April 2015

There were 20 posts published in April 2015 (this is page 1 of 2).

David Simon: ‘There are now two Americas. My country is a horror show’ | US news | The Guardian

More of David Simon.

America is a country that is now utterly divided when it comes to its society, its economy, its politics. There are definitely two Americas. I live in one, on one block in Baltimore that is part of the viable America, the America that is connected to its own economy, where there is a plausible future for the people born into it. About 20 blocks away is another America entirely. It’s astonishing how little we have to do with each other, and yet we are living in such proximity.

There’s no barbed wire around West Baltimore or around East Baltimore, around Pimlico, the areas in my city that have been utterly divorced from the American experience that I know. But there might as well be. We’ve somehow managed to march on to two separate futures and I think you’re seeing this more and more in the west. I don’t think it’s unique to America.

via David Simon: 'There are now two Americas. My country is a horror show' | US news | The Guardian.

David Simon on Baltimore’s Anguish | The Marshall Project

Great interview of David Simon on the Baltimore police situation.

David Simon is Baltimore’s best-known chronicler of life on the hard streets. He worked for The Baltimore Sun city desk for a dozen years, wrote “Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets” (1991) and with former homicide detective Ed Burns co-wrote “The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood”(1997), which Simon adapted into an HBO miniseries. He is the creator, executive producer and head writer of the HBO television series “The Wire” (2002–2008). Simon is a member of The Marshall Project’s advisory board. He spoke with Bill Keller on Tuesday.

via David Simon on Baltimore’s Anguish | The Marshall Project.

Death dream

i-told-you-i-was-sick

I don’t normally post about my dreams but this one has been on my mind. An entry from my dream journal, dated 16 July 2013:

I dreamt that I had 1,346 more days to live. I would die of an expensive disease like cancer, one that would stretch the limits of my health insurance. It was all matter-of-fact. According to the calculator on timeanddate.com, 1,346 days from now is Thursday, 23 March 2017. Of course, I am not ready to die and almost certainly won’t be ready on 23 March 2017. Even so, it makes me consider how I might choose to spend these days if I know I only have x number left.

To add some detail, I was told in my dream by someone in authority that this was how many days I had left to live. It was simply explained to me that this was how it was going to be. This was my fate. And it did seem matter-of-fact, as if this was the plan I had agreed to all along. I recall not being particularly excited or concerned about the news.

And the way the data was presented in days rather than a date really stuck with me. It is a very unusual way of conveying that information, perhaps so that I would better remember it.

Dreams don’t always come true. I know this. This dream had a very sober reality that I can’t ignore, though. It is an important message to me.

So if it’s wrong, we will all have a good laugh. I will go ahead and pen a future blog entry, scheduled to post on 24 March 2017. With good fortune perhaps I will mock it along with everyone else. In the meantime, though, I am going to take in as much as I can in the 696 days I might have left.

Because you never knows when you might die. Or do you?

Charles Lane has taken vet fire before

Today’s opinion piece is not the first time Charles Lane has come under fire from veterans. Veteran blogger Jonn Lilyea took Lane apart after Lane took aim last year at TriCare, the veteran health care system:

So, this fairly disingenuous fellow, Charles Lane, writes in the Washington Post opinion section about how we veterans don’t deserve Tricare as it currently exists. Apparently, we shouldn’t expect the government to honor it’s promises after we’ve fulfilled our commitment;

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Privatizing veteran’s care? I don’t think so

Journalist Charles Lane

Journalist Charles Lane


Washington Post opinion writer Charles Lane suggested today that “market signals” can do a better job than the Veteran’s Administration in taking care of our nation’s veterans.

Without market signals to help allocate resources, long waits and other patient frustrations are inevitable, no matter how sincerely, or how threateningly, Washington orders their elimination.

Ah yes, market signals. That must be why every hospital in America is clamoring to staff its cardiology department, since heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Cancer is #2, so cancer centers are springing up everywhere, too. There’s a huge market for these services but do they do anything to actually advance medical science? The vast majority of them do not. They are, however, unbelievably profitable for the hospitals that have them.

“Market signals” would say every hospital needs heart and cancer centers, but what about the other diseases that are just as deadly if not as popular? ALS was off the public’s radar until last year’s “Ice Bucket Challenge.” The fad brought in more research money for ALS than ever but will the interest remain? Should we not pursue research and treatment because the “market signals” say it’s not as profitable as cancer? Do you tell your loved one with ALS, “sorry, dear. Our death panels, … er, I mean “Wall Street analysts” … say you should’ve gotten cancer instead.”
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We Can’t Let John Deere Destroy the Very Idea of Ownership | WIRED

You should have the right to use anything you own the way you want to use it. John Deere needs to get a grip.

It’s official: John Deere and General Motors want to eviscerate the notion of ownership. Sure, we pay for their vehicles. But we don’t own them. Not according to their corporate lawyers, anyway.

In a particularly spectacular display of corporate delusion, John Deere—the world’s largest agricultural machinery maker —told the Copyright Office that farmers don’t own their tractors. Because computer code snakes through the DNA of modern tractors, farmers receive “an implied license for the life of the vehicle to operate the vehicle.

”It’s John Deere’s tractor, folks. You’re just driving it.

via We Can't Let John Deere Destroy the Very Idea of Ownership | WIRED.

Liberals and the racist label

Our local, world-famous RPD beat officer posted to the East CAC Facebook page today about his upcoming meeting with the owners of the local shopping center and asked neighbors what things he should discuss with the owners. Several citizens posted thoughtful, helpful critiques of the shopping center, though a few noted how some teens who sometime loiter in the parking lot make them nervous.

This made one neighbor uncomfortable. She responded:

“I’ve shopped at [this store] regularly for five years and I have never–not once–been solicited, approached, or bothered in any way, shape, or form by teenagers or loiterers. I’m confused as to where this concern is coming from (and yeah, I know there was that big fight there a month or so ago) Frankly, it’s making me a little bit uncomfortable, as this thread seems to be a bunch of white people talking about how to make the neighborhood shopping center a better place. A good conversation, for sure, but are (black) teenagers hanging out outside of a local grocery store really a safety concern?”

This led me to dryly remark on Twitter:

“The community discussion made it all the way to 31 posts before a white person accused the other white people of being racist.”

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Former Obama Pilot: TWA Flight 800 was shot down, here’s why – NY Daily News

I’m glad I’m not the only one.

Was TWA Flight 800 shot out of the sky?As a former pilot, that is a question I get asked about all the time.

I’m no conspiracy theorist, but let’s be clear: Yes. I say it was. And I believe the FBI covered it up.

There are many reasons to disbelieve the official explanation of what happened to TWA 800 almost 19 years ago, on July 17, 1996, off the South Shore of Long Island. There’s hardly an airline pilot among the hundreds I know who buys the official explanation — that it was a fuel-tank explosion — offered by the National Transportation Safety Board some four years later.

Lots can go wrong with an airplane. Engines can fail; they can catch fire. Devices can malfunction. Pilots make errors.

But jets do not explode in midair.

via Former Obama Pilot: TWA Flight 800 was shot down, here's why – NY Daily News.

Obama to Remove Cuba From State Sponsor of Terror List – ABC News

Obama removes Cuba from the terror sponsor list. I wonder if Raul Castro will remove America from Cuba’s terror sponsor list?

The terror designation has been a stain on Cuba’s pride and a major stumbling block for efforts to mend ties between Washington and Havana.In a message to Congress, Obama said the government of Cuba "has not provided any support for international terrorism" over the last six months. He also told lawmakers that Cuba "has provided assurances that it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future."

via Obama to Remove Cuba From State Sponsor of Terror List – ABC News.

Flexing the muscle of my electric vehicle

Our Ford Focus Electric

Our Ford Focus Electric


There are many days when I’m driving my electric vehicle (EV) that I’m focused on economy. I will try hard to accelerate smoothly, drive at the speed limit (or sometimes more slowly), and brake as gradually as I can. The reward is high efficiency driving, saving as much money as I can.

Yesterday was not one of those days! Having many different events to attend, stretched from one end of the city to the other, I decided to flex my EV’s muscles. On our Time Of Use (TOU) plan, weekend electricity is super-cheap, so why not have a little fun?

As I drove down 401 yesterday, I sensed the guy behind me was becoming annoyed with my efficient driving. He shifted over a lane in an attempt to pass me. Not only are EVs cheap to drive, they also have a ton of torque just ready and waiting. I let the guy pass but caught up with him at the next light, where we both were lined up.

You think my EV is slow? I mentally challenged him. Watch this!
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