Saturday, February 12, 2005
TRUCK FORECAST
I think it has become obvious that many of the ever increasing number of trucks we see on the nation's widening highways and narrowing streets are getting some age on them. Not the smaller ones,of course, but the big rigs, 16-wheelers, semis or "semi-articulated lorries" if you speak Kinglish. The "Michigan Train" of two or three semis lugged by one tractor are limited pretty much to the flatish midwest area. What's your guess? What changes do you think truck designers will be making in forthcoming trucks to keep pace with our rapidly changing highway? The airlines, it appears, have decided to for go far away from the sleek, thin, fast and long super-sonic monsters they have tried in recent decades, in favor of simply getting longer, wider, taller and heavier. The new Airbus now being ordered in big numbers by all major airlines - passenger and freight - is simply a double-deck version of their present mini-monsters already in service. The new planes can handle a crowd of five-hundred or so up to eight-hundred head with seats everywhere instead of non-essential amenities. The tail assembly on the new plane measures about the same height as that of a of seven-storied building, believe it or not! Run a test of your. Examine the next dozen or or so trucks which pass you on the Interstate. Look in under the rigs riding along beside you and judge about how old the equipment you see dangling under here might be. If you feathered-out and find you don't like "riding along with" such an old companions - drop back a bit and just glance at the next one to go rumbling by. How'd those recaps look to you? Look at the price tags on new rigs in they better trucking magazines and you can see another good reason why so many older trucks are considered to be roadworthy. Cabs, too. Some with frontier-decor. "Luggers" and "Chasers" alike - both ends are aging. The entire trucking industry is getting set to change radically; this long haul side, in particular. It is difficult to see how changes can be made "to make better use of " existing space which does not exist. I find old timers with money enough to make it troublesome, who have a steamy message of seeming salvation for us all through a totally new rail system! They do a great deal of talking about "bullet" trains which Japan proved many years ago to be impractical and unprofitable. The rail enthusiast dreams of vast north-south east-west rail networks as if they had once existed. Much of it is quaint nostalgia remembering "the good ole' railroad days" they and their fathers killed about eighty years or so ago. Truckers, put on your thinking cap. What do you want your "truck" of tomorrow to look like and to be? A.L.M. February 12, 2005 [c494wds]
Friday, February 11, 2005
NO CARBON COPIES, PLEASE It must an original. The segment of the American people who are interested in a vibrant, new Democratic Party will not accept, much less support, a carbon copy or even a smartly re-manufactured version .The Nast-inspired donkey icon is still valid; it remains and an emblem of stubbornness to some and reliability and tenuousness to others. Let it remain as mark of identification to which former members might easily adhere. The opposition party's elephant emblem, inspired by the same cartoonist Thomas Nast, may be praised for the same qualities. The most recent resuscitation team named to bring about such a revival was a comedy-orator duo which made windy TV efforts to get off tarmac. The comedy wasn't prepared with purpose. It was loose ad-lib without direction and the other member orated to an audience the like of which has been extinct for many years. Methods of reaching new people have changed. We live in a new age. The old ways are no longer sufficient and one example is easily found: Harry Truman made good use of doing his campaign speeches from the rear end of a Pullman car at the local railway yards. Those sites are rare today. The only identification of a railway yard I meet with is that old part of town where someone is eager to build a new and larger sports arena. I, personally, don't like to use the term "old" Democrat. It more or less describes anyone who remembers F.D.R. It makes no difference who you are, where our are from, or what you do for a living, your life was, in some way, you were influenced by that remarkable personality. There are a few such old-timers remaining among us today on one of the political edges or ledges - ever electable Teddy Kennedy is one; Robert Byrd of West Virginia, another - a pork barrel expert and also a passing-good fiddle player as well. They are typical. They cannot be ignored if you are set on reviving the depths of the democratic party. Indications are that Howard Dean, of Vermont, will be chair-person to get the party re-organized. Good choice. Remember the innovative method he used so skillfully in the Democratic primary race. He used Internet news, E-Mail storms of notes urging people to "be there"" and Blogger background business as an important follow-up. Howard Dean has demonstrated how he obtained such a strong lead as a favorite in the primaries. He has proved himself to be a person who has the remarkable ability to cause others to want to "do it themselves". He is adept at getting other people to work hard making him look good. All chair-persons need such a knack A.L.M. February 11, 2005 [c472wds]
Thursday, February 10, 2005
REASONS WHY...
I make no excuses for my generation.
As a whole, I'd say, we've done as well as, or better than, the average such swatch of society.
Tom Brokaw did a commendable job of adding up many of the positive points of the generation's personality and followed it by an authentication by-mail response from other members attesting to the accuracy of his judgments. We can read that book and the mail-echo to see who we really were in the eyes others.
I have never had the feeling that we felt ourselves to be different from previous generations of young people or of those likely to follow us.
I have, along the way, had some misgivings which have, from time-to-time clouded my personal view of our situation but that will vary a great deal with a decade or less of our individual life span. I, for instance, having been born in 1916 grew into childhood with somewhat more memories of that complex conflict among leading nations of the world. Even though I did not actually remember wartime events rents;they were back there and influenced much that we did or considered doing. A child born a few years later, in the 1920's decade, would think political scandals and prosperity patterns more than we did, and they, too, would be concerned about establishing world-wide peace - possibly through the League of Nations as urged upon us by our own president but refused by our legislative bodies.
Much of that stayed with me into elementary school debating times, but as the Great Depression hit and held, we were forced to think of other things - just staying alive being one of them. Looking back it might be possible to think that those years of deprivation strengthened us to endure more to come such as the confused state of our own nation - hesitant, questioning, doubting, dreaming, at time trusting a bit too readily and being jerked into the conflict belatedly. That may be. Tough times do train one to endure adversity. I think we felt unsure since the early days of Franco's ventures in Spain, Il Duce's comic opera wars in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Albania plus the steady rise of Hitler, the unsteadiness of Joseph Stalin and of a dozen or so seemingly prosperous dictatorships around the world including in our nearby Carribean Sea. I am convinced my feelings changed completely. I think there was a general change in my generational group as a whole, too.
We became aggressive without seeming to be so. We rebuilt our confidence in our own abilities to do so and Pearl Harbor activated them.
That ,in a general sense, was the main purpose our generation achieved and against greater odds than we realized. Many like dangers exist and are growing. Our next generation will need to prepare to deal with them in the very near future.
A.L.M. February 10, 2005 [c491wds]
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
NERO - NERD OR NUT?
Yes, I can readily agree with you that the Emperor Nero who ruled Rome during the time around 64 B.C. was a notable nerd of his era.
His real name was Lucius Demitus Ahenobarbus. He grew up rotten and never really attempted to change, it appears. It happens, so often however, that certain critics of those who are critical of the subject personality. I have the same sort of trouble in attempting to say anything positive about Nero as I do when I try to speak well of Saddam Huessien. There still remains, at this time, a tinge of respectability about in that makes the term "nerd" a mark of distinction for a person who becomes adept in various aspects of a subject to the point that he sets himself apart as an "authority" - self-proclaimed . At that point, "nerd" becomes a nasty word.
If I try to come up with something positive for Nero, anything to take some of what seems and unfair amounts of blame for things, I find I'm walking on California coastline soil which could fall out from under me at any moment. As an example, I read of one account which said that Nero was at the time of the great fire in the city of Rome, but where all sensible Romans with any money at all lived in July's hot weather - "at the beach" - at a port city of Rome where the summer heat was stirred a bit by sea breezes at times. That fire is said to have burned six days and six nights before bring brought under any sort of control. One account says Nero turned his Roman palace over to the people of Rome to use as a shelter. Some accounts say Nero's palace was on of the first places consumed by by the flames. Of course,it could have meant demeaning Nero bused the populace down to his place a Anterim for the duration plus, but is made clear that Nero did profit form the firstimsomeays. When he built his new palace in Rome it occupied several of Rome's well known seen hills.
I reads well for Nero when we find, as Emperor, he ordered that less wood be used in construction of Rome's new buildings and he decreed that new buildings could be just so high and not a cubit more -" or else". Nero's idea of exactly what was considered to adequately express "else" must have been convincing for the low profile rules caught on in the Eternal City when it cooled off.
I wonder how Saddam is going to fare in the future. He sees to have many of Nero's qualities or lack of them. To some he may show outward signs of being some kid's granddaddy He used that look to advantage years ago in photo-op situations when he held a child and the youngster with the same way Ben Laden holds an assault weapon. This, too, can come in handy for me if I use it properly.
During the weeks and months ahead we we are all going to have to be aware of the simple fact that the man - be he old, ill, well-spent, pooped and pretty much done-in is both nerd and nut. He is both quirky and crazy; smart and stupid, wily and warry and he can still work some strange wonders in the minds of those among his fellow men who would dare accuse him, if he chooses to do so. Saddam can be our new nut and be like Nero if it be his wish to be so remembered. I fear we see far too many other personalities in "sad sack" called Saddam - in the composite we have made of him.
We should be very careful, before we enter this time of trials, to be sure of what we expect of it all. Are we trying to find out where and why Saddam went wrong"? Or, are we also asking where and why we "went wrong" in allowing a Saddam too gain such control?
His will, no doubt, be spoken of as "the trial of the century" and we must deal with it, but there is no need or reason why we should allow it to dominate our basic view of those things which are and must continue to be good, just, right and proper.
A.L.M. February 9, 2005 [c742wds]
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
ED WYNN
One of the first established comedians who successfully made the switch from the variety stage, to radio and then, into the early ranks of of television performers was a classic costumed funny-man named Ed Wynn...called "The Perfect Fool"
On one occasion, when being interviewed on radio in his home town of Philadelphia,Pa. Ed Wynn was asked to define what a comedian might be. "A comedian is not a man who tells funny things" he confided,"he is a man who tells things funny."
I remember one evening when, at the very height of his career as a fine radio comedian, when he ran into that definition head on. He was a doing a hour long comedy show sponsored by The Texaco Company. The announcer on the show, elegantly garbed in tuxedo wear as announcer were often garbed in those glorious days of studio-staged radio performances, was one of the best voices in the best voices on all of radio land.
I don't remember if it occurred in the very start of the show or during one of the one-minute commercials on behalf of the Texaco Company's product - Texaco gasoline.
One the nation's finest radio announcers stood erect before the large,boxy microphones and very plainly proclaimed that "Ed Wynn - the King of Comedy - The Perfect Fool - was presented for everyone's enjoyment by Texaco - the makers of Texaco gas-a-loon!"
The word "gas-a-loon" seemed to simply hang there in the air. I don't remember any other sound for what seemed like minutes, at least. Unbelievable! Impossible! Did you hear what he said? The redolence roared into space around us and laughter suddenly filled every crevice! Out of the riot of it all, it was the rather tinny, raspy voice of Ed Wynn himself which brought us back from radio's never-never-ever-land. He stood at the main mike position and kept saying all the ways the letters could possibly be pronounced... a pause and you sensed what the next trial term would be: "gas-a-loon!"
We survived. We all edged our way back to sanity. We realized, later, that we had been part of an historical moment. We had seen Ed Wynn's Philadelphia definition of a comedian to be - not things funny being said, but rather things being said funny!
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Ed Wynn's remarkable show business wisdom in handling it all as he did remain a marvel. He made the most of it; enjoyed by many and took his friend and co-worker of many years Graham McNamee off the hook by making it all seem to be a fifty-five gallon drum of fun.
Furthermore, he never afterward let the audience or McNamee forget it and managed,in some way, to use the curious term, for the rest of the season. In doing so, he sold a lot of that good Texaco gas-a-loon,as well.
A.L.M. February 8, 2005 [c497wds]
Monday, February 07, 2005
TEST TOUR
It appears, even now with her first overseas trip as our Secretary of State, that Condoleezza Rice is doing well. Each stop has been "without incident" as we say today when we don't know what to expect might happen. It is not unusual for some states to give indications they they are not exactly pleased with such visits. They may have had plans for a later time or they may feel they should be alerted to the possibilities concerning such meetings.
Secretary Rice has, it seems, been generally welcomed with polite attention and the photo op situations have been well-planned and shared. Invitations to visit Washington have been extended. Several approvals have already been returned so the meetings will have some results as heads of state gather at the White House. These could well be the "talks" we have anticipated for such a long time such a long time. The may well prove to be negotiations which will bring new understandings to the Middle East area with renewed hopes for a lasting peace.
The Secretary of State,on this trip and others to follow needs our support. She is an avid and apt student of international relationships and we are fortunate to have such a talent working on our behalf. She is not the first woman to have filled the post and a previous one did not,perhaps, get the support she needed and she did very well when that is considered. Rice is, however,the first Afro-American woman to be our Secretary of State and our support will be helpful to her as she speaks to the citizens of the world about us and our homeland.
The worst possible thing that could happen now has [probably already happened. Somewhere in this land there is an unthinking person who has wondering out loud: "Doesn't that poor girl have another dress? ... another suit?" That critical attitude shows how shallow our patriotism can become unless we start caring for it with greater detail and with more precision.
Secretary of State Rice is the epitome of style - diplomatic style. We must respect and honor such a talent.
A.L.M. February 7, 2005 [c368wds]
Sunday, February 06, 2005
DISASTER DECISIONS
How often do we allow outside events to influence our choices? And, to what degree?
I hear people saying " I'm not about to let some woolly-faced kook tell me what to do! I'm never gonna be dancin' to a tune played by some one from some unpronounceable place""
Personal independence is a fine quality and it is to be encouraged and commended, but often founded on wishful thinking. I had some pretty firm plans in mind until that Sunday morning when Japanese warplanes hit Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. That act - so far away - changed by life entirely and radically so.
Young people today changed from what they were a short time ago by the destruction of the Trade Towers in New York City and others are seeking changes in their lives to resonate to he demands forced upon us all by the Tsunami off the coast of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. In my memories, I have seen many such cases in which young people have learned to key their interests and concerns to help meet the needs of some of the v victims.
My maternal Grandmother was a resident of the area of the Johnstown, Pa. Flood in May of 1889. Her stories of the great flood rivaled those of Noah himself. The main thing about such tellings is that they all get around to people helping people sooner or later. Thousands people died in that flood and she used to tell us if the things they did because of the flood experiences. Another such outside event which is in the disaster group was one which which my parents alluded to quite often since it occurred when they were teenagers - a very impressionable time - it seems. It was called The Galveston, Texas Tidal Wave and Flood. It happened in 1900 and resulted in the death of thirty-thousand people. Sea water swept over the island area as much as seven feet above the highest point of elevation. Nothing was left.
I grew up with a big, yellow, cloth-covered book of photographs and drawings about the "Titanic" disaster of April 16, 1912 -
a book which we read until it, literally, fell to pieces, as I recall.
There has been a host of others, too....yes, and even the small, more personal, localized ones influence what we choose to do and how we choose to live before...during and after. Those lessons we learned are essential to our being what and where we are today.
A.L.M. February 6, 2005 [c426wds]
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