loco

People Try to Put Us Down, Talkin’ ‘bout My Generation

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One of my favorite bloggers recently made a ridiculous remark about the impact of Baby Boomers on our society. Rather than quarrel with him in the comments section of his blog as his guest, I’ll use my own blog to make a few observations.

The original blog posting and comments appear at http://dangerousmeta.com/site/comments/you_couldnt_wait_just_five_minutes/ .

Garret Vreeland had my sympathy in his complaint about some idiots who ruined the recently painted lines on his street. I feel for his frustration with impatient idiots willing to ruin anything. These are the same pigs who toss trash out their car windows. But, in conclusion, Garret blames the Baby Boomers. In the comments, he goes on to explain that it doesn’t matter whether these idiots were themselves Baby Boomers – the Boomers destroyed all decency forty years ago and everything bad today is their fault. (I’m paraphrasing. He’s welcome to backpedal and tone down such nonsense.)

Garret comments:

The behavior pattern started in the late ’60’s … I was around to notice the sea-change in our culture. Other generations since have adopted the same behavior, thinking it is ‘normal’. I feel justified in blaming the Boomer generation for the mindset (of which I am a member, BTW, though thankfully the very tail end).

Many sources agree the Boom ran from 1946 to 1964. Presumably, Garret was between 4 and 8 in the Summer of Love. Right there on the front lines of that sea-change with his thumb in his mouth.

Recently, Winthrop Quigley wrote a very thoughtful piece on Vietnam, following McNamara’s death. Quigley observed we are still fighting Vietnam nearly 40 years later. Some of those with strong opinions about Vietnam weren’t even born until after it was over. A similar strong vein of dislike for hippies, peaceniks, and Boomers lives on, even in people who wore diapers when Boomers helped to change the world. Were all those changes for the better? Clearly not. But, I won’t suffer lightly a fool blaming me for other fools’ bad behavior. You won’t change anyone’s behavior by insulting an entire generation. But, it is easier than doing something constructive. But, don’t blame Garret – he’ll claim it’s the Boomers that made him a whiner. peace, mjh

The Atheist's Pulpit

It ain’t Heaven, but moving to California is a bit like death [updated]

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Our friend Kathleen is 93 years old. We’ve known her for more than 20 years. During those years, Merri has been a surrogate daughter to Kathleen, providing her with hours each week of contact and care. Mer has filled Kathleen’s pillboxes (lots of pills – does anyone really know about drug interactions when so many medications are involved). Mer has helped Kathleen manage her finances, and much, much more. A year ago, Mer found a new senior facility for Kathleen to move to that was so much better than the little room she had occupied for years. Things were looking good – as good as they can for a near-blind 93-year-old with a generous and kind heart.

Almost monthly for I don’t know how many years, Merri and Kathleen have had lunch together, along with conducting business. Three or four times a year, I’ve joined them at Paul’s Monterey Inn. We eaten a lot of Paul’s extraordinary green chile chicken soup and petite filets. After years of getting the bacon from around Kathleen’s filets, Lucky has learned to smack his lips at the mention of her name. Our waiter and our friend is also named Mark. Together, we’ve celebrated birthdays and anniversaries and the good life.

A few weeks ago, Kathleen had a nasty fall. Overnight, this independent woman lost control of her life. (Her 24 hours in the ER testify to a horribly screwed-up health care system.) Although she has recovered considerably in a short time, she will never recover her independence. It is a tragic turn – heartbreaking.

Kathleen’s two daughters have taken the responsibility they should. No one could expect Merri to do even more than she has. Still, the result is that Kathleen, who expected to die in the town that has been her home for 50+ years, has moved to California, to a facility close to one of her daughters. I can’t say this is wrong – it’s not my decision, and the decision is so difficult.

We had one last lunch at Paul’s Monterey Inn a week ago. Leaving town isn’t the same thing as dying, but when you’re leaving your home forever and saying goodbye to friends you may never see again, it hurts as much. We’ll miss her.

Update: Nothing so confounds a writer like reality. Tonight, the Universe sent a message through its agent, Kathleen: What’s your problem? Kathleen called tonight to tell us how happy she is in the new place, which is beautiful. She remains a role-model for kindness, generosity, and rolling with the changes.

47

Today (7/4) in 47

Sightseeing Helicopter Crashes In Hawaii Decrease Following FAA Regulations But Proportion Of Fatal Crashes Increases
An emergency rule intended to reduce the number of deaths and injuries associated with Hawaiian air tours was followed by a 47 percent reduction in sightseeing crashes, according to a new study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Injury Research and Policy.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090626091129.htm

Experts: Big Tobacco Dead By 2047, Possibly Sooner

President Barack Obama’s signature on a bill this week to grant the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory authority over tobacco was historic, and represents a step in the march to eliminate tobacco use in this country by 2047, two national tobacco experts said on June 25.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090625201818.htm

47

Two 47s

Joe Biden is the 47th Vice President (per Jeopardy).

The Washington Post has won 47 Pulitzer Prizes (per Inside Facebook).

47

2147483647 in computing

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Is the Twitpocalypse nigh?

2147483647. You might recognize it as the maximum value of an integer in several programming languages, or the highest score you can get in a lot of video games, or a number that pops up when you get a database error message. Well, Twitter’s numbered tweets are fast approaching 2147483647, and, although I’m sure Twitter’s databases are properly configured, a site called Twitpocalypse is speculating that some Twitter apps won’t be prepared, causing them to stop working when they can’t access tweets beyond the magic number.

According to the site, the Twitpocalypse is scheduled for June 14th at 4:46 PM GMT

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/06/10/is-the-twitpocalypse-nigh/

2147483647 – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The number 2,147,483,647 is also the maximum value for a 32-bit signed integer in computing. It is therefore the maximum value for variables declared as int in many programming languages running on popular CPUs, and the maximum possible score for many video games. The appearance of the number often reflects an error, overflow condition, or missing value.

The data type time_t, used on operating systems such as Unix, is a 32-bit signed integer counting the number of seconds since the start of the Unix epoch (midnight UTC of January 1, 1970). The latest time that can be represented this way is 03:14:07 UTC on Tuesday, 19 January 2038 (corresponding to 2,147,483,647 seconds since the start of the epoch), so that systems using a 32-bit time_t type are susceptible to the Year 2038 problem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2147483647

other voices, WTF?!

WT-Swift-F?!

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Revived Anti-Gun Arguments
        All the tired old anti-gun rhetoric is floating to the surface again ("Obama Must Shoot Down the Gun Lobby" column by E.J. Dionne Jr.).
        How about a new perspective? How about a calm, objective reassessment of the First Amendment? After all, First Amendment freedoms have (damaged the) fabric of our democracy (more) than guns ever could.
        For example, so many journalists have been discovered fabricating news that it is entirely reasonable to require that all journalists be officially licensed. Licenses could then be denied or revoked — en masse if necessary — in order to ensure the integrity of the media. …
        And who could be opposed to the registration of computers? … And clearly, a system of background checks needs to be in place for anyone desiring to gain access to the Internet. Cyber-stalking, child pornography, malicious blogging — all could be reduced if some reasonable bureaucratic controls were introduced.
        Nobody had a "need" for more than one television set. Period.
        Let’s take a rational, common-sense approach to regulating the out-of-control beast we euphemize as "free speech." Surely the founding fathers had no inkling of the destructive power of the modern media.
        All honest, decent people would have to agree that the gain in emotional security would be well worth giving up a few archaic rights. After all, the Constitution is a "living" document, isn’t it?
        BOB CHRISTENSEN
        Belen

ABQJOURNAL OPINION/LETTERS: Substitute First Amendment in Revived Anti-Gun Arguments

Satire is hard. Christensen is a frequent contributor to Letters to the Editor. This is one of his longer works. I would read his blog.

However, I believe he just suggested that there is no difference between speaking and shooting. I’m glad we don’t hang out together. After all, saying what I think is no different than taking a shot at him. And, as a gunnut, he’s got a god-given right to shoot in self-defense. Don’t mention my name if you tell him about this. peace, mjh

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." — Sam Adams