Autumn in San Francisco

Today was just another beautiful day in San Francisco.  Almost December, and it's about 70f.  Heike and I enjoyed the day walking around the city.  Starting at the Farmers Market at the Ferry Building.  We then strolled along Embarcadero and climbed the Filbert Steps to Coit Tower and Telegraph Hill.  We've done this many times, but never tire of it.  Today the wild parrot flock of Telegraph Hill were out in full force.  We saw at least fifty (probably more) birds.  Bright green, calling loudly, enjoying the day just as we were.

From there we walked down to North Beach (little Italy), then over to Chinatown.  We decided on dinner in SF, so we walked back to Michelangelo's in North Beach for some pasta.  Tasty.

Finally, we took the train back to the East Bay for home and rest.

Here are some pictures from our day.

Widows and Orphans

Some friends have an annual Widows and Orphans Thanksgiving day dinner.  This event is for those of us that are ex-pats of sorts, and don't have family nearby to spend with on the holiday. We all get together and cook a nice dinner, drink plenty of wine, and eat too much.  They say that turkey-as-a-sleep-inducer is a myth, but I dropped off to dreamland anyway.

The food turned out great, Tim and Sandee made the trip from Chicago, and everyone had a pleasant time.

I got up early the next morning for some post-turkey ice hockey to skate off the excess calories consumed the night before.  Not a bad start to the 4 day weekend.

Supercapitalism

Many Americans have long confused the economic concepts of Capitalism with the political concepts of Democracy.  They often see them as the same thing, or a least that they are dependent upon each other (one cannot exist without the other).  This is false, of course.  Capitalism is an economic system in which control of enterprise is performed by the private sector rather than being controlled by the state or public institutions.  Democracy is a form of government in which power is held by people via a free electoral system.  There are varying subcategories of democracy.  In addition, there are varying degrees of each system practiced by states throughout the world.  Some have free elections, but provide the state with a greater degree of control over the economy, thus having, at least to some extent, a form of democratic socialism.  Other countries don't have free elections, but their economy is largely controlled by private interests rather than the government.

So why the confusion?  Education  or position don't seem to have anything to do with this erroneous perception.  We often even see senators expressing this confusion.  Republicans in particular seem to equate freedom with 'getting  the government out of our way', but only in the economic sense.  They want less regulation, less legal oversight, less government influence on economic policy in general.  At the same time, these same people advocate the government becoming closely involved with people's private lives.  They advocate strict government control over what we can read, see in movies or tv, and whom someone chooses to marry.  They often couch their arguments on 'protection of children' or some other equally specious argument as justification for government intervention.  (As if freedoms described in our legal system are predicated on palatability to children).

Although economic and political systems are distinct, they obviously have a great deal of influence on each other.  And yes, democracies tend to be more free in the capitalist/economic sense.  As we are seeing, however, systems can evolve where one threatens the other.  In his book Supercapitalism, Robert Reich provides a cogent account of how and why this is happening today, not just in America, but around the world.  I recommend this book highly.  It doesn't just identify the problems, but describes a plan for promoting rich and vibrant capitalism along with a rich and vibrant democracy.  

In a nutshell, Reich dispels the notion that corporations have the rights of citizens.  He argues we must stop treating corporations as if they were individual people.  Stop taxing corporations and only tax the owners (shareholders).  Stop expecting corporations to be patriotic or socially responsible.  This isn't what corporations are designed to do.  Don't hold corporations responsible for criminal conduct, only people within them.  

Only people can be citizens and have the rights of citizen (as well as the responsibilities).  Only citizens should be allowed to participate in democratic governmental decision making.

Somali Pirates: I'm Perplexed

Ok, I'm perplexed by this Somali pirate situation. Everyone knows who's doing it. They know where the pirates are going once they hijack a ship. Dozens of countries are affected by this. Somalia is not some indomitable superpower.

Why don't the affected countries just tell the Somali government, "We know you are either participating in this or you are harboring the pirates." "You either turn over all the crews, all the vessels, and all those responsible, or we'll obliterate your country starting with the port city that harbors them." "In the mean time, we are putting up a naval blockade and cutting you off from all maritime trade."

Seems pretty simple, and the U.S. doesn't have to be the only sheriff in this.

Michigan 2008

I was able to visit Ann Arbor again this fall, much as I did last fall (similar time of the year).  I had a wonderful time again this trip, seeing family and lot of friends.  

In addition the normal activities, I was able to attend a couple of UM hockey games during my visit.  UM defeated Niagara and Ohio State in some good, close, exciting games.  Michigan once again has a fine team this year despite losing several of their top players to injury and one to a pro contract.  They would be an odds-on frozen four favorite if everyone were available.  Their prospects are still pretty darn good, though.

I also had the opportunity to skate in a top-notch pickup game.  Kip Mauer, a friend with whom I've played in the Snoopy tournament, invited me to play in a UM alumni game.  The level of speed and skill in that game was far above anything I've experienced.  I was the only one on the ice that wasn't a former UM hockey player.  Everyone there was much better than I, but it was a fun experience, and it was nice meeting the boys.  I also played a game with a great group of 60s, who have a regular pickup.  They let me skate with them although I'm a 'young' nearly 53.

My buddy George and I were able to do what I hope will become an annual trip: an autumn paddle down the Huron River from a ways above Hudson Mills down to Delhi.  We had a great time once again.  The trout were running strong, the weather was perfect, and we were treated to a special show: an osprey took a trout from the river right in front of us.  He even followed us down the river for awhile with the fish in his talons.  We saw lot of other fowl including blue herons, ducks, and so on.  Last year we saw some wild turkeys and a huge buck, but they were shy this year.  We also stopped at the Dexter Cider Mill, which now offers wine tasting.  I picked up some wine and cider there.  Some time I'd like to canoe the entire river from the chain of lakes down to Lake Erie.

Hooked up with my friend David and his girlfriend Jill, my friend Steve, and my friends Melita and Jim.  It's just nice seeing these fine people.  Wish I could do it more often.  

Steve and I also attended a physics lecture at the UM Natural History Museum.  The speaker was Aaron Pierce, a young physicist who presented on the Large Hadron Collider, something in which I have great interest.

Family is important, and I was able to visit mom, brother Mark, sister Meg, cousin Sue, aunt Gretchen, and all my nieces (but one): Meredith, Lydia, Jenna, and Jessica.  (Missed Kelsey, who was away at college.)

Hope I'm able to make it back there soon.  Check out pictures from my trip here.  (Pics from last year are here.)

GAS Attack

Among guitarists, GAS stands for Guitar Acquisition Syndrome. As a victim, I've added yet another guitar to my quiver. The latest is the innovative Voyage Air Guitar. Invented by Harvey Leach, a California Luthier, this guitar is conventional in all respects except one: It has a hinged neck that enables it to fold in half! Thus it can be carried on planes in its cool custom backpack, eliminating the hazards of checking one's guitar as luggage and putting it at the mercy of brutal and careless baggage handlers.

The nice folks at Fine Fretted Friends in Livermore, CA lent me a prototype of this cool guitar last summer to use for a week. That convinced me that this is the best travel guitar out there by a long way. Most travel guitars must compromise sound or playability to accommodate the restrictions of carry-on sizing. The Voyage Air solves these problems and provides not only a great sounding guitar, but a one that gives you the same feel and playing experience of a normal guitar. No more short scales, no more wedging a small body under your arm to effect a reasonable playing position, no more thin or tinny sound from reduced body cavity.

I can see taking this guitar many more places than I would a conventional guitar, not just for air travel but for day-to-day activities. It's just that much easier to port around.

I got the VAOM1-C. Will post pictures of my guitar in actual use at some time in the near future.

Election as metaphor

This election illustrated many things, but one thing it showed clearly: how completely screwed up our values and priorities are in this country. The fact that a witless religious fanatic could be even remotely considered a viable candidate to assume the presidency is beyond absurd. I don't care if you are conservative, is this the best candidate? The only towering intellect and experience that conservatives can offer up? They are bereft of any values if true. It is nothing more than a cynical appeal to the boneheads and the stupidly uninformed (the "values" voters).

Am I being sexist? Of course not. All intelligent women I know are insulted by this candidate as should any reasonable, thinking person regardless of gender.

But back to my original point--our values. Let's do a little comparison. The U.S. considers someone like Palin. An intellectual lightweight. Uneducated. Lacking experience. A superstitious religious fanatic. But gosh, she's pretty. As I said, this is a metaphor for our culture. We value appearance over substance. The physical over the intellectual. Style over accomplishment.

Compare our choice with Germany's, for example. They have a woman chancellor, Angela Merkel. She has a doctorate in physics. She spent years in government and was eventually elected Chancellor. This is a woman of intellect and accomplishment. Could she be elected here? No, she's not pretty enough.

This is why I'm pessimistic about the future of my country. It goes to fundamentals. We are becoming more ignorant, less competitive, more complacent, and willing to accept shit if it's packaged attractively or comfortably. Another variation of this is the homily that many people used when voting for Bush despite his obvious shortcoming and failings: "He's the kind of guy I could have a beer with", was a phrase one often heard. Let's forget for a moment that I'd rather have a beer with someone really smart over a moron. Since when is beer consumption and bar patronage a reasonable qualification for running the country? Wouldn't we be better served by electing someone with an understanding of economics? Foreign affairs? History? Public policy? No, in the U.S. people now fear, or are envious of, intellectual or scholastic achievement.

V

They've been playing the movie V (for Vendetta) on cable lately. Appropriate timing given the political situation in the U.S. These days. For those not familiar, the movie takes place in a future fascist version of Great Britain, in which the government uses a terrorist attack to frighten the populace into accepting a veritable police state in order to insure their "safety and security". Sound unpleasantly familiar?

When I first saw the trailer for this movie back in 2005, I thought it was just some comic book adventure without any significant message. I was wrong. It's quite a good film if a bit obvious and heavy handed. Maybe that is what is needed. As I've posted before, I believe the U.S. is creeping toward fascism. We may never reach the state of society depicted in the movie, but as V points out, complacency and lack of vigilance can lead to such a situation, and it has in other countries.

Tag lines from the movie include:

• "Remember, remember the 5th of November, the gun powder treason and plot. I know of no reason why the gun powder treason should ever be forgot."
• "People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."

The second is a paraphrase of Thomas Jefferson, who is famously quoted as saying, "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. "

Now I don't advocate violent revolt as portrayed in the movie, but then the U.S. hasn't yet devolved into the state of government and society depicted in the movie either. Who knows how people would react if that came to pass? In the film, the character V is called a 'terrorist' by the government. But as we've seen, this can be a matter of perspective. One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. If the government is abducting people, imprisoning them without trial, and executing them (for disagreeing with administration policy), who is the terrorist?

Anyway, if you can't find this film on your local cable stations, rent it. It may at least inspire you to go vote this November.

Basic Math

Since so many Americans are poor at mathematics and don't do very well with civics either, let's do a little basic math lesson here:

• Supporting the troops =/ supporting the president’s foreign policy
• Wrapping one’s self in the flag =/ patriotism
• Extreme Patriotism + Ignorance = jingoism
• Military adventurism =/ patriotism
• High percentage of economy devoted to military spending =/ strong economy
• High percentage of economy devoted to military spending – lack of competitiveness in engineering and science = weakness, vulnerability, poverty
• Questioning the administration =/ disloyalty

Let's be clear about something. This isn't a slam on the military. Neither is it some attempt to argue that the military isn't needed or isn't valuable--the military is both. Rather, it means that the military should be employed ONLY for its intended purpose: defense of this nation. Not empire building, not nation building, not one administration's foreign policy extensions and imperial aspirations, not world police.

Thomas Jefferson is widely regarded as the most brilliant of the founding fathers. He excelled in almost every endeavor of life. It’s worth recalling some of his quotes at times like these:

• We did not raise armies for glory or for conquest.
• When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.
• War is an instrument entirely inefficient toward redressing wrong; and multiplies, instead of indemnifying losses.
• The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.

And finally, Mr. Jefferson has a good assessment of why we are in our current predicament:

“Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.”

Doesn't seem to be the case these days, does it?

"I guess I picked the wrong day to quit drinking"

These immortal words were uttered by the late, great, Lloyd Bridges in the movie, Airplane!

Recent economic news makes Lloyd's words seem timeless. Everyone is aware by now of all the problems in the financial sector: the bank failures, the mortgage problems, etc. As bad as all that is, the worst problem emerging is rising unemployment. Most people can survive fluctuations in their investments if they have income. No job--big problems. This has a cascading effect.

I wonder whether the middle class--all species of middle class from white- to blue-collar--will finally start questioning whether Bush and the supply-siders might have been wrong? Will they question whether trickle-down economics is healthy for them and for the overall economy? Is massive debt a good thing or bad?

Or will they fall for the usual right-wing ploy: blame everyone but those responsible (liberals, gays, secularists, sunspots, etc.)

To paraphrase another movie character, John Vernon (Fletcher) in The Outlaw Josey Wales, "Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining."

You are no more than a monkey

My friend Buckley posted this video on his blog a while ago, and I liked it so much, I felt like posting it here as well. For those of you anti-evolutionists out there, you might not want to click the link, as it will only make you angry or send you into a paroxism of denial, but probably won't encourage you to pick up a copy of The Origin of Species or The Blind Watchmaker. More is the pity. Just dance, monkey.

Courage of his convictions

Pete Seeger has shown courage of his convictions like few people of any political stripe over a long lifetime. From his support for civil rights and labor rights, environmentalism, to his anti-war activism, he's been a consistent progressive voice for a long time.

With the right-wing house of cards starting to fall apart, but with the simultaneous renewed vigor of the neo-cons to attempt to control the press and information in general, it's a good time to take a listen to Pete once again. He's 89 years old now, but recently released a new album. (You know how lazy those hippies are.)

Hope you live to be 189 Pete.