Category Archives: General

General, Preparing for the worst

December 6th, 2005

An interesting, almost historical, day. The day no mail came.

I think that 12/6 was the first day in over 20 years, that Elaine or I have not recieved at least one piece of mail (counting days that we should expect mail delivery. This does preclude Sundays, Holidays and days when there is so much snow on the ground we couldn’t even walk to the mailbox, much less expect a USPS driver to reach it by road. )

What makes it interesting is that yesterday we got a lot of mail and it was in two bundles. And in one of the bundles were several pieces of mail that I was expecting on Tuesday. The other bundle had mail I was expecting yesterday.

So, if I can hypothesize, the USPS driver had bundled up our Tuesday mail, tossed it in the car and then missed it during their round; or, they got sick and didn’t finish their round, went home with the mail in the back of the car, stayed sick on Wednesday, and didn’t show up for work until yesterday.

Who knows what lurks in the minds of USPS drivers?

Tuesday was chilly, but clear most of the day. The snow didn’t start until evening, after the expected mail round. Not that it really snowed. A few flakes, no more than a couple of inches, with drifting. Wednesday was the day that didn’t get above 10 degrees Farenheit. It stayed bright and clear though, and we got mail that day.

General, Politics

American Values

I am contemplating the current set of American Values. From what I have seen of current history, they would appear to be:

    Strike First and Strike Hard.
    Lie, Lie, Lie.
    Cruel and Unusual Punishment is OK.
    Kick a man when he is down.
    Win at any cost.
    The Ends justify the Means .*
    Compromise is for sissies.
    No need to support your neighbors in need.
    Spurn your friends who disagree with you.
    Don’t prepare for the future. Be a Grasshopper, not an ant.
    We will Protect you, at any cost, whether you like it or not.
    If you’re not with me, not only are you against me, you are for my enemies!
    Everyone is my enemy.
    The Individual is supreme (except when that individual interferes with corporate or governmental priorities.)

These are not the American Values I grew up with, not the Values I learned in my youth. Did I grow up in some warped, white-bread America where fair-play, level playing-fields, and the Bill of Rights were the guiding lights of American Values? Where self-reliance and self-determination were bulwarks of personal responsibility, but not the sole supports? Where compromise to reach common goals made society work and easy to get along with?

*I always have a problem with “The Ends justify the Means” value statement. Just what or when is the Ends? Is it when Mankind is extinct? Is it when Earth gets swallowed up by the Sun? Is it the Heat Death of the Universe? Is it “The Rapture”? Just when is the End?

There are other recurring American Values that still seem to survive, like:

    Feed at the Public Trough
    Share the wealth with your supporters.
    We’re #1! We’re #1! We’re#1!

Actually, those values seem to be universal and not just American. Americans just do it better!

General, Politics

Bring It On

I’m sure it was mentioned at the time, but, in my own oblivious way, I completely missed it. I didn’t realize that George Bush was a Nick Cave fan!

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS LYRICS – Bring It On

So bring it on, bring it on
Bring it on
Every little thing
Bring it on
Every tiny fear
Bring it on
Every shattered dream
And I’ll scatter them into the sea

I heard this come around on my iRiver last night and I smiled.

Uh-oh. I checked around a bit and found out Bush said “Bring them on”, not “Bring it on”. Nevermind.

General, Preparing for the worst

What’s the worst that can happen? Wind?

Yes, we don’t get hurricanes, just High Wind Advisories. This one only has gusts up to 80 MPH. It’s one way to keep the yard cleared. This morning the tumbleweed I saw wasn’t tumbling; it was screaming like a bat out hell, straight across the fields.

Nothing to do for this except don’t go out in it or be prepared to be sand-blasted. This is probably why 75% of all windshields in Colorado are replaced every two years. Hard to drive into the sun with a sand-blasted windshield. The other 25% is for the rocks kicked up after snow-melt.

This is a weather adivisory. I emboldened the parts of interest to me.

National Weather Service Zone – COZ084

PUBNPWPUB
WWUS75 KPUB 031548
NPWPUB

URGENT – WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
848 AM MST THU NOV 3 2005

DAMAGING WINDS OCCURRING ACROSS THE EAST FACING SLOPES OF THE
SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS IN SOUTHEAST COLORADO.

.A STRONG JET STREAM MOVING OVER THE REGION IS CAUSING STRONG TO
LOCALLY DAMAGING WINDS ACROSS THE EAST FACING SLOPES OF SOUTHEAST
COLORADO.

COZ072>075-078>088-040000-
/O.NEW.KPUB.HW.W.0002.051103T1548Z-051104T0000Z/
NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 8500 AND 11000 FT-
NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FEET-
SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 7500 AND 11000 FT-
SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FT-
WET MOUNTAIN VALLEY BELOW 8500 FEET-
WET MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 6300 AND 10000 FT-
WET MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FT-
TELLER COUNTY/RAMPART RANGE ABOVE 7500 FT/PIKES PEAK BETWEEN
7500 AND 11000 FT-PIKES PEAK ABOVE 11000 FT-
CANON CITY VICINITY/EASTERN FREMONT COUNTY-
NORTHERN EL PASO COUNTY/MONUMENT RIDGE/RAMPART RANGE BELOW
7500 FT-
COLORADO SPRINGS VICINITY/SOUTHERN EL PASO COUNTY/RAMPART RANGE
BELOW 7400 FT-PUEBLO AND VICINITY/PUEBLO COUNTY BELOW 6300 FT-
WALSENBURG VICINITY/UPPER HUERFANO RIVER BASIN BELOW 7500 FT-
TRINIDAD VICINITY/WESTERN LAS ANIMAS COUNTY BELOW 7500 FT-
INCLUDING…LA VETA PASS…PONCHA PASS…BLANCA PEAK…CUCHARA…
STONEWALL…WESTON…SPANISH PEAKS…SILVER CLIFF…WESTCLIFFE…
RYE…GREENHORN MTN…WOODLAND PARK…PIKES PEAK…CANON CITY…
PENROSE…BLACK FOREST…AIR FORCE ACADEMY…COLORADO SPRINGS…
PUEBLO…WALSENBURG…TRINIDAD
848 AM MST THU NOV 3 2005

HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 PM MST THIS AFTERNOON.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PUEBLO HAS ISSUED A HIGH WIND
WARNING…WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 PM MST THIS AFTERNOON.

FOR THE PIKES PEAK REGION…

STRONG WINDS OF 30 TO 50 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 80 MPH WILL CONTINUE
ACROSS PARTS OF EASTERN TELLER COUNTY AND FAR WEST EL PASO COUNTY
THROUGH LATE MORNING. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL OCCUR MAINLY WEST
OF INTERSTATE 25.

FOR AREAS FROM PUEBLO COUNTY SOUTH TO THE NEW MEXICO BORDER…

STRONG TO LOCALLY DAMAGING WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ON THE
EAST FACING SLOPES OF THE WET MOUNTAINS…AND THE SANGRE DE CRISTO
MOUNTAINS THIS MORNING AND LAST INTO THE AFTERNOON. WEST WINDS OF
20 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 85 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE.

WIND PRONE AREAS…ESPECIALLY ALONG INTERSTATE 25 FROM COLORADO
CITY TO TRINIDAD WILL BE ESPECIALLY PRONE TO STRONG TO LOCALLY
DAMAGING WINDS.

HIGH WIND CAN CAUSE POWER OUTAGES AND CAN DAMAGE OR DESTROY
MOBILE HOMES. LIGHTWEIGHT OBJECTS CAN BECOME FLYING MISSILES…
WHICH CAN BE DANGEROUS OR LIFE THREATENING TO PEOPLE AND ANIMALS.
HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES AND VEHICLES PULLING TRAILERS CAN BE
FLIPPED. BLOWING DUST CAN QUICKLY REDUCE VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO
NEAR OPEN AND PLOWED LAND…WHICH CAN CAUSE VEHICLES TO SLOW DOWN
AND CAUSE CHAIN-REACTION ACCIDENTS. BLOWING DUST OR SAND CAN ALSO
BE A HEALTH HAZARD FOR THOSE WITH RESPIRATORY PROBLEMS. STAY
INDOORS IF THERE IS BLOWING DUST OR SAND IN YOUR AREA. SECURE
LIGHTWEIGHT OBJECTS. CONSIDER NOT TRAVELING ON ROADS WITH
CROSSWINDS.

General

Surviving

I can survive on $50 a week, but I can not grow. I can grow on $250 a week but I can not thrive. I can thrive on $500 a week but I can not contribute to society. What does it take to survive, grow, thrive and contribute, in today’s America? $1000 a week, or more?

General, Politics

Representative Democracy

I was just browsing around the CIA Factbook and came up with some interesting numbers. lets see how this comes out:

Representative Democracy
Country Population Xcameral #of Rep in commons K Pop/Rep
Ireland 4,015,676 Bi 166 24
Isreal 6,276,883 Uni 120 52
Italy 58,103,033 Bi 630 92
UK 60,441,457 Bi 646 94
France 60,656,178 Bi 577 105
Canada 32,805,041 Bi 308 107
South Africa 44,344,136 Bi 400 111
Australia 20,090,437 Bi 150 134
Germany 82,431,390 Bi 613 134
Mexico 106,202,903 Bi 500 212
Japan 127,417,244 Bi 480 265
Russia 143,420,309 Bi 450 319
Brazil 186,112,794 Bi 513 363
Euro Union 456,953,258 Bi 732 624
United States 295,734,134 Bi 435 680
India 1,080,264,388 Bi 545 1982

The Population Numbers are July 2005 estimates. X Cameral refers to how many legislative bodies there are. And I used the number of seats in the lower house for the overall representative number. and the final column notes how many citizens each representative represents, in thousands.

Interesting to note that Russia, that hotbed of democracy, has fewer citizens per representive than the US. Indeed, all but India have a more representative democracy than the US. And with India pushing 2 million citizens per representative, I don’t know if they will last much longer, as a democracy.

I threw the European Union in just to see what their numbers look like. The CIA reports that the Euro Parliament doesn’t make the major decisions; that’s for the Council and it is something different.

Once again, I call to make the US a more representative democracy, and bring us the the point where we have at least 1 representative for every 100,000 citizens.