It's over before you know it

The photo below is of my nephew, Eddie, and his wife, Leanne. It was taken at Anthony's Pier 4 Restaurant in Boston in January of this year. Nine months later he's dead. You wouldn't know it from the photo or from his attitude but he had a deadly form of cancer. He lasted a few months longer than the doctors said he would. Fortunately, the ending was fairly swift.

But is 'fortunately' the right word? How do we, the living, know what the last few days of life in a hospital bed are really like? Does one lose the most human of emotions, hope? Maybe that is good: to see the world as it is and not as we want it to be tomorrow. Well, we'll all get the chance to know the answer to that question.

Peace, Eddie.

9 months to go 

Labor AND Capital

In a very interesting article in the October 21 New York Review of Books, Benjamin Friedman, Economics Professor at Harvard, discusses the differences between the economic programs of Messrs Kerry and Bush. Here are three excerpts.

“Labor as an input to the economic production process has little place in Mr. Bush’s vision of an “ownership society”, and people whose place in the economy is simply to work for a living are clearly not those whom his policies seek to encourage and reward. Is this the new future – a world in which, as in Star Trek, the problem of satisfying society’s material wants has been solved and human input (or at least input by Americans) is mostly unnecessary? Or is it a betrayal of the long tradition of respect for everyday work that Max Weber identified with Calvinism, and that in America has been a popular moral theme from Cotton Mather to Horatio Alger to Franklin Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan?”

“Attitudes toward work are one way to judge how a society regards itself. Athens and Rome were slave societies. Citizens ideally did no work, but rather devoted themselves to participation in civic affairs. The Judeo-Christian tradition more typically regarded work as a necessity compelled by divine order, reflecting an essential burden borne by humanity….”

“the fundamental economic issue of this election involves the respective roles of work and saving – labor and capital – in the economy we seek to create. Do we value and encourage one, or the other, or both?”

This election is not only about Iraq. It is about us and the future we want for this country. We need labor. We need capital. We need a united nation.

It Takes More Than Guns

Okay, Osama is a bad, really bad guy. But, sometimes bad guys tell the truth, at least as they see it. If we don’t listen to the enemy and learn what he is thinking and why he is acting as he does, we’re going to have a hard time defeating him. To simply dismiss his latest statements by pronouncing your intent to destroy him is not being very smart. Let’s hope Bush and Kerry’s statements are only campaign talk.

Here are some excerpts from Osama’s talk:

"If Bush says we hate freedom, let him tell us why we didn't attack Sweden, for example. We fought you because we are free . . . and want to regain freedom for our nation. If you undermine our security, we undermine yours."

"I tell you: security is an important element of human life and free people do not give up their security."

"Your security is not in the hands of (Democratic candidate John) Kerry or Bush or Al Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands." (My emphasis)

True, excerpts do not always tell the whole story. But, do you disagree with any of the three excerpts above?

I’m reminded of the furor generated after 9/11 when Reuters (?) commented that your terrorist is my freedom fighter. It was true then and is true now. It’s very difficult to defeat a terrorist unless you understand his or her motivations. We need to defeat the terrorist with guns, ideas and actions. A gun, an idea, an action by itself will not do the job. It has to be a combination.

Make your vote count in 2008

How many times have you heard, “My vote doesn’t count in this state. Bush or Kerry has this state locked up.”? This is the lament that has been heard almost since the start of the Electoral College. And, it is a reality. Here in Massachusetts (and on Martha’s Vineyard where I live), Kerry will win by a landslide, as will Bush in Texas. The votes of the minority in each state will not count. Further, as the Center for Voting and Democracy (www.fairvote.org/e-college/reform.htm) shows, voters in states with few electoral votes have a greater say in the election than voters in states with a significant number of electoral votes.

The chances are that you won’t hear any more about this after November 2, assuming, of course, that the fiasco of 2000 is not repeated. We don’t get riled up about this extremely important issue until a month or two before each presidential election. We should because, simply put, it is not fair. The site mentioned above, http://www.fairvote.org/, has several cogent arguments about this issue. But, all the cogent arguments in the world will result in nothing unless we, the people, can increase our attention spans beyond the sound bite.

Can The Stars Be Wrong?

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Surveys in the United States may be showing the race for president as too close to call but top Indian astrologers say the planets have clearly made up their mind: John Kerry will win.
Planets governing President Bush are eclipsed and in an uncomfortable position, making his tenure controversial and his re-election bid unsuccessful, the soothsayers said on Friday, four days before the vote.
On the other hand, the planets of Democratic challenger Senator John Kerry were in the ascendant, ensuring him success in competitions.
"Saturn, which is the lord of health and fortune for President Bush, has been eclipsed by the Sun, which is unfortunate and gives him a clear defeat," Lachhman Das Madan, editor of a popular astrology magazine, told Reuters.
"Kerry will win," said Madan, who is also known as "the emperor of astrologers." "It is cosmic writ that George W. Bush cannot become president of United States again."
Ajai Bhambi, a senior astrologer and author of several books on the science of predictions, agreed.
"Kerry is likely to beat Bush in the final verdict," he told the New Indian Express newspaper.
Bejan Daruwalla, another top astrologer, told Reuters he had yet to calculate who would win Tuesday's election. But Bush, even if he won, would not be allowed by his planets to complete a full term, he said.
Astrology is extremely popular in India and many top politicians, businessmen and movie stars consult astrologers before taking important decisions.
Tuesday's vote is forecast to be one of the closest in American history. A Reuters/Zogby poll showed on Thursday that Bush was leading Kerry by 48 to 46 percent but the lead was well within the poll's margin of error.

© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.

Is Three a Magic Number?

Good things come in threes. Or, so our elders said. Is 2004 a year in which this bromide will hold? In January, the Patriots, the Massachusetts football team, won the Super Bowl. In October, the Red Sox, the Massachusetts baseball team, won the World Series (after 86 years, mind you). In November, will John Forbes Kerry, the Massachusetts senator, win the presidency? A month ago I wouldn’t have bet ten cents on it. Now, I’d bet ten dollars.

Of course, the pundits tell us the election race is still murky but it looks like their guy is leading. But does the media really know anything? Is it trying to tell the truth?

I think Bush is really getting scared. Even Bush’s friends are not exactly supportive. Allawi calls us negligent in not protecting his recruits. Buchanan castigates Bush for the war and the deficit. The editor of The American Conservative outlines the reasons why he is not voting for Bush.

In the ‘old’ days, when people had some scruples and a modicum of decency, failed presidents took themselves out of the office. Johnson declined to run. Nixon resigned. Yet, both Johnson and Nixon had major accomplishments, Johnson in civil rights, Nixon in China. I seriously doubt that this administration will be remembered for anything even remotely comparable. Whatever they’ve touched has turned not to gold but to excrement.

How Do You Spell Dumb?

You've heard of provisional voting, right? It's an attempt to count the votes of those who don't know where they should vote. Well, if you don't know where to vote and lack the ability to find out where you should vote, should you be allowed to vote?

I'm not an advocate of limiting voting rights according to one's intelligence. But, Lord, there has to be some minimum level of competence on the part of the voter. If you don't have the initiative to find out where you should be voting, it's highly unlikely that you have the initiative to find out whom to vote for.

How much more can this country be dumbed down and still function as a representative democracy?

When do you become who you really are?

Our monthly Men’s Group was discussing retirement last Sunday night. There seemed to be a consensus that retirement was a period when you finally had the time to be who you wanted to be. I found this sad and wondered how one could live for 65 years always aspiring to ‘be oneself’ and never trying to actually do it because of politics, stress, inertia, what have you. It must have been very difficult, particularly when they were working and living in the country that has most rewarded entrepreneurship. What was it that made them hide their true selves? These are not stupid people, nor are they neophytes in the ways of the world. Many of them had responsible jobs and traveled extensively in more than one continent.

It was interesting to me that those agreeing with the consensus had spent their careers in large companies as I, who worked for smaller companies, always felt that I was being who I wanted to be. If I ever worked for a company that did not let me run my own show, I took what some may consider the coward’s way out and left. I have not amassed a fortune, nor have we lived lavishly. But, I’d much rather have lived my life during the past 65 years than have put it on hold for my retirement so I could spend my pension trying to find out who I am and doing what I should have been doing all along..

Life is Full of Surprises

Like most clichés, the cliché “Life is full of surprises” does occasionally come to pass. So it is with the roundabout issue here on the Vineyard that I wrote about a while ago. Who would have thought that the Oak Bluffs Selectmen, no less, would actually reconsider a decision that would bring the town some money from the state? But, they did! And all Vineyard residents – not just Oak Bluffs residents – should be thankful.

Giving credit where it is due, I have to applaud the decision of Selectman Combra to announce that he felt a mistake was made. It took a certain degree of courage to oppose the traffic establishment of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission and the Oak Bluffs Highway Department, which, incidentally, is headed by Richard Combra, Jr. But, Combra appears to have listened to the pedestrians, the bikers, those who questioned the ‘experts’, and done the right thing. He and two other selectmen realized that it was wrong to try to solve a problem that may exist some years hence and only in the summer months. Maybe, there is hope that Oak Bluffs can improve its governance.

This is not California

The mushroom shown below is growing on Martha's Vineyard, although based on my reading of a super site about mushrooms, www.mykoweb.com, this grows in California and not 3000 miles to the east. Its offical name is omphalotus olivascens. Do you remember what omphalos means?

Jack-O-Lantern mushroom 

The Audience Won Debate #2

The real stars of last night’s debate were the audience and their questions. They demonstrated a concern for and knowledge of our country that, no matter our political bent, was one of the most American aspects of this vicious, non-American political campaign. It would have been very American of the candidates to have actually answered the questions instead of resorting to reciting their political mantras.

Yet, we have to make a choice and, in my father’s words, pick the lesser of two evils. Fortunately, once again, the proven failure fell short. Bush did not do as badly as in Debate #1, but he still lost. I know that my New England background has instilled some bias in me, but, Lord, how many failures is the public willing to accept? As I’ve said before, it is not only Iraq or the war on terrorism or the economy or…… It is becoming harder and harder to identify many successes in fact as opposed to in words.

Another big nail was driven into the coffin of Bush’s defeat by the latest report on the non-existence of WMD in Iraq and its conclusion that sanctions were preventing Saddam from doing much beyond wishing and posturing about WMD.

The big day is three weeks from Tuesday. Kerry has my state. Does he have yours?

List in LSBLOGS

I just listed this blog in www.lsblogs.com. It may be another way to increase traffic.

More of the Same

Haven’t Bush and Cheney ever read Emerson? You know the famous quote: “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds”. Are they not aware that we are all fallible?

The past two days have seen two of their stalwarts come clean. Rumsfeld admitted before the Senate that there is no real evidence of any Saddam-Al Qaeda tie. Bremer admitted that there were not enough troops on the ground in 2003 to secure the country. And today the Washington Post reports that the last word on WMD will be given as a report by Charles Duelfer, chief US weapons inspector in Iraq, is issued that concludes “that Hussein had the desire but not the means to produce unconventional weapons that could threaten his neighbors or the West”. Yet, last night Cheney still claimed an Iraq Al Qaeda connection, that our generals get anything they want, that Saddam was close to producing WMD.

Cheney reminded me of Dr. Strangelove last night. He kept repeating the consistency mantra. However, as Edwards pointed out, the administration has not been the hallmark of consistency they claim. They claim we are winning the war on terror. True, we’ve captured Al Qaeda leaders. True, we’ve killed Al Qaeda faithful. But, are there more or fewer Al Qaeda members today than four years ago? Are there more or fewer terrorist attacks in the world? To quote President Reagan, are we better off today than we were four years ago? The answer is obvious.

They claim the economy is vibrant. The NY Times had an interesting chart about a month ago showing the job growth or loss under presidents since 1929. The administrations of only two presidents had job losses in that time – Hoover and Bush. We are now running the largest deficit ever. Oil is over $50 a barrel. I belong to the first generation in a long time that sadly can say, “Our kids will not be as well of as we were.”

Again, I want to make it clear that I don’t think Kerry and Edwards are the saviors of the country and the world. Neither one has been an outstanding senator. But, given the administration’s utter failure in virtually every arena, we have to take a chance on them.

We are alone

Today 42 years ago was another one of those days that have shaped me. October 5, 1962, was my last day as a bachelor. Naturally, I was looking forward to my wedding day with a mixture of trepidation and delight. To combat the trepidation I sought out my parents, my siblings, my friends. None could help me. Although many of those I spoke with were married, they really didn’t understand my concerns. Either they did not have the same feelings just before their wedding or, more likely, they had forgotten them. I was alone that day as I had been alone previously and would be alone as I went through life.

Man strives to escape his solitariness. Some seek connections via drugs, some via art, some via religion, some in other people or nature. And, these connections with “the other” sometimes last more than a moment. But, ultimately, the loneliness returns; it can never be vanquished. It is our lot.

A Changing Island Economy

“We have priced ourselves out of the market.” That, according to Ms Rene Balter, Director of the Oak Bluffs Association, is why the island’s tourist trade is off this year. I hope that her statement will not apply to the entire island economy a few years hence as I watch prices here continue to escalate far beyond the rate of inflation.

Many Island businesses fail to realize that the Island population and the Island economy have changed significantly over the past twenty years. Tourists are not the only source of revenue here any longer.

The latest census figures show that the fastest growing age group on the Island is the over 55 seniors. Many of these older citizens spend a lot of their dollars off Island in part because of the lower prices there and in part because some services cannot be obtained here. As one of these older citizens, I would much rather spend all my dollars here and am willing to spend a reasonable premium for the privilege of living here. But, a gasoline premium of 20% or more, a food premium of 10 – 15%, etc. seem to me a bit unreasonable.

As has been pointed out often, the early morning boats deliver a number of workmen to our shores. But, the Vineyard’s export trade that has been enabled by technology is seldom mentioned. Off the top of my head I can think of a number of year-round Islanders who earn their living from clients or companies on the mainland while spending most of their time here. Here are just a few that come to mind: an artist selling his work on E-bay, the consultants who visit their clients in London, Australia, New York, etc. every month or two, the banker who spends three nights a week in Boston, the software designer who works for a firm in the Mid-West, the fundraiser serving colleges across the country, the writer for a company in Florida, the nurse who works at Falmouth Hospital, the oceanographer commuting to Woods Hole, the antiques dealer finding treasures across New England. I could go on, but you get my point. And, I don’t know that many people!

A tourism-based economy does not focus on these two segments of the population. By definition, it has to focus on the visitors, whether here for a day or a month; it’s an economy based on the short term. Yet, the Vineyard economy of today needs to be served by those interested in the long term. And, you don’t serve the long term interest of the Vineyard by charging unreasonable prices.

I am not saying that tourism is wrong for the Vineyard. Clearly, it was the economy’s driving force for many years. It will always be an important factor in our economy as long as we preserve and nurture that which makes the Vineyard unique. But, as Mark London said at the recent MVC forum, “We have to think about longer-term, bigger changes.”

I Told You So

In my normally unbiased and modest fashion, I’d say Kerry won big in last night’s debate and added another proof to my contention in a previous post (A Proven Failure or Take a Gamble) that Bush is a proven failure.

Kerry must have read the 9/11 Commission Report as he used many of the observations made in that report to demolish the claims of the President that the war on terrorism is being fought well.

Bush, like some other former world leader(s), must think that if you repeat something often enough it becomes true. Were you as fed up as I with "sending mixed message"? Let’s hope that the non-voters are the only ones who swallow his fictions.

He seems to be also convinced that once you’re on a path you don’t move from it even if the path is leading you to destruction. Where is the intelligence in that?

I guess it’s not over yet. Kerry should be pleased that he has finally done a good job in this campaign. But, there are still 33 days to go. He’s got to keep the pressure on.