A complicated
Life is the sweetest life that
We can hope to have
Monday, August 31, 2020
Striped Bikini
I remember
The first time I saw you
In a sexy striped bikini
I didn’t even have
My glasses on
But you made a strong impression
You had this poise
This confidence
This courage I admired
You controlled the moment
With breathless raw intention
You wielded the power
To make me give you anything
You wanted
And you knew it
Science vs. Opinion
We live in an age of skepticism, and that skepticism is often directed at the scientific community. People don’t always accept the accuracy of certain predictions and observations, especially when they believe that these predictions foretell some level of inconvenience.
Scientists are human beings. They can have all sort of fanciful ideas. The difference is that before they can publish an idea, they have to verify that it’s true. Someone chatting at the water cooler or opining on a cable news talk show is not held to the same standard of accuracy.
A scientist might believe that his Honda Civic can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in two seconds, but before he can claim that his car has such remarkable acceleration, he has to demonstrate that it’s true.
First, he has to figure out how he will measure the speed of the vehicle and the time that it takes to achieve a particular speed. What methods and devices will he use to measure time and velocity? How will he calibrate those devices? Can he use multiple methods of measurement and check that they agree?
What are the parameters of the test? For instance, it probably won’t be a fair test if the vehicle is going downhill or if there is a significant tail wind. How will the levelness of the test track be determined? How will wind speed and direction be measured? How will these measurements be confirmed?
When all of that is settled, the scientist and his team will take multiple measurements. They’ll run the car along the test track several times. They’ll analyze the results with statistics to make sure that they are consistent. If one measurement is much faster or slower than normal, it will be eliminated, because it might have been a result of a procedural error.
The team will write up their findings along with all of the details that they used to measure the car’s performance. Then another team will perform the same tests in another location at another time. If the second team’s findings do not match the original findings, the results are thrown out, and they have to start over.
For instance, if the scientist finds that his car accelerates from 0 to 60 MPH in 9 seconds, but the second team determines that the fastest time in their measurements was 11 seconds, the scientist cannot publish the 9 second conclusion. He might have wittingly or subconsciously done something to bias the results of the experiment in order to make his car seem faster than it really is. Having an independent team verify the results helps to ensure accuracy.
This scientific method demands this level or rigor. Conclusions are not drawn on a whim, nor are they based on someone’s opinion or the desire for financial rewards. Scientists report what they can measure with confidence, nothing more and nothing less.
The next time a scientific study suggests a conclusion that doesn’t feel right to you, or that some talking head labels a conspiracy, or if your friends suggest is a way for scientists to cash in by selling books and lectures, realize that those scientists went to great lengths to check the accuracy of their work.
Maybe you should write to the talking head and ask him to document how he set up his experiments and calibrated the instruments that he used to determine his conclusions. As him who peer reviewed his findings. Don’t be surprised if he refuses to answer those questions. Opinions are cheap.
RNC Neighbors
I didn’t watch all of the Republican National Convention, but I did see a number of speakers across the four nights. Two things struck me. First, the sheer number of false statements and outrageous claims left my head spinning. Second, I realized that I would not want any of these people to live in my neighborhood.
As a case in point, would you want the gun-toting lawyer couple to live on your street? How would you feel about them parading around with an AR-15 assault rifle every time they had an issue that they felt that they could not resolve peacefully?
Or how about Rudolph Giuliani, the once respected mayor of New York City. How would you feel about Rudy stopping you to discuss his latest kooky conspiracy theory while you’re out walking the dog? Even the dog wouldn’t enjoy that.
How about the lady who thinks that the husband should do the voting for the household (actually in her case, I might agree) or that the police would be “smart” to racially profile her dark-skinned male child (attention Family Services, please rescue that kid!). Imagine the topical conversations that you could enjoy if you ran into that woman at the grocery store.
Then there’s venerable Coach Lou Holtz. How would you like to have this guy as your next door neighbor? He could walk over to the fence a couple of times a week to remind that you you’re not a real Christian because you don’t agree with him on certain policy issues. Thanks, Coach! Great pep talk!
Herschel Walker would be an interesting neighbor. You could meet for coffee at the local diner once a month and reminisce about the amazing success of the USFL.
Or how about Rick Grenell? He lies so freely, he could make the current president look honest by comparison. That might make us all feel better.
How about that smarmy Covington Catholic kid? Imagine that self-righteous little prick sneering back at you from a few lanes down at the bowling alley. Be careful, now! Assault is still a crime.
How about Senator Rand Paul, the famous libertarian? His real life neighbor hates him so much that he beat the crap out of him.
Then there’s screaming Kimberley Guilfoyle. You might want to keep some earplugs handy in case a gentleman decides to spend the night at her place.
Last, but not least, let’s give a special nod to Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, a couple of factory refurbished Stepford Wives with apparent software malfunctions that have transformed them into full Blade Runner mode. If either of these ladies moves into your neighborhood, please don’t leave children or small animals unattended, and you might want to consider hiring a bodyguard for the milkman.
Somebody Needs A Brain
Somebody needs a brain
A brain
Somebody needs a brain
Somebody needs a brain
A brain
And that somebody’s me
The Cloistered Princess
The cloistered princess
She’s been promised to the king
Of a distant land
Is there any man
Bold enough to rescue her
From this dismal fate?
Sunday, August 30, 2020
Reviewing The 2020 Game Plan
At the start of 2020, I set four personal objectives. I don’t like to call them resolutions. It’s more motivating to work toward a goal than to test one’s resolve.
The first objective was to travel as much as possible. Unfortunately, the virus put a quick halt to that plan. I was booking a trip to California when COVID-19 started spreading throughout the US. I have put all of my travel plans on indefinite hold.
The second goal was to avoid buying any new music or photography. I wanted to make the most of the equipment that I already owned instead of chasing after shiny new gizmos.
The third objective was to spend time doing what I do best. In a nutshell, there are things that I do well, and there are other things that I can do competently, but I’ll never be elite in those areas. While I recognize that it’s a good practice to work on your weaknesses, I wanted to make sure that I was spending enough time in the areas where I can deliver the highest quality results.
The fourth and final goal was to finish some important projects that I had left in an incomplete state. I have made some progress in this area - I finally finished scoring and mixing the Tuba Concerto in G minor, which I composed in eleven days some years ago. That feat that left me so exhausted I never got around to finishing the paperwork. I hope to be able to share more completed soon.
It has been a challenging year for a number of reasons. My professional work has been intense and frequently exhausting. The virus has forced us to change the way we do almost everything. The lockdown had a negative impact on my health. But I have been able to make progress on endeavors that are important to me, and the results have been rewarding.
Thank you as always for reading my musings. Your time is appreciated.
Top Priorities For The Biden Harris Administration
Top Priorities for the Biden/Harris Administration
A Baker’s Dozen
1. Get the virus under control
2. Get the kids out of the cages and back to their mothers
3. Fire anyone appointed by the Trump administration and hire back competent people like Sally Yates and Preet Bharara
4. Pass the Biden jobs and infrastructure bill
5. Medicare For All
6. Protect public lands from exploitation
7. Reinstitute pollution controls that were relaxed or eliminated by Trump
8. Rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and make it stronger
9. Reaffirm support for NATO
10. Reimpose sanctions where necessary
11. Impeach and replace Brett Kavanaugh
12. Prosecute the crimes of Trump Administration officials
13. Full statehood for Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.
Wednesday, August 26, 2020
Deregulation
Conservatives love to sing the praises of deregulation. They claim that it helps businesses and creates jobs.
Deregulation led to The Great Depression, the Financial Crisis of 2008, and the collapse of the Savings And Loan system in the 1980s. Financial institutions took on more risk and engaged in more speculation. Why? Because the regulations that would have discouraged this behavior were weakened or eliminated.
Deregulation is like giving whiskey and care keys to teenage boys and expecting them to go out and start responsible businesses.
Every time we go through one of these massive catastrophes, responsible people come up with a set rules and best practices to prevent a repeat of past mistakes. The pushback begins immediately. “All of these regulations are hurting our business!” No. These regulations are preventing BUSINESSES from harming THE REST OF US and then asking for a BAILOUT when they get into trouble.
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Radical Agenda
If a living wage and universal healthcare coverage are your idea of a radical left-wing agenda, look in the mirror and ask yourself why you believe that you’ll be better off when your neighbors are sick and broke.
Two Hurricanes
Never before have two hurricanes battered the Red States of the South during the Republican National Convention. God is angry with Trump. The pandemic was just the beginning.
Sunday, August 23, 2020
Trump’s Biden Strategy
Trump’s strategy for defeating Joe Biden is and always has been to find some information on Biden that’s so revolting that people would rather vote for the president. This dates all the way back to the Ukraine extortion scandal for which Mr. Trump was impeached.
I question the feasibility of the strategy. What damaging evidence on Biden could the Trump campaign (and his comrades, the Russians) dig up that is more repulsive than Trump’s child separation policy AND more dangerous than Mr. Trump’s inept handling of COVID-19 AND more undemocratic than the systematic firing of federal prosecutors and government watchdogs AND more corrupt than not only accepting, but REQUESTING foreign influence in US elections AND more unconstitutional than sending unmarked federal storm troopers to break up peaceful protests AND more blatantly un-American than trying to cripple the US Postal Service AND more racist than supporting the white supremacists who marched on Charlottesville AND more indifferent than refusing to help Puerto Rico after multiple deadly hurricanes and earthquakes?
I mean, seriously? How do you top that?
It would be like trying to convince people to vote for Goldwater because Johnson drank the wrong brand of beer.
RNC Coverage
Fox News Channel refused to broadcast the Democratic National Convention. They played their prime time opinion shows instead.
CNN and MSNBC will be broadcasting the Republican National Convention this week.
Let this put an end to the notion that Fox News is “fair and balanced” or that CNN and MSNBC are left-wing equivalents of Fox. There is no such equivalency. CNN and MSNBC cover important political events regardless of which party hosts them. Fox News is a vehicle for right-wing propaganda.
I won’t be watching the RNC this week. I have watched every political convention since 1968. I watched the RNC in 2016, but I’m going to pass on this one. I’m not in the mood to listen to a bunch or lies, false accusations, and xenophobic rhetoric.
We don’t need speakers to describe what a Trump presidency will look like; we’ve lived though it. We don’t need to listen to his friends and family members justify his corruption, his ineptitude ineptitude in negotiating international trade deals, his disregard for democratic institutions, his flaunting of the rule of law, his incompetence in handling a deadly pandemic, or the unspeakable cruelty of his family separation policy. We have witnessed all of this day after day in graphic detail. No amount of rhetorical sugar coating is going to convince reasonable voters that the last three and a half years have been a success story, or that the guy who got us into this mess deserves another term. No one is that stupid.
Nor do we need to hear a bunch of fear mongering about how horrible a Biden presidency might be. Why? Because we lived through the Obama years when Biden was a governing partner. And except for Moscow Mitch trying to block all progress at a congressional level, the Obama years were pretty darned good. The Obama White House did good things for a lot of people. They provided comfort and empathy in times of trouble. They punished Russia for their incursion into Ukraine. They hunted and captured our number one enemy, Osama bin Laden. Our country and our leadership were respected around the world during the Obama presidency, and we will regain that respect, which Mr. Trump squandered, under the leadership of Mr. Biden.
So, I’ll offer my apologies in advance to MSNBC and CNN. You’re doing the right thing by broadcasting the RNC - it shows that you take journalism a lot more seriously than a certain propaganda channel - but I’m not going to waste my time watching a disingenuous, xenophobic, white-supremacist clown show. I just don’t have the stomach for it.
Friday, August 21, 2020
Grief In The Alley
Grief rumbles on
In the background
Like a loud, rusty garbage truck
Parked in the alley
Running its compactor
Day and night
“Why does he sit there?”
You wonder
“When is he going to leave?”
Thursday, August 20, 2020
Conversation Tips For Introverts
Conversation Tips For Introverts
1. When other people are talking, let them talk. Don’t interrupt. They might go on forever.
2. When it’s your turn to talk, ask questions. This will encourage others to talk more.
3. If you can’t avoid talking, discuss something that really excites you, even if it’s daring or unusual. Talking about your passion is always fun, and if you’re lucky, the others will mistake your zeal for obsession and decide that it’s better to leave you alone.
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
Guiding Principles
Take care of yourself - You have one body and one mind. You can do only what they permit you to do. Take good care of them and train them well.
Honor your commitments - If you make a promise, keep it. If you make a deal, deliver. The ultimate measure of success is having people know that they can count on you.
Embrace love - Your family, your friends, and your significant other are the center of your existence and the wind that powers your sails. Make sure that they know how important they are.
Seek knowledge - The more you understand, the more you can accomplish.
Be kind - To everyone. All the time. That includes telling them the truth even when it’s difficult.
Understand who you are and stay true to that - When you chase someone else’s life, you’re wasting your own.
Appreciate the value of humor - Life is tough. Humor is the medicine that helps us limp through the hard parts.
Share your gifts - Discover your talents and development them. Your most important contributions will come from your strongest abilities.
Have faith - Find a set of guiding principles that work for you and stick with them in good times and bad.
Speak out against injustice - Not everything in life is fair. Tolerating inequity only encourages it.
Do your best and get some rest - Tomorrow needs you to be at your best.
Use your time efficiently and effectively - it’s the only resource that you can’t renew.
Monday, August 17, 2020
Sunday, August 16, 2020
Loss Of A Friend
I lost a good friend recently. I hadn’t seen her in a long time, but we spoke by phone several times a year.
She liked to schedule our calls like appointments. I would send and email to see how she was doing, and after chatting back and forth, she would write, “We should talk! How does Sunday the Tenth at three o’clock work for you?” I always smiled when she did that. It was a charming part of her personality.
The day would arrive, and she would call me right on the dot of the time that we had agreed upon. She was never late.
Our conversations were epic. We would talk for an hour and forty-five minutes at minimum, breezing through subject after subject. One topic would flow into another and another. We never ran out of things to discuss and often had to table things to discuss in a future call.
I called her my intellectual role model. She laughed every time I said that and scoffed at the idea entirely, but I meant it sincerely. Carol was an extremely bright and articulate person, an avid reader to say that least, but it was more than just her knowledge that made our conversations so interesting. She expressed ideas in a uniquely inspiring way, and not just with me. I’m sure that everyone who knew her witnessed this remarkable quality.
I was fortunate to know Carol for most of my life. She was also my mother’s friend; she and my mom could talk for hours on end and often did.
Carol moved away while I was still quite young, but she made a point to visit my mom every year. She always brought books to encourage me and my sisters to read. I remember her suitcase being insanely heavy; how she lugged those books around, I’ll never understand. The books were wonderfully thoughtful gifts. They were always terrifically entertaining, and we couldn’t wait to read them.
When Carol visited, she and my mom would sit at the kitchen table and talk well into the evening. The delightful thing was that they were happy to have us join the conversation if we wanted to. They never watered down the focus to “what do you like about school this year?” as most adults do when children enter the room. Their conversations would just roll along, and we were welcome to join in.
They would talk about education, psychology, about books that they had read. They would talk about current events, economics, and public policy. I was a teenager at this point. Listening to adults discuss important topics in depth AND having them listen to my own opinions on these subjects, that was quite a thrill.
One summer while was in college, I visited Carol and her daughter for a week. They lived in a big, bustling city. Wandering around and taking in the sights was an eye-opening experience for a boy from a small town. I remember eating a lot of really delicious Chinese food that week and going to a club to see Reggae. Carol treated me to a concert and a play while I was in town, and of course we enjoyed a number of our epic conversations.
When I moved to the East Coast to start my career, Carol continued to keep in touch. Her business brought her to New York City occasionally, and we would meet for lunch whenever possible. I had a business trip to her city about twenty years ago; I think that may have been the last time that I saw her.
It’s tough to loose a good friend, particularly someone who inspires you. Carol really was my intellectual role model. I would not be the person that I am today if I hadn’t had a chance to enjoy her company over the years. But I am comforted by the fact that we kept in touch and kept having those inspiring conversations through the years. Nothing lasts forever, but if you enjoy your time with someone regularly and proactively, you won’t have many regrets.
Carol was a wonderful friend and an inspiring and encouraging presence in my life for many, many years. I am honored that I was able to keep in touch with her and that we continued to enjoy our epic conversations into the final year of her life.
Friday, August 14, 2020
Random Thoughts - 20200814
Random Thoughts - 20200814
Dog: No matter what happens, I’ll always be faithful.
Cat: If I were a little bigger, I would eat you.
-
You can repay
To repair what you break
But you can’t add more days
To your life
-
There’s an awkward moment when a racist tries to pretend that they’re not racist, even though everyone knows that they are. I’m finding that it happens with fascists, too.
-
The woman who loves you more than anyone else wants to hear three little words: “I’m leaving her.”
-
I’m not that kind of guy, but for you I could make an exception.
Wednesday, August 12, 2020
Thanks For Lunch
Thank you for the lunch
I guess you had a hunch
That I needed to munch
So thanks a bunch
For the brunch
Now let’s go have some punch
Desperation In The US Economy
In the decades after World War II, the American economy was the envy of the world. It was an age of remarkable prosperity. Unfortunately, it didn’t last.
The 1970’s were a turning point. Oil producers raised energy prices. Industries shipped production overseas. Inflation spiraled out of control. Labor unions saw their influence weakened. Two-income households became the norm.
At the start of the 1980’s, a promise was made. “Let’s Make America Great Again!” Does that sound familiar?
“We can return to prosperity,” the promise continued, “but we’ll need to cut regulations and lower taxes.”
It sounded reasonable, but was it? In 1953, as the post-war boom was surging, the top tax rate was an incredibly high 92 percent. High taxes did not slow down the economy in the 1950s and 60s. Quite the contrary!
When taxes are low, wealthy business owners take money out of their companies to enrich their personal fortunes. When taxes are high, their incentive is to leave the money invested in their companies instead of losing most of it to taxes.
High taxes encourage investment. Low taxes encourage profit-taking. Tax cuts on the wealthiest individuals do NOT increase productivity or the economic fortunes of the nation.
During the post-war economy, American companies were well-funded. The tax cuts of the 1980s did not recreate that level of economic prosperity, and neither would a relaxation of regulations.
But regulations were indeed cut, and the negative impact was almost immediate. High-risk trading destabilized the bond market. The stock market crashed in October of 1987. That same year, the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation became insolvent. By 1989, the Saving and Loan scandal had cost American taxpayers $135 billion.
Despite these failures, greed continues to be a powerful force in American politics. Income disparity has increased steadily. Workers have limited protections in “right to work” states and within the emerging “gig economy.” The situation for labor continues to worsen with each passing year, while financial influence on the political process becomes more entrenched. There is no light at the end of the tunnel, only rewards for those with the means to fly over the mountain.
Wednesday, August 5, 2020
Monday, August 3, 2020
Rise Above The Noise
Rise above the noise
Focus on what matters
The love, the joy, the passion
And what you can do for others
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