When we go to our cabin, we usually make a couple of stops before we leave Duluth. At the last of these, I plug in my iPhone for a podcast of Wisconsin Public Radio's "To the Best of Our Knowledge". The podcast lasts about 52 minutes, a bit less than the time it takes us to get our cabin.
Yesterday we planned to go to our cabin with no special stops. Instead of listening to Minnesota Public Radio until we made our stops, I plugged in my iPhone before I even backed out of the garage.
About ten miles away, I wondered if I had shut the garage door. My wife said I probably did. After all, whichever of us is the passenger almost always checks that the driver closed the door.
I didn't turn around, but it kept gnawing at me all the time we were at our cabin. I had visions of our lawnmower and snowblower being stolen. I wondered if my wife's car would be broken into. Around and around rattled these thoughts in my mind.
When we returned today, I forewent a couple of stops that I wanted to make and we came directly home.
Whew! The garage door was closed. As it opened I saw that my wife's car, the lawnmower, and the snowblower were all there.
A couple of hours later I'm still feeling the sense of relief!
Moral? Don't be distracted as you pack and definitely don't be distracted as you lock up. Have your paranoia about doing all you should before you leave, not after you are on your way:)
Showing posts with label paranoia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label paranoia. Show all posts
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Saturday, April 06, 2013
Quote of the day - Diplomatic Imperialism
Remember when George W. Bush said that you're with us or against us?
Fareed Zakaria wrote "Washington ... has not yet figured out that diplomatic imperialism is a luxury that the United States can no longer afford."
- The Post-American World, Release 2.0, pp. 258-259
He concludes his book with the idea that we are an open, welcoming country but that our foreign policy is narrow-minded and paranoid.
Many are calling for Congress to compromise on many issues. Maybe we should be asking Congress and the Administration to compromise with the rest of the world.
"The Post-American World" is a very good read. Zakaria lays out all the pitfalls of assuming that economic and military might can mislead a country into thinking its "On top of the world and outside history". On the other hand, Zakaria thinks that as the first "universal nation" (people of many origins and faiths) has a lot of strengths that can be harnessed to bring about a more prosperous, peaceful, multi-polar world.
Fareed Zakaria wrote "Washington ... has not yet figured out that diplomatic imperialism is a luxury that the United States can no longer afford."
- The Post-American World, Release 2.0, pp. 258-259
He concludes his book with the idea that we are an open, welcoming country but that our foreign policy is narrow-minded and paranoid.
Many are calling for Congress to compromise on many issues. Maybe we should be asking Congress and the Administration to compromise with the rest of the world.
"The Post-American World" is a very good read. Zakaria lays out all the pitfalls of assuming that economic and military might can mislead a country into thinking its "On top of the world and outside history". On the other hand, Zakaria thinks that as the first "universal nation" (people of many origins and faiths) has a lot of strengths that can be harnessed to bring about a more prosperous, peaceful, multi-polar world.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
URGENT poll on Obama Care
"Newsmax.com, one of America's leading online news services, is conducting an urgent national online poll about President Obama and the Democrat's plan for universal health care."
This was at http://news1.newsmax.com/obama%2Dhealthcare/, which I got when I clicked on a banner at U.S. News and Report "Obama Care… Stop Him! Vote Here Now!" It had a picture of President Obama with a surgeon's cap.
I was going to take this poll even though the ad told me there would be some loaded questions. There were, but I went ahead anyway. Then I got down to the bottom and the poll wanted my email address. Also the "Please note:" turned me off:
"Votes with invalid email addresses cannot be counted. In appreciation of casting my vote, Newsmax will keep me automatically updated on poll results and other breaking news with FREE daily email alerts. I can unsubscribe any time. I'll also receive details of the exclusive Emergency Radio offer that thousands of Newsmax readers have already taken advantage of."
Monday, November 09, 2009
Arguments for new political parties
I've had in my notes for a week a couple of articles about this year's elections, but haven't taken the time to comment on them. This morning a change of plans had me staying at home, and I took the time to catch up. Catching up included scanning the New York Times web site for articles of interest. The first I chose was "Paranoia Strikes Deep", by Paul Krugman, New York Times, 2009-11-09. When I started to write a note about it, I rediscovered the two older opinion articles and the three seemed to tie together.
Ross Douthat is now the resident "conservative" at the New York Times, David Brooks apparently not being conservative enough. However, Douthat is not a conservative in the current sense, but an older, more respectable sense. Instead of saying no to anything "liberals" propose and adhering strictly to a set of conservative "principles", he says, "Wait a minute, let's think about this" and looks at issues from many perspectives.
Last week Douthat wrote "Three's Company", about the governor's race in New Jersey and the Congressional race in New York. He praised the "spoilers" for shaking things up. He wrote that we need more third parties to break up the corruption of one-party states (both red and blue) and the inertia caused by an intransigent minority. He hoped that new local parties would emerge that would address local issues locally rather than along national fault lines.
David Brooks, "What independents want", New York Times, 2009-11-06, wrote that independents want stability. Independents are moving to the right because they don't see government solving the problems that affect their lives. This should not be seen as a ray of hope for Republicans except in that independents will most likely give less support to Democrats. Brooks didn't write it, but I wonder if too many independents stay home when they are unhappy rather than vote against the party in power. I wonder what would happen if these unhappy independents voted with blank ballots instead of staying home. Or better yet, if a new moderate party arose that promised more stability.
Paul Krugman wrote that the paranoiacs have essentially taken over the Republican Party. Newt Gingrich is now a voice of moderation but he has no power. The power resides in, surprise, the media - Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Sarah Palin. The result will be that we have "a rump party with no interest in actually governing" but enough power to prevent anybody else from governing.
I think Douthat is on to something. Instead of looking for new parties to start at the top around some popular figure like Colin Powell, we need to have parties start around local and state issues. Jesse Ventura did it once; can someone else do it with more pragmatic issues. "Rest assured", we really do need more choice in politics.
Ross Douthat is now the resident "conservative" at the New York Times, David Brooks apparently not being conservative enough. However, Douthat is not a conservative in the current sense, but an older, more respectable sense. Instead of saying no to anything "liberals" propose and adhering strictly to a set of conservative "principles", he says, "Wait a minute, let's think about this" and looks at issues from many perspectives.
Last week Douthat wrote "Three's Company", about the governor's race in New Jersey and the Congressional race in New York. He praised the "spoilers" for shaking things up. He wrote that we need more third parties to break up the corruption of one-party states (both red and blue) and the inertia caused by an intransigent minority. He hoped that new local parties would emerge that would address local issues locally rather than along national fault lines.
David Brooks, "What independents want", New York Times, 2009-11-06, wrote that independents want stability. Independents are moving to the right because they don't see government solving the problems that affect their lives. This should not be seen as a ray of hope for Republicans except in that independents will most likely give less support to Democrats. Brooks didn't write it, but I wonder if too many independents stay home when they are unhappy rather than vote against the party in power. I wonder what would happen if these unhappy independents voted with blank ballots instead of staying home. Or better yet, if a new moderate party arose that promised more stability.
Paul Krugman wrote that the paranoiacs have essentially taken over the Republican Party. Newt Gingrich is now a voice of moderation but he has no power. The power resides in, surprise, the media - Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Sarah Palin. The result will be that we have "a rump party with no interest in actually governing" but enough power to prevent anybody else from governing.
I think Douthat is on to something. Instead of looking for new parties to start at the top around some popular figure like Colin Powell, we need to have parties start around local and state issues. Jesse Ventura did it once; can someone else do it with more pragmatic issues. "Rest assured", we really do need more choice in politics.
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