PJMcK
PJMcK's JournalAn important quote in Panama
In order for my wife and me to obtain cedulas, which are Panamanian government ID cards used throughout the country superceding even our U.S. passports, we had to go through several procedures at the Electoral Tribune offices, The following quote was engraved above the entrance to the building.
"La salud de las democracias cualesquiera que sean su tipo y sagrado, depende de un mísero detalle técnico: el procedimiento electoral. Todo lo damas es secundario. Sin el apoyo de un autentico sufragio, las instituciones democráticas están en el aire."
- Jose Garcia Y Gasset
Translation:
"The health of democracies, whatever their type and form, depends on a seemingly insignificant technical detail: the electoral procedure. Everything else is secondary. Without the support of genuine suffrage, democratic institutions are left hanging in the balance."
This is something all Americans should remember or learn.
Royalty is a useless artifact of ancient times
As a U.S. citizen, I’ve never lived under a monarchy, (well, let’s set aside Metamucillini for the moment), therefore it’s difficult for me to understand the historical affection for these archaic conventions. So, from outside the nations that have continued their royalties, let me state this.
They all look like useless spoiled narcissists sponging off the backs of the people beneath them. And generally, that’s how they treat the people: as though they are beneath the royals. It’s hardly surprising behavior since many royals think they hold their positions because of divine right. I’m an atheist so to me that’s stupid and ridiculous but even for believers, it’s a mockery of free will.
While I know there are some exceptions, in general, these “families” lead pampered lives of non-productivity while living their high-flying lives at the expense of their “subjects” many of whom live impoverished lives.
And these royals are treated as though they were deities! Too often, their offspring are the worst offenders.
It has been refreshing to see Andrew getting punished and exiled from the British royal family but it’s only happened because he so grossly exposed the sordid underbelly of the lives of extreme privilege these mere mortals are able to sponge off their countries while doing little other than make public appearances and statements.
France handled their royals properly. It ended this nonsense in that great nation. Since that kind of barbarism should be behind us, countries that still have these silly figureheads should oust them and move into the modern era. The people require focused attention and resources, not a handful of cultural vampires.
Republicans like to crow that welfare recipients should “get a job.” All royals should follow that suggestion.
Doom and gloom predictions are often misguided
We will see how technology continues to change entertainment and how audiences consume it.
In fact, there are more options for entertainment than ever before. Business models change but the desire for diversions never ceases.
Back when Napster assaulted the music business, it was predicted that it was the end of music yet today there are far more choices for listeners. Certainly the digital evolution has caused tremendous changes but the art form and its business is still thriving. It’s just different than it was.
Coping with change is hard but accurately predicting the future is harder. One amazing thing about humans is our ability to adapt to change. It’s part of how evolution works.
All my opinion, of course. For reference, I’ve enjoyed a nearly 50 year career in music and it’s been good to me and I’ve been good to it, I’d like to think.
About the Venezuelan boats
For reference, I have been ocean sailing for most of my life. I've sailed the Atlantic and Caribbean as crew and have logged over 10,000 miles navigating my own boats. Over the years, I've learned quite a bit about small crafts in the ocean and sailing in general. The oceans are vast, lonely and dangerous. The blue water is no place for the inexperienced.
The boats targeted by Trump's lackeys are not ocean-going vessels. They are open boats meaning they do not have cabins nor storage holds. They are not designed for the wind and wave conditions found in the open ocean. Even with superior seamanship, these voyages would be foolish and dangerous. The boats are powered by outboard motors that lack the capacity to traverse those distances in the open ocean. They are designed for coastal fishing meaning they don't go too far offshore, perhaps only 20 miles or so.
Consider that the distance between Caracas, Venezuela and Miami is about 1,400 miles. These boats, would require fuel tanks that take up too much space on such small boats. Where would the cargo be stored? In an open boat, the drugs would be exposed to the elements as well as being vulnerable to being tossed overboard by the ocean conditions. Refueling enroute would expose the so-called smugglers to too much scrutiny as they traverse different countries on the way to the U.S. Further, if the boat could travel at 20 mph, it would take 70 hours or 3 days nonstop. That is unrealistic and requires a rotating crew, superior boat-handling, navigation and seamanship, skills that most coastal fishermen would probably not have learned.
If these boats are truly operated by drug-runners, the "narco-terrorists" are really stupid and the risks to their cargo and lives far exceed the possible profits from the small quantities these boats could carry. Additionally, why would the September 2nd boat have had 11 people on board? That doesn't make any sense because that many people take up space and consumables like food and water.and we know that drug kingpins want to maximize their profit potential.
In fact, many drug runners build "submarines" that travel just below the surface of the water making them difficult to detect. These vessels have far more cargo space than an open fishing boat. Importantly, they are designed for the distances and conditions required for such voyages. Here are two videos that explain these vessels:
Trump and Co. are on a murderous, illegal, unethical and performative fool's errand in order to look tough while accomplishing nothing. Watching boats being blown up and people being killed gives them visceral thrills all while they sit in their air-conditioned offices thousands of miles away from the sites of their crimes. The military personnel who enable these acts are in untenable situations. Trump is abusing our military, its people and our national values.
As usual, Trump and Republicans are presuming Americans are stupid who cannot evaluate these situations intelligently and logically. Like the fool Tom Cotton, they assume we are so dumb we won't believe our own eyes.
I had a long conversation with my high school English teacher
I stayed in touch with her after school as she was one of the finest teachers I had. She made a fascinating point that has stuck with me.
The conversation started simply enough. I asked about the expression, "It begs the question..." I was confused because we had been taught that it meant circular reasoning in that it proposed an argument that assumed its own conclusion, that is, the idea being put forth would lead to its result. My confusion was based on some common uses that implied, "it raises the question..." which does not have a conclusion.
After a long pause, she began one of her long, deep, historical lectures that I admired her for.
I could never cover all of her points, but the gist of her discussion was that languages, particularly English, are constantly evolving with new words and phrases being developed as cultures, technologies and politics changed over time. She also pointed out that the increasing global economy meant that different peoples speaking different languages were interacting and needed commonality instead of grammatical perfection. Additionally, the diminishment of the Classical liberal education would result in a lower level of expression.
She was a classicist who had written her Master's thesis about "The Canterbury Tales" in the original Olde English. With the tiniest hint of disdain, she also pointed out that American culture seamed to becoming influenced more and more by "vulgar" language which, to her mind, would lower the level of public and private discourse. Nail meet head.
She was a great teacher and a few years ago I attended her funeral where I met some great folks from her years as an educator.
In the era of The Vulgarian, the internet and texting it's not surprising to see the language shifting beneath our feet. I speak French and I'm learning Spanish in Panama and I suspect those languages, along with others, are evolving similarly.
My dear malaise, we shall stand together upon the ramparts defending The Queen's English against the heathens!
P.S. Another point she forcefully argued was that words have meanings. That's why a proper dictionary has 100,000 words. As she would say, people with small vocabularies have feeble minds.
It's a fun movie
Lots of funny scenes like the mudslide where Jack ends up with his face between Jane’s legs and when they find the crashed drug plane.
A favorite moment for me is the love scene which begins with them dancing at a party. As they move closer to one another, the romantic underscoring segues over the dance music as the scene moves to the couple in bed. It’s a terrific transition.
Since I’m a sailor, I understand Jack’s motivations but the ending has always bothered me. Jack’s sailboat (I think it’s a Pacific Seacraft 37) is on a trailer on what looks like NYC’s West End Avenue. However, the mast is stepped and the main and jib sails are unfurled. One would never trailer a sailboat with the mast stepped because the boat becomes unbalanced (the center of gravity is raised) and it can’t go under anything (like bridges and tunnels). Additionally, unfurling the sails is meaningless since the boat is being towed and it’s dangerous because a gust of wind could tip the boat over.
Still, I love the film and the sequel is pretty good, too.
Regarding the Mexican ship accident
The accident over the weekend involving the Cuauhtémoc was tragic and had many elements that caused the crash. Here are my thoughts based on decades of recreational boating in New York’s waterways.
The current in the East River can exceed 5 knots (6-7 mph). For many vessels, this makes the "river" very difficult to navigate as the strong currents rush through an extremely narrow and winding channel about ten miles long between Hell Gate in the north to the Battery in the south. In olden times, there were many capsizes and deaths along the East River because the channel is so dangerous.
Likewise, the Hudson River has strong tidal currents that alternate four times a day, like the East River. Although not as fierce as the East River, the Hudson can flow upwards of 4 knots making it difficult to navigate against the current.
Motor vessels with sufficient power can sail against these currents but the powerful force of the water must still be taken into account by an experienced navigator. Sailing vessels, for the most part, must time their transits of these waters to maneuver with the tidal currents in order to maintain steerage, that is, the ability to control and handle the vessel.
I've traversed both rivers numerous times and I've almost always carefully planned the passages by consulting the tidal and current charts found in the annual publication Eldridge which shows the times of the tide changes as well as the expected currents throughout the tidal cycles. There are also several excellent electronic navigation devices that provide this information in real time. In spite of this planning, there are still difficulties, especially in the East River. For example, just north of the Queensboro Bridge at 59th Street, there are consistent standing waves of 2-4 feet during both the Flood Tide and the Ebb Tide that bounce boats around as they pass the area.
My sailboat has a Diesel inboard and it will power the boat with full throttle at just over 5 knots. I will never go against the East River current and on those occasions I've sailed against the Hudson's current it resulted in very slow passages. After all, if the current is 4 knots and I'm making 5 knots through the water, I'm only going 1 knot over the ground! This is almost the minimum speed to maintain steerage on my boat.
From the videos and accounts I've seen of the accident involving the Mexican vessel, the Cuauhtémoc, it appears that they undocked from Pier 17 and a tug boat was pushing the ship's bow to face south to head to the Atlantic Ocean. Apparently, the ship lost engine power (a 1,125 hp auxiliary engine) and the current (and wind) began pushing the ship north meaning that the ship was going backwards. This all happened so fast over such a short distance, less than a half-mile, that without functioning engine power, the ship didn't have a chance.
My only humble observation is that the ship might have timed its departure during the outgoing tide so it wouldn't be fighting the northwards current but would be pushed south towards the ocean. I wasn't there so I have no criticisms of the captain or the crew.
One commentator suggested that the tug could have saved the ship from the tragedy, This is a profoundly ignorant observation. Consider that the Cuauhtémoc is 300-feet long displacing 1,800 tons. A single tug, without control or tow lines connecting the two vessels, could never push the ship out of danger. It would take a coordinated effort by 2 or 3 tugs to properly escort the ship to safety.
This tragedy is very sad. Two sailors lost their lives. Many were injured, some severely. A beautiful sailing vessel was massively damaged with repairs probably in the millions. The ship's goodwill mission has ended. I'm curious where they will tow the ship for repairs as I'm unaware of a shipyard in the area that could handle it, (I'm sure there is a yard but I don't know where it might be).
This was a horrible accident and the investigations will provide more detailed information. It's a very sad event.
A disturbing post from my Journal
I posted this in November 2021. I guess we've learned the lessons I referenced.
=================
We're going to learn something about Americans in the next few years
We'll learn if American voters care about their democracy or even if they understand it.
We'll learn if American voters have any memories of the atrocities and corruption of the Trump years.
We'll learn if American voters have any awareness of the atrocities and corruption of elected Republicans at all levels of government.
We'll learn if American voters have any empathy for anyone but themselves.
We'll learn if American voters understand that Republicans cannot govern nor do they want to.
We'll learn if the American voters desire an inclusive or an exclusive society.
We'll learn the future of our country.
=============================
I was born when there were 48 stars on the flag. Growing up, I felt our country was on a progressive trajectory, in spite of Republican opposition.
Boy, was I wrong.
All insurance in the U.S. is for-profit
What else should we expect when insurance companies are publicly owned/traded commodities?
It was striking to me that the United HealthCare executive who was murdered in NYC was on his way to talk to investors about his company’s profit expectations. He wasn’t going to talk with pharmaceutical executives about drug prices or doctors about billing and efficiencies. He was going to address profits! (In no way do I condone his murder.)
State Farm issued policies based on their best guesses but they were wrong. How is this business to survive if they don’t have the money to pay claims?
For-profit insurance is a rip off and produces terrible results. It’s as bad as Vegas in that insurance is a bet: the customer bets they’ll lose and need coverage while the insurer collects premiums betting they’ll won’t have to pay out. What a scam.
A recent chart I saw listed the top 25 developed countries and how many people in each country had to file for bankruptcy last year due to medical bills. In 24 nations, there were zero but in the U.S., there were over 675,000!
The U.S. is not a great country in the way its people are treated. It has always been thus.
Happy New Year!
Like you, I went to music school where I earned B.Mus. and M.Mus. degrees from Manhattan School of Music in Composition. I minored in Conducting, Piano and Trumpet. The sheepskins are probably two of the most classic "underwater basket-weaving" degrees in terms of employment. (Ironically, I've done pretty okay!)
Because of my years of music production work, I have a ridiculous collection of electronic musical instruments. At the peak of my craziness, I had three separate small studio set-ups. I've accumulated 14 keyboards including a Baldwin upright, 1974 Fender Rhodes, 1975 Wurlitzer Electronic Piano, Hammond B-3, MicroMoog, Korg PolySix (with MIDI/memory upgrades), Yamaha DX7-II, Korg M1, Yamaha Clavinova, several controllers, drum machines, samplers and a bunch of modules. The funny thing is that I'd be working on a project and someone would say, "Hey, do you have this sound?" So I'd go to the music store and buy the piece that made that sound then never use it again! Because a lot of the stuff is older, it has limited value today except for collectors... and REAL musicians.
These days, I mostly play the Rhodes, Wurly and Baldwin for fun and never in public any more; the fingers don't have the dexterity they used to have!
Music has been generous to me. It has filled my life with creativity, interesting and challenging projects and a career. I've been very fortunate. Now I need to get rid of all this gear!
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: New York City
Home country: USA
Current location: Coronado Panama
Member since: Mon Jun 5, 2006, 04:16 PM
Number of posts: 24,901