Saturday, November 19, 2011
Politics ...
I’m old enough to vaguely remember the 1960 Presidential election; even as a second-grader, I knew that Kennedy was the good guy and Nixon was the cowboy with the black hat. When early November rolled around, the local newspapers heralded the dawn of JFK and Camelot. I felt reassured. The world was just as it was supposed to be.
Since then I have maintained my interest in Presidential politics. One rule of thumb became clear by the time I got out of college – there was a lot of drama in the candidate selection process on the Democratic side, but not for the GOP. The Dems aired their disagreements in public, while the Republicans seemed to find their candidate quickly and efficiently. In 1968, there were all those sparks between Hubert Humphrey and Eugene McCarthy following Lyndon Johnson’s surprising withdrawal and Robert Kennedy’s tragic death.
Then, 1972 saw the star-crossed insurgency by George McGovern fill the vacuum created by Ted Kennedy’s Chappaquiddick disgrace and Ed Muskie’s tearful implosion in New Hampshire. And 1976 was also interesting, with the fresh-faced Jimmy Carter » continue reading …
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Outer Space ... Science ...
A lot of people, both inside and outside the scientific community, got riled up back in September by the results of a recent study on neutrino particles purporting to show them moving just a bit faster than light speed. Of course, that would violate a key tenant of Einstein’s relativity physics, i.e. the ban against anything with mass achieving light speed, and against anything with or without mass going faster (and able to covey any sort of real information — as neutrinos could). A lot of intelligent non-science folk got interested, hoping that something with deep mystical or philosophical implications was in the works here.
However, from what I’ve seen from a variety of sources, the science folk have the situation under control. There’s plenty of past evidence showing that neutrinos can’t and don’t violate light speed, and also plenty of reasons why the study in question was deceiving. It will take some months to straighten it out, but the boffins seem confident that the whole thing will blow over soon. Sorry, nothing to see here, metaphysically speaking.
But something else is going on in the world of sub-atomic particles and forces that could be just as troubling, even though it hasn’t gained much attention from the public. The reason for that is because it involves the “fine structure constant” of atoms. » continue reading …
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Religion ... Spirituality ...
Just wanted to share some Zen talk today from Clear Mountain Zendo in Montclair. (Yea, Zen does involve talk, despite all the Zen talk about not talking). Our “study practice circle” today discussed the following koan:
One day, Yanguan called to his assistant, ‘Bring me the rhinoceros fan.’
The assistant said, ‘It is broken.’
Yanguan said, ‘In that case, bring me the rhinoceros.’
So, what’s this all about? OK, first off, Yanguan is some Zen teacher from a time long, long ago in a place far, far away. He has an assistant; that’s not so hard. But what’s with the “rhinoceros fan”? Is it a brand name for something, like “Gorilla Glue”? (It couldn’t be the modern political interpretation, i.e. a supporter of a “Republican In Name Only” — like a Huntsman backer.)
No, actually this is supposed to be some sort of folding hand fan, one of those little things that you wave around to create a slight breeze. I.e., like the ones that women of old » continue reading …
Friday, November 11, 2011
Current Affairs ... Politics ...
(With all due apologies to those of you who enjoyed the 1960’s ballad “McArthur’s Park”.) Actually, with the cooler autumn weather coming in, the refrain should become “freezing in the dark”.
But seriously, I finally got down to the Manhattan financial district to have a look at Occupy Wall Street. Which of course is actually located three blocks north of Wall Street in Zuccotti Park, near the fallen and now re-rising World Trade Center complex.
I have a few comments about what I saw, but I know that you first want to see the pix! So here they are:
More follow! Click at right to open them. » continue reading …
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Politics ... Public Policy ...
There’s a great debate going on in American politics today, but it’s all very cryptic. Neither the liberal Democrats nor the conservative Republicans (including the T-Partiers) want to say what they really mean, so the argument goes on in code. This argument is all about where and how we should live. But no one will just come out and say that.
The Dems hint that they favor the new-urbanist vision of the “green, efficient and sustainable city”. These are the kind of places that progressive and educated people seem to favor (at least in theory – where they actually live can be another matter). Not surprisingly, people who support the urban vision usually vote Democratic. For better or worse, however, the Dem liberals can’t just come out and say that city living is better (in theory, at least).
Why not? Because most Americans live in the suburbs. Most of the votes come from the ‘burbs. The Dems don’t want to » continue reading …
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Personal Reflections ... Photo ...
. . . than to curse the power company. This picture shows some of the power lines in my town. And some of the trees that became their worst enemy during last week’s freak mid-autumn snowstorm. Most of the town lost power, given its love for tall old trees which crash down on power lines during crazy weather. My block had to wait five days until the power company could get around to help us.
During those five days, I got to know a lot about candles. I had three flashlights, but one of them stopped working after being dropped. I didn’t have any extra batteries for the really bright one, so I had to conserve my lighting resources, depending as much as possible on old-fashioned candles.
Candle-keeping is definitely a lost art. But during those 5 dark evenings last week, I learned a lot, including how to make impromptu candles in cups (as seen above), how to clean wicks and even » continue reading …
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Photo ... Society ...
. . . on Saturday morning by a freak October snowstorm and an early power outage, I was posting a picture montage taken outside my bedroom window that morning, just as the temps dropped and the rain turned to snow. The local sparrows were freaking out at the feeder, clamoring and fighting each other off to get to the seeds, often in mid-air. I had to wonder whether they came out ahead, given all the energy they were burning in fighting to get to the trough.
And then the power stopped.
Mother Nature can be beautiful, but it can also be cruel and stupid. Human beings are also cruel and stupid, way too often. Just like these battling sparrows, humans have their own wars, inspired by the desire to secure and enjoy the good things about life. And like these sparrows, they just make it all worse for themselves; for most in the short run, for all in the long run.
But unlike these sparrows, we aren’t entirely blind to our blindness. Sparrows have their beaks and talons (it got really interesting when a woodpecker claimed the perch and threatened all the pushy sparrows with its long pointy schnoz), » continue reading …
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Economics/Business ...
No, my father was not an Assistant Treasury Secretary or a Federal Reserve governor or a partner at Goldman Sachs. So, he didn’t have very much impact on the global economy before dying in 1973 (at a too-young age of 50). But if he were here today, he could pinpoint exactly where all the trouble in today’s economy had come from.
Dad was a very pragmatic kind of guy. He always tried to think ahead, tried to keep trouble from happening. And he knew that there would always be trouble that you could not presently anticipate. So he always left some room for an unexpected turn of events. His early death was devastating for my mother, but he left her with a house fully paid for and no outstanding bills. We got by, thanks to his financial philosophy.
So I’m sure Dad would be rolling in his grave if he could keep up with our current global economic situation. About 12 years after his passing, when inflation rates, interest rates and unemployment rates » continue reading …
Monday, October 24, 2011
Personal Reflections ... Politics ...
My high school class just had its 40th anniversary reunion. I didn’t go; I didn’t want to shell out $80 or whatever to spend an evening with a group of strangers. Well, they’re not totally strangers, although I did not stay in touch with anyone from my high school class. I can’t say that I remember talking with anyone from my class in the past 35 years, even though I only live 7 or 8 miles from the old town, and I still go there quite frequently (since my brother still lives there).
There are people from my class that I would have enjoyed speaking with. But for the most part, high school was not the place where I had my best times with others. Senior year wasn’t so bad, but the first three years were pretty rough; bullying back then was still considered a form of performance art. And I participated in a lot of command performances. After I got the “save the date” letter from the reunion committee last year, I honestly thought about going. But the memories were more bitter than sweet. So I took a pass on it.
And hey, why do I need to spend $80 to find out what happened to whom when there’s Facebook? I’m still holding out » continue reading …
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Current Affairs ... Personal Reflections ...
Just a small thought here about something small. I.e., supermarket discount cards. I usually shop at the Bloomfield Shop Rite. I have my regular night and time to be there, stocking up for the week. It’s usually a low-drama experience, as it should be. The only ripple is when the checkout clerk asks for my Shop Rite card, as most of them do. Well, I don’t have one, and I have to tell them that. Some just shut right up and go on scanning my groceries, but some push the issue and say “oh, you forgot it then, what’s your phone number?”. So then I have to repeat that no, I don’t have a card at all. Once in a while, a sympathetic one asks if I want to sign up for a card. Would you like to come in from the cold and be like the rest of us, you outcast?
Well, the answer is still no (although I try to be gentle). I like being a Shop Rite outcast. I can’t understand why most every other customer has one, given the invasion of privacy that such a card entails. I mean, someone is tracking your weekly food and sundry purchases and sharing it across a variety of different corporate databases. Eating is a sacred thing for me, and I don’t want corporate America looking over my shoulder whenever I go to market, assembling a huge databank so as to “make my food shopping experience better”.
I wonder if other people even think of this; I wonder if they would be so quick to whip out the card if they knew just what Big Business Brother was doing » continue reading …
