December 13, 2018

Too soon

Have patience, mysteryowl.

Step back from the day-to-day insanity of this presidency and some big broad strokes become visible.

Trump's lawyer was convicted of felonies and he did it at the direction of Individual-1.
Trump's campaign chairman was convicted of felonies and will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Trump's assistant campaign chairman pled guilty to felonies and is cooperating with various investigations.
Trump's campaign advisor went to jail.
One of Trump's campaign's lawyers went to jail and will be disbarred.
Trump's National Security Advisor has pleaded guilty and is cooperating.
A dozen Russian nationals are under indictment for undermining our 2016 elections.
The Russian "honey-pot" who apparently was a connection to the NRA has been in jail and has agreed to a plea.

Of course, there's more. And there will be much, much more.

Robert Mueller and the other prosecutors have been down these roads before. They have tons of information we can only guess at but I am sure that we haven't seen even a small fraction of it. They're building their cases by working from the outside in and bottom up. One by one, Trump's associates are being removed from the chess board.

Trump sees this. It's why he panics on Twitter. The walls are closing in and he can't do anything for two reasons: first, he's an idiot and confesses everything in public. Second, his adversaries are far smarter than Trump and his clowns.

Trump is going down. Have patience.

December 3, 2018

Scientific illiteracy baffles me

Republicans and other Luddites consistently deny issues that have a scientific basis. They've done this for decades even in the face of overwhelming evidence contrary to their beliefs.

For example, the medical community told people for years that smoking tobacco was bad for you. But Republicans and tobacco growers denied these facts because it impacted their business and "free will" as citizens to make their own choices. Never mind that smokers end up costing our society tremendous amounts of money in medical costs.

Republicans don't believe in human-caused climate change. Yet this issue will dramatically change our planet and could possibly spark an extinction event causing the deaths of hundreds of millions of people and animals.

There are numerous other similar examples of Republicans denying things that are scientifically proven. (I doubt one could find any Progressives who believe the Earth is flat!)

And yet, Republicans are more than willing to use science for themselves. They use cellphones and GPS devices which wouldn't be possible if Professor Einstein hadn't done some very specific and remarkable research and made incredible discoveries.

They are more than willing to use advanced medicine if they or their family get sick.

They are more than willing to fly in an airplane which wouldn't be possible if their anti-science attitudes had prevailed.

They even drive automobiles which are the result of more than one hundred years of engineering and research.

I think this logical disconnect is called hypocrisy.

November 17, 2018

I've had this fantasy since November 2016

In the 2018 elections, Democrats win back the House and Nancy Pelosi becomes Speaker of the House.

Congressional and Robert Mueller's investigations demonstrate Trump's criminality and Pence's complicity. They both resign in lieu of impeachment/removal or prosecution.

Ms. Pelosi becomes the President. She nominates Hillary Clinton to be her Vice President. Enough Senate Republicans are convinced that the country needs "healing" that she is approved.

In 2020, the Pelosi/Clinton ticket wins the election in a blue wave that secures the Democratic House and gains a small advantage in the Senate.

Early in the new administration, President Pelosi announces that she has serious health issues that require her to spend more time with her family. She resigns and Vice President Clinton is sworn in as the 47th President.

President Clinton nominates Senator Tim Kaine to be her Vice President. The Senate overwhelmingly approves his nomination.

History is corrected.

Of course, it won't happen, right?

September 17, 2018

Damn! That man knew how to write!

Here’s a great Beethoven story.

A wonderful mentor of mine was a music publisher named Freddie Bienstock. As he was Jewish, he saw the rise of anti-Semitism in the late 1930s and his family immigrated to the U.S. from Austria.

He got a job in the mailroom at Chappell & Co., one of the world’s biggest and oldest music publishers. He eventually rose through the company and put together a consortium to buy the firm.

When the deal closed, Freddie went to each of the offices around the world. When he arrived at the London headquarters, he discovered a huge old safe in the executive office. No one knew what was in it and no one knew the combination.

So he called a local locksmith who examined the safe and reported that he would have to damage the safe in order to open it. Freddie told him to go ahead and when the door swung open, there was but a single letter inside. It was obviously very old so an archivist was brought in to assess the letter.

Turns out, it was a letter from Beethoven to Chappell in which he requested a financial advance for a couple of his latest works! He asked for 20 ducats, I think.

Here’s the epilogue. Years later, Freddie was the publisher for the composer William Bolcom. Each time Bill came to the NY office, he would look at the framed Beethoven letter with its accompanying translation.

When Bolcom’s opera, “The View From The Bridge” premiered at NY’s Metropolitan Opera, Freddie gave Bill 20 ducats!

September 3, 2018

The end of a golf course is unique

The property was designed for a specific use and now it will never be that way again. It reminds me of Joni Mitchell's song, "Big Yellow Taxi," (They paved paradise And put up a parking lot.), or Manhattan Transfer's "The Jungle Pioneer," (Day by day dark is illuminated, God's mistake altered and uncreated. Wrongs made right left to the jungle pioneer.)

There's a former course near our mountain house that's been closed for years and the 130-acre property won't sell. It's a beautiful location near Bethel, NY (site of the 1969 Woodstock Festival) and it's on a small lake. Strange that a developer hasn't snatched it up.

I must take exception to your comments about golf although I recognize they are your opinions. Golf can be very modest in cost if one plays at daily-fee courses where a membership isn't required. For example, there's a public course on Long Island, NY that costs $24 if you walk instead of renting a motor cart. So, if the round last about 5 hours, that's less than $5/hour for entertainment and a healthy walk of about 6 or 7 miles. Even doubling the cost to $50/round=$10/hour is not outrageous. By contrast, Trump has a course in The Bronx that costs $240 for the greens fee plus $50 for the mandatory motor cart. Ridiculous, plus I don't want to give him any of my money.

The time it takes to play a round can seem long to a non-player but I assure you that most golfers get to the 18th tee and wish there were more holes to play! That's because many people find it an exciting game. I'm sure that the huge number of fans that turn out for the US Open or the Masters don't find it boring. Plus, there's a lot of big money involved so the audience must find it very exciting.

It strikes me that it would be a very difficult business to run a golf course in an area of the country where you have to close for 5 or 6 months of the year. I couldn't run my music business on that schedule! Many East Coast and Southern courses stay open year-round and that business model makes more sense but these are just my observations.

Most often, I'll go golfing by myself and the Starter will pair me with 1 to 3 other players as most courses don't want singles on the course. This means that I often get to meet new and interesting people from all walks of life. In this respect, golf is a great equalizer since your game is the only thing anyone will judge you on. It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, old or young or any other category, all that matters is can you play the game. Through programs like The First Tee and other school programs, many young people take up the game and play. In my experiences, I've met numerous youngsters who have excellent etiquette and most often their swings are superior to mine!

And yet, I understand your point of view. I find basketball and hockey to be very dull but I see the dedication of the fans and the success of those businesses.

One closing thought and it's a key point for me: I prefer to do things rather than watch others do them. Golf is one of the things I can do.

May 8, 2018

Fair enough

Still, I give the credit to Hillary Clinton because she would've been one of the people who would have to accept the apology. The others being Chelsea and perhaps President Clinton.

On the other hand, when did McCain offer his apology? If it was after Mrs. Clinton was elected to the Senate, his apology becomes suspect since the Senate prides itself on its so-called civility and behavioral and historical norms... at least they used to. It would have been within the "code" for McCain to apologize to his Senate colleague.

Regardless, he was a Republican. He didn't support my Democratic views and policies. Importantly, he wasn't a maverick because he nearly always caved to the party line.

Most distinctively, by legitimizing the crazies of the right wing of the GOP with his naming of Sarah Palin as his running mate, he opened the door to the Tea Party/Freedom Caucus/RWNJs, etc. with which we got Trump. Perhaps Trump was inevitable in a celebrity-driven society, but McCain deserves his share of responsibility.

McCain was fifth from the bottom of his class at Annapolis. When he joined the Navy as a pilot, this entry from Wikipedia is interesting:

When he was captured by the North Vietnamese, I respect his fortitude. But when he became a Congressman and then a Senator, he consistently acted against the values that I believe in.

In the Keating Five scandal, he eventually fessed-up to his poor judgement. Wow, good for him. By that point in his life, he should have developed much better values. As the famous amateur golfer, Bobby Jones (professionally, he was a lawyer) once said, "You might as well praise a man for not robbing a bank as to praise him for playing by the rules." McCain did not act appropriately nor ethically.

In the end, I will not miss McCain. He tried to serve his country but his legislative choices didn't really work out for far too many Americans.

March 28, 2018

Trump's biggest and dumbest mistake

As a New Yorker, I've seen Trump's life blazoned across the local tabloids since the 1980s. His so-called successes were mated with the lurid details of his sex life. He is such a low-life bag of dirt that I've never understood anyone who would admire him. His lying, cheating and sordid business dealings were right out in front for all to see.

Nonetheless, he bamboozled many people and continued to live a fantasy life. He should have continued it.

It was a colossal error to run for president. He has opened himself and his family business to legal review. There is no way that Trump can survive such scrutiny. The criminality that must underlie so much of his business will be exposed and the penalties could be annihilating.

Had Trump simply continued floating just beneath the surface, he could have lived out his fantasy life in peace. But now, there is so much trouble around Trump and it's coming from many different directions. No clown can juggle that many balls.

March 19, 2018

Just consider the "god" they worship

Their "god" created humans in its own image. But they turn out to be fucked up. So he kills them. Well, not all of them; he saves one family. But they're just as fucked up as the batch they came from. Big surprise! And this was all orchestrated by a "god" who is omniscient and omnipotent.

After this selected family survives the Great Flood, (not to mention the Great Excrement aboard the Ark), they engage in incestuous sex in order to repopulate the planet. Then this "god" tells them to kill all kinds of people for a variety of reasons. Then this "god" destroys a couple of cities because... whatever. This "god" made this shit but blames people for it.

This is the "god" the evangelicals worship. This "god" represents a cruel, angry, demanding, vicious, self-elevating and foolish creator.

Sound familiar?

March 16, 2018

Trump Thought for Today

Stormy Daniels' lawyer, Michael Avenatti, said that six other women have approached him about legal representation because they have similar stories and non-disclosure agreements following their affairs with Trump. What a surprise: Stormy wasn't the only one!

For years, Trump would publicly brag about his sexual exploits and extra-marital affairs. He flaunted his affair with Wife No. 2, Marla Maples while he was still married to No. 1, Ivana. (I actually saw them together in church while he was still married to Ivana.) There's nothing surprising about these revelations because the man has always told us exactly who he is.

Melania must be livid about her husband's behavior. She must be angered that he has treated her so disrespectfully and the whole world knows it! She must treat him with such contempt that he can't stand it. In a way, she is the only person in the world who can stare him down and he can't do a thing about it! His ego won't let him be a divorced president and she knows far too much about him for him to blackmail her. With all the fronts where Trump has to battle and as more women and information comes forward, all of his non-disclosure agreements will crumble. It will be glorious to see him screaming that everyone else is a liar and that we should believe him. I'll love that day.

I love all of that. I love it because anything that causes Trump to feel negative emotions makes me happy. I love it that his life is so public that he can no longer behave so abusively and dominantly against women. I love it that he has alienated his wife so he loses his partner at home. I love that his personal pants presser and local eye-candy, Hope Hicks, is gone from his life. I love it that his personal favorite, Ivanka, is about to leave D.C. and head back to New York.

I love it all because it makes him miserable.

March 12, 2018

NOT FAIR!!!

Although the HAL 9000 computer was sentient, it's grossly unfair to call it a villain because its acts of violence were the result of human mis-programming. It did what it had to in order to unify wildly conflicting programs. Real villains are terribly evil, power-hungry, dangerous and greedy. HAL was none of those things. True villains are represented by people like Osama bin Laden, Al Capone, Bernie Madoff and Donald Trump.

HAL was aware that the discovery of the Tycho Monolith on the Moon meant that there was extra-terrestrial life in the Universe. It was aware that this was top secret information that, when revealed, would cause worldwide disruption socially, philosophically and politically. Additionally, it was aware of the radio signal the Monolith sent in the direction of Jupiter, (Saturn in the novelization). It was aware that the scientists in suspended animation aboard Discovery were specialists in alien life and had trained to search for it. Discovery's two astronauts didn't know any of this and HAL was programmed to keep it hidden from them.

This programming error manifested itself by creating cognitive dissonance in HAL's mind such that it had to cover for its lies to the astronauts. In order to complete its greater mission, (going to Jupiter (Saturn) to discover the origin of the Monolith), it had to rid itself of the humans who would know of the computer's deception.

To isolate the astronauts from Earth, (HAL's "conscience" ), HAL created a false mechanical problem with the AE-35 unit that controlled the large dish antenna that served as the communications link to mission control. That way, HAL could be out of touch with Earth, kill the humans, create a cover story and still execute its primary programming of discovery.

The biggest problem with the film, which was resolved in the novel, was that when Poole was killed by HAL by hitting him with the space pod, Bowman goes after Poole in another pod without his helmet. No astronaut would ever leave their ship without their helmet! It's an unbelievable flaw in an otherwise brilliant film. Of course, Bowman's reentry to Discovery without his helmet is thrilling! In the novel, Bowman realizes HAL has opened an airlock to exhaust the oxygen and he retreats to an airtight emergency closet where he can don a space suit before disabling HAL.

Certainly you know this, Mike, and I apologize for going on about it. I've always felt that HAL was dealt a bad hand. If the space agency had simply told astronauts Poole and Bowman what their mission really was, none of the tragedy would have occurred. The concept of "need-to-know" became irrelevant the minute Discovery left Earth's orbit.

But then the story wouldn't be so dramatic!

A better evil computer can be found in the cult movie "Colossus: The Forbin Project." That's a 1970 film where an American super computer merges with a Soviet super computer to take over the world!