Memorial Day 2011
Never Forget:
Freedom Has A Price
Quote of the Day
The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him with his friendship.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Changing of the Guard [since 1937]
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier [Unknowns]
Arlington National Cemetery
Youtube Video Comment Update: "Sgt. Adam L. Dickmyer (the one doing the inspection), age 26, was killed in action in Afghanistan on Oct. 28, 2010". [Video upload date: 7/31/2007] RIP, Sergeant!
Presidential Speech at Joplin, MO: Thumbs UP!
I am not indifferent to the tragedies to the stunning number or size of tornadoes this year; in particular, I have to admit the tornado that hit Joplin was particularly devastating. I think I saw the first one on Fox News Channel first; the follow-up to that video is here. I have to give President Obama props when he delivers the right speech (rather than partisan nonsense). The President was on target with a powerful, well-delivered, inspirational message.
And one last point I want to make, obviously in the rebuilding process there are a lot of families who are thankful that they’re okay. But they’ve been displaced. It’s not just their homes; many of them lost their means of transportation. The school has been destroyed. And so for all Americans, to take a little bit of time out and make a contribution to the American Red Cross or other charitable organizations that are active here in Joplin, that can make an enormous difference. Even if it’s just $5, $10, whatever you’ve got to spare -- because one of the things that’s striking about this -- and I felt the same way when I was down in Alabama -- this can happen to anybody. The difference between you being in the path of this twister and a few blocks away, you being okay, is a very slim, slim margin. And so we've all got to put together because here but for the grace of God go I.
The "Third Rail" of American Politics? A Comment
I think whenever I've seen this metaphor used, nobody has bothered to explain it. Electric traction power is often the most economical power source to use by trains in urban/mass transit systems and is distributed through a third, conductor rail; the trains connect to the conductor rail through "shoes" (metal contact blocks). (The power typically is direct current, supplied from a number of sub-stations.) For safety reasons, pedestrians are warned to stay away from potentially deadly contact with the conductor rail.
In a similar way, politicians are warned to stay away from dangerous political issues or sacred cows in American politics. There are a number of obvious "third rails": retirement programs (social security and Medicare); unemployment compensation; collective bargaining; the spread of democracy; farm subsidies; mortgage interest deductibility; the separation of church and state; honoring the troops and their families; compensation or other support for favored public sector professions (e.g., police, firemen, and teachers); the Second Amendment; middle-class taxes; the right to privacy; against "amnesty" for unauthorized aliens; support for Israel; and prosecution and isolation of pedophiles.
I'm not going to suggest here that I have a magic solution for finding consensus over relevant issues. I do think sometimes change occurs unexpectedly. For example, the Democrats during the 1960's couldn't afford to be seen as soft on communism, and it took staunchly anti-Communist President Nixon to thread a needle between supporting China and protecting Taiwan. More recently, we have seen the heavily-Democratic state government in Massachusetts signal possible collective bargaining reform for public sector employees.
I do think though that dramatic changes can take place, and I don't think sacred cows are that set in stone as partisans believe. Take, for instance, Medicare, which operates on a different business model (the federal government reimburses providers directly). Senator Schumer (D-NY) repeatedly demanded yesterday on Meet the Press that the Republicans take the Ryan Medicare reform off the table. The fact is that the House approved the reform and over 40 Senators voted for it; it is immediately and indisputably relevant; the Democrats don't have a counterproposal. Senator Schumer's belief that the Dems can win back the House next year by running on a "don't change Medicare" platform is absurd; after all, did the Democrats ride the wave of success of Bill Owens winning the special election in NY-23 in 2009? Senator Schumer is conveniently forgetting that the unlikely productivity increases (i.e., reimbursement cuts) of Medicare providers being used to underwrite ObamaCare is likely to result in fewer providers for senior citizens; Ryan is suggesting reforms to health care options years from now that are similar to what middle-aged workers are working with in the private sector today. I'm not arguing for the Senate to revisit Medicare this session. But I would argue that the Ryan failure had more to do with poor political strategy and losing control of the message.
I honestly do believe that most Americans, for instance, are willing to fairly share the sacrifice needed to bring the nation's checkbook in balance (including senior citizens).
I think whenever I've seen this metaphor used, nobody has bothered to explain it. Electric traction power is often the most economical power source to use by trains in urban/mass transit systems and is distributed through a third, conductor rail; the trains connect to the conductor rail through "shoes" (metal contact blocks). (The power typically is direct current, supplied from a number of sub-stations.) For safety reasons, pedestrians are warned to stay away from potentially deadly contact with the conductor rail.
In a similar way, politicians are warned to stay away from dangerous political issues or sacred cows in American politics. There are a number of obvious "third rails": retirement programs (social security and Medicare); unemployment compensation; collective bargaining; the spread of democracy; farm subsidies; mortgage interest deductibility; the separation of church and state; honoring the troops and their families; compensation or other support for favored public sector professions (e.g., police, firemen, and teachers); the Second Amendment; middle-class taxes; the right to privacy; against "amnesty" for unauthorized aliens; support for Israel; and prosecution and isolation of pedophiles.
I'm not going to suggest here that I have a magic solution for finding consensus over relevant issues. I do think sometimes change occurs unexpectedly. For example, the Democrats during the 1960's couldn't afford to be seen as soft on communism, and it took staunchly anti-Communist President Nixon to thread a needle between supporting China and protecting Taiwan. More recently, we have seen the heavily-Democratic state government in Massachusetts signal possible collective bargaining reform for public sector employees.
I do think though that dramatic changes can take place, and I don't think sacred cows are that set in stone as partisans believe. Take, for instance, Medicare, which operates on a different business model (the federal government reimburses providers directly). Senator Schumer (D-NY) repeatedly demanded yesterday on Meet the Press that the Republicans take the Ryan Medicare reform off the table. The fact is that the House approved the reform and over 40 Senators voted for it; it is immediately and indisputably relevant; the Democrats don't have a counterproposal. Senator Schumer's belief that the Dems can win back the House next year by running on a "don't change Medicare" platform is absurd; after all, did the Democrats ride the wave of success of Bill Owens winning the special election in NY-23 in 2009? Senator Schumer is conveniently forgetting that the unlikely productivity increases (i.e., reimbursement cuts) of Medicare providers being used to underwrite ObamaCare is likely to result in fewer providers for senior citizens; Ryan is suggesting reforms to health care options years from now that are similar to what middle-aged workers are working with in the private sector today. I'm not arguing for the Senate to revisit Medicare this session. But I would argue that the Ryan failure had more to do with poor political strategy and losing control of the message.
I honestly do believe that most Americans, for instance, are willing to fairly share the sacrifice needed to bring the nation's checkbook in balance (including senior citizens).
From John Kelly, "Long Killebrew drives and satellite orbits":
Randy Eckstein grew up a couple of miles from the Ravensworth neighborhood. When Randy saw last week’s column, he pulled out his 1962 copy of Home Run Hitters Magazine (Issue #1 ) and found an article that begins: “In a Springfield, Virginia, housing development there is a street named ‘Killebrew Drive’ in honor of Harmon Killebrew, the home run hitting hero of the Washington Senators and Minnesota Twins. It is not surprising that it is the development’s longest drive.”
Randy met Killebrew at Twinsfest in Minneapolis in January 2008. He showed the slugger a photo of the street sign. Wrote Randy: “He verified that the street was named in his honor in 1960 and told me that he had tried twice during that season to find it, to no avail. I guess there was no ribbon-cutting ceremony or smashing of champagne bottles. But we are talking about a much smaller world, a much simpler time. And what a kind and gracious man he was the day I met him and apparently his entire life. He will always be my hero. And you know what? They should have named the whole town after him.”
Fukushima Nuclear Incident Update
Hiroshima Syndrome notes:
- Monday update: Fukushima Daiichi reactor 5, which went into cold shutdown successfully several weeks back, had a seawater pump failure, affecting residual heat removal for the RPV and spent fuel pools; the pump has been replaced and cooling restored. We now have residual heat removal for the first 4 spent fuel ponds. The blogger discusses a number of topics relevant to surface accumulations of radioactive byproducts, e.g., cesium and iodine: cows from the Daiichi evacuation zone show no contamination (but are not allowed to return to graze), there's a discussion of removing a few inches of top soil around schools to lower exposure, and a small fraction of sea bottom samples show measurable, but not unduly excessive radiation levels. TEPCO is indicating it may take action against plant manager Masao Yoshida whom paid lip service to the Japanese Prime Minister whom wanted to shut down seawater coolant injections during the early hours of the crisis, which would have undeniably resulted in even worse fuel meltdown: thumbs DOWN! Finally, the blogger addresses some of the farmers' losses resulting from irrational public fears about radiation levels in food, already disproved by sampling procedures, will be covered by the Japanese government, although the government seems to go out of its way to label anti-nuke attitudes "understandable".
A woman in Chicago with large breasts is accused of being hired to sit next to a man and distract the jury. When asked for his ruling the judge said, "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" - Conan O'Brien
[Um, Conan, the judge is a woman. Not that there is anything wrong with that. It also turns out the plaintiff attorney's paralegal is his wife. The judge could tell that the defense attorney for a used car dealership was distracted (arguing that the disputed vehicle's headlights, bumpers, airbags, and windshield wipers were fine, just fine, kept referring to the figures under clause DDD of the contract, noting the time by saying there's too much sand in the hourglass, and complaining that the plaintiff's attorney had not kept him abreast of any new development); the judge ruled that the defense attorney's motion was over the top.]
"President Obama is on a visit to England. He told the Queen yesterday, 'I like your tea parties much better than the ones we have in America.'" –Jay Leno
[The Queen understood. She recalled a particularly unhappy one of them a while back in Boston: three shiploads of tea were spoiled, and the invoice was still outstanding. Obama apologized for his predecessors and promised to reimburse England for her losses (including those long overdue taxes).]
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
Chicago, "Alive Again"
