Tuesday, June 29, 2004

I don't know if "Farenheit 9/11" will change anyone's mind (I hope so.) but in case you have not had enough and need to learn more, you can always check Michael Moore's website for more information.

Monday, June 28, 2004

Recently I expressed my frustration with the situation in Iraq and quipped that there is only one solution to the continued violence and that is to nuke the country. I certainly did not mean that and it was only meant as an expression of my impatience with the fundamentalists who continue to disrupt the process of nation building. A friend of mine, who is from Iran, expressed concern about my remark and I certainly agree with his concern. I apologize to him and all people from that part of the world for making such a remark. I should not have made such a remark about a very serious problem. Unfortunately, unless the new government can pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat, I do not see any solution for a long, long time which makes me glad that I am not 20-something.

Sometimes too, I think that only outside intervention of a global nature will solve that and other problems around the world. Please note too, that I am not a religious person so that outside intervention could be anything from an earth destroying asteroid to the arrival of the first aliens from another galaxy to whatever. What I am saying is that something needs to occur that will make all of our current problems fade into insignificance and which would unite the entire world in a common goal.

Friday, June 25, 2004

Quick question: Why do so many of today's teens and pre-teens look like gang members? I'm sure most aren't but the way they dress is SO sloppy. How can they walk with the crotch of their jeans down around their knees anyway?

OK, another question: Why...oh...forget it! Even if there is an answer the problem won't be solved in this state (California) until more people learn to work together and the people take control of the legislature instead of the corporations.

Thursday, June 24, 2004

Good column in the Chronicle by Jon Carroll. Check it this excellent column about the failings of the Bush regime.

Wednesday, June 23, 2004

I hate to say this but there is only one thing which will stop the violence in Iraq. We need to nuke the country back into the stone age. I know that is not a very good solution but it is the only solution that is going to work. Now the extremists are threatening the assissinate their new PM. Once we hand over control next week it will only get worse and here we have people in denial (Bush, Powell, etc.) who say that while it is dangerous there, it is not out of control. Well, bullfunky! It is out of control and there is nothing we can do to bring it under control.

Tuesday, June 22, 2004

This is the news I have been waiting for from Bangkok for a number of months...

----------


HM the King ready to open city's new subway on July 3

Expected to serve at least 250,000 a day

Amornrat Mahitthirook

His Majesty the King will open Bangkok's new 20km-long subway on July 3 at the Hua Lampong station when the system begins operating with fares of 12 to 34 baht and service hours of 5am to midnight.

Subway trains will reach stations every 2-4 minutes during peak hours and every 4-6 minutes at other times.

Each train will have three cars and a capacity of 320 passengers. The system can carry 40,000 passengers an hour.

Sompho Sriphum, operations director of Bangkok Metro Co Ltd (BMCL), the subway concessionaire, said a team of independent engineers had approved the safety of the system after test runs in March and this month.

The subway is now 100% ready for service, he said.

The company is awaiting official approval from the Mass Rapid Transit Authority (MRTA).

He expected the Hua Lampong-Bang Sue subway to serve at least 250,000 passengers a day.

BMCL has 19 three-carriage trains. If daily traffic reaches 300,000 passengers, it will order at least five more trains.

MRTA governor Prapat Chongsanguan said that there would also be bus services between seven subway stations and suburban areas.

The 12-34 baht fares depend on the distance travelled and increase incrementally from 12 baht by two baht per station travelled to.

The fares are at a 15% discount to the subway's actual fare rates of 14-36 baht.

These rates will come into effect in the second year of the service.

----------


This will make it even easier for me to get around tht city when I return in January 2005. The Skytrain is great and this is a wonderful addition to the ever growing mass transit system in Bangkok.



Monday, June 21, 2004

Looks like it might be a long night at SBC Park tonight. It is now 10:05 PM and the Giants and Dodgers are tied 2-2 in the bottom of the 9th. Should I turn off the TV and go to bed or try to suffer through the extra innings that about to occur? Oops...stop the presses. The bases are now loaded for the Giants but there are two outs. WOW ... Cody Ransom hit a ball right up the middle to bring in the winning run. Now we are just 1/2 game behind the Dodgers.

Well, duh, I read where the Super Bowl streaker, while being convicted of streaking, claimed he did not know he was not supposed to be on the field. Something about a low wall also. How dumb can you get?!?

Then today Gov. Rowland of Connecticut resigns instead of facing probably impeachment proceedings relating to allegations of corruption. Too bad Bush won't admit his mistakes and resign although I am not sure the results would be any better with Dick Cheney becoming president.

I wonder how much "SpaceShipOne" cost? How much do NASA's space shuttles cost? Which is the more efficient per mile?



Sunday, June 20, 2004

I suppose the story about the commerical airliner landing at an Air Force Base in error should be listed as a big "oops" but the Air Force was not taking it lightly and confined everyone to the aircraft for three hours while interrogating the crew. The passengers even had to keep the window shades down. Gosh, what did they have that was so secret at Ellsworth A.F.B? Once the crew was interrogated, a new Northwest crew was sent in to get the plane to its intended destination of Rapid City, South Dakota. You don't suppose that base houses UFOs do you???

The biggest weekend in San Francisco baseball this season is over as the Boston Red Sox came to town for the first time ever. The Giants spoiled their party by winning two of the three games. GO GIANTS! Now the Dodgers come to town for four games. If this work out right, we could be in first place by the end of the week.

Uh...oh..."A camouflage-clad German man wielding a samurai sword attacked at least seven hikers in forests west of Berlin, performing sword tricks before ordering them to leave the woods, police said Friday.
They suspect a 46-year-old local man who trained in martial arts and survival skills in camps in Papua New Guinea and Vietnam to be the attacker.

"He's dangerous and has been hard to find because he wears camouflage," said Catrin Feistauer, spokeswoman for the Nauen police department. Police have used infrared cameras mounted on helicopters to try and track him down.

The man pushed two elderly people off their bikes and, flashing his sword, shouted at them to leave the forest. He later tried to drive a young couple out of the woods. No one was seriously hurt.

It's frightening because the violence level has increased each time," Feistauer said."

Well, now, weren't we told not to go into the woods alone when we were kids? Looks like you need to take a whole Army with you in Germany right now.

Wednesday, June 16, 2004

I think we live in an age of idiots. Some of the worst of these are the ones who run our opera and symphony companies as well as those to attend the performances. First it was supertitles, now it is unnecessary and superfluous narrations which interrupt the flow of the music and which insult the composer as if to say he didn't know what he was doing, or insult the listener as if to say this is what this means, that you can't get this from listening to the music, that you must be led like a two year old. What crap! I resent this greatly and will not support companies who insist on this approach. As for other concert goers, one friend of mine said he found opera boring without the supertitles. Yuk! Opera is about music. If you don't like the music get the hell out of the opera house! That is my reply to these people. Of course, there is the old argument, even amongst professionals about which comes first in opera, the music or the words and Richard Strauss wrote a very witty opera based on that predicament.

Then in politics we have such idiots as George Bush thumping his chest on D-Day trying to compare our effort in Iraq to that of the Allies during WWII. What rubbish! We were fighting a war against an enemy you could see, an enemy you could find, and one who could be brought into submission. In Iraq we are involved in guerilla warfare but are trying to fight it with conventional means and we are fighting an enemy who favors martyrdom over living under our influence in any way. There is no way we can win this war. There are good people in Iraq who would like to live in peace and who are agreeable to what this country is trying to accomplish but unfortunately there are just too many in the world who are not agreeable to those terms who will continue to fight in whatever manner possible in an effort to defeat us and defeat us they will unless there is a complete change in mental attitudes by ALL sides in this action.
-------------------
"Another gin & tonic bartender..."

Sunday, June 13, 2004

Ah, one "news" story, albeit probably not true, that I found humorous...

------------

Tonight Show host Jay Leno's home outgoing voicemail message stops briefly to allow for audience laughter, sources reported Monday. "You have reached the home of Mavis and Jay Leno, and if you don't know what to do by now, then you've got bigger problems than Martha Stewart,'" said Leno's recording, followed by a five-second silence. "But seriously, callers, at the beep, leave a message." After a short pause, Leno's message concluded, "Am I right?"

------------
I suppose it is time I write something here. It has been a few days, a few days in which I needed the barf bag for all of the accolades heaped upon the presidency of Ronald Reagan, the man who did more to increase homelessness and delay effective AIDS programs than any other president in recent memory.

As for the funeral, I watched although I must say that I got a little tired of hearing "Hail to the Chief" each time his casket arrived or departed some location. In watching Nancy Reagan I could see my mother. That is, Nancy's mannerisms and demeanor resembled my mother's before her death a number of years ago. I also think I know what Nancy was feeling as I watched my mother go through a number of years of declining health due to Alzheimer's disease also. So death is a release for all concerned. Still, losing a loved one is still not that easy.

Now a friend, who found TV coverage too much, is hoping the the Pope or Queen Elizabeth don't die during the next few months. Well, I can't make any predictions about the Queen but I am surprised that the Pope has lasted this long and I feel his departure is imminent.

On a happier note, this is gay pride month in San Francisco and our big parade, the biggest event in the city, is scheduled for the last Sunday of June as usual (the 27th). Not sure what I will do although I expect to be with some friends somewhere that day. However, one of them, who shall remain nameless, is probably upset because I sent him a list of humorous computer definitions which he took seriously instead of as a joke as was intended by the writer. Perhaps I am now on his shit list??? Grrr...

Anyway, I was just checking the news headlines and it is all bad so "beam me up Scotty".

Tuesday, June 08, 2004

I can't believe the ignorance or stupidity of some people. Several years ago when David Letterman took enlarged photos out to the street, numerous people could not identify various infamous people. While one might be forgiven for missing Idi Amin how could one not recognize Adolph Hitler?

Now some of these same idiots are calling Reagan and/or Bush the greatest president(s) ever. Give me a break! That is an insult to Johnson, Kennedy, Eisenhower, FDR, etc. During the time Reagan was president, there were even those who wanted to add his image to Mt. Rushmore. Words fail me to express my revulsion to such a proposal.

Anyway, the good news, personally, anyway, is that the flu bug, or whatever, that I contracted following my vacation departed as quickly as it hit. The bad news is that my sleep patterns are still out of whack and I continue to wake up far too early in the morning. I still retire around 10 to 10:30 PM but instead of waking up around 6:30 or 7 AM, I am waking up around 4:30 or 5:00 AM and not being able to get back to sleep. Strangely, too, this has not left me feeling tired at the end of the day.

Oh well, now for my odd story of the day.

---------------

LONDON (Reuters) - A British robber who stole 115,000 pounds ($211,300) in cash from a bank broke back in a week later to give most of it back, police said on Tuesday.
The thief got into the Barclays Bank in east London, smashed a window and helped himself to the cash in the ATM machine.

A week later baffled staff called detectives to say the robber had returned 104,000 pounds.

"We were contacted by staff saying a large amount of cash had been found in a black bag in the premises," a police spokesman said.

Police are probing whether the bizarre double break-in, thought to be unique in Britain, was an inside job, the Sun newspaper said.

"We know we offer cashback facilities but we didn't expect anything like this," a Barclays insider told the paper.

------------------



Monday, June 07, 2004

The Reagan years will be remembered differently by different people and letter writer Lisa Ochs points out very well in her letter to the editor of the SF Chronicle this morning, how bad some things really were/are. His legacy is most evident in such cities as San Francisco and other large cities where the Reagan health care and housing budget cuts forced many people onto the streets. First, as governor, he closed many of this state's mental hospitals which he saw as useless and ineffective. Many were but he had no plan for replacing them with anything. Thus, many mentally ill people ended up on the street. Then as president he helped cut the national health care and housing budget which only exacerbated the problem. Now, a Reagan/Bush think alike, Arnie, is taking away from the cities of California in order to try to balance the State's budget. How do such short sighted people get into politics anyway?!???!!

Sunday, June 06, 2004

My favorite letter to the editor of the SF Chronicle today reads as follows:

"Pardon my ignorance, but I feel the best Republican ticket in November would be John McCain/Colin Powell--for the good of the nation."

Now there is a combination I could vote for but unfortunately it is extremely difficult to unseat a sitting president at the National Convention by nominating someone else. I don't think it has ever been done. Nice thought though.
The passing of Ronald Reagan reminds me of what I experienced with my mother who also had Alzheimer's Disease. I can relate to Nancy Reagan's heartaches over this disease which can take a loved one ever so slowly from being a bright alert person to one who cannot communicate and can barely take care of his or her physical needs. It is a very sad situation and while there are lot of diseases to conquer in our world, this one should be somewhere on the top of the list. Now Ronald Reagan is at peace and so too can Nancy and the rest of the family be at peace. I also wonder what is in store for me five, ten, or twenty years down the road.

Saturday, June 05, 2004

Not really sure what to say here today. There seems to be a lot on my mind albeit most of it is dandruff. Ha! President Reagan died today anyway so that dominates the news. I never agreed with him or his policies but now the current president makes even Reagan look better. For some weird reason, the only Republican president of my lifetime that I liked was Richard Nixon and how do I explain that one. Was it his personality. Perhaps there was something different about "tricky Dick". For me, Reagan was too slick, too Hollywood, and his coal black hair just didn't look right but he was dedicated to his job and to his country. He felt very passionately about what he did so there was never a matter of questioning his motives or his patriotism. Reagan and Schwarzenegger...Schwarzenegger and Reagan...now there's a team. Ha! Will Arnie go on to be president? Not unless the constitution is changed and that is not an easy task and if they succeeded he might not be interested anyway.

Oh, this is an odd one:

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) - A hungry Argentine thief forced his way into a home on Friday to steal clothes and appliances -- before sitting at the dinner table to demand the captive family cook him a proper meal.
"He ordered a steak and fried eggs. Afterward, he pulled the telephone out and tied the family up," said the porter from the building in a posh neighborhood of Buenos Aires.

The thief then escaped.
-----------------------
I wonder how those eggs were fixed...over easy?

Tuesday, June 01, 2004

Why does anyone live in the midwest anyway? Given the number of tornadoes they have each year and the number of deaths and injuries from such storms, it is much safer to live somewhere else, even here in California with our occasional temblors. As the "Happy Cow" says, ah, foot massage. ha ha ha

Seriously, the most wretched hour I even spent was one time in southern Georgia when we were on a tornado watch. Fortunately we weren't hit but my stomach was all tied up in knots until they cancelled the alert. At least earthquakes hit without warning and then it is all over.

Life is dangerous all over these days so I guess one is just as apt to get mugged or worse in an American city as being blown away by high winds or devastated by an earthquake. Then the people in Iraq have to watch their neighbor who might be on a suicide mission. As someone once said, the only two things we can count on in life are death and taxes.

One thing I would like to count on is regular sleep patterns. Since returning from Thailand I was hit by a flu like bug on Saturday which knocked me out for twelve hours Saturday night. As a result I did not wake up until 12:30 PM Sunday. Then Monday morning I woke up at 4:30 AM and could not get back to sleep. Today I woke up at 5:30 AM and could not get back to sleep. What is going on? I don't normally suffer from jet lag and have never had a problem readjusting to local time so this is really beginning to bug me. What should I do?