Mark W. Tiedemann's Blog, page 100

Hating the Government: An American Tradition.

G.O.P. Chairman Michael Steele made a few remarkably in-your-face comments recently about the health care debate.  Here, in his own words, is pretty much where he thinks the nation is going, why it shouldn't go there, and what the Republican Party stands for.

This morning on NPR  he tangled with Steve Inskeep, in particular over this.

One quote in particular caught my eye:  " Simply put, we believe that health-care reform must be centered on patients, not government."

When you listen to the NPR ...

John Adams and the Efforts of Time

We just watched the last episode of John Adams.  I got the DVD from the library and we went through it in one week, all seven installments.  I have to admit, the last episode brought tears.  The partnership between John and Abigail was well-portrayed and deeply moving.  The older I get, the more I find the strongest story resonance with depictions of deep, deep friendships, especially those that exist between lovers, spouses, life partners.  I cannot imagine losing Donna, who has become...

Poor Misunderstood Right Wing Nut Job

Some people seem to dissolve into their worst attributes over time.  There is a seige mentality that develops, it seems, and from within the bastions and barricades the fever dreams of the misunderstood and disillusioned take root and grow into horrible, twisted things.

I don't care much for people who are constantly running around trying to scare the rest of us with apocalyptic prognostications.  The sky is falling, yes it is, and there's nothing we can do about it.  Who can hold up the sky o...

Quote of the Day

It cannot have escaped those who have attended with candor to the arguments employed against the extensive powers of the government, that the authors of them have very little considered how far these powers were necessary means of attaining a necessary end. They have chosen rather to dwell on the inconveniences which must be unavoidably blended with all political advantages; and on the possible abuses which must be incident to every power or trust, of which a beneficial use can be made. This ...

Legacies

Comparisons of the disaster of 9/11 to Pearl Harbor break down in the aftermath.  What I remember is getting a phone call from my wife to turn on the news, any news, and then seeing the images on CNN.  I then called several people, including some on the west coast, early as it was.

It was a binding experience.

Then the silence of the skies for next few days.  All planes grounded.  We don't pay attention to all that background noise until it disappears.

And I remember wanting to strike back.
But a...

Some Art

Time for a little art.

Once upon a time, in the distant past, I had ambitions to become a comic book artist.  I wrote and drew my own.  My models…well, I am very much a fan of extreme realism, so some of the less mimetic, more representational comic art leaves me unimpressed.  My idol when I was a kid, trying to do this, was Russ Manning.  He was the ne plus ultra of comics technicians, and not only because of his superb style, but for the substance of the comics he did.  Magnus Robot Fighter...

The Keyboard I Didn't Buy

I came within a few synapses of buying a keyboard today.  An old Yamaha, double-manual, polyphonic ensemble—portable, with a stand.  No amplifier.  There was a time I would have fallen all over myself to get one of these for under five hundred bucks.  This one—sitting on the grass in someone's back yard, part of the swag obtainable at the annual neighborhood yard sale we attend—was going for twenty-five bucks.

And I passed.

Couldn't change my mind, either, a young fellow was right behind us...