Cheney, Mancow, and Ketchum

This past week has been interesting.

Our ex-VP Cheney's snarl has been all over the airwaves justifying "enhanced interrogation techniques" such as waterboarding, which he claims are not torture.

Matthew "Mancow" Muller's been explaining how he took on waterboarding, intending to show how it can be endured. Instead, he found seven seconds of waterboarding unendurable and concluded there's no doubt it's torture. "It is way worse than I thought it would be, and that's no joke," Mancow told listeners. "It is such an odd feeling to have water poured down your nose with your head back...It was instantaneous...and I don't want to say this: absolutely torture." (Quote courtesy of Alternate Brain).

Fortunately there are good folks like David Ketchum, whose "All Things Counter" blog is on my sideboard. David recently wrote, based on his current experience in Cambodia, "I am just hoping that one day, we'll be able to take the long view of things. Coercion, violence, threats, fear - in the long run, these things always destroy, no matter how necessary and/or practical they feel in the moment."

So, Mr. Cheney, there you have it. A right wing apologist calls waterboarding what it is - torture - and a real American patriot explains that the tactics you espouse "always destroy". Please, go back to Wyoming and organize a hunting party for your friends. There are lots of ways for you to be scary.

Sonia Sotomayor

Who in their right mind could object to Sonia Sotomayor going onto the Supreme Court?

I read her bio and I heard her speak. She's another one of the brilliant ones who came out of nowhere, with great parental support, to rise to the top. Rush Limbaugh and Tom Tancredo, among others of the wacko right, have no standing to challenge her credentials. Her accomplishments speak for themselves.

I'm looking forward to the fight over her nomination. This is a wonderful opportunity to see the so-called (by themselves) republicans lose a few more percentage points of support, especially among Hispanics. A blue Florida is just a few untimely remarks away!

We needed another woman and a Hispanic on the court, which should reflect America. Another couple of women would be nice, down the road. But, for now, Sonia is a really good start. Go get'em, lady!

Memorial Day

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, the day we celebrate the service and sacrifice of our veterans - the dead, the wounded, and those who put on the uniform and survived unscathed. For some, like me, serving in the armed forces was perhaps the most formative and positive experience of their lives. For others, serving resulted in their mental or physical destruction or their death. In peacetime or wartime, the military is a hazardous occupation where you're told where to go and what to do - and you do it. Your country owes you its gratitude.

Tonight I think of my nephew Will, who pilots a helicopter as a Navy ensign. I think of my grandson Michael, who guards our Marines from a foxhole in Iraq. I pray they will not lose life or limb while they serve, and that they will keep their humanity while they practice or perform the art of war.

Tonight I also think of those presidents - John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and George W. Bush -who sent our troops to Viet Nam in 1965 and to Iraq in 2003, our wars of choice. I do not honor them - I detest them. The soldiers who fought deserve our respect, but these leaders deserve our scorn. It's a crime to send our soldiers into war if our country has not been attacked or in immanent jeopardy. How can these men ever be honored? What other accomplishments can offset the human tragedy they initiated? The office of Commander in Chief is a curse, not a task to be relished. Please, Obama, get it right!

When will war become obsolete? Doesn't the world have enough resources for all to share and all to prosper? Doesn't the world face greater long long term threats than conflict between countries? Haven't we memorialized enough broken men? It's time for change.

I Love Spring in Rochester, NY!

Rochester, New York, is a northern city sited on Lake Ontario, the easternmost of the great lakes. As winter winds cross those lakes they pick up moisture that we see as snow - 101 inches of it, last winter. So, those of us who live here really appreciate Spring.

Rochester is known as the "Lilac City". Lilacs grow well here, and they are everywhere in all the colors. You can see pink and white lilacs in my back yard, to the right. Soon the day lilies and peonies in the foreground will be blooming, and the irises. Spring comes late in upstate New York, but it comes on strong! On Memorial Day weekend the gardeners go crazy with their planting of flowers and vegetables.

Rochester is fortunate to have avoided the real estate meltdown. We never had a "boom", so there was nothing to "bust". The city has not grown because the two major employers, Kodak and Xerox, have downsized a lot over the years. But we have many colleges and universities, health care facilities, and smaller high tech businesses that employ highly-paid professionals. Consequently, real estate prices have continued stable at about a 2% growth rate over many years, and homes are still a very good value. You could buy a home like the one in the picture, on .8 acres in a good location, for around $250,000. That would be the down payment on this property in some areas of the country!

I'm going back on the Appalachian Trail, June 1st. There's a 135-mile section that goes from near New York City to western Massachusetts that I've got to conquer. With my schedule, it will take two hikes (4 and 5 days, respectively) to accomplish that. After this section is done, I'll have a straight 519 miles from Vermont to Maine left in my long, long effort to do the entire trail. Perhaps I can knock off a few of those miles later this summer. What would life be if we didn't have goals?

Last night I got my computer set up to work on the SETI project. In the background, a program runs on both CPU's to analyze interstellar radio waves picked up by those giant antennas in Arizona (the ones featured in the movie, "Contact"). Perhaps I will be the one to identify the first coherent radio signals from another intelligent civilization...but, probably not. It's fun to try.

I hope Spring has been wonderful where you live. As it has for eons of humanity, Spring brings forth the optimism of the new and confirms the cycle of life. It reminds me of Genesis 8:22, where an ancient writer quoted God as saying, "While the earth lasts, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall never cease". How sweet it is to be part of the pattern!

Chicken-Hearted Republicans

I've got to tell you, these congressional republicans give me many a belly-laugh, with the latest having to do with their stance on closing the Guantanamo Bay prison. It's a joke.

The idea is that we can't close Guantanamo because we can't bring any of these terrorists back to the U.S. and put them in prisons here. They would be too dangerous. They would threaten our security.

Now, this chicken-hearted complaint comes from those elected by the guys who think that Americans with guns can resolve every problem. You know, the kind of Americans who drive pickup trucks and drink beer from cans and watch "24" on Monday nights and guard our prisoners in prisons. You mean we can't trust these red-blooded Americans to competently guard a couple hundred Muslims in an American maximum-security prison? Our guys aren't good enough or smart enough? I'd never have guessed it.

On the other hand, I recently heard that a Montana town funded and built a nice new prison as a commercial project, but now they've got no takers to fill it up. They desperately want the Guantanamo guys, out there in the middle of nowhere, where there's no place to escape to and likely no local terrorist sympathizers, either. But, no-sirree, they can't have them. Too dangerous!

Now, let's think about this. We've got Mafia chieftains, Latin American drug lords, big time gang leaders, serial killers, and even some governors and congressmen in our prisons. We can't deal with a few backward Muslims? If we can't, then we are the bumblers that our republican members of congress seem to think we are. I don't sell us that short. Montana wants the bad guys. Let's let them have them.

Pictures by Popular Demand

ThomasLB asked for pictures of my recent AT experience. Here's a few.

To the left is me, from my hike two weeks ago. I've been working out since January, so I'm a little more brawny than usual. The poles are typically used by AT hikers, since they help to keep one from falling off the mountains, a problem that presents itself on many occasions.


To the right is a view from halfway up Mt. Greylock, which has an elevation change of 2,800 vertical feet - think 280 stories up and 280 stories down. It was drizzling when I took this photo, and the drizzle changed to a driving rain and dense fog by the time I reached the summit. The wind was also intense, but - luckily - no lightning!

This handsome young man uses the "trail name" of Taj Mahal. We all have trail names - mine has been "X-Man" for ten years. I met Taj in a shelter at the top of Mt. Greylock, where both of us were taking a break from the rain and 60 mph winds. He'd been hiking for a few weeks, thru PA, NJ, NY, CN, and now MA. We spent a cordial hour together, part of it spent trying, unsuccessfully, to build a fire in the fireplace. Taj is an unemployed computer jockey from New York City who figured a jaunt on the AT was a good way to kill time until the economy recovers.

Here's a nice little strean with convenient stones on which to cross it. The white mark on the tree is called a "blaze", which shows AT hikers where the trail goes. Often, without blazes one would be totally lost in minutes. Not a good thing.

I love the Appalachian Trail. It's beautiful, varied, difficult, quiet, and very long. Having now hiked 1,462 miles of it, I only have 716 to go. Almost there! I'll knock off another 139 miles in June, I hope. Anybody want to come along?

The Costly Hike, and Dumping on Democrats

I'm back. It took me 14 hours of hiking to cover the 23 miles of Massachusetts "Birkshires" that I needed to clean up. Unfortunately, I had to drive 9 hours and spend $175 to make it happen.

Thursday I did the 14 miles up and down Mt. Greylock, which is a serious mountain. It drizzed or rained all but two hours, and the winds gusted up to 60 miles per hour. Fortunately, the mountain is tree-covered except for the summit, so I didn't get blown off it. Also, the rain was cold, so all the energy I put into climbing and descending went into keeping me warm instead of creating an ocean of sweat.

This morning I raced the 9 or 10 miles into Dalton, Massachusetts, completing this pretty easy section in 4.5 hours so I could get back to my car and drive home in the afternoon. How did I get back to my car? Easy. There's an older guy in Dalton named "Tom" who makes a career out of helping AT hikers. I just knocked on his front door, introduced myself, and asked him to take me back to my car. Ten minutes later we were on our way. Gratis. Tom wouldn't take cash, gas for his car, or my offer to add to his personal "fund for desperate hikers". Don't tell me there aren't a lot of really good people out there; "Tom" is one of them.

I watched Pelosi's lame explanation of her non-awareness of the Bush torture program. Nancy doesn't do much for me. In fact, neither Reed nor Pelosi seem up to the jobs they hold. What is it about the democratic party? Without Obama they'd be lost.

A Blackberry Boy

My oldest son, Kevin, visited last week. Since he last visited, he'd changed his Treo for a Blackberry, so he showed me his new gizmo. Kevin is a sales manager, and he keeps his life in his PDA. He "encourged" me once again to upgrade my humble cell phone, the one I barely know how to use even though I'm a computer techie of sorts.

Yesterday I bought the Blackberry with the entire communications package. After one day of use, I don't know how I ever got along without it. It really simplifies my life, especially since I don't have to drag my laptop around to all my stopping places. It's simple to operate, small enough to be unobtrusive, and it's kind of cute. The camera is good enough to take a real picture, and you can send the picture to someone almost in real time. For a few more bucks you can add GPS capability to your shirt pocket. This is technology that makes sense!

Please join me in welcoming me to the 21st century.

Back to the Trail, Again.

My hike two weeks ago was cut short by hot weather and the detritus of a huge ice storm. My friend and I worked hard but covered only a little more than half the distance planned. This afternoon I'm going back to Massachusetts and finish the other half (23 miles) in two days.

Tomorrow morning I begin by scaling the north face of Mt. Greylock, the highest mountain in that state. It's a serious mountain, with 2,800 feet of vertical gain in six miles. I'll start early in the morning when it's cool. When that's done the pain will be largely over, except for a 1,200 foot climb at mid-day on the second day. Hopefully, I won't run into any more ice storm chaos.

It's so good to be healthy and fit at my age (sixty-five this year)! Right now several of my friends and neighbors in the same general age group are fighting serious medical issues. Also, it's great to have the time and resources to act on goals I set for myself. In my case, fate has rolled the dice to my advantage. I'm truly thankful.

My Latest Walk in the Woods

My friend and I returned from our recent hike in the beautiful Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts a bit humbled by Mother Nature. Two days of 90 degree heat and six miles of trail trashed by a huge winter ice storm made the hike a real trial by fire. We didn't get as far as we had hoped, but we neither got heat exhaustion nor got lost in the chaos of the forest. The Appalachian Trail can never be assumed to be easy, because it has many ways to get you. But discussing the difficulty of the trail is not where I'm going on this post.

As my partner and I sat trying to recover our strength in the middle of a huge woods totally devastated by the ice storm, it was hard not to begin talking about humanity's place in the overall scheme of things. Was there a purpose to all this destruction? Even in a rather remote part of the Northeast, many lives were affected - negatively. Ours, too. Did God do this on purpose, or did it "just happen".

I'm in the "just happen" camp. I believe nature was set up by the creator to run in accordance with natural laws, and that it pretty much does that. We take what we get. If it's bad, there was no malice intended. If it's good, no special gift was given. Maybe God intervenes on rare occasions, but I don't presume to know when that occurs. It's more interesting for me to just observe the majesty of it all as I walk down the trail.

I feel pretty small in the middle of a giant forest, and I feel even smaller when I look into the night sky. But I'm a giant compared to the tiny black fly that bit me or the many cells that make up a pretty fungus on a rock. We all have our place in creation. Who can really comprehend the complexity of it all, even if science opens up many mysteries to us? I love to say "thank you" to the author, and ask only for the chance to help move the plot along.

My life at the home base is often interesting and rewarding, but it is often hectic with little time for reflection. A few days in the woods always brings me back to contemplating the questions that have puzzled and perplexed men and women since we began to think.

A Phone Call from the NRA

As I was dividing my time this afternoon between checking my pack (AT hike starts tomorrow morning) and watching the PGA Tour golf match, my phone rang. It was the NRA.

A lady, speaking urgently, announced that "all patriotic Americans need to listen to this message from the president of the NRA, concerning the most outrageous gun control legislation now going before congress."

I interrupted her. I told her that I was a veteran, once an army officer, and also a hunter. Then I told her that it was the NRA that was being outrageous in its opposition to gun control. I said that I had no interest in everyone being able to own an assault rifle. Then I signed off.

Owning guns has nothing to do with being patriotic. Owning guns is not a reasonable way to protect yourself. Owning guns will not save you from an over-reaching government. Owning guns is nothing that anyone should be getting phone calls about.

This morning's paper reported that two deputies were called to a disturbance at a private shooting range in Florida. Both deputies were shot dead by ex-soldier who was interested in militias and most likely an NRA member. The deputies were trying to arrest the man for beating up his wife a second time. Another "patriotic citizen"...

Here's the plain truth. The NRA is nothing more than a marketing agent for the gun manufacturers and a primary inciter of the wacko right wing. It is about money and politics, not patiotism. How many cops will be killed by "patriotic citizens" before people figure out that uncontrolled guns are a cancer on our country and the NRA is a primary cause?

Education of the Left and the Right

RWorld's current post, which deplored the marginalization of facts in modern culture, prompted me to write a comment that referenced the minimal educational backgrounds of right wing spokesmen Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. My point was that if you don't know facts or been taught by education to honor them, you really don't care about them. Today, I will build on that idea by comparing the educational backgrounds of major cable news commentators.

On the right, we have Glenn Beck (no college), Rush Limbaugh (2 unsuccessful semesters), Sean Hannity (dropped out of two colleges) and Bill Cunningham (no reported education) as the minimalists. Going up the ladder, we have Bill O'Reilly (2 masters degrees) and Michael Savage (2 masters and a PhD in scientific majors).

On the left, we have Keith Olberman (entered Cornell at age 16 and graduated), Wolf Blitzer (MA in international relations from Johns Hopkins), and Rachel Maddow (PhD in politics from Oxford University). One of my favorites, Stephanie Miller, has a degree from USC. The much-maligned Christiane Amanpour graduated summa cum laude from the Univ. of Rhode Island.

In the populist arena, Lou Dobbs graduated from Harvard University.

So, there you have it... almost proof positive that the less education you possess, the louder you have to shout and the more you need to communicate your opinions through character assassination. Michael Savage is a major exception, but his hate comes from being an arrogant high achiever who nobody wanted around.

I'd be the last to say that the liberals never stray from facts, but at least they've been exposed to more of them than those right wingers who are crusading to dumb down America. And, if you doubt me about them loving the dumb, just remember that they adored the last Bush until his administration, and the economy, imploded.

Saying Goodbye to Peter

For the past year and one half I've had a little part-time job keeping the books for a downtown Rochester church, an old mainline church once great in the city but now surrounded by rundown housing. That's where I met Peter, the pastor. Today marked the church's farewell to Peter, who, after sixteen years in Rochester, will soon begin to serve a larger church in the south. The farewell was bittersweet.

Great leaders are few and far between, as are great pastors. In my view, being a "great" pastor means being true to the faith - you know, really taking the Jesus of the synoptic gospels seriously, loving your neighbor no matter what he or she looks like, or does. It doesn't have much to do with the grandeur of the church, or the size of the congregation. Peter has been true to the faith, and the church shows the fruits of his ministry.

Sixteen years ago this church was rich in funds but in the midst of crisis, unable to agree on how to deal with demographic changes happening rapidly around it, unable to see how its mission applied to these new circumstances. Today, it's a very different place, but it's a place with a mission. It may be the place that Peter built, although I've not been around to see the process.

Saying "goodbye" to Peter last Sunday was a thankful group comprised of mostly elderly caucasians, a much younger group of Burmese refugees (two different "tribes"), a significant number of gay and lesbian couples and singles, and other persons of several colors. Everyone got along, to some extent because they know it's their responsibility to get along. They have heard Peter, who gets along with all of them - in fact, he "ministers" to all of them. He got a lot of hugs, and in his little speech Peter thanked the church for helping his children be open to everyone.

Peter will soon be far away and fully involved in the difficult task of being accepted in a new church. Will his Rochester church be able to replace his leadership? Will his new church be able to live with his straightforward gospel? These are the kind of questions that make life so interesting.

Usage-Based Internet? Not yet.

Time Warner Cable, my internet service provider, backed down this week from a plan to institute usage-based pricing for residential users in September, 2009. The reaction from heavy users was extremely negative, and even our illustrious Senator Schumer apparently was involved in the roll-back. I have mixed feelings about this, but I lean against Time Warner.

Internet usage varies greatly from home to home, but rates do not change based on usage. Everyone pays the same. However, the top 25% of users consume 100 times the bandwidth of the bottom 25%, and I'd guess that the top 5% use 50% of the total bandwidth. The heavy users download a lot of video (movies, pornography, tv programs), or play on-line video games. The rest of us use email, surf the web, and blog; most of us are not heavy users.

In the parlance of economics, the heavy users are called "free riders" because others subsidize their consumption to a great extent. Time Warner must continually upgrade its hardware and software to keep up with growing demand for services - demand that comes largely from the heavy users. But, when these cost increases flow through to higher rates, everyone pays.

Push-back to Time Warner's proposed plan by heavy users was immediate and loud, since the pricing change would have significantly raised their monthly bills. They say the internet should be like the highway system, open to everyone whether they drive once a year or every day. They also contend that the cable providers need to constantly upgrade services for other reasons, such as higher bandwidth HDTV service. They want, of course, to "free ride" in perpetuity, and they know they have no alternative to cable if they must have very high bandwidth.

Time Warner's position is also suspect. They did not tie their proposal to increase rates with a proposal to reduce rates for low-usage consumers. In other words, Time Warner loves it when many customers pay more than $40 each month for a product they use only infrequently or at a low level. These customers represent a large part of Time Warner's customer base. Consequently, Time Warner did not wish to offer these people a significant rate reduction at the same time they installed higher pricing for heavy users. Time Warner wants to have its cake and eat it, too.

Internet pricing probably needs to be addressed, but it's very complex. Changing the pricing model could have many unintended consequences. For now, it's probably a topic best left on the back burner.