Today is the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass. On 9 November 1938, in “response” to the assassination of Ernst vom Rath, a minor functionary in the German embassy in Paris by a teen-aged Polish Jew, Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels orchestrated “spontaneous” acts of outrage on Jewish homes, shops & synagogues throughout Germany.
More than 200 synagogues & thousands of homes & businesses were ransacked & torched throughout the Reich (which by then included Austria & most of Czechoslovakia), starting the night of the 9th & continuing through the next day. Efforts by municipal fire & police services to stop the conflagrations & violence were blocked by Nazi storm troopers. More than 90 Jews were murdered & 30,000 men & boys were arrested & sent to concentration camps.
Hermann Goering, Oberbefehlshaber of the Luftwaffe, Prussian minister of the interior (thus head of the largest police force in Germany) & chief Nazi clothes horse, berated Goebbels for mismanaging the affair—since despite countless millions in goods looted, not a pfennig had made its way into state coffers.
By way of placating Goering, Goebbels decreed that German Jews should pay an indemnity of 1 billion Reichsmarks “for causing the damage” that now littered communities throughout the Reich.
& he collected.
“Kristallnacht” doesn’t really convey the full horror of these events. Although the Nazis had been steadily closing in the walls on Jews according to the blueprint patently evident in Mein Kampf, & had even essayed a public boycott of Jewish businesses (unsuccessful, as it happens, so not repeated) shortly after taking power in 1933, this was the first instance where widespread violence & murder were unleashed on the community.
& this time they were successful. There were no protests either internally or from the fraternity of nations. The Nazis had removed their gloves & revealed their brass knuckles—and no one cared. There were a few lackluster objections from here or there, but no official recognition (much less outrage) that this was a state act of collective violence against a group of people. Likewise no one seemed to connect the dots that there could be other groups on the murder list to be lined up after the Jews were eliminated.
About 29 years ago, I was following the pilgrim’s route from Paris to Santiago de Compostela. I’d checked in to the Auberge de Jeunesse in Bordeaux & was riding my bicycle around the town. At one stop light a young man came up beside me—he must have recognized by the panniers that I wasn’t a local, & we struck up a conversation. He was also outfitted for distance—I think he was working the vendange (I ran into a lot of kids at hostels who were following the harvest around the country), but at this point I can’t really recall.
Anyhow, he was German & told me that he was heading over to the “main” synagogue (the Great Synagogue). Seems he’d never in his life (of probably 20 years) seen a Jewish temple, & thought he should do so. (My first thought was, “Okay, there’s a reason you’ve never seen a synagogue on the hoof—do you know what that is?” But I didn’t bring it up & neither did he.) He’d been by earlier but was told he should return in the afternoon. He invited me along.
Well, my only diary-entry for Bordeaux was going to be the Centre Jean Moulin (museum of the Résistance), so he & I cycled over to the shul. He was such a trusting soul he didn’t even lock his bike.
He rang the bell & we were buzzed in; no one came to greet us, we just went in. I have to say I felt a little on edge—didn’t know whether he was going to pull a Molotov out of his jeans & finish off one of the ones the Nazis missed 35 years earlier. But in the end we just wandered around the sanctuary, unescorted, looking at the space so different from Christian churches.
Actually, at the time this was only the second temple I’d ever been in, so I wasn’t that much further along culturally speaking that my companion.
We could hear voices in other rooms, but no one ever did come out to check on us. After a while, we let ourselves out. He went on to find a place to camp for the night (the hostel’s couple of francs was more than he wanted to spend) & I headed off to the museum. (Which, BTW, had a terrific collection of propaganda posters. Some of them are still quite vivid in my mind.)
I wonder if he’s remembering his first visit to a synagogue on this anniversary, & how he had to travel hundreds of miles out of Germany to find it?
I also wonder if we’ve progressed since 1938—no one did much about the Serbian or Rwandan versions of Kristallnacht, did they?
I even wonder if we’ve progressed since 1979—would the keepers of a synagogue anywhere today buzz in someone to have unaccompanied free rein of the sanctuary?
But it’s a start if we remember & reflect.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Communing with nature
After all my whining and moaning about how miserable I find the Seattle area (& I definitely do), I decided I might as well give the greater region a try. So I took a couple of days off to trek through the Olympic Peninsula. Thought I might at least do some exploring, something I’m actually good at.
When I told my boss I was going to Commune with Nature, she asked if I were going to camp.
Well, no—my idea of roughing it is a hotel with no bar. (So my current accommodation qualifies. Note to Self: I really shouldn’t stay at a hotel without a bar.)
Anyhow, I braved the dreaded Over Water experience (I am not what is known as a good sailor; my stomach was doing flip-flops on a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier) and, using Port Angeles as my base, have spent three days looking around. I’m probably about a week or two too late for really gorgeous fall colors, but there definitely is some striking scenery regardless.
It’s a good thing I’d set my mind to not objecting to rain because pretty much all the Nature I’ve communed with has been squishingly soakingly wet.
As for the Peninsula: it’s not the Richmond-D.C. corridor, but it does have its charms.
I’m not talking about the utterly twee Victoriana of Port Townsend. But rather the actual, you know, Nature (squish and all).
I drove out to the westernmost point of the peninsula yesterday. Stopped at the Makah reservation and went through their museum and research center. Because the rain forest (part of Olympic National Park) had been recommended to me, I asked the fellow at the gift shop how that would be different from what I’d driven through to get there. He got a funny look on his face, hesitated, and then said, “Well, not much. Except the trees are old and there’s moss.”
In other words, no one’s clear-cut great swaths of the national reserve (yet), as they have chunks along US 101 and Washington 112. (You see these signs warning you of slide areas ahead. Pity they don’t append, “because greedy timber companies have razed huge chunks of forests, leaving the land vulnerable to washing away when it pisses down rain, which it does frequently in these parts”.)
Hoe Rainforest x2
Highway 101
I stopped at the 7 Cedars casino on Highway 101, just to see what an Indian casino was like.
It was way depressing. It’s quite the slick operation, but there are these banks of slots with dumpy, middle/old-aged zombies in front of them, pushing the play button over and over again like automata.
No levers to pull—evidently that would require too much effort. Also no coins to drop—apparently you buy a ticket and stick it into the machine somehow, and the slot cost gets deducted at each button push, as with a pre-paid phone card. (I bet someone’s done a study that says the easier you make it for people to keep the machines going, the less likely they are to tire and walk away.)
I imagine that in the unlikely event you win anything, that gets added to your ticket and you cash out at the cashiers’ area.
They even had slots embedded in the two bars.
I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
I went to the tribal deli-smoke shop-gas station a few hundred yards down the road, because the sign said “wine and spirits”. I thought that might mean they had some ability to sell liquor without being a fascist state-owned concession. And I was right—don’t know the details, but they did have liquor scattered higgledy-piggledy amongst junk food and gourmet cheeses.
Just on general principles I bought a bottle of Crater Lake vodka and Bacardi Select. I don’t know whether they were cheaper than at the state-run stores, but I just had to do it.
The tribe also ran an art gallery; but everything I looked at was made by someone not in the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe. Dunno whether that means there aren’t any artists in the tribe, but it didn’t seem exactly kosher to me.
I’ve had a couple of good meals on this trip, and discovered Pinot Gris. I’ll head back tomorrow via Bainbridge Island and another ferry. Please God, let the crossing be smooth.
So—have I changed my mind about the Seattle area? Not really; not yet. But there is some serious beauty around here. I’m going to explore further.
When I told my boss I was going to Commune with Nature, she asked if I were going to camp.
Well, no—my idea of roughing it is a hotel with no bar. (So my current accommodation qualifies. Note to Self: I really shouldn’t stay at a hotel without a bar.)
Anyhow, I braved the dreaded Over Water experience (I am not what is known as a good sailor; my stomach was doing flip-flops on a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier) and, using Port Angeles as my base, have spent three days looking around. I’m probably about a week or two too late for really gorgeous fall colors, but there definitely is some striking scenery regardless.
It’s a good thing I’d set my mind to not objecting to rain because pretty much all the Nature I’ve communed with has been squishingly soakingly wet.
As for the Peninsula: it’s not the Richmond-D.C. corridor, but it does have its charms.
I’m not talking about the utterly twee Victoriana of Port Townsend. But rather the actual, you know, Nature (squish and all).
I drove out to the westernmost point of the peninsula yesterday. Stopped at the Makah reservation and went through their museum and research center. Because the rain forest (part of Olympic National Park) had been recommended to me, I asked the fellow at the gift shop how that would be different from what I’d driven through to get there. He got a funny look on his face, hesitated, and then said, “Well, not much. Except the trees are old and there’s moss.”
In other words, no one’s clear-cut great swaths of the national reserve (yet), as they have chunks along US 101 and Washington 112. (You see these signs warning you of slide areas ahead. Pity they don’t append, “because greedy timber companies have razed huge chunks of forests, leaving the land vulnerable to washing away when it pisses down rain, which it does frequently in these parts”.)
On the road to Neah Bay, I saw a sign that kind of gave me pause:
I stopped on the way to the Hoe Rain Forest at a place called Forks, which rather grandiosely styles itself a city. My office mate had told me that Forks has a single stop light. Well, it has two now, and I managed to catch one of them red going in both directions through the town. (Population 3100 doesn’t qualify as a city in my book.)
It does have four espresso shacks (two of which are drive-thru), two Chinese restaurants and a Mexican joint. Plus the worst-ever “coffee shop”, operated by people who’d clearly voted for McCain. How bad, you ask? They served Diet Pepsi. In a can.
The rain forest was indeed impressive—I guess those trees qualify as old growth. They’re immensely tall, and definitely covered with moss. and ferns. And a lot of wetness. Actually, after a while it started to creep me out: 1300 and it felt like permanent twilight.
It does have four espresso shacks (two of which are drive-thru), two Chinese restaurants and a Mexican joint. Plus the worst-ever “coffee shop”, operated by people who’d clearly voted for McCain. How bad, you ask? They served Diet Pepsi. In a can.
The rain forest was indeed impressive—I guess those trees qualify as old growth. They’re immensely tall, and definitely covered with moss. and ferns. And a lot of wetness. Actually, after a while it started to creep me out: 1300 and it felt like permanent twilight.
Naturally it’s pretty much been chucking it down all throughout my trip. Although the sun did actually peek out at times today.
Highway 101
I stopped at the 7 Cedars casino on Highway 101, just to see what an Indian casino was like.
It was way depressing. It’s quite the slick operation, but there are these banks of slots with dumpy, middle/old-aged zombies in front of them, pushing the play button over and over again like automata.
No levers to pull—evidently that would require too much effort. Also no coins to drop—apparently you buy a ticket and stick it into the machine somehow, and the slot cost gets deducted at each button push, as with a pre-paid phone card. (I bet someone’s done a study that says the easier you make it for people to keep the machines going, the less likely they are to tire and walk away.)
I imagine that in the unlikely event you win anything, that gets added to your ticket and you cash out at the cashiers’ area.
They even had slots embedded in the two bars.
I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
I went to the tribal deli-smoke shop-gas station a few hundred yards down the road, because the sign said “wine and spirits”. I thought that might mean they had some ability to sell liquor without being a fascist state-owned concession. And I was right—don’t know the details, but they did have liquor scattered higgledy-piggledy amongst junk food and gourmet cheeses.
Just on general principles I bought a bottle of Crater Lake vodka and Bacardi Select. I don’t know whether they were cheaper than at the state-run stores, but I just had to do it.
The tribe also ran an art gallery; but everything I looked at was made by someone not in the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe. Dunno whether that means there aren’t any artists in the tribe, but it didn’t seem exactly kosher to me.
I’ve had a couple of good meals on this trip, and discovered Pinot Gris. I’ll head back tomorrow via Bainbridge Island and another ferry. Please God, let the crossing be smooth.
So—have I changed my mind about the Seattle area? Not really; not yet. But there is some serious beauty around here. I’m going to explore further.
Friday, November 7, 2008
As the world churns
USA Today reports on the front page today that the banks you & I are subsidizing with our taxes are still spending millions to lobby Congress. There’s also a page 10 sidebar about the specific efforts of Merrill Lynch.
You remember ML, don’t you? The ones who whined & moaned because they didn’t get on the same dole that Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers & AIG did?
Lynch’s lobbyist (or one of them) is quoted as saying that they have a right to lobby policymakers.
Correct me if I’m wrong—but isn’t that lobbying for legislation that permitted banks, brokerages, mortgage firms, etc. to engage in wildcat investments based essentially on nothing but the greed principle—isn’t that what got us into this mess?
I mean, they bought/lobbied their way into the greatest financial crisis in 75 years, one that's still washing over the economies of every country in the world, & they still think they have the right to continue—on our nickel—to cajole Congress into legislating more ways for these institutions to clip us?
Am I the only one who thinks it’s whacked that CityBoAPNCFargoCapOne & Co are using MY money to wheedle policymakers into letting them raise fees, cut back services & generally make it harder for me to do business with them?
Folks, next time you’re hit with a higher ATM withdrawal fee, or wait an hour to speak with the single loan officer working in the branch—just remember that you actually helped that institution buy influence to legalize charging more for less.
Capitalism—goniff!
You remember ML, don’t you? The ones who whined & moaned because they didn’t get on the same dole that Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers & AIG did?
Lynch’s lobbyist (or one of them) is quoted as saying that they have a right to lobby policymakers.
Correct me if I’m wrong—but isn’t that lobbying for legislation that permitted banks, brokerages, mortgage firms, etc. to engage in wildcat investments based essentially on nothing but the greed principle—isn’t that what got us into this mess?
I mean, they bought/lobbied their way into the greatest financial crisis in 75 years, one that's still washing over the economies of every country in the world, & they still think they have the right to continue—on our nickel—to cajole Congress into legislating more ways for these institutions to clip us?
Am I the only one who thinks it’s whacked that CityBoAPNCFargoCapOne & Co are using MY money to wheedle policymakers into letting them raise fees, cut back services & generally make it harder for me to do business with them?
Folks, next time you’re hit with a higher ATM withdrawal fee, or wait an hour to speak with the single loan officer working in the branch—just remember that you actually helped that institution buy influence to legalize charging more for less.
Capitalism—goniff!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Vox populi, vox dei
I'm sitting here, 18 minutes after NBC announced that Barack Obama is to be our 44th President. McCain is conceding (and for once he's admonishing his followers on their poor behavior) with greater grace than he ran his campaign. I knew he had it in him; I'm sorry it took him this long to let it out.
They just splotted the state of Washington blue. I can't think that they've actually counted my vote--not all those black oval blobs, and I was feeling kind of, you know, unimportant about it because the decision was being made without me.
But here's the thing: my vote was there, is there, on record. And if it took them days or weeks to get them all counted, mine would be right there to help shape the future.
I really think we did a good job today. So, well done, America.
Carry on.
They just splotted the state of Washington blue. I can't think that they've actually counted my vote--not all those black oval blobs, and I was feeling kind of, you know, unimportant about it because the decision was being made without me.
But here's the thing: my vote was there, is there, on record. And if it took them days or weeks to get them all counted, mine would be right there to help shape the future.
I really think we did a good job today. So, well done, America.
Carry on.
Civic responsibility
So, armed with photo ID & a utility bill proving I do indeed reside here (haven’t got around to getting a Washington driver’s license—probably subconsciously unwilling to make that ultimate commitment) I showed up 45 minutes ago at the Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Bellevue to perform my civic duty.
I also had a book to read in case of long lines.
Now, considering that Metro Seattle is supposed to be the Silicon Sound, as it were, a hotbed of high tech, imagine my surprise at discovering how…manual the process was.
I had to check in with a young woman at a table, who found me on a list & then directed me across the room to another set of people behind tables, specifically to “Bob”. I’m guessing Bob was about 103 & very methodical about looking you up on his rolls. I showed him my company badge because my name is in BIG LETTERS. He still had trouble finding me.
As he flipped through the pages, I pointed out my name. He instructed me to write my name in another book & then handed me a very long paper ballot, printed on both sides.
I completely freaked out when I realized that the voting “booths” were entirely open & cheek-by-jowl next to one another. I could have cribbed off the ballots of the man & woman to either side of me if I’d wanted.
Then I obsessed over making sure I filled the little ovals correctly—all fully covered, nothing extending outside the line.
I’ve NEVER had a ballot that had to be marked like that. & I’ve been voting for a while.
Also interesting was the way the ballot was “organized”: instructions, state measures, county measures, federal offices, state offices, county measures, judges, city measures. I think this is the first time voting in three states that the office of President of the United States hasn’t taken precedence.
In fact I pretty much had to HUNT out the candidates for Leader of the Free World.
Well, I made my way through the maze (skipping over the county measures about which I know nothing; ditto the judges), rolled up my paper & walked back to the entrance to the hall, where there was this shredder-looking machine that sucks up your ballot. Not sure what happens to it after that, except that it’s going to be a tedious process going thru them to record all those black oval blobs.
(At least no prissy Republican women in their Republican suits sitting there as “poll watchers” checking for any Dem-looking voters they can intimidate out of casting their ballot. [& I know they were ’Pubs because they had little badges SAYING so.] As they were in Virginia the last time I voted on the day instead of absent. That was enough to make me cast my ballot as an absentee ever since.)
I got an “I voted” sticker, & noticed that it’s also stamped “farewell to polls”. & now I understand why most of Washington votes by mail. If there’d been more than the ten or so voters there when I was, all this to-ing & fro-ing would have been utterly chaotic. As would getting one of those “privacy booths” (as they’re referred to in a Seattle Post-Intelligencer report); there was no traffic direction, it was every voter for him/herself.
I have to say I’m not even whelmed by this. As with the state-run liquor stores, Washington is managing to make Virginia look positively progressive in the process of electing our leaders.
Still, as gobsmackingly early 20th-century as this experience was, I am fully aware of how precious & hard-won this right is. & I’m grateful for the opportunity to be counted, even by the black oval blob.
I also had a book to read in case of long lines.
Now, considering that Metro Seattle is supposed to be the Silicon Sound, as it were, a hotbed of high tech, imagine my surprise at discovering how…manual the process was.
I had to check in with a young woman at a table, who found me on a list & then directed me across the room to another set of people behind tables, specifically to “Bob”. I’m guessing Bob was about 103 & very methodical about looking you up on his rolls. I showed him my company badge because my name is in BIG LETTERS. He still had trouble finding me.
As he flipped through the pages, I pointed out my name. He instructed me to write my name in another book & then handed me a very long paper ballot, printed on both sides.
I completely freaked out when I realized that the voting “booths” were entirely open & cheek-by-jowl next to one another. I could have cribbed off the ballots of the man & woman to either side of me if I’d wanted.
Then I obsessed over making sure I filled the little ovals correctly—all fully covered, nothing extending outside the line.
I’ve NEVER had a ballot that had to be marked like that. & I’ve been voting for a while.
Also interesting was the way the ballot was “organized”: instructions, state measures, county measures, federal offices, state offices, county measures, judges, city measures. I think this is the first time voting in three states that the office of President of the United States hasn’t taken precedence.
In fact I pretty much had to HUNT out the candidates for Leader of the Free World.
Well, I made my way through the maze (skipping over the county measures about which I know nothing; ditto the judges), rolled up my paper & walked back to the entrance to the hall, where there was this shredder-looking machine that sucks up your ballot. Not sure what happens to it after that, except that it’s going to be a tedious process going thru them to record all those black oval blobs.
(At least no prissy Republican women in their Republican suits sitting there as “poll watchers” checking for any Dem-looking voters they can intimidate out of casting their ballot. [& I know they were ’Pubs because they had little badges SAYING so.] As they were in Virginia the last time I voted on the day instead of absent. That was enough to make me cast my ballot as an absentee ever since.)
I got an “I voted” sticker, & noticed that it’s also stamped “farewell to polls”. & now I understand why most of Washington votes by mail. If there’d been more than the ten or so voters there when I was, all this to-ing & fro-ing would have been utterly chaotic. As would getting one of those “privacy booths” (as they’re referred to in a Seattle Post-Intelligencer report); there was no traffic direction, it was every voter for him/herself.
I have to say I’m not even whelmed by this. As with the state-run liquor stores, Washington is managing to make Virginia look positively progressive in the process of electing our leaders.
Still, as gobsmackingly early 20th-century as this experience was, I am fully aware of how precious & hard-won this right is. & I’m grateful for the opportunity to be counted, even by the black oval blob.
Monday, November 3, 2008
First Tuesday after the first Monday
It's election eve--way scarier than All Hallows in my book. This time tomorrow, God willing, the political commercials & soundbites will be over, Sarah Palin's Neiman-Marcus wardrobe will be up on eBay (yeah, like THAT'S gonna happen) & the political signs littering the landscape will be pulled up, probably by teen vandals on community service.
Whatever happens at the polls--& in the ensuing court battles--I'm worried that we're just not going to get over the polarity this campaign engendered. More so than any election I can remember, there's been a level of incivility & unwillingness to even listen to anyone supporting "those" candidates ("those" being whichever side isn't yours).
Throughout the past couple of months, friends have been sending me NY Times articles, YouTube links, analyses, diatribes, exposés, cartoons--all anti McCain-Palin. I'm not saying they don't make pretty easy targets, but as I've told more than one of my friends: this stuff is being circulated amongst Obama supporters; of course we're going to eat it up.
But, while infuriating or amusing (or sometimes just lame), I didn't need these materials to influence my choice. & I suspect that neither did the other people on the distribution list.
Moreover, if any McCainite did receive any of these emails, I'm betting that if s/he read through the first graf the offending email got deleted right sharpish.
Here's the thing--at no point in this final campaign did I receive anything from an acquaintance that attempted to show the 'Pubs in a positive light, or Dems in a negative one. (I know it's out there because I've sought out some of the latter myself just to see what was out there, although I can't bring myself to go to a Murdoch-owned site--I do have some limits.)
My point (&, unlike Peggy Noonan, I can actually come to one) is this: we don't seem to be able to talk with one another, unless "we" have already passed some sort of litmus test. & I'm not seeing any kind of willingness to cross this divide, at least not so far.
(I'm also frankly scared by the Klan-like outbursts at McCain's & Palin's rallies & appalled that the candidates haven't told these louts that this kind of thing is unacceptable in the society that the Founding Fathers envisioned. These people have guns--what happens when their candidate doesn't make it to the White House?)
& I'm wondering whether, after tomorrow, we can find a way to put all this vitriol behind us & get on with the business of dragging our sorry economy's arse out of the tank, bring an honorable end to the wars we've been fighting for more than five years & restore our prestige in the eyes of the nations.
Speaking as someone who ALWAYS claps for Tinkerbell I have to say that I wish I thought we could, but I'm having a hard time envisioning it.
Meanwhile, get out there & vote, because decisions are made by those who show up.
Whatever happens at the polls--& in the ensuing court battles--I'm worried that we're just not going to get over the polarity this campaign engendered. More so than any election I can remember, there's been a level of incivility & unwillingness to even listen to anyone supporting "those" candidates ("those" being whichever side isn't yours).
Throughout the past couple of months, friends have been sending me NY Times articles, YouTube links, analyses, diatribes, exposés, cartoons--all anti McCain-Palin. I'm not saying they don't make pretty easy targets, but as I've told more than one of my friends: this stuff is being circulated amongst Obama supporters; of course we're going to eat it up.
But, while infuriating or amusing (or sometimes just lame), I didn't need these materials to influence my choice. & I suspect that neither did the other people on the distribution list.
Moreover, if any McCainite did receive any of these emails, I'm betting that if s/he read through the first graf the offending email got deleted right sharpish.
Here's the thing--at no point in this final campaign did I receive anything from an acquaintance that attempted to show the 'Pubs in a positive light, or Dems in a negative one. (I know it's out there because I've sought out some of the latter myself just to see what was out there, although I can't bring myself to go to a Murdoch-owned site--I do have some limits.)
My point (&, unlike Peggy Noonan, I can actually come to one) is this: we don't seem to be able to talk with one another, unless "we" have already passed some sort of litmus test. & I'm not seeing any kind of willingness to cross this divide, at least not so far.
(I'm also frankly scared by the Klan-like outbursts at McCain's & Palin's rallies & appalled that the candidates haven't told these louts that this kind of thing is unacceptable in the society that the Founding Fathers envisioned. These people have guns--what happens when their candidate doesn't make it to the White House?)
& I'm wondering whether, after tomorrow, we can find a way to put all this vitriol behind us & get on with the business of dragging our sorry economy's arse out of the tank, bring an honorable end to the wars we've been fighting for more than five years & restore our prestige in the eyes of the nations.
Speaking as someone who ALWAYS claps for Tinkerbell I have to say that I wish I thought we could, but I'm having a hard time envisioning it.
Meanwhile, get out there & vote, because decisions are made by those who show up.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Hard times from the New Yorker
Okay, there's something about this week's New Yorker's cartoons that just seems to drill right to the root canal. See if you agree with me.
I'll start you out with this, & then you can move on to their collection.
I'll start you out with this, & then you can move on to their collection.
You'll thank me for it. Really.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Count de monaie
Dunno about youall, but Election Day cannot come a moment too soon for me. From President down to municipal offices the ads, the news, the shrill invective masking a dearth of substance… I’m starting to feel like Mercutio: a plague o’ both your houses.
& the one thing “good” (relatively speaking) about the economic meltdown is its timing: this close to the polls, not even our Congress-slime can avoid some of the consequences of a totally pissed-off electorate. (God bless the jury that convicted Ted Stevens!)
Speaking of buckets o’moolah, we all know that money makes the political world go around, so the occasion arose today for me to do a bit of investigating into major contributors to the two main presidential campaigns.
Well, blow me if the numbers don’t tell quite the story:
Contributors to John McCain, 2008:
Merrill Lynch $349,920
Citigroup Inc $290,101
Morgan Stanley $249,377
Goldman Sachs $220,045
JPMorgan Chase & Co $210,992
AT&T Inc $181,813
Credit Suisse Group $175,503
PricewaterhouseCoopers $163,670
Blank Rome LLP $161,576
US Army $150,470
Wachovia Corp $150,006
US Government $149,818
Bank of America $142,776
UBS AG $141,365
Greenberg Traurig LLP $141,137
US Dept of Defense $127,325
FedEx Corp $123,654
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher $122,546
Lehman Brothers $115,707
Bear Stearns $108,000
Total: $3,475,801
Contributors to Barack Obama, 2008:
University of California $777,593
Goldman Sachs $743,371
Harvard University $505,989
Citigroup Inc $499,598
Google Inc $493,705
JPMorgan Chase & Co $478,462
National Amusements Inc $437,669
Microsoft Corp $434,156
UBS AG $419,350
Lehman Brothers $391,624
Time Warner $388,063
Wilmerhale Llp $383,024
Sidley Austin LLP $371,166
Skadden, Arps et al $361,409
Morgan Stanley $344,130
Stanford University $342,749
Latham & Watkins $328,879
Jones Day $314,760
General Electric $299,434
University of Chicago $294,237
Total: $8,609,368
Now, I haven’t balanced my checkbook in 20 years, but even a numeracy-challenged twit can notice the names on these lists. Can you say “Goldman Sachs”, “Bear Stearns” & “Lehman Brothers”? I knew you could.
So the Wall Street giants that you & I, dear taxpayer, are propping up because they shot their (& their investors) wad on some sort of high-finance craps game—they’re generously giving hundreds of thousands of our money to McCain & Obama.
Yes, this largesse isn’t coming from these entities, it’s coming thru them, but even so, doesn’t it get up your nose just the teensiest bit?
Moreover, what the devil are the US Army, the “US Government” & the Department of Defense doing funneling roughly $427K into McCain’s coffers? I understand that this is allegedly from the plebs in these organizations, but these organizations are extremely big on chain of command, & it gives me the willies that this kind of coin is coming out of agencies where a request from your commander is not a request.
But one final comment (because even I’m running out of steam this close to 4 November): isn’t it interesting that these captains of capitalism, for whom any kind of government oversight is nothing short of satanic, have in every instance donated more to Obama than McCain? To the tune of three to four times the dough?
I mean, Wachovia’s donation to McCain barely covers Sarah Palin’s September wardrobe purchases.
What do you suppose that indicates? That they haven’t lost all their ability to mitigate risk? That they’ve read the chicken entrails & have seen a Democrat in the White House? &, that being the case, they want to be on the list of “supporters” when 20 January rolls around?
Well, a girl can hope.
& the one thing “good” (relatively speaking) about the economic meltdown is its timing: this close to the polls, not even our Congress-slime can avoid some of the consequences of a totally pissed-off electorate. (God bless the jury that convicted Ted Stevens!)
Speaking of buckets o’moolah, we all know that money makes the political world go around, so the occasion arose today for me to do a bit of investigating into major contributors to the two main presidential campaigns.
Well, blow me if the numbers don’t tell quite the story:
Contributors to John McCain, 2008:
Merrill Lynch $349,920
Citigroup Inc $290,101
Morgan Stanley $249,377
Goldman Sachs $220,045
JPMorgan Chase & Co $210,992
AT&T Inc $181,813
Credit Suisse Group $175,503
PricewaterhouseCoopers $163,670
Blank Rome LLP $161,576
US Army $150,470
Wachovia Corp $150,006
US Government $149,818
Bank of America $142,776
UBS AG $141,365
Greenberg Traurig LLP $141,137
US Dept of Defense $127,325
FedEx Corp $123,654
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher $122,546
Lehman Brothers $115,707
Bear Stearns $108,000
Total: $3,475,801
Contributors to Barack Obama, 2008:
University of California $777,593
Goldman Sachs $743,371
Harvard University $505,989
Citigroup Inc $499,598
Google Inc $493,705
JPMorgan Chase & Co $478,462
National Amusements Inc $437,669
Microsoft Corp $434,156
UBS AG $419,350
Lehman Brothers $391,624
Time Warner $388,063
Wilmerhale Llp $383,024
Sidley Austin LLP $371,166
Skadden, Arps et al $361,409
Morgan Stanley $344,130
Stanford University $342,749
Latham & Watkins $328,879
Jones Day $314,760
General Electric $299,434
University of Chicago $294,237
Total: $8,609,368
Now, I haven’t balanced my checkbook in 20 years, but even a numeracy-challenged twit can notice the names on these lists. Can you say “Goldman Sachs”, “Bear Stearns” & “Lehman Brothers”? I knew you could.
So the Wall Street giants that you & I, dear taxpayer, are propping up because they shot their (& their investors) wad on some sort of high-finance craps game—they’re generously giving hundreds of thousands of our money to McCain & Obama.
Yes, this largesse isn’t coming from these entities, it’s coming thru them, but even so, doesn’t it get up your nose just the teensiest bit?
Moreover, what the devil are the US Army, the “US Government” & the Department of Defense doing funneling roughly $427K into McCain’s coffers? I understand that this is allegedly from the plebs in these organizations, but these organizations are extremely big on chain of command, & it gives me the willies that this kind of coin is coming out of agencies where a request from your commander is not a request.
But one final comment (because even I’m running out of steam this close to 4 November): isn’t it interesting that these captains of capitalism, for whom any kind of government oversight is nothing short of satanic, have in every instance donated more to Obama than McCain? To the tune of three to four times the dough?
I mean, Wachovia’s donation to McCain barely covers Sarah Palin’s September wardrobe purchases.
What do you suppose that indicates? That they haven’t lost all their ability to mitigate risk? That they’ve read the chicken entrails & have seen a Democrat in the White House? &, that being the case, they want to be on the list of “supporters” when 20 January rolls around?
Well, a girl can hope.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Election 2008!
As follow-up to my post of 22 August I note that those wizards of wit, The Engineers, have come up with an alternative ticket to the two majors.I especially appreciate the fact that the vice-presidential candidate can see across the street (& pond).
I do hope this late entry to the race doesn’t dilute the Obama vote. But that’s what makes this country so great.
I’m also thinking of Ginger’s economic manifesto (“Scratch the economy’s butt”), in bulk, for Xmas prezzies…
I do hope this late entry to the race doesn’t dilute the Obama vote. But that’s what makes this country so great.
I’m also thinking of Ginger’s economic manifesto (“Scratch the economy’s butt”), in bulk, for Xmas prezzies…
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Brilliant, just brilliant
Politics makes strange bedfellows, they say; and this Presidential election is certainly an example of that.
But corporations make for even stranger (or more strained) office-fellows;and my current situation is, alas, quite the exemplar.
Ordinarily every employee has his/her own office; but the division's been hiring at such a clip that they’re having to double up.
Three weeks ago a guy who was hired to be ad manager in my department came in and was assigned to share my office. He turned out to be the World’s Greatest Expert (all topics), which he lost no time in explaining to me. And everyone else within earshot.
I’m afraid I didn’t show proper awe—when he announced the last company he graced with his brilliance, I looked blank, as I’d never heard of it. Not surprisingly, he was supremely disinterested in my background (except as a possible backdrop for his brilliance).
Within a couple of days he was already horning in on my project—giving me the benefit of his brilliance—while coming up to speed on what was in front of him. You may imagine how that went down. I don’t take it personally—he spreads his brilliance like the flu virus around the organization. But it pisses me off nonetheless.
But also within a couple of days he’d started bringing in his desk décor… No, not pix of the wife and kid, or the cherry 67 Mustang lovingly restored. No, nothing so…pedestrian. One after another, he schlepped the beloved artifacts of his life: a cheap copper-painted porcelain bust of Pericles, a framed Net-download picture of Lycurgus, and another bust—I’m guessing Leonidas.
(I know the pix are lousy; but they're just here to show I'm not making this stuff up.)
Yes, WGE’s great love is ancient Sparta. (Well, leaving aside the anomaly of Pericles.) He fancies himself quite the authority, and can prove it by cutting and pasting passages from Herodotus into one of his blogs. (No formatting, no commentary or analysis; just one long run-on paragraph.)
One day as he was leaving (typically before 1600, since he has this 90-minute commute to Tacoma) he announced he’d continue bringing in the Greeks. I commented, “Well, I guess we’ll have a phalanx, then, won’t we?”
One day as he was leaving (typically before 1600, since he has this 90-minute commute to Tacoma) he announced he’d continue bringing in the Greeks. I commented, “Well, I guess we’ll have a phalanx, then, won’t we?”
“Phalanx? You know what a PHALANX is?”
(Well, yeah—doesn’t everyone?)
That rather took some of the wind out of his trireme, but he decided he could recover from not being the only expert on ancient Greek warfare in the room by assuring me (in the manner of a dealer telling a junkie he’s got access to some REALLY good shit…) he’d bring in these fake ancient Spartan coins he minted!
Oh, be still my heart.
Damn me if the little pisher (yes, he’s no taller than I) didn’t haul his little plastic coins out of his overcompensatingly-large backpack a couple of mornings later with a flourish. He started ‘splaining to me in great detail what each element was, but when he got to the, “Here’s the epitaph…” And I cut in, “Go tell the Spartans that we lie here obeying their laws,” his poor trireme stalled again.
In another attempt at recovering the sole-authority position, WGE smarmed, “You must have studied Greece, then?” Well, no, not studied (outside of my ancient Greece humanities class in college); but I have indeed read Herodotus, and dipped into some of the others.
“Oh, have you read [some name I’ve never heard of]?”
No; but rather a lot of Michael Grant.
“I don’t know Michael Grant.”
Really? I don’t know that much about ancient Greece, but even I know Grant’s one of the big guns on the topic. Out of Cambridge. Written trireme-loads worth of books. Evidently WGE’s breadth of expertise is…somewhat circumscribed.
But something that he’s not short of (besides self-regard) is scarfing up freebies. Turns out the WGE is also the WBF (World’s Biggest Freeloader). Within a couple of days in situ he’d already glommed onto a division jacket (which I think he wears 24x7), a pedometer (which he doesn’t use—it’s enough to HAVE it), & some other departmental goodies.
He also discovered the company store—bought some highly-discounted software, which I know about because he left it in the company bag on the floor of the office (along with other bags he’s strewn about the place). At the end of the day he took the software and left the bag. On the floor. It’s still there, days later.
“Free” is one of his favorite words. Within days of arriving he’d taken the light rail into Seattle from Tacoma, and then two company shuttles to get to work. The rides (all with wi-fi) took him 30 minutes longer than his 90-minute commute from Tacoma; “but it’s FREEEEEEE”. Clearly if he’d had to pay for any part of this, he’d stay in his car.
Today I overheard (hey—not like I was trying; he dials all calls on speakerand only picks up when the call connects) a call, presumably to his wife, announcing that next Friday he’ll bring in his four-year-old to partake of the company-sponsored Trick or Treat event. Because it’s FREEEEE. And “he can go around & collect snacks.”
I wonder if he’s thought about what it’ll cost him to drive Redmond-Tacoma-Redmond to give his kid this FREEEE jolly?
(And, no, he can’t take the “little guy” (I suppose “little” is relative) on the public transport/shuttle because he’d have to pay the kid’s fare on the former and only company employees are allowed on the shuttles.)
Aside from the Greek citadel and the rubbish heap surrounding it, he’s a lousy office mate because he views every conversation I have is an opportunity to join in and share his brilliance. This extends to conference calls. He turns around with this helpfully smarmy used-car-salesman look on his face and just jumps in.
When the admins were setting up WGE’s desk, they assured me that the arrangement would be temporary, although they couldn’t give me a definition of “temporary” in the circumstances. So I arranged for him to be swapped with another new hire, who seems to have somewhat better developed social skills.
This move takes place tomorrow, not a moment too soon for me. (Today I discovered he’d erased a diagram I had on the whiteboard, mapping out conditional logic on a survey I’ve designed. He replaced it with squares representing his project. (Originally code-named “Athens”, but rechristened “Rome” because apparently Athens was already working.) When I pointed out what he’d done I got a deeply insincere, “Sorry.”)
So he’ll be packing up the Greeks and the freebies and moving down the hall. I’m sure I’ll still be subjected to his brilliance, both directly and through intermediaries. But at least I won’t have to live with his compensation maneuvers in my personal space. Or his lunch leftovers.
And he might make it through the month without a brilliant, sharp, modern Swiss Army knife jammed between his third and fourth ribs.
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