Philip Seymour Hoffman, RIP

Sadly, Phillip Seymour Hoffman's passing was, life imitating fiction; the great, tragic roles he played on screen and stage.http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/02/showbiz/philip-seymour-hoffman-appreciation/
One of my favorite actors, I scanned through Seymour Hoffman's body of work and I found it both ironic and sad, that his last theater work was in 2012, playing the lead role of Willy Loman in the iconic Author Miller play, Death of a Salesman, on Broadway. I was never a prolific reader in school, but the story of Willy Loman and his dysfunctional life was one story that struck a chord with me and made me reflect. Even if you haven't read the play, it's pretty easy to discern the outcome.
EPIC scene of Philip Seymour Hoffman playing Brandt, (with Jeff Bridges and David Huddleston) in_ The Big Lebowski
Yes, yes.

Borbyrygmi= Stomach Rumblings

T-Bone Walker said it best: "I woke up this morning, and I was in an awful mood". The Fatthew Challenge calzone would put a hurting on you- 5.5 pounds of mozzarella cheese, dough, chicken tenders, french fries, and mozzarella sticks.
To date, there have been over 100 attempts @ Scottie's Famous Pizza- None finishing.

Recycle America

As a young kid, I can remember holding an empty plastic strawberry container and wondering what I could do with it? Put a string on the pint sized, green, plastic basket and make a little tram out of it? There must be another use for this (seemingly) ingenious container (instead of just throwing it in the trash), I thought to myself.

Now, fast forward 30 years, my passion for recycling and has taken me through college, around New England, around the United States, and across the oceans. My quest for waste reduction and has played a vital role in my life.

“Freight and Barrel,” 2004, Three Rivers Arts Festival, Pittsburgh, crushed plastics. Steven Siegel.

After a month-long cross country to Montana, last winter, I came to the realization that what our country could benefit from is a good 'Spring Cleaning' to recycle all the unused, unwanted, or ignored infrastructure throughout the USA. Utilizing the USA's expansive and low cost railroad systems- A national, regional and/or local scrap recycling program would station railroad freight cars, strategically and geographically across the United states to saturate the whole USA, with Rolling Recycling Cans.

This freight could be shipped to recycling facilities and shipping ports, en route to smelters and blast furnaces across the globe.

This is already happening in Detroit (on a different level), where cash strapped Detroiter's are taking to old, abandoned factories and dismantling and recycle. We need to turn this desperation into middle america's gold rush.
I feel our consumer waste recycling (low weight/high volume) stream in the USA can learn a lot from the high weight/low volume business of scrap metal recycling. Hopefully people will just as passionate about recycling plastics, paper, and glass as Copper and Aluminum. http://www.freep.com/article/20131112/OPINION01/311120014/
rust belt scrap iron- help rebuild this country- through America's heartland- quest

Lee Lorch: mathematician + civil rights activist + professor + WWII vet= all around amazing guy

Lee Lorch, who is this guy I stumbled upon, while researching Stuyvesant Town? In my opinion, Professor Lorch (at 98 years young) should be given the Nobel Peace Prize, or similar type medal of commendation. Dr. Lorch, after receiving his Ph.D, worked in the war effort stateside, only to enlist during WWII in the US Army. After returning home after the war, and building upon the racial injustices seen in WWII, Lee Lorch began teaching Math and simultaneously began his own war against racial inequality in the United States of America. A recent NYTimes article (of which i borrowed the header picture) does a tasteful job of outlining this Colorful Patriot. A great tribute to Lee Lorch is given by Dr. Scott W. Williams, Professor of Mathematics, University of Buffalo

Jimi Hendrix and Time Magazine's (other) top 9 Lefties of all time.

While watching American Masters, "Jimi Hendrix- hear my train a comin" on PBS, I realized that in addition to being an innovator, icon, and one of the most talented musicians ever, Jimi Hendrix was also one of the most intelligent, humble, dynamic, and captivating Icons of the 20th century. Maybe unknowingly, Jimi was also a Patriot and beacon for social change, peace, justice, and individuality.

While in London, Jimmy died Sept, 1970- he was only 27 years old.

Here's Time magazine's top 10 Lefties
Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Babe Ruth, Napoleon Bonaparte, Leonardo da Vinci, Marie Curie, Aristotle, Ned Flanders, Jimi Hendrix,
Read more: Complete List - Top 10 Lefties - TIME http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,1916052,00.html #ixzz2jpfEPwMY

Rocky was a Southpaw

Southpaw=Left handed fighter. Everybody knows that Apollo Creed and his management was weary of ROcky Balboa in Rocky. After the passing away of the venerable Tommy "the Duke" Morrison; who starred in Rocky V as Tommy Gunn, a character of himself, that would foreshadow Morrison's own downfall. After Morrison's passing on Sept. 1st, of complications from AIDS; I watched some Youtube videos of the great fighters of the 80's and 90's. Tommy was a great two handed boxer, who could hit hard with both hands. I found an interview from 2006, where he talks about fighting a southpaw from Russia in '96.http://www.boxingscene.com/tommy-morrison-still-walking-tall--3179 Anyways, here's a great interview with him My all time favorite was "Iron" Mike Tyson, not a lefty, but a two handed wrecking machine and in my opinion the best of modern times.

Uncle Fester and Bubbles jr.

I was working this past weekend into yesterday with two of the craziest dudes i've ever encountered- Uncle Fester and Bubbles jr. I didn't have enough, time, energy or wherewithal to snap a picture of these guys, but they were classic. They both looked and acted just like their namesakes, Bubbles is a character from the Iconic Canadian series- Trailer Park Boys. Bubbles jr. was from Southie and was more biker and had some USMC ink. Uncle Fester (his real nickname) was a cross between The Munster and Armish Puri- the bald headed guy from indiana jones. Fester was the boss, and he's the guy that contacted me about the work. I should have known it was gonna be a joke when he says, "can you work tomorrow" (Sunday)? What kind of contractor starts a job on a Sunday? We were to be jacking up a house and ripping out rotted framing members. I reluctantly agreed an OK'd the idea. Sunday was cool, and we just ripped off the old material worked for two days and basically got prepped for Monday- when we would jack the house up and take care of business. Monday, i wasn't on my game and these two knuckleheads had me all fucked up. "Work like Gentlemen"- to quote Mike Dangelo; would be easier said than done with Bubbles jr. and Uncle Fester.

Three Chirps

"The dreaded three chirps "

http://bit.ly/13mVmz4

Switzerland's conundrum

Although Switzerland is an armed neutral country, and Geneva is where humane war rules have been written (4 times)- it's a country of great intrigue to me. First, because of Switzerland's huge arms industry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Firearms_manufacturers_in_Switzerland
Second, because of their Swiss banking. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banking_in_Switzerland
Now, after watching Special Flight a POV (point of view) documentary tonight on PBS: about the immigration, deportation, and detainment of workers coming to make a better life for themselves. For a country with such high moral standards, this documentary piece is visceral.

Watch Special Flight - Trailer on PBS. See more from POV.

Tanya Stephens- These Streets- acoustic

Tanya Stephens - These Streets by elmokozo

Famous Left-handers

After visiting the great city of Bloomington, Indiana this winter-- which Dali Lama called "the center of the universe". I agree with his assertion that it could be the center of the universe, after seeing that they too, are left-hand centric.

Although I joke and tell people that left-handed citizens are minorities, living in an oppressed, right-handed world, I truly feel that our brains are wired differently. As I sit here and listen to the Howard Stern Show while Howard interviews Jerry Seinfeld, the iconic, irritable comedian, makes me think he's left handed. I do a quick Google check for famous lefts.

Low and behold, Indiana University has created a website devoted to cataloguing famous left-handed people in their primate department. http://www.indiana.edu/~primate/left.html

"Print is dead" - Dr. Egon Spengler

Most websites would kill for increased traffic. Buying ad-space from Google and increasing their online presence by cleaning up their pages with meta-tags blah, blah... So why is it that certain websites; mainly stodgy, old "newsprint networks" insist on driving away traffic? Requiring usernames and payment? I get it, they can't make money with print anymore, so they must resort to online revenue to keep them afloat.

Filling up the boarders with banner ads for Acai berry diets doesn't really pay, and instead of figuring out a better model for online marketing, news networks are incresingly require an account be created- the user may or not have to pay $$$ for the same news you can read for free by just googling.

I will choose the latter and not support the printing press dinosaurs. Instead, I'll rely on Google, Reuters, Associated Press, and social media- for free and current, news and events. Everybody out there is a journalist these days, with news/information being uploaded worldwide instantaneously through online publishing. Social media and independent news is the way it's gonna be, so get with the program.

Rectify

rec·ti·fy /ˈrektəˌfī/ Verb Put (something) right; correct: "mistakes made now cannot be rectified later". Purify or refine (a substance), esp. by repeated distillation: "rectified alcohol". Synonyms correct - amend - redress - straighten - emend - mend



 

Wooden bats in MLB

A few years ago, I began researching the rules and regulations of wooden bats used in Major League Baseball, MLB. With all the shattered baseball bats in recent years (blasting players and spectators), I began thinking about possible reasons for all the broken bats. The traditional species of wood used in baseball bats was Ash, a ring porous hardwood (similar to oak or hickory) specifically white Ash. I hypothesized that it was diffuse porous woods, such as Sugar Maple (acer saccharum) that was the main culprit.
And http://www.woodbat.org agrees, stating that- in the early 90's, bat manufacturers began using maple more often, likely because A. saccharum' physical properties are 5-10% > Ash.
MLB Official Rules:
1.10 (a) The bat shall be a smooth, round stick not more than 23/4 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length. The bat shall be one piece of solid wood. NOTE: No laminated or experimental bats shall be used in a professional game (either championship season or exhibition games) until the manufacturer has secured approval from the Rules Committee of his design and methods of manufacture. (b) Cupped Bats. An indentation in the end of the bat up to one inch in depth is permitted and may be no wider than two inches and no less than one inch in diameter. The indentation must be curved with no foreign substance added. (c) The bat handle, for not more than 18 inches from its end, may be covered or treated with any material or substance to improve the grip. Any such material or substance, which extends past the 18 inch limitation, shall cause the bat to be removed from the game. NOTE: If the umpire discovers that the bat does not conform to (c) above until a time during or after which the bat has been used in play, it shall not be grounds for declaring the batter out, or ejected from the game. (d) No colored bat may be used in a professional game unless approved by the Rules Committee.
What struck me when looking over the rules above /\ was what wasn't there- wood species. It's my feeling that not specifying wood species is important as size and weight regulations for Major League Baseball bats.
Here is a good article from NYTimes that I just found (from 2008) http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/sports/baseball/25maple.html?_r=0.

We destroy and rebuild

This fuckin' house has taught me the 3 P's: Persistence, perseverance and pain.

Fall-itics

I was just thinking, I agree with being fiscally responsible and I don't think that people who don't do shit, should get paid big $$$. That being said, I think that people should look after another, and American's should take care of one another. I am independent. Thanks to Howard STern and his tirades about the Republicans wanting to end Planned Parenthood- "The Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Inc. (PPAF) is a related organization which lobbies for pro-choice legislation, comprehensive sex education, and access to affordable health care in the United States." from Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_Parenthood It dawned on me just now a proposition for the Republican party: If you want to do away with birth control and abortion, than you must pay for the lives of unwanted children across this country. And if they (the republican party)say,... 'Well we are paying for them already, through social programs, welfare, food stamps, etc.' My response would be, Exactly.

GMC MotorHome

Iconic design. Here is a good compilation of images and media: http://squob.com/motorhomes/gmc-the-hot-wheels-rv/

Need production for construction

With the purchase of my new house, And it's ensuing gutting (renovation), I am seeking ways to document the process for teaching/learning purposes and sheer enjoyment factor of tearing up an old house and redoing it propper- efficiently, economically and environmentally.

Immigration Nation

As I scan through the channels on TV, I notice Border Wars, a documentary show on National Geographic detailing their 'war' on illegal immigrants. A few years ago, I remember hearing a very pertinent and fresh perspective on immigration: It's when people don't want to hop fences to come to America when we have real problems- meaning people wanting to risk their lives to come to America for a better life is a good thing. The USA is still the land of the American dream.

The proof: Immigrants aren't climbing fences, boarding boats, and traveling across deserts for a better life in Russia or China.   America is the land of freedom, democracy and opportunity.

Great White extravaganza

(Pic: Dead great white from Westport, MA. August/September 2012)
Ever since a 15 foot great white shark became trapped in a small lagoon just south of Woods Hole, MA (during the summer of 2004), Cape Cod has been a hotbed of great white activity and sightings. This summer, 2012 has been the most active, with regular sightings, beach closures, and an alleged attack in Truro.

Every kid from Cape Cod and the Islands (Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard) has probably seen Jaws a hundred times and was first subjected to the movie at the tender age of 5. (not) Much has changed since Jaws first hit theatres in 1975; locals still depend on summer tourists and affluent seasonal residents for their livelihoods. Much has changed from then and now- the great white shark is a protected species in the USA and research has been elevated across the planet, with Australia and South Africa at the forefront of study.

With all the promotion of the Discovery Channel's "Shark Week" circus, it's nice to see that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with shows titled- "Jaws Comes Home", is tagging the sharks and gaining much needed long term research into Atlantic great white sharks. What is disconcerting to me, is the lack of 'attention' that's really been paid to a clear and present danger: great white sharks possibly attacking swimmers and ruining the seasonal tourism for the Cape. A la Jaws- Mayor Vaughn: "I'm only trying to say that Amity is a summer town. We need summer dollars. Now, if the people can't swim here, they'll be glad to swim at the beaches of Cape Cod, the Hamptons, Long Island..."

What we Don't need are more shark wranglers and cowboys coming to Cape Cod to test their TV persona.

What we need is the BEST that marine science has to offer, like real-time satellite tags (available and used in AU for years) to track and research the sharks by the second, monitoring the threat. We do have some of the best centers for higher learning and marine studies in the nation and world abroad- it's time we lead by example, so we don't end up with a real problem.

The West indies and the ring of the Caribbean

Saint Martin island; smaller than Nantucket, yet divided between France and The Dutch.

My biggest fan and my greatest critic.

December 18, 2011 was the end of an era, the day we lost a great woman: Jane F. McCormick, my mother. She lived a hundred lives in the 70 years she graced this earth. And left her mark in many ways and touched many lives. Jane's spirit lives on in her three children, five grandchildren and countless jokes. My mom was as tenacious and brash; as she was, comforting and compassionate. I thank her for helping form my life and giving me strength. Until the day she died she was as opinionated and strong as the woman I will always remember- still laughing and arguing about politics and economics, till the day she died. She gave me a brother and sister, taught us important life lessons and made sure that we were taken care of. "Go tell your mother she loves you." I can still hear Mammy Jane bellow to her kids, grand-kids, or anyone else within earshot.

Origami corrugations

By Ray Schamp

looking south

Lewis Street, East Boston. feb 5, 12

Pine Street

I moved to New Orleans in March 2001, for work as a marketing manager at a lumber trade association. Having just graduated from UMass Amherst, I was happy to have a good paying job (any job) outside of New England. I was reaching for California, but New Orleans was good enough. I was chosen for the job over more seasoned candidates because; "I represented the future and the industry needed a shot in the arm", so I was told.

After I started work on April 1, I was immediately dispatched to the Southern Pine growing region to learn about the species I would be representing. Lumber towns, rural, quiet honest places in the deep south, places like: Pineville, Louisiana; Mobile, Alabama and Tylertown, Mississippi were part of my required training.

I already knew about Southern Pine, because I grew up on Pine Street, West Barnstable, Massachusetts, but it was meeting the people of the south that was my real education.

The Saxony Hotel

I lived across from this hotel, the Saxony on the 3200 block of Collins Ave, Miami Beach. One of the last great Art Deco resorts in Miami beach, this place was awesome, and definitely my favorite in Miami. I guess, partially because of the building's worn, dated deco looks and great design cues. Most intriguing to me was the top floor, with it's it's rows of over sized, unobstructed prairie style- picture windows and tall ceilings (est 15ft). The top floor was a club when the Saxony running.

The owners were in the process of gutting the property and building an adjacent tower with residential and guest rooms. Not sure what it looks like now. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxony_Hotel

THanks to http://elimperiomoderno.blogspot.com/2011/01/saxony-hotel.html for the photo

Still Left-Handed

Even though the world is right...


Guess who's back?
Pulled a Rip Van Winkle
and just took a little nap.

Last day for Blogger FTP

Today is the last day (or yesterday) for file transfer protocol (FTP) using blogger sourcing: http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/02/02/google-discontinuing-ftp-support-for-blogger-blogs/

Even though I own the domain name lefthandedliving.com and I host the site through a third party, I still use Blogger to create and publish my content- although my content is few and far between. Not sure what will happen.

So, until I figure this out.


Lata

one of my fav pics from the Virgin Islands

Give

I come flying off the highway after work on a Friday afternoon, i'm banging down Carondolet Street, in New Orleans' Central Business district. It's a picture perfect spring afternoon, blue skies, a slight breeze and warm afternoon sun. As I park my car, I notice an old man sitting on the sidewalk, soaking up the sun and looking content. He looked very peaceful, sitting quietly, probably listening to the birds. As I paralleled into spot, the old man on the sidewalk came into plain view. He was wearing a green, US Army fatigue jacket, sitting on a small wooden cart with caster wheels, and he had no legs.
My first impression was he was a Vietnam vet. When I got out, I realized that the meters were still running and I didn't have a quarter to pay for parking. Just my luck, i get a sweet spot downtown and I don't have any change for the meter. As I'm standing there in bewilderment, the man reaches out his hand and offers me a Quarter (for the meter). I thanked him, but declined his kind gesture. After all, how was I gonna take a handout from a guy with no legs, sitting on a homemade push cart? After declining his offer a few more times, he unabashedly placed the coin in my hand.

Wish I had a picture of him.

In other news, I'm going to have to switch my lefthandedliving.com setup, because, blogger is no longer doing FTP- file transfer protocol, for uploading posts and pictures to third party servers. It goes into effect May, 1, so i'm going to have to find another editor to do my posts on.

Acronyms are for Assholes

It wasn't put just that way, but the premise was the same. I forget the guy's name but what he said was that acronyms are lazy ways for people to communicate and could be vague, confusing, and exclusionary to those who don't know what the acronyms mean. This was in 2006, though.

On the other side of the coin, acronyms are great for communicating in short hand. You can communicate your msg with less characters. They are inclusionary; for those in the know. If you are amongst friends, work or social groups, acronyms are communications in code. Twitter is kind of like an evolving acronym dictionary. It reminds me of Morse code.

Shoutout: Cape Cod

I was just listening to this Nas song, Hustlers. I like Nas, but I've never heard this song before. I couldn't believe my ears, but he starts off the third verse with a nod to Olde Cape Cod. Listen for yourself @ 36 seconds ---

Senator Brown

I love this guy already: "Arianna's definitely not available but Ayla is," he bellowed during his victory speech. He's already giving his daughter away to the people. I would take her out.

FOrget the tea party, this guy looks like a bull in a china shop. I can't wait to see what he really does and how he votes. I don't think either candidate really promised anything beyond healthcare voting.... He was running on an independent platform and kept abortion out of it.

Help Haiti

The people of the Caribbean are strong and resilient, having to rebuild their (mostly poor) small island nations, after being ravaged by hurricanes, which seems like every other year. Seeing those crumbled concrete buildings was so sad, because much of the destruction and death could have been avoided if buildings were built properly. It's pretty sad, when the presidential palace can't withstand an act of nature.

Nobody in the Caribbean saw this coming?

Most people think of concrete (poured and block) as being strong, tough, durable; which it is, if it's built properly and reinforced/designed sufficiently to withstand the loads that may be applied. What struck me the most from the pictures was that all the structures were made of concrete; no wood framed buildings.

When the pictures and video started to come out from Haiti, I was reminded of my work in the lumber industry. In addition to being based in New Orleans and focusing much of our efforts on construction in the Gulf states, which suffer from many of the same threats as islands in the Gulf of Mexico.

With the plethora of forest products) building materials available (at low prices)due to the global recession, American and multinational countries can and should donate materials, shipping, tools and equipment, to both showcase their materials, get rid of their old stock and great PR.


Utilizing the International Building Code (IBC) and the Wood Frame Construction Manual (WFCM).

Maybe we should put the Pallet house to use (see below).

ITALIA

If World Wrestling Entertainment isn't promoting in Italy, it should be; with all the high flying action over there these days.
Earlier this month, an assailant, wielding a model statue of the Milan cathedral lobbed it at the prime minister. that's one hairy looking cathedral.

(Tool) Housing

With the housing bubble completely deflated across the country, I think it's worth taking a look at scaling back and looking at the important issues pertaining to homes and construction. We now have the technology to build super energy efficient and environmentally friendly buildings, but cost and acceptance are the biggest roadblocks.

I read an interesting article on boston.com about this designer/builder renovating an old gunsmith shop in Roxbury (village in Boston, MA). The guy was using 12 inch foam panels for insulation and was talking about heating the entire house (albeit only 750 sf) by making a batch of pancakes on the range?!

It was really cool and I totally agree with his ideology of using Passive house standard to retain heat. But then I took a look at the house and I saw was about as boring as a block of ice. I'm sure the interior looks fine, but the styling is so bleak, it makes me cold just looking at it. Plus, at 250k that's $333 per square foot, a bit excessive.

I have always been fascinated with small, inexpensive buildings/housing. I bring to the table, my inexpensive pallet house, built from common building materials. Start with common sized pallets 40"x48" and frame in with common 2x6 framing studs and plates.

Once framed, the wall structures could be filled with expanding poly foam. The foam would serve many functions:
-R-30 insulation and vapor barrier
-stiffening/rigidity - every pallet like a little SIP- (structurally insulated panel)
-sheathing/solid nailing for interior and exterior finishes

It's a very versatile system- with pallets being readily available and easily integrated with current wood frame construction practices and materials. And it's cheap

restrooms

In the past year, I've been fooled by at least half a dozen bathroom signs and walked into the woman's room, by accident. I can't be the only one. Seems like the cool thing to do these days, is to put cryptic codes on bathroom doors in restaurants and bars to confuse patrons. Who wants to stand there looking at the bathroom signs for two minutes wondering which door to choose?

a good man

At 9:40 pm, the world lost a good man.

Jim Gilchrist, was one of the most humble, considerate, and funny people to grace our shores. I have learned so much from Jim and I admire him deeply. If fortitude could be measured on a scale, Jim would tip it. He was a kind, gentle man, with an eye on the world and a great perspective for it. >

US Govt=GM

With the ensuing bailout of the soon to be bankrupt General Motors, I think the citizens of the USA and their representatives should have a say in how the failing auto manufacturer should be run. First, you can't be everything to everybody. What GM brands are worth saving, worth abandoning and what products work for the company? Competitive, efficient, and reliable is a good start. The Corvette, is a world class super car, why can't they translate that success into a decent lineup of cars and trucks? Let's bring some diesel models into the mix. I saw a VW commercial saying the new TDI diesel Jetta set a world record at over 58 mpg!!




I just read a good article about GM's information technology (IT) suppliers getting shafted during the bankruptcy. Go to Chevy's website and the paradox of GM comes to full circle. Great website, all the bells and whistles, too bad the company is BANKRUPT :( Maybe they should pay more attention to the competition, instead of captivating us with just another lame, Flash website.
Their only small, economical car Chevy markets is made by Doosan Daewoo, in Korea. It's not a good car at all, the Nissan Versa and Toyota Yaris are similarly priced, and twice the car as the Chevy Aveo. I've rented both cars and I was nervous at over 75 with the Chevwoo. The gas mileage was mediocre at best. Take a page out of the Japan story (GM)- start building small, cool cars that will run forever and get great gas mileage.
Here's a simple GM math equasion:
good value + reliable + efficient = Profits

dreams

if it's in our minds, it's not a myth

when you slip into sleep
dreams become reality
the lines are blurred
between fake, farce and actuality

within reach
it's all possibility
we just need to learn and teach
ourselves to hope
and cope
with the waves of life
Newton never knew that what goes down must come up

the stocks are getting low
but they're guaranteed to grow
like brick oven baked pizza dough
love lasts for ever
while people come and go


float in, duck out and coast on
to the 3rd dimension
sun's setting, here comes dawn
come one, come all
don't need a reservation or phone number to make the call
your penance is your pension

Fear and loathing

Ever since 911, Americans have been told who are heroes are. Military and first responders right? Well, I don't doubt that we owe our lives to men and women in uniform, but there are everyday Americans (and people throughout the world) that go about their daily routines and hardly ever get the recognition they deserve.
I'm talking about the people that get paid to take care of those who can't take care of themselves; invalids and children.
People like certified nurses assistants (CNA's), caseworkers, and hospital orderlies are Heroes. These heroes represent some of the lowest paid professions going and they do some of the most invaluable work for humanity. These people clean up other people's shit, plain and simple. I think you are all heroes and thank you for your service.

I just read this article about the fleecing of the taxpayers at the hands of our first responders. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/04/21/police_unions_roll_up_votes_to_restore_bonus/
Police and firemen (and their screw faced unions) in Massachusetts have been robbing this state blind for long enough. Under the guise of "security" the taxpayers have been lulled into a deep sleep reminiscent of Rip Van Winkle. Everybody is tired of watching policemen "working" frivolous details, getting paid god knows what; $40-$50/hr, to sit in their car or stand around harassing hard working contractors, while they are supposed to be protecting and serving. Ditto for the firemen. Just last month, it was revealed that the "mechanics" paid to repair Boston firetrucks were firefighters that were paid in excess of $130,000 and they weren't even certified heavy mechanics. It's appalling that in our time of economic misery, we are constantly reminded of gluttons posing as Ghandi's

The Walls Have Ears

If you've never heard the saying before, it's an idiom that means: watch what you say, cause you never know who's listening. I don't think this term is very pertinent in our current situation, given the dire circumstances so many face. People are speaking their minds these days and they don't give a f#%k who hears them. And why should they? With our diarrhetic economy, who cares?

I know the bailout is a way to ease the burdens on people's backs, but it seems to me that our whole economic system has gone right down the tubes. I don't know about any body else, but this doesn't feel like the capitalism I learned about in school. America has long ridiculed and bastardized communist and socialist countries across the world, look at US now.

Past, present and future...

When I moved back to Massachusetts in 2003, I remember being blown away at the cost of housing and perplexed at how a house that was worth $150,000 in 2000, was now worth $300,000, only three years later. I'm no Greenspan or Ben Bernanke, but I know the basics of economics and something didn't jive. How can the cost of housing double, while wages stay the same? Somehow (post 9-11) the price of housing skyrocketed and it didn't seem to raise any eyebrows.

The economy is center stage with bailouts, bankruptcies, corporate and political crooks running a muck in America. I've been intrigued with this whole mess, since it's inception; the banking crisis last year. I've had some good dialogue about the situation with people from all different walks of life and financial standings.

Regarding the bailout: I'm struggling to find work and the economy has hurt me. In jest, I say, where's my piece of the bailout? In all honesty, why and how does the government decide who gets bailed out?

I was reading up about what corporations are doing to keep afloat and I came upon a company called Koch Industries, a conglomerate based in Wichita, Kansas. I had never heard of Koch Industries, but I was amazed to learn that Koch is the 2nd largest private company in America (behind Cargill) with $100 billion in revenue. Koch is headed up by some of the smartest executives in the world, and reading CEO Charles Koch's perspective on the government intervention was very insightful: learning from past mistakes so we don't relive history.