TWA attendant Lynn French was a test case interpreting a $349 million settlement reached in 1997 between the tobacco industry and nonsmoking attendants. The flight attendants blamed their illnesses on smoke in the cabin before smoking was banned on domestic flights in 1990. … After the tobacco industry agreed to settle, a system of mini-trials was set up for each flight attendant to decide whether he or she deserved compensatory damages. Under the ground rules, each jury was to presume that secondhand smoke causes several diseases; the attendants had to prove only that they suffered from one of those diseases and that their exposure to smoke occurred on the job.’

Justice moves slow. VERY slow. But good for Lynn French.

The weather today was sunny and it got up to 40 degrees, which is actually the warmest it’s been in at least 5 or 6 days. We’ve had a run of blustery, chilly weather here in southeast Michigan. On Monday night the temperature went down to 1 degree below zero, which is probably the coldest I’ve ever seen it (including last year).

So far the amount of snow has been underwhelming, but I enjoyed walking around in the flurries yesterday afternoon. I had turned in my final paper and just gotten off work and the walk from campus to the Ann Arbor District Library was strangely exhilarating. I will still be working during the break, but the respite from schoolwork is welcome.

‘From The Observer comes a great article about the « one man who remembers the 1914 Christmas Truce »:

‘The words drifted across the frozen battlefield: ‘Stille Nacht. Heilige Nacht. Alles Schlaft, einsam wacht’. To the ears of the British troops peering over their trench, the lyrics may have been unfamiliar but the haunting tune was unmistakable. After the last note a lone German infantryman appeared holding a small tree glowing with light. ‘Merry Christmas. We not shoot, you not shoot.’ It was just after dawn on a bitingly cold Christmas Day in 1914, 90 years ago on Saturday, and one of the most extraordinary incidents of the Great War was about to unfold. Weary men climbed hesitantly at first out of trenches and stumbled into no man’s land. They shook hands, sang carols, lit each other’s cigarettes, swapped tunic buttons and addresses and, most famously, played football, kicking around empty bully-beef cans and using their caps or steel helmets as goalposts. The unauthorised Christmas truce spread across much of the 500-mile Western Front where more than a million men were encamped.

‘According to records held by the World War One Veterans’ Association, there is only one man in the world still alive who spent 25 December 1914 serving in a conflict that left 31 million people dead, wounded or missing. Alfred Anderson was 18 at the time. Speaking to The Observer, Anderson has revealed remarkable new details of the day etched on history, including pictures of Christmas gifts sent to the troops.’

Fascinating. That’s a man I’d love to meet and interview.

I had to run over to Auburn Hills this evening and the Jeep passed the 500-mile mark with no problems.

The biggest shock has been the abominable gas mileage: 13.4 on the first tank, which was just driving around Ann Arbor.

This evening driving home, the monitor said I was getting 18. 13 and 18 are a far cry from the 17 and 21 on the sticker.

Still, other than contributing to the slaughter of the environment, which does disturb me, I’m very happy with the Grand. It’s rock-steady in the snow and slush, the heated seats are fabulous and it’s so smooth and easy to drive. I miss very little about the Wrangler, even though I would like to have kept it as a fun second car.

I still am not thrilled about the rear blind spots; a couple of times on the freeway this evening, there were cars there that I wasn’t aware of at all. It will take extra vigilance.

I’m liking the color better this week.

Amendment 2 went into effect as the law in the state of Michigan at midnight. I don’t really have anything else to add.

« Was the founder of the Republican Party and our Greatest President gay? »:

‘The subject of the 16th president’s sexuality has been debated among scholars for years. They cite his troubled marriage to Mary Todd and his youthful friendship with Joshua Speed, who shared his bed for four years. Now, in a new book, C. A. Tripp also asserts that Lincoln had a homosexual relationship with the captain of his bodyguards, David V. Derickson, who shared his bed whenever Mary Todd was away. In “The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln,” to be published next month by Free Press, Mr. Tripp, a psychologist, influential gay writer and former sex researcher for Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey, tries to resolve the issue of Lincoln’s sexuality once and for all. The author, who died in 2003, two weeks after finishing the book, subjected almost every word ever written by and about Lincoln to minute analysis. His conclusion is that America’s greatest president, the beacon of the Republican Party, was a gay man.’

The findings are disputed by another scholar or two. And the fascists will certainly have a thing or two or ten to say when the book is released next month. What fun it will be.

« Peace On Earth, Goodwill Toward Men won’t fit under this Christmas tree »

Wow … it’s been a hellacious eight weeks. Ever since my poster presentation on October 20, it’s been one wave of insanely intense schoolwork after another (although, as always, procrastination stuck its head in there along the way as well).

I watched election coverage and updated the results all night on Election Night for the Internet Public Library, along with three or four days preceding that involved meetings and lots of hand-holding from the patient tech person at IPL setting up the technology to make the file transfer happen for the election updates. Then I had a huge hour-long PATRIOT Act presentation in Information Policy on November 3, the night after the election. A short breather (of course the breather included the usual diet of weekly “problem sets” and homework assignments that held up the work I had to do on larger projects). Then a take-home final in Cataloging (the course is called Organization of Information Resources at SI). Then a long paper in Information Policy. Then a presentation in Government Information. Another presentation last night in Cataloging. I have a paper due on Monday in Cataloging, and then my term will be officially over.

I’m not saying that my plight was unusually dire. It wasn’t. I consider myself fortunate (in more ways than I can go into on this blog). I have heard stories of other students at SI (especially the HCI students) who have had far more intense terms than I’ve had this autumn. So I’m definitely not holding myself out to be an exceptionally burdened grad student. And my hat is off to all of my student colleagues, many of whom have to juggle commutes and kids and all kinds of other commitments.

But I will say that I’m glad it’s almost over (for a couple of weeks, anyway).

Let’s sing some C(onsumerism)hristmas Carols, shall we?

All together now: « To the tune of Let It Snow »:

‘Oh, the war in Iraq is frightful,
But for Lockheed and pals it’s delightful,
Since the Pentagon continues to pay,
Let ‘em stay, let ‘em stay, let ‘em stay.

‘Insurgents show no signs of stopping,
Americans can’t stop AK’s from popping,
Since it keeps Boeing’s prices high,
occupy, occupy, occupy.

‘When there’s a bombing or firefight,
It means moo-lah galore for GE,
And ev’ry IED laid at night,
means they’re buyin’ a brand new Humvee

‘As long as some Black Hawks keep crashin’,
The Complex can really cash in,
More war equals much more dough,
Let’s not go, never go, let’s not go.’

More snow overnight in southeast Michigan, a welcome sight … but the temps rose as the morning went on to 37-38 degrees, so the snow melted pretty quickly. The skies stayed gray all day, though.

The snow was still a nice sight. I walked to Kroger this afternoon and reveled in the white and the absence of traffic (both car and foot). It was cold, but not cold enough to be merciless. I went back home through Frisinger Park and a murder of crows was calling amongst each other in the treetops. They were obviously exchanging some kind of code. Their caws changed in tone as I passed under the trees and then as I walked away, their loud, 2-note “HAAAW–HAAAW” was almost a “All clear” signal.

There is excellent reading/viewing/listening « at the Oral History Project of the Urban School of San Francisco »:

‘We went through a number of Dr. Mengele’s dreaded selections where we would have to remove our clothes on the pretext of a medical checkup. During the time between while we stood in line waiting for Dr. Mengele to decide who should live, and who should die – with his glove on, and a little stick in his hand – many people would just faint. It took a lot of energy to go through such excitement, and later on we no longer had this energy. Of course, if you fainted they just dragged you away. You were too weak. There was always another transport to replace anyone who did that. Right in front of me I saw all these people from our town taken away just like that. They went through, by this time, also a number of these selections, which would always happen spontaneously. We never would know, surprise selections. I can go on, but do you really want me to?’

« Our Life in Michigan – Snowy Saturday »

I’m getting close to my first fillup on the Grand. Since it’s a bigger tank, it will probably cost me more, even though it gets me further down the road.

After one week, I’m even happier with the Grand than I thought I would be. The more I look at it, the things that I liked most at first are now some things that I’m not so crazy about: the Dark Khaki is a nice color, but kinda bland; and the front headlights are a bit … goofy. Or something.

I was at lunch in Delhi Park on Wednesday afternoon and pulled out to go back to work. Another brand new Dark Khaki Grand went down the road in front of me. That’s when I sort of noticed the blandness of the color and the back end.

Still, I like the boxier look and it feels like a nicer version of the Cherokee which I missed so badly the last four years. I love the heated seats and leather and the smoothness of the ride and the stereo system with the wheel mounted controls. It’s nice to have a cruise control again (even though I don’t use it that often) and the remote entry is fabulous.

So far, it hasn’t cost me anything. The only wrinkle: I got a nasty letter from Chrysler Financial yesterday demanding over $1700 for ending the lease on the Wrangler ‘early.’ Guess they weren’t informed of the ‘pull-through’ program. I hope this isn’t a harbinger of big-time pain with them in the future. I’ve got a call in to the dealer to find out.

Meanwhile, it’s great to drive. Frank hasn’t driven it yet, but that’s going to have to be corrected this weekend.

An historic moment: « the first US passenger jet to land in Vietnam since 1975 lands at Ho Chi Minh City ». Oddly enough, it was flown by bankrupt United Airlines, and odder still, carried as a passenger … wait for it … David Hasselhoff, of all people.

‘United Airlines Flight 869, from San Francisco, arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, at shortly after 10:00 p.m. Friday (10 a.m. EST). The flight — carrying 260 people, including some Vietnamese who fled their country after the war — was first U.S. commercial plane to touch down at Tan Son Nhat International Airport since the wartime capital of South Vietnam fell to the communists in 1975. … Many Americans who fought in the war have vivid memories of Tan Son Nhat airport, where they caught Pan American “freedom birds” home or to rest stops such as Hong Kong and Japan. Now-defunct Pan American was the last commercial U.S. airline to fly out of Vietnam before Saigon fell on April 30, 1975. Meanwhile, Vietnam’s state-owned airline has expressed interest in opening its own route to San Francisco by the end of next year, or early 2006.’

Now about that Domino Theory, among other things …

Rain all week ….. the occasional patch of blue sky ….. even eerie fog and gloom on Tuesday (I think it was Tuesday). But no snow.

Aargh!

It’s supposed to snow 1 to 3 inches tonight. I’ll believe it when I see it.

Sadly, I haven’t actually ridden the bike in a month. What with the new drug for the arthritis, and the subsequent nasty allergic reaction to aforementioned drug, and the onset of cold and rain, the Bobcat is in the basement attached to the stationery stand, awaiting a more opportune time to get out and about. It probably won’t be this weekend; 1 to 2 inches of snow are predicted.

After the last time I rode the bike to work at the high school not far from my house, i had my appointment with the rheumatologist, who diagnosed ‘reactive arthritis’ and gave me sulfasalazine to get the inflammation in my joints down. I had an allergic reaction to that and am still not fully recovered.

Still, I plan to put on the snow tires and try some snow riding, if we actually get that much white stuff. I’m beginning to feel the effects of the lack of riding on my middle section, where my newly loose-fitting size 36s are now my very snug-fitting size 36s. It sucks.

So Ann Arbor middle schoolers today tell explicit jokes about incest during their lunch periods.

Who knew?

Apparently, « Imperial troops are putting wounded Iraqis out of their misery by shooting them in the head », kind of like you’d put down a horse:

‘A U.S. soldier pleaded guilty at his court-martial Friday to killing a severely wounded 16-year-old Iraqi, the military said. Staff Sgt. Johnny M. Horne Jr., 30, of Winston-Salem, N.C., was charged with the Aug. 18 slaying in Baghdad’s Sadr City, the scene of fierce clashes earlier this year between coalition forces and Shiite rebels allied to firebrand anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

‘According to accounts given by witnesses at previous hearings, the soldiers, including Horne, tried to rescue an Iraqi casualty from inside the truck. The victim had severe abdominal wounds and burns and was thought by several of the witnesses to be beyond medical help. The criminal investigator had said that the U.S. soldiers had decided that “the best course of action was to put (the victim) out of his misery.” Another military hearing into a soldier charged with killing another Iraqi in a separate August incident in Sadr City is expected to continue Friday.’

More prosecutions will be forthcoming:

‘Capt. Rogelio Maynulet, 29, of Chicago, will be tried on charges of assault with intent to commit murder and dereliction of duty, which carry a maximum combined sentence of 201/2 years, said military spokesman Maj. Michael Indovina. During Maynulet’s Article 32 hearing, witnesses testified that the driver had been shot in the head when Maynulet saw him. A fellow officer said Maynulet told him he then shot the man out of compassion.’

What a completely sordid, tragic mess.

What did I hear this afternoon wafting from a window of a classroom in Mason Hall but Bob Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” not as the soundtrack to an anti-war protest in the Diag as it probably was on this campus almost 40 years ago, but as the soundtrack to what was probably an undergraduate American history course taught by some SDS refugee from the 1960s?

From vanguard of the revolution to ….. boring whiny song we have to pretend to listen to in history class. Somehow simultaneously depressing and appropriate.

Ah, yes. Today it was back to the Ann Arbor I know and love. I was on the bus coming home tonight, sitting next to the window. A woman on a cell phone sat down next to me and started yacking. This went on for five minutes. I pulled the cord to ring the bell for my stop. I stood up when the bus pulled over. Nothing. She was still yacking and doing everything she could to ignore me. I said, “Excuse me, can I get out?” She barely bothered to stir herself and made a sour face at me while continuing her life-or-death conversation. Some of the other riders glared at me as though I had committed some sort of breach myself because I wanted to get off at my stop. Whatever.

As often as I complain about etiquette and rudeness, it would be downright impolite of me not to include acknowledgment when a day happens like today, in which not only was the town of Ann Arbor socked in with fog (!!!), but several random episodes of politeness occurred as I made my way through the day.

To wit:

• A circ clerk at Ann Arbor District Library took my returned CDs and DVDs, then went back to see if a book I had put on hold was ready to pick up. She didn’t see it in the front shelving area but was sure that it was in back. She left and was gone for two or three minutes. She came back and apologized; it wasn’t there yet. I had a dollar out to pay a late fine and I handed it over to her. She shook her head no and told me to keep the buck. “For the inconvenience,” she said. I was flabbergasted. It was only a buck. But still … I appreciated the gesture, and I told her so.

• I lost my gray wool cap in a restroom in Hatcher. I ran back about an hour later on the off chance that it might be on the floor somewhere. (I’d already checked lost and found.) Some kind soul had carefully placed it on the shelf above one of the sinks. Thank you, whoever did that!

• The counter guy at New York Pizza Depot was incredibly polite.

• A woman held a door open for me.

Oh, well, everyone will probably be back to snarling and scowling tomorrow, but it was nice while it lasted.

Looks like the « ‘how I love the smell of Napalm in the morning’ boys are firmly in control » of the Imperial military:

‘The US has already admitted that it used napalm during the siege of Baghdad. The truth was reluctantly confirmed by the Pentagon after news reports corroborated the evidence. The military has tried to conceal the truth by saying that there is a distinction between its new weapon and “traditional napalm”. The “improved” product carries the Pentagon moniker “Mark 77 firebombs” and uses jet fuel to “decrease environmental damage”. The fact that military planner’s even considered “environmental damage” while developing the tools for incinerating human beings, gives us some insight into the deep vein of cynicism that permeates their ranks. …

‘The charges of “war crimes” and use of banned weapons comes on the heels of a confidential report just released by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The report confirms that the US military has intentionally used psychological and sometimes physical coercion “tantamount to torture” on prisoners at Guantánamo Bay. The report concludes that the military has developed a system to break the will of prisoners through “humiliating acts, solitary confinement, temperature extremes, use of forced positions….The construction of such a system, whose stated purpose is the production of intelligence, cannot be considered other than an intentional system of cruel, unusual and degrading treatment and a form of torture.” (New York Times)’

Be sure and « check out the latest from Fallujah at the ‘Fallujah in Pictures’ blog ». You can’t support the Imperial war effort and not look closely at these pictures, which graphically show the cost of war … to both sides.

An excellent commentary from a reader of the Los Angeles Times named G. Llloyd Helm appeared in today’s edition:

The other day I was in Barnes & Noble and an ugly fact came home to me. I can’t afford to buy books anymore. I used to pick up a book every week or two and was never without a paperback book stuck in my back pocket. Now buying a book is a major purchase.

Hard-bound books are averaging $25 apiece, and paperbacks are often more than $5 each. If you are making minimum wage, that boils down to four hours’ work for a hard-bound book. …

The National Endowment for the Arts released a study in July that found the reading of literature over the last 20 years had gone down like an express elevator; only 57% of Americans read any book at all last year. Part of the reason is that there are thousands of young people graduating from high school who can barely read anything more complicated than “Dick and Jane.”

But even those who can read aren’t doing so, and it should be obvious even to those dunderheads in publishing that the price of books has something to do with that. When a kid, especially one who doesn’t read well anyhow, can go to a movie or buy a computer game for less money than it costs to buy a paperback, which one is he or she going to choose?

I almost never buy books anymore unless I absolutely have to. I have more books sitting on my floor than I could possibly read anyway. And even if a lot of books I see in Borders look enticing, their prices are an instant disincentive (and I’m not singling Borders out). This was true even when I wasn’t a poverty-stricken grad student. Tonight in Borders I lingered over the following books, but I would never have bought them at their list prices:

• Augusten Burroughs: Magical Thinking: True Stories (St. Martin’s Press, $23.95)
• Geoffrey Stone: Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from The Sedition Act of 1798 to The War on Terrorism (W.W. Norton, $35.00)
• Ken Bloom and Frank Vlastnik: Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, $34.95)

One more reason for the preservation of libraries. And, paradoxically, one more reason for publishers to hate libraries.

• Thieves steal DVDs from public libraries in Macomb County and sell them to pawn shops.

• A candidate for a spot on the Lapeer District Library Board was denied a spot even though he was the only candidate running. He also not coincidentally happens to be gay. One of the county commissioners, a Democrat from Columbiaville, cracked during a public meeting to consider his candidacy that the man applying for the job (his first name is Gale) wasn’t really a man.

[Sources: LIS News and Queer Day.]

Not to beat a dead horse. But I will anyway.

On September 13, Arnold Schwarzenegger signed AB 2208 into law. The law in California now requires insurers doing business in California to treat domestic partners the same as married partners for purposes of coverage on home, health, life, auto, and renters’ policies. The insurance code in California is now in consonance with the rest of state law. (Gray Davis signed AB 205, the most sweeping domestic partner benefit legislation in the country, into law in September 2003, shortly before he was forced out of office; AB 2208 basically makes sure that the insurance code harmonizes with the rest of California statutes affected by AB 205.)

Now, Schwarzenegger signed AB 2208 into law without a ceremony; it’s doubtful most people in California even know the law exists. Nevertheless, contrast that with Jennifer Granholm’s actions this week. Of course, it’s mostly about “political capital.” Schwarzenegger has nothing to lose. Granholm has everything to lose. But beyond “political capital,” there’s such a thing as political risk-taking for the purposes of principle, and Granholm seems allergic to it.

Thanks for checking back in with me; I’ve been sick for two weeks (I won’t bore you with the details). I hope to start gearing up the postings back to a more readable level soon.

Some fascinating reading is to be found in « The Assassination of Danilo Anderson »

‘I remember on September 21, 1976 the FBI vacuuming the broken glass on Embassy Row’s Sheridan Circle, after the bomb ripped through Letelier’s car. “These people are pros,” an FBI agent commented. The FBI arrested two of the Letelier-Moffitt killers, years after the murder. They pled guilty, got twelve years, served seven and got paroled. The INS then re-arrested them as undesirables, but in August 2001 George W. Bush insisted ­ over strong objection from the INS and FBI — that these “Cuban patriots” deserved to return to civilian life in Florida. Good terrorists receive US hospitality. Bad terrorists, those with Arab names, feel the wrath of US bombers, troops and prison guards at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, whether or not they did anything criminal. Ironically, the prissy John Ashcroft ordered the arrest and confinement of thousands of innocent people. They did not know the nature of the charges against them, much less have access to an attorney. Yet, Ashcroft refused to sign the indictment of Pinochet, the initiator of the 1976 car bombing in Washington.’

Same old song and dance from completely amoral men.

« Molly Ivins is freaked out ». It’s a great column, but the ending is … a tad naive, I’m afraid.

‘In the name of Jesus Christ Almighty, why are people representing our government, paid by us, writing filth on the Korans of helpless prisoners? Is this American? Is it Christian? What are our moral values? Where are the clergymen on this? Speak out, speak up.’

You know I love you more than my luggage, Molly, but you’re just not fully aware of the new reality in the Empire today, even though you’re almost there: According to my own sister and other family members, knee-jerk supporters of the Emperor all, this IS American … this IS Christian … and this IS the way things should be … and to speak out and speak up is to be a much-hated and much-reviled evil liberal monster.

Like me.

‘Where one burns books, one will soon burn people.’
—Heinrich Heine

« Alabama Fascist calls for ‘gay’ book purge »

‘A bill by Rep. Gerald Allen, R-Cottondale, would prohibit the use of public funds for “the purchase of textbooks or library materials that recognize or promote homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle.” Allen said he filed the bill to protect children from the “homosexual agenda.” … Allen said that if his bill passes, novels with gay protagonists and college textbooks that suggest homosexuality is natural would have to be removed from library shelves and destroyed. “I guess we dig a big hole and dump them in and bury them,” he said. When asked about Tennessee Williams’ southern classic “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof,” Allen said the play probably couldn’t be performed by university theater groups. Allen said no state funds should be used to pay for materials that foster homosexuality. He said that would include nonfiction books that suggest homosexuality is acceptable and fiction novels with gay characters. While that would ban books like “Heather has Two Mommies,” it could also include classic and popular novels with gay characters such as “The Color Purple,” “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and “Brideshead Revisted.”’

Bill Moyers, « in a speech to People for the American Way »:

‘Of this, I am sure, you can be fearful or free, but you cannot be both. If you are fearful, you put yourself at the mercy of priests and princes and accept their conceits and usurpations as the health of the state and the means of salvation. But if you are free, no one and nothing, not even fear, can intimidate or subjugate or hijack your soul.’

We’ll miss Bill Moyers. His is « the one resignation that matters ».

The clever and — you have to give this to them, tactically and strategically brilliant — proponents of Amendment 2 spent hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of dollars in the months leading up to the election insisting that the amendment was all about “protecting marriage.”

On the rare (very rare) occasions when the media called them on their inconsistencies, the proponents would redouble their efforts to obscure their true designs.

Gary Glenn, the head of the American Family Association of Michigan, had the absolute audacity to write in a letter to the Detroit Free Press on November 8 that

Every citizen has equal protection under Michigan’s marriage laws, and equal access. Any person can get married, which by definition means to someone of the opposite sex. There is nothing discriminatory or unequal about that.

No, there’s nothing discriminatory or unequal about that, unless you’re homosexual, in which case you can take “equal access” and stuff it where the sun doesn’t shine.

The governor and her chief employment officer abruptly decided on Wednesday to remove a negotiated same-sex partner benefit package from contracts with the state’s five public employee unions because of fear of litigation. This is just the beginning. The Michigan Daily had an article in today’s edition that makes it clear that right-wing legal advocacy groups are chomping at the bit to take the University of Michigan to court to force it to stop providing same-sex benefits to its employees. The University says it will vigorously defend its right to continue providing those benefits, which is fine and good, but we’ll see if that holds up once the lawsuits actually go forward.

I’ve talked to at least two local people in the past week or so who were shocked to find out that Amendment 2 is a Trojan horse for eliminating same-sex partnership benefits from all Michigan public institutions.

I have to ask this, even if only hypothetically: If you live in a certain state of the Union, and your citizenship is routinely and systematically stomped into the ground by political and legislative thuggery, do you decide to stay, or you decide to leave?

A lot of people are going to be asking that question.

Q. Who would you rather be run over by?

(a) A driver behind the wheel of a Cadillac Escalade sporting a “KEEP HONKING WHILE I RELOAD” bumper sticker.

(b) A bicyclist with a gray crate tied by bungee cord to the back of her bike, the crate sporting a peeling, faded bumper sticker bearing the words “PRACTICE RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS.”

I was almost run over by (b) this afternoon as I walked through Nickles Arcade. The bicyclist was in her fifties, ponytailed, seemingly in all kinds of intense and frantic hurry until she passed me, upon which she slowed down considerably and had plenty of time not to walk her bike through the pedestrian arcade and to look in the window of every single friggin’ shop and boutique in the place as she pedaled past as though in a sudden-onset dream state.

I guess if irony were a way to die, (b) would be the way to go. This episode goes in my “Only in Ann Arbor” Hall of Fame file. This kind of thing wouldn’t even happen in Berkeley. I suppose the bicyclist conluded that now that Bush has gotten a second term she might as well toss all that “random kindness” crap out the window.

So, « this forum pretty much addresses my whole ‘Isn’t it sort of a girly car?’ » problem. One example:

‘I am 32, male, living in the city of Chicago. I used to be a VW Jetta driver, but traded it off for a new 2002 Red Liberty a couple of years ago. … I have had zero problems with it in the 25 months that I’ve had it. The gas mileage factor was a bit of an adjustment, especially coming from a Jetta. When I first bought the Liberty, I heard a couple of people say the same thing about it being a girly car. I took offense to this, since I thought my Jetta was much more girly than the KJ. Still, there are ways to “Butch” it up with add-ons. You can buy the Renegade edition light bar and rack, add off-roading parts and guards, etc.

And so on. I guess my opinion of the Liberty continues to move over to the more positive side. I just can’t get over them trashing the original Cherokee.