Worst Ever

Many people (myself included) have long been saying that George W. Bush was the worst president in U.S. history.  George and his apologists keep saying that history will be the ultimate judge and that he will be vindicated.  Possibly, but there is little evidence to support that theory.  Every aspect of his presidency has been an utter failure from the economy, to the wars, to foreign policy and relations, denial of human rights, flouting the Constitution and Bill of Rights, torturing prisoners, hindering science and suppressing it in favor of superstition, increasing the income disparity between rich and middle class, etc.  The list is almost endless.  Some will say well, he deposed Saddam Hussein.  The problem with that argument is that it assumes that invading the country and occupying it interminably was the only solution to the problem.  

The Onion has a great recap of George's final hours.  Surveying the damage of his presidency.

Doonesbury piles on as well.

Badminton

Many years ago, when I lived in Atlanta, a colleague--Leighton--taught me how to play badminton. Well, he did his best. I'm not a great student perhaps. There was a regular group that used to play at a college gym in downtown Atlanta. After moving to Dallas I stopped playing.

In '97 I moved to the Bay Area and began playing again occasionally. There are a lot of badminton players in this area, and I found a good place to play at a local school near my office. I also discovered that my old friend Leighton had moved to the area, though he and I live some distance apart, unfortunately, so we aren't able to play together regularly.

Once again, though, for no particular reason, I let things slip and stopped playing for about 3 years.

Recently, however, I decided to start playing again, and after a bit of research, discovered two new dedicated badminton clubs in the East Bay: one near my office in Dublin, the other in Emeryville, not too far from my home in Oakland. I've been out twice now, and plan to start playing regularly again.

Those that don't play badminton or are not familiar with the competitive version of the sport think it's just a casual backyard activity. At a competitive level, however, it is an astonishingly fast game. In fact the shuttle travels faster than any object in any other sport (when stuck by the top players). It is a fast-paced and enjoyable game to play, even at the club pickup level. Now I have another activity in addition to ice hockey to keep me from getting too fat.

Badminton is most popular throughout Asia, though there are a few countries in Europe in which it is popular, notably Denmark and Great Britain.

Here are a few links to some badminton sites for those that might be interested in learning more about the sport:

http://www.badzine.info/

http://www.internationalbadminton.org/index.asp

http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/

See you at the gym. Smash!

Ozumo

My friend Fred visited San Francisco this past week, and we were able to get together at Ozumo in San Francisco.  Ozumo is an exceedingly hip Japanese restaurant.  Very nice place with excellent food and a extra-modern decor and atmosphere.  The only negative (in my view) was the relentless and loud techno-disco permeating the place.  It made conversation challenging. I'm not so hip.

Enough about the location.  The point was to meet up with a friend. I hadn't seen Fred in about 4 years, but it was nice to catch up, talk a bit about politics, our jobs, the economy, current events, etc.  Other friends of Fred also attended, and it was pleasant seeing them too.  Wes and Reg I'd met before, Matt and Wes's friend Jackie were new to me.  Good folks all.

Is it 1929?

During the great depression, it was famously reported that stock brokers were leaping to their deaths from skyscrapers in New York. The scale of this was overblown, but it did happen.

Now it seems the latest financial collapse is reviving the practice of suicide.

German tycoon kills himself
Investor suicide from Madoff affair
General report on the trend

"We are in the throes of the worst recession since the early 1980s," said Kevin Flanagan, fixed income strategist for global wealth management at Morgan Stanley. "Factory orders are getting hit again. The economy is really not receiving any support from any cylinders of the engine."

Wait, the early 80s, wasn’t that the time of the “Reagan Miracle”. You remember, when Ron spent more than the Dems, cut taxes anyway, just ran up huge deficits. Who was the VP during that administration? Oh yeah, George Bush senior. Now junior’s administration, following in the footsteps of his father and mentor and helping create another disaster.

These neo-con policies fail over and over again, but they just keep regurgitating them anyway, to the detriment of us all. If at first you don’t succeed, fail fail again.

Goodbye Ozzy

When I was a kid, and during the time I was growing up, we had always had dogs.  I like dogs, and I never considered myself a cat person.  When Heike and I got together, however, I inherited (was adopted by) a couple of dogs and a couple of cats that Heike owned.  

Ozzy the cat became my favorite.  He was a wonderful little fellow, affectionate and friendly, with a distinctive personality.  He was happy and playful and liked being around us.  When I returned home from work, he would come running across the yard to greet me.  When I watched a movie on television he would sit with me and put his paws on my arm.  He was a talkative guy, and told me when he was happy, peeved, curious, whatever.  He occasionally caught a bird or mouse and brought them to us, almost as a present.  When we worked at home he would hang out in the office as if interested in what we were up to.

During the past month Ozzy's health began to deteriorate seriously.  He lost appetite and couldn't retain any nutrition.  We tried many things, as did the vets, but his illness was too severe.  He became thinner and weaker, until the past two days when he wouldn't eat at all.  He was uncomfortable, and a shadow of the joyful little man we knew.  We came to the painful realization tonight, at the vet, that he would have to be put down.

It was emotional and painful, but I stayed with him as he went to sleep and shed his mortal coil.   I wanted to help make his final moments as comfortable as possible, and I wanted him to have a familiar friend with him during his last moments.  My only consolation right now is that he is no longer suffering.  Also, I'm comforted somewhat knowing that he had a good life with us.

Goodbye Ozzy, I'll miss you very much, and will never forget you my little friend.

Cold in San Francisco

Mark Twain is famously quoted as having said, "the coldest winter I ever spent, was a summer in San Francisco.  Amusing and based in reality, at least to some extent.  Summers often bring the fog, which can make it pretty cold.  Even more strangely, though, it can be cold and foggy in the sunset neighborhoods, but warm and sunny on the bay side of the city, with the fog trapped west of the hills.

It's winter now, but the temps are usually not very cold here.  Today was downright chilly, however.  Heike and I took the ferry to SF to pick up some veggies at the Farmers Market.  We always enjoy the ferry ride, but today's voyage was like an antarctic crossing from Patagonia.  (Ok, it's not that bad, just below normal.)  One can get spoiled by the weather here.

Christmas 2008

I may be an atheist, but I still enjoy the traditions of the holiday: friends gathering, giving gifts, the music, etc.  This year we hosted a gift exchange with friends, which included a nice dinner.

On Christmas eve (Frohe Weinachten), Heike and I had dinner together, opened our gifts, and watched a terrible movie.  It was a fine evening (apart from 'Tropic Thunder').

Here are some pictures of both the party and our dinner.

Life Expectancy

A friend recently sent me this life-expectancy calculator (on-line). It's kind of interesting. Of course it can't predict a terrorist attack or getting hit by lightning, but it's fun to review.

I'm nearly 53 in actual years, but according to the calculator:

• My virtual age is 42
• My life expectancy is 87

Not sure I want to live that long. I don't want to be a Struldbrug.

For those with a need to know, here is the site:

http://www.sonnyradio.com/realage3.swf

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.