Crow's Crank

cycling rank

2011-05-12T08:41:00.000-07:00

Here is what I’m sick of: The near constant bullshit from the venom spewing mouths and angry typing finger tips of people who simply want to hate on cyclist. That, and the fact that this morning crazy-driver-dude aggressively passed me on my left between signs within a block when I was attempting a left turn in to my place of business. This rant won’t be about how cyclists are without fault, because they/we clearly are not. We roll through stops, we run lights, we fail to yield – all pretty much the same moving violations that automobile drivers find themselves doing, or being ticketed for from time to time. In fact, cyclist and drivers aren’t so very different. We often use the same roads. We abide by and break the same traffic laws. Hand signals, of all manner, are the same between cycling and driving. Drivers often lock a Club to their steering wheel to avoid theft, while cyclists lock up their wheels to avoid theft. The difference is, and this is the very basic, underlying difference - besides the two wheels and no motor thing - that when a car hits a pedestrian (or a cyclist) there will be significant injury for the person being hit. When a cyclist hits a pedestrian, sure there will be injury, but certainly not as catastrophic as a 150 pound person being tackled by a 2500 pound, metal object moving at 35 miles an hour. So, the bottom line is, resulting injury from mistakes made while moving. I contend that mistakes on behalf of drivers account for more injury than mistakes on behalf of riders, and when injuries occur with the contacting force of a moving automobile, the injuries are far more serious. Does this simple idea escape folks? Does this idea of mass and force mixed with speed evaporate for folks when they get into their vehicles? I think yes. Failure to realize that the basic result of a driving mistake can lead to death of another person is really the only reason I can come up with that explains why: 1) drivers behave the way they do on the road and 2) drivers behave the way they do when writing or speaking about cyclists.

check out my wife's (our) travel blog

2010-09-13T10:51:00.001-07:00

ooopps.

2010-08-04T15:33:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I blogged. My bad.

neighbors

2010-08-04T15:26:00.000-07:00

Hi, I'm Crow. I live in the neighborhood.

All I can say is welcome to the 'hood. There was a line in a movie that I don't remember the title to that pretty much sums it up; "Embrace the suck."

Crow.

NYC - Busted

2009-09-28T13:41:00.001-07:00

Craigo and I made the trip our east to NYC - Manhattan baby. We drank and ate our way throught the city. Our host, a consumate foodie and bar snob noted that he has never busted a city to the extent that we did on our whirl wind tour.

Here is a sample:

Craft – this is newer style food, trendy preparations, edgy and front line New York food. Pricy. I think perhaps the price was a bit excessive for what we got. However, with a little better control on the alcohol, the price will be completely manageable. http://www.craftrestaurant.com/

Daniel – Over the top good! This is classic French preparation – spot on execution – world class service. Worth the money, but still, pretty spendy. Due to the economic down turn, they are running mid-week specials –something like three courses with paired wine for 99.00/person. You’ll have an amazing time for two hours. Comparable time/price to a show, and you’ll get to experience one the top five restaurants in the US. http://www.danielnyc.com/

Good Enough to Eat – Breakfast spot. Been in business for 28 years on the upper west side. They gotta be doing something correct. The food is wonderful. Great after a night of drinking. Even better when you can function properly. Price is very reasonable. 483 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY‎ - (212) 496-0163‎ http://www.goodenoughtoeat.com/html/story.html

The Coffee Shop Bar – Good eats, better views. All the wait staff are models. The food is good for breakfast, lunch and likely dinner although I have never had dinner there. It’s in Union Sq. so it close to everything including all the subway lines. 29 East 16th and Union Sq. W. http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/coffee-shop/

Porto Rico Importing – http://www.portorico.com/store/ Coffee for drinking now and for bringing home. An amazing – although small double espresso. The folks at the espresso bars really know what’s up with coffee which is strangely rare for NYC.

Café Pick Me Up – likely one of the best espresso’s I’ve ever had. 145 Avenue A
New York, NY 10009-4949
(212) 673-7231
http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/cafe-pick-me-up/

There is a stellar pizza place on the west side of Broadway at 92nd street. It’s part of a greek place. Lip smackin’ slices even at 11:30pm.

There is another pizza spot – Sal and Carmine Pizza - Pretty good pie. Don’t talk to the owner, he’s really grouchy. Been in business way too long.
2671 Broadway
New York, NY 10025-5025
(212) 663-7651
http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/sals-and-carmines-pizza/menus/main.html

Bubby’s Pie Co. 120 Hudson Street in Tribeca, NY, NY 10013 (212) 219-0666 . Pie is simply not as good as krissi’s but whose is? Good food in the middle of the night. You might want to try the fried chicken and waffles, especially after 12 am.
http://bubbys.com/

Dylan Prime - 62 Laight St, New York, NY‎ - (212) 334-4783 – Didn’t eat there, but had some cocktails. Expensive, but likely to be best bartender in town. I’d advise ordering a perfect Manhattan or just telling the bar tender what you like and letting them mix something up for you.
http://www.dylanprime.com/

Don’t got to Coney Island. It’s dead. Nathans hotdog, claimed to be the best in town are absolute shit. Stay home and eat Dicks. Better food, better service, less depressing.

AIG = get me some bonus

2009-03-18T07:14:00.000-07:00

AIG's CEO Edward Liddy claims that in the cold, competitive reality for customers, revenue and employees, we (AIG) had to pay the bonuses.

I'd like point out that the people getting bonus were from the financial products division. This is the division that has often been cited as the source of failures which have caused, or helped cause, the implosion of the company and subsequent 180 billion dollar federal bail out.

A few questions for you Mr. Liddy: 1) Who is competing for these employees? The US government owns 80% of your private company because of these valued employees’ failures. If in fact there is such fierce competition for these folks, then I've got to wonder who would hire them. 2)Why would AIG want to retain anybody who contributed to such a catastrophic collapse. 3) Why is it that employees who cause a multi-billion dollar collapse get bonuses while manufacturing industry employees are fired, have their retirement stripped, benefits gutted, or simply have their jobs outsourced? 4) Why is it that 11, million dollar or more bonuses were paid to people who no longer work at AIG? In this case, it can't possibly be that AIG is competing for revenue, customers and its valued employees. It simply can't, for the obvious reason that at least 11 people who received the money don’t work for AIG.

This last point brings us to really the crux of the issue and why the issue has so much traction in the press. Liddy claims, - it was necessary - the reality is that the bonuses represent simple entitlement. It very may well be contractually legal. There may be rationales by Liddy and his like to justify these bonuses but, this simply stinks. While the public may not be able to understand collateralized, bundled, equalized hub-dub-ary, I think it has recognized AIG and it’s bonus collecting executives for what they are – a bunch of greedy, entitled, legitimized crooks.

cake

2009-03-12T10:24:00.001-07:00

Okay, I admit upfront that this is just another piece of pile-on, in the case of the dubbed octa-mom, Nadya Suleman. That being said, it’s truly a shame that Dr. Otto Octavious, the Spiderman villain, will likely have his name forever besmirched as a true villain by a over-fertilized, wana-be mom.

So we know that Suleman had 6 kids in her brood already. We know that she artificially womb-dumped 8 more into this world. We know she has no job. We know she is a single mom. We know all of this and yet what I don’t know is how any insurance company covering this allowed any of it to occur. I wonder because, just recently I had a root canal which is to be followed up by a crown. All told, I’ll spend a good chunk of change on what insurance doesn’t cover. I have a job, I pay my insurance premiums, I didn’t opt for the gold crown, and I don’t expect anybody else to pick up the tab for my dentistry.

Please don’t take this as an endorsement of the current insurance system that we like to call the best medical care in the world. I don’t like it, but it’s currently the only game in town. I play by the rules and say with in the monetary limitations set by the plan and pay out of pocket when I exceed the limits. That said, I’d support one-payer healthcare options or some sort of universal health care.

I wonder why is it that when octa-mom-to-be pushes out extra kid (and we all know kids aren’t cheep) it seems that there is money to pay for the procedure to implant, the birth, the after birth special care…and so on.

What happened to managed care? When I read my insurance plans, what little I can understand, it seems that there are dollar limits for everything. Perhaps Suleman has stumbled on a large (big enough for a family of 14 and a single mom) loophole which says, “Have as many kids as you like, ‘cause we’ll pay.”

Perhaps Suleman doesn’t have insurance, or perhaps she has dried up her insurance allowance (unlike her desire to have kids) which is where public support comes in, and it will come for a long, long time. Come to think of it, the state of California will be paying for these 14 kid for the rest of their live one way or another.

So now comes the question of should the state pay for these decisions and the consideration of tough love in this situation. Can we as a society truly consider turning 14 kids and their stupid mother out on the street to fend for themselves? The answer to this question is resoundingly NO! Why no? Look at what is already happening. Actions speak louder than words and stuff is being paid for to support Suleman’s selfish decisions. Even considering all the hand wringing and talk of how crazy she is, Suleman is still getting the care, the house and the money to live. By the photos I’ve seen, it seems she is living pretty well too.

Why, I ask, if we as a society are unwilling to turn out a crazy woman who can’t stop having kids, who will cost the taxpayers many, many dollars, who is ultimately very selfish, why don’t we seek to include people who do have jobs but can’t afford insurance, who have to choose between house payment, food and insurance premiums, whose only mistake is taking a job without an adequate insurance plan? Why is it that we allow ourselves to turn our backs on 50-86 million uninsured or under insure people?

With all this in mind, It seems to me that all those hard-core, anti one-payer types should really reconsider their position. Why? Because, if your mantra is something like, your gotta pay to play, which translates to you must have insurance to get medical care, then you really can’t have any sympathy (in the form of extra money) for this octa-reproduct-o-factory and her other kids.

In other words you can’t have your cake and eat it too!

Taxes

2009-02-24T20:59:00.000-08:00

I happened to hear a bit of Dori Monsen's show today on KIRO. Like so many other days, I always swear that I'll never listen to that fool again. That being said, here I am commenting on Monsen and his follower's sheer doofusness.

I say, in response to Dori's rally against raising taxes, or his most recent critisism of Christina Gregoir's campaign promise to not raise taxes, that in fact no taxes should be raised.

Like Dave Ross has said, this is the most appropriate time to let the well run dry. Let's not raise taxes and find out what happens. Let's roll up the carpet of government by a third or one half and find out what Dori and his dori-mights do when shit stops.

The point is. There have been promises made on both sides of the ticket to not raise taxes. The economy is in the crapper already. What could it hurt to just keep the promise that republicans and Dori alike are licking their lips for?

Let's just let it ride and see who asks for new taxes first.

then there is this other woman...

2009-02-21T22:55:00.000-08:00

who had another 8 kids.

NO Job.
Big debt.
6 kids already.
WTF

File under the heading - Don't let this happen to you!

2008-12-30T09:27:00.001-08:00

I was reading the local paper, specifically the the letters to the editor, when I ran across this! As the title is written, "Big Family Inspires on Many Levels," you can imagine the opinion is about. Here is the executive summary. Conservative right Arkansas family keeps having kids (18 at the latest count) and that's OK. Well, as you might imagine, the op ion raised a few hackles with me. As I was spinning myself up to write some thing criticizing any person who would "choose" to have 18 children, I came across this.

Thanks to Erica Barnett for so eloquently hitting all of the points I would have attempted myself. That being said, I have to respond to the idea of what thoughts, in fact, a family of 20 (18 kids 2 spawning machines) actually inspires.

Here is the top ten list:

10) It should inspire women to just say no... to sex, forced servitude, limited education...
9) Vasectomy
8) Is anybody really surprised that a dude with the name Jim Bob Duggar can't stop impregnating his wife?
7) Once again, the Republican Party, right wing, conservative family values triumph!
6) If you want to be treated like a baby making machine, start at age 17 and don't stop until the eggs dry up or god comes in to your bedroom and says stop.
5) Whatever happened to replacement value?
4) Hey Duggar, why don't you adopt one or more of those hard luck, poor kids who come from broken, fatherless, abusive homes?
3) Polygamy is illegal but siring 18 children with one woman on one income is lauded as the work of god?
2) Hey, Duggars, thanks for attempting to keep the human race populated by yourselves.
1) I'm sure those 18 kids really appreciate all the time the parents can spend with them. Of course dad is working most of the time to bring in enough cash to feed the lot. Then there is that pesky 24 hour day, 8 of which is spent sleeping. Lets just say that there 3 hours of work per day. That leaves 13 hours of kid time. But wait, some of that time has gotta be saved for more baby making. There is some home schooling there. What about post postpartum depression. I guess after 18 some odd pregnancies you either learn how to deal with it or you've just resolved to not be postpartum for very long.

Oh well. This is the holiday season. So, I should wish the Duggars a merry Christmas. Yes! The birth of Christ, and point out that god had the good sense to stop after one.

kids are too soft

2008-12-15T13:21:00.000-08:00

What is the deal with people not shoveling the sidewalk. Isn't there suposed to be an small army of kids roaming American neighborhoods offering to shovel the walkway snow?

I did mine, and the neighbor kid and his little brother looked at me like I was a fool. Looking down the sidewalk today reveals that for one half city block, it's clear sailing. Of course, after a walker exits my area, it's back to slip-and-fall-o-rama.

Back to the kids. I know there are some enterpising youth in the hood that I reside, but what is the deal with no action. A quick survey of the several block where I live indicates that infact, less than 5% of the walks are clear.

Sucks to be old and fearful of falling on brittle bones.

Well, I guess I could write it off to just not getting enough snow in this area for anybody to care too much. Or perhaps it is equally likely that folks just don't have the tools to deal with the snow. But for the next few days, I see a golden oportunity to make some cabbage.

Drivers should get off their high horse

2008-12-15T13:12:00.001-08:00

Regarding a handful of letters about what bicyclists should do, should wear for safety, how they should behave on roads, licenses they should get and even what taxes they should pay, I respectfully submit the following: Get your own automotive house in order before demanding the cycling-should-do list!

That being said, let's review the list of things drivers should and shouldn't do. You should stop at all red lights and stop signs. You should yield to pedestrians who wish to cross the street. You shouldn't get all liquored up and go out driving only to crash into other parked cars, vans carrying families, pedestrians, trees or large bodies of water.

You should remind yourselves that motor vehicle accidents still top most lists as the leading cause of accidental death. You should pay more attention to the road and stop applying makeup, eating, texting, reading, fiddling with the radio or reaching into the backseat. Perhaps if you were watching the road, checking your blind spots, scanning for hazards, anticipating problems and generally being a truly responsible motor vehicle operator, then those pesky, difficult-to-see cyclists would be more visible.

You should behave so that the term "road-rage" will never be applied to you. As you sit alone in traffic, you should consider car-pooling, taking the bus, a shorter commute or even riding a bike. Perhaps you should investigate the true costs of driving, such as the social costs associated with sprawl-type development, the medical costs of soaring childhood obesity rates and the cost of military spending in oil-rich regions of the world.

Finally, the Toyota Motor Corp. suggested in one of its marketing campaigns that perhaps we should all thank Prius drivers for contributing fewer CO2 emissions. I say, one more thing drivers should do is thank cyclists for simply driving less.

For those considering having a baby, or buying a Ford.

2008-11-22T10:19:00.000-08:00

Aran, and guest blogger submits the following:

It was Friday night and Gretchen and I thought it would be nice to go down to Central Market for a cheap dinner. Everything was going well, we had a nice little dinner and got in some shopping. Elsa was starting to fuss so we packed things up and made our way to the checkout. And that's when our luck ran out. It started raining pretty hard and being rookie parents, I suggested that Gretchen and Elsa wait inside and I would run out to car and drive it back so they wouldn't get wet. Right at that moment, the rain really started to pour down, it was cold and dark and I wasn't wearing any rain gear. As I pulled the car around Gretchen ran up with Elsa in her arms and jumped into the back seat to strap Elsa into her car seat. The rain continued to flow down as I loaded the stroller and all the other baby stuff into the car. After getting everything loaded up, I then jumped back into the driver seat. I was cold and dripping wet, the windows were all fogged up and all you could hear was the rain pelting the car and Elsa sreaming in protest, because she hates her car seat. In a calm voice I tried to reassure her that we would be home soon. I went to turn the key and nothing happened, the lights and radio came on but not the engine. For the next twenty minutes I tried everything to get the car started, to make things worse Elsa was really belting out her frustration. I could stand outside of the car in the cold rain where it was quiet or I could sit inside and be dry and listen to Elsa scream.

To make things worse Gretchen and I both forgot our cell phones. At that moment, we would of gave anything to have our cell phones, just because we could of called a friend to help get us home. Niether one of us could remember a single persons phone number because that info is programed into our cell phones. To get us through this crisis we had to join AAA road side assistance to have the car towed, call a taxi that has an infant car seat attachment, and find a shop in the area that could work on the car. All of this on a Friday night around 9 PM. We also needed the tow truck driver and taxi to arrive at the same time, because its still raining. After waiting for 45 minutes the tow truck driver arrived and then we waited with the tow truck driver for anther 20 minutes until we finally had to accept that yellow cab wasn't coming and Elsa wasn't happy. I guess in desperate times you do things you normally wouldn't do. So we bribed the tow truck driver to take us home after he dropped off our car with the mechanic. I guess its agianst the law and tow truck policy to put two adults and an infant without a car seat in the front cab of the truck.

In the end we made it home safely, that cheap diinner wasn't so cheap and I will never buy a Ford again. Because what pisses me off the most is that I've done all the scheduled maintance on that Explorer and it has less than 60K miles....the car shouldn't off just died like that. And these guys want a bail out, maybe they should make cars that work.

Eight is Hate

2008-11-15T21:41:00.000-08:00

So today, I walked with a few thousand other people to chant and cheer for equal rights.

It's obvious to say that the crowd supports equality for all now. The order of the day was opposition of the Prop 8, CA constitutional change that prohibits gay marriage.

My comment on this entire subject reverts back to a simple litmus test I use for evaluating laws and policy: Does it increase or decrease freedom or choice? Clearly in the case of prop 8, there is a decrease in freedom.

Shame on you Californians!!!! You too Florida. However, in the case of Florida and the current conservative octogenarian population currently voting in the state, I could halfway understand. Give the Florida situation a few years, and things will change. That being said, there is no excuse for a bellweather state such as California to make such a blunder as limiting freedoms.

On the bright side, and if todays crowds are any indication, perhaps the frustrations of the masses who desire change and equality have been ruffeled enough to act.

One of the speakers, who I could barely here advised that for the next year, the 10th of every month would bring a new rights-sporting opportunity. FYI. You heard it here first.

2008-11-10T20:50:00.000-08:00

Just unstuck the mystery jam in my Brother printer. It made the worst cracking sound when I attempted to print off my spin work out just minutes prior to my class today.

I note this because the printing problem has been resolved and I feel good about the "repair" which really just involved opening all the various door on the printer and then closing them.

With that said I listened to Dave Ross today. Not much to report. There was some talk about Rev. Jesse Jackson's son noting that all (paraphrasing) the black community now is reflecting on the president. It's interesting to think about this in that Jackson's comments seem absurd, but are they really? Take me for example, do my actions reflect back W? I would hope so, but really I think not. However, in the sense that there are those out there who still don't think a black politician should hold the highest office, perhaps the actions of us minions do reflect back.

That being said, having a black president is not a racial get out of jail card for anybody. Live still takes effort. Just because Obama is President, doesn't make getting in to Harvard Law any easier for anybody. And, for people who struggle with bigotry, it's still going to be an effort to learn another way of treating people.

So, the thing I find most exciting about the whole election process is that there is this sense of hope and excitement in the future of our country. It's a new feeling for most I think. For some, those who have felt the thumb of oppression in what ever form it takes, this feeling is new and possible something they have never felt. It is this feeling and energy, that must be harnessed to the struggles we all face.

Back to the printer. I know, lame comparison, but I had thought that the printer had crapped out and the struggle I faced, I was not looking forward to. In the end with a little effort, I prevailed, but that was not before I groused around the house being generally an ass.

Out

American Dream

2008-11-05T08:54:00.001-08:00

The people have spoken. In my opinion, and the numbers reflecting the vote of the people, the people have stated clearly no more. No more of the same old policy that for the last eight years hasn’t served anybody but right, religious elitists.

I listened to President Elect Barack Obama’s acceptance speech last night and I was exited as I have never been. For the last several elections, even with Clinton, the rhetoric always seemed hollow and laced with promises that never seemed to materialize for me or people like me. However, with Obama’s speech, it seemed to be more of a promise of hard work and asking all to carry the load. This idea really resonates with me, because as much as it is a politician accepting responsibility, it perhaps is a chance for the people to once again accept their responsibilities for a great society.

The idea of race is exciting. I’ll just say that there seems to be an excitement of possibility that has never existed. All manner of good can and likely will spring from simply the inspiration of last night’s election. As I sit here, pecking out these words, my mind jumps from folks (really of any race) who haven’t felt represented or connected here in the US to the world which has been watching our democracy at work. Perhaps this is the air of excitement and promise that I spoke of earlier. Perhaps it is just that people have an innate sense of true possibility.

Now on to elements of the speech that I liked: I especially liked it when Obama told Republicans that he may not have been their candidate, but he would be their president and he would work for them. I liked the relatively few promises proposed, and finally I liked his personal piece about the 106 year old woman who, in her age really represented everyone.

My impressions are amazement, relief, and satisfaction. I am amazed that this country could make history in this manner. It seems so organic, real and raw in a way that Carl Rove could have never orchestrated. I feel relief from almost two years of tension. And finally I feel satisfaction in the notion that the people have spoken and for perhaps the first time, have finally been heard.

Mad Money

2008-09-29T15:26:00.000-07:00

The more I hear about the bailout (now a rescue) I think that it is just another Bush administriation calling wolf. The sky was falling after 911. Terrorists were all but rushing our boarders. Sadam had is finger on some sort of cataclismic button.

It's fear for sure that is being applied to us. Robert Paulson writes a reported three page document/plan asking for a seven hundred doller bail out. Hmmm. It seems that three pages of anything linked with seven hundred billion ($700,000,000,000)deserves more that than three pages. Not to harp too much on the Paulson plan, but a three page document associated with that much money seems to be more like the kind of the thing you slide to the teller an AnyBankUSA which says, "GIVE ME THE MONEY. THIS IS A STICK UP!"

mortgage mess

2008-09-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

I paid my big mortgage the other day. I paid it for the previous month and the month before that. Come to think of it, I've been paying on that debt obligation since I signed on the dotted line several years ago. I got a 30 year fixed at a great rate (I know, I'm bragging a bit) because I wanted the security of knowing what my monthly payment would be give or take a few bucks.

Now comes the mortgage-crisis of the masses. Essentially it's folks who were lured in to homes, actually payment schemes that they could never afford from the onset by other not-so-fine folks (mortgage brokers, and the entire banking/financial industry that thrived on easy money.) Inevitably lots of these fine folk crapped out on there obligations only to leave their assets on the market. Skip to present day, when lots and lots of fine folks have stopped payment on their obligations likely because they were faced with a decisions like food or housing. As a result, the market is flooded with homes of decreasing value, no buyers and no lenders.

Now let’s talk about responsibility. The fine folks who originally purchased the homes are screwed. Their credit is a mess. They are likely out of a home, or a bunch of money, or maybe they are still struggling by to make the payments and sacrificing other necessities like food and/or medical care. The point is, that the individual is paying currently for their part in this whole debacle. My question is what responsibility is being born by the rest of the system - the brokers, the banks, the multi million dollar CEOs who are floating to ground on their golden parachutes even as wall street institutions (Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns) crumble? Conservative rhetoric often pegs individual responsibility. So, I ask what is the responsibility of those who made (stole) all that mortgage money?

It seems that a partial answer is a 700 billion dollar bail out is on it's way. Our fine leader, Mr. Bush wants to ram it through congress (no lube) so that horrible things (depression) won't take hold in America. Hmmm, the private financial system (read in irony that conservatives will always say that corporate America does it better and more efficiently than government) which created the mess, (its executive and under-minions who all enjoyed the perks financial hey days) seem to the avoiding responsibility here. The bail-out is a 700 billion $ tax on the people (me and you and some who have already been hit with these f'ed up mortgages.) Great!

Now not only am I paying my own mortgage responsibly, but I’ll potentially be paying to bail out the fools (wall street institutions that we’ve tied our entire economy to) who have managed to orchestrate the biggest financial collapse since the great depression.

Thanks.

And finally, confidential to George Bush and the those right wing conservative think tanks: I’m trying to be independent and responsible, but your pro-corporation economic policy and blatant failures are making it really hard.

The National

2008-09-15T15:57:00.000-07:00

As I sit here at my da-man desk writing reports for da-man, I'm listening to the most excellent band The National.

These guys rock tunes with a message not bound in mundaine lyrics and bad melody. Fake Empire from the Boxer CD just makes me want to type faster. Of cours the only problem with that is that speed roughly coorilates to more mistakes.

Oh well. PS, I'm currently enjoying The National on non-Mac head phones, because they suck!!!

Crow...

Mac Ear Phones Suck

2008-09-08T08:57:00.000-07:00

You know those little while ear phones that Mac. sells with iPODS and all the other marvelous gadgets? Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. Well, no news here, they suck! I'm not sure why it is that I've had to buy several to find this out. The sound quality is relatively poor and the durability is absolute crap. Namely, the white becomes not-so-white quickly, the comfy band around the ear contact area disintegrate quickly and the wire mesh that protects the inner components of the phone is too delicate to be durable except when it poking me in my ear part all too frequently.

I'm done with mac. earphones. I don't care that what I got sticking out of my head isn't trendy and white.

Crow out -

See comments on habeas corpus dating back to oct 2006.

2008-04-08T14:59:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what to think on this. Is there some random reader and prowling the back logs of the Crow blog?

I'm aware that readership is low. Err... non-existent. That being said, why comment on this particular entry?

ewww, the wipe

2007-09-07T18:16:00.000-07:00

OK OK! I know everybody else is commenting Senator Craig’s toe tapping and the like.

One thing I’d like to point out in the whole situation is that Craig claims that he has a “wide” stance, which is why his foot touched the foot of the arresting officer. Craig also claimed that he was reaching down to the floor for a sheet of TP as an explanation of why his hand appeared to be gesturing under the stall wall.

So, the good senator form Idaho is always the public servant, which is why he was picking up toilet paper in a public rest room?

I can honestly say that I’ve never picked a square of toilet paper up off the floor in any public restroom; even the stuff I dropped myself.

The Senate shouldn’t be considering ethics charges against the man, they should be considering that one the of the best and brightest, handles toilet paper found on the floors in public restrooms….ick.

2007-07-27T14:06:00.000-07:00

DENVER -
Former Qwest Communications chief executive Joe Nacchio was sentenced to six years in prison Friday for making $52 million in illegal stock sales while a multibillion-dollar accounting scandal brought the telecommunications company to the brink of bankruptcy -AP

Good job Joe. Thanks for doing such a good job at showing folks how efficient, effective and competitive private cooperate America is.
I’ll just add you to the list of other fine examples of corporate accountability.
Remember the various multi billion dollar scandals at Enron Corp., WorldCom, Adelphia, Global Crossing and Xerox. Check out the list published in thisForbes article.

Various sources report that a Bush created Corporate Fraud Task Force is responsible for 1.236 corporate fraud convictions in the past five years.
For comparisons sake, I suspect 1,236 convictions is a small number compared to normal street crime convictions for the same time period. But, I’m sure there are the volume of money involve in the corporate level convictions is not petty by comparison.

Thanks to Larry Flint

2007-07-17T11:01:00.000-07:00

Ya gotta love the Conservative/Christian right – so self absorbed, so righteous and what great examples they set for us. The moral compass set by conservative and Christian leaders is dead on…

Senator David Vitter, for example, likes the DC escort scene. You may not remember, but the then Congressman Vitters shamed President Clinton for a little bit of Lewinsky on the side.

Vitters wife, back in the same era, said she wouldn’t be as forgiving as Hillary. In fact, Ms. Vitters noted on the record that her course of action, should she ever find that here husband had been wandering, would be to chop chop Lorena Bobbitt style.

It all reeks of do as I say and not as I do or have done. Vitters harped on the Clintons, and really the rest of us, for a little harmless hanky panky with an intern. All the while, Mr. Vitters was hittin’ it with a DC Madam. His wife, who should have been supporting Hillary, instead dumps on her and all other strong women who decide to work out a difficult relationship situation. Ms Vitters position: a vengeful eye for an eye (plus a little more) attitude. How Christian of her.

But really, what else is new. There’s the ultra right, homo hating founder of the New Life Church Ted Haggard who turns out to be homo loving and self hating.

In 1986 there was Jim “Cancer in the body of Christ” Baker who was exposed by Jimmy Swagart who later tearfully confessed on-air to his sexual indiscretions. After his 1998 confession and subsequent suspension, Swagart was caught with a prostitute by the California Highway patrol for driving down the wrong side of the street.

Then there is this bit about Pat Roberts leg pressing 2000 pounds! Dude is 76 years old! If you don’t believe me, Roberts brags about it on his website. http://www.cbn.com/communitypublic/legpress_explanation.aspx
Personally, I think it’s just a lie. Pat should know better. I mean this is the guy that warned Dover, PA, about impending doom because the town rejected the idea of intelligent design. Imagine that.

The point is; prominent leaders in the right wing, conservative values movement keep getting nicked for not following the moral compass they’ve set for the rest of us. I’m not sure why it is that so many no-name, schlub Americans continue to follow a movement with leaders who are clearly steering themselves in a moral direction that, at least according to Pat Robertson’s standards, isn’t leading to salvation.

Good Stuff

2007-07-14T23:58:00.000-07:00

In a recent Seattle Times article Chris Gregoire opponents are concerned about Gregoire’s close relationship with labor. Opponents state that unions and Gregoire are in a mutual back scratching position.

Well its true. Labor helped get a labor friendly executive and legislature. Let's remember, labor is the you and me. It is everyman working for some one else. In the case of the state workers who, as the Times reported, received a hefty raise labor is the army of people who keep the state running for you. They are working for you! Don't you think they deserve a decent wage?

At any rate, Gregoire’s opponents fear this mutual back scratching. I say, so what. It's about time someone - a real person- and not a corporation benefited from back scratching at the highest level.

crow

Sailing Fools

2007-06-06T22:35:00.000-07:00

hey gang,

Check out the simu-sailer in the links list to the right.

It's cool. But what else would you expect from National Geo?

Please don't breed

2007-05-22T17:57:00.000-07:00

mE feel so smrt

Holy mountain stages Batman!!!

2007-05-22T14:29:00.000-07:00

The next time I'm riding home and I think, "This hill sucks!" I 'll think of this stage profile

Visit!

2007-05-21T21:54:00.001-07:00

Remember Me?

2007-05-21T21:46:00.000-07:00

Snizzle

2007-05-21T20:32:00.001-07:00

Don't litter - It's not polite!!!

2007-03-22T07:41:00.000-07:00

...oops my mistake, this is a citizen's private stash of garbage.

Dudes!

2007-03-21T12:33:00.000-07:00

Joseph Frederick’s - Bong Hits for Jesus –

Folks you gotta pull you head out of whatever hole they are currently in. If the Supreme Court rules that the school has the authority to censor Frederick’s speech, then it opens the door (widely I might add) for all sorts of judgment on what can and can’t be said. Fredrick was breaking no laws. He was simply expressing a statement which the principal of his school judged to be offensive. The principal’s judgment and actions are not acceptable and neither is limiting the freedom of our speech regardless of its quality.

Bong Hits for Jesus - Bong Hits for Justice

2007-03-20T07:20:00.000-07:00

Remember Kenneth Star of Clinton and Moinca Lewinski fame? Ever wonder what he is doing now? Check this out!

After reading this article, it appears that the Bush loaded supremes are indeed right. That is, right (of center) favoring limitations free speech. So remember, next time you are protesting, don't write anything on your banner that is con traversal!

Confidential to Johan Museeuw: Your interview in the April, 2007, issue of Cycle Spot reveals what a tool your are!

Sly Stallone, Holyfield, medical marijuana… I must say who the hell cares.

2007-03-15T08:35:00.000-07:00

In the case of Stallone, he’s a rich old man. Who gives a rip if he is pumped up on ‘roids. Evidently the Australian Customs officials do, because he was popped in the airport the other day for carrying something like 48 vials of human growth hormone in his suitcase. Perhaps it was his vacation supply. What a habit. Of course if he was attempting to import it himself, I ‘gotta’ say, Sly, have you ever hear of FEDEX or some sort of high priced, discrete drug mule?

Then there is Evander -cruiser weigt to heavyweight-Holyfield who, as it turns out, is under investigation for being on the gear for some of those later heavyweight fights in his career. “Holyfield admits to taking a drug from the pharmacy, but says it was for a "hormonal problem." Holyfield claims Tyson was juicing as well. Again, I gotta say who cares. This is two men beating each other. If you have to pump up a little to get through having your head clanged for a couple hours, so be it.

Finally, there is medical marijuana. – San Francisco, “A federal appeals court upheld the U.S. government's authority Wednesday to prosecute medical marijuana patients in California, but left open the possibility that a gravely ill patient could defend against criminal charges by showing that marijuana was her only shield against excruciating pain or death.” Good job feds. REALLY bully to you. Stick it to the sick pothead who just wants to be pain free.

So here is the tally: We have one old man who the entire universe knows is on steroids busted for being on steroids. (Confidential to those police folks: good investigatory work, I had no idea Stallone what using. What a revelation.) We’ve got a heavy weight busted for juicing against a crazed, tattooed ear-biter. And finally, the courts upheld the authority of the government to prevent sick people form using THC. The funny thing is, all of these folks will continue to use, but it’s the sick and tired who are trying to deal with maladies like glaucoma, chemo side-effects and pain, who will be prosecuted for their use.

Surge spurge

2007-03-12T22:32:00.000-07:00

So, i guess the surge is more of the same from bush and co. Isn't bait and switch illegal?

Mail Bag

2007-03-09T22:39:00.000-08:00

Dear Crow, I ride an adult tricycle. I don’t feel comfortable writing into all those cyclo-clique blogs. However, I feel as though I have some of the same issues. Sincerely, “TriC-onfused”

Dear T-C. While I’ll never understand the need for three wheels when clearly two will do, I do have some experience with tricycles in the form of those plastic big wheels. As a child, I believe I destroyed a few of my own and likely my neighbors doing awesome skids and jumps on my family’s dirt driveway. Anyhow, do not concern yourself with second rate cycling blogs or the minutia perpetuated by them. I suggest spending the time you would have spend on two-wheel blogs shopping at your local thrift store for some keen pedal pushing pants to go with your third wheel. – CROW

Dear Crow, I’m young and I fear that I’ll develop cervical cancer. I hear it is real common after an HPV infection and that lots of women and men get this HPV. Sincerely, Fear

Dear Fear, cervical cancer, as with all cancers, is a scary thing. However, Fear, there is hope which may alleviate your fear while frustrating you at the same time. The stats are something like 90 percent of women will have been exposed to HPV by the time they are 30 making it the most common sexually transmitted infection in men and women in the United States and, up to 70 percent of all cervical cancer is directly related to HPV infections. The bright spot in all of this is that now there is a vaccine, which has proven to be highly effective against HPV (nearly 100% effective in clinical trials.) However, enter frustration, abstainers and the Christian-right don’t want to vaccinate young girls because they fear that cervical cancer has been the one barrier that has kept hoards of little girls from being sexually promiscuous. CF, I hope you haven’t had sex yet, because it might be a while before you can get this vaccine in you, and it’s only effective prior to exposure. PS, go see you doctor.–CROW

Crow, what do you think of low riding pants? - Pants down low.

Dear PDL, I’m Kinda up in the air on this issue and likely sexist at the same time. I’m not into (and don’t wear) pant that expose my ars. However, on the right woman a pair of well-suited, low-rise jeans is really nice. Think Lost’s Evangeline Lilly. –CROW

New Counter

2007-03-09T14:48:00.000-08:00

Really, the counter is old news but new to this site. PS, don't get the rather large 400 billionish number to the right confused the hit counter.

NEWS

2007-03-09T08:42:00.000-08:00

I happened to be scanning the news today. Here are the highlights and my sardonic comments:

The rich stay rich, and acquire more riches at a younger age. The top two mega-billionaires of the Forbes list…Gates and Buffet. So what?

Airbus forces European conglomerate EADS to slash profits 86%. I guess that’s a group of aristocrats that won’t be getting richer or younger. I sense some real production of gray hair. Of course, it’s the European working stiff that really took it in the shorts. Something like 10,000 jobs have been cut at Airbus.

More blather on the whole HPV vaccine debate. It really comes down to this. Boys are circumcised for health reasons all over the world. The procedure is generally completed within several weeks of birth to prevent infection and other penile peril later in life. While circumcision is widely excepted for it’s protective measures later in life, it’s blatantly unfair that a vaccine that has proven to be nearly 100% effective against HPV and subsequent cervical cancer in clinical trials would be resisted on the basis that the target population (young girls) may perceive a message from society or parents of sexual permissiveness. Is the Christian right really saying boys, we believe that snipping you is good for your reproductive health later in life but girls we aren’t going to vaccinate you against the most common sexually transmitted infection because we fear what message it sends to you?

I’m heading in to the weekend. The cherry trees are starting to bloom. Let’s hope there in no more snow down in the lowlands.

snow job

2007-03-06T17:39:00.000-08:00

For those of you wondering, this tree is just outside my house. It was a 15 second exposure. I waited for the moon.

'nuf' said

2007-02-26T22:47:00.000-08:00

Mailbag

2007-02-26T12:15:00.000-08:00

And now, Crow’s mail bag…

Crow, I’ve noted that the photographs you post of yourself never include a full face shot. Why is this?

Sincerely, NEED TO SEE FULL FACE.

Dear NTSFF. How astute of you to notice this about my site. I have intentionally intended to limit my exposure due to un-authorized use of my image for marketing purposes. You see, I am everyman. In that capacity, I potentially have the appeal of well…every man, and thus, my face has a tremendous influence on the markets of the world. It’s just too much of a burden for me to bear. - CROW

Why don’t you like cats?
- Cat Lover

Dear CL. Have you ever met anybody, besides Siegfried & Roy, who wanted to hang out with a creature who wanted to eat them? - CROW

Confidential to Pixie – there will be no feline in the house. You’ll have to suffice with visiting Steve on his crappy blog. - CROW

Crow, please advise me on how to make a million dollars. – You Suck.

Dear YS. First, Blogging, as I do, is sure fire way to your first million. Second, I recommend sports like cycling and Nordic skiing as healthy ways to find vast fortune and fame! Example: One-balled, cancer survivor L Armstrong – millionaire bike racer turned playboy. Finally, perhaps you should consider a career as a professional heckler. I’m not sure of its cash potential but in the light of whole Michael Richards affair, it’ll certainly get you some deserved press. - CROW

View

2007-02-24T17:59:00.000-08:00

Shut up and talk

2007-02-24T00:07:00.000-08:00

Yup, just talk about it. What ever it is open the door, swallow your pride, let it out and let it in. Oh, and try not to look like this.

Thanks to Extra Extra C and H-Bone for your thoughful thoughts.

Crow

Next week, Crow's mail bag.

HOT

2007-02-22T11:43:00.000-08:00

Art...Check it out

2007-02-22T11:34:00.000-08:00

CHECK ME OUT!!!

Caring

2007-02-20T23:43:00.000-08:00

Death

2007-02-14T16:53:00.000-08:00

I've been out of town for the last few days...

Most days have been spent with my dying grandfather. Now you may be thinking, are we not all dying? To which I respond, Yes, but not in the way that I've observed over the last few days. We (fat Americans) don't all die by starvation or dehydration unless my readership (all two of you) now lives in a famine stricken third world, sub-Saharan country. No, in a "recovery facility" (think nursing home) not far away for our nation’s capital, my grandfather lies in a state of suspended death. He is a 93 year old man who really can't or drink for himself but doesn't want heroic measures which will sustain his life. Heroic measures are life-sustaining IVs for hydration, feeding tubes, or ventilation.

I certainly don't feel heroic when I spoon food in to his mouth...pretty much against his will.

However, that is how the laws and policies of recovery facilities, Social Security and Medicare want it. No warehousing of old folks and progress towards life. Life? Really? Because, the only progress my grandfather should be making at this point is toward death. Its sounds horrible, but Sir, as I call him, physically cannot bring spoon or cup to mouth.

The shit of the situation is that my grandmother, Mormor, lives just a parking lot away from the recovery facility where my grandfather rests. Ironically, the food and "progress" that is required at the recovery facility is not required at Heatherwood where my grandma lives. However, Heatherwood, for liability reasons, won't allow my grandfather to come home to die (not eat and drink in the comfort of his own apartment.) Liability? Yes. Heatherwood is concerned that my grandfather will die in a fire if he cannot escape, which he can't, because he is not ambulatory. In another twist of irony, Sir's wish is to be cremated.

So here is the deal: My grandfather is a dying 93 year old man who doesn’t want heroic, life sustaining measures taken and is being forced to eat mushed food and thickened water. He is, at most, two weeks away from death but is forced to make progress towards life so that Medicare (which he has paid in to for 60 years) will cover his "recovery." He wants to die at home with his wife of almost 70 years, but can not because of liability at his apartment concerning his inability to get up and escape a fire on foot. In the end he wants to be cremated, which is exactly what Heatherwood fears will be their liability exposure.

Folks, I contributed to all of this in that I handled the spoon and cup, which brought the sustaining food and water to his mouth. I don't regret what I've done. But, I do recognize that there is a very fine line between the spoon and the IV. The fine line between spoon and IV exists between his recovery and my desire to prevent loss; life and death, and death and dignity.

Shameless Anna Nicole Smith Blog

2007-02-09T22:28:00.000-08:00

Ok, Ok, I know it's just poor form and shameless to pull this now dead media whore in to this blog to boost readership, but what the hell. If it's good enough for CNN then it's good enough for me.

Of course, I don't have any shameless photos of her... oops I guess I lied.

Still, the spending tick by in Iraq. Perhaps this was just a skillful hit planned by the CIA to move the attention away from all the crap going down in the Middle East.

Just thinking about this whole situation, I was wondering if in the first several hours of former President Fords death received so much media attention?

HHHMMM, I can't write about any of this stuff anymore.

It's Back...

2007-02-06T07:36:00.000-08:00

The Worldwide Spread of Birdflu

Shameless Ski Plug

2007-01-31T22:11:00.000-08:00

Check out the Smuggling going on here...

Teacher's view on leaving children behind!

2007-01-26T00:22:00.000-08:00

Thanks.! Er...I'd love to credit this to someone because I did not write it, but the email string was just too convoluted to figure out at 12:25 am. Anywho, more than you ever wanted to know about no child left behind....
The “No Child Left Behind” Act – A Teacher’s Opinion

I am a teacher and a member of the National Education Association. But my opinion on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act / No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) might surprise you. I think it should be abolished.

Several years before this legislation took effect, I began teaching. My favorite part of the job was inspiring students with a love of learning, getting them excited about their world and the events and ideas that have shaped it. I loved to see a student light up with the joy of discovery, feel a connection to something larger than the self, experience the satisfaction which comes with insight and newfound connectedness. This part of my job was the main reason I chose to become a teacher, but it has become nearly nonexistent since the passage of this disastrous piece of legislation.

The “No Child Left Behind” legislation mandated specific targets for schools to achieve, along with complex patterns of assessment. It has led to an all-pervasive emphasis on testing, proof of compliance, and numbers. The days are gone when teachers could teach a lesson just because the students wanted to learn about something specific, or just because the teacher had something unique to share. Now every lesson must be justified in terms of “standards” or “grade level expectations.” Every day is an exercise in acquiescence. Instead of helping students pursue their own interests as they master the essentials of a good education, they are taught that they must conform. NCLB has forced teachers and students to give up their own ideas about what is important in favor of what has been mandated. Individuality is suppressed, except as it applies to the learning styles by which students must master mandated curriculum. Creativity is dying.

Don’t misunderstand my point, because I know that standards are necessary, that there are certain things students should learn in each subject at each grade level. Standards are good. Obsession with standards is bad.

Ironically, the “No Child Left Behind” legislation has left many children behind. Have you noticed what is happening to the dropout rate? In most areas it is skyrocketing, as students who don’t fit the mold of what the government says a student should be abandon the education system altogether. I knew the problem was serious when I saw schools across the country canceling so-called vocational courses. Some students, in the days before this catastrophic bill became law, stayed in school because they loved shop class, or auto mechanics, or some other non-academic subject. But these are mostly gone now, as all the efforts and resources of the schools are being poured into one goal: compliance with academically-oriented government mandates. Instead of all children being educated, a permanent underclass is being formed. Was this the intent of the legislation?

Some students who are “improving” (according to the statistics) are casualties of this misguided effort, as well. By focusing on very specific learning goals, the school has become afflicted with a form of tunnel-vision. A mindset prevails which implies to students that there is one specific way to do everything. Even tasks as subjective as creative writing are reduced to a formula. Students who are creative without using the prescribed formula are told they are wrong, and they must change to “meet standard.” Micromanagement is the order of the day. And, another irony here, nothing is considered worthwhile unless it can be justified in terms of test scores. There is “zero tolerance” for anything other than approved topics and methods. Intolerance abounds: intolerance for different methods, opinions, intolerance for questioning of goals or methods, intolerance for those who are not like-minded.

Administrators, in fear for their jobs, have reduced teaching to checklists of topics to be taught, checklists of approved ways to teach. Variations from approved content and method are not tolerated. NCLB has reduced public education to a disjointed series of tasks to be mastered and measured.

The “No Child Left Behind” Act is essentially punitive. It would deprive schools which do not show statistical improvement in every area of funding. It would deprive non-compliant local communities of the opportunity to run the schools which their own children attend. If a teacher were to run a classroom in the same punitive manner, that teacher would be evaluated (rightfully so) as unfit.

NCLB is obsessed with statistics. Not everything in life lends itself to numerical measurement. The most idiotic thing I have ever heard a human being utter in seriousness is this: “If you can’t measure it, it doesn’t exist.” The disbelief was palpable when I realized some people actually believe this, many leaders in public education among them. Let me ask… How can you measure whether a certain math lesson will help a child be financially successful later in life? How can you measure whether a lesson in literature will help a child understand the vexing questions which have bothered him for so many adolescent years? How can you use numbers to measure whether a particularly poignant history lesson someday in the future will give a student the courage to persevere in the face of adversity? How can you measure a student’s newfound joy of learning? How can you numerically assess whether a certain teacher, class, or lesson, has helped a student grow into a better or happier person? You can’t measure that.

Is all this teaching our young people to think for themselves? Of course not. The fact is, what passes for education in public schools today is not really education at all. It is training. Education produces a well-rounded person; training produces a worker who can perform a task. Education expands the mind, enhances creativity, leads to new thoughts and unique constructs, and is very personal. Training is impersonal; it equips the student to perform an assigned function. Creativity: not needed. Thought: optional. Personalities: irrelevant. Is this really how we want our schools to function?

The “No Child Left Behind” legislation was well-intentioned. Raising academic standards was, and is, a laudable goal. But how, and at what price? The elimination of all non-compliant curriculum, a pervasive attitude of intellectual intolerance, a generation of students who view learning as drudgery, the suppression of personalities, a productive but largely meaningless future for the next generation? The original intentions of NCLB are not being realized, and the cost of continuing down this path is too high. More students are opting out, good teachers are leaving or being pushed out of the profession, all involved are being trained to suppress their own opinions, voices, and creativity.

I concede that all these consequences are not directly created by the legislation itself. They are all, however, the product of a rigid educational culture centered on compliance and numerical proof based on flawed and limited assessments.

The “No Child Left Behind” Act does not live up to its name. It is rigidly intolerant of free thought, invasive in the forms it mandates and the micromanagement it inspires, arrogant in its promotion of a single vision of what education should be, obsessed with statistical proof, deadly to creativity, and at its heart, dehumanizing.

Please hear this teacher, and others who echo these concerns. NCLB was based on an idealistic but flawed vision. It is an experiment which has failed. Admit this, so we can move on. Do not renew this legislation. There is far too much to lose.

Health Care Wealth Care Schmealth Care Plan

2007-01-24T08:20:00.001-08:00

Ok just a quick word on W’s health plan. The basics: Tax breaks ($7500 for individual and $15,000 for family) purchases of coverage through the employer or as an individual. Not bad. The plan proposes to even the playing field between employer plans, which are tax protected, and individual-open-market coverage for the self-employed, which provide no tax protection. Good.

But here is a question, If you don’t have a job, and thus no employer provide health care or individual coverage plan, will you get a tax break? No. Further, lets just say that you have a job, (Wal-Mart) and the employer works you 36.5 hours a week, just enough so that your aren’t eligible for the meager benefits; will you get a tax break? No. So, who really benefits, and what does this plan do for those who can afford or don’t have health insurance? Not-a-thing!

Where does there money come to pay for the tax breaks in W’s health care plan? Well, some of it comes from the fact that the benefit “income” would be considered taxable income. Other sources of money include proposed cuts in funding to public hospitals (like harbor view) that provide services to those who currently have no job, and thus no benefits. Does this sound familiar? Take money away for a public institution and give it to a private institution. The theory is that private application of service is always better. Hello! How many times do we need to stroll down the corporate history lane to know that this just isn’t true? Think Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, Various Airlines pension raiding and just recently Huling Brothers auto sales.

So, the plan is really just more of the same; public funding of private service providers for a slice of the population. What W should have said was, it is socially responsible to provide medical care for all of our citizens. However, W’s plan does not address this concept. It’s just a revamped, bi-partisan stamped fluff piece that does nothing to substantively address the real problems of health care in the United States.

State of the Union and Stuff

2007-01-23T08:09:00.000-08:00

Health insurance
Tax cuts for folks who enroll in company health care plans. $7500 for individuals and $15,000 for families. The catch is that the employer would be able to use the health benefit as a taxable income.
Immigration
Not much here since nobody is getting elected.
Education
We need it and there will be lip service in the form of the not child left behind program. However, keep in mind that the no child left behind program was designed to, as blogger Gerald Bracy puts it, “NCLB would funnel large sums of public funds into the private sector through vouchers, transfer much control of public education to private companies, and to reduce or destroy the influence of two Democratic power bases, the teachers unions.”
Taxes
NO NEW Taxes… wait that was another Bush. This one will want to make permanent the current tax cuts, I.E. keep the uber rich flush with money and give the rest of us those why-do-I-even-bother type tax cuts.
Environment
Blah Blah Blah. From what I’ve read, Bush plans to outlines steps to reduce the emissions of green house gasses and “pay” big business in the form of tax credits to do the right thing.
Iraq
I predict a policy of staying the course and the tried and true tactic of scary terrorism as justification for anything and everything.
Energy
How about this, real tax incentives for the consumer to drive energy efficient cars, real budgets for companies to develop real technology which will reduce foreign oil dependency, real change in our development paradigm and a funding source the comes from the same crisis mentality that allows the US to spend 360 billion thus far in a failed attempt at war.

Just in case ...

2007-01-19T00:11:00.000-08:00

you didn't get the card.

Now entertaining questions.

Union Schmunion

2007-01-17T22:47:00.000-08:00

I was going to write a big diatribe about the plight of the worker in the face of corporate greed, fleecing of pensions and unreasonable management. However, I decided against that in favor of just reminding people that in the working world, the time you spend on the clock at whatever job it is you choose (or are stuck in) is your life.

You are trading your life for a paycheck and hopefully some life experience.

My question, Is it a fair trade?

Blow me

2007-01-05T22:39:00.000-08:00

I happen to be walking the streets of Seattle today in the mitts of gust, which felt like 40-50mph. Forecasters were predicting high winds and the horizontal rain soaking my pants confirmed it. Seattle was experiencing another windstorm. I wonder, thought, how it is that people actually thing an umbrella will function in these conditions? The city maintained garbage can on the corner of second and pike in front of the Nordstrom Rack was actually overflowing with busted bumbershoots. I personally saw no less that one half dozen umbrellas turn inside out in the forceful winds. One poor little old lady opened a large golf umbrella on the edge of Westlake center only to have it torn from her feeble hands by a sturdy gust. I didn't chase it down for her. However I did help another little old lady struggling to cross second while navigating the wet and wild streets with a walker. In all the wind I don't know that she heard me ask her if she needed help. That may be why she cursed me once we reached other side of the street. Oh well. I'm now home safely. I just hope my roof doesn't blow off or that I don't wake up in Kansas.

hello

2007-01-03T21:49:00.000-08:00

It has been a while. Pixie car was stolen. That whole Christmas/holiday thing went down and I skied a bunch.

Chat later.

Tardy

2006-12-07T07:52:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I’ve been gone from the blogesphere for a while. I could make up a bunch of excuses but really, do you care?

Anyhow, in my absence from blogging I’d like to note that gas prices have gone back up. Hmmmm. I told you so. It’s a supply thing they say. Every year it’s a supply thing. Sometimes the supply thing is blamed on a storm thing or a war thing or even a terrorist thing. Every year prices creep up, and every year some sort of supply thing occurs. Now, Prudog as the economic genius that he is, could likely shed some light on the issue. In his absence however, it seems to me that if every year you know as a big company that you’re bound to have a supply thing then perhaps the supply could be addressed before it could become a thing.

On a similar note, its seems weird that gas prices dipped prior to the election and went right back up after the election. Maybe everybody was so riveted to the television for the latest political scandal that they just didn’t drive as much? Hmmm. Whatever. I ride a bicycle to work everyday. Bring on 4-bucks a gallon!

In other notes of interest, there is yet another report out that states, basically, America is paying a high price financially and socially for a failed war. Dave Ross of KIRO radio wonders why we didn’t learn from Vietnam? I wonder why we didn’t learn from the first election. But that is water under the bridge, ‘cause this most recent election certainly was a learning experience for Republicans and conservatives alike.

dooot tooo dooot tooot otoot (crow humming along)

2006-11-26T17:08:00.000-08:00

It's a winter wonderland out there and I'm so nice and snuggly in the crow's nest. Pixie has the place all primed with candles, wintry tunes and such. I'd invite you all over but, we'll be out for a while enjoying the snow from inside our favorite local Italian restaurant.

ciao

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-22T12:34:00.000-08:00

Monday Morning Hog

2006-11-20T09:20:00.000-08:00

Just your average morning bike commute. Helmet, Check. Garage door closed, Check. Fat lady in a minivan yelling at me obey traffic laws, Check. Me responding by telling her to shut her pie hole, Check. Getting the fuck you finger before 7 am, Check and priceless.

Here’s the thing, I was wrong. I scooted around you a few mornings ago, and I did it again today. I like to run the light there at Pacific and Rockefeller because when I do, I have a better chance of riding the length of Pacific Ave. without having to stop at every stinking, west-bound traffic control light. It’s the golden ride when the morning commute is stop free. Mmmm, the golden ride. So, minivan-driving-fatty, get used to me buzzing by your crappy van, which probably represents your crappy life, because I’m not going to stop chasing the golden ride because of your sour puss flipping me off in the morning.

May I make a suggestion? Why not park your van a few blocks away, for free, and waddle that fat ass of yours into work a few times a week? And hey, if it suits you, maybe you can j-walk just to piss off those suckers trapped at the light in their gas guzzling automobiles. It’ll be fun, and I promises, I won’t tell on you.

Veteran, Father, Husband, Man

2006-11-10T11:50:00.000-08:00

Armistices Day, known in the United States as Veterans Day began on November 11, 1918, the day World War I came to a screeching halt. Guns were thrown down, parades celebrating the end of fighting erupted, and the world began to move toward life without war.

Veterans day is about the men and women who are serving, or have served and are still living.

So on Veterans Day, I remember and honor my father, a living veteran of the United States Air Force. I don’t know too much about my father’s service, or what he did for America. He kept this portion of his life private, perhaps to protect his children from the grim reality of a soldier’s duty. Strangely, I hear more stories about the Air Force when he is sharing “war stories” with a few of my friends who are currently serving.

While I don’t have a clear picture of my father’s service, I do remember certain specific details. I clearly recall that he sometimes wore a green, one-piece flight suit that he called “The bag.” Closer to the end of his career, he mostly wore tidy, dark blue slacks and a crisp, light blue, short-sleeve shirt. One snowy grey day, my grade school sent the students home early. The roads were horribly slippery. My bus lost traction and ground to a complete stop while negotiating a steep up-hill stretch. My father happened upon the bus, while in his blues, and asked the driver if he could help. Yes! was the answer. In a few short minutes my father had spread enough sand under the wheels of the bus get us going safely. As the bus slowly labored away, I remember looking out the steamy window to see my father standing, ready, at the side of the road incase the bus’s progress stalled again. This was the type of soldier my father was, and I was never so proud.

Today, he is soldiering in a different battle. Daily, he struggles to care for my mom who suffered a debilitating stoke several years ago. She is paralyzed on the left side of her body and suffers near total speech and writing limitations. Without my father, my mom could not survive outside a cold, impersonal, long-term care institution.

He is her daily savior. He tenderly checks her blood three times a day (due to her diabetes) and logs the results in a hand written chart of his own making. He cooks, cleans, mows the lawn when it’s not flooded and feeds the dog. He talks on the telephone in speakerphone-mode so my mom can hear, and so he can add color or needed explanation to supplement her five-word vocabulary. He effective translates an ever-growing non-verbal language, which they share, including the many meanings of my mom’s favorite spoken word, “Zahugh.” As I encourage my father to chop off the few remaining holdouts on his failing comb-over, he assists my mom to color her hair as she always has. They shop on Tuesdays, gamble and have lunch out on Wednesdays and make hair or doctors appointments on Thursdays. Of course, in all activities, my dad patiently totes a heavy wheelchair, assists my mom in and out of the car and generally helps her get to where they are going.

He never asks for help.

They are two people, my dad and mom, but these days it is truly as though they function as one unit. My dad’s Air Force sensibility will bristle at this next sentiment. My father truly is an army of one. This is the type of soldier, father, husband and man he is, and I’ve never been so proud.

Voting, cows and old ladies

2006-11-07T21:41:00.000-08:00

Ahh, it looks like all the voting good stuff has been realized. However, I’ll reserve glee for a later date. In the mean time, cows are floating away up in the Snohomish River Valley. Whoever is doing the rain dance in the closet; you can stop now. Today I saw livestock being led to higher ground. Wow. The humans helping the animals had a strange sober look that I’m sure I’ve never seen before. I took one photo of an outhouse floating by, but I didn’t think much of the shot. Instead, I’ve included this nice old women hiding in Brooklyn. Enjoy!

Let it rain

2006-11-06T14:38:00.000-08:00

Hello all you I-933 supporters out there. Ah, the end of those pesky government takings is almost upon us. For those speculative folks out there, I’ve taken the liberty of snapping this photo of some land currently under water, due to flooding, which will be prime land for development when the flood waters recede. It’s flat, in the flood plain, and close to a major road. Plus, who doesn’t want riverfront views? Of course, the mean ol’ government now has regulations that prevent development of this outstanding lot nestled smack dab in the middle of the Snohomish River riparian area. With the potential passage of I-933, you could sue the government because they won’t let you build a gas station here. Think of all the money you’ll lose if your were to be prevented from burying several 50,000 gallon underground fuel storage tanks on this lot. Don’t worry; meteorologists say that this type of storm and record flooding will only occur once a decade. Of course, if heavy rains and flood waters diluting your fuel supply get you down, you could just take the easy way out, keep it natural, and accept a fat pay-off from the tax payers of Washington State. Remember; with I-933 when your real-estate investment tanks because of oppressive, intrusive and completely-out-of-line regulation, like no building in a flood plain, then you are entitled to compensation. Enjoy! PS, this photo was taken at noon. High tide will be at 8pm tonight. Count on another 1-3 feet of water rise. Hmm, that would be where I was standing … on top of the dike.

Sunday Mind Blog

2006-11-05T09:35:00.000-08:00

This should be the Sunday mind numbing blog or perhaps the Sunday never mind blog.... The thought has crossed my mind to just post this post without editing or spell checking. That would be truly dangerous and a direct window in to my small crow intellect.

Anyhow, Check out YELP.com. It's a cool review it type website.

Lots of the places you like to go, or would like to go and have never been due to no knowledge. Well, yelp to the rescue. People like you have likely yelped most places. It takes a little of the guesswork out of what ever it is that you want to do. If no yelping has occurred and you are the first, well you can log a first yelp review on the site.

Cheers.

who hayers and poo pooers!

2006-11-03T08:38:00.000-08:00

Andrew, Dem nay-sayers and GOP hay-makers, your whole shtick about the poor soldiers and how long it took Kerry to apologize smacks of so much hypocrisy. First, it’s an army comprised of “volunteers” from woefully economically disadvantaged regions of our country. The presumption that our soldiers are straight off of the Microsoft campus is silly. These are kids who are agreeing to carry an American gun in a dangerous, hostile place with the hope of making better life back home. So you gotta ask, what is going on back home that they are willing to volunteer and risk death to make a better life for themselves? So, props to our soldiers. Second, it’s all GOP political spin to take voters' eyes off the real issues. (See blog entry, The Truth, 10/26.) GOPies have seized on Kerry’s statement, the lack of apology and the “flip flop.” Blah Blah Blah. Kerry made a statement, realized it was received poorly, heard calls for an apology and finally tried to make amends with those he has offended. By contrast, Bush and Co have made decisions to go to war, ignored mounting evidence that it was going poorly and stayed the course, heard calls for change and stayed the course, endured mounting death tolls and still stayed the course. Kerry made a statement that offended. Bush and co. make decisions that end with dead soldiers and 338 billion dollars in spending for what end?

Stupid

2006-11-02T08:17:00.000-08:00

So Kerry made a mistake. So what? Various hay makers are noting that Kerry basically said that if you are stupid, you’ll end up in Iraq. Soldiers are up in arms. GOP leaders are gnashing their teeth, while Bush demands an apology. Who is Bush to demand an apology from the dude he beat two years ago? Besides, it’s not as if Bush has never said anything stupid. The fact that the GOP is latching on to Kerry’s lame statement is just proof that there is not substance to anything else they are saying.

Lets examine the sentiment of Kerry’s statement. If you are stupid you’ll end up in Iraq. Hello, we’ve been mired there four years with a dogged get ‘er done/ stay the course policy. We’ve killed more than 2000 service men and women, maimed countless others, ravaged Iraqi country side and heaped massive costs upon ourselves and for what great result? We attacked a country that had no WMD and can’t do anything about the other two axi of evil who freely admit to having or wanting nuclear weapons. Reliable sources note we are less safe now with regard to terrorism than ever before.

So yes, Kerry made a mistake. He has apologized and will likely continue to prostrate himself for the next several days. The fact remains though that Kerry didn’t put soldiers on the ground in Iraq. Bush and Co did. Kerry hasn’t maintained a stay the course attitude in the stark face of failure. Bush and Co has. Kerry didn’t vote for Bush in the last two elections, but just enough American voters did. So, who is stupid now?

WAR

2006-11-01T21:22:00.000-08:00

Still counting away at the cash spent in Iraq. Whoholamama that’s a lot of cash! Why are we, as a country, spending so much money in little ol’ Iraq? Oh yeah, the war. That’s right folks, we are at war. You know war; it’s where we send our people to other countries to kill other people and be killed by the people we sent our people to kill. You know, war! War is a bunch of killing, shooting to kill, killing to prevent more killing and killing to prevent the fear of killing in the name of terror. I think, though, there has not been enough killing to awaken the consciousness of America. Perhaps the good citizens of America whom only endure a yearly excess of 20,000 firearm related deaths, (according the CDC,) need to experience more killing in the name of war to get the picture. Perhaps more killing is necessary for citizens to realize that war is brutal, fucked up, tortured POWs, child killing, wholesale human slaughter, and that just staying the course might not be such a great idea. Perhaps more photographs of the killing zone or army hospital operating rooms piled high with amputated legs, arms and ruined lives need to flood our sanitized media. Perhaps all the cheap crap imported from China should be rationed so we can actually feel the killing we are paying so much money for. Perhaps voters won’t be mislead by all manner of distraction in the few days prior to NOVEMBER 7th. I know John Kerry likes to stick his foot in his mouth, but don’t forget, no matter how the GOP spins his dufusoidal jokes, war still grinds on. WAR WAR WAR! Four years of war and killing folks! Perhaps, the entirety of the Christian right and all the social conservatives hell bent on abolishing choice and preventing gays from marriage will realize that the side show in which they so fervently believe is just a spectacle distracting the masses from the real, grim reality of death by war. Remember, it’s the war with all that killing that’s costin’ 330 billion and counting.

FREE STEHEKIN

2006-10-31T16:10:00.000-08:00

Ever heard of the Free Stehekin? Perhaps not. It's a little known high school news paper that has recently gone under ground to escape the oppressive thumb of the man. The man being the principal who's wish is to have final editorial say in what is printed in the paper.

I say print on in the murky depths of the underworld young, freedom lovers. Why start so early with, arbitrary censorship of your thoughts?

Speaking of censorship, kids, keep in mind that low priced music sold at Wall Mart comes with a heavy price as well. What?! you say? Yes, this is just a friendly reminder that Wall Mart, the larges retailer of music on the planet, will not shelve music with lyrics that they find too objectionable.

Sunday chores

2006-10-29T13:48:00.000-08:00

BLAh Blah, paid taxes. Darn that government getting all in my grill and stuff. Finished the Pixie move and all. For a pixie her stuff sure is heavy! Hung, (well) some shelving to house all Pixie's dust. Attempted to order replacement parts for sun-glasses. I guess technically cool glasses technically break easily. Two in one morning. Of course that could just mean that I have a fat head.

That's all. PS, Steve and co. are getting fat!

TOP POT

2006-10-27T09:33:00.000-07:00

Due to the title of this particular blog entry, TOP POT the ATF, DEA, and other administration puppets are no doubt hanging on every word here in this little ol' blog, salivating over potential leads to the yet another unnecessary small time bust. Well, I hate to burst you bust bubble boys (and fed. girls as well) but, I'm speaking of the doughnut kind.

Which really brings me to the point of this whole entry. There really isn't much better than sitting in Top Pot on a Friday morning with a fresh cup of coffee and an freshly made, old fashion, chocolate doughnut.

PS, I can't be bothered to rant and rave about any particular issue this morning, except to say that TOP POT represents all that is good about choice. It's a local company that bakes in store, using wholesome ingredients. OK, I know a doughnut isn't generally the ideal of healthful eating, but the model of their production is good. Tasty too. Let me beat all the potential commenters to the punch. I am aware that TOP POT sells (some would say, sold out) to Starbucks. To that I say, so what? Can you really blame some coffee modeling corporate hack for wanting to profit off a blissful doughnut experience? So what if some dude in Duluth is eating a three day old, air freighted cruller?

The Truth

2006-10-26T08:22:00.000-07:00

The truth is that your vote is important. Blahh Blahh Blahh...I know, it's nothing that MTV hasn't spewed out in their rock the vote campaigns. However, let me point out one glaring truth: Republican control of all branches of government. Which means a rubber stamping Congress, which is un-willing to check the power of the Executive office, and a stacked Supreme Court that views, favorably, the policies of the Executive. In other words, the Executive has more power to exert influence directly on you now than at any time in the history of the United States.
What is the importance of this looming election? If people vote their dissatisfaction with the current administration by voting out Republican seats in the senate and house, then the Democrats can regain control of the legislature and start holding the administration responsible for a laundry list of grievances. Do you need a reminder?

1) 300 billionish dollar blunder in Iraq.
2) Suspension of Habeas Corpus in the name of national security.
3) Spying on American Citizens.
4) Complete failure to follow up on election promises of helping the disadvantaged through "faith based initiatives."
5) Stalling approval for completely safe medications, and various birth controls for religious/political agendas.
6) Rampant cronyism (think Katrina and the appointment of Brownie.)
7) Jack Abramoff, need I say more?
8) Torture, Secret CIA Prisons, and wholesale suspension of basic human rights at home and abroad.
9) Shameless corporate influence and profiteering at the highest levels of the administration. Think Dick Cheney's energy policy, or the companies were awarded lucrative contracts in Iraq.
10) Lying about WMD and the real reasons for warning in the Middle East. What is the real reason?
Perhaps this list isn’t Letterman Quality but you get the picture. Don’t you?

The current administration loves to hold poor welfare receiving people responsible for the meager Welfare to Work dollars they earn. Your vote will help to hold the administration responsible for the lives, values, freedoms and money they have spent.

End of the day! Humpy Blog

2006-10-25T17:16:00.000-07:00

Ok gang, here are a few items for your digestion.
First, the CIA is reading this blog.
Second, do you care?
Third, I-933 is a big pile of crap! Yes, I'm aware that various pundits will comment on yet another shameless reference to poop, but in this case it is true; I-933 is crap. Why you say? Well, kids, I-933 is retroactive back to 1996, which means that many land and resource protective measures will likely be repealed.
What were you doing in 1996 besides electing cigar/Monica chomping Clinton for another term?
Back to the poop. The Farm Bureau (FB), an insurance company, according to vol. 16 no. 6 issue of The Stranger, supports I-933. Why? Why would an organization that purports to support property rights and the plight of the farmer vote for a support an initiative that effectively dumps out the window any regulation that protects lands for all? Because folks, I-933 is a double edged money grabbing attempt that serves greedy developers who happen to be salivating over the limited farmland now being encroached upon by the wealthy, sprawling Puget Sound suburbia. And, the FB is in the pocket of greedy developers. It’s about the money! Here is the simple breakdown: Greedy developers want to get paid for land that they develop regardless of the long term consequences of their actions. And, Greedy developers want to be paid in the form of "compensation" for undeveloped land that has potential value as developed land. IE, they want to make sure that their investment is risk free. Last time I checked, no investment of mine is risk free. Why should, mega land deals on the minds of greedy developers be any different? Furthermore, currently designated farmland is sold at a high price of around 2,000 dollars an acre. I-933 would likely repeal the regulations that protect the low (read farm subsidy by tax payers) price of farmland. Greedy developers who either own or have speculative options on farmland stand make insane volumes of money on farmers who suddenly want to cash out of the farming business. Imagine if you owned 100 acres of land that is currently worth $1800-$2000 and are making a modest living selling, say, pumpkins. Enter I-933 and suddenly the land is now worth 100,000 or 200,000 an acre? How fast can you spell jackpot! Say goodbye to farmland. Say goodbye to locally produced produce. Say hello to mc mansions and sprawl. Say hello to e-coli in your spinach from industrially process spinach produced somewhere else. You remember e-coli don't you; think Jack in the Box, and deadly diarrhea. Which conveniently brings me back to the point that I-933 is a big pile of crap!

Seeing

2006-10-24T07:59:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you folks out there, but I keep seeing Brad Lewis. It's really strange. I don't ride so much any more but, often when I do, I'll see him in a crowd, riding with others, laughing, friendly and as genuine I remember. He looks into me with his head cocked slightly to the left and smiles. Generally, I'll look again, and he'll be gone or in his place it's just a person who is kinda tall, lanky and blond. I guess Brad's passing left a big void in all of our lives.

Gas

2006-10-23T16:06:00.000-07:00

Price of a gallon of gas - $2.40ish.
Bet the price goes down a few more cents prior to the elections and within a week of the elections, some event will cause a spike, then the price will go up gain and stay up for the holiday season because of higher travel rates.

So, what the hell is new? I just wanted to write it down so I could say I told you so when it happens.

Fear

2006-10-20T22:31:00.000-07:00

I just watched the movie, "Bowling For Columbine" again. Fear is the key as more points out. We are trained in fear like no other society. I've blogged about fear, which lead me to be suspicious of street activity around my house. What is it that we fear? As I write this, a siren wails in the background and my feet stink. Now there is something to truly fear. Stink, that is.

I've recently spoken to some friends about gun ownership. My stand is that if you own a gun you should be prepared physically and more importantly mentally, to kill the person on the business end of the gun. I'm not prepared to point a gun at a person and kill them.

I'm going to take a walk - unarmed - out and about my dangerous (read in heavy sarcasm) in the dead of night.

Population

2006-10-19T08:58:00.000-07:00

Dateline - USA

The population of the United States just tipped the 300,000,000 mark. That's 300 million for those of you who are numerically challenged. Just a quick little bit of arithmetic here. For the 300 billion or so that we are currently spending on the war (remember the war,) every man woman and child could be given $1000.00. So, the next time the brainiacs in the Republican Party say they want to give you back 300 bucks in the form of a tax break for middle America, know that you are truly getting a raw deal.

habeas corpus ... what?

2006-10-18T07:53:00.000-07:00

While moves by this administration may seem like American Freedoms are being stripped away from your American Hands.....Wait a minute, that's exactly what is happening!

WAKE UP!!!

W and Co. have stolen your Habeas Corpus. Habeas Schmabeus you say. FYI, habeas corpus is a judicial mandate to a prison official ordering that an inmate be brought to the court so it can be determined whether or not that person is imprisoned lawfully and whether or not he should be released from custody. In other words, when you are accused of being terrorist for, say, blogging negatively about W, and are subsequently arrested and thrown in to a secret CIA prison, habeas corpus mandates that imprisoned blogger-X can request that a court determine if he/she should be locked up. Not any more. Habeau Corpus has left the building!! thanks to W, Cheney and Co.

Abe

2006-10-17T01:08:00.000-07:00

"Capitalism is the fruit of labor." "Without labor there would be no capital." Abraham Lincoln.

Without life there would be no labor. Labor is the exchange of your time or life for some form of compensation. The question is, What are you worth?

Broken

2006-10-15T22:15:00.000-07:00

Heard through the grape vine that the mighty have fallen. That Sucks.

Anyhow, is a photo for your digestion.

It appears to be a bicycle accident in progress. It's not wet. There are no railroad tracks. Everybody is on foot? How strange!

Ya gotta love men in tube tops!

Just in!!!

2006-10-12T10:25:00.000-07:00

I'm back after a delay much too long. You see, I've been busy with photog stuff.

For my two readers:

COME TO SHOW OCT 19, 2006.

Edmonds artwalk, 5 pm to whenever. 108 5th Ave S. Edmonds WA!

Also, you'll note a new addition to the site. Lots of money scrolling by to the right. Hmmm what could I do with 300 billion?

Quickie

2006-09-28T17:57:00.000-07:00

Here is a reminder for the opening date of my show in Edmonds. OCT 19, 2006. I'll be showing iconic images of americana.

Also, I predict gas prices will go up after the election and the blame will be becasue of the demand of the holiday buying season.

Just to shake it up a bit this year, I'm entertaining ideas for my traditional holiday card. No idea is too weird, believe me.

cheers.

Q and A

2006-09-15T09:42:00.000-07:00

I’ll start off with some admissions right up front. Roller skiing is pretty darn goofy. It doesn’t look cool and there aren’t too many of us out there.

That being said, here is a list of actual questions, statements or actions that I encountered last night while skiing around town for about an hour.

“Are you a girl?” “Are you a man or woman?” “Do you crap your pants when you do that?” (Referring to going down hill.) “Are you a professional?” “Do you like that?” “Is it fun?” “Fagot!” The middle finger and horn combo. “You expecting snow?” “Get a car!” “What are those things?” Snickers and pointing from a group of corner standers. Something in Russian that I couldn’t understand. And finally, the male half a of a young couple said nothing, but made it a point to walk directly in front of me mid-block. Oh well.

I’ll address the aforementioned respectively: No. Male. No, but sometimes I feel like it. No, but I hear that there are vast sums of money in the sport and that’s why I’m practicing. Yes. Yes. The Urban Dictionary will help with the over used “faggot” in an attempt to insult skiers, cyclist and even runners. Try to mix it up! What can I say to the middle finger besides, no thank you. I’m not expecting snow, which is why these skiis have wheels. Look you fat turd, I have a car and it’s in the garage. I try to avoid its use for conservation reasons and because an active lifestyle is actually healthy. You might want to think about that and thank me now, because my insurance premiums will be funding your long-term medical care. These are roller skies. You can get a pair for yourself at Gear West. I’m not sure what you folks are snickering about. I learned my lesson and no longer wear the bright red, logo tights around town. Yeah, I know. I already admitted roller skies are goofy, even in Russian. Dude, cross walks were invented for a reason; your safety.

Burger

2006-09-14T10:32:00.000-07:00

Greetings. Fall is here, September 11th passed with little more than W. telling us how dangerous the world is, and I have been absent from the keys.

Sitting here on my desk is a nice little brochure from Sound Transit (ST.) You know, the folks that have heaped grief upon themselves, brought bus and overpriced train service to the Puget Sound region and generally managed to survive the fickle Seattle transportation climate. Well, ST is looking for direction in the next phase of the regional transit plan. The options are, conveniently, a small, medium and large expansion of the currently planned system for the respective prices of $.03, $.04, and $.05 on a ten dollar purchase.

Dicks Drive-In Restaurant offers the Cheese, the Special and the Deluxe for the respective prices of $1.30 $1.60 and $2.20.

While all Dick’s burgers are tasty, it’s clear that the Deluxe is just a bigger, better burger. For the money, the Deluxe delivers two big beef patties, cheese and the works, for just 69% more dough than the basic Cheese.

ST claims that their deluxe will deliver the transportation equivalent for just 66% more than the basic cheese based on a ten dollar purchase.

Who doesn’t want a Deluxe?

Save this date....

2006-09-09T12:37:00.000-07:00

Please attend the third thursday Edmonds art walk. I'll be showing iconic barbering images like this teaser.

Date: Thursday, October 19, 2006. Where: Edmonds, WA. More specific address info to come later. When: After 5pm.

the little guy

2006-09-06T01:12:00.000-07:00

Earlier this evening...oops yesterday, the Crow was just finishing up some errands on the brown Schwinn towny . Of course, Crow was wearing a helmet for those out there who have enquiring minds. To avoid the merciless traffic of Broadway, Crow slides effortlessly through back alleys. On this evening, the Crow happened upon a vagrant denizen in the act of defacing the back wall of Henrys 24 hour doughnut shop with some sort of drunken mindless manifesto. Crow couldn’t believe it so he rode by reeaal slow. Sure enough, graffiti in the act.
Well, Crow rode around the block and back to Henry's where Crow found that Henry was actually an older, really nice asian woman who didn’t speak english so well. After trying unsuccessfully to explain that a camouflage clad ner-do-well was in the process grafting on her back wall, Crow called 911 on his trusty mobile phone. And what do you know? The man descended on that very spot with in two minutes. Imagine that.

The End of Summer

2006-09-02T12:45:00.000-07:00

What are you doing this Labor Day weekend?

Remember, it's the organized labor movement that brought you the weekend. That's right, God may have rested on the seventh day, but if given the opportunity, big buisness wouldn't. It was the early unions that helped institute the modern day weekend.

Work is giving an employer your time or life in exchange for currency valued and traded in the market place. In other words, work is an exchange of life for dollars. The question then becomes, is it a fair trade? Something to remember on this weekend of labor remembrance.

This ain't no sugar tablet

2006-09-01T15:06:00.000-07:00

Friends, this morality issue keeps cropping up in unusual places, but in particular, the recent debates about the plan-b pill. I heard today on talk-radio that forcing pharmacists to fill scripts, which, they were morally opposed to, was essentials forcing a leftist, liberal morality on the pharmacists. Well, in my humble opinion, a pharmacist's personal morality extends only to what they choose for themselves and maybe their family. When they impose their morality on others through limiting access to a safe medication prescribed by a doctor, then they are raising their morality to be more important than the health of their patients.

Here is a hint pharmacists, DON'T IMPOSE YOUR MORALITY on your patients.

If you don't like the plan-b pill because you donÃ’t think is moral, then don't put it in your mouth. If you can't handle prescribing the pill, then chose another profession, perhaps Entomology.

If you don't think abortion is moral, why then, don't get pregnant and if you do, then don't go out and have an abortion.

If you think praying to Allah, Christ, Buddha or the Great Grass God is moral that is wonderful. But, don't feed your clients the line of crap that (insert moral compass here) won't allow you to fill this a particular prescription.

Morality is up to you. What you choose for yourself is just that, for yourself. Forcing your values on me or others is not moral, it's just wrong.

The Thursday Beef

2006-08-31T23:30:00.000-07:00

This photo strikes me. Also, I wanted to get something in for Thursday since some folks complained about no content. Geez!

Also, the contest for the corner photo has sadly ended with no winner. Strangely, I knew the location of the photo, since I took it, and on the way home today, I found a dollar.

Humpday update

2006-08-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

Arrived at work on the bicycle without incident.

Grounds are for the most part dry. However, the other day the machine had a fit and spewed the espresso machine equivalent of diarrhea all over me, the counter, the stove and the machine itself.

Gov. Christine Gregoire is working on a policy of how to get farm-a-cists to simply do their job without their morals getting in the way regarding filling prescriptions for the plan b pill. How about this: Fill the script or lose you job!

Still no winner in the corner photo contest! Suckers.

Keys are still lost, however just to spite them, I bought an entirely new lock for my front door. The car keys and mail box keys are still copied.

That's it.

Crow

As the Crow Flies

2006-08-29T10:02:00.000-07:00

A few days ago the Crow was minorly involved in a discussion about accidents and responsibility.

One side of the discussion involved the stern and firm stand of, “Don’t do this thing again.” And, “Take responsibility for what you’ve agreed to be responsible for.” The other side of the conversation involved the understanding that humans will naturally have accidents, forget keys and misspell jest about everything given enough time. Knowing that, we, (society or the workplace) should problem solve so that either the outcome of a mistake can be mitigated or that the mistake can be avoided.

For the sake of my sanity and protecting the identity of the innocent, Crow will refer to the two sides of this discussion as Stern and Understanding respectively.

Understanding noted that when a professional in Understanding’s line of work makes a mistake, people die. It’s kinda hard to argue with that. Stern noted that when you agree to sign on to Stern’s crew, you agree to being responsible for whatever occurs on your watch, so to speak. It seems that in Stern’s perspective, the expectation is clear. For example, Stern would say, “Do not lose your keys or you will pay to re-key this facility.” Understanding might say, (in Stern’s position,) “Hey, I understand that given enough time you may lose your keys, so we have done away with keys and replaced all locks with a key pad. Now, just don’t forget the secret pass code.”

Crow brings all of this to your attention because on my way to work, a Big F@#$#@ Suburban raced through a fully red-light and almost killed the Crow on his bicycle. Of course, Crow immediately thought of Understanding, and perhaps Crow should problem solve the situation so that the outcome could be mitigated. Then, Crow realized that we (in this case society) had already problem solved the shit out of the 4-way, traffic control lighted, stop line painted, paved, police patrolled, beeping walk signaled, time delayed green, yellow warning lighted, pedestrian cross walk identified intersection.

Sure, if the outcome would have been different and Crow was dead, then this would have been an accident. But there was no accident this morning. It was the Crow who was vigilant and took extra responsibility at the problem-solved intersection so that the outcome wasn’t death. Crow avoided death with the Understanding that Big F@#$#@ Suburban would likely be irresponsible. So it is to Big F@#$#@ Suburban that Crow Sternly says, DON’T RUN RED LIGHTS!!!

Circus - Rant

2006-08-28T08:24:00.000-07:00

Happened to be out with the Pixie one day and took this photo. Actually, it was the day of the final World Cup game. The odd thing about the day was that there were virtually no people on the streets of Seattle.

Rant Warning!!! Have you heard of HPV otherwise known as human papilloma virus? It’s an STD. You should know about it, since something like fifty percent of women 18-22 years of age develop the infection after sexual contact. The numbers go up after that to the point that most doctors will tell you that by the age of 30, male or female, you're likely to have or have encountered HPV. Epidemic? Anyway, for some women, the infection persists, impacts reproductive health and can lead to cervical cancer. From the American Cancer Society, "About 3,700 women will die from cervical cancer in the United States during 2006. Cervical cancer was once one of the most common causes of cancer death for American women."

I give you this background because, once again, conservative religious folks - the catholic church – doesn’t think a new HPV vaccine is a good idea even though it has a really high success rate. If administered before sexual contact and any potential infection, a variety of new vaccines currently in development are capable of virtually 100 percent effectiveness against HPV. No HPV means less cancer later and certainly less transmission in the present. The rub for the church is that the vaccine, to be effective, must be administered to young girls, and to the church, this means promoting promiscuity. PS, the vaccine has no effect on folks who are currently infected. Sorry.

Here is the grit. Religious conservatives want to impact your sexual and reproductive health by blocking a vaccine that could prove effective against the most prevalent STD out there. By blocking the vaccines use, they are attempting to limit your choice for a safer alternative if you should choose to have sex prior to marriage. By blocking the use of this family of vaccines, they are condemning yet another generation of women to HPV, reproductive challenges, and potentially cancer. And dudes, by blocking vaccines such as these, religious conservatives, will be praying for you and the warts on you cock. Yes, HPV also causes the dreaded male and female genital wart.

Two Roads

2006-08-27T08:52:00.000-07:00

Summer night photography. If anybody knows the location of this photo, I'll send the first person who logs in a blog answer one dollar.

Weekend Blog of Death...just kidding

2006-08-26T21:17:00.000-07:00

Crow is tired. Crow hoofed it all over Seattle today in the hot hot sun.

Shameless Crow

2006-08-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

Arrggg, In a futile attempt in blogging this AM, I I wasted 20 minutes writing a shameless, self promoting entry. Then, I, aka Crow lost it. Actually, I should say google’s blogger tool lost it, or the crappy computer system lost it. In any event, it’s now gone likely floating aimlessly around out there in cyber-space.

So, back to shameless self-promotion. I’ve often referred folks to search the terms Crow and Crank or even Crow’s Crank. Those same folks often tell me Crow, when I search GOOGLE for those terms I’m directed to some dark porn site. Admittedly, Crow’s Crank is a dark site, but it’s the articles that are important and not just the Photography. Right?

Crap, the now-lost-post was much funnier than this one. Oh well, you’ll just have to deal. Crow’s Crank. Geofoot Photography! claw to the top!

Flow

2006-08-24T20:52:00.000-07:00

IT"S ABOUT F@*%^&#$ TIME!!!

2006-08-24T08:31:00.000-07:00

The FDA finally released the Plan B pill for over the counter sale...to 18 year-old women. It's a mixed blessing, because now, some Target pharmacist can't impose his or her "morality" on your sexual/reproductive health, provided that you are 18 or older. If you are not, ya still gotta get a note. Of course, you and I both know that nobody has sex prior to 18...right?

Enter managed care, which, is an entire other rant. Surfice to say, that the plan-b pill is most effective with in 72 hours of action. So, keep your doctor's office on speed-dial, and maintain a good relationship with the office staff so that they will process your request quickly!

Special thanks to senators Patty Murry and Hillary Rodham Clinton for holding yet another administration lapdog to the fire. If you are so moved, please use the links to their respective websites and send them a quick note.

For the sake of clarity, the fact that this administration wants to control the sale of an over the counter birth control at any level, is just one more example of its desire to restrict your freedom and impose a conservative, right-wing, religious moral code on to your life.

CROW

2006-08-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

Added creepy photo for dark effect. Crow

Guess what I've removed.

2006-08-22T09:04:00.000-07:00

You might have noticed that the small mapping icon on the right side of your screen at home, under the Blogger button, is now gone. It's gone because, like many free things out there in the world, it sucked. It was supposed to track traffic at the Crank and show the geographic location of visitors. It did not. What it did was leave a strange feeling in my gut that the some tool in a dark, basement computer layer was tracking my every computer move. I suspect the NSA is already on my tip so, I don't need any privateers.

Here are some free recommendations!

Good EATS!!

Chiso
Gorditos
Alligator Soul
Cupcake Royale

Smell you later!