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January 24, 2005:
Service:
All politicians talk about service. They mouth the words, but
they do not tell you what master they serve. The master they
serve is power, nothing else. They serve the power brokers to
maintain their own power.
Ideas:
They are ten cents the ton. Even good ideas are ten cents the
dozen. Everyone has one or two. It's necessary but not sufficient
to have a good idea. Don't try to sell me ideas. I have a large
number of my own and not enough time to implement them. It takes
a large measure of commitment and energy to turn an idea into
a reality. If you have an idea, do your homework. Show how you
will make it become a reality.
One unfortunate truth is, it takes the same amount of effort
to bring a bad idea to fruition as it does a good idea. In terms
of resources, corrected for inflation, it took as much energy
to create the Edsel as it did the Taurus. We must be very careful
in evaluating and implementing ideas. We must make sure we learn
and understand the rules and requirements of the arena where
our idea is to be implemented. More than half of the businesses
that start up fail in the first year. Most of them fail because
the rules and requirements have been overlooked. Enthusiasm alone
will not carry the day.
Government Regulators:
According to the ABC news our energy regulators are being wined
and dined at great expense by the lobbyists of the industry they
are supposed to be regulating. Swine come and swine go, but the
federal wallowing goes on forever. In this case, the secretary
of the interior is one of the wallowing rooters. They made it
an official game by calling it the Western Business Roundtable.
This let the wallowing rooters charge their travel expenses to
the government. Isn't that just grand? In fact, it is probably
a couple of hundred grand going down the rat hole.
Another Stupidity from England:
They have a law that allows people to buy drugs to control cholesterol
over the counter. Now our copycat FDA is getting ready to pass
a similar law for America. The Brits are doing it so it must
be right! Right? Sure! May I ask, how a layman will know if he
needs the drugs without a test to reveal his condition? Bizarre!
Truly bizarre.
Still Another:
I always thought the Brits at least had a sense of humor. It's
no longer so if it ever was. Now they are just plain ugly. They
have probably been hanging around with Bush and his cronies too
long. Anyway, Harry the Prince is on the hot seat. He had the
unforgivable lack of grace to dress up in a WWII Nazi uniform
for a costume ball. All the old time whiners came out of the
closet to jump on him. With no humor at all, they dredged up
all of the old ghosts of the past. They don't seem to understand
that the whole silly aristocracy is a ridiculous anachronistic
charade, a costume ball, a parody of itself. Poor Harry. He's
just caught in it. He was not given a choice about being a silly
symbol of a long dead better dead past. He'd have been better
advised to dress up as a fruit. At least it has a ring to it.
Harry the faerie.
Graner:
He was convicted. He used the Nuremberg defense. It didn't work
any better for him than it did for the Nazis. He got ten years
after which he will get a dishonorable discharge. Since he will
then be notorious he will probably have his own talk show. It
is in the nature of the American rabble to honor the dishonorable.
It is in the nature of the entertainment industry to embrace
and ennoble the ignominious.
Graner's parents are claiming his innocence and extolling
his virtues. It's hard to identify with them, but I can at least
consider how I would feel and what I would think if my son were
in Graner's spot. I would for sure think he had been set up or
framed. Graner's problem was the damning photos. He is guilty
all right. However, his parents did make one important point.
His superiors are also guilty and should walk the plank with
him.
Inauguration:
They have spent one big bunch of bucks to honor king George.
The number we get is 40 million from donations just for the parties
and stuff. There is another 100 million in incidental costs (Incidental?)
that the American tax payers will absorb. Just think what it
would cost if we were honoring a real human being. Bizarre, truly
bizarre. What words can I use? Gross, selfish, egomaniacal, boorish,
narcissistic, ugly, vulgar, these all seem inadequate. Vulgar
is probably the most accurate.
Bureaucrats:
I have found by experience that complaining to bureaucrats does
not work. It simple leads to frustration. In one way or another
the complaint will be ignored and the big shot will attempt to
look noble while ignoring it. The only way to get bureaucrats
to behave is to expose them.
Puzzles to Ponder:
See if you can rearrange the periodic table into a three dimensional
rather than two dimensional table. What would it look like? Would
it look like a helix? Would the crowded Nonmetals and Nobel gases
find a better uncrowded place in the layout? Would it make more
sense? Henry Moseley (1887 - 1915) is the last guy who gave this
any attention. Maybe it's time to take another look.
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