Surge-Voters

Today, the New Hampshire Primary will be held. It will be a much more legitimate expression of voter sentiments than Iowa was pertaining to who should be the next President. The alphabet networks and cable news channels are all abuzz with commentators and spin doctors spinning their skewed versions of the various candidates. And people "on the street" are getting in on the act as well. The problem I have with all this is that a significant number of people seem to be making their decisions for whom they support by who has the most momentum. And I don't know why. Personality, character, health, and, of course, the ability to effectively communicate are important considerations. But more than that, whoever is elected President will also decide which bills to sign (or veto), nominate Federal and Supreme Court judges, conduct the nation's foreign policy (including life-or-death and war-or-peace decisions), and head an Executive Branch that will stamp its own version of how a government can effectively function while remaining true to the Bill of Rights. So, with so much at stake, so many relevant factors among the candidates to choose from, and so much time (more than a year) to have watched them campaign and debate, it's just a little bit dismaying for me to see sudden, last-minute, large swings in the polls. Dismaying, because that would seem to indicate that a substantial number of voters out there are doing nothing more than riding bandwagons instead of carefully considering the candidates and issues. I'd be curious to get inside the minds of some of these "surge-voters", but I'm afraid of what I might find there (a vast, empty chasm)!

Four years ago, as a Florida Democrat, I felt cheated out of an opportunity to play even a small role in selecting a nominee in my own primary. Why? Because in Iowa and New Hampshire, John Kerry rode a surge of momentum and the other viable candidates dropped out within a few weeks. By the time my Florida primary took place, the race was all but over. Now my state is taking a lot of heat for moving its primary up to January 29. But in spite of that, New Hampshire hasn't even counted its votes yet, and already the big media is practically crowning Obama as the nominee and writing Hillary Clinton's political epitaph! What is with these people, anyway?!!

Monday Newsbreak: 1/7

--A severe storm passed through California and Oregon into Nevada Saturday, causing (at this writing) three deaths, hundreds of thousands cut off from power, and a broken levee in a small northwestern Nevada town. The storm caught many completely off guard, depositing large amounts of snow and bringing wind gusts in places up to 165 mph. The storm reminds me of the incredible Storm of the Century in March, 1993, which brought hurricane-like conditions to Florida and snow blizzards to the Deep South before devastating the Northeastern U.S..

--The school board for Alachua County (where I reside) is currently undergoing criticism from parents whose children are being switched from one public high school to another due to their new rezoning plan. The problem, as I see it, is that Gainesville has only three public high schools (aside from the University of Florida's "special" P.K. Yonge school). One, appropriately called Eastside, is on the far eastern end of town. In Gainesville's center is Gainesville High, and toward the west is Buchholz High. The problem with this is that new construction and housing in Gainesville lie overwhelmingly to the (sometimes far) west of all three of these. And thus, while many, many parents may want their kids to attend Buchholz, the school board must assign some of them to one of the two more eastern schools for lack of space. My town (in my opinion) desperately needs a new public high school to be built a few miles southwest of Buchholz.

--Going on right now, almost completely unnoticed in the news, may be the largest mass extinction of species since the dinosaurs! According to Steve Newman in his feature Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet, an epidemic of chytrid fungus infection among amphibians is unstoppable and sweeping through native populations of toads, frogs, salamanders, and other amphibians. To prevent as many ultimate species extinctions as possible, there is a modest movement afoot by some concerned scientists to rescue some from the most immediately-dangered species to protected areas free from the fungus. The rescue project, called Amphibian Ark, is headed by St. Louis Zoo CEO Jeffrey Bonner, who is understandably concerned about the crisis. I can't figure out why this story doesn't merit a higher priority in the news! Maybe Keith Olbermann can spare a few seconds from his Britney-bashing to devote to an ongoing worldwide biological cataclysm!

--With football, I'm looking forward to the National Championship game tonight between LSU and Ohio State. Most people following the game think that the (LSU) Tigers will prevail, but I beg to differ. Something tells me that the (Ohio State) Buckeyes will be ready for this game, although I'm pulling for the "Bayou Bengals". In the NFL, I'm not so certain that the (so far) undefeated New England Patriots will be able to get past everyone to win the Super Bowl. There are too many good teams lined up to face them, especially in their own conference. Starting with the nearby (to me) Jacksonville Jaguars next week! And if the Pats happen to beat the Jags, they'll still have to play the San Diego/Indianapolis winner. Both of those teams have scores to settle against the Patriots. And we're not even talking Super Bowl yet! Yes, I think the folks affiliated with the perfect '72 Miami Dolphins team should still keep their champagne handy for a possible celebration in the near future!

Sergeant York Moments

[This article contains plot spoilers for the movie Sergeant York]

In the 1941 movie Sergeant York (starring Gary Cooper and based on the true story of the World War I hero), Alvin York, the oldest child in his family (in real life he was the third of many siblings), was saddled with the enormous burden of taking care of his widowed mother and younger siblings by trying to grow crops from the rocky, difficult northern Tennessee "top land" that they owned. The only release that Alvin had from this backbreaking work was to go off across the border with his buddies into Kentucky, where they would spend the night getting drunk and fighting. And sometimes he would return home in an intoxicated state riding his horse, yelling and shooting in the air (and at trees). So he got a bad reputation as a troublemaker, and the folks around him who cared for him tried to get him to change his ways. Alvin wanted to buy some fertile "bottom land" and, as the result of winning money from a turkey shoot, was about to buy a plot. But the chief rival for his girl's affection, knowing about Alvin's plan, bought up the land first. And Alvin was hot with a murderous vengeance. He went out on his horse that stormy night with the full intention of shooting his rival. But suddenly a bolt of lightning struck the tree nearest him, and it knocked him clear off his horse. When Alvin recovered, he took it as a sign from God and did a complete about-face, instantly renouncing both alcohol and his anger. This was what I came to call a "Sergeant York moment", when a drastic transformation takes places in a person's outlook and habits in what seems to be the wink of an eye (or a lightning strike).

In the real world, Sergeant York moments are more for the observer of someone's changed life than is the case for the person himself. The really drastically sudden thing is when someone resolves to change the direction of their life, no matter what the obstacles or potential setbacks are ahead of them. But ingrained detrimental habits, both in terms of outward behavior and inward attitudes, must be changed over time. So from the point of view of the one changing, not much may seem to be happening. But from the vantage point of others, the changes may seem quite sudden. In religious circles, this change of a life's direction is often called "repentance". When old habits threaten to undermine positive change, they not only need to end, but also need something positive to replace them. And a supporting social environment of people responding positively to the individual's changing life is also very helpful, not only providing affirmation but also give a sense of accountability to others. But the desire to change must come first from the changer, not others.

Doctor, Doctor

Gainesville, Florida, where I live, is a college town. The state's largest institute of higher education, the University of Florida, dominates Gainesville, both in terms of geography and population. And so there are naturally many people living here who have PhD's, MD's, or the equivalent degrees that qualify them to be referred to as "Doctor So-and-so". And I respect and admire them for having achieved this great milestone in their lives. Someone with an advanced degree like that is obviously very knowledgeable and skilled in the specialized field that they studied to obtain it. But that all being said, that knowledge and skill does not automatically transfer to other fields and domains of society just because someone is addressed as "doctor".

A little more than ten years ago, Courtney Brown, a tenured PhD professor in a Georgia college, wrote a book in which he stated that the "science" of remote viewing had led him to contact with alien beings who were coming to aid us on Earth in our spiritual enlightenment. He was a frequent quest on Art Bell's late night radio show, which welcomed this sort of dressed up quackery. And, of course, the book was treated as being more legitimate because "Doctor" Courtney Brown had written it. But this individual's academic accomplishments had absolutely nothing to do with his flaky paranormal theories. In other words, expertise in a specialized area doesn't automatically translate into expertise (or even competence) in another. But people generally think it does, and give such doctors way too much respect and attention when they stray from their specialized field. There have been a few televangelists over recent years who have prominently displayed their doctorate titles with their names over the air. But those degrees only apply to the specific areas that they earned them in, and (to me) neither confers any authority to the proposition that they are closer to God than others nor that they are experts in politics, law, or evolutionary biology. Radio talk show host Michael Savage continually reminds his listeners that he is Doctor Michael Savage, because of his PhD many years ago in a medically-related specialized field. So is that supposed to give weight to his peculiar political opinions, which have nothing whatsoever to do with his degree? I don't think so, but it does nevertheless with a lot of people.

I am thoroughly awed by computers and the intricate mathematics and software that go into making this technology so viable and indispensable today. Those experts in computer software merit my general respect for their perseverance and discipline as well as my focused respect for their specialized skills. But that doesn't mean that they are better qualified than me to express themselves about politics, religion, sports, music, or tiddlywinks! A physician may be very skilled, altruistic, admirable and important in his or her profession, but that doesn't mean that this doctor has anything over me outside of medicine!

Whenever I hear someone referred to repeatedly with the "doctor" title before their name, and they are obviously nowhere near the setting in which their title carries any relevance, I instinctively become a little skeptical, and, yes, even a little negative toward that individual. You may think that jealousy may be a reason, and maybe you'd be right. But I think that sometimes "doctors" allow the title to be abused to the point where they can bypass the voices of others in making their opinions heard and acted upon to their advantage. In other words, to manipulate others. And it's this that I'm on guard against, right or wrong. Of course, I welcome the opinions of "doctors" as well as those of others. But unless they are expressing their opinion within the context of their field of expertise, their views hold no more presumed value for me than anyone else's.

Huckabama Sweeps Iowa

Mikrack Huckabama's recent surge in the polls became manifest when he simultaneously won both the Republican and Democratic caucuses in the soon-to-be-completely ignored state of Iowa yesterday evening. Known as a charismatic speaker with a gift for reaching his listeners on an emotional level, Huckabama is rumored to be a conglomeration of two completely different individuals who will separate by fission before the parties nominate him for President at their conventions, and afterwards will wage a war of words during the general campaign (against himself). After winning the caucuses, Huckabama reportedly said, "I love you, Iowa! Now go away!"

O.K., so that's a lot of nonsense, but so was this abject sham of an "election". True, I wanted the eventual winners, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and Illinois senator Barack Obama, to be victorious, but their victories weren't accomplished through legitimately-run secret ballot elections. The rules for voter eligibility were almost nonexistent and the wheeling and dealing on the Democratic side by lesser candidates to throw their support behind a leading candidate in the second round was nothing short of absurd! And here I am in Florida, a state chastised by both political parties for holding its legitimate, secret ballot primary too soon (nearly four weeks from now)! And one more item: Iowa and New Hampshire both have to be two of the least ethnically-diverse states in the nation. And for them to have such a disproportionate say in how their parties' nominees for President are selected? Outrageous!

Favorite Songs of 1992

Throughout 1992, my main musical interest was in playing and replaying all of my favorite old Led Zeppelin songs. So it shouldn't be much of a surprise that my top favorite songs from that year were from the Led Zeppelin catalog: #1 Dazed and Confused (from Led Zeppelin I), and #2 No Quarter (from Houses of the Holy). But that's not to say there weren't plenty of great songs on the radio in 1992.

Speaking of Zeppelin, the band Soul Asylum had a hit I liked with their gloomy parody of that band in Somebody to Shove. REM came out with their incredible album Automatic for the People in 1992. Although I'd buy it later, at the time of its release I had only heard the intense lead-off track Drive. 1992 also marked the full invasion of the Seattle grunge rock movement, with several bands becoming famous. My grunge favorites were Nirvana's Come As You Are and Lithium (from Nevermind). Pearl Jam's album 10 featured tunes I liked in Even Flow, Black, and Jeremy. Later, I would purchase both albums, finding other great tracks from them (Stay Away from Nevermind and Oceans, my all-time #26 favorite song, from 10). The Australian group INXS, by this time beginning to wane in popularity but not in quality, produced my #21 all-time favorite song in 1992 with Not Enough Time. Spirit lifters from 1992 including Tom Cochrane's inspiring Life is a Highway and Snap!'s dreamy Rhythm is a Dancer. The Black Crowes, a promising band which ultimately disappointed me, did come out with two excellent, blues-laden pieces in Hotel Illness and Remedy. Richard Marx had a hit this year with the mysterious Hazard, while two real tearjerkers came out: Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You, and, of course, Eric Clapton's touching memorial to his lost little boy, Tears in Heaven.

24 Hour Businesses

When I first arrived in Gainesville in 1977, I was somewhat entranced by the fact that, in certain parts of town, there was a night life that went all the way around the clock. The best "24-hour" zone in town lay along NW 13th Street (US 441) from Jerry's around 16th Avenue up to Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips about ten blocks further north. In between were several all-night businesses. There was the great Mister Donut, whose donuts are, to this day, my all-time favorites. There were two 24-hour grocery stores: Pantry Pride and Skaggs/Albertsons (now just Albertsons). Eckerds operated a 24-hour store jutting out of the Gainesville Mall. And, for a few years, there was Skeeter's, a perpetually-open breakfast restaurant which eventually expanded its menu and even featured live musical acts. Closer to me at the University of Florida was Krystal on University Avenue . To the Southwest, on Archer Road, there was a Sambo's Restaurant. And a Waffle House and an International House of Pancakes on SW 13th Street. On North Main Street, The Clock was a compact, efficient little all-night restaurant.

I suppose that nowadays we still have our "night-life" in Gainesville, although it seems to me that places tend to close down earlier in general. There are two Steak-n-Shake restaurants, two Waffle Houses, the same IHOP, the Clock, and a new 24-hour restaurant replacing Denny's at the Holiday Inn on 13th Street and University Avenue. Walmart seems to have changed to a 24 hour operation, although trying to shop there in the wee hours can be challenging, with all of the stock work and maintenance presenting obstacles for the customers. Walgreens and Albertsons are also stores "always open". The Mister Donut, though, is long-gone. Krispy Kreme, however, has operated a continuously-operated establishment since I've been in Gainesville. The main problem I have in going there, though, is that the smell inside (of their processed doughnuts) is so strong that it actually stinks a bit. Still, Krispy Kreme is the most inviting of the all-night places for me to just walk in, buy a coffee, sit down, and collect my thoughts. And because of this (smells notwithstanding), I bestow the Irwin Award of 24-Hour Excellence to Krispy Kreme on NW 13th Street.

The supreme irony about my criticism of my hometown's apparent trend away from an all-night culture is that I myself have been shifting away from it as well. When I get off work at midnight, I just head on home and bypass any late-night establishments. For many years I worked the graveyard shift until I physically and mentally simply couldn't stand it anymore. So maybe the fact that I don't try anymore to visit late-night places factors into this current perception of mine about Gainesville "rolling up the sidewalks" in mid-evening. But I get the feeling that, even though we still have all-night places in Gainesville, the 24-hour culture that used to be an important element of life here seems to have died. Could be my imagination, though. In all fairness, though, there has been a trend toward eating establishments keeping their drive-through service open very late (and sometimes around the clock). But they want you to buy your food and then go somewhere else, away from them!

Writing Stories: Day Zero

It has now been about nine months since I began writing this blog. And it's been a great ride so far! I plan to continue putting out entries for it at this same general pace indefinitely. But now, I believe that it's time for me to wade into some different waters as well. Yes, it's time for me to begin writing stories! And, of course, I plan to use this blog to help me get into the discipline of the daily production that is necessary to ultimately succeed in this genre. So I am adding another "eights" to this blog (entries eight weeks apart from each other). It will deal with the amount of stories I am writing as well as the number of pages I am producing. I don't intend to actually reveal my stories here, since my intention will ultimately be to submit them for paid publication! But I'm sure that I will have a few things to say (every eight weeks) about how I'm doing experiencing this new, challenging endeavor! I already have several core story ideas in mind, so I shouldn't have a problem with writer's block, at least for a while. My initial push will be to get my feet nice and wet, and just concentrate on "producing a product". And to take Stephen King's advice as well, which is for me to write primarily for myself!

Monday Newsbreak: 12/31

--It is with sadness that I note the passing of Pakistani opposition leader and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto through assassination. What a troubled place Pakistan is these days! The tragedy that began this sad progression of events, in my humble opinion, was the initial inability for Pakistan and India to remain united nationally when they achieved full independence after World War II. The conflicts that Pakistan endured with India as well as the mass migrations of Muslims and Hindus across the newly formed national boundaries in 1947 seem to have fueled a more militant, political form of Islam than in some other parts of the world. With 9/11 and the subsequent war in Afghanistan with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda fleeing into Pakistan, the situation has reached powder-keg proportions. And now this!

--Well, the Iowa caucuses are coming up this Thursday, and hopefully the results will cause some of those fringe candidates to finally see the light and drop out. I'm getting quite tired of them getting equal billing with the main candidates during this seemingly endless procession of televised debates. As far as I can tell, the only remaining viable candidates for the Democrats are Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards. Dennis Kucinich will never drop out because he's on his great, oh-so principled mission. But others like Joseph Biden (whom I would have happily supported over the others) and Bill Richardson should count their blessings and go on to more fruitful ventures. On the Republican side, though, the field is much wider, with five candidates (Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, John McCain, and Fred Thompson) still in the hunt. For those who would say that Ron Paul should be included on this list, I say, "C'mon!" Both Giuliani and Clinton have been playing the "after 9/11, I'll protect you more than the others" card, with Giuliani utterly shameless about it. My pre-caucus endorsements (for all of you Iowans reading my blog with baited breath) are Mike Huckabee (with John McCain close behind) for the Republicans and Barack Obama (with Hillary Clinton acceptable) for the Democrats. I believe that an Obama-Huckabee race would crystallize the 2008 general election as a truer referendum on which direction our country needs to go, instead of a contest based on fear and character assassination.

-The National Football League regular season has ended, and now it's time for the playoffs. Two Florida teams (Tampa Bay and Jacksonville) made the playoffs, and that's two more than last year! New England went undefeated (boo-hoo) and Miami finally won a game (whoopee). Dallas, who I picked before the season to beat Denver in the Super Bowl, is still a favorite to reach it. But the mile-high Broncos failed to reach the altitude of their expectations this year, dismally failing to even make the playoffs (although I'll trade their record for Miami's any day).

Some Forms of Political Government

Anyone who has taken an elementary course in political science or history has probably (if they didn't doze through the entire course) encountered terms such as autocratic (also known as authoritarian), totalitarian, democratic, constitutional, and anarchic. Thus are usually described various forms of governments. The United States, for example, is known as being constitutional (with elected representatives passing laws instead of the people at large). The democratic elements of our political structure are permitted (and limited) by our Constitution. Burma (Myanmar) is widely recognized as being autocratic. Iran is totalitarian, although it calls itself democratic (as do virtually all totalitarian regimes). And many rural societies across the world, almost all of whom live within the borders of nations subscribing to other political systems, are anarchic in nature. Democracy is probably the most fragile and unstable of all of the above, usually having to combine with another system to survive in some form. For example, as previously stated, democracy in America is combined with constitutionalism. In places like Russia or Pakistan, on the other hand, it is more a combination of autocracy and democracy that seems to be more stable (although Pakistan seems to have problems with anything these days).

It strikes me that these political systems don't just apply on a national level: they also apply to groups and situations that we live out our lives in. Families in general have a varying mix of the totalitarian, autocratic, and anarchic. Workplaces are generally a mix of the autocratic and anarchic, although most companies deem themselves to be constitutional (with their company policies, or, if a union is involved, a collective bargaining agreement). Most churches are a mix of the autocratic and totalitarian, and it may be argued that their scriptures may serve as a sort of "constitution". And just driving around in traffic with others is simultaneously constitutional (traffic laws) and anarchic (everybody going to different destinations independently of each other). As a matter of fact, once you remove the top "icing" of constitutionalism, democracy, autocracy, or totalitarianism, much of the "cake" of a society underneath is essentially anarchy!

It is the family and the workplace, though, in which we spend most of our social time. One of the things that I find interesting about social systems is that, regardless of the imposed system, whenever that system breaks down, there seems to be an instinctive anarchic "backup" system that automatically kicks into play. Anarchy, as a political system, can simply be the breaking down of the "higher" systems to the lowest social level possible. Usually that means down to the family level, but not always. The closest thing to anarchy that we have as stated political philosophy, officially speaking, in America, is libertarianism. Both libertarianism and anarchy stress the sentiment that people know what's best for themselves and want to be left alone. To me that's fine in a perfect world, where people respect each other and don't cross their "lines in the sand". But we all know that this isn't the way things work, and we need a higher authority sometimes to protect us from each other.

Personally, I can handle various amounts in my life of constitutionalism, democracy, autocracy, and (my favorite) anarchy. But I absolutely LOATHE totalitarianism in any form. Any kind of social situation in which I find myself being compelled to give or do something that I do not want to give or do that also makes the demand that I behave as if I really DO want to give or do that thing is totalitarian. We instinctively cringe when thinking of totalitarian national governments, but sometimes it runs rampant on a smaller social level in environments like workplaces, schools, families, churches, and even among friends.

My New TV Lineup

Just recently, I began subscribing to a larger cable television package from my cable TV company. As a result, I have several new stations to choose from, as well as some excellent radio stations. I didn't opt for the movie packages, so forget HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, or the Movie Channel. But I do get channels like Sundance and the various Encore movie channels (I was able to once again enjoy The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe on one of them). I like sports, and although I didn't select the "sports package" either, there are a few new specialized channels dealing with specific sports like football, basketball, tennis, and soccer. But I've found that I am now concentrating my new viewing on just a few of the new stations.

The Discovery Channel has come out with some spin-off channels, and they usually feature interesting programming. I can now view the National Geographic's station as well. My favorite science/nature channel in the new lineup, though, is the Science Channel (it's usually one of the first channels I go to when I turn on the TV now). The History Channel's superior spin-off, History Channel International, is also now available. But, with the possible exception of the Science Channel, my favorite new station is AZN, a channel dedicated to the interests of Asian-Americans, with the spotlight on Asia itself. In the morning, they have a Hindi soap opera, followed by an excellent Japanese-language news show. Then, programming in Vietnamese and Chinese is usually available. Later in the day, I often see shows in Korean. And English-language programming is also widespread on AZN, particularly in regard to travel (in Asia) and (Asian) cooking shows. It's fun to watch AZN, even when I have trouble discerning what is being said!

I still like watching many of the "old" channels belonging to my original "basic" lineup, such as C-Span (One and Two), Spike, AMC, Sci-Fi, Univision, and TNT. My favorite news channel is MSNBC--that is, when they're not obsessing about prison life as they do for much of their late night programming. I think, though, that sitting back in my recliner surfing channels is not exactly the best use of my time. It would be better to check out the program schedule BEFORE I turn on the TV, and then restrict my viewing to shows selected in advance. Sometimes, though, I get surprised by a program that I wouldn't have picked this way. But still, I waste too much time the way I'm going (sounds like an impending New Year's Resolution, doesn't it?).

Free Society?

America is reputedly a free country, where people can live under the protection of the Constitution and its Bill of Rights. But lately I've been reflecting on how free, as a whole, our nation really is.

We all pretty much know about the massive influx of undocumented immigrants, mostly from Mexico but also from many areas spanning the globe, especially Britain, the Middle East, and China. For these people, walking the streets here is a different matter than for a citizen or "legal" resident. Seeking government protection for criminal or civil matters, doing anything involving filling out a detailed history, or just openly expressing oneself under the First Amendment can be a tricky matter for these millions of people living among us. Besides these, we have different strata of convicted criminals who have varying types of restrictions placed on their activities and expression. In a few states (including my Florida), convicted felons who have completed their punishments still are banned from exercising their right to vote. The probation and parole systems we have, ostensibly designed to keep convicts out of jails and more assimilated into society, actually serve the function of making the society that much more unfree, since these people, many of whom work and live around us, do not enjoy the same rights as do others. Increasingly, we also have certain criminals, such as arsonists and sexual predators, that have been adjudged impossible to fully rehabilitate, and hence must be limited in their movements and continuously pointed out in public (even after completing sentences). Besides all this, there is the gargantuan underground economy (drugs, gambling, pornography, prostitution), participants in which actually live within a parallel and brutally unfree society, compared to the "open" one that is supposedly represented by due process and fairness. If you are African-American, I probably don't need to tell about the phenomenon of racial profiling ("driving while black") that has continued to make many feel like second-class citizens. And why do prosecutors keep insisting on trying minors, not as minors, but as adults? Many arrests and convictions nowadays don't even involve real crimes and real victims, but instead are the state-manufactured results of sting operations. Ordinary citizens are encouraged to rat on each other to the government through many types of anonymous "snitch" lines that are creepily reminiscent of the old KGB police state era in the Soviet Union. And now we have people targeted for criminal investigation who end up being prosecuted not for the crime that they were suspected of, but for lying to an investigative body about their role. Maybe none of the above apply to you. But suppose you're just walking down the street minding your own business and the wind is blowing in your face. You just might not hear the policeman behind yelling at you before he or she sends a Taser's 50,000 volts into your body (and then shackling you and hauling you off to jail)! Sound farfetched? I would have thought so, too, until recently.

To remedy some of these problems involves taking some bold and admittedly politically risky steps. Many of the victimless crimes that are a hallmark of the underground economy need to either be drastically decriminalized or even legalized. We need a comprehensive plan, similar to the one that President Bush and the Senate approved, that allows undocumented immigrants to be able to openly participate in a free society. Convicts who have finished their sentences should be fully accepted back into society with a clean slate in order to really get a "second chance". If certain crimes are so heinous that offenders have to be constantly monitored and restricted after release, then perhaps the sentencing should reflect that by being much stiffer, without the post-release "gray area". And police and prosecutors need some judicial oversight to restrain them from excesses that undermine freedom and the general good of society.

Favorite Songs of 1993

During 1993, I was spending some time going back to some of the old albums of some of my favorite artists from the 1960s and 1970s. The group Yes was my main focus that year, and (to me) their most interesting works were the six album-side-long pieces that they recorded from 1973 to 1974 on three of their albums. The best of these, Close to the Edge, became my favorite song of 1993 (and my all-time #10), although it was first released way back in 1973.

I also kept up with the contemporary songs of 1993. REM's beautiful 1992 album, Automatic for the People, spawned a 1993 hit, Man on the Moon (a tribute to Andy Kaufman with a nod to Charles Darwin), that grew on me, as much for its great lyrics as for its poignant-but-eerie sound. Porno for Pyros put a whole new spin on the "aliens are going to come down and save us" myths with their satirical Pets. Sting's best solo work (in my opinion) was the lush 1993 love song Fields of Gold. The pared-down band (of one) Tears for Fears spoke about the beauty of decay with Break It Down Again. John Mellencamp put out a new CD with two compelling (but different-sounding) tunes: Human Wheels and When Jesus Left Birmingham. Beck burst onto the hit scene with his catchy-but-ultimately meaningless Loser. The Counting Crows and Sweden's Ace of Base each made their debuts with hits that I liked in Mr. Jones and All That She Wants, respectively. Tones of Home , by Blind Melon, was a catchy, jazzy piece of "scat-rock". And ex-Led Zeppelin stars Robert Plant and Jimmy Page (along with Whitesnake's David Coverdale) engaged in a "friendly" competition of sorts with concurrent releases. Plant's best from his Fate of Nations album was his melodic and mellow 29 Palms, while Coverdale/Page's self-titled album contained, surprisingly, several good tracks. My favorites were the long, slow Over Now and the very-Zeppelinesque Easy Does It. Too bad that this would be Page and Coverdale's one and only collaboration!

Reset

After a Christmas "break" and coming up to the New Year, I think that it's time to make a few adjustments to this blog. The weekly "newsbreak" feature here will stay intact, and so will the various types of free-topic entries. I'm trimming down the "favorite songs of the year" feature to the writing parts and cutting out the long lists. And I'm going to add a couple of new "on the eights" features in the days to come. I plan to make this blog more visual by adding photographs from my new digital camera (once I figure out how to use it). I also intend to investigate some of those areas that Blogger provides for "blog enhancement". But the basic tone of Alone in the Clouds All Blue will remain the same: a more-or-less daily journal of one person's take on things. And who knows, maybe I'll begins to leave comments on others' blogs!

Pledge Drives

What do you think about pledge drives? There are many different types, of course, but the one that I'd like to discuss here is the local public television station pledge drive.

I've lived in Gainesville pretty much since 1977, and one of the bright spots in this college town is the local PBS station, WUFT-Channel Five. Aside from showing great PBS series like Cosmos and Connections, WUFT also showed the 1980s mini-series version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (by Douglas Adams) as well as a whole slew of British comedy shows. But one of my "special moments" with WUFT came on an evening in 1977. They were showing a string of Marx Brothers movies in order in induce people to donate money. They'd usually say something like, "If this is the type of programming you like to see on WUFT, then this is the time to call in with your pledge." Only for the rest of the year, they would never show the programming that they reserved for pledge nights.

This night, though, they were showing Marx Brothers flicks (the earlier, funnier ones), which as black-and-white movies came in real good on my black-and-white TV. The only problem was that, every few minutes, the station would interrupt the movie (usually at a completely inopportune moment) and then ramble on for several minutes with their guilt-mongering ("This is NOT free television!") and pleas to meet the pledge quotas. Finally, about halfway through the final movie, enough people were calling the station complaining about the interruptions (without making pledges) that one of the women conducting the on-air pledge drive suddenly lost her composure and angrily blurted out something to the effect that that was it, you unappreciative people out there. We don't want your complaints, we want your money. And we're not going to finish showing the movie, how do you like that?!! After a few awkward moments though, she was apparently overruled by her colleagues and the movie was quietly put back on to its completion.

I think public television is generally pretty good, but I have to admit that I haven't been one of its financial backers (except through my taxes, that is). Gainesville's WUFT has tried over the years to provide interesting programming for the area, though in recent years I haven't been too impressed with its program lineup. Perhaps they should try regularly showing the programs that they only put on when trying to attract financial donors.

Monday Newsbreak: 12/24

--A Daytona Beach woman was reportedly Tasered by a policewoman on November 26 after she stepped out of a Best Buy store (where she had been shopping) to take an emergency phone call about her daughter. Apparently, this American citizen committed the unspeakable crime of talking back to a cop and using some profanity. She was not in the least bit violent, but was still subject to having 50,000 volts thrown at her, causing her to crumple down to the pavement. The local police chief defended his subordinate's action (of course). It appears that Tasering is becoming a routine tool for the police to handle the populace. The incident, by the way, was reportedly caught on video, so it's more than one person's word against another's. The police will continue to slide downward in the public view as long as they flippantly use something that is as dangerous as Tasering.

--Much ado has been made that current University of Florida president Bernie Machen will receive a salary of $1.2 million this year. But in recent years, I've grown quite accustomed to the top "leaders" in our society, be they in business, education, entertainment, athletics, or politics, raking in obscenely excessive incomes, far out of proportion to their actual contributions. It appears to me that America is rapidly becoming an entrenched plutocracy (rule by the rich).

--NASA is delaying the launch of an important probe to Mars by two years, simply because of a conflict of interest discovered in their contracting process. Can you imagine anything like this happening during the Mercury-Gemini-Apollo era of the 1960s? Oh, and the delay is supposedly going to cost up to an extra $40 million! This is indeed a sad situation with our once-heralded space program.

--Organizations like CAIR (Congress on American-Islamic Relations) routinely rail in the US about "Islamophobia" and how we should be more tolerant and less bigoted about Islam. I agree with that suggestion on its face. However, the picture being painted here about this great and significant religion is one of unity, which is obviously not the case. Islam, as it is practiced across the world, is fractured into different conflicting sects, most members of whom only want to live in peace and unity. But many nevertheless practice hatred and violence toward fellow Muslims with whom they have doctrinal or political differences. Just the other day, Al-Qaeda urged attacks on Sunni Muslims cooperating with the Iraqi (Muslim) government. And if I'm not mistaken, a large proportion of the victims of Al-Qaeda terrorism have been adherents of Islam. Conflicts going on in places like Palestine, Algeria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan involve Muslims attacking Muslims. CAIR needs to refocus its attention on where the real persecution is coming from, without stepping back from its role as an advocacy group here.

--It looks as if perennial football know-it-all and all-around tough guy Bill Parcells is coming to the Miami Dolphins to kick some butt and straighten out the victory-challenged franchise. And if he gets tired of his new job in a couple of years (as is his pattern), I'm sure he'll once again be welcomed back into the television broadcast booth as an expert on the game.

Running on the Eights: 12/23

For the past eight weeks, I've continued to confine my running to the treadmill at my local YMCA. Unfortunately, I haven't been running as often as I would have liked (which would have been every other day). And for the past week, I simply did not have the time (maybe I did, but I didn't feel like I did) to get down there for a run. To be perfectly honest, I don't really fancy running on the treadmill. For one, they usually play stinking-lousy music over the speakers in the YMCA workout room. For another, I often find myself sharing the air with people who train there while sporting very healthy colds, generously spreading their germs around in the holiday spirit! I'm also quite bored with the same old view. I prefer to be outside, covering actual distance and sucking in the wonderful outside air. But a few months ago, running on the ground contributed to a small ankle injury. So I first need to cushion my running shoes and then I will start, sticking with grass or dirt surfaces. Still, the treadmill at the Y is a convenient stop-over (very close to my home) and I'll probably continue to use it from time to time even after I resume running on the ground.

Philosophically, I want to get back into the old routine of running about a 2.5-3 mile outdoors course (not all on asphalt) and want to avoid becoming obsessed with my running times and competitiveness. That's another thing about the treadmill: I tend to get really hyped up about my times there! Well, at least it keeps me honest with my workouts, and I'll still time myself when I'm outside running as well. Here is my workout summary for the past eight weeks (all done on a treadmill surface):

DATE..DISTANCE(Miles).........TIME
11/01.........1.8........................13:53
11/06.........1.0.........................9:27
11/10.........2.0........................16:21
11/12.........2.0........................15:41
11/16.........2.0........................15:08
11/19.........2.5.........................20:41
11/24.........2.5.........................19:43
11/28.........2.7.........................20:48
11/30.........3.11.......................24:13
12/08.........1.5.........................11:28
12/12.........2.0.........................15:19
12/14.........1.0...........................7:20
12/16.........1.5..........................10:59

Christmas Break

Due to the pressures and time constraints of my job at this time of year, I am going to take a short break from this blog. I'll be back around Christmas time!

Monday Newsbreak: 12/17

--Congress has been quietly working through and passing important legislation concerning home mortgage relief and energy conservation. Thankfully, at least in these areas the customary party-line gridlock and promised Presidential vetoes are nowhere in sight.

--Republican Mike Huckabee and Democrat Barack Obama have surged in their respective parties' polls. I heard one analyst explain this by saying that people were tiring of the "establishment" candidates Giuliani and Clinton. But I believe that it's primarily due to the obvious fact that Huckabee and Obama both are better speakers who connect on a deeper level with their audiences.

--The United States and its allies are reportedly reevaluating their strategies regarding Afghanistan. It seems (to me) that one of the areas that they need to recognize is the fact that the Taliban and Al-Qaeda are distinctly different entities and have to be treated in a very different manner from each other. This, I know, is a very bitter pill for many in the West to swallow. After all, the Taliban is known for being very repressive regarding women's rights. Making some type of peace with them which splits them apart from Al-Qaeda, though, will be the only reasonable way for the U.S. and its allies to extricate themselves from an increasingly untenable position without giving up in defeat.

--Some of the alleged drug-abusing baseball players named recently in the Mitchell Report were put on the list because they are believed to have used human growth hormone (HGH) to help recover from injuries, not to build up muscle mass and strength as is the case with steroids. If HGH is effective in helping recovery from injuries, then why is it illegal in baseball? And if it's believed to be ineffective, then why would anyone care whether or not a player uses it? In any event, I believe that those players singled out for HGH use (and not steroids) have been unfairly maligned.

--Wonder of all wonders, the Miami Dolphins finally won a football game, beating the Baltimore Ravens 22-16 in overtime. The way the Dolphins' players celebrated after the game, you'd think that they had won the Super Bowl! Kudos to Miami Coach Cam Cameron for not throwing in the towel for the season and instead playing competent quarterback Cleo Lemon, who played a good game. Now that they're on a "roll" with their win, would it be too much to ask for the Dolphins to ruin the New England Patriots' quest for a perfect season by beating them next week? After all, nobody else seems to be up to the task.

Multi-Level Marketing

During the last couple of decades this past century, the multi-level marketing industry exploded into the economy. The company that I became the most familiar with was Amway. Many years ago, I had a co-worker who was completely caught up with Amway. I’ve also been to two different Amway meetings that someone on the “inside” invited me to (without revealing to me that it was an Amway meeting). The idea was to get me involved in this company under someone who would be something of a mentor and who would also obtain a share of my profits. The push was not as much about selling actual merchandise as it was to get people to sign up “under” me, so that I, in turn, could bleed off profits from those below my level. The “dream of the future” that these meetings repeatedly expressed was that of free people (successful Amway associates) who could do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted while going wherever they wanted, without being tied down to a job. And of course, for the relatively few “on top”, there was some truth to the possibility of fulfilling it, at least to a degree. But unless one was on top, then that sort of independence was unlikely to occur. In the meantime, in my opinion, the mindset from this organization gave people the impression that they were chumps for toiling at forty-hour-per-week jobs when they could be living high off the hog instead.

My perspective on this is that if Amway or a similar company appeals to you, then go for it! But don’t lose sight of the fact that there should always to a sense of dignity attached to the idea of getting up, going to work, producing a commodity or service that people want, and coming home with a sense of accomplishment. I’m not just picking on Amway or the other multi-level marketers. Those get-rich schemes through real estate or Internet infomercials that pervade late-night television pitch the same “you’re a fool if you work for a living” message that I am starting to find offensive. Of course, any “true believer” in these groups would tell you that they work hard at what they do as well. But their ads and promotional meetings convey quite a different take on things.

The Dreaded List of Doom

When I was in the sixth grade, I wasn't doing so well in school. The fact that there was very little structure to my classes had something to do with this. Another factor was that I was completely undisciplined regarding my study habits. But I think that the overriding reason for my difficulties was that the teachers there, by-and-large, were so negligent that they weren't quite aware of my existence! But be that as it was, my name one day somehow did come up for discussion among them. You see, in my fifth/sixth grade section in the school, the "innovative" faculty decided to separate the unmotivated and undisciplined students from the rest of the body. These students then took all of their classes together, under strict supervision, on the stage behind the multi-purpose room (known in normal circles as the cafeteria). "The Stage", as it came to be known, was actually one of the very few positive steps that I saw anyone take in my school to proactively try to help the students hands-on. But it came to have negative connotations among the rest of the student body. One day, about halfway through the school year, one of the teachers (who had been the school's principal the year before) made an announcement. It seems that the size of the "Stage" was going to be expanded to accommodate more students. And he held in his hands a list. On this list, he said, in ominous, threatening tones, were the new "candidates for The Stage". Any students whose names were read out were to report to him after the reading. Permission forms were to be sent out for parents to sign. Then this teacher read out the dreaded list. And my name was on it! Whoopee, I thought, I'm finally being recognized for something, but this wasn't what I had in mind. In fact, I was very fearful of my parents catching wind of my difficulties in school, so I simply ignored the command to meet with the teacher and obtain the permission form. And can you guess what happened to me? Nothing! No teacher ever called my name or came up to me asking why I didn't respond to the summons. It was as if I were once again invisible to them!

This memory came back to me as I listened to all of the hullabaloo about the much-heralded list from the Mitchell Investigation's report spelling out the names of the baseball stars who were allegedly consuming illegal performance-enhancing drugs. There are two parts to this: the build-up to the list's release, and then what happens after its release. For the buildup, there was all of the melodramatic talk about how anyone named would have his career forever ruined, all of his statistics "asterisked", and so on. And now comes the second part. Does it automatically follow that these players' careers are over, or, like me with the "Stage List" will it all wash over without major repercussions? This will be interesting to find out.

Theme Park Withdrawal

It's been a while since I've been to one of my regional theme parks and ridden their big thrill rides. Even the last time I visited Universal Studios, the most serious ride I could get was the relatively tame Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast! Next time, it will be an Islands of Adventure experience, and I aim to ride all of my old favorites: the Hulk Coaster, Dr. Doom's Fear Fall, Ripsaw Falls, Jurassic Park, and Dueling Dragons. I may even try Spiderman, which wasn't one of my favorites. It will be more pleasant once the weather really turns colder (at this writing, in the early afternoon, it is 88 degrees Fahrenheit here in Gainesville in mid-December). That heat can take a toll on me, walking so much around the park. I'd also like to get back and visit my other two favorite theme parks: Busch Gardens (Tampa), which has the best collection of thrill rides, and Wild Adventures (Valdosta, Georgia), which carries some sentimental value for me. For the next couple of weeks, though, I am working extra days and hours at the local post office processing Priority parcels for the annual Christmas season rush. But after that's over, watch out!

Favorite Songs of 1994

In the summer of 1994, I was looking forward to the release of REM’s new album, anticipating something along the line of their previous two blockbusters, Out of Time and Automatic For the People. The first track released for radio, titled What’s the Frequency Kenneth, was radically different. It was more of a hard piece, with a “wall of guitar” sound permeating the background throughout the song. When their new CD Monster was released soon thereafter, I immediately went out and bought it. I was stunned at the difference in this album from anything they had done (which was pretty good as well). Monster was a stark, loud, forceful album that is still one of my all-time favorites. And my favorite song of 1994, Let Me In, was on it as a deep track, buried deep near the end. Let Me In was a stirring lament that Michael Stipe wrote for Nirvana’s creative force Kurt Cobain, who had taken his own life earlier that year. Here are my favorites from 1994:

Cannonball (Breeders)
Buddy Holly (Weezer)
Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) (Us3)
Come Out And Play (Offspring)
Disarm (Smashing Pumpkins)
Down With Disease Pfish)
Gotta Get Away (Offspring)
In The Night (Real McCoy)
Longview (Motivation) (Green Day)
Mmm-Mmm-Mmm-Mmm (Crash Test Dummies)
Return To Innocence (Enigma)
Sabotage (Beastie Boys)
The Sign (Ace of Base)
Streets Of Philadelphia (Bruce Springsteen)
Laid (James)
Today (Smashing Pumpkins)
Walls (Yes)
In The House Of Stone And Light (Martin Page)
Love Is Strong (Rolling Stones)
You Got Me Rocking (Rolling Stones)
Secret (Madonna)
Take A Bow (Madonna)
What's The Frequency Kenneth (REM)
Crush With Eyeliner (REM)
King Of Comedy (REM)
I Don't Sleep I Dream (REM)
Star 69 (REM)
I Took Your Name (REM)
Let Me In (REM)
Circus Envy (REM)
Leaving Las Vegas (Sheryl Crow)
All I Wanna Do (Sheryl Crow)
Strong Enough (Sheryl Crow)

There were many tearjerkers from 1994: the aforementioned Let Me In, Bruce Springsteen’s movie soundtrack hit Streets of Philadelphia, Elton John's Can You Feel the Love Tonight (from The Lion King) and Madonna’s elegant, poignant Take a Bow. But the Crash Test Dummies came out with one of the most heart-rendering songs I have ever heard in Mmm-Mmm-Mmm-Mmm, a piece describing the trials that children have to endure in life. Us3 sampled a famous Herbie Hancock piece with their “funky-funky” Cantaloop. Sheryl Crow made her “debut” with great tunes like Leaving Las Vegas and Strong Enough (another tearjerker). And the Rolling Stones, already being described in 1994 as having one foot in the grave, produced (in my opinion) their best album since 1978’s Some Girls with Voodoo Lounge. My favorite from it was the great, appropriately-named tune You Got Me Rocking.

Neocon as Code Word

Everyone who regularly reads their newspaper has a ritual, tailor-made to their personal preferences. Some fly immediately to the sports pages. Others start on the front page and read straight on to the end of the paper. Still others start (and possibly end) at the comics page. For me, I habitually begin my daily journey through my local newspaper, The Gainesville Sun, by perusing the editorial page. In particular, I like to read the letters to the editor. A few months ago, I came across one letter (whose writer I don't know the name of) regarding the use of the term "neocon". In it, the writer expressed his view that "neocon" is an anti-Semitic code-word for "Jewish". I nearly fell off my chair when I read that, but being who I am, I felt the need to check out this strange-sounding accusation.

Neoconservatism, as I have come to understand it, was a "reinvention" of conservatism that was designed to throw off the anti-civil rights stigma that "traditional" conservatism had been tagged with. Neoconservatives, you see, were for an inclusive society (in a libertarian sense) where anyone could pull themselves up by their own bootstraps (without the big, bad government's help) and become a Horatio Alger success story. Those who wouldn't do this needed to be prodded into action by denying them government services. However, this anti-government philosophy always seemed to get turned upside-down whenever the discussion shifted to the military. And then it was, in the perspective of neoconservatism, axiomatic that anything that was perceived as being in the interests of the military had to be supported. As for foreign policy, neoconservatives tended to emphasize a tit-for-tat relationship whereby they supported those nations that have consistently stood by U.S. policies, while regarding enemies of our closest allies as our own enemies. As for the religious area of policy discussion, there seems (to me) a bit of division among neoconservatives as to how much traditionalism should be emphasized (as opposed to secularism). Also, it seems that the term "neoconservative" was coined by and on behalf of this political philosophy's adherents as a positive self-designation. Of course, nowadays it's used pejoratively by its critics.

So, where does the coded anti-Semitism come into play regarding "neocon" (the abbreviated form of "neoconservative")? I did some research of the Internet about this and could come up with only one possible explanation for that letter-writer's claim. Apparently, it seems to be common within Middle-Eastern journalistic circles to use the tag "neocon" whenever supporters of Israel are written about (with a negative connotation). Since I don't have any direct personal experience about this, I can't say for sure that this is actually the case. But even if it is, the individual who expressed his objection to the term's use here in America was, in my opinion, completely out of line with his all-encompassing interpretation of the term as being anti-Semitic. I personally have never read or heard "neocon" being used to signify "Jewish" per se, either in a derogatory or any other sense. I'm still scratching my head over this letter. If any of this blog's readers can add any information to help solve this puzzle, I'd appreciate it.

Two Opposing Trends

There are two remarkable trends in society these days, as I see it. One is the binding together in increasing intricacy of the communications and information systems across the world, and on a person-to-person level at that. It never fails to amaze me that people from disparate places like Malaysia, Venezuela, or Chicago can just click onto my blog and “instantly” read my thoughts off their screens (as well as send e-mail). Just look at Wikipedia, and how easy it is to reference practically any topic that one can imagine. If I had paranoid tendencies (and who doesn’t, at least a little bit sometimes), I would feel very threatened by others having easy access to information about me. I know people who won’t even go near a computer for this reason. But I have a different take on things. I know that life is short, and one of the things that I’ve heard that the elderly regret is that they didn’t express themselves more boldly when they were younger. I hear all this talk about America and the Bill of Rights, with its First Amendment guaranteeing freedom of speech. So why not take advantage of it? Maybe somewhere, some agency is filing away my freely-given thoughts. So what? As I said before, life is short.

Which brings me to the second trend I’ve discovered around me. The best way for me to describe it is “entropy of interest”. As previously difficult-to-obtain information becomes more readily available, it seems (to me) that people are actually becoming less and less interested in others and, instead, are specializing their attention in certain “pet” areas that fit in with their own life narratives. For example, it is no surprise to me that people accessing this blog almost solely do so through searches of specific topics of interest and not to see what I write on a day-to-day basis. So the prevailing dynamics of the Internet and blogs, as I see it, are quite impersonal and indicative of a kind of dispersal of interest. The more interconnected people become, it seems, the more narcissistic they get as well. It sounds a bit paradoxical, I know, but I don’t know how better to express it.

Monday Newsbreak: 12/10

--Senseless shootings in our society seem to run in patterns. Earlier this week, a young man randomly killed several people at an Omaha, Nebraska shopping mall before taking his own life. And now, in two different incidences in Colorado, at least three people have been shot and killed, apparently with some connection to the victims' practice of Christianity. The idea of going on a rampage like this is so repugnant that there can be no hint of sympathy regarding the perpetrators' grievances or sufferings. Still, it's important to get inside the minds and motives of this disgusting vermin in order to head off future occurrences.

--I see that Oprah Winfrey is openly campaigning for her preferred Presidential candidate, Barack Obama. Good for them! I like Obama too, and I also believe that he has a good shot, once and if he receives the Democratic nomination, to attract enough broad support to win the general election. But I also believe that Oprah's endorsement carries little value for him in this quest. Just four years ago, right before the Iowa caucuses, several notables lined up to endorse then-frontrunner Howard Dean. Even Al Gore publicly backed him, but to no avail. Dean's campaign disintegrated from the disappointing (for him) Iowa results, as well as from the New Hampshire primary. If Obama wins Iowa, I doubt that it will have had that much to do with celebrity endorsements.

--According to a recently released intelligence report, Iran ceased seeking nuclear weapons development back in 2003. But the Bush administration continued to criticize and ostracize this country, with the President only a few months ago raising the spectre of World War III regarding an Iran with nuclear weapons. I remember, as a kid, Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev being portrayed as mad and trying to take over the world. This is exactly how Bush and his warmongering supporters are portraying the current Iranian president. Only back in the early 1960s, we had a statesman in John Kennedy, who realized the necessity to sit down with his Soviet counterpart and come to some mutual understanding regarding such a grave issue as nuclear armament. Unfortunately, there is no such statesman currently inhabiting the White House.

--University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow won the prestigious Heisman Trophy as the best college football player in 2007. I'm happy for Tim, but I think that any of the other three that were selected as finalists deserved the award as well. And one of these could very well be playing next year for the hapless Miami Dolphins, who at 0-13 are also virtually assured of having the NFL's worst record and, consequently, next year's first draft pick. After all, who else finished second in the Heisman voting to Steve Spurrier in 1966 but Purdue quarterback Bob Griese. Griese was picked in the draft by the Dolphins and went on to win two out of the three Super Bowls that he started for with them as well as go on to the NFL Hall of Fame! I'd love to see Miami get hold of somebody like Darren McFadden or Colt Brennan!

The Forrest Gump Syndrome

Like many others, I thoroughly enjoyed the Tom Hanks movie Forrest Gump, where he played a young, slightly retarded Alabama man who led a charmed life through adversity (and history) while maintaining his values and vitality. The character of Forrest Gump was himself a larger-than-life, somewhat surreal character that I had a bit of difficulty relating to when I first saw the movie. But I could certainly identify with many of the assorted people that he ran across along his life's journey. After all, as a rule they were clueless about what they were doing, but went about their business acting as if they really had it all together.

As time went on, though, I began to identify less with those people and more with Gump. And this is why: Forrest Gump lived completely in the present. He did not allow himself to be encumbered by past offenses and did not harbor grudges against others. His life's narrative, as he related it to whoever would listen to him as he sat on a bench waiting for a bus, was not designed with any personal agenda in mind. When something hit him as a good thing to do, he went at it with all of his heart. And thus he succeeded in many things that others failed in because of discouragement and distraction. But there is something else that causes me to identify more with Forrest Gump.

Forrest Gump was a very aboveboard, everything-is-on-the-table kind of human being. And when dealing with others, that's the way I at least envision myself as becoming (eventually). But I recognize (as Gump didn't), that there are multiple layers of subtlety and deviousness in interpersonal relations. I simply don't want to get involved in that (while Gump simply couldn't recognize it). It's because I tend to avoid dipping down to a certain level with others that I often feel that they regard me with a condescension that resembles how Gump was treated. And do you know what? That's all right with me! I don't want to be like so many others, who live their lives out in a cloud of fear regarding their "place" within their assorted social circles and feel empowerment whenever they are privy to gossip or some underground connection. Not that I think that life is so rosy: I tend at times to be quite cynical about things. And I can dwell on my past life with misgivings (I'm very good at that). But I still see the future (for me) as focusing more on "here and now" and not "there and then". And that puts me right in line with Gump. Call it the Forrest Gump Syndrome. Or simply call it sanity.

Dropped Passes, Etc.

I have been following football as a spectator since 1967 and I am always amazed at a certain phenomenon of the sport (this applies to other sports as well). As you probably know, football is a very popular sport in the United States. Kids start out early in life playing sandlot football and touch or flag football at school. And then, there are organized youth football leagues that introduce them to tackle football. In junior and senior high school, most schools have football teams which filter out the best players to be on them. And then only the best players from the high school teams are able to be on college teams. And only the best players on a team can actually get out on the field and play regularly. And only those players who have exhibited supreme talent, strength, knowledge, and speed in their college football careers even remotely have a chance to be selected to be on a National Football League team. And only the best of those can actually be starters!. So, tell me, dear readers, why then do I turn my TV on and watch NFL games where players are constantly: dropping easy passes, moving on the line of scrimmage or jumping off-sides, hitting opposing players hard when they are already down or out-of-bounds, throwing awful passes, not protecting the football properly when carrying it, and foolishly mismanaging the clock at the close of a game or half? The last point applies just as strongly, if not more, to the teams' coaches!

It is as if, at each new level of an athlete's career, said athlete must completely relearn the fundamentals of the sport. But when I see a highly-paid professional receiver just out-and-out drop an easy pass, I remember me, as a little kid, never having any trouble at all hanging on to a ball once it was thrown to me. I don't mind my team being outplayed by another in a game anywhere near as much as I mind my team making stupid mistakes that they should have outgrown in high school at the latest!

Reading on the Eights: 12/7

I've continued my reading pace at about the same rate for the past eight weeks. I read another Isaac Asimov robot novel, The Naked Sun, which was passable but not my favorite. But it does tie in to his later Empire and Foundation series. And I have a trilogy of his Empire novels that I will be starting soon! To round out the science fiction reading, I'll say that I'm currently working on Douglas Adams's second Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book, titled The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. This reading has not been particularly enjoyable to me (although it's very funny) because I already know pretty much what happens, having seen the miniseries on TV a couple of decades ago.

Of course, I am continuing with my dogged pursuit of reading everything that Stephen King has published in book form. To this end, I read The Eyes of the Dragon, The Dead Zone, Insomnia, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, and his short story/novella collection Skeleton Crew. Eyes of the Dragon was a short, pleasant fantasy departure, while The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon was a depiction of a child's scary, trying adventure lost in the wilderness, interlaced with pro-Boston Red Sox propaganda (I guess that tells you I'm not exactly a fan of theirs). The Dead Zone and Insomnia both were great, gripping novels dealing with psychic abilities descending uninvited on the protagonists. Insomnia is, maybe, the best of King's novels I've read so far. He has a heart for the elderly, and dealing with life in its latter stages takes up a great deal of the book. His Skeleton Crew collection (published in the 1980s) spans a wide range of story types. The Mist is a novella that just came out as a movie (and this spurred my interest in reading this book). I wonder if the movie will stay true to the written word, or will it diverge a lot (like Children of the Corn did). There was sci-fi (Beachworld, The Jaunt), crime/mystery (The Wedding Gig), deranged poetry (Paranoid: a Chant, For Owen), New England-oriented stories (Mrs. Todd's Shortcut, The Reach) and, of course, horror (many stories). There were four stories that stood out the most to me: The Mist, Mrs. Todds's Shortcut, Nona, and The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet. The story Work Processor of the Gods seemed too similar to an old Twilight Zone episode titled A World of His Own. As a whole, Skeleton Crew was excellent. I can't wait for Stephen King's next short story collection to come out!

I also began to read Ralph Keyes's writers guide The Courage to Write (How Writers Transcend Fear). It definitely has a lot of food for thought in it!

Favorite Songs of 1995

Almost all of my favorite songs that I listened to in 1995 were played on 103.7-WRUF “Rock 104”. Like 1996, 1995 was a great year to listen to rock on the radio. But something else distracted me: I bought a copy of Soundgarden’s masterpiece Superunknown, which had actually come out in 1994. I got to like every track on it and listened to it many times. In fact, my top favorite song of 1995, My Wave, is the second track on Superunknown. Musically and lyrically, this songs still stands out as a personal favorite. Here now is the list of my favorites from 1995, as I lived through it:

More Human Than Human (White Zombie)
As I Lay Me Down (Sophie B. Hawkins)
Breakfast At Tiffany's (Deep Blue Something)
Bullet With Butterfly Wings (Smashing Pumpkins)
1979 (Smashing Pumpkins)
Fantasy (Mariah Carey)
Geek Stink Breath (Green Day)
Hand In My Pocket (Alanis Morisette)
For Those About To Rock (A.C.-D.C.)
I Kissed A Girl (Jill Sobule)
Immortality (Pearl Jam)
In The Meantime (Spacehog)
Lump (Presidents of the U.S.A.)
My Friends (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Natural One (Folk Implosion)
One Of Us (Joan Osborne)
Possum Kingdom (Toadies)
Runaway (Janet Jackson)
Tomorrow (Silverchair)
Wonder (Natalie Merchant)
Wonderwall (Oasis)
You Oughta Know (Alanis Morisette)
December (Collective Soul)
Where The River Flows (Collective Soul)
Gel (Collective Soul)
Rain King (Counting Crows)
A Murder Of One (Counting Crows)
The Best Of What's Still Around (Dave Matthews Band)
Satellite (Dave Matthews Band)
Ants Marching (Dave Matthews Band)
Can't Cry Anymore (Sheryl Crow)
Let Me Drown (Soundgarden)
My Wave (Soundgarden)
Mailman (Soundgarden)
Superunknown (Soundgarden)
Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden)
Spoonman (Soundgarden)
The Day I Tried To Live (Soundgarden)
Fresh Tendrils (Soundgarden)
Dignity (Bob Dylan)
Not For You (Pearl Jam)
Corduroy (Pearl Jam)

Pearl Jams’s ode to a teacher, Corduroy, resonated with me. The Red Hot Chili Peppers came out with a unusually sad, mellow piece titled My Friends. Oasis, whom many compared to the Beatles, but sounded to me like the Zombies, brought into the musical scene their cello-enriched Wonderwall. Dave Matthews and his Band hit the big time in 1995, producing several hits, my favorites among them being Satellite and Ants Marching. Collective Soul had one of my most-liked songs of theirs this year with their relentless Where the River Flows. Bob Dylan surprised me with his touching comeback song Dignity. Mariah Carey sampled the old tune Genius of Love (by the Tom Tom Club) and came out with what I feel is her best song ever, Fantasy. I suppose that the aforementioned Chili Peppers song My Friend wins the tearjerker of the year award, but Soundgarden’s The Day I Tried to Live was pretty emotional as well.

Sitting Outside Starbucks

As I write this, I am sitting outside of a Starbucks in north Gainesville, Florida. It's early afternoon and I will soon be driving off to work. Outside, this is one of the most beautiful days of the year. The temperature is in the sixties (very mild for Florida) and the air is pleasantly dry. The shopping center where I'm sitting is one of those meticulously landscaped ones that have assorted varieties of trees, bushes, and ferns all around. The Starbucks inside is pretty crowded, but for some reason I'm the only one out here enjoying this weather and scenery. There is also a soothing, light, cool breeze floating in and out around me here. And the decorators have hung pretty holiday red ribbons up on the numerous lampposts throughout the shopping center (called Magnolia Parke). By the way, I discovered in life that if a place's name has an "e" stuck on the ends of words that don't normally have it, that means you're in exquisite surroundings and need to follow the "pinkie out" rule. On the other hand, if you're in someplace whose name has been deliberately misspelled with "k"'s in it (like Kwik Chek or Krispy Kreme), then you're free to act like a coarse slob!

Although the temperature is very mild, the Floridians around here are mostly walking around with sweaters or jackets. One young man just passed by wearing a jacket with the hood up, covering his head! I wonder what the folks up north, buried in snow, would think about that!

The only problem I have about this place is that, about a hundred feet behind me, NW 39 Avenue runs by. And it is very, very busy, as well as being a truck route. So it sounds a bit as if I am sitting right off the Interstate highway! No problem: if the noise gets to be too much, I have my trusty earplugs in my shirt pocket, ready for action! Well, I think I'll sign off and say farewell for now. There's a Stephen King book (Skeleton Crew) that I would like to finish reading in the next two or three days. Until tomorrow...

Eighty-Twenty, Best-Angry

From time to time, I've come across a reference to the "80-20 rule". What is it? Simply that, as a gross generality, 80% of the work in a given situation is actually performed by about 20% of the people involved. The question is, how true is this statement?

I'll be the first to admit that I've been in situations where there was a lot of work to be done and there were also a lot of slackers who didn't want to work hard to accomplish it. Then I, along with a small number of fellow hard-workers, would get the job done. And it would make me angry, because those in charge would never seem to punish those who wouldn't contribute their fair share of the work. I've discovered that this injustice is much more prevalent in loose, informally-run work situations. I have also worked in a highly-structured work environment, where each worker was assigned specific tasks that they were individually held accountable for accomplishing. In these situations, the 80-20 rule fell apart, and there was more of an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual respect among the employees. So, you may have correctly guessed that I prefer to work in such a highly organized work setting.

Besides the 80-20 rule, there is another rule that I have noticed by myself, and hence I don't have any spiffy sort of name for it. I'll just call it the "best-angry" rule. You see, on the other extreme of the spectrum from the lazy employee is the diligent, perfectionist worker whose personal impulse in the workplace is to be absolutely the best worker of all there. If it just stopped there, then that would be O.K. with me. But all too often, such a worker will then turn around and angrily express contempt for other workers not living up to this worker's exceptionally high self-imposed standards. Which pretty much comprises almost everyone in the work force! I appreciate hard-working colleagues, but they sometimes need to practice a little professional detachment in regard to judging others.

The "80-20" and "best-angry" rules permeate all places that I have worked for any amount of time. But the less structured the job assignments are, the more pronounced their negative effects are as well. Those in managerial positions would be well-advised to recognize these two pitfalls and to take care that they don't take too strong of a hold in the workplace.

Monday Newsbreak: 12/3

--The media is portraying Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez as having gone over the edge in pursuing political power as well as meddling in the affairs of other countries. Personally, I see that he has a messiah complex and views others in a straight-up-and-down way. If you agree with Mr. Chavez, then you are a "good" person, and if you disagree with him, you are "bad". Hugo Chavez, in his own mind, is so good for his country that he apparently intends to lead it for the remainder of his life! It's too bad that this individual has turned out to be such a megalomaniac, because I believe that some of the issues he embraces are important. It's crucial for political leaders to serve the interests of their countries' masses, not just the elite classes. But they don't have to be so full of themselves in the process, as Mr. Chavez is.

--There is a push in Florida, spearheaded by Governor Charlie Crist, to raise the Homestead Exemption for property taxes. The issue will be decided at a January 29 referendum. With skyrocketing real estate appraisals in Florida in recent years, I believe that it is imperative to bring the Homestead Exemption up to current times. Otherwise, many homeowners will lose their properties due to their inability to pay their ballooning property taxes. Local governments oppose increasing the Exemption, but it's been my experience, at least from watching my own city and county commissions on TV, that local officials tend to be arrogant know-it-alls who tend to regard those whom they are elected to serve as somewhat lesser persons. And they are addicted to their pet projects and the people's tax contributions that they want to fund them with.

--Quite often, before two good football teams clash on the field, some of the players will go to the press and put down their opponent, just to get something going between the two teams. But before the New York Jets were to play the Miami Dolphins yesterday, Jets defensive end David Bowens said (of the Dolphins), "Just because they're 0-11 doesn't mean they aren't a good team." OUCH, that hurts! Oh, by the way, the Jets crushed Miami, 40-13.

--While looking in my Gainesville Sun sports section for local sporting event results that weren't there, I came across the NHL hockey standings (that few people actually care about). I noticed that most of the teams had winning records, and even those trailing their divisions had pretty good win-loss ratios. Then I discovered that, while an overtime win counted in the "win" column, an overtime loss didn't actually count as a "loss" but was put into an third category called "OT". I suppose they did this ridiculous repackaging of the standings to try to generate more fan interest in mediocre teams after the disastrous "non-season" a couple of years ago (which enabled the Tampa Bay Lightning to be defending Stanley Cup Champions for two whole years)!

Andrew Meyer and Ron Paul

I was recently looking through this past Friday's edition of The Independent Florida Alligator when I ran across an opinion piece by Andrew "Don't Tase Me Bro" Meyer. Apparently, Mr. Meyer has decided to go ahead and use his First Amendment rights to express himself freely after all. Good for him, and good for the rest of us as well! But we'll see if our illustrious local prosecutors decide to get aggressive with Andrew should he ever express something not to their personal liking (such as saying that he wasn't sorry after all)!

Meyer basically wrote his article to extol Republican candidate for President Ron Paul. Although a member of the GOP, Paul expresses liberal Democratic ideas on several issues. Still, he subscribes to a more Libertarian, laissez-faire creed when it comes to the economy. For Meyer, the most important issues that he supports Paul for is the candidate's adamant opposition to American military involvement in Iraq and in other parts of the world as well as his professed vehement support of the U.S Constitution, particularly in the application of its Bill of Rights. Paul's candidacy sounds eerily a bit like Democrat Howard Dean's four years ago in that he had built his campaign largely on the Internet.

Ron Paul sounds to me like a pretty decent fellow. And he may or may not make a pretty decent President. However, one person alone does not make up the entire Executive Branch, and whoever gets elected as President is bound to bring in members of his own party to fill in most of the important policy-making positions, especially in the Cabinet. And you can rest assured that, if Paul brings in his fellow Republicans, then his administration will contain many who oppose him on some of the important issues that would have gotten him elected.

Wouldn't it make more sense to support a candidate whose opinions largely resonate within his or her own political party? If someone like Barack Obama were elected as President, I am fairly confident that his administration would be mostly composed of those with whom he is philosophically in agreement regarding the proper function of government within society, as well as the best way for America to promote its interests across the world. A Paul Presidency, on the other hand, by the very "maverick" nature of the candidate, would be problematic: his own party would be deeply divided, and he would still have to deal with the Democrats as an opposition party. This, to me, would make for a dangerously weak Presidency. Why not just let one party stand for the conservative viewpoint, the other the liberal viewpoint, and let us voters decide which direction we want to go in? Although I don't agree with Andrew Meyer's promotion of Ron Paul, I do appreciate his comments and look forward to more in the future.

Busy December

Seeing that I'm going to be very busy at my job this month, I may not have the same opportunities to write daily entries for this blog that I've had up until now. But I'll give it my best shot, although the articles may sometimes be pretty short (like this one, for example). After Christmas, though, my writing should pick up a bit.