Category: Opinions

What I think about things

Shut ’em Down and Fire the Managers – and the Accountants

Reading this story just ticked me off. I believe our public institutions have a higher standard of operations that they need to be held to because A) they are usually monopolies, and B) they operate using public funds. That is, you and I pay for their services regardless of whether or not we benefit directly from them.

Mismanagement of these agencies, be they Federal, State, Municipal or Contracted to any level of government is not acceptable. I believe it is criminal for any of them to operate a deficit budget and that spending more than is budgeted or failing to meet their obligations, financial or charter must be dealt with in the same manner as any private enterprise. Managers – especially those equivalent to VP level or above – must be held liable for the failure of their entity to perform. Just as they enjoy the perks, power and prestige of overseeing such important institutions, so must they bear the responsibility when they – or their employees – do a poor job of it.

In the case of deficit budgets or failure to pay, why not dock the management team on a percentage basis equivalent to the overage? i.e. if an agency runs a deficit equivalent to 10% of their budget, then the management team not only needs to rectify that situation for the next year (if they aren’t arrested as this shouldn’t be legal in the first place) but they also lose 10% of their earnings – salary, bonus, equivalence in pension, equivalence in provided automobile, everything.

Having an open spigot of taxpayer funds to continue to backfill poorly managed institutions is a recipe for disaster. And why are the management teams allowed to continue doing such an obviously poor job?

Of course, the above assumes that we have generally agreed upon accounting practices which, ridiculously in 21st century America, we don’t.
I’m sorry, but our Congress, rather than wringing their hands and worrying about so much trivial legislation as they are wont to do these days, needs to get off their sorry behinds and HIRE some advisers to establish such accounting practices, amend the constitution such that the Federal government needs to balance books and follow those practices. Then they need to put before the states the option (I can’t get myself to agree to the feds forcing this upon the states by fiat) to follow suit. State lawmakers, rather than hosting silly “rain vigils” and other feelgood crap can set about cleaning out their own practices. And so on down the line through to the lowest levels of government.

Angelo’s Steak Pit

Cheers!Despite the somewhat corny advertising (“And that’s no bull!”) the food and service at Angelo’s Steak Pit are both excellent. It is *really* hard to get a steak cooked properly nowadays and I have to say that this Panama City Beach restaurant does it right.

There is a distinctively road-house look to this place, so this isn’t your typical fine-dining experience, but from the first person we met at the door through to the waitresses, everybody was warm and friendly. Service was timely and the food, from the salad (try their house dressing!) through to the buttered bread to the steak and potato were all excellently prepared.

Example of how not to take a flash pictureOur server, Amy, kept my drink filled and was at hand when we needed anything. Service like this is what makes people like me want to come back again and again.

I heartily recommend Angelo’s Steak Pit if you happen to be in Panama City Beach!

Nanny State still at it – “Let’s have a law for everything!”

Our politicians (all politicians) need a reality check.

Admittedly the issue is based in a lack of critical (reality based) thinking. Americans especially are teetering at the brink of a decline in science-educated and hence, rational people. But our entertainment and, indeed, our culture seem to be glorifying the stupid.

So it is, that when something outrageous, and exceedingly rare, occurs we are mollified by the posturing of our politicians that they appear to be “doing something” even when that “something” is either completely irrelevant to the issue or worse, layering yet another set of restrictions on our lives.

I was reading this article this morning that was instigated by an unfortunate incident where a man was hit by, wait for it, a helicopter while fetching his mail. The actual issue was the “danger” posed by listening to loud music what what needed to be “done about it”.

I’ll tell you what needs to be done. Nothing. People get preoccupied, people close their eyes, people look the wrong way sometimes and they get hurt. Ah well.. life’s lessons. If listening to loud music, and reducing or eliminating ambient sounds is a danger, then I suppose we’d better get all over those deaf folks walking around obviously in mortal danger every waking moment of their lives…

Why Don’t News Media Web Sites indicate where they are located?

You’d like to think that the media would be.. well… media savvy. So why is it, that when I follow a link to an article on many news sites (like here for instance) it’s so obtuse where the metropolitan (or village or whatever) area served by the site is located?

Some sites are right up front about who they are and where they are (here and here for example), some you need to hop to their home page to find this info, and still others you have to check out their weather center or some of their headlines to try to divine their locales.

Just thought I’d point out that… it’s not you.. it’s them.

OMG – Tossing Babies off a tower for good luck

Geez! How these countries are going to claw their way out of third-world status while they continue to indulge in superstitious idiocy such as this is hard to imagine.

This gem comes from Solapur, in Maharastra, India. C’mon folks! This is the 21st century!!! We’re supposed to be flying around in little cars worried about the Mars colony. Not tossing infants off of towers to appease… whom?

Atheist (non-theist?) Resources

Whether you’re of a religious bent or you favor a more naturalist view of the world, these resources are well worth the effort to review. For the religiously inclined, exploring supposed flaws and inconsistencies in your faith can either help you to better understand and concretize your world views or it can allow you to honestly evaluate those views against new criteria.
Those who are not religiously inclined will find that understanding some of the myriad religions, especially those prevalent where you live, gives you new perspectives. I have personally found it very enriching to actually read the bible and to be able to recognize its influences on other literature and media.

There are a few problems with using the word “atheist” to identify one’s religious affiliation. Strictly speaking everybody’s an atheist. It really just depends which god(s) you choose not to believe in. Most Christians could be considered atheists where Thor is concerned for example.

Another issue is that the word is so very charged. Every word has a degree of charge, ranging on a spectrum from Positive, through Neutral to Negative. Calling someone a “Freethinker” or a “Humanist” brings about subtle, yet important connotations versus labeling them as “atheist” even though we may understand rationally that they all imply the same things.

The other really big problem with the word “atheist” is that it defines someone, who has no stake or attaches no significance to religion, in religious terms. So the label is misleading.
Being a-theist or non-theist is very different from being anti-theist. This can be a subtle distinction, but it is one that most people get wrong.

Regardless of your religious leanings, developing your skeptical toolkit is paramount and so these skeptic resources are very useful. I believe that skepticism and religious faith can and do coexist well together. Whether traditional religions can withstand skeptical inquiry is perhaps another question, but if skepticism leaves your faith intact but not the institution representing it, well you can decide what to make of that…

Some of my favorite resources:

The Institute for Humanist Studies – Humanism, per their website, is “a philosophy of life inspired by humanity and guided by reason. It provides the basis for a fulfilling and ethical life without religion.” They have a pretty good monthly podcast if you want to keep abreast of developments or if you’re simply interested in hearing folks discuss Humanist topics. They have several links on their site that may also be of interest but I have not perused these.

The Freedom from Religion Foundation – A major objective of this group is to maintain the separation of Church and State. This is something that is in everybody’s interest as, with so MANY religions including sects within these religions, if any one were to gain authority as the state religion what do you suppose would happen to all the others? And what do you suppose are the odds that your religion would emerge victorious? No, the freedom to practice your religion, or to not practice any religion at all, rests with ensuring that no group, not even humanists / atheist / freethinkers, gets into a position to dictate how the citizens of this country may pursue their faith.
I enjoy listening to their weekly podcast – also on Air America – it can be a bit corny at times (I’m not a real fan of their brand of music) and sometimes one of the show’s co-hosts, Annie Laurie Gaylor, can seem a bit strident at times. But they do have a lot of relevant things to say.
An added bonus is that the other co-host, Dan Barker, is actually a former minister. His knowledge of the bible and Christian teachings is extensive and gives him a solid background for when he conducts interviews or offers editorials.

American Freethought – I have only recently started listening to their podcast and have not had a chance to thoroughly check out their website. The podcast seems to come out every 2-3 weeks. Right out of the gate it was professionally done and obviously carefully prepared. They seem to focus more or less on a single issue per episode and I find them to be quite appealing. The background of one of the hosts involves a fair amount of activity in this realm (non-theism) and he brings some good insights to the show. I don’t know about the other host’s background as I don’t see much about him on the site, but he is also very engaging and they make a solid duo.

There are a plethora of freethinker, humanist and other non-theist resources available. Probably you can find most of them through the links in the sites above. But, with a day job and other interests, these are the ones that I’ve had the chance to check out and would recommend.

Oh, and no list would be complete without including Mr. Deity. This video series (they are still producing new shows) pokes fun at some of the inconsistencies or perceptions of the Judeo-Christian faith and expand on them. Apparently a number of religious groups show these at their gatherings to use as talking points, so they can’t be all that offensive. But they are entertaining.

Anchored thoughts

Marc ThinkingDo you find yourself repeatedly remembering some things via a circuitous path?

I, for instance, consider myself to have size 10 1/2 feet. If you ask me, that’s the answer that comes immediately to mind. The *reality* is that they are size 11 1/2. But in order for me to recall this I start with the immediate 10 1/2 thought which then triggers a memory of mail-ordering some running shoes of the wrong size, which then triggers a memory of getting my feet sized at a local running shop where I get the final result of being shown that my shoe size is 11 1/2. But the answer is not automatic.

Similarly, if someone asks me how tall I am, my initially triggered memory is of the doctor who measured me for my pre-university physical. He said I was 5′ 10″. If you know me, you know this isn’t at all true. I have no idea what he put on my report but that figure sticks with me to this day. But to come up with my height when asked, I start with that 5′ 10″ which triggers a memory about an acquaintance scoffing about that figure, which triggers a memory of showing an absolutely useless doctor once how she is supposed to use the height measure tool on a medical scale where I saw my 5′ 8″ height clearly represented and that is the figure I give.

In thinking about this, assuming I’m not hopelessly abnormal, it makes me wonder to what extent childhood stories and allegories muddle or slow down the thinking of folks in later life. If you’re told something is true from an early age, by an authority figure, what does that do for your recall ability when you later find that the truth is otherwise?

For example, Santa Clause. You spend the first 8 years (give or take) of your life being told there is a Santa Clause, with a lot of exciting pomp and ceremony surrounding it only to discover later that he’s just a cultural icon rather than the beneficent gift-giving elf that you formerly believed.

Admittedly, Santa’s not a huge deal and serious questions about his existence don’t come up very often. But what about other things to which we have been confidently given an answer which is now incorrect?

This applies to many areas of our life: Foods that we may have believed are good for us turn out not to be so because of new findings. Practices in diet, exercise or other skill areas become outmoded as we either learn more about how things work or as different cultural fads come in and out of vogue.

Of course, there is religion with pat and incorrect answers for just about everything, but if you’ve read my blog you already know about my opinion of that so I won’t go into it in detail here.

I suppose the thrust of my thought for this posting, is how much change can a person accept and still function effectively? Is the “anchoredness” of the original memory or thought as I express it above a normal way of recalling things? Or do we routinely discard/dissolve/destroy incorrect information and replace it with new information as it is presented to us (and we choose to accept it)? Does this explain why some older people seem to have a stake in the ground and refuse to learn anything new after that point? What does that say about the ability of people to function as our average lifespan continues to increase year after year?

I must say that the circuitous memory path above is the exception and not the rule for me. But I cannot say if it’s just that the path followed happens to be noticeable in those instances and not in others, or if I truly just pull up the information directly when I need to recall other things.

Honeywell HZ519 Baseboard Heater Noise Issue / Rotary Heater Rotating Lifetime

Honeywell Baseboard HeaterAbout 4 years ago, shortly after the Georgia Public Service Commission completely abdicated their responsibilities and threw Georgia consumers to the Natural Gas provider “wolves”, I invested in a bunch of electric heaters to use as part of a “zoned” scheme to keep my house comfortable (heat only the bedroom area in the evening and morning, heat only the TV room when we were watching TV, etc.).

One of those heaters was the Honeywell HZ519 Baseboard Heater which has served us very well until this past year.

It still heats the area well and its thermostat works fine, but it’s taking to making REALLY odd noises as it heats up and cools down.

I swear it’s like listening to outtakes from Star Wars’ SPFX folks when they were testing audio sounds for the epic series.

I’m just curious if anybody else has encountered this. I’ve picked up the unit, shook it to see if anything is loose, checked to see if there was dust in it (used a compressed air can to blow out the vents) and can find nothing unusual save for the bizarre noises.

As an aside, the average life for Rotary heaters’ rotary apparatus, under regular (daily in the winter) use, seems to be just over two years. This as evidenced by my two Honeywell rotary heaters and my Holmes Twin Ceramic rotary heater. The heating elements continue to work just fine but those rotary components are certainly not meant to last a lifetime.

Kid impression of George Bush

**Update 2008 04 01** It turns out that this is probably just a lip-sync of a Will Ferrell bit. Mind you, it’s still a laugh and the kid’s doing a good job. Any Britney Spears fans can appreciate a good lip-sync…

Like or hate President Bush, you have to admit this is very well done.

I’m pretty sure that this is a much more professional production than it implies (a la “lonely girl”) but it’s funny nonetheless. The Bush administration has set science and education standards back untold years with No Child Left Behind and their meddling with the output and presentation of various government controlled or influenced organizations.

At least we can laugh a little bit. I enjoyed the revelation that Adam and Eve drove an Excursion… 🙂

As an aside, I found out recently that all those suckers who bought “H2” Hummers really bought “Yukons” with stylized bodies that shared NOTHING with the original Hummers that were being emulated.

Can you tell I have strong feelings about obscenely large vehicles bought for style but not for function?