Take a closer look

Chris Christie is not a good governor.

Yes, to be fair he did a good job handling the disaster of superstorm Sandy.

But also to be fair, that just means that he was doing his job.

You know what else Christie did to New Jersey?  He canceled the commuter tunnel to New York which cost the state more than $300 million, thousands of jobs and millions in business revenue.  He also cost the state more than $400 million in education funding.  He cut $1 billion from education spending, increased taxes on the poor and disabled by cutting property tax rebates, funneled tax dollars to corporations to support charter – not public – schools, and basically is a bully to anyone he doesn’t like, particularly teachers.  Apparently he doesn’t like public school teachers, or union members, but maybe that’s the reason.

He also vetoed a minimum wage increase which have helped hundreds of thousands of people, created thousands of jobs and put hundreds of millions of dollars into the economy.  New Jersey is currently near the bottom in economic growth.

So yeah, Christie did what he should have done to help the state after a natural disaster.  To quote someone on the Internet, what does he want, a cookie?

Being governor is hard, but you have to spend a lot of time and money to get that job so if you don’t want to do the hard work, don’t run for office.  It really is that simple.

Doing good in one case and so bad in many others does not help the state.  He may look good from far away across the country because he looks strong and committed to New Jersey, but up close Christie is not a good governor.

Not by The Human League

I’ve read the second novel in the Library of America American Science Fiction: Nine Classic Novels of the 1950s collection, namely, More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon.

My first and last thought about this book was ‘Wow’, in appreciation of the writing and the intensity of the story.  I can’t think of anything to compare this to.  The concept of More Than Human is amazing.  The book is not perfect, there were a few things about the structure and plot I didn’t like, but it does what it does very well.  Around any of its shortcomings the novel wraps a strong and intriguing story.

Don’t expect rocket ships and aliens, this is not nuts and bolts science fiction.  More Than Human is sociology, psychology and biology, exploring the potential of humans as individuals and as a society.  It looks at what makes someone human and what it is that you do if you are human.  

In the ordinary 1953 world of this story there are humans with extraordinary abilities.  Yet for all their powers they are subject to all of the problems of growing up in human society, with the added challenge of being absolute outsiders.  You could easily see this as a metaphor for the average person, or even society, developing and finding their way in the world.  It’s about making those first halting steps, stumbling, growing, being an adolescent pain and being surprised every step of the way – especially when you think you’ve reached the end and know it all.

Are we our parts, their sum or more than that?  Should we be solitary individuals, interacting with society only when we need something, or is it important to be a part of something larger, or some interesting variation in between?  How should you use extraordinary powers and how do you know, and then do, what is right?  It’s complicated.

The book isn’t really as boring and ordinary as I just made it sound.  Sturgeon has built a unique story that I found compelling, if enervating.  I needed a rest after this one and I fell back on a comfort reread of Dorothy L. Sayers to recover – Unnatural Death if you’re curious.

Some people seem to think that the book is racist.  Some of the characters are, but while it may not do it the way everyone would like it to, the book itself is against racism.

I won’t put any spoilers in here, but I will say that for me, it isn’t the central gestalt human of the story that the title refers to; it is all of us together that are more than human.

When reform isn’t reform

So Harry Reid, and some Democrats, apparently want to keep the filibuster blockade in place in order to use it as a campaign issue for Democrats in 2014.

Isn’t it great when politics is placed before country?  The Republicans do it with the abusive use of the filibuster and Democrats are doing it by letting the Republicans do it with the abusive use of the filibuster.

In case I wasn’t clear, I think this is a ploy to get votes for more Democrats by letting Republicans make themselves look bad.  After Reid’s repeated claims that he was serious about reform, that’s the only thing I can think of to explain this move.  Just reverting to the 1970s rule of a talking filibuster wasn’t exactly a radical idea, but apparently even that is too much to ask for right now.

Maybe it’s enough to help, but with gerrymandering and electoral vote games, any gains in the Senate in 2014 will be much too little and way too late.

Because they can

I think the next Presidential election will see a Republican win the Electoral College but lose the popular vote by 5 million votes.

Selling Venus by the pound

No plot spoilers.  I tend to review on readability, plot, character and the quality of the writing – which is distinguished from readability in that the former refers to how easy or fun a book is to read and the latter concerns the structure of the words.

So, I just read The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth and here’s my immediate review without taking time for much cogitation.

This is in some ways a disturbingly prescient story.  As SF does, especially SF of this time, the story tried to describe a possible future extrapolated from what the authors saw as the significant – or what would become significant – social trends of the time.  Nothing has happened quite the way the book predicts, but some of it has come close.  Of course using hindsight I could be very critical, but that wouldn’t be fair, and these things could happen yet.

Also like much SF of the 50s this is a short novel, but the authors got a lot into those pages.  Some of the plot points are sudden pivots, but, well, events are compressed a bit.  The concepts keep coming and the ideas and attitudes that the authors want to explore permeate the story.  There isn’t much character development, come to think of it, there isn’t any character development, but this story is not about the characters.  It’s about the ideas and attitudes.  Things are painted in very broad and very bold strokes and some may find it heavy handed.  There are more subtle satires, but this is not out of step with the times or the genre.

The Space Merchants is an enjoyable read.  It is intelligently written and well paced and fairly well thought out.  There are a few conceits that I thought were out of place, used just to emphasize the futuristic nature of the setting.  You get the idea that this is the future very concisely in the first few pages, which I like and which I think is enough.  The rest is just superfluous and, I think, not as well reasoned.  But that was only a small part of it and probably easily ignored by everyone else.

The gender roles are only superficially advanced from standard 1950s fiction.  Job titles without active roles by the female characters may get people thinking but they don’t adequately counter the problem.  I wouldn’t normally focus on this in a book from 1952, but since there is a hint that there might be stronger action from the female characters I was disappointed when it didn’t pan out.  It could have been done easily and in line with the other social commentary in the story.

Be aware of what you’re getting into with a 1950s SF novel, but don’t avoid it because of that.  That’s a reason to read it.  The book is now as much a look at the past as it was an attempt to give a view of a possible future.  This is well written, clever and entertaining.  Things happen fast and you’re pretty much hit over the head with the class dichotomy, but that’s often how things were done back then.  This is a good look at some of the best of early SF and a landmark novel.

Their hands are out but their hearts and minds are closed

(language warning)

Part of me thinks that the next time the Midwest or South is hit by a natural disaster and needs help from the Federal Government the Democrats in the Northeast should be rational and responsible and magnanimously vote for the disaster relief.

But then I think, fuck ‘em.  If they don’t like the Federal Government but they think that they should get help but the Northeast shouldn’t, then they shouldn’t get anything either.

But I know that that isn’t right.

Now, if we could help the people but screw the politicians who are opposing relief for Sandy, that I could get behind.

Filling in the gaps

I used to read a lot.  I read all the time.  I read everything I could get ahold of.  I still read as much as possible these days.  Yet with all that reading over the years there are a lot of things I haven’t read.

Oh, I’ve read some of the classics:  Dune, Stranger in a Strange Land, the Foundation trilogy, Tom Swift and His Outpost in Space.  Still, there are many that I never got around to reading.  Well, for Christmas I received the new Library of America 2 volume boxed set American Science Fiction: Nine Classic Novels of the 1950s and I am making my way through it.  Most of them are new to me and what I have read I want to re-read.

I’ll try to post about these as I read them or as soon after as possible.  Then, once I finish these two volumes, there are still a dozen or so Tom Swift, Jr. books left to read.

Handy topic

OK, OK, I haven’t posted anything in two days.  Everything I think about has been negative and I wanted to avoid focusing on that.

How about a goal, albeit one with negative aspects or at least motivations.

I want to use my right hand more.  I avoid doing so because it is weak and I can’t use it well.  I have ulnar nerve damage at my elbow, a common enough spot, most likely from prolonged pressure against the frame of the hospital bed.  There were a lot of things in that arm so it couldn’t be moved much.  Anyway, the ulnar nerve handles the hand from the middle of the middle finger to the outside (little finger side) of the hand.  So most of that hand has limited sensation and I can’t use it very well.

The problem is that this leads to continued atrophy of the muscles.  The lack of nerve feedback also causes a problem since it seems to reinforce the atrophy.  The muscles just don’t seem to respond to use by getting stronger or building mass.  But I want to try to improve the hand anyway.

I use my right hand now, but not as much as I used to and maybe not as much as I could.  So I want to try to use it more and see what I can do with it.  I’ll be careful.  Not knowing where your hand is does reinforce the need to be careful and I (usually) am careful.

You know the really aggravating part?  After decades of writing and programming I had finally started touch typing 2 months before this happened.

Isn’t it ironic?  (No, it’s not, no matter what that song makes people think.)

Now, if I said that that was the perfect time to learn to touch type, that would be ironic, mostly.

I guess that wasn’t positive either.

Let’s just leave it at: I am going to strengthen my right hand.

Seasons

I know that ranting won’t do any good, but I just have to say, I miss winter.

Content

I just had to put up that last post.  It’s one of those things that really bugs me.

But you know what?  I need to post more positive things on here.  It’s hard, considering the current state of politics and a lot of other things in the world.  But I should.

Not right now or anything.  It’s late and I’m tired.  But I will try.

Still not like Greece

Even with spending, taxes and debt the way they are, the US is not like some countries politicians and pundits like to use to try to scare people.  The only way the United States could ever become like Greece is if someone deliberately makes it that way.  Like, say, by refusing to raise the debt ceiling.

Just more lies and bullshit

When a member of the House of Representatives talks about spending all they need to do to find the person responsible is look in a mirror.

A lot of congressmen, apparently all of them Republicans, are complaining about how much the President is spending.

All spending bills originate in the House of Representatives.  All of them.  It’s in the Constitution.  If the money is being spent by the federal government then the House of Representatives passed a bill saying that it could be spent.

Forget about the debt limit, forget about the platinum coin, if money is being spent it’s because the House of Representatives – including the Republicans – said yes.

Resolutions

Yes, I missed two days of posting, but I was still really tired and recovering, and it was a weekend, and I haven’t been sleeping well, and the sun was in my eyes, and the dog ate my homework.  It wasn’t my fault!

Well, anyway, to continue.

I still don’t have much to say today.  Since I was so tired last week I didn’t think much about resolutions so today is the day to start on that.  Except that I don’t really do resolutions.  They’re too rigid and fragile so they break too easily, and then it’s too easy to just give up on them since they didn’t work and they aren’t flexible.

So I try to examine what I am doing in my life and look for ways to do things better, to be more productive and less wasteful.  That is some very high-minded sounding stuff there and also very easy to get wrong.  But I really do try to make it possible to change things and not put resolution shaped obstacles in my own way.

Those are also very vague notions and easy to finagle and make it possible to not really do anything.  So I try to set some definite goals and leave the means flexible.  I also set some very blue sky goals for some outrageous ideas.  I think it’s good to have that kind of goal in your life.  Something crazy to shoot for.  You shouldn’t make it too crazy or let too much ride on it because then when it never pans out – as it most likely won’t – you won’t be too upset.  But use that sort of thing as a framework to improve your life.

Also use those ideas to remind yourself to dream big and not impose limits on yourself.  The world does that for you, don’t help it stop you.

Blogging

I did decide to start blogging more, in case the current uptick in posts was an indication to you.  It’s not that I think there are a lot of people getting anything out of this blog because I don’t think I have that many readers.  I just want to for my own sake and just in case someone does read this and get something out of it.  I’m looking to get something out of it myself, but I don’t know what and I’m not sure there is anything to get in the first place.

But I am going to try to blog more.  And I want the posts to make some sort of sense and to mean something.

It would be easy to post every day if I wanted to post a lot about politics.  But I think that might be a little less than uplifting.  Which is not to say that I won’t blog about politics.  There’s just too much nonsense going on for me to ignore.  It’s just that I’ll try to put in more on other topics as well.

This is not a New Year’s Resolution, just something I’ve been thinking about doing.  So now I’m going to try.  This counts as a post, however meaningless it might be, because that makes this whole thing easier.

Grace period

For anyone who has made resolutions for this New Year, or who was planning to and hasn’t quite gotten around to it yet, don’t worry.

It isn’t too late.  You don’t have to start your resolutions at the stroke of midnight January 1^st.  You have until Monday before you have to start work on anything.  Some resolutions can be instantly begun and others require a ramping up period to get things going.  Either way, take a breath, relax and take some time. 

Nothing’s official until Monday – and even that’s flexible.

If anything was muddled of late

I stand by my positions in my posts, I’m just not sure that I’m making them the way I want to.

I have been and am exhausted.  Trying to think or form coherent thoughts requires a lot of energy and I’m not sure I have the energy or if I’ve been using what I do have to good effect.

To get an idea of how I’ve been operating, and how I do many days, when trying to think, imagine trying to take a calculus final after being awake for three days.  That’s sort of how I feel.

Lert me be clear

The damage done by Sandy is a natural disaster.  It is accepted – or was until yesterday – that aid for that sort of thing is automatically given.  I agree with that.  Supporting people in time of need is part of living in a community and it makes us a stronger nation to do so.

So how do I equate that with other forms of government spending?

Natural disasters are sudden, unexpected and devastating.

So are catastrophic illnesses, disabling accidents and illnesses and monumental job loss that happens because bankers decided to roll the dice and crashed the economy.

All of these things, the personal and the natural disasters, are not the result of things that the people who fall victim to them have done.  Neither is being unable to get rich.

To be consistent, people who oppose government support for these latter problems should be telling the victims of Sandy to just suck it up and get on with their lives and pay for the recovery themselves.

Infrastructure – building, streets and utilities – are only part of a community.  Disaster relief pays to rebuild these things.  But without people there is no community, no society, no country.  Help that keeps people alive and fed and healthy is just as important as repairing a building after a hurricane.

Somehow politics allows asking for and using government money to rebuild a city but not using it for rebuilding lives.  It’s all tax dollars.  There isn’t a magic source of money for disaster relief, but there does seem to be magical thinking that lets people feel compassion and outrage for victims of flooding but not for victims of life.

That is the hypocrisy.  The victims of natural disaster are seen as innocent, but the victims of a unbalanced economy are seen as somehow complicit.  These decisions should be about how to help people not how to get more votes.

When doing your job is actually monumental hypocrisy

It’s good that Rep. King and Governor Christie complained about the House not voting on relief for the devastation done by Sandy.  I’m glad they did it.  There are people in New York and New Jersey in desperate need of assistance right now.  Some people are living in tents in freezing temperatures.  The House of Representatives needs to pass legislation to get money to the states to help those people and to help the states and communities rebuild.

You know what else would be really good?  It would be good if Representative King and Governor Christie stopped voting against and blocking legislation that helps people.

There are people across the country who need help even though they haven’t been hit by a major storm.  Yet King has voted against funding for food stamps but for tax breaks for the rich.  Christie has cut taxes for the rich and cut tax breaks for the elderly and disabled and is also opposed to health insurance exchanges.

Both men, and the Republicans in Congress they both just railed against, have opposed food stamps, unemployment insurance, student loan reforms, the ACA, higher taxes on the rich and stimulus spending that would all help individuals in need as well as the economy.

Sure, they should fight for Federal disaster relief to help their constituents.

They should also fight to help the people in their states and in the country who need help every single day.

Happy New Year!

The word for today is depleted.

I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year, and if you are one of the people I didn’t get to see today that word is the reason.

The hectic spin of life that starts around mid-November each year ended with a crash this time around and that’s about the only word I can think of that describes how I feel today.

My wife and I had a quiet New Year’s Eve, and maybe that just signaled what would follow.  Neither of us had enough strength today to do anything.  Blame the weather, our physical condition, the toll the holiday’s take, whatever, it’s life.  Some days are good and some days are bad.

All things considered today’s not really that bad aside from the fact that we can’t make it out to our friends’ annual open house.

Oh well, it’s still New Year’s Day and time to look ahead to a fresh new year full of potential and possibilities.  We’ll rest.  We’ll recover.  And we’ll forge ahead.  I don’t think that’s a bad way to start off the new year.

I hope that everyone enjoyed their New Year’s celebrations on whatever and however many days they may have occurred.  Quiet or raucous, I hope the New Year started well for everyone and continues well.

May you have dreams to dream, wishes that come true and hopes that are realized.