Glimpsing our future, part 37, or "Would you like jam on that?" (Better yet, skip this, it's just more of the same tired old sh*t.)

Yesterday I saw something on TV I don't remember ever seeing before - a Fritos commercial! I imagine Fritos are in for the fight of their life with the ethanol corn people.

Obviously, were we more in tune with Nature, we might be a little more concerned for Fritos. But the interconnection between Man and Nature and its subset of signs are things we most often chose to ignore. How many salmon, honey bees and Fritos must we lose before we realize the endangerment and eventual extinctions of these and others are but a portent of our own demise?

How many thousands of years did it take for humanity reach 1.5 billion of us on planet Earth at the beginning of the 20th Century? We know it only took the last one hundred years to add another 5 billion more to that number! I wonder how many of us there will be left in another 100 years?

Burnt Toast by Paul Hutchinson

According to Gus Speth (Dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University) in his new book, The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability (Yale University Press, 2008), if we just maintain our current world population and take no action to heed the signs we've ignored to this point, mankind can expect to realize his future -- as TOAST!

Signs given, ignored according to Speth:

* being, not having
* giving, not getting
* needs, not wants
* better, not newer
* community, not individual
* other, not self
* connected, not separated
* ecology, not economy
* part of nature, not apart from nature
* dependent, not transcendent
* tomorrow, not today

Without quick action, Speth sees a world unfit for habitation by the end of this century. A world already inhabited by polar bears (and soon to be experienced by corn chips?).

"Yadda, yadda, yadda."

And what country can preserve its liberties, if it's rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. . . The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. ~excerpted from Thomas Jefferson's 'revolution every 20 years' writing

Well, if we were to heed Jefferson's advice, the way I figure it we're 10 or 11 revolutions removed from a fresh tree of liberty. Thankfully, we're a nation of lethargy. How else could we find ourselves adrift in the rotting tub of a boat we now occupy? Can you imagine how different the fate of our government, captains of industry and mainstream media might have been if we weren't so damned apathetic?

And now it's that time of year again. (Yawn!) The end of another quarterly reporting period. The earnings of big oil are beginning to flow in with the staleness of Seinfeld reruns. Early BP and Shell returns (+63%, +25% respectively) hint at the rest that will follow. And with the staleness of Seinfeld reruns, we'll probably bitch some more like last quarter and the quarters before that.

In the meantime, prices skyrocket as we willingly sacrifice food for our tables for fuel for our gas tanks while ethanol producers reap a 52 cent subsidy for each gallon of former food converted to fuel by such enterprising folks like those of the Carlyle Group investors. (We know the names of some of those slop hogs.)

But hold on to your rage because it's an election year. A chance for real change is just over the horizon. However, I find it deliciously ironic that each of the three possible remaining candidates come from the U.S. senate, a body given a lower approval rating than Bush. Yet one of those chosen for us by special interests and MSM will likely arrive with the change so desperately needed just as our "new" congress did after the 2006 election. Best we temper our expectations.

Until then, let's kick back as 2008 promises to be far more exciting than the mundanity of just another presidential election year and all its campaign smears, disenfranchisement of voter segments and questionable vote counting results. Hell, more stolen elections are nothing compared to what some students of 2008 trends foresee, like the collapse of the American financial system, economic panics, tax revolts, food riots, and other amusing calamities.

I wonder at what point such behavior might border on the flashpoint of one of those revolutions Jefferson advocated? I'm not sure. In fact, I'm not sure if things do get that bad we're really up to doing anything about it. Americans have seemingly unlimited capacity for tolerance of the intolerable.

But if we finally do find it in our hearts to revolt in various and sundry ways, maybe it'll get really, really messy. After all, we are 10 or 11 revolutions behind.

Dicing olives, slicing mushrooms and cutting staff

Last evening I told Mrs. Dada if she would call in the order, I would go pick up a pizza for supper. Editor Sam, she and I would take it out back and consume it amid our new cushy patio furniture. "Be ready in ten minutes!" she was told. It's always ready in 10-15 minutes.

But last night was different. Before entering the pizza parlor, I noticed it's parking lot was pretty empty. The emptiest I remembered seeing. And for the first time ever, when I went in for pick-up, the pizza wasn't ready. In fact, when at the counter, instead of asking for the name on the order, they asked what kind of pizza we'd ordered....like they really hadn't begun to make it yet. So I repeated our phone-in order and was told it would be right out.

Taking a seat, I noticed two other parties waiting for the pizzas. I'd never seen this before. But sitting there gave me a chance to observe the operation.

"Thanks for coming!" was the manager's annoying shout across the room to each customer group as they exited the front door. I then got to next hear him point out to his help that dirty tables needed cleaning after customers left them. "Thank you," he said to his busboy as he parted for the dining room with his cart.

A few minutes later I was asked if I'd like something to drink. I politely declined, but took the offer as an implication the pizza was going to take still longer. After a few more minutes of sitting there, thinking somehow what I was seeing - fewer customers, slower service, apologetically accommodating behavior sans any explanation I might expect a pizza anytime soon, or apology - was somehow connected to our sinking economy.

The idea we really shouldn't be splurging for pizza then started creeping in my thoughts until, tired of waiting, I got up and walked! When I arrived home empty handed, Mrs. Dada was on the phone. It was the pizza parlor wondering why I'd left. Did we still want the pizza? Would I want to talk to them?

Handing the phone to me, I explained politely why I left. I had tired of waiting and that I no longer wanted the pizza. "Would you like to talk to the manager?" they asked. I thanked her and said, "No, that's okay." I figured they knew the implication of my departure just as I'd surmised the implication of their offer for a free soda while I had waited.

I hope the lost sale of a pizza to us last night doesn't cost anyone their job or layoffs due to declining revenues. These are hard times. We still like pizza. And it's nice to have a good little pizza parlor close by, that is, if we can continue to afford it occasionally and they can afford to stay open with declining sales.

End times, or just out of corn, rice, gas and running low on luck?

In the 'living in interesting times' category, I've always had one set of sights focused on December, 2012 as a goal to achieve. That's when the Mayan calendar ends. Unfortunately, for reasons not fully understood, the Maya didn't make it that far. Hopefully, however, many of us around today will.

I'm not sure if the Maya were all that keen on heavenly bodies' motions through the cosmos that so influenced their calendars and the future or if their wisdom was something they may have inherited from their mysterious predecessors. Certainly when it came to things not understood within the framework of European high knowledge the Maya had a lot more of it than originally credited them by their trans-Atlantic cousin invaders. But, as with most conquerors, whenever confronting knowledge of their vanquished they don't understand, it's always best to burn or obliterate it from the face of the Earth apparently.

Mayan calendar. December 21st, 2012 is its end. Was 12/21/2012 the point where they just
ran out of stone on the calendar or, as they were telling us, that's where it all ends? With less
than five years to find the "next page" and, it appearing there is none, some are gravely con-
cerned for our future. (For mankind's at least, hopefully, maybe.)

Well, trying to steer away from current events is difficult, especially when more and more of us are savoring the latest news less and less. Regular readers here know I am not a big fan of the species Homo sapiens. On an endless track to greater and greater mass insanity, I decided to take drastic action Friday -- I went out a bought a new patio furniture set. I would use it to watch events between now and December 21st, 2012 unfold, or until such time that is no longer possible. My own small contribution to the unfolding madness.

Let's face it. Things are never going to be the way they were. The U.S. is diving head first into decline and decay, taking much of the world down with it while global climate and electromagnetic patterns of recent history are becoming increasingly less stable. And with the flux amplifying, the "interesting times" we find ourselves in are exceedingly more so as a result. We're in for a great ride. Coincidence this is all happening as lead up to the point the Maya ran out of stone on their calendar? I don't know.

But now in possession of the biggest, cushiest patio furniture set ever, I'm better prepared to sit out and watch. Why, I've even set up the laptop out there to see where the latest violent storms struck overnight or to check the updated figures on global deaths by starvation or U.S. inflicted wars.

To christen the occasion yesterday eve, I chose an enchilada plate for my first meal outside. Of course, with corn no longer available, the enchiladas were little more than some melted cheese with specks of onion in a red chili sauce. And while the frijoles refridas were there, the rice wasn't. That's gone now too. And, truthfully, I'm more than a little concerned how much longer the excellent India Pale Ale I washed it down with will be available in that the hops and grains used to make it are going into gas tanks instead.

Despite these annoying changes, I noted strong reminders of the status quo still linger however. Like over 100 geese fluidly changing formation patterns from one long vee into three smaller vees and back again as they flew quickly overhead on their way north for the summer. I couldn't quite hear their squawking. That's because of another clue of "normalcy," i.e., the sound of traffic on the freeway only several blocks distant. Sometimes you can not only hear it, but with proper breezes, you can smell it! That is, until - like me on my new patio eating my cornless and riceless enchilada plate - folks up on the freeway run out of gas.

But not to worry. We still have over four and a half years to December 21, 2012. That is, if we're lucky enough to make it that far. In the meantime, I'll be soaking it all in with keen interest from the back patio until compelled to join in a food riot or something. Until then, it's apathetic American status quo out on the cushy patio for me. Two thousand twelve, here we come!

*****

Cat got your tongue?

Sorry, no. Actually, the hammer got my thumb. As a result, I'm not quite as keyboard verbose today as usual. And what I'm saying, I'm saying real slowly.

You see, yesterday I was a very bad carpenter. Making a minor repair on a roof beam, I accidentally slammed the hammer down on my thumb instead of the nail I was driving. Just for a moment, the pain made me think of another carpenter, Jesus Christ! And I wondered if Jesus ever hit his thumb with a hammer instead of hitting the nail on the head?

But the thumb pain was only momentary and I resumed my hammering. With extra caution. Or so I thought.

It was only minutes later I again missed the nail. This time I took out my left forefinger. After moments of cursing to myself, I noticed blood droplets staining the sidewalk below my ladder. I again thought of Jesus. Could he have been this bad as a carpenter? And, if so, did he make such pronouncements as I was now making under my breath?

I don't know about that, but the strangest thing was happening. In the extreme anguish of the moment, I was making prophecies! Yes, I declared such things as, "I'll be damned!" and "I'll be a son of a bitch!"

I hope I was wrong, but this morning I'm nervous. That's because, so far, half of yesterday's prophetic proclamations have come true.

Dada's dose of Dadaism

A bill that would ban the importation of toy guns is now working its way through the Iraqi parliament.

According to the head of the parliamentary committee on women and children, the culture of violence is so pervasive, it has impacted all families, most dramatically affecting the society's children.

Of course, despite the Iraqi ban on the imports of toy guns, no such ban on the importation of real guns is being considered. I guess that's because it would mean every American soldier being sent to Iraq would have to leave his/her gun at home.

(Wait, now there's an idea!)

Pleasant day under the eaves, covered in white

"Oh shit!" I exclaimed, after dropping onto the patio my fully loaded freshly dipped-in-the-bucket-of-white-paint brush. Bending to glance beneath my big feet occupying the third rung of the ladder to the patio below me, I spied the nicest splatter of white paint there on a space that an hour earlier I'd felt too cocky to take the time to cover with a drop cloth because, "I'm so careful...who needs it?"

Scurrying down the ladder and racing for water to spray away the white paint splotch with the garden hose, I wondered, "Why the hell does this dam paint adhere better to the patio than the house I'm applying it to?"

Not coming off, I run into the garage, then the house, in frantic search of the brush I thought was in the garage. Racing back to the patio, I scrub the white spot frantically. It's too late, the paint clings stubbornly to its new home - the patio floor.

I would repeat this exact thing within the half hour but, under reassurances from Mrs. Dada after the first dropped brush that it wasn't all that important, I calmly climbed down from the ladder, retrieved the brush and returned up the ladder to the eaves above. "White spots be damned!"

Despite my sloppiness, it turned out to be an excellent day! From the package that arrived in the morning from Eugene containing the painting of the effects of global warming upon rising sea levels by our 2 1/2 yr. old great, great niece to the two bottles of (unbroken!) ales from the progressive Ninkasi Brewing Co. there in Eugene, plus many, many more wonderful gifts, to the discovery later this afternoon of Border Explorer's newest blog entry highlighting her visit last weekend to Columbus, NM and its border sister, Palomas, Mexico.

Earth changes resulting from global warming as channeled by our 2 1/2 yr. old great, great niece
in Eugene, Oregon. As can be seen, major damage to all seven continents through loss of land mass
from rising sea levels has resulted. Note the North and South poles, formerly covered with millions
of cubic miles of ice now lay barren with each pole resembling giant California navel oranges where
they now grow naturally, apparently.!

The only disadvantage to painting the house between such nice surprises was the talk radio I chose to listen to. The Barack - Hillary stalemate is beyond tedious. Inconceivable as it is, with their endless bloodletting and rigged voting machines I doubt either has a prayer of winning the White House.

But if Obama were to gain the nomination and win the election, I only hope he can carry out his promise of change. While I'm skeptical, it appears he can change. Like, from his pre-senatorial days when against the war, to his time since as a U.S. senator and the war funding rubber stamp for every penny Bush requested for the war.

Saying he didn't want to not support the troops while in Iraq, I'm wondering how the hell he'll be able to bring them home. But then I remembered the radio has an off button.

Earth Day, 2008

Happy Earth Day 2008 as we, yet again, celebrate
Earth Day with the president from another planet.

*******

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks"

I decided to accompany Mrs. Dada Friday, which promised to be a special day. Not only was she attending her weekly peace group's noontime vigil in front of the federal court house downtown, there was be a second demonstration in front of St. Patrick's cathedral from 4:00 - 6:00.

In between was a "farewell luncheon" for Border Explorer, regular commenter here on Dada's, and her husband, Paul. (They are leaving El Paso the first weekend in May for six months.) Lunch would be the highlight of the day for Dada, because the more and more I learn of this remarkable couple, the more I know how little I don't!

As an example, I just recently discovered that back in 1999 they went to Cuba. I'm thinking details of their trip would make a great blog. (Perhaps after they return next November sometime.) After expressing my envy, Border Explorer admitted it was one of her most memorable experiences. (Plus, I suspect the rum was good too!)

Unfortunately "Mr. Border Explorer" couldn't make the luncheon - he was busy putting the finishing touches on a large sign for that afternoon's demonstration asking the Pope to intervene by making a human shield of himself and other dignitaries in Iran to avert further Bush-Cheney insanity - another war!

Having gotten ribbed by blog visitor Eprof2 because of a photo on the front page of the EP Times recently that pictured Mrs. Dada and myself during the first "Scenic Sunday" walk of the season, I decided to post this photo of Friday's protest featuring Mrs. Dada as it appeared in "El Diario," the local Spanish newspaper. While we don't understand Spanish very well, we think Sra. Dada may be Catholic in the article. She's not, but always willing to lend a hand for good cause. (And, no, it wasn't on page one. It only made page two. ~grin)

So after the noon peace vigil followed by a great farewell luncheon for Border Explorer, it was time to head over to St. Patrick's for the demonstration organized by an extremely dedicated Catholic Carmelite priest and former WWII pilot, Peter Hinde (who, as a navy fighter pilot, apparently learned a lesson still unlearned by senator John McCain).

At 6:00 in the evening, it was time to fold up tent and head for home. It was good to tag along with Mrs. Dada on this Friday. And it turns out that although it's still only April, I now have my summer tan already!

The changing Iraqi lifestyles.

By Essam al-Sudani, AFP/Getty Images

A Basra family watching a gun battle between Iraqi soldiers
and al-Sadr rebels from the front door of their home.

~~~~~~~~~~

"The family used to pack up the car, drive to the park, picnic and play on weekends. But after the American invasion our car was eventually stolen and used by a suicide bomber to kill many in the market. That's ok, because the streets are too hazardous for driving now anyway, so we feel blessed because that terrorist may have actually saved our lives by stealing the car.

Now we have taken to new amusements. Instead of the park, our new past time is watching the gun battles, often just outside our home.

"Of course, we must use caution," the father warned. "Sometimes in the heat of battle, we must go inside and retreat to the back of the house to avoid the spraying of bullets in our family room and kitchen. But it's ok because we can still listen, which can be very exciting with the battle so close.

"And another advantage is we don't have to wait for the weekend to go to the park to enjoy our new hobby. The war outside our door happens on weekdays too! Sometimes even at night!"

Picture of the day.

Editor Sam, during a break from Dada's, wondering if there really is a doG?"

*****

May you live in interesting times! (part 37)

Attribute: Justin Mott for The New York Times

Sheep in their march behind a herd of lemmings across southeastern Australia's drought
stricken countryside on their way to certain death by drowning themselves in the Bass Strait.

In an updated echoing of history in which Marie Antoinette is said to have allegedly muttered to her fellow countrymen during a bread shortage, "Let them eat cake!," Australia seems to be saying to riotous Haitians and increasingly more violent protestors in Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Italy, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, the Philippines, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Yemen, "Let them eat wine!"

Extreme drought conditions have caused Australia's rice production (which requires much water) to decline by 98%. As a result, the largest rice mill in the southern hemisphere there has shut down. Former rice producing land is being converted to the production of wine grapes which demand far less water.

In the US, the growing hordes of hungry are being further agitated by that country's suggestion, "Let them eat biofuel!" as more and more of crops produced there are going into gas tanks instead of tummies. Even Americans are feeling the pinch with the resultant dramatic price increases in food (which, thankfully, along with soaring energy costs, are not included in the US core inflation price index).

It's gotten to the point where the World Bank has become concerned. Exploitation of masses of starving, poor, sick and dying populations globally has always been considered acceptable so long as those pesky throngs don't get violently unruly. But with increasing unrest in the Third World, the World Bank is now urging "major agricultural nations to overhaul policies to avoid a social explosion from rising food prices."¹

It's all part of the curse of "interesting times" in which we live. The niche mankind has enjoyed and thrived within for thousands of years is shriveling up. How many will have to perish to accommodate the newer more austere niche remains to be seen but some estimates are between 50-80% of us must perish.

At least we more fortunate than those poor Third World bastards will be able to cruise around, despite our growing hunger pangs, in our cars fueled with corn while getting high swilling good Australian wine as millions or billions of the world's impoverished perish.

Interesting times, indeed!

^{1 NY Times}

Doonesbury

Once or twice a year, the comic strip "Doonesbury" really
nails it. (Or, in this example, I should say really "pins it.")

Recall last autumn when Senator Barack Obama was seen
by the Great American Patriot Patrol, the conservative right,
while in public without an American flag pin stuck up his lapel.

In what conservative commentator Jonah Goldberg described
as “staggeringly stupid,” and “the single dumbest thing I’ve ever
heard of him doing,” there followed a debate over Obama's patriotism,
of his allegiance to America.

Obviously, Obama was giving us all a signal of his real intention should he be
elected president: He intends to turn the entire country into a Muslim state!

Most of us who missed this missed the real danger Obama represents. But thanks
to those right wing extremists, those folks who miss checking for Communists
under their beds before retiring each night since the fall of the Berlin Wall back in '89, we learned how very unpatriotic and dangerous a man like Obama is.

Thanks to Gary Trudeau and this week's Doonesbury strip, we are again reminded!

I don't happen to share the right's opinion of what makes a "patriot." While certainly not advocating for Barack Obama, I find the lack of an American flag pin in his lapel laughable.
I realize there are all kinds of "patriotism" but if sticking a flag pin made in China up your lapel allows you to violate international treaties on torture, subjugate the constitution and its guaranteed rights to all Americans, wage terrorism against the world by committing acts of terrorism against that world while bankrupting your country to the benefit of a privileged few at the expense of all Americans, don't expect to catch me with a flag stuck up my lapel.
In fact, I have a better suggestion of what you can stick your cheap metal Chinese flag pins of patriotism up!

"Illegals" or "my friends"? (A guest blogger's insights.)

Well over a year ago in one of my rare appearances at the weekly Friday noon peace vigil downtown, I had the privilege to meet "Border Explorer" and her husband for the first time. Thankfully, it was the beginning of many encounters to follow. I now enjoy the great anticipation I experience each time Mrs. Dada and I have another encounter upcoming with these two.

We are very fortunate to have Border Explorer (BE) and her husband, Paul, here about six months out of the year. They divide their time between El Paso and the midwest. While they are with us they involve themselves in our community by volunteering, studying and exploring border issues. Many people benefit from their efforts.

I know this because I visit BE's travel blog regularly. It gives me a chance to keep up with the wonderful work she and Paul do here in our border area. These are people who not only 'talk the talk,' they 'walk the walk!' We are truly privileged to have them here half of every year.

There are regular visitors to Dada's who appreciate the Southwest and its enhanced richness because of our border with Mexico. Others interested in border issues may enjoy a sampling of BE's blog as well.

I've highlighted a couple herein that, through her visits to the border towns of Columbus, NM and its cross border neighbor, Palomas, Mexico , we get a flavor of the region. Other blog entries reveal BE and Paul's activism and glimpses of border issues.

But I was especially moved by one of BE's latest blog entries. She was kind enough to let me post it here on Dada's as they prepare to leave us soon. Like I said, these folks walk the walk. Here then is the following from...

Border Explorer: one person's viewpoint on a hot-button area of the world.

I am so lucky to be able to assist many poor people in El Paso, among them are the so-called "illegal aliens" so maligned by the media. How can a person be illegal? Who makes those rules? They become my friends and as I prepare to leave in a few weeks, my heart already breaks at the coming separations that await me.

So I want to remember:

...the man who sent all his money to his family in Honduras, then approached me looking stricken because he didn't save back enough money to phone home to assure himself that the money arrived there safely.

...the man about the age of my step-sons who shyly and hopefully suggested to me that perhaps Paul and I would be willing to 'adopt' him to sponsor him as a U.S. citizen.

...the fatherless kids Pedro and Juan who accepted me every week as a sorta-grandmother: throwing kisses, playing patty-cake, and putting on little dramatizations with me much to the amusement of the entire shelter.

...the skinny teen girl who arrived in the middle of the night--raped and traumatized during her migration--saying she was 19 but looking more like 15...and how she invented excuses to hover in my shadow.

...the man battling depression, passing ghost-like with unfocused eyes through the corridors, yet stopping me to say, "I may be sad, but when I see your smile it makes me smile."

...the day two different people at two different times--independently of each other--took me aside to confide: "I don't want to be here illegally. How can I fix this? What can I do?"

And I want to remember how helpless I felt because there is no answer to that question. We don't give them any option. The honest answer would be: "We don't want you to be equals with us citizens. We want you here to do our dirty work."

Very nice. Finally, for a brief but poignant impression of immigration issues, BE shares her insights after attending a recent "Justice for Immigrants" seminar held just up the road at New Mexico State University. It concludes with BE saying, "I'm discouraged today."

Iran's fighting a proxy war in Iraq!

It's being reported in today's NY Times that US ambassador to Iraq, Ryan C. Crocker, is dutifully dittoing his leader George Bush's claim that Iran is engaging in a proxy war against the United States in Iraq.

Claiming tactics similar to those the U.S. has most recently used to back the Turkish military against the Kurds in northern Iraq, or as the U.S. has encouraged in the Philippines, Yemen, Somalia, in Afghanistan against the USSR in the 80's, or the long history of covert US involvement in its own proxy wars in Central and South America - in other words, globally - the US should certainly know an Iranian proxy war when it sees one.

But then this is the claim of the Bush administration and their recklessness and disregard for the truth is well documented, which may make Crocker's assertion just more Bush bullshit.

Or who knows, with all out chaos and violence going on just across its border, it may be Iran actually wants some input into the Iraqi outcome. Certainly, the US would want no less were this war being conducted by the Russians or Chinese on our neighbors in Canada or Mexico.

Image of the Week

Last Sunday being the first of "Scenic Sunday" walks over El Paso's Scenic Drive (closed to all vehicular traffic every Sunday morning now through August), I had the pleasure to walk much of the time with Border Explorer (an occasional commenter here on Dada's!) and her husband.

On our return down the scenic mountain drive, we re-entered the neighborhood fronting Scenic Drive where there exists many beautiful, often quite expansive homes. As we passed this more modest home, Border Explorer drew my attention to its paint job. I just had to take a picture or two, I found it so unique and refreshing. (Mrs. Dada is a bit more reserved in her opinion of it.)

While the colors remain true, I did take the liberty of adding a painterly feel to the photo (click to enlarge). Thanks to Border Explorer for drawing my attention to it. I so enjoyed it, I decided to share it here.

The changing face (and necks) of America.

Gas pump circa the 1950's. (Note "This Sale" has
room for only three digits making it difficult to
pump more than $9.99 into one's tank in one stop.)

It's worthy to note in the 1950's when the above gas pumps were in use, rheumatoid arthritis and serious debilitating neck injuries were insignificant to the point of non-newsworthiness.

Former El Paso mortgage banker at his new job.

Above is a sign of current gas prices locally (El Paso, TX) this week. Note: Until early this year scientists were at a loss to explain the sudden surge in the number of cases of painful rheumatoid arthritis, which can severely affect various body joints to also include the vertabrae of the neck (known as swan neck deformity) being reported by people employed to change the price of gasoline on signs across the country.

Particularly worthy of note is the swan neck deformity. It hasn't been confined solely to the sign changers population. Many Americans now cutting back on vacation plans (and eating) are also complaining of a kind of sympathetic 'pain in the neck.'

Scientists in late January, however, began to suspect a connection between the sudden spike in the number of new arthritis cases being reported by doctors and the ever changing prices of gasoline.

After serious investigation to determine if in fact there was any direct link, it appears there is! And it arises in those on the front lines of rising gas prices - the 7-11, Circle K, Jiffy Mart etc. gas price sign changers who are suddenly suffering the direct effects of rapidly changing gas prices!

Many of those most dramatically affected have been reassigned desk jobs or taken disability driven early retirements. I took a few minutes after my last fill-up at a Diamond Shamrock to visit with its manager.

I asked if she was concerned with the dwindling supply of sign changers to reflect dramatic rise in prices. She answered firmly without hesitation a resounding, "No!"

While suspecting many such outlets as her own will be employing 3 shifts 'round the clock to keep up with them, she assured me the weeding out of the arithritics would not be a problem.

"I figure there'll be lots and lots of unemployed truckers, homeless former middle class Americans and Bear Stearns investment analysts looking for work."

Oh, those minor inconveniences of smaller government!

The big headline in today's El Paso Times reads, "1,000 flights canceled" and "Another 900 flights won't fly today." It's the result of American Airlines conducting some overdue inspections/maintenance of their aircraft. In American's case, aircraft wiring is the main object of scrutiny.

This comes on the heels of the Southwest airlines flying potential deathtrap planes with cracked fuselages and the congressional hearings on the FAA, the airline, and the lax regulation of the latter by the former. Other airlines experiencing sudden grounding of aircraft have included Delta and Alaska.

Calvin L. Scovel III, who is the Inspector General of the Transportation Department expressed his concerns that the FAA had "developed an overly collaborative relationship" with Southwest Airlines which resulted in the flying public's safety being jeopardized.

Representative James Oberstar, D-Minn., called the FAA manger's negligence "malfeasance bordering on corruption," of their oversight, or lack thereof, of enforcement regulations to protect the public. Further, Oberstar went so far as to conclude if the evidence of FAA neglect seen by congress were to be presented to a grand jury, indictments would be handed down.

Of course, that'll never happen because this is the Bush administration. It's an administration of unaccountability and this is all part of the predatory policies of the blood sucking vampires Bush, Cheney and their cronies who prey upon Americans to the sole benefit and enrichment of themselves.

But of Oberstar's description of the FAA as "malfeasance bordering on corruption," I would more accurately describe it as "corruption manifesting as malfeasance." Apparently, as the result of sudden scrutiny, the FAA has recalled enforcing airline safety involves more than playing golf with airline executives.

But it reminds all of us once more of the conservative's ongoing chant against the waste and evils of "big government and huge budgets" (have you noticed the national debt under the Bush administration?) and the dupey Americans who buy into such bullshit. It is with them in mind, I'd like to see a separate tier of public services for Americans who advocate for smaller government and the benefits derived thereof.

Below are just a couple examples of many, many more.

More and better homelessness. This past week, an internal VA review found El Paso's Veteran services the worst in the country. By reducing big government further and further to veterans and the growing number of dispossessed, we can make this much, much worse!

For the folks chanting the anti-big government mantra, these bridges will be reserved for their use only.


And pesky crane collapses with questionable oversight by their regulators should only be used outside the homes and apartments of small government advocates.

For those who swallow the swill of deregulation and voluntary compliance by industry of environmental laws and regulations to protect public health, locate such places as smelters and other heavy polluters in their neighborhoods! Let them smell, ingest and suffer the ills of the discharges coming from the back ends of industry "voluntarily complying" with small government regulations (if they want to that is, of course).

And for the flying public, there should be planes for conservative advocates in favor of less government scrutiny, less safety.

The examples go on and on. Despite the many advantages of smaller government and those you may disagree with them, I think we can all agree on one thing -- as part of our American heritage, we are all destined to enjoy an endless future of bogus wars!

*******

A sad day for America?

Attribution: Manan Vatsyayana, AFP/Getty Images

NEW DELHI (DP) — Carina Carroll from Lawrence, Kansas was one of the first visitors from the U.S. to see a baby born last month with two faces in a small village in northern India. When asked Monday her impression after viewing the child, Carroll rued, "What a shame she was born here in India. She would have made a great American politician!"

History Smistory!

Note: The following is an exerpt from an article in Ft. Worth's Star Telegram from way last February 21st, before the Texas primary. It's old news. Or is it? I don't recall hearing about it in any national network news service or wire. (Maybe I just missed it?)

I suppose reactions by readers of this may be mixed; from shock by some to appreciation of Secret Service orders by others. But I think it important to remember that perhaps the reason this didn't really make much of a news story, if any, may be because of where it took place, i.e., in the state of Texas, in the city of Dallas, where there has never occurred a threat of real danger to any elected official because the public in Dallas is so "friendly."

DALLAS -- Security details at Barack Obama's rally Wednesday stopped screening people for weapons at the front gates more than an hour before the Democratic presidential candidate took the stage at Reunion Arena.

The order to put down the metal detectors and stop checking purses and laptop bags came as a surprise to several Dallas police officers who said they believed it was a lapse in security.

Dallas Deputy Police Chief T.W. Lawrence, head of the Police Department's homeland security and special operations divisions, said the order -- apparently made by the U.S. Secret Service -- was meant to speed up the long lines outside and fill the arena's vacant seats before Obama came on.

"Sure," said Lawrence, when asked if he was concerned by the great number of people who had gotten into the building without being checked. But, he added, the turnout of more than 17,000 people seemed to be a "friendly crowd." (Emphasis my own.)

Scenic Sunday

Scenic Drive was bustling with joggers, cyclists and walkers on Sunday as they came
out to enjoy the city views from the road, without traffic. The city will close Scenic
Drive to vehicles from 6 a.m. to noon through Aug . (Vanessa Monsisvais/ El Paso Times)

I almost missed this photo on the front page of this morning's El Paso Times. Taken of yesterday's first "Scenic Sunday" (I guess they're not "Ciclovias" this year). It was a nice morning for walking and Mrs. Dada and I enjoyed the pleasant company of other members of her local peace group while walking up and down the liberated roadway.

The photo includes Mrs. Dada on the extreme right (with backpack) just as she was stepping out of the scene and yours truly in the white shirt just to the right of the young bicyclist in the foreground.

Ciclovia returns!

At the foot of El Paso's Scenic Drive that winds its way up
and around the terminus of the city's Franklin Mountains.

Anyone who's been reading this blog since last May remembers the ciclovia El Paso tried that month. Closing several streets to auto traffic, they were opened up to the public to walk, hike and bike sans worry of traffic. It was a great idea that quickly gained popularity among the public. It was not uncommon to see families, some with children in strollers, walking over the city's Scenic Drive. Some jogging, some with the family dog. Editor Sam and I walked it all four of those Sundays.

Due to its success, we just recently learned the city has decided to return ciclovia again this year, but instead of a one month run, Scenic Drive will be closed every Sunday from 0600 - 1200 through the end of August!

Tomorrow is the kick-off of the first of five months of a great way to get out and get some exercise almost effortlessly while meeting and enjoying others doing the same!

"May you live in interesting times!"

As a kid back in the mid-20th Century, my one major goal was to make it to the 21st Century. I figured that would be far enough into the future to experience some of the incredible changes science was promising us all; to get me to that state of the alleged Chinese blessing, "May you live in interesting times!"

Of course, as a kid, I didn't realize that expression wasn't Chinese. Nor was it a blessing. It was a curse! But that was all right too, because youth is most always tempted by conditions offering an element of daring and danger that challenge their comfort zones. So if the future with its unknown manifestations held some potential dangers, "Alright, bring it on!"

My wish to make it to a place with many unknowns held the promise of some excitement for my future. Kids have a reputation for often doing crazy or stupid things, I suppose. Pre-frontal lobes of their brains have not yet fully matured, likely explaining why young men and women make the best soldiers -- they haven't fully grown into their common sense.

I know making generalizations like that are arguable. "How do you explain mature adult's actions so wrought with danger and daring like those of a George Bush or Dick Cheney?" one might ask. But I'm speaking to normal adult human maturations, not aberrant sociopathic ones. But I digress.

So my wishing to live into the next millenium to experience "interesting times" seemed relatively tame in light of some of the craziness around me and my peers so absorbed in youthful moments. Now however, having arrived in the future, I'm not so sure how tame my desire to experience it was.

Sure, the next forty years cruised along pretty routinely with wars (mostly unnecessary), assassinations, and natural disasters seasoned with unnatural, man made ones as well.

There was the exciting moment when modern man first stepped on another heavenly body as millions watched below. That was almost a decade after he nearly fried himself in a US - USSR nuclear annihilation.

But as kids our main concerns were girls, money and cars. Occasionally we'd think about the future and sometimes dream. One in particular I remember was the fantasy of making it to the year 2000, of having amassed $100,000. (My dream was modest.) As a friend and I imagined, at 6% the $500/month income it would provide for the rest of forever, while not wealth, would leave us very, very comfortable. We'd never have to work again!

Now, 50 years later, here I am. Living in the future. The $100,000 at 6% fantasy obviously didn't allow for inflation. That aside, where can one earn 6% without more risk than I'm willing to take in increasingly riskier financial markets.

I admit, over the decades since boyhood, I became lulled into a sense of an unending status quo, that my wish as a kid would not happen. But with the turn of the century, things have really heated up. In retrospect, I now realize since 2001 I, indeed, have gotten my wish. I do live in interesting times!

What's far more exciting, the immediate future looks to be getting even more interesting. Far more than anything I wished or bargained for as a kid, I fear.

Stay tuned. The future sure ain't what it used to be!

Kristinanity revisited

(NOTE: This is an updated post which originally appeared on Dada's in August, 2006.)

Image from fear of clowns

Today's image comes from a parallel Universe just three doors down from our own. It's a matriarchal Universe and there exists therein a small speck of a planet where the followers of the prevalent religion consider themselves "Kristins".

Named for Kristin, their martyred savior, it's a world devoid of war, which I suppose is good. But Kristins suffer--much as all religions universally--from extremist elements on their fanatical fringe.

While often accused of suppressing open and free thinking among adherents, they are also credited with the peace enjoyed by citizens of their planet. It is thought this stems from the universally implicit threat to any male child or man caught playing with plastic toy soldiers, tanks, or possessing models of F-16's, or who are caught enjoying video war games, found to have "Soldier of Fortune" magazines under their mattresses, or who play with their missiles. Such discoveries are dealt with by harsh retributions. Castration!

While seemingly extreme, one must admit there are currently no innocent men, women, children born--or unborn--being slaughtered needlessly anywhere in Kristindom. That's because there are no Kristin priestesses or their followers advocating the compassionate massacres of non-Kristins in the name of Kristin's mother, "Goddess."

George Bush and Dick Cheney should be thankful they do not live in this parallel universe. If they did, they would be known as "George Bush and Dick Cheney, The Eunuchs!" These two would be the leaders of a whole list of Bush administration eunuchs to include, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, Colin Powell, Karl Rove, Richard Perle (a personal favorite of Dada's) and, of course, Condoleezza Rice, a former Chevron Oil Tanker.