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pjmeyer's journal
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My fractured life  The Tour de France rumbles on, 31 seconds seperate the top three riders after 87 hours in the saddle. The final leg good be fun. But all the sturm und drang about the doping, cheating and lying are way off base. Why is anyone surprised that people try and cheat and get ahead when the world is watching. I'm suprprised that the ones who did cheat did it so stupidly - using someone elses blood, taking EPO too close to race time, and not covering your tracks. The best ones don't get caught, the stupid ones do. The Tour will continue and grow - there is nothing else like and it a true test of a biker. It more than just a race. NBA ref caught cheating and possibly throwing games to win bets? Surprised - no. With all the betting and money passing hands I'm surprised that it took this long to catch someone. I can't imagine the refs being smart enough to cover their tracks and actions that well. I'm surprised that people think atheletes, refs, police, fireman, soldiers, etc, etc, etc get caught doing things they shouldn't. People are people with all the foibles that go with it - hubris, hunger for fame, belief in the power of the position - aren't we all fallen entities? So don't surprised when some one is caught cheating, ask yourself why did it take so long and how stupid are they. It has been a very long time since the last post. What has happened - lots of work, lots of scouts, lots of camping, lots of reading, lots of stuff. Any high points - not really, life goes on. Any low points - yes but life goes on and the road rises again. So what has happened? -Dad has been hospitalized 16 times in last year for a variety of aliments - atrial fibrilation, isulin reactions, pneumonia, heart pains, kidneys going on a vacation - but he always bounces back. but it is a strain on the pysche. -Younger sis is still battling breast cancer but his round of chemo seems to be working after a 18 months of treatment it is about time something does. -Older sis is now a manager at Nike, though she does not like it as much as she should. But she will. Me - got Award of Merit from scouts, lots of cub scouts in pack, and a few more in the troop. My son will be the first scout to hit 18 in the troop and NOT get his eagle scout award. Senior year is coming and he has no idea on what he want's to do afterward. Oh well. And so it goes - sometimes you have an idea on where you want to go and sometimes you don't. And right now I don't have any idea on where I want to go in the near future. Life goes on I think the RIAA and the MPAA and They are monopolies for intents and purpose - yet they have no oversight, no one to say you have gone to far, you have stepped over the bounds of decency. The electric company, the phone company, the cable company, the gas company - they are all monopolies and yet they all have people riding herd on them to make sure they don't abuse the public. I think it is time the MPAA and the RIAA have similar oversight. Speaking of the RIAA and MPAA - when are they going to realize that new technology is not their enemy. They have fought cassettes, vhs, cd-s, dvds, lps, and on and on. Now they want to control IPods and MP3s, file transfer, and sharing. My question to them is why come after me for getting something from someone that I can't buy anywhere. Time for them to come their senses and let technology go and get their heads out the sand. Arrghhh - raiding party! Hurricane comes ashore and wreaks destruction. New Orleans is flooded. Big surprise there. 80% of city is below sea level on a good day. Have to run pumps 24/7 to keep city dry. What did you expect when a big hurricane come roaring through and pushes a storm surge into an arm of the Gulf inside the city. Ok expect that. Now the Mayor and Governor say the day before the storm hits to get the heck out of town. And what happens many folks stay behind and think what? That nothing is going to happen? That is just a rain storm? You look out the window and see what? Levees and dikes keeping the gulf out and you can't see over them. Think the are going to stop a hurricane driven wall of water? If you want to live a flood plain you better have a few things in mind - you will get flooded in your lifetime, you better leave before the water rises, store away food and water for the flood that will come, and be prepared to do things for yourself for a while. Did the inhabitants of the Big Easy never get any info on this? Was this a surprise? I don't think so, every year from August to November hurricanes come through and have missed the city - but the warnings come out every season on what to do, how to do it, and why. And so why should I care beyond the basic level about you if you failed to heed the warnings and put yourself, your family, and others in harms way. Yes I'll rescue you, I'll try to feed you, I'll try to find you shelter. But I will not accept responsibility for your stupidity. Stop whining, get on your feet and get cracking. As for the looters - why take a big screen tv when you don't have electricity? You are a target. For those taking food from store to feed themselves, their family, and others with them - not a target but at least have the decency to make restitution when you can. Nothing is free, the store you are taking food from had to pay for it and should expect yo to pay. I'm tired of people saying the government owes them XXXXXX. The government does not owe anybody anything. </rant> Yes the weather report for the last month should have included a warning about a marked increase in stupidity amongst the citizens of this land. Case 1: The cops in Fresno arresting a 11yr old girl for fighting back against her attackers. And the prosecutor is allowing her to plea bargain and stay out of jail. What??? That the school officials called the cops is ok I guess, my mind would say - why didn't you wade in and stop the water ballooning, racial taunts, and harassment by her school mates before she had to defend herself? Why did not the school call the parents of the bullies and let them deal with boys? Why did not the cops take the boys too? Me I think society of late refuses to step in when it should to stop the nonsense like it used to in the days not so long ago. Case 2: Logan Airport in Boston trying to shut down an airlines free wi-fi access in its VIP lounge. Why? Well it seemed the port authority signed a contract with some company to provide wi-fi in the airport and generate $ for the port. Ok, thats fine, expensive, stupid, but ok. And one the excuses used by the port to go after the airline? The airlines wi-fi would interfere with things in the airport making the airport less safe for the traveling masses. Use our wi-fi instead - it's safer. I thought wi-fi was wi-fi, guess not in Boston. Port authority needs a new flack with some brains and a better lawyer. Case 3: Vodaphone Japan has been hitting the skids for years goes to Sony for a new CEO (the one they lifted from NTT last time they went CEO shopping did not last long). Now Sony itself has been spinning in circles trying to figure out where it is going. Not the company i would look to for help in getting out of the cellar. [ok not really US based story but still pointing the stupid storms abound] Case 4: NASA spends over a billion bucks and 2 years on fixing the foam problem on the big fuel tank and guess what happens on the 1st flight? Foam chunks fly off. Time for new leadership there. Let the private companies take over and do. Give a couple of bills to a company that show they can do it - show them the check but don't give it until after they do it. Case 5: Half the high schools in Oregon are failing this year according to the No One Left Behind/No One Gets Ahead rules. Are we talking schools in card board boxes, in the poor areas, the under served, etc, etc, etc? No because they could not test the right number of kids for the most part. We are building a notion that testing = education. Time to realize not everyone will go to college, not everyone has the ability to go to college, and some kids (sorry) will never, ever get into college no matter how many test you give them. But guess what there are thousands of jobs that are satisfying and fulfilling and pay a very good wage (much better than 90% of the current crop of liberal arts grads) and does not require a lick of college. Bring back the tech high schools. Case 6: Oregon legislature says to the child welfare agency - you have to do better, you have to take care of the kids who are in trouble and need help. We can't give up on them. Oh by the way we are cutting your budget and you'll have to layoff a couple of hundred staff. Am i the only one who sees a problem here? Mr. Firemen you need to put fires faster and keep people safer ok? Oh we forgot to tell you, we cut your gasoline ration, sold half of your hoses, and selling off half your stations. But keep up the work. .... I think it is time to take a big stick of sanity to the funny house in Salem and clean it out. And of course this is only one of their far sighted decisions. They have made many others of a similar nature. Argghhh. Ok, I've got to stop before my blood pressure pops a seam and gets me in trouble. Life has not been kind to me in the last few weeks. Vic's father died. I'm fighting flu and losing. Neal Hacking died very suddenly on the way back from a golf game, only 62. Not good at all. High on the stress scale. Vic's father has been ill and not really in this world for a while. But still it's dad and that is always hard. And now she has one less reason to come to Portland. I miss her. Wish she were here. Neal - a great guy, he taught me a lot. One of the good guys. Took me in and showed me the ropes, cared for the people he worked for, eager to help, ready to share a cup of coffee. Handy with a joke, ever ready to go golfing (and never got better). To die at 62 is way too young. That makes my flu look insignificant in comparison. When will the Al Queda terrorists understand no matter what they do we (the US and UK) will not back down. All their tactics do is make us madder and more resolved to track them down and provide justice on their heads. Oh and they need to read the Koran on what it says about killing folks. They are not going to paradise any time soon nor will they collect their 72 virgins. They really need someone to bring light to their sorry world. Their goals may be good but how they want to get to them is not and will not get them what they seek. The Supreme Court says a city can condemn private property and turn it over to another private party for development. How wrong is that? I can see a city condemning property to build something for the public good - like roads, schools, and such. But to say it's okay for the city to condemn your home and then turn it over to Walmaart so then can build a private enterprise type of thing. That is just wrong, very, very wrong. The MPAA (the wonderful organization of movie makers ie studios) has trumpeted a raid on a DVD copy shop in LA, shut it down, and it prevented $30 million on pirated movies from reaching the public. But the raid was on a manufacturing plant that produced DVDs for the studios, they took away $10,000 of DVDs for review of legality, and the plant continued to produce DVDs for the studios while the MPAA was raiding. Now MPAA is saying well, the raid has prevented the manufacturing of DVDs that could have been worth $30 million if the public paid retail for the DVDs if they had been declared 'pirate'. So the reality - the MPAA blew and found nothing of substance. But they want us to believe they are doing the write thing. I think the MPAA should be sent to small desert island and left there until they die. The Fantastic 4 is coming to the big screen soon. Childhood revisited. Washington does not seem to understand we will be in Iraq for a very long time. After WWII we were in Germany, Japan, and other places for 20 years in force and with powers to make 'corrections'. Is Iraq going to be any different, or Afghanistan, or Bosnia, or Kosovo, or Croatia, or Macedonia, or any other state we have armed forces in great numbers? I don't think so. Peace making is a very long term process. Why does the Oregon legislature seems hell bent on giving even more money to business with tax breaks, minimum alternative tax of $10, saying that money earned in Oregon if the parent is outside of Oregon does not need to be taxed at Oregon rates but can be lumped into the parent tax rate - which ever gives the best (ie lowest) tax bill for the company. Which is why PGE was able to collect $75 million in tax money from Oregonians and ship it to Enron and $0 came back to Oregon. Business needs to pay their share of the tax bill and stop complaining. They won't pay and they complain that Oregon is going to heck. You can't have it both ways. The parade is over and 31 mini scouts were returned to their parents in good shape - worn out but whole. Fun was had by most, moms and dads were happy to see their son marching along, kids were smiling, sun was shining, birds singing, all in all a great parade. And now we find out that the Brits believed that George had already decided to invade Iraq long before anyone suspected and they believe he cooked the books to make the case. Hmmm. Makes one feel good to be an American. He must love his daddy a lot. And schools, health care, social security are all going down the drain. We are spending 100s of billions of our tax $ for Iraq. And yet we couldn't find the same monies for the schools, health care, repay social security, or take on any of the ills of society. Hypocrisy 101 I would say. This equation has a big problem and it seems to tipped in favor of those in power that can provide things to Iraq and not to the regular people in these United States. I can't figure out when we decided to support other countries over the needs our own people. Somewhere along the way we have decided we have to go out and do good on the world stage to the detriment of the people at home. Something is wrong, something is very, very wrong with that view. We need to take care of the home fires and people around them first. With out left over compassion we can help those near us, and if any is left over move out tot he next ring. But we must take care of the people here in the USA first. There is enough pain and misery to go around without looking in other countries. Supporter of Liberty and Freedom everywhere, Defender of only our own. Jerry P. quotes it often and I believe in it. D-day remembrance #61 has passed, without #1 I would not be here today. It's a long and tortured path but without the war, D-day, occupation, and US troops in Europe - I would be someone else and living somewhere else and .... It took all that nastiness to bring mom and dad together. And for that I'm ever grateful. And sad for all the people who died under the occupation and in the liberation. No thanks could ever pay back the sacrifice made by those who died then. So work trudges ever onward into the mediocrity of the office life. Concerns, upsetness, discord, stupidity, the angst of middle management. I'm still trying to get a baseball bat approved as a management tool. ;) Carrot, stick, carrot, stick, stick, stick, bat, bat, bat. And now it time for bed. Bush pushing for energy independence but raising the tax write off for hummers and reducing it for electric hybrids. The no child left behind law - retooling schools to make sure none succeed. If there are no stars then no one is left behind. make everyone the same. Let's face it - not everyone is meant to be a college graduate and nuclear physicist. Some folks peak at the gas pump level, some at the garage mechanic, some at the hole filler, some at the brain surgeon. But we seem to be saying in our schools the only track that can is the college track. What happened to the track for those who did not want to go to college, who wanted to be mechanics, and builders of ditches? Do you need a college degree to run a bulldozer? Why can't we say we need many tracks, serparation, a dirty hands education, etc. Oh well since we won't leave any one behind, no one will get ahead. Misspent spending - 75 billion for Iraq - 0 for schools, 300 billion for Iraq - O for health care. It's amazing we can say we can't afford health care for americans yet spend 300 billion on a people who don't really like us. Immigration laws that don't make sense - I'm not an isolationist (I'm an immigrant) but I think the days of America being the land of opportunity for everybody needs to be revised. On the same tack - in the old days immigrants learned English, got their kids to learn English, pushed their kids to succeed in the new homeland. Today we teach the basics in their language, we do everything we can the help them in their language. Does that help in melting them into to the great society we live in? I'm not saying make them give their heritage, I'm saying America first, old country second. Support our troops is not equal to supporting our president. I support the troops, I don't support the president. What he did was wrong, the troops don't need to be there. But I support the troops and the military. I don't believe they are perfect but they deserve our support with our open eyes. Health care costs rising faster than inflation - how can that be? Some one is making way too much money off us and it needs to stop. |
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