Not Well Educated

Let me strongly restate what I said earlier, I have no problem with Jesus but his fans are fucking morons.

Special Olympics

Not too long ago I went to a Celtics game. The Celtics are no longer the dynastic champions of my youth so tickets are fairly cheap and always available. I don't even know who they were playing, the other team was wearing blue I recall, but for two professional basketball teams it wasn't all that exciting to watch. Someone would score, someone would foul, someone would take a free throw and for the most part the crowd could care less. At halftime we were all pretty ambivalent about the outcome and a lot of folks were getting ready to call it a night. The halftime show that night? It was an exhibition by the Special Olympics basketball team.

I don't have a lot of history in dealing with the disabled, but I have more than most. Part of my grade school education included a sensitivity to the handicapped program which changed forever the way I deal with the disabled. A disabled person would come into our class and we would talk with them. They would explain how they get by without being able to see, hear, missing arms, that sort of thing. They let us touch the stump where the arms used to be. After that we would do exercises so that we would know what it was like to be blind or deaf. I have to admit that I thought riding around in a wheelchair would be kind of fun until I tried it, and what a pain in the ass it was. We experienced the world very differently and in some cases rather unpleasantly. Part of the class included some instruction on how to communicate with the deaf - not full ASL, but at least how to look directly at them when you talk and write down exotic words like street names and how to walk with the blind. My interaction with the handicapped makes some people uncomfortable to watch because I tend to be very at ease and almost dismissive of their disabilities.

One night I spent a good deal of time talking with a blind fellow about minimalism. I had some questions about how he organized his home and prioritized his possessions. I had this idea that the minimalists home should be like that of the blind - that you should be able to find everything without being able to see. I admired the discipline that it required to keep a home in that state and told him so. Helen Keller learned to read and write using only the sense of touch, I could never be so strong. There is a lot of benefit to be had by understanding the special needs of the disabled. For example, imagine if ASL were taught to everyone, what an amazing linguistic dimension that would add to everyday life?

As for the Special Olympics basketball team, well they hit the court. A few people snickered, made some ignorant jokes, but probably just because they were nervous. They played very much the way you would imagine that the Special Olympics basketball team would play. Double dribbling, passing to the wrong team, a few slips here and there - but let me tell you...
When that ball hit the rim... rolled around a little and finally fell into the net... Boston Garden TOTALLY FUCKING EXPLODED! I am serious when I say that I have never heard a crowd cheer so loud for anything. The stadium shuddered with applause. Another point, more riotous cheering, then the other team scored - even louder! Seriously, that was the best basketball game ever, they played with real heart and up to this point I had never seen that before. The Special Olympics is totally fucking awesome.

Right to Dry

I have to give a shout out to the "Right to Dry" movement, who are taking a rational and common sense stance on clotheslines. In many fucked up parts of the country they have planned/gated communities that forbid drying clothes outdoors. The argument against drying clothes on a clothesline is aesthetics, that clotheslines look po-dunk and low class, and that no one wants to see the neighbors skidmark tightey whitey's flip flapping in the wind.

In Vermont they are introducing a bill to over-ride community bans on clotheslines, as they have done in several other states. Personally I think it would be wiser to work within the community to voluntarily strip the ban - even just symbolically, because really - vermont? Winter? Clothes don't get dry in the off season, they freeze up solid. Not only that, but its Vermont. I assumed they were all apple pie and clothes on the line anyway.

I have one of those wire racks, it costs too much to get clothes dried at a laundromat and my place is too small for an actual dryer. Air dried clothes remain colorfast and last longer. Dryers are one of those things that I wonder who the hell thought up that one, like dishwashers. I have had them and they can be handy, but really, do you need an appliance for that? $85 a year just for the electricity, when you can just run a rope.

NOVA

Nova has made an excellent documentary about the Dover, PA. "Intelligent Design" trial. Watch it because this thing is a train wreck for creationists. It was one of the few times I actually sought a decision from a trial for entertainment on a saturday night. The honorable John Jones III is eloquent in his 139 page criticism, describing the defense as breathtakingly inane, but more appropriately he explains that "In an era we're trying to cure cancer, prevent pandemics, trying to keep science and math on the cutting edge, to introduce and teach bad science to ninth grade students makes very little sense to me."

Fuck Xmas

Veteran's Day - Fucking VETERAN'S DAY! 8:00pm... I heard my first Christmas song on the fucking radio.

I hate Christmas. Really. I hate it. I've got no problem with Jesus H. Christ, but his fans are fucking annoying. Used to be they would have the decency to let Thanksgiving slide by before soiling society with long lines and Bruce Springsteen's "Santa Claus is coming to town." God I hate Springsteen.... but here we are, a full week before Thanksgiving! and the jubilee has already consumed every seasonal aisle and two Boston radio stations. Last year I left Christmas out of my tirade, because I wanted to be respectful, but N O T A N Y M O R E ! ! Fuck Christmas with a 12 inch candy cane.

I love Thanksgiving you know. Its the last true holiday. All you have to do is sit down and eat with your family. That's it. No gifts, no caroling, you don't even have to eat turkey (I have Salmon) and no more is expected of you. Very few people commit suicide because of Thanksgiving and if there are any problems its "who's going to clean up all this stuff?" Usually you can leave with the pie you brought because there are - like twelve of them - in addition to heaps of leftover bird. Best of all, you get to see the family in a no pressure atmosphere. Now Thanksgiving has been tainted by the grisly specter of Christmas. Stupid, fucking Christmas.

I could go off about the real Christmas being a pagan holiday, celebrating trees and life or whatever, but who really cares where it came from? It sucks. Every year it seems like it sucks a little more too. Last year, as I recall, there was some controversy because of a so named "War on Christmas" which spurned TV people to blather for and against endlessly, adding a whole new dimension of angst and unpleasantness to the holiday experience. This year I am seeing hints of that same controversy, despite being wholly a construction of media, it has weaseled its way into our collective unconscious and fragmented to accommodate jesus freaks who think Christmas is becoming to commercial and gaudy. Really, who the fuck cares?

The weirdest part of all this is Santa Claus. For generations children are told that he is a real person, that he lives in the North Pole with elves and reindeer, toiling endlessly over toys and organizing delivery to every single child in the world on one night a year. That night happens to be the birthday of the Vatican's boy Jesus, but officially one doesn't recognize the other. Lying to children baffles me. I don't see how it is necessary that Santa Claus be a real person and through this lie eschewing the credit for purchasing a shitload of toys for your child. People have to take out high interest loans to buy Barbie's and Pokemon cards, why give the credit to Santa? Even more odd is that I must be party to keeping this secret. If I told a child there is no Santa, even if they asked me for the truth, I would be ostracized and probably stoned to death.

Minimalism aside - Just fuck Christmas. It is too complicated, too indulgent and too stupid for me to deal with anymore.

Fire

Home Depot will be carrying this swank Fire Extinguisher at the end of the year. As a qualifier - I have not seen it in person and it may be a piece of junk, but the design and philosophy appear promising. You may think a fire extinguisher is easy to use, but I can attest that they are not. Having worked in factories with alcoholics, I have had more than my share of experiences with fire extinguishers. There are different classes of equipment, I have cut and pasted a good guide below.

• Class A extinguishers are for ordinary combustible materials such as paper, wood, cardboard, and most plastics. The numerical rating on these types of extinguishers indicates the amount of water it holds and the amount of fire it can extinguish.
• Class B fires involve flammable or combustible liquids such as gasoline, kerosene, grease and oil. The numerical rating for class B extinguishers indicates the approximate number of square feet of fire it can extinguish.
• Class C fires involve electrical equipment, such as appliances, wiring, circuit breakers and outlets. Never use water to extinguish class C fires - the risk of electrical shock is far too great! Class C extinguishers do not have a numerical rating. The C classification means the extinguishing agent is non-conductive.
• Class D fire extinguishers are commonly found in a chemical laboratory. They are for fires that involve combustible metals, such as magnesium, titanium, potassium and sodium. These types of extinguishers also have no numerical rating, nor are they given a multi-purpose rating - they are designed for class D fires only.

I live in an apartment building, so my risk is compounded by the idiocy of my neighbors. Once, a grease fire raged while a tenant called her landlord to ask him what to do. She left him a message and I called 911 (she has since moved incidentally). We renewed our focus then and steps were taken to counter not-well-educated-ness. You can't turn around without seeing fire extinguishers now and I have banned those halogen lamps that were burning up dorm rooms.

Safety equipment for the home was long a backwater of design, the emphasis being on functionality and style be damned. However, in an age of rampant vainglory most kitchens have teeny fire extinguishers in the way back under the sink, and it probably isn't charged enough to put out a cigarette. Fancying up the look and making it easier to use for the less-well-educated among us can only be a benefit.

Mouse

I really thought a mouse would fall for this...

Carbon Market

I have no love of corporations. They enjoy a parallel legal system more liberal than our own, they receive tax credits and welfare on a scale we can't even imagine and as a rule they tend to be very bad neighbors. Legislation is upcoming for a new "Carbon Trading" market system that I suggest everyone take a good hard look at.

Its basically a cap and trade system, like the one set up for the clean air act. In reality, having energy for an entire nation there is a certain amount of pollution required, so they set up a system where the government inspects a facility and determines how much pollution it can generate. If it goes over the governments assessed amount, it has to buy "credits", if they generate less pollution they can sell the extra credits to another company or save them for a rainy day.

The idea is to make carbon into an abstract, global commodity. The EU already has a system like this, the EUETS, but emissions are up, profits are up and consumers are paying more than ever since the system has been put in place. The problems, as critics point out, are many and varied. Reduction of illegal practices like gas flaring would get carbon credits, which is akin to getting credit drinking wine and driving instead of drinking whiskey. Ok that's a logical fallacy, but you get the idea. Credit for NOT doing something they shouldn't be doing in the first place? Not only that, but companies can trade within themselves and they can get credit for facilities in other countries where the environmental laws are nonexistent. The whole process is commanded by the worst offenders, because the incentive would be for them to keep violating terms because it would be profitable for traders.

This trading system is just a layer of obfuscation. There aren't any hard demands in the act, its greenwashing. A way the attach the names of polluters to buzzwords that give the illusion of action, but really its business as usual under the smokestacks. To the credit of the clean air act it did reduce acid rain and air pollution better than anyone had expected, but that was a success based on EXPECTATIONS. In point of fact, there is still air pollution and acid rain so it merely added an incentive at a time when there were no incentives. Following that example, anything can be a success if you keeps expectations low. Coal and oil companies will receive a bounty of credits for free just for serving national interests and their limits will be set very high indeed.

Just to put all this in perspective, It has only been about One Hundred years since we really started to pollute the air and water. Our grandparents could drink water from any stream and swim in any lake. Nuclear Power is really only about sixty years old and the waste from that takes Thousands of years to become inert. The way we live is the cause of all these problems. All of us. Conservation is the best way to cut emissions, the best way to reduce greenhouse gases and ultimately save human society. I am happy to see this is coming up because it brings attention to just how badly we live. Get up earlier and use the sun for light instead of staying up late burning lamps. Live close to family and work so you can walk or ride a bike. Leave those giant stupid televisions in the store. Don't put the blame on someone else for these problems, accept responsibility and do something - and by do something I don't mean create a fantasy institution to trade "credits" giving people permission to act badly. That's an obfuscation.

Moral: Stick it to the man by not needing him.