Category Archives: Foolish Designs

Autumn Update

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Well it is finally autumn down here in New Orleans. Unfortunately, my pumpkin rotted and I had to trash it. As the front sweeps away down here, the drama in the air is palpable. On most every front, there is a lot of heady shit going down. For instance, it appears that Halliburton was indeed the culprit behind the Deepwater Horizon disaster. This is the same corporation that has been defrauding American taxpayers for years. Pause for a moment and consider the recent news that GlaxoSmithKlien had been ordered to pay a $750 M fine for selling tainted drugs. The settlement, negotiated with the DOJ, was for civil and criminal penalties. I begin to wonder whether this is just the “cost of doing business,” at least when you are out to poison people anyway. The fine is a landmark, though, and I’ll take it. My mini-course on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) touched upon many of these themes. Were the DOJ to tackle Halliburton, the Federal Govt. could just possibly recover some of the assets sucked up by the Cheney network.

On top of this (already old) news, we’re also in an election season… yay! Luckily I don’t watch much network TV, so I’m spared most of the local ads. What I do see is that a crazed movement, two parts sheer ignorance and one part racism, is out to wreak great havoc. As a soon to be young lawyer, I’m hoping that things don’t go completely off the rails. Did you know that a question on the Massachusetts ballet would reduce revenue thereby necessitating major service cuts on the T? Whatever. The Taxes are Too Damn High! Last stop, Brighton Beach.

But there are also some signs of hope, particularly in California. Now, California has really become a dysfunctional mess of late; however, it’s importance to America necessitates an optimism about the Golden State. California may legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Given the violence and collateral damage of the “war on drugs,” isn’t it time we re-thought or national policies? Geez. Should this pass, I’d like to see what Justice does about it. Perhaps the deeper question here is whether/how we can transition from a military industrial complex to a R&D industrial complex. The U.S. is lagging way behind its peers on these expenditures. We do, however, get royally ripped off by our B.S. healthcare system and our lousy educational system (at least for the poor).

Federalism, a concept most “tea partiers” do not care to understand, allows the states to serve as laboratories of democracy. It also constructs, or concedes, certain functions to the federal government. I’m not so cynical to say that this system can no longer function, but I’m not so blind to see how it has been severely perverted. America has become somewhat perverted. We can’t even change unconscionable, legally deficient policies? Obama’s got to heat back up, because his bi-partisanship has really slowed things to a glacial crawl. Actually, I’ll take that back; the glaciers are probably chipping away at an increased rate these days… again, whatever. Kick in the crotch!

So, let us celebrate that we may (and really must) vote, get dressed up/down for halloween, and eat one too many tootsie rolls. Toast some apple cider, spiced or otherwise, to the possibility that this may be our last best chance.

~WD

Fools and Flags

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Our media is so pervasive that sometimes I wonder what it would be like to go without it entirely. Even in remote Uzbekistan, I had shortwave radio and satellite TV. I am particularly interested in reading James Howard Kuntsler’s second book in the “World Made By Hand” series titled The Witch of Hebron.

I long for both the here and the distant, bats swooping across the gloriously moonlit hills. I worry that I am too entertained by TV, albeit of my own choosing at my time. I wonder what I could realistically grow to survive.

Don’t worry folks, not going off the deep end here, but certainly treading some intense waters. I think that we all are, but we haven’t yet admitted it collectively. My cause for optimism is that perhaps we’ll rebuild in a more equitable and sustainable manner. My only fear is that it will be so piecemeal, so segmented, individualized, customized, and misincentivized, that the “a-ha” moment will come far too late.

Modern day McCarthyism must not be tolerated in a free, open and democratic society, which we claim to be. I’m hardly throwing in the towel, but if we don’t get this seriously right, it’s gonna go way wrong.

A re-valuation of good will and enchanted spirit would go a long way.

In other news: Pepper is well. That is all.

Misnomer

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On the front page of the New York Times an article about Obama’s economic policy states: “Barack Obama is drawing on techniques from his campaign and lessons from predecessors as he seeks to shape public attitudes about the economic downturn.”

Economic downturn? What we are facing is not a “downturn.” Such a term might be appropriate for a decline in sales of, say, one video game console following the highly anticipated release of a competing system. The current state of the economy is in more than a downturn; it had been stagnating for years (approximately 8, arguably many more,) and has recently been in precipitous decline.

Let’s move away from this milquetoast and disingenuous language. While I don’t doubt that Obama is fully aware of the gravity of the current crisis, I’m frightened about the extent to which our public discourse has become debased; when our paper of record defaults to such delusional and dulcified disquisition, one can only wonder if this is done in fear of frightening we the consumer. I guess that in an era of “premium” everything, we have become so inured to the bastardization of language that we accept such euphemisms with barely a second thought.

Shame on me?

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When I was entering my senior year of high school, my parents bought me a new car. After careful research we settled on a Chrysler Cirrus. There were many factors behind this choice; I was looking for an American car that was sleek and powerful. Although it’s had a few sensor issues, it has performed well (for an American car,) and is still my primary means of transportation these days. Now that I’m up in Maine, and earning a salary (barely) I have assumed most responsibilities for the car, such as lube jobs and, yes, gas. I just got back from the pump about $40 in the hole. Curious how soon this damage would again be inflicted, I went to fueleconomy.gov and looked up my car – what I found was somewhat surprising.

The MPG estimates for a ’99 Chrysler Cirrus are 17 city / 25 highway. As a comparison, I looked up my parents’ new Prius – 48 city / 45 highway. The site does a handy calculation of “annual fuel cost.” This is based on an estimated 15K driven per year with gas costs at 2.88/gal. Based on these numbers, the cost to fuel my car for one year is $2,160 – or – as an AmeriCorps volunteer, about 2 months salary. But I chose to be a volunteer, right? Yeah. By the way, the annual fuel cost of the Prius is under 1K!

But this isn’t just a whine about expenses, rather one about choices. I wanted a 6 cylinder car because, face it, 4 cylinder cars just aren’t as fun to drive. Therefore I seek American Muscle, affordable power. But what is the price of such bullishness? Can we still have powerful “American” style cars in this era, or is this desire incompatible with global realities, indeed even irresponsible? I’d hate to say so. I’d like to think that American Muscle can be green (see the Tesla Roadster.) But at what point does this model become affordable to the average consumer, and what’s to stop Toyota from building it first? I’m optimistic about change happening, but I fear that past mistakes will keep us far behind the eight ball for quite some time.