Friday, April 28, 2006
Nightmare Last Night: The son having just graduated on May 19th announces he is flying home with us.
Good Tag Line: Red Bull's tagline, "Jumper Cables For Your Brain."
On the Look Out: a new legislative aide to replace my colleague who has decided to attend a culinary school in NY. My progressive boss (who couldn't look more like a 50-something white conservative male if you tried) seeks a lesbian black replacement...
Good Tag Line: Red Bull's tagline, "Jumper Cables For Your Brain."
On the Look Out: a new legislative aide to replace my colleague who has decided to attend a culinary school in NY. My progressive boss (who couldn't look more like a 50-something white conservative male if you tried) seeks a lesbian black replacement...
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Seven Seconds Too Busy. Picture a sunny, crisp, Saturday spring morning. Cars are pulling up to the post office -- the drivers getting out to become pedestrians for a few moments as they fulfill their postal errands. I stand with a clip board and mind you I am an incongruous clip board holder if there ever was one in that I don't have the crunchy-granola environmentalists look that would signal I want to invoke your guilt about the state of our water or air. Nor do I look like the sports mom hitting you up for new uniforms for the local lacrosse team. I also don't look like a politician of any sort.
On this day I have a decidedly well-dressed Euro-casual look going accentuated by my retro-50's black-rimmed glasses. My pitch takes not twenty seconds: "Are you a resident of Town X and if so would you like to take a moment to sign State Rep Y onto the ballot?" The old timers all get it. They know that this is a pro forma ritual that all candidates, incumbent or otherwise, must go through each election cycle: you need a minimum of 150 signatures in order to be placed on the ballot. The rest of the citizenry may not know this fact but a good portion are at least amenable to signing the petition. It fact, most do not even look at what they are signing, relying instead on my brief explanation (last year this is how a lot of signatures erroneously ended up on a petition to put the issue of gay marriage on the ballot [signers thought they were signing a petition to sell alcohol in Massachusetts' supermarkets]). A shocking number of those who walk by don't know that the Rep I mention is currently their State Rep (particularly that he has been in office for over a decade), "Rep who? I've never heard of him..." The worst though, are the women who pull up in their husband-subsidized cars, Starbucks cup in hand, and claim they are "just too busy." "It won't take you seven seconds!" I counter. "Sorry, I have groceries in the trunk..." 'Hmmmm', I think to myself. 'So our upkeep of democracy has succumbed to ice cream potentially going seven seconds soft...' Don't they know it's so much easier to eat a pint when it's a little melted?
On this day I have a decidedly well-dressed Euro-casual look going accentuated by my retro-50's black-rimmed glasses. My pitch takes not twenty seconds: "Are you a resident of Town X and if so would you like to take a moment to sign State Rep Y onto the ballot?" The old timers all get it. They know that this is a pro forma ritual that all candidates, incumbent or otherwise, must go through each election cycle: you need a minimum of 150 signatures in order to be placed on the ballot. The rest of the citizenry may not know this fact but a good portion are at least amenable to signing the petition. It fact, most do not even look at what they are signing, relying instead on my brief explanation (last year this is how a lot of signatures erroneously ended up on a petition to put the issue of gay marriage on the ballot [signers thought they were signing a petition to sell alcohol in Massachusetts' supermarkets]). A shocking number of those who walk by don't know that the Rep I mention is currently their State Rep (particularly that he has been in office for over a decade), "Rep who? I've never heard of him..." The worst though, are the women who pull up in their husband-subsidized cars, Starbucks cup in hand, and claim they are "just too busy." "It won't take you seven seconds!" I counter. "Sorry, I have groceries in the trunk..." 'Hmmmm', I think to myself. 'So our upkeep of democracy has succumbed to ice cream potentially going seven seconds soft...' Don't they know it's so much easier to eat a pint when it's a little melted?
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Is Bush Forsaking God? He's certainly forsaken English. Asked about Rumsfeld and the criticism he has gotten from half-a-dozen or so high-ranking ex-generals that he should be fired, he stuck out his lower lip petulantly and said, "I'm the Decider!" (then he dribbled on in syntax-stressed garble that he [Bush] knows what's best for the U.S. and for Rumsfeld).
I'm going to try that line next time there is a family fight: "I'm the Decider in the family not you!" But back to Bush. What happened to the 'higher' father he has said he always defers to? Perhaps he is part of the administration shake-up?
$2500 later, the son (my son) is back in D.C., having been replenished by parents following the burglary to his apartment -- he got a new suit and dress shirts (to interview in), new laptop (to finish his college assignments so that he can graduate so that he can get a job), a lock for his laptop (so that he won't lose his laptop again and not be able to hunt for jobs), and a head-full of lectures and advice (lest he forget how annoying we as parents are and want to move back home after he graduates).
I'm going to try that line next time there is a family fight: "I'm the Decider in the family not you!" But back to Bush. What happened to the 'higher' father he has said he always defers to? Perhaps he is part of the administration shake-up?
$2500 later, the son (my son) is back in D.C., having been replenished by parents following the burglary to his apartment -- he got a new suit and dress shirts (to interview in), new laptop (to finish his college assignments so that he can graduate so that he can get a job), a lock for his laptop (so that he won't lose his laptop again and not be able to hunt for jobs), and a head-full of lectures and advice (lest he forget how annoying we as parents are and want to move back home after he graduates).
Monday, April 17, 2006
The polar ice caps have melted 20% since 1979 and this has done exactly two things as far as Anna Bloviations is concerned: it has opened up a real estate boon for the likes of those looking forward to a new Northwest passage shipping route. And, it has created fodder for the conservies who love to pooh-pooh the liberals (the one's who have been shouting about global warming for years) as whinny, hand-wringing wimps.
And what do the conservies say now that mainstream TIME magazine has picked up the story featuring a lone polar bear standing on a melting berg? PRAY!!! It's Armegeddon. ...
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
How State Budgets Are Born. In Massachusetts we now have FY07 budget season. I will not bore you with specific numbers as I am not a numbers person. And yet (and this is a scary thought given my 4th grade math abilities), I am a cog in the wheel of the Massachusetts' State budget.
From my limited mathematical understanding, this is how it works (at least this year). The Governor comes out with a budget and the House comes out with a budget (and later the Senate). Ironically, the Republican Governor's FY07 local aide numbers are higher than the democratically-heavy House's numbers. Hmmm. Maybe Mormon Republicans seeking a presidential bid do have a heart after all....
Line Items. OK so there are these pages and pages of black and white dribble called "line items" -- these are dollar appropriations that are lumped under sub-sections of the budget e.g. Education, Health Services, Children Services, Economic Development, Transportation, Local Aid, etc., etc., etc. But these are just broad-brush-stroke numbers which serve to pit the big organizations e.g. the Nurses Association against a smaller organization e.g. the Massachusetts Rape Crisis Intervention Program. Both (as well as many other competing organizations) are then vying for a stipulated portion of money that makes up their slice of the big pie. But oh no! On top of that, each town and city in the commenwealth has its own local agenda (maybe a drug prevention pilot program in Malden or a sex education teen awareness program in Revere) nipping at the heels of the big guys trying to secure their share.
The "Amendment" (Pork) Scramble. So as soon as the budget is released, EVERY Representative begins filing amendments -- either district-specific one's that will bring bacon home to his/her constituents (to bring in votes) or those which are filed on behalf of a lobbyist (to bring in coffer replenishments). I haven't had time to do this but I think if you were to add up every amendment submitted over the course of the last two-and-a-half days, it wouldn't be surprising if the numbers exceeded the initially released budget by two-fold or more. What comes out at the end? Well after much penis wagging and groveling, the money goes to those deemed to be on whatever intangible 'winning team' of the moment there is. Note: if the amendment passes by Rep X to 'give every Massachusetts 6th and 7th grader his/her own laptop, I'm quitting...
From my limited mathematical understanding, this is how it works (at least this year). The Governor comes out with a budget and the House comes out with a budget (and later the Senate). Ironically, the Republican Governor's FY07 local aide numbers are higher than the democratically-heavy House's numbers. Hmmm. Maybe Mormon Republicans seeking a presidential bid do have a heart after all....
Line Items. OK so there are these pages and pages of black and white dribble called "line items" -- these are dollar appropriations that are lumped under sub-sections of the budget e.g. Education, Health Services, Children Services, Economic Development, Transportation, Local Aid, etc., etc., etc. But these are just broad-brush-stroke numbers which serve to pit the big organizations e.g. the Nurses Association against a smaller organization e.g. the Massachusetts Rape Crisis Intervention Program. Both (as well as many other competing organizations) are then vying for a stipulated portion of money that makes up their slice of the big pie. But oh no! On top of that, each town and city in the commenwealth has its own local agenda (maybe a drug prevention pilot program in Malden or a sex education teen awareness program in Revere) nipping at the heels of the big guys trying to secure their share.
The "Amendment" (Pork) Scramble. So as soon as the budget is released, EVERY Representative begins filing amendments -- either district-specific one's that will bring bacon home to his/her constituents (to bring in votes) or those which are filed on behalf of a lobbyist (to bring in coffer replenishments). I haven't had time to do this but I think if you were to add up every amendment submitted over the course of the last two-and-a-half days, it wouldn't be surprising if the numbers exceeded the initially released budget by two-fold or more. What comes out at the end? Well after much penis wagging and groveling, the money goes to those deemed to be on whatever intangible 'winning team' of the moment there is. Note: if the amendment passes by Rep X to 'give every Massachusetts 6th and 7th grader his/her own laptop, I'm quitting...
Monday, April 10, 2006
Pictures of Belize in no particular order [vacation view for 2 weeks]. The following pics are just a random selection taken while there. You will see no rain forest pics. Once I saw the ravaged red legs of folks who came back I decided the NOVA channel would suit me just fine...
Pictures of Belize in no particular order [Belize suburbs]
Pictures of Belize in no particular order [electrified Belize]
Pictures if Belize in no particular order [soaking up the sun]
Pictures in no particular order of Belize [the ubiquitously trash-strewn beach to be found everywhere Anna Bloviations has been on the planet in the last 12 years save for St. George Island off the coast of Florida]
In no particular order pictures from Belize [dogs barking at a distant sailboat]
In no particular order pictures from Belize [Town of Placencia]
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Back from Belize. Not in Boston but twelve hours and we are ready for another vacation. The daughter called in tears to say, "Don't ever go away for two weeks again!!" -- her computer has a virus and she has a strange rash... Then son calls to tell us his apartment has been burgled and he has lost almost everything -- laptop, phone charger, passport, and 75% of his clothes including the all important suit with which he is supposed to do interviews prior to his graduation from GW. Hubby goes ballistic and one sees his tan fading faster than the polar ice caps. The son is in worse shape than daughter and rightly so. Getting robbed just makes you feel miserably violated. Anna Bloviations goes into Talk-everyone-off-the-roof mode.
Since my numero uno goal is still to keep the son on a Don't-move-back-in-with-the-parents-after-you've-graduated track, I quickly assess how this latest development might impact my near-term plans. Not good I decide. He sounds decidedly morose on the phone with an I-just-don't-care-about-anything attitude. We quickly call the daughter to invoke the You-have-to-stand-by-your-brother mantra which given daughter's propensity towards empathy is not hard to do. She races over to her brother's apartment trailing wet hair and still wearing sweats to quickly haul him out of his deepening swirl towards graduation-inhibiting depression. "Come on," says little sister to brother and off they go to the mall to buy some shirts and a pair of pants to get him through the week. They get a new cell phone charger (because by god you can't be without your cell phone) and after the college senior is treated to lunch by little sister he is feeling much better.
We decide that circumstances dictate a family re-grouping and invite the kids up for 'Easter' weekend. The ulterior motive is to get the son a hair cut and a new suit so that he'll be all good to go for potential INTERVIEWS. He'll of course be subjected to a nice little lecture about in future having some money put aside to help cover inevitable mishaps such as a robbery (as opposed to spending every last penny on clothes and vacation with not a penny to ride out any kind of disaster...). And by the way, you really shouldn't buy things you can't afford to replace i.e. Lacoste polos and Brooks Brothers shirts.
Back to Belize. Friendly people. Still safe. Multi-faceted (beaches, rain forest, mountains). But doomed. The Atlantonians and Dallasites are busy bulldozing the coast to ultimately push out the indigenous to accommodate their gated communities. i.e. you won't recognize Belize in ten years. It's still worth going for the next five years I'd say. The one down-side to Belize (but not unique) is the everywhere-to-be-seen trash. Locals are as guilty as the cruise ships offshore that dump trash that ultimately washes ashore the beaches. There is nothing quite like seeing a plastic syringe tangled up in the seaweed. Essentially old plastic does not wear down to a smooth collectible, unidentifiable shape like Coke bottles of yore did. It simply stays whole and ugly. Pictures to follow.
Since my numero uno goal is still to keep the son on a Don't-move-back-in-with-the-parents-after-you've-graduated track, I quickly assess how this latest development might impact my near-term plans. Not good I decide. He sounds decidedly morose on the phone with an I-just-don't-care-about-anything attitude. We quickly call the daughter to invoke the You-have-to-stand-by-your-brother mantra which given daughter's propensity towards empathy is not hard to do. She races over to her brother's apartment trailing wet hair and still wearing sweats to quickly haul him out of his deepening swirl towards graduation-inhibiting depression. "Come on," says little sister to brother and off they go to the mall to buy some shirts and a pair of pants to get him through the week. They get a new cell phone charger (because by god you can't be without your cell phone) and after the college senior is treated to lunch by little sister he is feeling much better.
We decide that circumstances dictate a family re-grouping and invite the kids up for 'Easter' weekend. The ulterior motive is to get the son a hair cut and a new suit so that he'll be all good to go for potential INTERVIEWS. He'll of course be subjected to a nice little lecture about in future having some money put aside to help cover inevitable mishaps such as a robbery (as opposed to spending every last penny on clothes and vacation with not a penny to ride out any kind of disaster...). And by the way, you really shouldn't buy things you can't afford to replace i.e. Lacoste polos and Brooks Brothers shirts.
Back to Belize. Friendly people. Still safe. Multi-faceted (beaches, rain forest, mountains). But doomed. The Atlantonians and Dallasites are busy bulldozing the coast to ultimately push out the indigenous to accommodate their gated communities. i.e. you won't recognize Belize in ten years. It's still worth going for the next five years I'd say. The one down-side to Belize (but not unique) is the everywhere-to-be-seen trash. Locals are as guilty as the cruise ships offshore that dump trash that ultimately washes ashore the beaches. There is nothing quite like seeing a plastic syringe tangled up in the seaweed. Essentially old plastic does not wear down to a smooth collectible, unidentifiable shape like Coke bottles of yore did. It simply stays whole and ugly. Pictures to follow.
