Silly Bits I

I was getting some grief over the title of some of the previous entries to this blog (Stabilizing the MCP).  Evidently there were some that thought that instead of writing about miscellaneous crap, I was writing like crap instead. (Personally, I was surprised that anyone could distinguish the difference.)  But as Gene Autry once said: "How come you know me so well, when I'm just a stranger to myself."  Nevertheless, from this day forward such posts will henceforth be known as “Silly Bits” in homage to the Monty Python “Ministry of Silly Walks” skit.  (I won’t bore those of you not interested with the entire piece, but for those who would like to travel down memory lane, or have never seen it before, you will find it here.)  Now for the other silly bits:

The National Right to Work Foundation and the National Federation of Independent Business, along with other business groups have filed suit over the recess appointments made by President Obama to the National Labor Relations Board and the newly formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  It appears that this President didn’t like the tactics used by the ‘Democratically Controlled’ Senate to ostensibly stay in session in spite of the fact that he was a part of the very same tactics being used to prevent his predecessor from making recess appointments when he was in the Senate. 

Having gotten a paper from the Department of Justice saying that he was within his rights to do so (The President’s lawyers agreed with him, imagine that!), the appointments were made in what many are calling a violation of the separation of powers in the Constitution. Speaking on the Senate floor on Tuesday, Republican Senator Rand Paul of KY announced that he was joining the suit.  Now while this might appear to be little more than two male children squaring off in childish comparison of linear measurement, let me say that there are two important things to take note of here.  The first is that this is a serious question of executive authority in this country, and the decision here will be far-reaching no matter which way it goes.  The second is that having long believed that emasculation was a requirement for the national legislature, it could be considered even more startling that a member of Congress in fact has the equipment required for such a comparison (though the fact that it’s Rand Paul goes a long way to explaining it).  

Indiana became the 23^rd state (and first in the Rust Belt) to become a ‘Right to Work’ state.  Similar efforts are under way in Michigan and Ohio, both traditional strongholds of the union movement, as they are in New Hampshire and Montana.  None of these laws prohibit Unions from forming and representing workers; but their passage means that Unions may no longer demand that workers join such a Union nor must they pay dues to the Union in order to work at that profession.  With the Super Bowl coming up in Indianapolis this Sunday, the timing of this bills signing means that the potential for gamesmanship is as likely outside of the field as inside it.  Union representatives have called passage of such laws ‘the beginning of the race to the bottom’ (in spite of the fact that almost half of the nation now has them).  No one knows whether they are right, but regardless of the answer to the question the race is unquestionably on; and those states who will compete in the coming economy had better decide whether they will run in it, or merely stand by in the pits (that's an Indy 500 reference).

For the first time that I can remember, a municipal government representative in the nation has admitted that the placement of red-light cameras were for revenue and not driver safety.  (I guess he’s seen the same statistics that I have and couldn’t say otherwise with a straight face.) As I pointed out in a column for the Toledo Free Press on Tuesday, Toledo’s Finance Director Patrick Mclean said that they wanted to install the new cameras in order to generate $320,000 that the city would use for youth recreation programs that the city could not otherwise likely fund. 

Setting aside the ramifications of any government finally admitting that these red light robo-cops have become a next generation tax collector in a ‘scofflaw tax’, there’s that pesky bit of how these laws are enforced.  You see in these cases, the presumption of innocence central to American justice is tossed out the window.  The evidence that a car you own committed the offense is enough to convict you whether it can be proved that you were driving it or not.  The only alternative to a guilty plea is to rat out whoever else might have been driving; an alternative that seems as unpalatable as paying the $130 fine.

And finally, from the land that brought you the promising beginning (allegedly) of Arab Spring, we have news today that riots broke out once again in Egypt.  This time however, the goals of those taking to the streets seem not so lofty, nor can the cause be deemed worthy of praise.  Apparently this violence broke out as part of a long rivalry between fans of local football (soccer) teams Port Said and Cairo.  When Port Said won the match 3-1, fans of the Cairo team stormed the field.  According to the latest counts released, 73 are known dead and over 200 injured so far in the riots that ensued.

Now I don’t know about you, but I've personally found soccer matches to be so boring that I might consider storming the field at the end of the game myself, but only in protest of the lack of entertainment provided for the ticket price charged.  I do know however, that the next time I hear about football fans turning out into the streets after an Ohio State – Michigan game, turning over a couple of cars and setting a few dumpsters on fire, my reply is going to be:  “That’s nice…” 

Stabilizing the MCP (Again)

I have spoken before about the Miscellaneous Crap Pile near my desk, comprised of tidbits of information that I found enlightening, interesting, or simply bizarre that I hadn't yet managed to find a use for. The MCP however, is as much mental as physical, requiring periodic review in a mostly useless though never-ending attempt to maintain both stability and storage capacity, both of which appear to be woefully limited around here.  These periodic purges allow me to take on a variety of subjects in a form whose brevity is as welcome by JBS readers as it is unusual for me.  Since the unusual has long been something that we embrace here at JBS, I am therefore happy to oblige.


The French threatened yesterday to pull their forces out of Afghanistan after four of their ranks were killed and fifteen wounded in what has been deemed an attack by a 'rogue Afghan soldier'.  Apparently the fact that the French are out of practice in the act of surrendering, means that in spite of their threat, they're still there today.  Of course France's contribution of 4,000 of the 130,000 NATO forces currently stationed in Afghanistan, troops which were scheduled to leave next year anyway, will probably not end either NATO or US involvement in an area that cries out for a lack of involvement.  Afghan President Karzai (speaking of both 'rogue' and 'lack of involvement') is due in Paris in a week, and has already offered his condolences to the families (and here many of us thought that President Obama was the only world leader to travel around the world apologizing).  Maybe while he's visiting he can also explain how bad guys keep apparently infiltrating the ranks of his army, or how to tell the difference between a rogue soldier and any anyone else in the Afghan army (other than not being ineffectual of course).


For those of you who have somehow missed it, the Costa Concordia is still lying on its side on the coast of Islo del Giglio.  To say that no ship's captain has made more mistakes since 'The Skipper' took some folks out for a purported three hour tour with Gilligan is an understatement.  I don't mean to make light of a situation in which human life was needlessly lost, but one cannot help but see a certain 'gallows humor' in this tragic example of the vaunted technology of Mankind failing on an epic scale.  That one of these floating islands managed to crash into a real one is ironic on a scale seldom seen in fact or fiction.  That the circus currently surrounding the circumstances of this maritime disaster involves a ship that's part of a cruise line named 'Carnival' only adds to the incongruity.  The concept that environmental scientists are as concerned with the food stored in the ship making contact with the local environment as they are that the fuel will speaks volumes about environmental scientists and what we stuff in our pie holes.The pathetic excuses of the ship's captain in shirking his responsibilities and abandoning his charges to their own fate cannot help but make one believe that this miserable example of humanity has a lot of time to look forward to in prison ... or in politics.  In Italy, perhaps both.


Speaking of miserable examples, last week's self-serving announcements by two former Mayors in Toledo about how the current office holder is doing his job is apparently a plot that's thickening.  While these lamentable examples of alleged political leadership only sought to take the stage after a story reported in the Glass City's daily paper, we now see that rather than it being a shining example of that institution's fading star of investigative journalism, the facts of the tale were fed to the Blade based on the investigations of a member of City Council.  Fortunately, the Toledo Free Press is on the case, and there is little doubt that the facts of the case will now come out. 


As for lauding the stalwart former detective / politician / investigative reporter's channeling of Columbo (or was it Woodward and Bernstein), one may want to look a little closer before awarding the laurel wreath.  D Michael's legislative aide is a former well-known Toledo blogger whose talent for sniffing out facts, knowing who to talk to in getting them confirmed, and gathering them into a consistent narrative are far more likely to deserve the actual credit than the Councilman.  Lest one seek to deride the man in question for taking all the credit for the detective work involved, for failing to first approach the Administration with its results of the investigation, or for handing the story over to the daily in the hopes of embarrassing the Administration; one should first listen to his smug attempt to present his case at a City Council meeting a while back.  It seems that his false attempts at humility (he thought he would accused of political grandstanding) and his failures to live up to Peter Falk's portrayal of the intrepid cigar chewing detective are only exceeded by his even greater inability to channel the late Raymond Burr's portrayal of Perry Mason (as well as his failure to distinguish the difference between a hypothetical and rhetorical questions).  


The Republicans had another debate this week (yawn) as a prelude to the South Carolina primary (yawn).  It was somewhat easier to bear, as with the withdrawal of Rick Perry we were down to a number of candidates on stage that didn't require a wide angle lens.  Unchanging however, is the fact that the debate moderators still haven't managed to get most of the contestants of this political version of 'American Idol' to hand out more than political standards and show tune sound bites that the pundits can later congratulate them for.  Along the way however, all seemed to have added a number to their repertoire that includes a healthy dose of ridicule for the media themselves, whose feeding frenzy for irrelevancy is only equaled by the candidates willingness to chum the waters for them, and whose inclusion guarantees them a standing 'O'.  


This however, is apparently a truly sorry bunch of candidates.  Mitt Romney is sorry he made so much money in the private sector (which leaves one questioning why failure should be more laudable in a candidate for this nation's highest office).  Newt Gingrich is sorry that he got married so many times, but happy that he paid a higher tax rate than Romney (which leaves one questioning why paying more taxes is good).  Rick Santorum is sorry that he can't reconcile his supposed Conservative credentials with his Statist pronouncements and voting record (not that we've ever demanded logical consistency of Presidents).  Ron Paul is sorry that no one took him this seriously 20 years ago, that he never learned to speak 'soundbite' well enough to play at this level, and that no matter what he says they're still going to treat him like a crazy relative with turrets syndrome that everyone hopes will leave.  The ponderous political process continues however, with all of faux drama of a poorly written reality show, and all of the excitement of the Tic-Tac-Toe championships.


OK, that's enough natural fertilizer for one sitting (though it is a miscellaneous CRAP pile after all).  I've cleared enough of the pile away to show me the many other useless writing assignments that I need to work on, so I'm going to get to work.


Smoke em if you got em. 

Stabilizing The MCP

For most of my life, I've kept a Miscellaneous Crap Pile on or near my desk.  It was comprised of tidbits of information gathered that I found enlightening, interesting, or simply bizarre that I hadn't yet managed to find a use for. I knew however, that sooner or later, most of the collection could or would contribute to the greater good.  And while not quite so precariously piled as the image depicted, that MCP needed periodic review to increase its stability (something around here certainly needs some increase in stability), to determine what actually still remained in the pile, and whether the aging process had caused items to either pass their expiration date or produce something that could or should now be consumed.

While there is a physical MCP that must be addressed at Just Blowing Smoke, there is a mental one as well.  In it are any number of ideas that I have about subjects that I always think I want to get around to writing about, but never seem to find the time or the right hook required for the piece to actually do so.  Considering its location, the stability of the pile is seldom considered; storage capacity however has increasingly become an issue.  There was little enough to begin with, and my continued predilection to fill it with useless information doesn't help things.  Since spreading useless information (like fertilizer) is what we live for at JBS, perhaps it's time to share some of these tidbits.

Those at the head of the uprisings cleverly dubbed the "Arab Spring" are now assuming power.  In sharp contrast to the pronouncements about seeking democracy and freedom from despots that the mainstream media attempted to convince us was the goal of these movements, all now seem intent on adopting Sharia Law as their cornerstone of government.  Strangely however, having apparently misjudged, misrepresented, and missed the boat on the goals of these movements; that same media is now curiously silent as what they initially deemed a spring falls back on demonstrably restrictive principles and a kind freedom that the Spanish Inquisition would be proud of.  I wonder in the days ahead if some of them won't look back with fondness on the days living under the tyranny of dictatorship that they have now escaped.

While restrictive practices are returning to the Middle East, their end may be seen in yet another place here in the Midwest; as voters go to the polls in Ohio to vote on Issue 2 which seeks to end the stranglehold that public-sector unions have on government in this state.  Curiously, those against this Issue seem only capable of defending policies which are bankrupting cities, counties, and this state by the use of what is known in NW Ohio as "half-truths, mistruths, and outright lies".  Also curious is that after accusing those in favor of the issue of funneling outside money in to break unions in Ohio, we find that those opposed to Issue 2 are outspending those in favor by almost 4 to 1; most of which has been funneled into their coffers from out-of-state unions.

(I have to note here that I have been getting robocalls from the AFL-CIO for weeks now, urging me to vote no on Issue 2.  What fascinates me is that these calls never come from a number in Ohio, that their efforts are wasted since I now live in Kansas  and cannot vote on it, and that their calls are pre-recorded as opposed to using a live union employee.  Is it a lack of solidarity that causes them not to use a union employee, or can they simply not afford to pay someone scale to make the calls?)

Kansas City parents are facing a curious educational dilemma these days.  The Kansas City school district recently lost its state accreditation, and the support of much of the community; especially those with students in it.  It's unlikely that this situation will be resolved quickly, quietly, or cleanly; as far too much time is currently being spent on accusations and recriminations about who's at fault and faretoo little on how to repair the damage.  Parents cannot hope to find relief from the Parochial school system in KC however, as the increasing uproar over priests and alleged child-abuse continues.  One priest is under indictment, and three others are facing some tough questions.  Even the bishop of the KC diocese has been indicted on a misdemeanor charge for failing to turn information over to authorities in one of the cases.  Talk about being between 'the devil and the deep blue sea'!

And how would such a clean up be complete without talking about the 'Occupy Movement' whose areas of occupation in most parts of the country could do with a bit of cleaning up themselves?  What can we say about these intrepid idealists braving increasingly inclement weather without proper shelter; desperately seeking social justice and egalitarianism (I wonder how many of them know what that word really means), while likewise searching for a WiFi connection and a cup of coffee from Starbucks (one can normally be found at the other BTW)?  Perhaps what we should say is that those who apparently didn't get a marketable education in college are now getting a rather brutal one from 'the school of hard-knocks'.  Theft, assault, and rape occurring in these encampments are not the lessons I would have wished for them however, in spite of the fact that I am a supposedly evil Conservative.  

Idealism and a desire for change are often the last notions that the real world manages to batter out of us on the path to maturity (a path BTW, that I am unwilling or incapable of following).  Age, time, and responsibility will have their way soon enough without giving humanity's worst elements and predators the opportunity to further disillusion if not permanently scar them.  My only advice is for those of you out there (who will probably never see this) is to take a closer look at the world and adjust your target identification systems.

One more bit I should mention is a farewell to fellow Curmudgeon Andy Rooney.  At age 92, Mr Rooney managed to precede me at attaining room temperature by passing away yesterday, hopefully by as many years as he preceded me at attaining the position of 'grumpy bastard'.  It was a role for which he was perfectly suited in both appearance (Who can forget those eyebrows?) and temperament.  He had a wry wit and a great delivery that annoyed while enlightening, which is the highest aspiration of any in our trade.  If there is a heaven, has probably  already secured a great spot inside from which to bitch about things.

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