Where Does It Go?

I was looking back at some posts from January and found my Viva Las Vegas page. It seemed like miles away and just something to look forward to in April. Well, we leave for Sin City on Sunday. The time has screamed by like a F16 on crank. I can say that I am not as excited as I should be about going on vacation. The cruise we went on last year had me pumped up beyond imagination but there is something about going to a gambling Mecca that leaves an uninterested taste in my mouth.

I have never been attracted to gambling because it leaves too much opportunity to lose the pittance I have. I do not mind losing $20 because that is what I would spend on entertainment anyway. But when you get to $100 or $200 it approaches a grocery bill or a chunk of car payment. I worry too much about the little things I guess. I like to think that that is more important than hitting it big. What would I do with all of that money anyway? The government wants their chunk so they can flush it down some give away program to someone who thinks they are entitled. What is left after the government gets their just due would either be too much to handle or not enough to whet the whistle. Whine, whine, whine. I know. I guess I would rather be happy than rich.

So as we get packed and leave the schedule for Joy’s mom, I will try to get pumped up about going to Vegas. Nevada is one of the states that I have not seen yet. So I will be left with 14 more states to visit and plenty of time to see them. That is if it doesn’t go by as quickly.

Icool

Cobb

Not A New Idea

I have heard of repealing the 16th Amendment before but did not know how far the idea has gone. The proposed amendment to repeal actually went to Congress during the 1995-1996 sessions. There is an active movement to have this very unpopular redistribution of wealth removed. What I do not understand is why Americans do not band together and demand that this method of robbery be made illegal on a Constitutional basis and end the April 15th race to pay.

The method of amending the constitution is found in Article V. It is as follows:

Article V

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.

One of these methods has never been used. It has been Congress doing the changes and not the states. Since I cannot believe that the states would find this amendment popular, it would have to be submitted on a federal level. This has already been done but it obviously lacked the level of support to be taken seriously. So it comes down to a matter of how to advertise the product and make it the burning issue. Maybe we need to look at how prohibition was put in place to get an answer to that question. So we have another avenue for research as we march toward getting to keep what we earn.

I guess it is a matter of going after the knowledge now and gather the facts necessary to move forward on this issue. The presidential mantra should not be “No New Taxes.” It should be “No Income Taxes.” Unfortunately there are too many people attached to the hind teat of our nation and they have their baby teeth.

Icool

Cobb

Harry In Your Pocket

I remember a movie from the early 70’s called Harry In Your Pocket. It starred James Coburn as the leader of a band of pick pockets. It co-starred Michael Sarrazin and Walter Pidgeon. Michael was the apprentice and Walter was the older trusted confidant. They set up elaborate schemes to steal wallets, purses, and any other loose item they could get. I don’t know why it stuck in my head other than I had just watched Michael Sarrazin in an updated version of Frankenstein. The point I want to get at is we have Harry (actually it is Sam but…) in our pockets and it needs to stop. We need to repeal the 16th Amendment to the US Constitution; the Income Tax Amendment

The 16th Amendment allows the United States government to reach into your pocket and extract however much flesh they want. They have set up a watch dog to ensure that they get the correct amount of flesh. The watch dog has no real master and chooses its victims with all the care of a suicide bomber. The money is snatched from those who work hard to make it so it can be redistributed to those who do little or nothing except spend it. The government has enough methods of creating a revenue stream that it can do without collecting income taxes. It worked just fine before WWI in collecting enough money to run the nation. It was after WWI when the bills came due that it looked to taxing those who have to cover their expenditures. From there it has grown into the monolithic tower of Babel we are forced to pay homage to every April 15th.

We have precedence for repealing the 16th Amendment. Our nation joyfully carried the torch toward elimination of drinking alcohol in the 1920’s. It took a few years to realize that prohibition was a losing cause. Americans were going to drink and creating a constitutional amendment saying they can’t just forced it underground. The 18th and 21st amendments provide the insight into how to stop the government from playing Robin Hood with your paycheck. So lets all take a look at Harry and remember that whether you like it or not, he has his hand in your pockets. Not a comforting thought.

Stay tuned for part II.

Icool

Cobb

Rhythm of Life

My son asked me if I had ever heard of the song Rhythm of Life. I told him that it was a great childhood memory. We sang this song in Mrs. Womack’s choir class. We even gave a rousing performance of it at the (I believe) spring concert. It was a fun song that caught the listener’s attention and let the performer enjoy what they were doing. My son could not believe as I sang the chorus with him. Yes, I still remember it.

My children as continuously amazed when I chime in on one of their current favorite songs. It is not that I listen to their music; it is that there are so many artists doing 70’s covers that I already know the songs. Most of the time, I am not impressed with the new version. Every once in a while I am surprised at the changes that were made. Most artists cannot see beyond the original and sort of karaoke the tune. Some see the beauty of the song and just tear it up.

The song Rhythm of Life is from the musical Sweet Charity. I cannot say that I have seen the musical or the movie. I know that Sammy Davis Jr. performed the song in the movie and I have heard his version. It has the typical Sammy pizzazz but I still prefer the version we did in choir. Of course you almost always like the first version you hear. It is human nature to be suspect of things that are different. It even translates to the beat that drives your feet.

Icool

Cobb

The Donger Needs Food

I watched the John Hughes movie “Sixteen Candles” last weekend. One of my daughters bought the DVD with some birthday money. I remembered this movie as a nice, teenage rite of passage film with some pretty funny one liners and a few funny situations. It also has the fairy tale princess ending but that was the age when all teenage events ended well.

Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall (a year later both catapult to fame in the Breakfast Club) star as outcasts in high school. Molly is dealing with her parents being so busy with her older sister’s wedding to an “Oily Bow Hunk”, that they forget her 16th birthday. She spends the whole day moping. Anthony Michael Hall plays a freshman with a crush on Molly and makes a real fool of himself in most of the scenes. He gives a first class acting job on how to be an immature geek. Molly (Samantha, Sam) has a crush a senior named Jake who is dating the class beauty queen. The beauty queen provides the only gratuitous nude scene in the movie and she is very healthy. She is also a partier who has a complete disregard for Jake and his property.

The movie starts with both Jake and Samantha is a class together and both trying to stare at the other without being noticed. Both are apprehensive and wonder why the other is staring. After a series of false starts and stops, Anthony Michael Hall ends up with Jake’s girl and Samantha and Jake end up celebrating her 16th birthday together. It is a sweet ending.

The character that steals the movie is a Chinese exchange student named Long Duck Dong that is living with Samantha’s grandparents. Every time someone says his name, a gong sounds in the background. He goes to a dance with Sam and ends up with an American Girlfriend. After the dance they go to a party at Jake’s house (a quiet affair of about 150 kids that destroy his house) and he gets trashed. His girlfriend leaves him, he puts grandpa’s car in Lake Michigan and ends up passed out on Sam’s front yard. The ensuing scene is the real gem of the movie.

If you are looking for something light hearted and frivolous, wade through the old movies and get a cheap rental. Sixteen Candles is not for kids but if you have a teenage daughter, they have seen it before or just close your eyes.

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Cobb

Serviceable Villain

You have to love where curiosity leads you. I had the snippet from a Beatle’s song running through my head today and it took me to places I had forgotten and never been. I heard the words, “serviceable villain” rolling around in my head this afternoon and could not place where it was coming from. I knew it was Beatles and started working my way backwards. It was not where I thought.

The first place I looked was Strawberry Fields. This melodic song talks about an orphanage in Liverpool from both John and Paul’s childhood. This song led to looking up information on the rumor that Paul is dead. Somewhere a rumor got out that Paul McCartney had been decapitated in an automobile accident and was replaced by a look alike, sound alike, musically talented like, musician. The remaining Beatles left numerous audio and visual clues in their following albums for anyone who was savvy enough to catch them. Too much coincidence and the music was too good. So much for rumor.

I then remembered koo koo ka chu and “I Am The Walrus” jumped up and exposed the truth. I could not find the serviceable villain lyric however. I finally found the reason for the dramatic words spoken at the end of the song. They are from Shakespeare’s King Lear. It was being broadcast during the final editing of the song and somehow made it on the tape, at least that is the official version. It blended so well they left it. Now koo koo ka chu is actually goo goo g’ job but if you read the lyrics and the excerpt from King Lear, you will get the gist.

Lyrics:
I am he as you are he as you are me
and we are all together
See how they run like pigs from a gun
see how they fly
I'm crying
Sitting on a cornflake
Waiting for the van to come
Corporation T-shirt, stupid bloody Tuesday
Man you've been a naughty boy
you let your face grow long

I am the eggman
they are the eggmen
I am the walrus
Goo goo g' joob

Mr. city policeman sitting
pretty little policemen in a row
See how they fly like Lucy in the sky
See how they run
I'm crying
I'm crying, I'm crying
Yellow matter custard
Dripping from a dead dog's eye
Crabalocker fishwife
Pornographic priestess
Boy, you've been a naughty girl
you let your knickers down

I am the eggman
They are the eggmen
I am the walrus
Goo goo g' joob

Sitting in an English garden
waiting for the sun
If the sun don't come you get a tan
from standing in the English rain

I am the eggman
They are the eggmen
I am the walrus
Goo goo g' joob

Expert, texpert choking smokers
don't you think the joker laughs at you
See how they smile like pigs in a sty
See how they snide
I'm crying
Semolina pilchard
climbing up the Eiffel tower
Elementary penguin singing Hare Krishna
Man, you should have seen them kicking
Edgar Allan Poe

I am the eggman
They are the eggmen
I am the walrus
Goo goo g' joob
Goo goo g' joob
Goo goo g' goo
goo goo g' joob goo
juba juba juba
juba juba juba
juba juba juba juba
juba juba

OSWALD
Slave, thou hast slain me: villain, take my purse:
If ever thou wilt thrive, bury my body;
And give the letters which thou find'st about me
To Edmund earl of Gloucester; seek him out
Upon the British party: O, untimely death!
Dies
EDGAR
I know thee well: a serviceable villain;
As duteous to the vices of thy mistress
As badness would desire.
GLOUCESTER
What, is he dead?
EDGAR
Sit you down, father; rest you
Let's see these pockets: the letters that he speaks of
May be my friends. He's dead; I am only sorry
He had no other death's-man.


Icool

Cobb

Bad Dog

We have a cute cuddly puppy named Snickers. Well, he used to be cute and cuddly. Now he is a big galoot. He is large and uncoordinated and completely lovable. It is amazing how much you can become attached to an animal that tears up your furniture, chews up your shoes and woodwork, and shreds any loose item in the house. He does it in such an innocent manner that it is tough to get mad.

We have another dog named Oreo that has never been any trouble. We have given her free reign of the house since we got her and she has left everything alone. Well almost. I brought dinner home from Subway last Thursday and left two sandwiches on the table for the girls. I went to pick up one of them at a softball game and when I got home, Oreo had eaten one sandwich and was working on the other. I had just fed her which made the second dinner more of an aggrevation.

Both dogs are a treasure to have around. They are constant companions and give you someone to talk to that just listens. They are always looking for something to do in the house and follow you around like little lost puppies ( I guess they are only bigger) when you first get up. If it wasn't for the contant licking from Oreo and the incessent nudging from Snickers, it would be a perfect relationship. Of course, they are so darn cute, it is easy to overlook those grave character flaws.

Icool

Cobb

The Da Vinci Code

I have been hearing about this book for more than a year. I knew the premise behind it and was intrigued by they idea of an alternative history to the version of Jesus in the Bible. As a fan of science fiction, I am not adverse to alternative versions of something. After all, to the victors go the histories. So, I used one of my Christmas gift cards and bought the paperback. It took me a week to finish it but I am now an officially one of the more 20 million who have read the book.

The mystery was good. It had me focused in the wrong direction which is what a good mystery should do. The plot twists and turns keep me interested. The premise behind it is that Christ was actually married to Mary Magdelline and they had a child together. Mary was not the prostitute that the Bible makes her out to be. That is a red herring created by the early church founders to promote the divinity of Christ. This child was spirited away to the coast of France after the crucifixion where the linage has been kept secret since that time. This is the true Holy Grail, not the fabled chalice of the Last Supper.

There is more alternative history along with the “facts” that support the history. It all sounds great and is a very plausible alternative possibility for the beginnings of Christianity. There are plenty of secret organizations through out history that lend to the plausibility that there are secrets being hidden. There is plenty of prominent people who have left legacies that contain puzzle and riddles. The fact that Da Vinci appears to so prolific in this area makes a great central point for this novel.

I enjoyed the book but am not as enamored as the general public seems to be. I will probably see the movie when it comes out but will probably wait for the DVD. It is not like this is Lord of the Rings trilogy and loses much of its grandeur when translated to the small screen.

Icool

Cobb

Jump The Shark

I have heard this term used quite frequently lately and thought it had an interesting way of making its point. Jumping the shark is the term now used to describe something that has gone beyond believability. The radio show I listen to in the morning, Bob and Tom, used the phrase last week to describe a show called Lost. I have never seen Lost, (because I am not interested) but they talk about it all of the time. It always sounded implausible to me but they said it finally went over the edge. That surprises me because the whole idea behind the show seems to be shark jumping.

The history behind the phrase goes back to a show from my youth. For all of you Richie and Fonzie fans, the show is Happy Days. There was an episode where they all go to California and Fonzie, in an attempt to convince those crazy Californians he was cooler than them, said he could jump a shark. Well, of course he did because, he’s the Fonz. That episode of a motorcycle riding cooligan from Wisconsin skiing over a shark was too much for the average person to swallow. It started the beginning of the end for Happy Days. Of course Richie leaving, Chachi and Joanie becoming a couple, and Fonzie settling down also had a big impact.

I can see some parallels to this shark jumping concept that go beyond the television screen. I quit watching the nightly news because of this issue. If I happen to be flipping channels and come across a news cast, I will devote a little viewing time to see if they have flipped back into the world of reality yet. Sadly, I find myself yelling at the TV screen and being encouraged by the children to change the channel. Apparently, my kids think I am jumping sharks by going off on a talking head. I am so utterly disappointed that we have been duped into thinking that what our networks put out as the truth is little more than drinkable Drano. I guess it is really not news anymore, it is simply editorial. Fortunately the remote has an on/off switch.

Icool

Cobb

It Was A Dark and Stormy Night…

“The pen is mightier than the sword.”
“A fool flatters himself, a wise man flatters the fool.”

Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873)

I had never heard of Edward Bulwer-Lytton before today. I had heard some of his quotes but to say that I would have recognized his name is a police line-up would be a bald faced lie. For some reason, I have had that pen quote running through my head. Maybe it is because in our representative democracy, we have our law making body using their pen to more greatly affect our lives than the current sword. It is like we have a group of coddled rock stars who are all jockeying to be #1 with a bullet on the sound bite of the night programs (evening news.) Everyone wants to have their 15 seconds of face time to get the absurd mutterings out to as many people that care to listen. I find that I am flipping the bird to the TV and the radio when I am forced to listen to the ridiculous preponderances of our “elected” officials. I must look really silly driving down the road with my middle finger waving in front of the radio. Oh well, at least I feel better.

We continue to elect these wannabe celebrities to office even though they continue to do things we despise. They waste time and money with these witch hunts for Supreme Court and judicial appointments. They block any legislation that allows up to drill for oil on our native soil. Let’s continue to support the terrorists and buy their oil at the ever rising price. They waste all kind of time posturing to expose each other for the idiots they are. They do not pay any social security and have their own independent retirement program. We pay for their retirement even as they cause more havoc in our lives by ignoring what their constituents want. We continue to think that things are good and life is wonderful, while the Congress flatters us with table scraps even a goat would refuse. Throw the bastards out. There is no other way to make them accountable.

But let’s get back to Edward Bulwer-Lytton. He was an author is Great Britain in the 19th century, who has been credited as the "Father" of bad writing. There is a contest named after him that is sponsored every year. It involves writing the worst first line for a book. The contest is based on the first line of his novel, Paul Clifford , which starts, “It was a dark and stormy night…” That is a true legacy. For an author to be remembered for his bad literature is like the members of our legislative branch. The more productive they are, the more bad literature we are forced to endure.

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Cobb

Immigration

It surprises me that no one has hooked into the biggest opportunity in immigration since Columbus unloaded his European cargo in the free world more than 500 years ago. All he had to do was shoot a few natives and infect them with small pox to take away their land. We have an opportunity for a wholesale immigration without the nasty side effect of having to get rid of the natives. It is pristine, untouched land just waiting to be exploited. Opportunity abounds and it would be the Oklahoma land rush all over again. Maybe we could even dig up some relatives of Rogers and Hammerstein to write a musical or have Andrew Lloyd Webber take a break from his busy Broadway schedule to put something together.

Of course I’m talking about Antarctica. It has too many syllables, so you would have to write a new opening score. Just think of the costuming. The native fauna already has the tuxedoes and swim like they are professional water ballet dancers. The scenery changes would be simple since you are going from a white back ground to a white back ground. But enough of the musical. We have immigration to talk about.

We have a boatload of impoverished non-English speaking illegal squatters that have decided to flaunt the fact that they are in our country. They come to the US to seek a better life but enter the country illegally. Now I know, that if I get caught speeding (which is a bad example because I am the guy you get pissed at for driving the speed limit) and claim that I did not see the speed limit sign, the officer will more than likely give me a ticket. He will say that ignorance of the law is no excuse. Yet we have millions of illegal, non-US squatters, entering our country and the law is doing nothing about it. It looks like if you are a citizen that you are to live by the rules and regulations of the country but if you are here illegally, it is peachy keen. Break the rules, we don’t care. Oh you didn’t know the rules. Well that law only applies to citizens. Oh you don’t speak English. Well let us have our citizen’s pay for sign that you can read. I don’t know about you but my blood is swiftly reaching 212º over this issue.

It looks like our illustrious Congress is actually courting these criminals. Yes, criminals. They are here illegally and have broken the law. Now what does the law say about helping criminals? Isn’t that called abetting? So our own leaders are aiding and abetting known criminals. I smell arrests. No, wait a minute. They are allowed to break the law, I forgot. Yes and the illegals also.

This has nothing to do with cheap labor. This has to do breaking the law. It has to do with using resources that are in place for US citizens. It has to do with our own health care system. It has to do with terrorism. If we can’t control who is coming across our borders, why bother to guard anything. They have arrested illegals working in nuclear power plants. HELLO! Is there anyone awake at the wheel? Let’s cause a big issue and allow the wrong people into a plant with radioactive material. I wonder if glowing in the dark makes the aliens any more illegal?

Do I have a solution to the issue? Building a fence is costly and permanent. How about just enforcing what is currently on the books? It would require government agents to perform their jobs instead of being told to ignore certain issues. Vote out the jack asses in Congress who see this as a way to boost constituency. This is America. It is the land of freedom. That is freedom for Americans. If you are here to become an American and are doing it legally, welcome. If you are here illegally and you are seeking a better life, get your name on the list and stand in line. It starts at the border. Hopefully for you, they do not model it after the bureau of motor vehicles. Next.

Icool

Cobb

Criminally Insane

We look at the world as it is today and wonder how some leaders from our past got elevated to positions of power. It is easy in the US because we get to vote our leaders into their positions. In most of the civilized world, that is how you get to be the leader of a country. The US is trying to put a representative democracy into Iraq, although this may be another case of leading a horse to water. It may be easier to set up at least two governments in Iraq and go from there. But since I am not an authority on Iraqi politics, I will just shut up.

Most of the major economic powers (China excluded) have some form of representative government. China has managed to create a unique blend of dictatorial entrepreneurial capitalism that I believe will be tested as people start to become addicted to the bling. Welcome to America’s greatest export; the want for more. It is the lack of the ability to get something more that is the greatest contribution to the creation of the totalitarian government, at least in our enlightened modern era. Most of the great dictators of the 20th century used their current economic situation of attain and maintain their power. It is the maintaining it that presents the scariest picture of our last 100 years.


I have looked up a statistic that my brother Gary pointed out; body count. He has been reviewing the great dictators of the 20th century. His point is that leaders like Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong and Pol Pot were all insane. The lust for power and the use of it after it has been attained would tend to add to the credibility of his observation. All of these leaders purged any opposition after they got into office. All promised a better life before the attained power and maintained or attempted to maintain the illusion that things were going well. At the same time, if you disagreed with them, you became a statistic. If you were perceived to be part of the problem, you became a statistic. In some cases, you were killed because you wore glasses (Pol Pot). It would appear that the 20th century, our age of enlightenment, was not so great for a number of people.

Here is how the numbers shake out. If you combine all four leaders together and look at the extremes they are purported to have murdered, it comes to 106,300,000 people. That is M for million. Pol Pot, who is the light weight of the group, is responsible for between 1.6 and 2.3 million deaths. Statistically, that was the murder of 1 out of every 8 Cambodians. Let’s say goodbye to 12.5% the people you know. Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong have similar stories. In an attempt to modernize their communist regimes, they put programs in place with no support to make them succeed (except for torture). When the results did not meet expectations, they rewarded their citizens by letting them starve to death. That is not to say that there were not the usual purges of those who disagreed with them. Who knows how many died because they spoke their mind? Estimates for the two are Stalin, between 10 and 50 million and Mao, between 20 and 43 million. Of course everyone knows Hitler’s story. He gets credit for the murder of 11 million.

All of these great leaders had the tenacity to attain the leadership role of their citizens and then systematically murdered those who put them in that position. Their justification for these acts was that if their nations were to attain greatness, this must happen. Hitler was leading his Germans to rule the world. The Soviet Union was attempting to modernize their nation and become a world superpower. The Chinese have a similar tale. Cambodia was just one man’s desire to build a utopian agricultural society based on communist ideals. When you rule a country, it is tough to get thrown out power unless you allow it. Kill off those who oppose you, create a scapegoat for those who doubt and paint a beautiful picture of the future. It does not matter if you ever get there since it is more of a carrot than an actual goal. Mix all of this together and you get the ideal dictator. Anyone who is that deluded in the pursuit of any goal is living in a world of fiction. You will never get everyone lined up working toward the same objectives for an extended period of time. In times of war or natural disaster, you get people working for “the common good” but attempting to bring everyone to your utopian ideal is insanity.


You have to love America. You can disagree with everyone, worship trees or small furry animals, aspire to any social position and even help run the country. There are only two times that our government will cause your death. The first is because you have caused the death of another. You have exhibited the deviant behavior of the great world leaders previously mentioned. The other is in the service of your country. To protect and serve the nation that provides the great freedoms that we enjoy. One is the result of an action that you undertook. The other is to stop the spread of those actions in the hands of the criminally insane.

Icool

Cobb

Solo and Ensemble

My middle daughter competed in the music solo and ensemble competition last Saturday. I must say I was impressed with what I saw. There was a continual flow of both solo players and groups of three and four streaming in front of the judges. Most of the music I heard was exceptional but I am not a judge. What gave me the most pleasure was that these young musicians had the courage to stand in front of a judge and play their hearts out. That is real courage.

My daughter performed both a solo and an ensemble. She received a II on both of her efforts. Initially she was greatly disappointed by the rating but as the shock wore off, realized that her performances were not perfect. That is what defines a I, perfection. She practiced both of her pieces and had them perfect at home. What threw her solo effort into a lower grade was she had to perform a scale for the judge. The judge requested a G scale and she was not able to perform that successfully. Her solo was excellent. She knows what to expect when she competes next year. Work on your scales and have them down as perfect as your solo.

For her ensemble performance, she had to depend on all three participants performing their parts perfectly. It is never easy when you are depending on another person to devote the same effort you have put out. Although the score on the ensemble was a disappointment, she was happy with her performance.

In a world where we expect instant gratification from everything we do, it was heartening to see this number of American youths striving to master their craft. The amount of practice that goes into all of those performances boggles the mind. The simple act of standing up in front of a judge and exposing your soul (at least at that age it feels like that) is even difficult for most adults. For a teenager to muster the courage to be judged provides them with a tool to use in later life. Never step back from a challenge. Performing in front of people is difficult, but it is something that cannot be taken away and provides a base for becoming a secure, active adult. As the cliché goes, “Practice makes perfect.”

Icool

Cobb

Becoming Human

Everyone has their own definition of what it takes to make a person human. Being human is something that all people recognize as someone being like them. We all would agree that a normal functioning human has two arms, two legs, walk upright, has the ability to speak, and all of the other characteristics that “man” possesses. But the physical characteristics define what is man, not what is human.

In Frank Herbert’s novel Dune, the Bene Gesserit, a monastic female order whose goal is to breed the perfect human (and rule the universe), test the main character to determine if he is human. They place his hand in a box that induces a feeling that your hand is being incinerated. The box stimulates the nerves into the intense pain, through the burning process but do not physically affect the hand. The test is to see if you will act like an animal and pull your hand out of the box or will you reason through the process and realize that it is only a test. The price of failure is death. You have to love the drama of a great novel. They have determined that the ability to reason makes you human. I would agree that it is one key ingredient but there is more to being human than that.

I have said good morning to someone at work for three years. I have initiated the greeting every time and been give a mostly half hearted response. At no time has the greeting been initiated by this person. About two weeks ago, I stopped acknowledging this person in the morning. The level of indifference toward me has not changed. I would define this behavior as lacking humanity. There is a level of arrogance and immaturity that is stamped on this person and an inability to understand that you are responsible for you outward appearance. The face that he presents to the world is one of the little boy who hit the home run and won the big game for his team. He has lived on that triumph since then and has accomplished nothing more. I would have to define this person as not human. The retarded level of maturity for me defines what it is to be human.

My son is on that same level. It is all about him. We rented several movies this weekend and he did not want to watch one of the shows because he did not pick it out. It became all about him. There was no consideration for what anyone else wanted. It seems to be an inherent trait in children that, hopefully, ends with them gaining a level of compassion for others. I know that I was hopefully self absorbed as a youth. If it did not benefit me, it was not worth doing. I spent three years in the big green family at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. Basic training teaches you very quickly that the need of the many, outweigh the needs of the few. You also learn that the needs of the one, if they are struggling and truly in need, outweigh the needs of the many. It is truly all about making sure everyone (who wants to) makes it. I guess that I how I define human; the ability to tell the difference.

Icool

Cobb

The Shrinking Pool

My wife told me that one of my high school class mates died last week. His showing was on Thursday. I do not remember him well, but I was not part of any of the major clicks at school. I pretty much stuck to myself most of the time. I do remember that this person ran with the popular party crowd (at least that is how I perceived it) and was generally liked by everyone. I know that I graduated with about 230 kids all those years ago and am not sure how many of them are still roaming this great big Earth.

The class bully fell off of an oil rig shortly after graduation and was left a quadriplegic. He showed up to the 10 year reunion in a wheel chair and all of his sycophantic friends fawned over his like he was Christ reborn. In a particularly un-Christian fashion, I thought it was karma. I thought I heard that he had left this Earth also. However, it wouldn’t surprise me to see a cardboard cut out of him with all of this friends gazing on lovingly at the next reunion.

I have managed to avoid attending all of the reunions after the 10th. It is not that I have not achieved what I expected or that I am ashamed of where my life went. I just do not feel the slightest connection to anyone from that time. I have not seen anyone from my class since 2003. The last one was working as a cashier in the Foodtown in Waterville. I hadn’t seen her in there before and I haven’t seen her since. What is unfortunate is that my wife had a bad 10th reunion and said she would never attend another for her class either. My mother tells me that the folks you went to school with change and become real people the older they get. I can’t imagine the party crowd I went to school with being any less stoned or drunk than they were more than 25 years ago. I know that 10 years did not faze them.

So as I say goodbye to a little more of my past and reflect on what awaits me, I have few regrets. The ones I care about keep me surrounded by love and attention. I have a group of friends and family that show me that the laboratory experience of High School was nothing more than a bad social experiment. I am glad it is behind me and will take the today’s rodent derby any day.

Icool

Cobb

Will It Play In Peoria?

There is that age old argument that a business will chase profit to the exclusion of everything else. A case in point is at the beginning of the 20th century when sausage makers were using saw dust in their meat, or when the Cuyahoga River caught fire from all of the combustible pollution being dumped in it. There was an unbridled push to make things as cheaply as possible even at the expense of both the consumer and the environment. Our government stepped in and with the assistance of (and I hesitate to say anything positive about the media) the muckrakers, exposed the issues and started down the path of regulation. Now it is expensive to pollute and consumers have a wall of protection provided by the rules and regulations of various government agencies.

But would companies knowingly destroy the environment if they could? Is it in their best interest as on-going concerns to create areas of the country that could kill, injure, or cause harm to people, animals, or plants? Are our industries looking that short term that a surge in this years profit would provide the impetus to pave the road to self destruction? These are questions that we see in the news today. Look at Enron and WorldCom. Both companies chose a route of deceit, albeit financial, it was still deceit. Both have paid a heavy price for their lack of concern of their “environment”. With the way information travels and availability of any tidbit at the touch of a finger, there is no where to hide.

People are going to vote with their pocket books. There is little tolerance for a corporation that is consciously polluting, cheating, or stealing. Even the hint that it is happening causes issues. Look at how the liberal, something for nothing, do-gooders are attacking Wal-Mart. They want to circumvent the free market and force major corporations to pay for health care. Since when did companies have to pay for health care? We have come to expect that as a right and not a benefit. There is a serious disconnect with reality on that issue.

People will punish what they perceive as the wrong thing. Our domestic car companies have suffered from a perceived lack of quality by losing market share, even though the quality is about equal any more. There is the bad press from the lack of sound management at GM and Ford. Their labor contracts have put them in a bad light. They have huge legacy costs and most people look at it as bad management. They have provided more and more benefits that have become rights and created a corporate welfare system. That is perceived as poor management from the business world and the right way for a company to act by the liberal, something for nothing, do-gooders. I know which group I want on my side.

Will companies do the right thing? I guess it depends on whether the risk is worth the reward. It all comes down to can you weather the storm or will the waves send you to the bottom. With the internet creating a continual tidal wave of information, it is not a sound practice to try to pull too much over on Americans or any other world citizen. Of course there are the liberal, something for nothing, do-gooders who will always push their misinformation on the naïve of the world but, time usually shows them to be nothing but “chicken little” wannabes’.

Icool

Cobb