Here's what I'm reading today:
Mr. Shinseki Takes the Fall - New York Times
This is so good: "One way to reduce the problem of wounded veterans is to stop creating so many of them."
Police Didn't Search Database Showing Calif Shooter Bought Guns - Washington Post
It's a wonderful concept: California has a database to track gun purchases for police to use. It works great, I'm sure, when the police actually use it. Sorry Mr. O'Reilly, but this is one mass murder that could have been prevented. (Before you go all ballistic on me about blaming someone other than the Virgin Mass Murderer, think about road blocks for drunk driving and tell me that hasn't reduced the number of alcohol-related deaths. Totally fair comparison. Use the resources available, be vigilant, and the problem will get better. A quick check on that gun database and Elliott Rodger remains an anonymous, lonely asshole. That is all.)
Wisconsin's Bar to Grocery Store Ratio - Washington Post
Best place to drink, hands-down.
Every Goddamn Day - Neil Steinberg, Chicago Sun-Times
If you're not reading Neil, you should be, he's so good.
#SaveChicago Campaign - Chicago Sun-Times
“Two hours without a shooting isn’t a big deal in a lot of cities, but in Chicago it’s a lot." Another sadly funny statement on gun violence in this city. The rapper says: "We don't know how many lives we saved..." This campaign will fail, like most other celebrity-backed efforts, because of too much ego.
~~~~~~~~~~~
I am listening to: Love Somebody - Maroon 5 (shaddap, it's stuck in my head)
I am reading: Little Bee by Chris Cleave
And I am: A little tired
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Friday, May 30, 2014
Phones, Drugs & Guns
Phones. Drugs. Guns. What do these three things have in common?
There is a huge secondary market for each of these products - and manufacturers make a lot of money from the sale of stolen smartphones, prescription drugs, and handguns.
U.S. Black Market Estimates
Phones - $30B cost to consumers annually
Drugs - $25B in sales annually
Guns - $1B in sales annually
And while Apple and Samsung (on their own) and drug manufacturers (at the behest of our government) are now making it more difficult for their products to be resold illegally, no one is asking gun manufacturers to do the same.
Why not?
Guns are arguably the most deadly of the three products. There were 32,163 gun deaths in the United States in 2011. There were only 87 gun deaths in Norway the same year. And 77 of those happened in one mass murder. Which was the deadliest attack in that country since World War II.
If phone and drug companies are doing it, it seems a rational thing to suggest that gun manufacturers be held accountable for where their products end up and how they are used.
Yet no one is talking about it. Why?
Knowing what we know about big data and analytics, it would be very easy for gun manufacturers to determine the gun dealers that are selling an inordinate amount of guns, presumably due to straw purchases. With RFID technology, it would be very easy to track all guns made, sold, and used in crimes in the U.S.
If people die regularly from mass murders in the U.S. and we have the technology to make this country safer by tracking and controlling the distribution of guns, what's the problem?
There's too much money being made. It's that simple.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Speaking of Norway, have you watched Bill O'Reilly lately? No?
In his Talking Points from Wednesday, O'Reilly said that mass murders are not preventable in the United States because...Norway. That's right.
"There is no way to stop mass murder. NO WAY."
He goes on to say that because one mass murder happened in Norway ONCE, mass murders in the U.S. are not preventable. Oh, and anyone who has the nerve to mention the lunacy of U.S. gun laws in the wake of a mass shooting is exploiting the murders for political gain.
Of the 32 mass murders that happened worldwide from 1966 to 2012, 50% of them occurred here in the United States. France and Finland had the next greatest number of mass murders with two each.
With every other chronic health crisis - and make no mistake, it's a health crisis - smart people figure out a way to fix it. Or at least make it happen less often.
Think if someone said:
"There is no way to stop AIDS. NO WAY."
"There is no way to stop drunk driving. NO WAY."
The only difference here is the money and power behind the NRA. The only thing getting in the way of reducing the number of mass murders is people like Bill O'Reilly telling everyone it can't be done.
I'm not saying the crazies aren't responsible for what they do. People kill people. People with guns kill more people.
Make no mistake about it. The NRA is not about your freedom. Or your safety.
It's all about money. And until gun manufacturers are held accountable for how their products are used, we can get used to more madmen like Elliot Rodgers killing people because he couldn't get laid.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am reading:
What Did the Framers Really Mean? - New York Times
NRF Meets its Match - Salon
No Way to Prevent This, Says Only Nation Where this Regularly Happens - The Onion
Joe the Plumber: Your Dead Kids Don't Trump My Constitutional Rights - Salon
Bloomberg: Universities Becoming Bastions of Intolerance - CNN
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
I am listening to: NBC5 News
And I am: Trying to relax
- Walter White Starter Kit?
- Party Weekend in Arkansas?
- The Hierarchy of Needs if Maslow was a Mobster?
There is a huge secondary market for each of these products - and manufacturers make a lot of money from the sale of stolen smartphones, prescription drugs, and handguns.
U.S. Black Market Estimates
Phones - $30B cost to consumers annually
Drugs - $25B in sales annually
Guns - $1B in sales annually
And while Apple and Samsung (on their own) and drug manufacturers (at the behest of our government) are now making it more difficult for their products to be resold illegally, no one is asking gun manufacturers to do the same.
Why not?
Guns are arguably the most deadly of the three products. There were 32,163 gun deaths in the United States in 2011. There were only 87 gun deaths in Norway the same year. And 77 of those happened in one mass murder. Which was the deadliest attack in that country since World War II.
If phone and drug companies are doing it, it seems a rational thing to suggest that gun manufacturers be held accountable for where their products end up and how they are used.
Yet no one is talking about it. Why?
- Because somehow it shifts a teensy bit of the blame away from the actual murderers.
- Because the Second Amendment trumps all.
- Because it's really all about money and fear.
Knowing what we know about big data and analytics, it would be very easy for gun manufacturers to determine the gun dealers that are selling an inordinate amount of guns, presumably due to straw purchases. With RFID technology, it would be very easy to track all guns made, sold, and used in crimes in the U.S.
If people die regularly from mass murders in the U.S. and we have the technology to make this country safer by tracking and controlling the distribution of guns, what's the problem?
There's too much money being made. It's that simple.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Speaking of Norway, have you watched Bill O'Reilly lately? No?
In his Talking Points from Wednesday, O'Reilly said that mass murders are not preventable in the United States because...Norway. That's right.
"There is no way to stop mass murder. NO WAY."
He goes on to say that because one mass murder happened in Norway ONCE, mass murders in the U.S. are not preventable. Oh, and anyone who has the nerve to mention the lunacy of U.S. gun laws in the wake of a mass shooting is exploiting the murders for political gain.
Of the 32 mass murders that happened worldwide from 1966 to 2012, 50% of them occurred here in the United States. France and Finland had the next greatest number of mass murders with two each.
With every other chronic health crisis - and make no mistake, it's a health crisis - smart people figure out a way to fix it. Or at least make it happen less often.
Think if someone said:
"There is no way to stop AIDS. NO WAY."
"There is no way to stop drunk driving. NO WAY."
The only difference here is the money and power behind the NRA. The only thing getting in the way of reducing the number of mass murders is people like Bill O'Reilly telling everyone it can't be done.
I'm not saying the crazies aren't responsible for what they do. People kill people. People with guns kill more people.
Make no mistake about it. The NRA is not about your freedom. Or your safety.
It's all about money. And until gun manufacturers are held accountable for how their products are used, we can get used to more madmen like Elliot Rodgers killing people because he couldn't get laid.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am reading:
What Did the Framers Really Mean? - New York Times
NRF Meets its Match - Salon
No Way to Prevent This, Says Only Nation Where this Regularly Happens - The Onion
Joe the Plumber: Your Dead Kids Don't Trump My Constitutional Rights - Salon
Bloomberg: Universities Becoming Bastions of Intolerance - CNN
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
I am listening to: NBC5 News
And I am: Trying to relax
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Stranded in the Land of Average
So Hedy, what's with all the crazy Facebook friend stats yesterday?
Like I said, I'm a little rusty.
And it's a journalism trick. When you're on deadline and scrambling for a story, start combing through available stats to make one.
It all started with that first guy - my married twice/divorced twice in five years friend. The emotional range on his posts went from:
"Well, that's the END of that one, goodBYE and good RIDDANCE, who knows a good lawyer?"
to:
"I met the LOVE of my LIFE. This is what TRUE HAPPINESS looks like."
I think he even threw in a SOUL MATE or two. He was married last Spring and about three months ago he was back to looking for a lawyer again. Let's call him The Golfer.
Then I noticed the guy who was all about being a Writer until he met his future fiance. Let's call him John. Every. Single. Post. Was something so cool - the latest script or story board he was working on. And he was religious about checking in at his weekly writer's group meeting. I was so envious. Until he met his girl. Let's call her Yoko. Now it's nothing but Happy Couple Restaurant Check-Ins. With his mother-in-law to be. Oh, and bits about the wedding registry/hall/church. I wonder if he's stopped writing completely or if he's just not posting about it anymore because he's so busy dining with Mrs. Glory Pants.
John and The Golfer got me thinking about what we put out there, how it changes over time, and how WE change over time. The stats thing was sort of a training wheels exercise for the larger theme.
If you're at all familiar with my other blog, you know that eventually, I'll get around to pointing all this mad speculation back at myself. It's so easy to point this analysis at the likes of John & Yoko. More challenging when applied to me. And more about that later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Also, two other things:
1) The friend analysis made me realize how few people I truly care about on Facebook and this helped with the summer separation anxiety.
2) The lack of diversity really bugged me.
If we lived in the city, would it be different?
If I didn't work from home would it be different?
If I wasn't Stranded in the Land of Average - the vast sprawl of white suburbia - would my list look different?
I like to think so. Maybe not.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If my Facebook metadata story had a lede it would be pathetically close to a headline from The Onion.
"Caucasian Woman Compensates for Woefully Homogeneous Friends List by Posting Links about Minority and Gay Rights Every Day"
Or something.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is an exercise I learned from my therapist. We imagine what my life would be like if I'd made other (me, all judgy: "better, more responsible") choices. It's interesting because she says people tend to imagine the best case scenario:
I am reading: Little Bee by Chris Cleave
I am listening to: Very quiet, puppy-free house
And I am: No longer stranded
Like I said, I'm a little rusty.
And it's a journalism trick. When you're on deadline and scrambling for a story, start combing through available stats to make one.
It all started with that first guy - my married twice/divorced twice in five years friend. The emotional range on his posts went from:
"Well, that's the END of that one, goodBYE and good RIDDANCE, who knows a good lawyer?"
to:
"I met the LOVE of my LIFE. This is what TRUE HAPPINESS looks like."
I think he even threw in a SOUL MATE or two. He was married last Spring and about three months ago he was back to looking for a lawyer again. Let's call him The Golfer.
Then I noticed the guy who was all about being a Writer until he met his future fiance. Let's call him John. Every. Single. Post. Was something so cool - the latest script or story board he was working on. And he was religious about checking in at his weekly writer's group meeting. I was so envious. Until he met his girl. Let's call her Yoko. Now it's nothing but Happy Couple Restaurant Check-Ins. With his mother-in-law to be. Oh, and bits about the wedding registry/hall/church. I wonder if he's stopped writing completely or if he's just not posting about it anymore because he's so busy dining with Mrs. Glory Pants.
John and The Golfer got me thinking about what we put out there, how it changes over time, and how WE change over time. The stats thing was sort of a training wheels exercise for the larger theme.
If you're at all familiar with my other blog, you know that eventually, I'll get around to pointing all this mad speculation back at myself. It's so easy to point this analysis at the likes of John & Yoko. More challenging when applied to me. And more about that later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Also, two other things:
1) The friend analysis made me realize how few people I truly care about on Facebook and this helped with the summer separation anxiety.
2) The lack of diversity really bugged me.
If we lived in the city, would it be different?
If I didn't work from home would it be different?
If I wasn't Stranded in the Land of Average - the vast sprawl of white suburbia - would my list look different?
I like to think so. Maybe not.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If my Facebook metadata story had a lede it would be pathetically close to a headline from The Onion.
"Caucasian Woman Compensates for Woefully Homogeneous Friends List by Posting Links about Minority and Gay Rights Every Day"
Or something.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is an exercise I learned from my therapist. We imagine what my life would be like if I'd made other (me, all judgy: "better, more responsible") choices. It's interesting because she says people tend to imagine the best case scenario:
- I never got married, live in the city and am part of a successful, extremely prolific, and diverse (ding ding ding) band of writers. I am a thin vegetarian who practices yoga every day and worries about her carbon footprint whilst traveling the world lecturing about environmentally conscious, vegetarian, yoga practicing writers.
- I got married and we have two brilliant, talented and universally adored children. I have no idea how they found time to write an iPhone app that cures cancer in between being captain of the baseball basketball football soccer softball hockey teams and penning the only Pulitzer prize winning novel by a 'tween. Jim and I retire to the family beach condo on Maui.
- I got married and we didn't have children. Jim and I spend all of our "extra" time screwing, traveling, and planning trips to exotic, screw-friendly locales.
My therapist likes to point out the other scenarios:
- I never got married. I'm a fat, failed writer who lives a lonely life in the city.
- I got married and we had two stupid, ugly kids that we hate, which is okay, because they hate us too.
- I got married and we didn't have children. Jim and I become selfish idiots who only care about ourselves and our money, so we work long crazy hours and we're too tired to screw or travel.
You know the reality is somewhere in between. And that's the whole point. It's never as good or as bad as we imagine it.
Recognizing that this version, this life right now, is better than I could have planned or imagined is what a year in therapy will do for you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I am reading: Little Bee by Chris Cleave
I am listening to: Very quiet, puppy-free house
And I am: No longer stranded
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
I Never Meta Face (book) I Didn't Like
He's been married and divorced twice in the 5 years we've been friends on Facebook.
She ends every other post with "PRAYERS NEEDED" and "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!"
He was a prolific writer until he met the woman who recently became his fiance.
There are 108 women. There are 113 men. There used to be one dog, a fat little Chihuahua named Oscar, but he died last year.
There are too many relatives, a fact that probably holds true in real life as well.
There are 14 people I've never met.
There are my two best friends from the old neighborhood. And my two best friends from the new neighborhood.
There's the boy I had a serious crush on in seventh grade. Two official ex-boyfriends. One husband. And a smattering of guys that just happened, to varying degrees, in between.
Lots of former co-workers.
There are at least three Tea Party members. And just guessing, more Republicans than Democrats.
There are too many Christians to count. Just one Muslim. Nine Jewish people. One Zoroastrian. And a handful of hardcore atheists.
Two gay men, one lesbian. The lesbian is in a committed relationship and recently got married.
There are only three African Americans. And two Asians.
They live in Bangkok. London. New York. Los Angeles. But let's not kid ourselves here, they are mostly in the Midwest.
Eleven have served in the military. 26 have been divorced at least once. Most of the singletons are under 25.
They are mostly parents. Eight of whom had babies in the past year.
75% of these folks I barely know and haven't spoken with in 5+ years.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About three quarters of the way through this little metadata exercise, I started to feel blah.
It is not a joyful activity, sorting people into buckets like this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Speaking of differences, here's what I'm reading today:
The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coats in the Atlantic
Every Goddamn Day by Neil Steinberg in the Chicago Sun-Times
Europe's Secret Success by Paul Krugman in the New York Times
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you're here, you are one of maybe a dozen people I invited to this little summer blogging experiment.
And make no mistake about it, it's an experiment.
But it sure feels good adding something I truly enjoy (writing) after taking away something that was enjoyable maybe 40% of the time (Facebook).
Welcome friends, your comments and constructive feedback are appreciated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am reading: Little Bee by Chris Cleave
I am listening to: The classic country station on Comcast
And I am: Rusty
She ends every other post with "PRAYERS NEEDED" and "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!"
He was a prolific writer until he met the woman who recently became his fiance.
There are 108 women. There are 113 men. There used to be one dog, a fat little Chihuahua named Oscar, but he died last year.
There are too many relatives, a fact that probably holds true in real life as well.
There are 14 people I've never met.
There are my two best friends from the old neighborhood. And my two best friends from the new neighborhood.
There's the boy I had a serious crush on in seventh grade. Two official ex-boyfriends. One husband. And a smattering of guys that just happened, to varying degrees, in between.
Lots of former co-workers.
There are at least three Tea Party members. And just guessing, more Republicans than Democrats.
There are too many Christians to count. Just one Muslim. Nine Jewish people. One Zoroastrian. And a handful of hardcore atheists.
Two gay men, one lesbian. The lesbian is in a committed relationship and recently got married.
There are only three African Americans. And two Asians.
They live in Bangkok. London. New York. Los Angeles. But let's not kid ourselves here, they are mostly in the Midwest.
Eleven have served in the military. 26 have been divorced at least once. Most of the singletons are under 25.
They are mostly parents. Eight of whom had babies in the past year.
75% of these folks I barely know and haven't spoken with in 5+ years.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About three quarters of the way through this little metadata exercise, I started to feel blah.
It is not a joyful activity, sorting people into buckets like this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Speaking of differences, here's what I'm reading today:
The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coats in the Atlantic
Every Goddamn Day by Neil Steinberg in the Chicago Sun-Times
Europe's Secret Success by Paul Krugman in the New York Times
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you're here, you are one of maybe a dozen people I invited to this little summer blogging experiment.
And make no mistake about it, it's an experiment.
But it sure feels good adding something I truly enjoy (writing) after taking away something that was enjoyable maybe 40% of the time (Facebook).
Welcome friends, your comments and constructive feedback are appreciated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am reading: Little Bee by Chris Cleave
I am listening to: The classic country station on Comcast
And I am: Rusty
Friday, May 23, 2014
The Great Facebook Break 2014
I went cold turkey on Facebook last summer with the goal of using all that extra time to soak up summer: Bike rides, hikes, gardening, reading, meditating, etc.
I did none of that. Gromit's health was failing and the reality of losing him, combined with the extra daily care he needed, sent me into a tailspin. Serious depression, the likes of which I hadn't experienced since college in Michigan, way back in the late eighties.
Losing Gromit was very sad - he was a family member. At least we treated him that way. But the depression sparked by his imminent death ran much deeper - deep down to the Big Life Choices we all make with the best available information and the best intentions.
If you've known me for more than 10 minutes, you know I tend to be an optimist. My Da actually calls me Pollyanna occasionally, a name I thought meant Goody Two Shoes (HA!) but actually means someone who thinks good things will always happen and finds something good in everything.
That's me. And I'm back, mostly.
There are days when I miss Gromit so much I can't breathe. There are days when I wonder how I got here. But now those days are fewer and father in between.
And frankly, here is a good place to be.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am reading: The Silent Wife by A. S. A. Harrison
I am listening to: Birds chirping and puppies wrestling in the yard
And I am: Here again
I did none of that. Gromit's health was failing and the reality of losing him, combined with the extra daily care he needed, sent me into a tailspin. Serious depression, the likes of which I hadn't experienced since college in Michigan, way back in the late eighties.
Losing Gromit was very sad - he was a family member. At least we treated him that way. But the depression sparked by his imminent death ran much deeper - deep down to the Big Life Choices we all make with the best available information and the best intentions.
If you've known me for more than 10 minutes, you know I tend to be an optimist. My Da actually calls me Pollyanna occasionally, a name I thought meant Goody Two Shoes (HA!) but actually means someone who thinks good things will always happen and finds something good in everything.
That's me. And I'm back, mostly.
There are days when I miss Gromit so much I can't breathe. There are days when I wonder how I got here. But now those days are fewer and father in between.
And frankly, here is a good place to be.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am reading: The Silent Wife by A. S. A. Harrison
I am listening to: Birds chirping and puppies wrestling in the yard
And I am: Here again
Saturday, May 17, 2014
The What If Scenario
Perhaps I am a storyteller after all. Any time something unusual happens, I write a different ending in my head.
It begins "What if?" like every great story.
What if a girl is caught in a tornado and taken on an adventure that teaches her the value of family and home?
What if a great white shark terrorizes a popular vacation destination?
What if a man is imprisoned for a murder he didn't commit?
Or
What if a trip to the moon nearly ends in disaster?
What if a woman discovers a corporate cover up that caused a community to get cancer?
What if a retired lawman moves West to a lawless boom town?
The first three stories are fiction, the last three really happened. I can't decide which are better.
Actually, the ones that are a combination of truth and fiction are best. We respond to the truth in a story - the parts that we can relate to. When a story veers from the path - from telling the truth - we detect it instantly and the book or film loses us.
That's why it's been said, that in order to be a good writer you have to be a good person.
Alice Walker: "Deliver me from writers who say the way they live doesn't matter. I'm not sure a bad person can write a good book. If art doesn't make us better, then what on earth is it for?"
I like that. Because, to be a good storyteller, you need to be able to recognize truth and describe it in an interesting way. You can't be in it for the money or the glory. You need to write for no other reason than you have a story to tell.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am listening to: The dishwasher
I am reading: The Headmaster's Wife
And I am: Hungry
Alice Walker: "Deliver me from writers who say the way they live doesn't matter. I'm not sure a bad person can write a good book. If art doesn't make us better, then what on earth is it for?"
I like that. Because, to be a good storyteller, you need to be able to recognize truth and describe it in an interesting way. You can't be in it for the money or the glory. You need to write for no other reason than you have a story to tell.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am listening to: The dishwasher
I am reading: The Headmaster's Wife
And I am: Hungry
Friday, May 16, 2014
The Light Bulb Moment
Everything I read about being a better person involves keeping a journal. All the highly effective, really smart, got-their-shit-together types are doing it. And I really enjoyed blogging for however many years it was - it felt like a hobby, a passion, something I made time for because it was important to me.
But now, writing every day feels like one more goddamn thing I've gotta do - add it to the list with changing that light bulb in the upstairs closet.
Lately, however, I've been "easing" into my mornings. Not leaping into work right away, but taking time to enjoy something. I've been reading - which feels really naughty for some reason ("You should be working and you're reading? Bad girl.") I've been playing with the doggies. And now I'm doing this.
About a year ago, I realized there are people out there - smart people - who get up, read the paper, have a coffee, watch the news and just BE before starting their day. I could never be one of them because for so long (pretty much my whole life) I had to leap out of bed, get ready and GO GO GO every day.
Finally, after four years of working from home, I'm realizing my mornings are mine - from 6 to 7:30-ish - all mine. And that makes me feel a little smarter. A little.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am listening to: Very quiet house
I am reading: Just finished "My Notorious Life" - quite good
And I am: Okay
But now, writing every day feels like one more goddamn thing I've gotta do - add it to the list with changing that light bulb in the upstairs closet.
Lately, however, I've been "easing" into my mornings. Not leaping into work right away, but taking time to enjoy something. I've been reading - which feels really naughty for some reason ("You should be working and you're reading? Bad girl.") I've been playing with the doggies. And now I'm doing this.
About a year ago, I realized there are people out there - smart people - who get up, read the paper, have a coffee, watch the news and just BE before starting their day. I could never be one of them because for so long (pretty much my whole life) I had to leap out of bed, get ready and GO GO GO every day.
Finally, after four years of working from home, I'm realizing my mornings are mine - from 6 to 7:30-ish - all mine. And that makes me feel a little smarter. A little.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am listening to: Very quiet house
I am reading: Just finished "My Notorious Life" - quite good
And I am: Okay
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