So this guy walks up to a house and rings the doorbell. A woman answers the door.
“Ma’am, I’m a painter. I will paint anything.”
The woman thinks. . . “Why don’t you paint my porch. Paint it dark brown.”
So the guy goes to work an a few hours later, he rings the doorbell.
“Ma’am, I’m all done. By the way, it wasn’t a Porsche – it was a Mercedes Benz. . . .”
I see six competing dynamics on the question of drill or not drill:
1. Environmentalists — They oppose every effort to drill, create nuclear power plants or improve on carbon emission power sources. This insures America’s dependence on foreign oil.
2. Congress — Members of Congress tend to be doctrinairre, have little business experience and beholden to pressure groups. Decisions are often made in an ideological (and informational) vaccuum.
3. Alternative Energy Sources — It’s well established that wind, geothermal and solar will never amount to more than 5% of America´s total energy requirement.
4. Dependency — America is in trouble. We are heavily dependent on foreign oil. We are paying more and more for gas and heating oil. And the prospects for an interruption of our carbon fix is a daily worry.
5. American capability — The U.S. could be free of its dependency if it shifted to natural gas – a relatively clean (or at least cleanER) energy source. America has a 150 years worth of natural gas reserves lying near the surface. As to oil – we have substantial reserves which go untapped.
6. The Future — We need to examine alternative energy sources and employ them when and where feasible. But wind and solar are not the answer (at least not in current configuration). Nuclear is a viable option so long as safety is assured. But for now, America is desperate. Most Americans believe in water and energy conservation, recycling, reducing (eliminating) pollution, reutilization of goods, and so on. With this positive base of consensus, it would seem logical to have constructive dialogue on the issues and consider compromise on moving forward.
But it’s a hot button topic where I see intractable behavior on the part of environmentalists who refuse under any circumstances to consider or even discuss the most logical, economic and least harmful options. And to me, this is where the problem comes in.
Can you read this? This is very cool. It is a . . .
If you have trouble, start with “How our Minds. . . “
A man had a problem with a family of skunks that lived under his porch. He tried everything to get rid of them but nothing worked. He went to the local hardware store and asked if they had any ideas.
“Put lutefisk and pickled herring under your porch,” the clerk said. “That should clear up the problem.”
So the guy went to the market, bought a few pounds of lutefisk and pickled herring and put it all under the porch. The next morning, the guy ran downstairs and looked under the porch. The skunks were gone. But a family of Swedes had moved in. . . . .
You ought to see the list of “Favorites” on my office computer. I have an abbondanza of favorite websites. Literally hundreds of them. To keep them all straight, I have individual “files” in which I pigeonhole them: Humor (a biggee), Law, Language (and Translation), Magic, Music, Publications, Religion, Cooking (apparent from prior posts), Family, Autographs, Telephone, Calendar/Clock and Travel. Within each of these files, I may have dozens of sub-files. Then I have a host of miscellaneous files on restaurants, movies, chess, genealogy, motivational quotations (I’m partial to John Wooden), knots (yes “knots” – remember I was an Eagle Scout), financial information, maps, art, Sudoku. . . . and I’m just touching the surface. I find that by creating folders and then “organizing favorites,” I become more organized and favorites are easier to locate.
I organize emails the same way. For emails (and I am not exaggerrating) I have literally thousands of folders. Why? Because as a lawyer, for each client I work with, I have a file. Then for each matter I have a separate folder. Sometimes subfolders will have dozens of sub subfolders. And so . . . . Ta dahhhhh! Thousands of folders. When I get a call from a client about a matter from 2002, I can find it in seconds. Big advantage. . . . . I also have the obligatory email folders for Humor and Great Fun (for the really good stuff), Family, Autographs, Religion, Art, Politics, Art, Food and on and on and on. . . . . Perfectly organized. . . .
My desk? That’s another matter. . . .
Between 1776 and 1788, English historian (and Member of Parliament) Edward Gibbon published his classic 6 volume work The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. It is interesting to examine the causes of the decline – and fall – of the grand Roman Empire which expired in about 476 A.D. — not with a bang but a whimper. . . .
Ongoing wars and heavy military spending
Failing economy and high inflation — and high unemployment among the working classes
Declining morals, ethics and values
Demand for blood and violence in entertainment (Gladitorial “games”)
Antagonism between the Emperor and the Senate
Political corruption
Hero worship of athletes and actors
Dilution of the Roman language
George Santayana’s comment “Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it” in The Life of Reason comes to mind. . . . .
I penned a letter to my local community expressing concern about a proposed bicycle helmet law. I had read that my community is the only one around with a “Bicycle Safety Commission.” And that the Commission was considering a requirement that anyone who rides a bicycle in the village must wear a helmet.
I live in a nice community where most people are reasonably intelligent. With a reasonably intelligent populace, I question why they can’t make determinations for themselves as to whether they or their children will wear a bicycle helmet — or not. Do we really need another layer of regulation (and cost) dictating rules on an already heavily-regulated, crushingly-taxed and ordinance-saturated community. With a reasonably intelligent populace, most will likely make good decisions. And most will require their children to wear helmets and wear them themselves.
We do, however, need strict laws that require all children who step outside the door of their home to be fully bubble-wrapped from head to toe. You can never be too careful and heaven knows that most parents are not smart enough to discern potential risk to un-bubble-wrapped children.
In 1969 I was in Tucumcari, NM. I was interested in Indian artifacts so I took a drive to “look around.” Outside of town, I took the long road of the Chappell Spade Ranch along the Canadian River. I pulled up to the ranch house where a man was standing. I asked if there was a place one might find Indian artifacts and was told “Mr. Griggs” might help but he was out walking. “Out there” the man pointed. I was driving my 1964 Ford Falcon Sprint – ragtop. Top down. So I headed off into the desert — driving on a two tire track “road.”
I bounced along and found Mr. Griggs about 2 miles out. I asked about artifacts and he shrugged. “You just have to look.” Big help he was. He asked if I’d drive him back to the ranch – so I said “sure” and he hopped in.
We came to the top of a rise. Below, the two tire track ruts were full of water from rain the night before. He said “you better gun it or we’ll get stuck.” So I did. Whoosh! Down the hill. And then I suddenly jammed on the brakes – skidding and splashing to a stop with water up to my hubcaps. He said “what the. . .” I got out of the car and about 20 feet in front of us a big turtle was cooling himself. In the water. In the tire track. If I’d continued, I would have crushed him. I held up the turtle to show Mr. Griggs. I set the turtle on the side and got back in the car. He stared at me. I looked at him somewhat defensively and said “I didn’t want to kill the turtle.” He nodded and thought a moment “You did the right thing. You want Indian artifacts? Go that way” – he pointed and we peeled off across the desert in another 2 tire track “road.” And we stopped, climbed to the top of a butte and found an Indian burial ground. He told me the story of the Anasazis who had lived there. I found some neat things – some of which I took. Today, I have in my office a well-used mano (corn grinding stone) – one of three I found that day along with a metate (the stone on which corn was ground). Every time I walk in my office – and glance at the mano – I think of the turtle in the tire track . . . . and that very special day.
Renaissance Hombre and his Granddaughter – age 5-1/2 weeks (the baby – not RH) 🙂
A haiku is a short form of Japanese poetry characterized by three qualities:
1. There are three stanzas of 5, 7 and 5 syllables;
2. In this highly abbreviated poem, there are two well-defined images (with a kireji or “cutting word” between them); and
3. The subject is usually drawn from the natural world (often seasonal).
The most famous composer of haiku poetry was Matsuo Basho (1644-1694). He was the grand poet of the Edo period and his poetry has achieved international renown. His works frequently appear on Japanese monuments and at traditional Japanese sites. Basho’s most famous (and probably the best known example of) haiku was “The Old Pond.”
Fu-ru-i-ke ya
Ka-wa zu to-bi-ko-mu
Mi-zu no 0-to
The translation?
Old pond
A frog leaps in
Splash
I tend to think that haiku can be a poignant teaching tool for students since it requires structure, thought, concentration and result. Face it — if the three elements of haiku are present, how can the haiku be bad?
Winter Squirrel by Renaissance Hombre
A squirrel sits still
His tail begins to move
And away he goes
Move over Mister Basho. . . . .
Renaissance Hombre 