One of the qualities that attracted Republican primary voters in Delaware to Christine O'Donnell, as one of them told CNN, was that she was "one of us." That means, an ordinary American just trying to get along in today's hard times, as opposed to those out-of-touch fat-cat politicians.
If I read my history book right, the Founding Fathers were not ordinary folks. As a rule, they were well-educated, wealthy landowners -- in other word, the elite. If you consider the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution works of genius, well, genii are a pretty rare breed. None of them was one of us.
Getting back to Ms. O'Donnell, how "one of us" is she? Setting aside her admitted dabbling in witchcraft (does that fall under "girls will be girls"?), what about this mishandling of campaign funds to make personal ends meet? Does that fall under, well, times are tough, and we all have to play a few creative money games to get by?
Campaign funds aren't exactly public money, but pretty close. The amounts that appear to have been misused by O'Donnell seem trivial in comparison to the public funds that may be wasted -- or stolen -- in Washington on a daily basis, but the Bible talks about the need to be "faithful over a few things" before an individual is made "ruler over many." And wasn't honor one of the Christian virtues touted at Glenn Beck's rally?
Do the people of Delaware -- or other states, for that matter -- really prefer candidates who see virtue in dodging legitimate questions, or flat-out walking away from cameras, when they're stumped for answers? If so, they will get exactly the representation they deserve in November -- and so will the rest of us, if we don't get out and vote.
There, now I've said it.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
What You Don't Know
How many of those who bought their homes in a quiet residential area of San Bruno knew that they were on top of a 30-inch natural gas transmission line that would someday blow up and obliterate much of their neighborhood? Do you know what's underneath your feet right now?
It's called infrastructure, and it makes much of what happens in our lives work. This kind of infrastructure is ugly. It's best when it's invisible, and when it's working the way it should, we don't even know it's there. We flush a toilet, and the business we just did is carried out of our lives by a system invisible to most of us. It's, uh, not our business anymore. It just disappears--unless, of course, there's a sewer backup or something. In Christchurch, New Zealand, a 7-point earthquake heavily damaged infrastructure, making toilets unflushable and water undrinkable. All of a sudden, the residents had to think about things they never spent much time thinking about before.
A number of years ago, I remember a big to-do in a Southern California city where I worked about a truck that was going to be passing through the area on a nearby freeway. As I recall, it was carrying nuclear fuel rods. Local officials were all steamed up about it. Quite frankly, I don't remember what happened, but I think the truck passed through without vaporizing any cities along the way.
A big fuss was made about that shipment, because we knew ahead of time it was coming. But how many thousand gallons of unknown unpleasantness pass through the area unannounced on the same freeway every day? And how about the railroad? I remember a train wreck in that area involving a tanker car that had some unpronounceable chemical on it. Fortunately, it didn't leak. Had it done so, 25,000 people would have had to be evacuated immediately. But freight trains carrying nasty stuff travel the same route daily, without incident. We’re surrounded by potential danger, whether we think about it or not -- but it almost always stays potential.
This doesn't relieve those who operate the trucks, trains and pipelines from maintaining them and government from seeing to it that the maintenance is done. The bottom line is, we seem to need this unpronounceable stuff somewhere in our lives, even though we don't know what it is or how we use it. But after a while, things in the system that deliver them call attention to themselves and require repair or replacement -- and more often, of course, as they age.
I guess that's why we have skin. If we didn't, we'd have to look at a lot of less-than-photogenic parts of the human body -- yucky unless you enjoyed dissecting frogs in biology class. We don't have to know what those parts are or where they are -- we just expect them to work, silently and invisibly, if at all possible.
But is there such a thing as too silent and too invisible?
It's called infrastructure, and it makes much of what happens in our lives work. This kind of infrastructure is ugly. It's best when it's invisible, and when it's working the way it should, we don't even know it's there. We flush a toilet, and the business we just did is carried out of our lives by a system invisible to most of us. It's, uh, not our business anymore. It just disappears--unless, of course, there's a sewer backup or something. In Christchurch, New Zealand, a 7-point earthquake heavily damaged infrastructure, making toilets unflushable and water undrinkable. All of a sudden, the residents had to think about things they never spent much time thinking about before.
A number of years ago, I remember a big to-do in a Southern California city where I worked about a truck that was going to be passing through the area on a nearby freeway. As I recall, it was carrying nuclear fuel rods. Local officials were all steamed up about it. Quite frankly, I don't remember what happened, but I think the truck passed through without vaporizing any cities along the way.
A big fuss was made about that shipment, because we knew ahead of time it was coming. But how many thousand gallons of unknown unpleasantness pass through the area unannounced on the same freeway every day? And how about the railroad? I remember a train wreck in that area involving a tanker car that had some unpronounceable chemical on it. Fortunately, it didn't leak. Had it done so, 25,000 people would have had to be evacuated immediately. But freight trains carrying nasty stuff travel the same route daily, without incident. We’re surrounded by potential danger, whether we think about it or not -- but it almost always stays potential.
This doesn't relieve those who operate the trucks, trains and pipelines from maintaining them and government from seeing to it that the maintenance is done. The bottom line is, we seem to need this unpronounceable stuff somewhere in our lives, even though we don't know what it is or how we use it. But after a while, things in the system that deliver them call attention to themselves and require repair or replacement -- and more often, of course, as they age.
I guess that's why we have skin. If we didn't, we'd have to look at a lot of less-than-photogenic parts of the human body -- yucky unless you enjoyed dissecting frogs in biology class. We don't have to know what those parts are or where they are -- we just expect them to work, silently and invisibly, if at all possible.
But is there such a thing as too silent and too invisible?
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
I'll Be Glad When 9/11's OVER
OK, I, too am angry about Mr. Qu'ran Burner down in Florida. Anyone with a brain -- and a heart -- knows how despicable an act this will be. But I'm tired of hearing about it, and of looking at, and listening to, him. Fine, Anderson Cooper, you sliced him and diced him in your interview. General Petraeus, I'm sure you're right about this act exposing American forces to reprisals. But as we get more and more vocal about this, we're elevating the stature of a crackpot, and giving an act far more attention than it deserves.
We're giving this screwball an enormous amount of power, telling the world that his act will endanger American troops abroad (as if they aren't in enough now). While one part of me wants to put a bag over his head labeled, "This is not a toy," I wonder what would happen if everyone just ignored him? Kinda the way we treat Pat Robertson. I think this guy's 15 minutes are now UP.
We all get sucked into debates about lofty principles, like free speech, freedom of religion, property rights, sensitivity to others, etc. -- but who are the principals (yes, I spelled it right) involved? This preacher's own daughter calls his church a "cult," according to reports, and he's been sued for mismanagement of funds. Before him, though, there's the New York imam of proposed-Islamic-center fame, whose own background is also a little questionable, for reasons having nothing to do with terrorism. At the least, he's not a very good fund-raiser -- or wasn't, until he got all this free publicity.
BTW, I wonder if there would be such a fuss about this mosque thing if, by now, there had been a real memorial at Ground Zero. That site may be hallowed, but right now it's little more than hollowed (I spelled that right, too).
Going forward, the only good news on both of these fronts will be here Sunday--when it’s finally September 12th.
There, now I've daid it.
We're giving this screwball an enormous amount of power, telling the world that his act will endanger American troops abroad (as if they aren't in enough now). While one part of me wants to put a bag over his head labeled, "This is not a toy," I wonder what would happen if everyone just ignored him? Kinda the way we treat Pat Robertson. I think this guy's 15 minutes are now UP.
We all get sucked into debates about lofty principles, like free speech, freedom of religion, property rights, sensitivity to others, etc. -- but who are the principals (yes, I spelled it right) involved? This preacher's own daughter calls his church a "cult," according to reports, and he's been sued for mismanagement of funds. Before him, though, there's the New York imam of proposed-Islamic-center fame, whose own background is also a little questionable, for reasons having nothing to do with terrorism. At the least, he's not a very good fund-raiser -- or wasn't, until he got all this free publicity.
BTW, I wonder if there would be such a fuss about this mosque thing if, by now, there had been a real memorial at Ground Zero. That site may be hallowed, but right now it's little more than hollowed (I spelled that right, too).
Going forward, the only good news on both of these fronts will be here Sunday--when it’s finally September 12th.
There, now I've daid it.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Notes From the NZ Quake
I've spent a good part of the last several days listening online to Newstalk ZB's radio news coverage of Christchurch, New Zealand's 7-point earthquake, which occurred early last Saturday morning. Here are a few observations.
Christchurch is New Zealand's second-largest city, with a population of about 400,000. The earthquake's epicenter was about 20 miles to the west. An estimated 100,000 homes in the area were damaged. The city's central business district, where 89 buildings were damaged, was closed off. The city's tallest building, a seven-story structure built in 1906 and used for offices, will have to be demolished. Other historic buildings, some dating back to the middle 19th century, sustained damage, including the city's historic cathedral.
The quake knocked out power, phone service, and water. While the first two were restored fairly quickly, area residents were warned to boil water because of damage to sewage facilities, and were also asked to hold off on flushing toilets. Those who didn't take this advice came down with gastroenteritis.
Liquefaction occurred. This involves water pushed up from below ground and turning the surface into jelly. This shifts pipes and other underground infrastructure, and when the soil hardens again after the quake, that's where they are. It could be months or even years to rebuild those systems.
Remarkably, no one died and relatively few were injured, but aftershocks in the 5-point range continued to occur right through Tuesday, and nerves are now frayed. Few have been able to sleep. Some people can't take it and have left the area. Folks in other parts of New Zealand have opened their homes to Christchurch residents to give them a little peace -- especially the children.
I heard that there were offers of financial help from all over the world, to which the New Zealanders have said politely, thank you, but we can take care of ourselves.
The incumbent mayor of Christchurch, Bob Parker, was facing a stiff re-election challenge in October. He was trailing his challenger in the polls. But he has performed so well as a community leader during this disaster that one radio commentator suggested that the election was "over" and that the challenger should "find a garage and go park it." If you perform well in a crisis, no one can beat you.
The quake is still getting a good deal of coverage from the Newstalk ZB radio network. If you're interested, here's the link:
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/streaming/newstalkzb-streaming.asp
Christchurch is New Zealand's second-largest city, with a population of about 400,000. The earthquake's epicenter was about 20 miles to the west. An estimated 100,000 homes in the area were damaged. The city's central business district, where 89 buildings were damaged, was closed off. The city's tallest building, a seven-story structure built in 1906 and used for offices, will have to be demolished. Other historic buildings, some dating back to the middle 19th century, sustained damage, including the city's historic cathedral.
The quake knocked out power, phone service, and water. While the first two were restored fairly quickly, area residents were warned to boil water because of damage to sewage facilities, and were also asked to hold off on flushing toilets. Those who didn't take this advice came down with gastroenteritis.
Liquefaction occurred. This involves water pushed up from below ground and turning the surface into jelly. This shifts pipes and other underground infrastructure, and when the soil hardens again after the quake, that's where they are. It could be months or even years to rebuild those systems.
Remarkably, no one died and relatively few were injured, but aftershocks in the 5-point range continued to occur right through Tuesday, and nerves are now frayed. Few have been able to sleep. Some people can't take it and have left the area. Folks in other parts of New Zealand have opened their homes to Christchurch residents to give them a little peace -- especially the children.
I heard that there were offers of financial help from all over the world, to which the New Zealanders have said politely, thank you, but we can take care of ourselves.
The incumbent mayor of Christchurch, Bob Parker, was facing a stiff re-election challenge in October. He was trailing his challenger in the polls. But he has performed so well as a community leader during this disaster that one radio commentator suggested that the election was "over" and that the challenger should "find a garage and go park it." If you perform well in a crisis, no one can beat you.
The quake is still getting a good deal of coverage from the Newstalk ZB radio network. If you're interested, here's the link:
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/streaming/newstalkzb-streaming.asp
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