Homeless People Smell Bad

My daily walks around downtown Las Vegas take me past the Historic Fifth Street School which adjoins Centennial Plaza. This area has become (quite unintentionally, is my guess) a showcase for Las Vegas’ homeless. During today’s morning walk I was downwind of some of them, and the smell was disgusting. It occurred to me that Mayor Oscar Goodman missed a real opportunity by not installing public showers during the facility’s renovation. Borrowing an ingenious design from the past, these public showers could serve as a gateway to a crematorium that could prove the ultimate solution for these pungent loiterers who in no way contribute to society. Once we apply the ultimate solution to the homeless, we could then turn our attention toward the uninsured, the disabled, the aged, and all the other worthless elements of society that do nothing but take money out of our pockets. I don’t think it’s too late, Oscar, to have those showers installed.

In Memory

"...the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die." --Edward Kennedy

In My Next Life I Want To Be Joe Klein

I unintentionally made my sister cry the last time I saw her. It wasn’t the first time (and I fear it won’t be the last) that my imperfect attempts to communicate have resulted in totally undesired effects. I am so deeply grateful for people like Joe Klein who possess the gift of articulation which so precisely states that which my irrational ramblings fail to. As a preface to Klein’s essay, I borrow from a review of T.R. Reid’s book, The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer. Described as “a Washington Post correspondent with a nagging shoulder injury from his Navy days, Reid traveled the world to see how other countries’ health-care systems would treat him. From Germany to Canada to Taiwan, he finds several different models for success, all with one thing in common. When considering whether a government has a moral obligation to provide access to health care for all its citizens, Reid notes, ‘every developed country except the United States has reached the same conclusion.’” That being said, I invite you to spend the next few minutes reading The GOP Has Become a Party of Nihilists, by Joe Klein.

WE ARE PROUD TO ANNOUNCE...

Some time ago, Rebecca and Kevin presented Mary and me with a beautiful grandturtle. This past weekend, Rachel and Steve presented us with an equally beautiful grandpup. The turtle’s name is Turtle, and the puppy’s name is Ellie (apparently Eleanor is on the paperwork). There are pictures of Ellie posted on Rachel and Steve’s flickr site and those who are patient can find pictures of Turtle on Rebecca’s flickr site. For those who are contemplating the ongoing benefits of having children, I submit for your consideration those happy occasions of being blessed with grandpets.

Commended to your reading:

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/08/21

Those Lunch Hour Rumination Blues

Is it that I have nothing to say, or too much? Either way, staring at a blank page doesn’t feel right. There’s so much going on in the world, in this country, in Las Vegas, and it really doesn’t matter what the likes of me think about it. Whether by glitter and glamour, political powerplays, or raw, brute force, those who rise to whatever kind of prominence dominate the media to influence how, why and what we think about this or that. Pious zealotry sets the stage for blustery pomposity, leaving no one to really care whether the cord was unplugged on Grandma or not. There is no turning back. We are where we are. The only hope is in the realization that the future does not have to be dictated by the past. It can change. We can change. I can change, but why?

Are We Becoming More Moral?

In my 07/21/08 post I speculated that the one thing that might really pose a threat to Las Vegas would be a surge of morality among our citizenry. Today, I read Joel Stein’s article in the August 24 issue of TIME: Less Vegas: The Casino Town Bets on a Comeback. Comparing the two would legitimately raise the question: are we becoming more moral? Is that the explanation for Las Vegas’ hard times? As much as I would want to think so, I fear that the truth of the matter is that we aren’t becoming a more moral people, just more prudently and pragmatically ethical in our amorality/immorality. You see, it’s not that people no longer want to come to Sin City, it’s just that they see it as financially risky right now. Sort of like those who would jump at the chance to get into a high-risk mortgage if it was again offered, patrons of Las Vegas are simply biding their time until they feel they can afford to be immoral again. As the folk song goes, “When will they ever learn?”

Happy Birthday, Kim!

When I drink from the well of family love I am refreshed, revived. My weekend excursion to Billings afforded me the opportunity to be with Mom and Kim, even if it was a few days before Kim’s birthday. I know of nothing that compares to the bond of family love and the renewing strength of reunion. The experience always helps me to better understand the old German proverb, “Blut ist dicker als Wasser” (blood is thicker than water). Kinship creates an environment of security and confidence that just can’t be found in any other relationships, no matter how good the friends may be. Family has that common experience of living and loving together that no casual friendship can ever emulate. A lot has happened in the fifty-five years that Kim and I have been brother and sister (I’m kind of pleased with myself for the clever way I divulged that statistic) and that can never be taken from us. I am well aware that none of this is automatic or inherent. We all know of families that don’t share the bond of love but instead suffer from estrangement and alienation. I am blessed to have a mother who not only believes in family, but who practices and promotes it. The world could not help but be a better place if every family celebrated the unconditional love that can be found there.

On Bullies

My old man never taught me how to fight. He never taught me how to hunt. He never taught me how to play poker, smoke cigars, or any of the other macho things that make a man a real man. We never talked about my latest sexual conquest, and we never sat down at a bar to share a brew. We rarely ever even watched TV together.

My father, on the other hand, values compassion, intelligence and respect. He values education, spirituality and community involvement. We talk about religion, theology, philosophy and politics. We enjoy the fellowship of dining out and travel. God knows it’s probably a miracle that I didn’t turn out to be a flaming gay.


To refer to those who are disrupting the civil discourse about the important issues presently before our nation as school yard bullies is legitimate. I recently saw an article about research that speculates that Neanderthals became extinct at the hands of Homo sapiens. To watch what is going on in our society right now existentially refutes such a hypothesis. The rude, the crude, the belligerent are confirming that dinosaurs really do coexist with humans.


Sidney Crane made a practice of beating me up every afternoon after school beginning in the first grade. I didn’t have an old man to teach me how to retaliate; only a father that counseled that an eye-for-an-eye mentality wasn’t in keeping with the peace making that would eventually prevail. One afternoon in the fourth grade, the adrenalin kicked in and I beat the shit out of Sidney. Afterwards, we became friends. Maybe the progressives need to do the same to the neocons so that a rational discourse about the many needs of all Americans can move forward.

Who Are These People?

Yes, I understand that it makes me morbidly cynical, but I believe that it is only a matter of time before Barack Obama is assassinated. I’ve lived through the murder of his predecessors: John Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Kennedy, and John Lennon. It will be a tragedy. The nation will be shocked, followed by genuine mourning. There will be renewed discussion of gun control, capital punishment, etc. There will be studies commissioned, and there may even be a form of pseudo-justice with regard to the perpetrator. But in the end, we will still be left with the dilemma of terrorists that act with violent impunity against civilization. Must fanaticism be tolerated? In my opinion, it should not, but how to defuse it without falling into the trap of zealous eye-for-an-eye thinking is the eternal challenge. It is insidiously easy to decide that all we need to do is kill all the people that are killing people. Just as I have resented the fundamentalists that coopted my Christian faith, I abhor those who are presently destroying our democracy with extremist claims to free speech, possession of guns, etc. They are openly threatening violence upon any who do not agree with them, and I am pressed for a meaningful way to respond that doesn’t itself involve some form of violence. So, from the safety of my cubicle, I am going to renounce those who are so fiercely selfish that they have no tolerance for opposing points of view. You should be ashamed, and I am confident that ultimately you shall suffer the judgment of your Creator.

Doing the Math

According to a government estimate, the average cost for a middle-income family in the U.S. to raise a child born in 2008 will be $291,570. (TIME, 08/17/09) Without having researched, my educated guess is that the average child support judgment enforced by this office is in the neighborhood of $300 per child per month. So, if child support payments began immediately at birth (which they don’t) and were paid in full (which they are not) the absent parent’s contribution would total $64,800.00, or twenty-two percent of the estimated total. Hmmm. Let’s hear it for good old American values. A very conservative estimate of the number of children served by this office alone is 127,500, and it is high time that we do away with abortion and gay marriage so that this number will become more like it should be. My friends, the truth is that we have heterosexuals reproducing like little bunnies all across the country, and we haven’t even begun to count the cost to us all.

Whole Again!

Since approximately 6:30 AM last Saturday I’ve been fending for myself. As a nearly sixty-year-old man who’s been married for over thirty-eight of those years, I’m somewhat pleased to be able to announce that I’ve fed, bathed, and clothed myself these past six days without major incident. Thankfully, however, this impromptu exercise in survivalism ends at 5:25 PM today when Mary returns from her time with family and friends in Nebraska. I am not too proud to admit that I’ve been incomplete this past week, and I look forward to becoming whole again as I am reunited with my unarguably better half. I love Mary! And I thank God that she loves me. In her absence I always gain a greater appreciation for all that she is and does, and for no better reason than that, I’m cooking tonight (I’m sure Mary will be happy to decrypt the meaning).

Where Did That Come From?

It’s the proverbial chicken or egg kind of question. Where does general acceptance by a large group of people come from? For example, I don’t find any widespread support for making law enforcement or fire protection for-profit enterprises. The inherent problems with cops and firefighters keeping their eyes on the bottom line so that shareholders realize a profit stand out like a sore thumb, absurdly so. And yet, when it comes to the public health and well-being of American citizens, this is just what we’ve done. Can it really be argued that a sick person is in no greater need of public service than a victim of theft or fire? Oh, yes, there’s for-profit property and casualty insurance to cover material losses, but would we really stand for a call to 911 being qualified by whether or not we’re insured before the police or fire department are dispatched? So where did we come up with the idea that giant, multi-national corporations profit from disease and injury? Joe Klein offers one plausible explanation in his essay, Will Special Interests Stymie Health-Care Reform? I encourage you to read it, and then to ask yourself how much longer we’re going to allow selfish, greedy corporations to profit from our humanness.

911

Caller: My house is on fire!

Answerer: Please hold.

Caller: We’re trapped inside!

Answerer: Please hold.

Caller: My whole family is going to perish!

Answerer: Everyone is taking their August vacation. Please call back after Labor Day.

Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, I wrote to you to tell you that if you recessed before a bona fide healthcare bill passed insuring every American, you would lose my vote. Whoever has bought and paid for you will ensure that you’re reelected as often as you want, but I intend to be true to my word.

Senator Harry Reid, I wrote to you to tell you that if you recessed before a bona fide healthcare bill passed insuring every American, you would lose my vote. Whoever has bought and paid for you will ensure that you’re reelected as often as you want, but I intend to be true to my word.

Senator John Ensign, I already knew of your despicably immoral character even before word of your latest affair went public. You never had my vote, and so you will never miss it.

All three of you should be ashamed.

Oh Boy!

It is hard to think of anything much more self-serving than a blog, but here I am again serving myself a king-sized dose of cheap therapy. To be fair to the most read bloggers it must be said that there obviously are subject matters that are of interest to large numbers of readers. But when you look at a blog such as this and realize that a personal note or phone call would do just as much or more good then it really is an exercise in grandiosity. It has been a busy summer travel wise, and I once again find myself holding down the fort while Mary visits her family in Nebraska. It has been almost one year since her mother died. There is sore little to take the place of loved ones lost other than those who remain. I hear that there are some other things going on in the world right now, but the most important thing to me is to be at the airport Thursday after work.

Ya Think?

Nonetheless, it has cast suspicion over the lobby, as well as the lobbying industry at large.