The Demon Called Speed

I was a little alarmed by a recent PBS story from the Center for Investigative Reporting on life at an Amazon ”fulfillment center” in Southern California. This is a place where human workers and robots are both involved in getting all those iconic Amazon boxes ready for shipping. As you might expect, it’s a frenetic place right now.

According to the story, it’s also a little dangerous. Reporter Will Evans interviewed a woman whose job at Amazon was loading filled boxes into storage bins. She moved box after box, many of them heavy, in quick succession – necessary, because she was being timed, if she didn’t keep up with the expected pace, she was subject to write-up or even firing. The day came when she threw her back out. She got workers’ comp, but the money is running out, and even simple tasks at home give her pain.

In these centers, according to the story, the boxes are processed by robots at such a rate that the human workers down the line have trouble keeping up. The injury rate among workers is said to be at least double the industry standard.

II’s one thing for many of us to be so busy thinking about holiday gifts and the need to get them quickly that we are oblivious to the working conditions in the Third World country that produced them. It’s quite another thing, though, when we hear of what seem like oppressive working conditions right here at home. There shouldn’t be a difference, I guess, but there is. To paraphrase the late Elijah Cummings, we should be better than this.

I was never an especially patient person, but I find myself becoming less and less tolerant of delay now.  Is it a character flaw, or am I just going with the cultural flow? These days, we get miffed if no one responds immediately to our email or text, likes our post, or reads and comments on our blog (thank you in advance, BTW).

Look, I’m not here to bash Amazon and go into a rant on whether it should be broken up. That’s for another day. Amazon saw a need and satisfied it. You can’t get more American than that, right? I’m a Prime member myself  But if my need for speed is actually getting someone hurt, maybe I have an obligation to take at least an extra second or two to think about where and how I shop. If I really need something right now, today, there is that quaint old institution called a store, and I’ll bring along a little extra holiday patience for one of the human beings there waiting on me.

Work-Arounds

There are few things more satisfying than finding a work-around for a seemingly insoluble problem. Work-arounds allow us to go on with life until we can actually solve the problem by fixing what’s broken or replacing it.

All of a sudden, my old smartphone (I won’t tell you how old), had a big black square with techie gibberish in a yellow font appear on the screen. I couldn’t get rid of it, even by factory-resetting the phone. After days of research online, I finally found a temporary solution, which made the ugly black thing go away, at least as long as the phone is powered up. No, the trusty old phone isn’t what you would really call fixed, not by a long shot, but I can use it until one of those spiffy new ones is on sale.

Even with this very commentary, I needed a work around. The text version, a separate blog, was on an unencrypted domain, so that readers clicking on it got a warning that said “not secure.” I tried to get my domain provider to secure it; they couldn’t do it easily and wanted to charge me a lot. I finally hit on obtaining a new secured domain from another provider at very low cost, and am now forwarding the old site to the new one. No more security warnings.

Still awake? Thank you. My work-around experiences have always been about keeping something that has served me well in a semblance of operating condition. These work-arounds have also taught me what qualities to look for in a replacement when that time comes.

Forgive this stretchy transition, but the impeachment drive has shown us that we’re in the middle of a huge work-around. The current inquiry has not been time wasted. It has reminded us how many really smart people work for us down in the engine room of this ship of state – people we usually never see, whose knowledge and dedication have been keeping things running so that the rest of us don’t have to worry too much. Their bravery in the middle of this crisis has brought them to the surface.

I’m actually grateful, not only for the quality of those folks down there in the engine room, but for the overall quality of the people we saw on that Atlanta debate stage who might be part of a new crew up here taking us forward. Whether we get where we need to go through a work-around or by what’s called the “regular channel” next November, I remain confident that we’re heading in the right direction.

It's Not Complicated

There’s considerable debate about whether the President has broken the law in connection with the apparent attempt to condition weapons support for  Ukraine on that country’s digging up negative information on Democratic political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter. It would seem to take Constitutional scholars to sort it out, but in the end, it’s solely up to the Congress, where the open-hearing part of the impeachment inquiry has begun. 

The Democrats, as I have said before, are dead wrong if they put all their impeachment eggs into the Ukraine basket. Sad to say, perhaps, but many Americans probably don’t care that much about Ukraine. Even those willing to concede that the President’s actions were questionable may feel they were not impeachable. Maybe the open hearings will change such minds, maybe not. But if the Democrats think that’s going to happen quickly, like before Thanksgiving or Christmas, I have my doubts. That change will be necessary, though, to sway the voters, and by extension, Republican legislators who want to keep their jobs.

I don’t think coming up with articles of impeachment is brain surgery. Sure, there is the Ukraine thing, at the top of the list. But what about obstruction of justice, for which all the evidence seems in plain sight, or the violation of the emoluments clause in the Constitution? If it’s all about Ukraine, removal of this President, if that’s what the objective is, won’t happen. The other articles are necessary. You only need enough yes votes in the Senate on one of the articles to get there, but there has to be more than one choice.

The Constitution is, in simple terms, this country’s operating manual. Just as with one of those new tech devices, most of us don’t consult the manual unless we can’t get the device to work. If there’s a problem, we want the Quick Start Guide or the list of FAQs to help us solve it. If that doesn’t work, we contact Tech Support. There’s no high drama, the tools are there, and it’s just what we do so that we can put the manual away and get on with our lives. 

Anyone  trying to get something important into operating condition, especially after a breakdown learns that being in a hurry only adds to frustration. If this impeachment inquiry drags on into the election year, so what? As I have said before, the Democrats have only one shot at getting this process right.

I do want to say before closing that we can be proud of the patriotic career public servants who have been testifying at these hearings. If they represent the “deep state,” it’s that very depth that is helping to keep us secure and engaged in the world.

Tick-Tocking

We’ve done it twice a year for most of our lives, depending on our age and where we live: the switch to Daylight Saving Time and back again. We’ve probably forgotten the reasons, it’s just one of those things we do because we always have. While that itself is the most enduring reason, it’s no longer good enough for me. I’m not going to join the debate about school kids getting up in the dark or businesses staying open later. 

First of all, Daylight Saving Time is a misnomer. Whether you set clocks forward or back, you have exactly the same amount of daylight available for that part of the season. It’s just a question of how it’s spent. And in the dead of winter, kids will still get up in the dark in temperate latitudes and their parents will likely still drive home in it. Full-on daylight may cover only about a third of the 24 hours we allow in a day. I think we just have to pick one time standard and be done with it.

All this clock-fiddling used to be a question of whether folks arrived at church too early on the first Sunday or missed the service altogether. But there is enough data to show that there are more traffic accidents with the instant time shifts in the spring and fall. There’s something internally disturbing about the suddenness of it, rather than letting this aspect of seasons change naturally. 

There seems to be consensus building in the United States around making what we call Daylight Saving a year-round thing. I like that idea. We get our lovely long evenings in summer, and on Standard Time, the bird who wakes me up at 4:45 a.m. in late June would be doing so at 3:45 a.m. We all have our reasons. But whatever happens, I’ll get used to it. In Alaska, people are accustomed to drastic annual changes in sunlight and darkness. Habit always wins.

Currently, jurisdictions reserve the right to set the time standard for their area. Arizona and Hawaii don’t do DST. There are some places in the world where the locals set the time a half-hour off instead of an hour. Like Newfoundland. I’m sure they’ve been asked why they insist on it, and the answer is, they’re Newfies, and the rest of the world just has to deal with it, if they deal with Newfies, and of course, vice-versa. Who is “off,” after all, they our us? But hey, the time should be the time, not a political football.

The winter holidays are coming, as Costco reminded us months ago. All those holiday lights will be turned on in this hemisphere to deliver us all from the dark. But let’s not talk about darkness right now. I live in California.

Not Just Paradise Lost

A Facebook friend in the hills northeast of Sacramento said she has been through two bouts of PG&E power outages. She and her husband had moved to this state from the East for her health and his job opportunity. She woke up one morning this week with no heat and temperatures in the 30s. Another of her friends suggested she pack it in and move to Florida. She responded that it sounded like a good idea.

Florida, of course, has its own set of issues. But we Californians may have some decisions to make. Do we want to live in a state where every fall there are multiple fires, blackouts and precautionary evacuations? Are the home prices, rents,  and taxes worth it?

I have a couple of other friends who have recently pulled the plug. One who had a mortgage on a modest home here sold it for a profit and now lives in a four-bedroom house he owns free-and-clear on an acre of Tennessee land. He is surrounded by great natural beauty, has courteous neighbors, and the traffic is light. There is snow, but usually not too much. It gets cold enough for reminders that there are seasons. No earthquakes and no direct hits from hurricanes, and it is not really tornado country like the Midwest. Yes, bugs and humidity are issues, but the trade-off seems worth it, at least for him.

Look, I’m not going anywhere and am not suggesting anyone else do so. That said, while these power outages may save lives, if they continue at this pace, I’m sure more than one resident will be doing the calculations to see if it really pencils out to stay here. And those considering moving here from elsewhere might think twice about it.

If  that happens, the good news is, the crowds will thin out and housing prices and rents may become semi-reasonable again. That’s bad news for property owners, who will likely see values fall. The best news, of course,  is for those selling solar systems and generators.

It’s cathartic to rail against the big utilities whose lack of foresight has helped put us in this position, but woulda, coulda, and shoulda accomplish nothing. I am confident, though, that better safety tools than these clumsy mass outages may be found, or at least the power companies will come up with more efficient ways to carry them out, simply because they have to.

How long will some Californians wait around for those changes? The grass may seem a lot greener elsewhere right now. And this time of year, it’s probably wetter.

Halloween Hazards

I always thought Halloween was fun, but these days, I can see where it might be a little dangerous. I’m not talking about tainted candy, but PC. You might have to think about that before choosing a costume.

The prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, felt compelled recently to apologize for putting on blackface, or in this case,  brownface, to portray Aladdin at an Arabian Nights party at a school where he taught years ago. I would like to be able to say that I’m horrified, but I’m just not that woke yet. Give me a minute to rub my eyes.

The governor of Virginia, Ralph Northam,  got in trouble for allegedly dressing and going blackface as Michael Jackson for a party when he was in medical school. Blackface has a sorry history in this country, as we all know. But in Northam’s case, he was doing Michael Jackson, so you would think blackface would be part of the costume, for a person of another color, at least.

This all reminds me of one of my favorite old movies, Khartoum. Why it’s a favorite, I don’t understand, but it came out in the mid-1960s, and was about the  British general Charles George “Chinese” Gordon, enlisted in the 1880s to lead an army against the Mahdi, who, along with his Islamic followers, laid siege to the Sudanese city. It made me laugh, because they cast the American actor Charlton Heston as the British general, so he had to adopt an accent, with mixed results. But then, Laurence Olivier, who really was British, was cast as the Mahdi. They made his face sort of burnt sienna so he could look more Arab, and he had to use a strange accent too. How did that happen? Maybe Omar Sharif was busy at the time. Hollywood has pretty much mended its ways these days , favoring authenticity in the use of actors of appropriate races, ethnicities, and even genders.

To get back to the point, though, I’ve tried to tell myself that old portrayals by sitting politicians might be OK, because they didn’t seem to involve mockery with malicious intent and they were about specific characters -- but I guess that doesn’t work. It’s a shame, though, that pictures from private parties years ago are producing a whole new set of folks taking offense. In my case, I tend to judge politicians more on their response after the revelation than on the original deed.

OK. So what will I wear for Halloween?  I was thinking of an orange wig. But hey, I never won any prizes for original ideas. Just make sure I get some candy if I knock on your door.

What Iffing

I’m struggling with an addiction. It’s a habit of thought, and I have a feeling I’m not alone -- running election scenarios. A distraction, when I could be directing my mind toward more useful pursuits. I’m a binge-speculator.

Not very long ago, impeaching this President was considered a waste of time, no matter the moral compulsions of some liberals, because the Senate would never vote to remove him, and the 2020 election was too close. But how things can turn on a dime these days! Maybe the new questionis, will Donald Trump finish his first term?

OK, here I go. Let’s just say that the President is impeached and removed. Then what happens? He might say, civil war. But more likely, we would have President Pence, at least until Inauguration Day 2021.

What night that be like? My own feeling is that if Mr. Pence just kept a chair warm in the Oval Office until then, he might do less damage than the current occupant. And what might happen to Mr. Trump after removal? Pence could pardon him of likely federal criminal charges, but he’d still have to face the music in the state of New York.

How might the stock market respond to all this? Would it tank, or shoot up a thousand points? Place your bets!

It seems Pence would stand little chance of being elected to a full term. In fact, he might not even be nominated, and let’s just say what I’ll call a more credible Republican gets the nod.

Then the Democrats pick Elizabeth Warren. You might have thought the Republican Party as a brand was doomed – but if voters had to choose between a credible Republican and an edgy liberal, what would happen? Not as easy a call, but perhaps more interesting.

Now, let’s just go wild and say that somehow BOTH Trump and Pence were removed from office (cut me a little slack here, just throwing some spaghetti against the wall, OK?). Then there would be President Nancy Pelosi. You may say, well, “they” hated Hillary, but the prospect of a President Pelosi might also be too far a bridge for some.

You see what an addicting game all this is! Beats fantasy football. In the end, though, he only sensible thing we can do is make sure our seat belts are tight, as we will be flying through turbulence for quite a while.

I don’t know about you, but I’m almost looking forward to the day when the news starts to get a little boring again, the way it used to be.

The Right Target

The once-golden state of California has a giant black eye right now. The seasonal winds and low humidity have elevated the fire danger to the point where drastic preventive measures seem necessary to protect lives and property, like PG&E’s massive Northern California power shut-off. It was a mess.

At its San Francisco headquarters, the utility put up barricades around the building to shield its corporate personnel from angry customers. But that didn’t protect company field workers. In one case, a PG&E truck driver was shot at – fortunately, not hurt.

Not only was that expression of anger inappropriate; the PG&E line personnel shouldn’t be the ones targeted. But the utility’s spotty track record has exposed the company to crippling legal liability.

We did not lose power at our house, but we were expecting an extreme wind event, which didn’t live up to its billing in all areas. PG&E’s customer communication system generally failed, and even the shut-off itself was haphazard, as was the restoration of power. PG&E tried to comfort us all by talking about the disaster that didn’t happen - a hard sell to those with refrigerators full of spoiled food.

It’s fashionable to hate PG&E and to rail against the investor-owned-utility model for its apparent focus on profits over forward-thinking. But does that mean a government-run operation would necessarily be better? You can blame PG&E for not maintaining every single inch of power line through every rural acre of an enormous part of this state. You might also blame the local governments that allowed people to build  in certain areas, and those who chose to live there.

The blame game, though, has done nothing but divide us into victims and perpetrators, or plaintiffs and defendants. But where do we go from here? If there’s a bright side, the shutoff was good disaster training, and could spur the drive toward a sustainable electric power system to face climate change.

Microgrids are one potential solution, but progress can start at the individual homeowner level right now. If you can afford it, don’t just put solar panels on the roof. Pay the extra money and have your solar installer connect them to a battery storage system that can power the house whenever commercial electricity is cut. Batteries will only get better with time, and someday, homes may be self-sufficient, power-wise.

We can either submit to a depressing “new normal,” or we can start to shape it. We may have to be dragged into the latter kicking and screaming, but we will get there.

Clearing the Air

In at least one respect, the Ukraine flap has put former Vice President Joe Biden in a pretty good position politically: he gets to play the “victim” in an effort by the President to sully his name in connection with the business Biden and his son Hunter had in that country, including Hunter Biden’s taking a board position in a gas company that was reportedly paying him $50,000 a month. On the campaign trail, his dad hasn’t had too much to say about it, but when he is questioned, he gets a little testy and throws the “corruption” label back on Mr. Trump. But that has its limits, even though it’s generally accepted that the Bidens have done nothing wrong.

Personally, I think it would be tactically useful, and refreshing, for Joe Biden – maybe even both Bidens - to call a nationally televised news conference, telling reporters, “OK, I’m here for an hour. Ask me anything you want about my involvement in Ukraine, and China too. There may be some limits on what I can say legally, but I’ll do my best.”

After this, of course, the fact-checkers would go to work, but at least the Bidens could say they welcomed questions about their activities. Then, they can move on. Joe Biden might have to respond to specific attacks from the Trump camp going forward, but at least he’d be able to say he didn’t deflect.

Some of what’s happening is just judgmental stuff, people saying, “Why does the younger Biden (who’s an attorney, by the way) get paid so much for a business in which he has no experience? He just has a famous last name!”  It’s partly the bias I call “wealthism.” People who aren’t making much money don’t usually like to see others making a lot, for what to the former looks like little effort. If some of Hunter Biden’s critics could find such a job, they would take it in a heartbeat. I would.

Shifting gears for a moment to the impeachment inquiry, I agree with some who say that the Democrats should consider more than one article of impeachment against Mr. Trump. Putting all their eggs in the Ukraine basket may fail. Certainly one might think there is plenty of other material available for additional articles.

As for those who say that impeachment is wasteful and that it will suck time and attention away from getting anything useful done in Washington for the next year, I’d say, get over it, it’s life in the big city with an election so close, and we might as well see the current melodrama play out. There will no doubt be big surprises along the way.