A View Askew

(Or: Did the Dinosaurs See the Comet?)

            Feb 2014                                                                                                     Issue 8                                                                                                                      

               A Tired Dear Leader and Fellow Astrophysicist                                    (Worn out trying to explain theory of relativity to golfers)

Short Takes

Ode to the Middle Child

Feb, winter’s middle child. I was going to write a clever ode to Feb and call it the Winter’s Middle Child (you know, stuck between Jan and Mar with all the baggage a middle child is supposed to have.) But I got so wrapped up in famous middle children that I forgot. Check it out (click on link):     

                Famous Middle Children 

or copy/paste:  https://www.google.com/search?q=famous+middle+children&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=XH3pUuT7BILIrgHRlIGoDA&sqi=2&ved=0CCUQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=653

I mean look at the people who are middle children. Take that Type A first children and spoiled brat baby of the family!  I mean over 50% of presidents,talented artists (don’t forget Miley and Brittany!) Smart billionaires (and also Donald Trump.) And Bill freakin’ Gates!

Even though I’m actually number four of five I really have many of the characteristics of classic middle child: peace maker, go with the flow, creative, work as little as possible, marvelous lover (okay, made that part up.) I know, I know these are all generalities but there’s enough truth in this for those of us with at least two siblings that we can agree with it. Well, at least the things that are flattering.  

Soooo maybe I’ll work on the Middle Child Feb thing next year and for now I’ll go back to my astrological sign, Pisces: peace maker, go with the flow, creative, work as little as possible – and that other thing!

Winter Olympics – Is There a Point?

I’m sorry I just can’t take the Winter Olympics seriously. In fact, I don’t take the summer Olympics very seriously either. It’s not that I don’t respect the athletes (assuming you can determine who the athletes are and who the folks that are just goofing around with a hobby.) It’s that: 1) it’s about the money and, 2) it’s about the money. How else can you explain making countries bid to hold the games, spend billions of dollars and then stick the people with what are almost always money losing, white elephants? How else can you explain letting pro athletes participate in what are supposed to be – or were supposed to – sports for amateurs?  How else can you justify the number of “sports” and “athletes” that participate (and all with some sort of sponsor or other?) Sports that the vast majority of the world’s population not only don’t care about but couldn’t participate in if they wanted too. Curling? Half pipe snowboarding? The luge? Biatholon? Maybe that’s why the outcomes are so predictable - the US and China will win most of the medals – period. Know why? Because they have the biggest teams and the aforementioned types of pseudo sports that nobody else can afford (or probably want) to do. Even hockey, especially women’s hockey – in which only two countries have ever won – the US and Canada. What kind of competition is this?!

And don’t forget that nearly every Olympics has been plagued by corruption either at the International Olympics Committee (IOC) or the country level. $51 billion for a place that doesn’t haven’t decent running water?!  

I could come up with many more reasons and much the same rationale for the summer sports too – but I won’t because I don't want to ruin people's illusions. I will enjoy those few great performances of the sports I can understand and appreciate but we need to stop the quadrennial nonsense and go back to the original Greek concept – wrestling naked!

Not Everything About Aging is a Joke.                                                                  (In fact very little is)

My father-in-law passed away recently. Alzheimers. I understand that this is becoming almost an epidemic but it was my first close exposure to it. Here’s what I know: my dad had a heart attack and my mom had a stroke (but lived 11 more relatively decent years); both are very preferable (although the stroke thing is a close second.) Watching a big, smart, strong person turning essentially into a turnip is just very hard to take and especially how fast it went at the end (although a blessing, I guess.) Luckily, he acquired it relatively late in life – died when he was 88 after a very full and successful life. I am trying to imagine watching – or having – this disease when you are younger. I can’t.

If we don’t find some kind of cure for this horrible disease then I sure hope we re-visit euthanasia. Start stock piling pills today!

RIP C. Paul

Things That I Think About

Freedom and Safety – Either/Or Proposition?

I bring this up, obviously, because of the recent revelations that apparently our government has been spying on a LOT of us, in a lot ways and for several years. Like most Americans I’ve had a tough time making up my mind – until now.

The current controversy about the NSA spying on phone conversations and emails, etc. of individuals within the country’s borders wouldn’t seem, at first blush, to be that big a deal. But as we have learned, it is a big deal (Say what you will about Edward Snowden but at least he stirred up some interest in this – or we sheep might still be sleeping through this.) Apparently a LOT of our fellow citizens have been targeted.

There’s always irony. On the one hand, one of the biggest complaints about the entire intelligence process prior to 9/11 was that it was shackled with a terrible process for capturing and sharing information. So this whole government eavesdropping thing has been sold as a well-coordinated effort with plenty of safeguards in place and may, according to these guys, have already stopped a number of terrorist attacks (but they can't tell which ones because . . . they are secret - sheesh.)

On the other hand, there is the very uncomfortable idea of the slippery slope. The constitiutional safeguards of our individual freedom e.g. first, fourth and fifth amendments, can hinder the government from protecting us (according to our protectors.) But we all need to understand how precious those safeguards are. Or, put another way, how expensive our safety may be. Fortunately (or unfortunately if you are of that ilk) that leaves us with trusting the government which, with many examples, has not always proven to be the wisest thing to do.

I think we REALLY need to keep Ben Franklin’s words in mind: “Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”

Throughout history, among the first rights to be forfeited - or taken - are the right to privacy and due process. The Great Emancipator, Abraham Lincoln, very early on in the Civil War, withdrew the right of habeas corpus making it possible to throw people (read terrorists) in jail without charging them. In WWII FDR, authorized the wholesale “sequestering” (read: imprisonment) of hundreds of thousands of Japanese-Americans. As an aside, I wonder how “sequestering” German-Americans would have gone over here in Minnesota? In any event, it’s not a great leap of logic for today’s misnamed and never-ending war on terror - with these shadowy enemies in our midst - leading to an ever-escalating number of us (you & me, pal), criminals or not, ending up either in jail or on a list somewhere. And a list may be as bad as being in jail.

So how many innocent people is it okay to put in jail? Five? A hundred? A thousand? Or how about if the government starts to confiscate guns as a part of the war on terror? Think how the NRA would feel about that slippery slope for the 2^nd amendment. How many innocent citizens might instantly turn into criminals? 

Perilous times call for extreme measures or so we are told but here’s some perspective: 

- You are 11,000 times more likely to die in an airplane accident than from  a  terrorist plot involving an airplane    

- You are 1048 times more likely to die from a car accident than from a terrorist attack  

- You are 404 times more likely to die in a fall than from a terrorist attack     

- You are 9 times more likely to choke to death on your own vomit than die in a terrorist attack    

- You are 8 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist     

I’m far from a wild eyed extremist but I’m on the side of old Ben here – I think it’s gone too far. I’m kind of shocked and appalled that more of our brave congressman on both sides of the aisle have not raised a bigger stink (with the exception, of course, of the sometimes goofy Rand Paul.) Perhaps that's because liberals, in general, don't fear government activism (enough) and conservatives never met a "security" action at which they weren't willing to throw (lots of) money. I don't know. I do know that I wrote my able congressman and both fine senators but none seemed concerned (perhaps because they are of the same party as the President?)

Who knows, though, maybe Snowden has kicked the hornet’s nest, to borrow a phrase, and people are starting to wake up. I hope so. I think we might all be better off with a little less “Duck Dynasty” and a bit more attention to what our government is doing.

Antidote for Self Pity              

I volunteer at a local organization – formerly known as the Courage Center, now Courage Kenny - that provides therapy and treatment for people who have suffered severe brain or spinal injuries and congenital diseases. I like to think that I do this because it gives me an opportunity to at least pretend that I’m still useful. In reality, perhaps I just feel guilty about how lucky I’ve been and in some small way I do this to help wash away some of that guilt. Or maybe it satisfies some need to believe that I am a better man than I sometimes think I am. I’ll bet one didn’t know that one could be so conflicted about something as simple as volunteering! Thankfully, the folks that I help don’t seem to care.

I changed volunteer roles a while ago but when I started I would go in once a week and print out the therapy schedules for each patient and deliver it to them (to think a man’s self-esteem could be reinforced with such a small gesture.)  Well, it’s kind of a crappy job only because it tedious, repetitious and detail-oriented – perfect for an ADD-type of guy like me! The good part, though, was delivering the schedules to the individuals. I learned early from my “boss” that the patients neither expect special treatment nor should they get it; they are there to get as well as possible and to become as independent as their condition allows. It is pretty humbling to see people in various forms of paralysis and pain work as hard as they do - and expect so little from their caregivers. Again, I am a very lucky man. Did I mention that I had polio when I was kid? Total and complete recovery with no lasting effects except perhaps an almost supernatural understanding of how lucky I have been. (And, some would say, some mental issues.)

Every week I was exposed to various forms of everyday bravery from these folks and it is almost enough to make me forget my own guilt. One of the great rewards was to see people go home after several months of intense work. On one of my last days on that job, however, I received a very interesting insight into just how different we all view our life’s trajectory. A gent I had been delivering schedules to for over six months - I'll call him Weldon - was finally going “home”. Well, not exactly home but to a home for folks with his level of disability. And this guy was as excited as I might have been if I had been invited to play golf at Augusta National! His new place was in his home town and only a few blocks from where he was raised. This fine man, sitting in one of those reclining wheel chairs, was going home!

I admit to passing waves of cynicism and dislike for the human species, and sometimes (usually?) well deserved. But not then. The sheer joy on someone’s face for having such a simple dream come true reminded me that happiness isn’t so much what is given but more likely what we take from our experiences. And it is also a strong reminder that there is much to admire in my fellow men. 

I thank you, Weldon.

Critical Thought Corner

True or False?

“Common Sense is Uncommon.”    Voltaire.

And in the End . . .

Every Picture Tells a Story Don’t  It. (Thanks, Rod Stewart.)

Kudos to whoever put this together - of hundreds of forwarded emails I receive, finally one that has any value.

   Drivin’ Around

                      

Hangin’ with Friends

                    

 Date Night (is that Norm?!)

                             

 

Sand and Sun

Gettin’ Some Culture

                                                                   Enough Said!

See You in March

Thanks for reading and hope it wasn’t the worst 15 min’s of your life you’ve ever wasted. We’re off to FL – a month too late, I might add – and will report back with full details upon return. You may wait with baited breath. In the meantime,

 “Be a good citizen of your world . . .” and don’t be a dope

Quote Du Jour

“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.” 

                                                                                   Stephen Hawking

A View Askew is the sole property of D Roger Pederson, Mpls MN. You may forward without special permission but if you want to use anything here for your own purposes please send me a request at dpeders2002@gmail.com.

 A View Askew                  Issue 8