Blog Beg

My website is Hollihan.net. It's where all the pictures you see here, and many documents I save for linking, are stored. It also has a lot of half-completed projects and personal pages. I had intended at one point last year to move this blog over there but abandoned the project. Blogspot has been doing fine enough. Updating all these links would have been a monster.

Anyway, renewal of the hosting fees is coming up in a couple of weeks and I'd like to ask your assistance in paying them. Regular readers know I'm quite... uh... well, poor. The hosting plan is just around $100 for another year. So, if you can and would like to help, I'd appreciate any contributions you can make.

Just hit the PayPal donation button up on the left. And thank you very much. I've no plans to give up blogging. You'll notice that even though I'm supposedly on hiatus I'm still posting semi-occasionally. And with all the news lately -- Herenton's recall, the poltical races, Tenneessee Waltz happenings -- I fear I'll be back to regular outrage soon enough. So your money won't be wasted. So to speak.

While I'm asking y'all for help, I'd also like to ask if anyone has a digital camera they could donate. While I have a regular film camera and a scanner, the whole process from image to post is cumbersome and slow. If I had a digital camera, I could simply upload upon returning home.

I'm not looking for new or spiffy, just a camera that takes clear pictures in a variety of lighting conditions. Indoors, outdoors, rain and shine, etc. Something small enough to carry easily as well.

If anyone has an older camera or a spare and would like to donate it to Half-Bakered, I'd appreciate that too.

Thank you all for your support.

Wanted: Lite Brite

I'm still looking for a copy of the old Lite Brite game. It had a backlit board you plugged little colored pegs into to create "lighted art." It doesn't have to work, as I'm only interested in the colored pegs. It's for another project I want to do -- making army pieces and bits of terrain for the Epic: Armageddon game I play with Mark. Thanks to anyone who can help!

You Have Been Warned

Do not mess with Fluffy.

Truth Is Stranger Than Science Fiction

Researchers have developed a computer that runs programs while turned off. Wow.

Now, it's a quantum computer and not a regular binary desktop PC like you're using right now. So having one of your own is years off yet. But still:

They send a photon into a system of mirrors and other optical devices, which included a set of components that run a simple database search by changing the properties of the photon.

The new design includes a quantum trick called the Zeno effect. Repeated measurements stop the photon from entering the actual program, but allow its quantum nature to flirt with the program's components - so it can become gradually altered even though it never actually passes through.

The geek in me loves the weirdness of this.

An Answer to The Pesky Fly and a Ramble

In the comments to the post below, Chris The Pesky Fly asserts:

Um Mike, if somebody says, "We should kill all the freaking jews." You can't call Godwin's law when somebody else says, "hey, that sounds like Hitler."

What you're saying here DOES smack of Hitlerian logic--- that's not to say you're anything close to a Nazi.

The breeding model is really over-the-top.

Read the post and you will see that nowhere do I suggest anything like "kill the Arab Muslims." I do suggest that unless we in the Western liberal democracies (WLD) can keep our numbers up the faster-growing Arab Muslim population will overtake us and displace our WLD with Arab Muslim theocracy. I feel safe in saying that even Chris doesn't welcome this.

We need to hold the line of WLD until we can grow it in the Arab world and bring them into the fold. You can read this post of mine (and the linked essay) for more, to see the larger point being made here. I thought I'd blogged about this PBS program about population pressures and economics, but a Blogspot search didn't find anything. They make compelling corrolary points. I again feel safe in saying that PBS is no hotbed of Neo-Hitlerian eugenics.

Anyway, I replied:

Chris, you implied as much over at your blog and then Jeff, one of your co-bloggers, comes over here and invokes Hitler. Don't pretend innocence.

To which he shot back:

No Mike, I never implied that at all. If you can find ANYTHING that remotely suggests a comparison to Hitler in my post I'll eat my laptop. I'm not playing innocent, I think this is an absurd post advocating what YOU WOULD CALL "social engineering."

And yet, in the comments to his linking post is this exchange:

Yes, it seems I recall someone arguing much the same line on the History channel. It was a documentary, about this guy, and had black-and-white dramatic shots of bright young blond-haired boys and girls doing exercised. And people marching, and saluting, and burning books.
Jeff | Homepage | 02.21.06 - 8:57 pm | #

Now, now, Mike's a good fella. But yeah, when you start seeing destiny in those terms...

I just think the whole, "You liberals are all evil social engineers" is--in light of this-- pretty darn funny.
PeskyFly | Homepage | 02.21.06 - 9:43 pm | #

I'm just trolling dear Mike.
Jeff | Homepage | 02.22.06 - 9:28 am | #

Clearly it was on your mind. But let's go back to the original post. The headline?

Destroy Feminism Breed Young Ones

(Emphasis mine.) That's long been recognised shorthand on the Left for Fascism / Nazism, a standard fear trope. "The Rethugnicans will shackle you to your homes and make you churn out babies if we even touch the right to choose." Jeff sure seems to have picked it up.

Continuing to the text of the post:

Every time I consider things like light rail, the economic and environmental merits of increasing urban population densities, and encouraging pedestrian culture, Mr. Mike of Half-Bakered calls me a typical liberal and accuses me of an atrocity he calls, "social engineering." Well look what Mr. Mike's been writing about.

(Emphasis again mine.) Atrocity? I submit that, while it may be coded somewhat, it's clear the allusion of "atrocity of social engineering" he wants the reader to infer is the Nazi slaughter of the Jews.

Think I'm reaching? Well, I'm a long time reader of Chris' blog. Just a cursory search of his archives pulls up this post and this post, both by Chris himself. Republican - Nazi imagery right there for you. There's also another post by a co-blogger and this post (read the last paragraph) by another co-blogger. Chris is obviously comfortable with his readers and co-bloggers having "Republican / conservative ideas = Nazism" comparisons.

Did he out and out say it? No. Did he get close enough for readers to make the leap easily and without being pushed. I'd say the evidence is yes.

Context is everything. And so it is here on my blog. Chris knows, though he seems not to want to believe it, that I'm a conservative Libertarian. I deeply distrust national government, and most tools of government at all but the most local of levels. I've said so over and over and over again here. No matter the intentions of the originators, those tools will almost always be co-opted by the power hungry and the idealists. Democrats and Leftists are especially happy to do that because they believe in their hearts that they will always be in control.

That's not to say that Republicans and certain Christians don't want the same thing. They do. They try to create or co-opt their own sets of government tools. The point is that government power comes from the people and so should be kept as close to the people as possible and doled out with skepticism and an eagle eye. You create swell and powerful tools, there's always someone willing to try to steal them.

Reread the post Chris pounced on and you'll see that I don't advocate government solutions. It's interesting that Chris takes my musings as calls to government action, though. I'd say that's a good view into his thinking. Nor did I say "Christianity." I said religion, a wholy different thing, and inclusive by definition.

How you get where I want to go is called social change. It worked with women's suffrage at the turn of the last century and civil rights in the Fifties and Sixties, to name two examples. Inspire people to rise to their best, most moral nature and the world can be changed.

(Yeah, yeah. Mr. Atheist is calling for more religion in America and the West? Is he drinking again? No, it's just that I have a theory about the source and purpose of religion that I don't think I've addressed here. Suffice to say that I think many people need religion or early religious training for good reasons. John Adams said that a moral people are neccessary to a democracy and that it couldn't function without them.)

So, back to the point of the post. Yes, I call bullshit on Chris' defense. I think the evidence supports the call.

And I love how the discussion now isn't about the points made in the post, nor in the essay, which are vital and worth study. We have, instead, been diverted into silly and wasteful argument of who is or isn't a Hitler. It's a favored tactic of the Left to shut down debate they don't want or know they can't win. Hitler used the very same tactic by calling his enemies "Bolshevists."

But I'm not making any comparisons here.

It's clear that I'll have to create another post sometime going into more detail and drawing more links between ideas on the whole demographics and the clash of civilisations topic. And y'all need to read those Steyn essays, dammit! Visit that PBS link! What I thought I'd said was that we in the West, the defenders and inheritors of the Great Democratic Experiment, need to make sure that Western liberal democracy takes hold across the world before the results of some of its deformities (the narrow, radical, politicised NOW feminist agenda for one) shrink us down to a size not capable of doing the job. Read the Steyn essay I linked in the recent post to see why that's important.

The Arab Muslim world is producing people fast enough to export them around the world. Those immigrant populations are growing faster than the "native" ones. Nations with excess numbers of single men are especially dangerous, as that's how armies willing to die are made. Right now, China has something like 5 million men who will never marry because there aren't enough women. That's a potential army of men willing to wear the uniform in desperate hopes of appealing to and attracting a wife. And China has made no bones, in fact is openly making plans and operations, to take over Taiwan.

Nations with stable or shrinking populations can't wage colonialism or war easily. Especially when they have a large social safety net to appeal to stability and lassitude.

China is being remade in WLD, though of a peculiarly Chinese Communist stripe. Taiwan and Hong Kong are the hyper-examples of Western capitalism with a Chinese Confucian flavor; they will suit well for China in the long run, but cause the West no end of economic headaches. India is well on the way; Indonesia is too. Latin America is on the way, eventually. So are parts of Africa.

But the Arab Muslim world isn't. Egypt, Turkey and Indonesia are examples of WLD nations with a Muslim religion, so we know it can be done. We must break the authoritarianism and theocracy, the subjugation of women. Kuwait is doing it. (Ah! Didn't know that, did you?) We know it can be done.

Lefties will instinctively pop up here with "What about the native populations, like Indians, aboriginals, Maori, etc.? We screwed them over pretty well. We're evil and must stop." Good point and lessons we must always remember. But India and Egypt are excellent counter-examples. Hawaii and the Phillipines are less-successful examples, and cautionary warnings on how to handle things. It's not a painless process, but I firmly believe it's a vital one.

Besides, aren't a large part of Chris' concerns to do with overly-large populations? Smaller populations are a good thing for eco-Lefties. WLD means smaller populations. It means opportunities for women that they control, yes?

Go back to my point about the black v. white model of childbearing in the previous post, which somehow seems not to have generated any controversy here. In terms of women's biology and career / financial planning, having children young is a better way than the upper-middle-class NOW feminist model of career then babies late in life. I grow more convinced of this as time passes. It's easier for society to integrate, as well as the business world. This is a debate we need to re-examine.

Whew. This post is all over the place.

Let's review: Chris? Wrong. Evidence? Yes. The original post and its ideas? Needing discussion; shouldn't be shouted down or diverted by dolts who likely didn't read the essay(s).

Suggestions? Read the posts and essays and the PBS link. Read more on your own. Reflect. Discuss.

If you want to explore this further, you're always welcome here. If you want to reflexively invoke Hitler and eugenics (which I do not advocate) either way, or scream and shout and distract, then go elsewhere.

I dont' expect Chris to admit anything wrong. He wouldn't. This post is directed to my other readers who may not have noticed the distraction and yet still been steered away from the discussion I wanted.

Demographics is Destiny

Regular readers know that I've grown fascinated with the interplay between demographics, birth rates and the edifice that is Western liberal democracy. Europe is becoming Eurabia because native Europeans are no longer breeding fast enough to sustain their population levels. They import workers from the Middle East to help do the work they no longer have the people to do themselves. The Arab Muslims are breeding faster than the natives and slowly, inevitably, pushing them out.

Japan as a country is pointed straight into the heart of oblivion. There population growth is below the replacement rate and their population is already shrinking. Add to that their monoculture (there are no "Japanese" but the Japanese), their resistance to bringing in workers and assimilating them, and you have a dying nation.

America thinks we're not experiencing this problem, but we are. The "native" population of white women are no longer reproducing at the replacement rate. Our nation's growth is coming from immigration, birthrates of immigrant populations, and the birthrate of African American women.

Anyway, Mark Steyn takes a look at this complex interplay and the near term implications. I agree that we are in a clash of civilisations -- Western liberal democracy v. Arab Muslim theocracy -- and in a rush to get the Arab Muslim world converted to Western liberal democracy (WLD) before their numbers overwhelm ours. History repeatedly shows that introducing WLD transforms women's lives so that they get out of the house, get educations, get into the workforce and politics, and start having much fewer children.

If we cannot sustain our numbers and influence long enough, we face being outnumbered and seeing the greatest transformation of human existence imaginable come to a screeching halt.

On the other hand, essays like this routinely seem to skip over Latin America, except maybe to mention Brazil. Latin WLD doesn't seem to slow the birthrate for women as much as Euro-American WLD. I think the difference is in the greater role that religion still plays in Latin nations. Euro-American WLD is far more secular, demandingly so, and I think that's the crux.

America is the still among most relgious nations of the WLD-sphere. We are the most populous, after India. I think that's part of what's insulating us, along with immigration, from the worst of the death spiral.

It's also why I've blogged before that the career model put forward by white feminists is inferior to the career model of black American women. Staying childess until your late thirties or forties, then having only one or, at most, two children, and then deforming the work world to support that decision is not the way to go. Having children young, when (grand) parents are also young, when you can juggle education and lower-wage jobs, means larger families overall, I think.

I'm finding myself becoming less concerned with high immigration than I used to be. (Though border control is very important!) What we need to do is reform feminism and its ills, reform how we approach abortion and pregnancy, and fearlessly re-establish the hegomony of Euro-American WLD as rapidly as possible. It's literally a fight for the future.

Seen through this filter, suddenly the Global War on Terror takes on new meaning, doesn't it? And George Bush, god help us, starts to look something like a visionary.

Wow.

Same Fruitcake, New Wrapping Paper

While I'm on this blogging burst here, let me add some thoughts on the new set for FOX13 news. Sure, it's pretty, flashy and matches the FOX News cable image. I like the nice, bold, jewel-toned colors. The television news bloggers in Memphis all seem to be crushing hard over it.

But so what? It's still the same old anchors, the same old banter, the same presentation style, the same way of reporting. The wrapping paper may be new, but the substance is unchanged.

So color me unimpressed. All the local news shows are variations of the same thing. Newschannel3 and Action News 5 are virtual carbon copies. They both bombard you with "Developing Story," "New Since Three Hours Ago," "Breaking Story That's Hours Old But We're Still on the Scene," "Story We're Still Milking Even With No New Developments," and "Live at the Scene Where Nothing's Happening Any More and It's Pitch Dark." Pow! Look! Hey! Here! Whoo! Wake up! It's like being constantly poked in the chest. After a while, you just back away.

Poor EyeWitnessNews24 is afflicted with low budgets and a very amateurishly applied consultant's presentation package. ("Props! Use props. Wave 'em around. Are you in a grocery store? Use the cash register! Make it ka-ching! And don't forget to keep moving. What did I teach you last time? Move, move! It's visual.") You get the sense there's a good hard-news organisation in there being smothered by bad ideas.

Calm, serious, intelligent, discriminating, content-focused. Give me that and I'll watch.

The Market Speaks

I forget which blog supplied this link to radio ratings for Memphis, but it's pretty interesting.

The most listened to talk station in Memphis? WDIA, by almost two to one! They are the number three station in the market with a 6.6 rating. The next talk station is WREC, at #9 and a 3.9.

Oh, and the much ballyhooed Air America? They are waaaay down the list, at #26. Their rating is .5, which is one-third what it was a year ago! Losing two-thirds of your audience isn't a good idea guys.

Where are all those vaunted Memphis liberals? Don't they support their own?

By the way, is there a similar public resource for Nielsen television news ratings? I'm curious.

Bush Spied, Terrorists Died

Via Stromata Blog comes Bumper Stickers of the Future:

Bush spied, terrorists died.
Democrats – a 40 year war on poverty and still no exit strategy.
I stubbed my toe. Impeach Bush!
Keep your socialism out of my paycheck!
It takes a conservative to feed a liberal.

I like that last one, too.

Everything New is Old

Many folks on the right and more than a few on the left believe the Democratic Party is headed to disaster, being dragged to doom by the MoveOn / Dean-Gore / Bushysteria / anti-war crowd. It wouldn't be the first time something like this has happened for them.

It just goes to show how recurrent human events can be. Note that back then, the Democrats stayed out of power for more than 25 years, briefly seized power only to see the county fall into a bad recession, then were back out of power for another couple of decades.

Something to think about.

The Muhammad Emoticon

Stolen from SayUncle

(((:~{>

That's right. I did it. Come and get me.

Has any local media outlet run the Danish cartoons or any of the response cartoons yet?

SUNDAY EVENING UPDATE: I was going to put part of the following in comments, along with something I had already written, but decided instead to move it up into the main post. Here it is:

I think positive action is called for, now that buildings have been burned, people killed and general mayhem loosed. Freedom of speech itself, not sensitivity to the feelings of others, is at stake. We are being told, "You don't have to believe in our religion, just act as if you do."

The press routinely covers stories about art that "transgresses" simply because they love to cover the conflict. The difference now is that the aggrieved *will* come and inflict violence or death, or a real threat of it, on them. Up to now, news people never had to take this too seriously. After all, this is America. Defenders of free speech will defend them. It's cool. Be cool.

Now, it's no longer cool. And we see who the fair-weather patriots, the true friends and defenders of freedom of speech really are. And we see who the cowards are.

I was going to run some of the cartoons, especially the bomb-turban one, last week. But I figured, being on sabbatical of sorts, it would be seen as merely sensationalistic and opportuniistic of this blogger, a stunt of some kind. So I demurred. The Muhammad emoticon was just so silly, so trivial, though, I went with it.

Still no answer from the few who still drop by. Has any Memphis media outlet run the Danish cartoons, or the many response cartoon in their wake? Or even the vile Arab Muslim cartoons that have run for years now? I noticed yesterday that the CA has been running a few pro-Islam, "can't we just understand them so we can all get along?" pieces lately. But I couldn't find anything addressing the cartoons directly. Only Wendi Thomas' oblique remark about "discussions" behind the scenes.
mike hollihan | Homepage | 02.

Ah, spoke too soon. The Sunday CA addresses the issue. I can't speak for the paper edition, but the online version only has a link to a link to the offending cartoons (at the very bottom of just one article, to boot). Three degrees of separation oughta protect 'em, I guess.

The rest is professionals and academics telling you what you should think and feel. Notably missing is comment from Christian, Jewish or Muslim clerics. I'm gonna guess that's because it would differ rather strongly from the calming medicine the CA wants you to take.

I didn't see any mention of the addition of the three most offensive images in the cartoon packet that was promulgated around the Middle East by a Danish cleric seeking to inflame Muslims into action. Nor that some of the demonstrations happened in nations where the government *never* allows public demonstrations not sanctioned and organised by them.

The CA also repeats that "American media" hasn't shown the images. In fact, FOX News has shown at least one. They broadcast the "bomb turban" image on last week's FOX News Sunday program.

Also missing is the statement of why the CA appears to be dancing around a news story rather than directly and fully reporting it. I'm guessing "We're cowards." is too direct a statement for the obscurantists at the paper. Editor Peck's column repeatedly emphasises that this is "political." Good, he at least sees that. It is political -- freedom of speech is a cornerstone principle of Western liberal democracy. Too bad he apologises to his new Islamic masters instead.

His argument is something like this: We've offended plenty of people of all politics and religions over the years, so we have nothing to prove. We have the power to run them right now, if we want to. Good political cartoons are provocative; they cause a reaction and make you think. These cartoons are provocative and cause a reaction. So we're not running these cartoons. First Amendment rules! High fives everyone!

Yeah, right.

Like I said, the Islamofascists, the radical fundamentalists, have made this a First Amendment issue. They have thrown down a gauntlet and issued a challenge. Rather than confront it like true defenders -- put their money where their mouths have been lo! these many decades -- the CA (and I guess the other local media) have all bowed to Mecca.

Fear will do that.

Enjoy your dhimmi status in the New World Order. Don't forget to pay your jizya.

Let's Compare

Dick Cheney - 0
Ted Kennedy - 1

Snow!

Whee, it's snowing now, ahead of schedule! The news is still predicting 3 to 5 inches for us in Memphis and West Tennessee. We'll see.

As a Deep Southerner, snow is an occasional enough thing for me that I still love it. Maybe I'll post some of the snow photos I've taken over the years of living here in Midtown.

I don't think -- and certainly don't hope -- that we're facing another Ice Storm '94 situation. I was awake and at work that night. Oh, the stories. It was a peak experience in my life, that's for sure.

Anyway, SSSNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWW!

INSTANT UPDATE: Well, that was short-lived. Not the snow. It's gone from big, fat, wet flakes to the snow equivalent of a steady light rain. Very pretty.

I mean the pristine renewal effect of a good blanket of snow. The street is too warm still, so all the snow is becoming slush with the steady flow of traffic.

It's the front yard and sidewalk. I had briefly forgotten that I live in a crack complex. The snow out front is trampled by the many feet of crack zombies coming in and out of the downstairs apartment. It's hilarious, in a way. You can tell precisely where everyone's going, and it's a bit too tramply to just be a few visitors. You can compare our stretch to every other home and apartment building on the block and immediately spot the difference. So sad. I wish I had a digital camera to show y'all.

On the other hand, nature is more relentless, widespread and far more powerful than even crackheads, so there's hope that later this evening things will even out a bit.

Yes, hope always springs eternal.

INSTANT FOLLOWUP: And now it's over! Not even four hours later, snow has stopped. The wet, gloppy stuff on trees and roofs is dripping to the ground; it's apparently still above freezing outside. Shoot.

Radar and television news says we still have hours to go. I hope so. White blankets! White blankets!

INSTANT CORRECTION: Whoops. About a half hour later it started back up. Very light here in Midtown, but still snowing. I noticed the temps are still hovering just above freezing, which is unfortunate. Tomorrow will be a slushy mess.

ANGRY 24 HOURS LATE UPDATE: What the hell is up with Blogspot? Seems it's as likely as not the past few weeks to get the "Republish your blog in 10 minutes" error message as to actually be able to upadate your blog. Some "enhancement" when you can't update your damn blog in a timely manner....

Thought For the Day

No matter who you vote for, the government gets in.

That'szszs Deszszspicable

But wait, there's more!

Adventures With MATA

[No, I'm not back. I just wanted to relate this story which is both hilarious and illustrative.]

Saturday, I took the bus from my apartment to Mark's. We were heading out to the Battle Bunker for some gaming. When I got on the 53 at the North Terminal, the driver was talking with someone (apparently a friend) about driving the number 11 bus. I backed up and re-read the number of the bus I was boarding before I gave her my transfer, because I have been known to board the wrong bus and her conversation made me wake up. She laughed and I smiled.

I took a seat roughly in the middle of the bus. Up ahead of me, on the parallel bench was a woman whose expression I instantly recognised. It was the naked, frank way she looked right at me, and the glinting light in her eye, and the huge smile splitting her face. She was mentally ill. I worked in a drug rehab center for ten years and I know that look. But she seemed in a happy place, so I relaxed.

As the bus wound down to the Parkway, she would occasionally say something in a loud mumble, the kind almost loud enough to understand but you have to ask them to repeat it clearly. She was vocalising her internal monologue, the odd thought in her mind popping out through her mouth. She kept looking around the bus at the other passengers, with that blunt smile, but no-one was engaging her.

Then the fun started. A woman I recognised from previous Saturday trips on this bus got on along the Parkway. She has the air of a country woman who now lives in the city, hard and closed in. A bit farther down Faxon, she suddenly leaps up and begins shouting something incoherent.

After a moment, she's saying, "Stop the bus! That's my daughter!" She grabs the bell cord and then runs to the front of the bus. She begins talking in a rushed, loud voice about her daughter just missing the bus. The driver pulls over.

Now I know who the daughter is. She gets on the bus at a later stop than her mom, bringing her young son, and they ride out Summer to the antique minimall area then get off together. Looking back, listening to the mother, it's clear the daughter is now about three blocks back, turning away from her missed bus.

The country woman is now haraunging the driver, to get her daughter on. She asks the driver to back the bus up! When that fails, she demands the driver wait while she goes to get her daughter and bring her back. The driver quietly explains she's on a schedule and needs to get moving again.

Seeing her daughter walking away, not seeing the stopped bus, the country woman climbs back on, loudly complaining and fussing the whole time. She never stops. "I've been told by drivers (later "a driver") that you can wait up to two minutes. It's hard in this world for everyone and we all have to stick together and help each other. Now she's got to wait a whole hour for the next bus. You're running early and she was at the stop at the usual time." Blah, blah, blah. On and on, non-stop, loudly.

After nearly ten minutes (or so it seemed), the driver finally couldn't stand it and they began to argue across the bus. At top volume. The country woman kept saying, "That's all I'm going to say." before she'd launch into another tirade. At one point, in response to a threat to report her behavior from the country woman, the driver said, "You can't get me fired! No one can!" (Which I thought a very revealing statement, indeed. Union? MATA protectionism? Bravado?)

The bus is tootling down to Summer and Hollywood now, and they're still going at it. The rest of the passengers are getting tired and uncomfortable, but no one's saying anything. The mentally ill woman is wide-eyed and po-faced.

The bus stops to pick up passengers. One is a middle-aged, silver-haired white guy in work t-shirt and jeans and cap, with some tools sticking out of his back pocket. He's not lean and hard, though, but soft and slightly overweight. He immediately asks what they are arguing about and suggests they stop it and let the driver drive. He takes a seat on the opposite bench from the mentally ill woman.

Some passengers take the opportunity the silver-haired guy offered to suggest the driver drive and they get moving. But the argument continues, and the white guy occasionally inserts his wisdom and advice. Things are growing heated.

The bus turns off Summer into the Binghamptom loop. And then it all goes to hell. The mentally ill woman, who is black, suddenly says something to a young white girl across from her, ending in a phrase that the whole bus hears: "White bitch." Dead silence from everyone.

Then the mentally ill woman, responding to something the white guy said that I didn't hear, got up and began to berate the white guy in a strong, clear voice. She ended by being three inches from his face and in the same powerful voice ended her tirade with "white bitch."

He flinched and floundered a second, then the ill woman suddenly threw back her right arm, cocked high and ready to slap the living crap out of him. The bus was now pulled over, all conversation but this was gone. But the ill woman then let her hand fall and sat back down.

The driver announced to the bus that we all needed to stop it, or did she need to call the police? Several riders in the back immediately piped up that they'd seen a police cruiser just ahead, around the block. It could be there in a moment. But the driver talked quietly to the ill woman and she stayed seated and fairly quiet, the odd mumble her only noise. After some adjustment, the bus continued.

One rider, a middle aged woman with a dignified bearing, made some general statement to the bus about MATA drivers, responsibility and being at the stop on time, which others in the back supported with ragged agreement.

The country woman stayed completely silent, seething (I looked at her once.) inside herself. The silver-haired guy was also silent. At one point the mentally ill woman got up and walked to the driver's side, then sat down before pulling the bell cord. After she got off, the young woman she'd called a "white bitch" said she had seen the ill woman around downtown a lot. Whatever that was supposed to mean....

At this point, we're going well down Summer. As every passenger from the back gets off, they exclaim their support for the driver and wish her well. I expressed my support for her, more quietly to her, when I got off. The country woman hasn't said a word, thin-lipped and hunched over.

High drama on the 53. Is it any wonder that -- given the choice at all -- folks don't ride MATA, no matter how they are enticed or bullied by the social engineers of the world? Being in someone else's vehicle traps you in their world, with all their problems.

One time, about fifteen years ago, I was taking the 50 Poplar back to the downtown from shopping out East. It was packed, with some folks standing in the aisles. I was the only white person on that bus, that day. (That's going to happen in a city like Memphis. I'm not complaining here, just pointing out something that's relevant in a moment.)

I had my headphones on, to screen out folks who might try to start up a conversation, but no music playing. I could hear everything clearly, but no one else knew that.

Seated right behind me was a very old guy who was obviously a long time drunk. He was completely shizzled, right on the edge of nodding off. He was mumbling to himself and, after a while, he kept mumbling about "white m*therf*ckers." When I didn't react, he got louder. I stole glances around the bus and folks kept eyeing me to see if I heard or how I was going to react. I kept an oblivious smile on my face and just sat there. The bus was otherwise quiet. No one said anything, to him or me.

After a very long while, the old man finally got off the bus. The person next to him called the driver back. The old man's seat was puddled with urine.

Ever since, I've always checked my bus seat before sitting down. I wonder how many bus seats Carol Coleta, Willie Herenton, Kevin Kane, Henry Turley, Pitt Hyde or Barry Lendermon have had to check?

Riding MATA requires certain skills. If you depend on the bus to be somewhere at a certain time, you are in trouble. If you expect it to be early, it will be late; if you depend on it to be late, it will be early. That's where the country woman and her daughter made their mistake. Even if the busses cross at a certain stop at the same time, and you have a transfer, don't depend on the timing. I've missed many busses that way. One is late or the other early.

Never assume that just because a bus has a street name on it that it will travel that street. The Summer bus detours part of its route through Binghampton. The 50 Poplar bus detours through the UM area. The 2 Madison winds all over the place near the downtown. If you pick the wrong block, then you're screwed. There will be no bus for you.

Every once in a while, there will be no bus at all. You will be at the right stop, at the right time. Other busses will come by, just not your's. Busses occasionally crash, break down, or have incidents like mine where police are called. I once waited thirty minutes downtown for a bus that never came before I started down to the North Terminal for another (Any!!) bus to get me home. Turns out my bus had an accident and bus traffic had been rerouted temporarily. Who knew?

Now, in that case and in all fairness to MATA, the MATA investigator on the scene immediately offered to give me a ride. Just like that. She was very nice and I was truly appreciative.

But that was a unique situation. I once stood in the middle of Poplar, waving my arms at the speeding bus driver trying to get him to stop for me, only to watch him zip right past with nary a pause. He saw me, too.

Some folks ride MATA because they have to. Some, like me, because we choose to. (I gave up my car about fifteen years ago by choice, in order to live a low-cost lifestyle. I get by thanks to friends and MATA.) Riding MATA takes adjustments and adaptations, as well as learning some skills and accepting some missed rides. But in today's "have it your way" culture very few want to make those adjustments. Fewer still want to be forcibly pushed up against the very kinds of people they tried to keep away from.

Anyway, that's that. And now, back into the Outback to continue the walkabout. Later y'all.

Everything But What I Want to Know

I was out this evening and it wasn't until I got home that I learned Ophelia Ford's Senate vote tomorrow has been blocked by a Federal judge.

But every story I've seen so far -- state and local papers, television news -- has omitted the most important part of the story: On what grounds was Ford's request for an injunction filed, and on what grounds was it granted? Why is a Federal judge intervening in a State matter?

Did everyone just miss that part somehow? How about, you know, reporting the news? Jeez but y'all newspeople are just getting worse and worse.

THURSDAY UPDATE: Ah, the Tennessean reports:

Ford's court complaint says the Senate discriminated against her and other black voters in her district because of their race and denied them the right to vote. The Senate took an initial vote Tuesday to unseat her....

In her complaint to the court, Ford says Roland does not prove the questionable votes are illegal and that the Senate vote hinged on "unproven residency and mistakes caused by election officials." ...

The complaint lists Ford and three other District 29 residents, including two who are black, as plaintiffs.

All 33 senators, along with Roland, are listed as defendants, but Ford does not bring allegations against the 14 who voted against the ouster.

The complaint says that the Senate's actions "unfairly discriminate against Sen. Ford, the African-American plaintiffs, on the count of their race" and that the vote "denies the right of individuals such as (the) Plaintiffs to be eligible to vote and have their vote counted."

Finally, the complaint says the 17 senators who did vote to unseat her "would deny the right to vote on account of race or color."

Of course, race is justification enough for the Feds, and an easy accusation for the Fords to sling.

Gotta wonder how Harold the Younger is feeling about his auntie stirring up the race pot with the very voters he needs to get seeing past race in order to vote for him. Heck, with him telling USA Today recently that he's "white" (and so Ophelia is "half-white" by that math) you're forced to wonder how they can even navigate this muddle.

Fords: Free entertainment for Tennessee.

THURSDAY UPDATE THE SECOND: As the comments on Bob Krumm's blog note, since when does the Federal judiciary have the power to tell a State legislature how to conduct its internal business? Can someone explain that one for me?

Adam Groves takes a stab it. More thoughts (and links) here.

Parting Thoughts

Parting Thoughts

1) Let's clear up this pretense that television news shows and local papers are some pure expression of the First Amendment. They are not. They are in the business of selling a commercial product -- namely their readership -- to businesses with another product to sell. The "news" (or in the case of the Commercial Appeal, "information you can use") is the hook to get eyeballs to their product; more eyeballs means higher ad rates. Getting certain groups of eyeballs, as determined by market research consultants, also means higher ad rates.

Protestations that the news is pre-eminent over the business side of things is a case of the tail thinking it wags the dog. How many newspapers and television stations hire consultants to juice up their presentation to attract more eyeballs? How many bring in consultants who tell them how to pursue and uncover hard to report stories? Exactly.

News is a commercial enterprise. Learn that and you'll begin to better understand what you're watching and reading. They do not serve you, but the needs to make a profit and stay in business.

2) Just for fun, for the people in the local media who read this blog, I have a hypothetical: You learn that there is a terrorist cell in Memphis. They take you to their meeting place, where you see a few of them and hear them discuss not blowing up something, but setting up a network for later terrorists to come into, who will then begin bombings, etc.

Do you go to the police immediately? Do you call your News Director first? Do you do the story and never contact the police? If you just do the story, when the police and FBI later contact you, do you give them all the information they request? What would you do, and why?

3) Ophelia Ford will not lose her Senate seat. Get used to it. The Senate committee investigating this will send a strong -- though toothless -- rebuke to the Shelby County Election Commission. The Senate will place all responsibility there, as they certified the election and therefore Ophelia Ford. Anyone who thinks the Senate will refuse to seat Ford isn't looking at all the other senators who might one day face a similar challenge. You expect them to set a precedent for their own ouster?

4) I am now fully convinced that the Tennessee Republican Party doesn't want to run a successful candidate against Phil Bredesen for governor. We are seeing the same thing we've seen in the past two second-term gubernatorial elections in Tennessee. Both Ned McWhirter and Don Sundquist faced token (and that's being kind) opposition from the opposing parties in their re-elections.

Here we are in the middle of January of the election year, and no candidate! It's far too late to mount any kind of strong, effective, wide-based campaign by now. No one has come forward and no one seems too worried about it.

It's not what some Republicans are trying to claim -- that Bredesen is a formidable candidate. He's not. He squeaked by Hilleary and has come under all sorts of fire since. Bredesen is wide-open vulnerable on ethics, corruption and his handling of TennCare. He took state-shared revenues from Tennessee municipalities to balance his first budget. That move precipitated a lot of the budget crises we've seen across the State. The State has been running large surpluses ever since, but has never restarted revenue sharing.

The Assembly could, under strong Republican leadership, both restart revenues and cut the state sales tax by 1/2%, and still run surpluses! Yes, a half-percent cut is miniscule, but it's the symbolism of it, the statement of seriousness in really cutting taxes for Tennesseans, that is the gain. A gubernatorial candidate who aligns with Senate Majority Leader Ron Ramsey could start a powerful wedge to use against Jimmy Naifeh in the House. It's a winning platform, and a strong one, so it's no surprise no one in Nashville has advocated it.

I am certain that we are being set up, for the third time, for another run at the income tax. As others have noted, the Assembly seems to want to devolve some taxing authority down to the cities. Shelby County, at least, is interested in enacting a tax on business payrolls, which is not precisely an income tax but functions that way. Seeing how differently worded variations of the privilege tax go through the State courts will help to illuminate the path for writing a successful State income tax. I'm sure of it.

Look back to the various plans that were put forward when the income tax was last debated. There was only one common feature to every proposal -- eliminating the Hall tax on investment income. There a reason for that: the enormously wealthy who live off investment income want their tax burden relieved. Yes, all you hear about are the "grannies having the stocks taxed" but the real hits are to the ultra-wealthy. These are the folks who provide the real cash, and the real power, to the elites in the leadership of the Democrat and Republican parties in Tennessee. That's a big part of why the income tax keeps coming back.

The other is the more prosaic. An income tax is nearly invisible, especially as compared to the sales tax. How many times have you gone shopping for stuff, keeping a total in your head, only to be shocked by the final, after-tax, total? Now, how many of you can say how much you take home every week? But can you tell me how much is taken out in various taxes before that? Exactly. Most folks can't. Most folks think of "what they earn" as their take-home pay, not their actual pay. When an income tax increase comes along, it works out to a few dollars, or tens of dollars, per paycheck. Doesn't seem so bad, right? Not until you multiply that by every paycheck you got that year.

The Republican Party leadership this time is as bought and paid for as the Democratic Party leadership was in 1998. You will see the income tax revived in 2007. Mark my words.

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And so, I take my leave. I'm out on walkabout. I'll check comments, once in a while, but basically (unless something is really worth it), I'm on hiatus for real.

Y'all take care.

Here's a Thought

Whenever property taxes in Shelby County come up, especially when the talk is about raising them yet again, the topic always comes to the problem of senior citizens on fixed incomes being stuck with increasing bills they find harder and harder to pay. Well here's a thought: Seniors should refuse to pay.

Let a group of retirees go to court and then to jail. See what happens next. (Of course, the County's not stupid. They'll use foreclosure, which is a long, boring process, rather than allow something dramatic like news footage of some granny being taken through 201.)

Still, I'd love to see a group of seniors play a bluff with the County on this.

The Great Gulf War

Glad to know I'm not the only one who sees parallels between Nazi Germany's rise in the 1930's and events in Iran today. No less a person than Niall Ferguson writes:

The optimists argued that the Cuban Missile Crisis would replay itself in the Middle East. Both sides would threaten war - and then both sides would blink. That was Secretary Rice's hope - indeed, her prayer - as she shuttled between the capitals. But it was not to be.

The devastating nuclear exchange of August 2007 represented not only the failure of diplomacy, it marked the end of the oil age. Some even said it marked the twilight of the West. Certainly, that was one way of interpreting the subsequent spread of the conflict....

Sharon's stroke happened at the worst possible moment, and Netanyahu may not pick up the slack in time. America is already making noises about leaving Iraq too soon. Our military is stretched hard at the moment. The American public is at the traditional point of losing interest, and being hustled along by Democrats and their allies in the media.

Ahmadinejad is a Hitler analogue. Reprising Chamberlain's "peace in our time" overtures isn't the way to go. Pre-emptive action is, but can we follow through? I'm not sure.

And that worries me.