Some times things just make no sense….

Some times things just make no sense….so we just go along reluctantly for the ride.  But perhaps we can do more…..

Michael D’Angelo

Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie

The green movement has helped reignite interest in burial techniques other than embalming and the use of a casket and/or a burial vault.

 

The Wall Street Journal reported on a proposal to create a more natural burial technique “cemetery”. The “business plan identified pagans, ‘old hippies,’ penny pinchers, environmentalists and Muslims — who traditionally bury the dead without caskets — as their target market”  WSJ Green Revolution Hits Dead End In Georgia Cemetery Proposal

 

There are now companies that sell “bio-degradable” funeral supplies.  According to the Journal, Passages International makes a $1,600 woven willow casket, which looks like an oversized picnic hamper. It also sells a $300 cremation urn made of “Himalayan rock salt” that “will dissolve within four hours when placed in water.”

 

There is an idea for a tower on which bodies will be left to decompose naturally with the help of nature’s vultures.  There are cultures where the elderly slip off quietly into the woods and nature when they know the end is near.

 

There is enough room in this world for a variety of beliefs – but I am not sure that we need to tie this into environmental protection. 

 

Makes me reminisce about our childhood song about my cowboy career:

 

O bury me not on the lone prairie

Where the wild coyote will howl o’er me

Where the rattlesnakes hiss and the winds blow free

O bury me not on the lone prairie (song information)

 

Michael D’Angelo

Watch where you step – environmentally that is

I really have to do more reading on carbon neutrality and the “movement toward green.”  I am concerned how we tend to create constructs designed to modify the human behavior of others but not our own.

 

It seems that much of all this consists of criticism of the conduct of major businesses in the economy, suggesting what appear to be easy, but expensive, answers for them and for the rest of society, and taking no personal responsibility for what we each contribute.

 

Take the computer giant Dell Inc. which announced this past summer that it had become “carbon neutral” in its quest to be “the greenest technological company on the planet”.  Wall Street Journal article.   In determining it “carbon footprint” Dell counts the electrical energy it uses in its offices and factories and the fuel used for its business flights, but it doesn’t include what is used by its suppliers when they make computer parts, the fuel used to ship computers, or the electricity we all use to run them.  The math is staggering: Dell counts 490,085 tons of emissions but does not count the other 10,000,000 (million) tons.

 

This is another example of how many things don’t count – when we know what we want the answer to be.

 

But this is not really Dell’s fault.  We are the ones who use the energy and fail to control our own behaviors of consumption.  We also fail to think and trust our own good judgment.

 

A few years back, when the push was on for recycling in a big way, I watched someone in their kitchen as they rinsed out each aluminum can before putting it out.  She informed me that it was required by the local town to avoid nuisances (flies, smell, etc.) associated with storing the cans.  Water is the basic element essential for human life.  It is estimated that in about 17 years, more than half the world’s population will be facing a crisis from lack of potable water.  Yet we rinse out cans 2 or 3 times, wasting water equivalent to the volume of liquid which was originally packaged in the can, so we can recycle aluminum.

 

Do not ever let ”political packaging” cloud your human judgment and common sense.  Do not accept slogans – challenge assumptions.  Throw the aluminum cans out without turning on the facet – and turn off the TV, sound system and lights when no one is in the room.  After you are done reading this, turn off the computer and do not leave it on all night.

 

Michael D’Angelo

Clap for the Pilot

If you were around in the 1960’s or 70’s, you may remember when people applauded when an air flight was over and the plane hit the ground. People appreciated and understood the dangers involved in the travel and showed their gratitude for being guided through it.

 

Few people appreciate danger anymore — air travel, a bus on a city street, a 16 story ocean liner, a racing subway or a churning ferry, surgery or a visit to the doctor’s, the daring risks taken by firefighters and policemen, driving 75 miles an hour on the interstate.

 

Few appreciate also that those in whom we place our trust to help navigate the fords of human existence are also human — and can and will make mistakes.

 

As quick as we are to assign blame when things go wrong and look for money to make things right (lawyers be blessed) rarely do we show our thanks. (We are still analyzing years later why a space shuttle flight ended in such tragedy. )

 

I think our gadgets have driven us to this – fostering an expectation that others have programmed aspects of our lives that pose a danger, to make them safe. Our expectation levels have reached fantastic heights – ones that human beings should have understood were unreasonable beyond the bounds of common sense.

 

A war must end quickly, with success, and with few casualties or someone must have planned wrong or failed to execute it with precision or to dealt with every eventuality properly.

 

If my child is not “perfect” — that must be someone’s fault — the obstetrician who failed to diagnose, the child care manual which overlooked the correct dietary supplement, the environment which has changed and now poses “too many risks”, the teacher, the school system, playgroups. When we ourselves are responsible for little, the ability to intuit and apply common sense to our lives is bred from our nature, and we are belittled.

 

Step back for perspective — intuit what really is — and applaud for the pilot on your next trip to Florida.

 

Michael D’Angelo

 

 

 

New Year’s Eve confetti tested – all is well.

Monday they tested the New Year’s Eve confetti in Times Square – really! It had to pass the “air-worthiness test”. MSNBC  Seems the confetti must “flutter to the ground” and not fall in clumps. WPIX  TV

 

They have been dropping confetti in Times Square since at least 1917 and you mean to tell me that they still need to test it? Video

 

Isn’t it real simple?  You cut up some paper and you go to the top of a tall building and throw it out the window.  How fast and where it will fall is related to the height, and the wind, and the air temperature, and I am sure it is effected by the arm strength of the thrower.

 

I was going to write the “sobriety of the thrower”, but then I found out that there are strict standards for those who are Certified Confetti Engineers – That’s right!  That’s what they are called.  Time Magazine

 

110 volunteers toss 7000 pounds tonight – and of course, we will all notice if it doesn’t fall just right.  So the flight test, I guess.

 

Now this year they changed the design – it is more rectangular, supposedly to create more “hang-time” Video.  I assume the shape has nothing to do with the fact that sponsors have paid to have their names and promotions on what they are now calling “Word-fetti”.  They say Target actually thought up the idea.  So now there is a reason to pick up some and take it home, in addition to just having a souvenir.  I am sure the Sanitation Department workers are pleased to have the help – but, didn’t someone just create a duplicate cleaning job the day of the “air-testing”?  I am getting disoriented.

 

You too can join in the “word-fetti” blitz.  You can stop in the Time Square Visitors Center and write a message on a piece and it will be dropped along with all the others.  If you cannot make it to Times Square, you can register your message on-line and they can do it for you, just like ordering your groceries on-line before heading for the store.  Word-fetti Wishing Wall

 

So it’s all a lot of fun – commercialized bacchanalia. Be careful out there – and be reasonable and calm.  I know we can blame the Romans for inventing the term.  But the Italians invented “confetti”, and I like their concept better. Wikipedia

 

“By tradition, the Italian “confetti“ (sugar coated almonds) are given out at weddings, often wrapped in a small tulle bag to give as a favor to the guests.”  So be thankful they are not dropping almonds in New York.  For most of us at home, enjoy the comfort of your family – and kiss one of them, or all of them at midnight.  Enjoy a piece of Italian confetti, throw a little coriandoli and join us back safely in 2009.

 

Nuovo anno felice

Happy New Year,

Michael D’Angelo

Woolly Mammoths and Roasted Vegetables

Another reason surfaced this week to oppose the cloning and resurrection of the Woolly Mammoth.  It would be a giant step (no pun intended) backwards in society’s effort to promote healthy eating.

 

According to the Los Angeles Times, archaeologist Alston V. Thoms of Texas A&M University has determined that when the Woolly Mammoth became endangered 10,000 years ago, humans began to eat more plants.  “The megafauna that had been a prime food source — such as the woolly mammoth — were becoming extinct, and other mammals were becoming harder to find. People had to turn to plants.”

 

His findings are contained in two reports published online this week in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology and the Journal of Archaeological Science.

 

We have felt that there are ethical and societal reasons for not resurrecting the Mammoth even though scientists indicate they have the ability to do it.  “Woolly Mammoth Herds and Neanderthal Villages” , “Cloning the Woolly Mammoth” Now scientists have another reason to pause – What would the New York Times say if Woolly Mammoth farms and feed lots are created to provide a new big meal for the fast food industry.  I can see the little plastic mammoths now and as meals get bigger and bigger, someone will have found a burger that would be a credible competitor for the Big Mac.

 

So as your mother warned: eat your vegetables – and stay away from Woolly Mammoth meat, its not as healthy.

 

Michael D’Angelo

 

LA Times: When the woolly mammoth ran out, early man turned to roasted vegetables 

 

Food Meditations

The Incredible Speaking Pen

My staff gave me special Christmas gift – a talking pen.  (This is not an attempt at humor) In fact the pen reads, as well as speaks.

 

A camera in the pen takes a picture of what you are writing.  You can then upload your notes to your computer where you can store and exchange them with others in PDF format.

 

But that’s only the beginning of the technology.  The special notebook paper has a control panel that you navigate by touching it with the tip of your pen.  The pen then begins to audio record the lecture or the business meeting.  You can then return to any part of your notes at any time in the future.  By touching any handwritten note on the page with your pen point your pen plays back the recorded proceeding at the exact point in time your wrote your note.  The entire audio session with your notes can be uploaded to your computer.  You can share not only your notes, but the entire lecture with a classmate or colleague who missed it.

 

As much as I am enjoying it, I am literally scared.

 

Where is all this technology going?  Are a webcam and an imbedded chip in everyone’s future – recording every aspect of our lives – to make sure we do not miss anything and get it right?

 

But to what end?

 

The most powerful processor that exists is man’s brain.  Mankind has not begun to understand the potential that lies within.  It is the integration of knowledge and emotion and feeling and the application of common sense that define who were are, what we will become and where we are going.  Where we have been is only a part of the process.  We gain nothing if we have all the facts and loose our humanity. For most interaction with others, there is no precise defined role or specific way to act.  Will mankind become so focused on knowing and seeing all, and having a computer provide the answer, that we loose a sense of self?

 

Our spiritual being, our sense of self worth, distinguishes us from a computer.  Our separate lives and our sense of individuality, including our mistakes, define us – and give life meaning.

 

“My kingdom for a horse”  My soul for a pen?

 

Society must keep prospective – so what do you think?  Speak into my pen…..

 

Michael D’Angelo

 

Livescribe

Tragedies at Christmas

I enjoyed this Christmas. Simple. Emotional. Sentimental.

 

I find it easy to be thankful for being fortunate in America, even though this economic time is difficult.

 

For, in contrast, the violence in the world does not recognize Christmas:

 

34,000 of the world’s children, under the age of five, died on Christmas Day, as do 34,000 every day, from disease and malnutrition.

 

Shame about the little children Santa missed

More than 60 rockets and mortar shells were fired at southern Israel by the afternoon, …..The strikes caused extensive damage and widespread panic among the residents ….

Gaza Rocket Fire Intensifies

YEVPATORIA, Ukraine (Reuters) – A suspected gas explosion devastated a five-story apartment building in southern Ukraine, killing 22 people and leaving more than 20 still unaccounted for, officials said Thursday.

Blast at Ukraine Apartments Kills 19

 

And fate – and the violence within some souls do not recognize Christmas:

 

COVINA, Calif. (AP) — Stinging from an acrimonious divorce, a man plotting revenge against his ex-wife dressed up like Santa, went to his former in-laws’ Christmas Eve party and slaughtered at least six people before killing himself hours later.

 

Man in a Santa Suit Kills at Least 6 at a Party

 

Speed and alcohol have been linked to a fatal Christmas Day crash in Waikato and police say the use of a seatbelt may have averted the tragedy. David James Hill, 23, died only a minute into Christmas Day when the car he was a passenger in crashed into a bank …..

 

Fatal Christmas crash ‘totally avoidable’

 

And a young child dies when sledding.

 

Coquitlam girl, 4, killed when sled collides with truck

 

So for those blessings which life provides me, and those close to me, I am thankful.

 

Michael D’Angelo

I really love this Country…..The Electronic Counting Piggy Bank

I have a beautiful new granddaughter this year.  So for Christmas I decided to start a new family tradition.  Each time that I see her in my lifetime, I will give her one US “Gold” Dollar coin.  Then as she grows older she can visualize how often her grandfather visited.  All I needed was one thing - a clear Piggy bank, plastic or glass.  So I searched in stores and then on-line.  No clear Piggy banks.  (This search started months ago.)  I got so desperate I even went into a crystal maker’s shop to see if they had or could make one.  No luck.

Then a local  Avon saleslady, showed me a clear pink Piggy bank. The bank stands all of four inches tall, if that.  It has a built in LCD counter – an Electronic Counting Piggy Bank.  When money is deposited, the bank automatically displays the total of the accumulated deposits.  While such sophistication is not my thing for a “tradition”, I had no other choice.  I was just glad to find the bank. 

The bank had the usual set of instructions printed in English and French.  Don’t other nationalities save money?  I  bought a can opener once that had the instructions in 6 languages (but not in French!).

Now while looking at the bank to prepare to wrap it, I came to the following warning:

“NOTE 1: When the bank has totaled a value of 9999.99, FULL will be displayed on LCD (7).  At this point, you should reset the deposit total.”

$ 9000 in a Piggy Bank? Do they really expect to fit $ 9000, no actually $ 9,999,99, of coins in a 4 inch high Piggy Bank?  And where is my granddaughter getting all that change?

I love this Country.  I really do….

So as you struggle with instructions under the Christmas Tree tonight, and worry about where you will get the money to pay off the credit cards after the first of the year, remember, boys and girls, that if you had saved your nickels and dimes all these years you would have been just fine with $ 9999.99 in your Piggy Bank.

Merry Christmas

Michael D’Angelo

Social Security is one Big Ponzi scheme

Bernard Madoff, the former Chairman of NASDAQ, was arrested for defrauding investors of over $ 50 billion in a Ponzi scheme.  Those defrauded included some very sophisticated and famous people and organizations, including non-profit foundations.

 

In a Ponzi scheme initial investors are enticed by the promise of a high rate of return.  However, the fund managers do not invest all the money but pay returns to investors out of the money paid in by subsequent investors. The money is then stolen.  This works as long as there are new investors and the earlier investors do not ask for a return of large amounts of their capital.

 

The Wall Street Journal reports the Madoff’s investors “placed money on what could prove to be history’s largest financial scam.”  Oh really? 

 

When Social Security was first started it was with the promise that the initial contributions taken from then employed workers pay would be invested.   When a worker retired, the money from the growth in contributions would pay the retirement benefit.  But social security money has not been invested.  In fact the benefits for present retires are paid out of the contributions of current workers. Sound familiar?  Isn’t Social Security just a giant Ponzi scheme?

 

Who changed the plan, and why aren’t they in jail with Mr. Madoff?  Why do the politicians think, that if they do it, it is not a crime?

 

(See author’s comment Post about how the “Roosevelt Social Security Recession” prompted Congress to change the Social Security funding concept)

 

Michael D’Angelo 

 

WSJ Fund Fraud Hits Big Names

Wikipedia Ponzi Scheme

Santa needs a bailout – say it isn’t so….

We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Chicago Tribune:

 

“Dear Editor—

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends said they read in the Wall Street Journal that Santa Claus needs a bailout and without one there will be no Christmas and no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Chicago Tribune, it’s so.” (Papa also says the Chicago Tribune needs a bailout.) Papa tells me I will have to sell the toys Santa gave me last year on EBAY if I want new toys this year.  Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?”

Virginia O’Hanlon

115 West 95^th Street

New York

The Tribune Responded:

 

Virginia, your little friends are right. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They  believe what they see – and most businesses need a bailout. They think that nothing can be which is not made comprehensible and to work  by the little minds of those who run the government. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge. That is why we have government.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus and he needs a bailout. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. But he has not changed the way he has run his business for generations.  The business itself is important to American and in fact the whole world. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! But the government insists that he must be replaced as CEO. It will be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There could be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not bailout Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in the fairy tales from Washington. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? He lives in Washington and has lived there for the last 50 years. Nobody understands how the economy works and why all these bailouts are needed, except a few smart people.  But that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see, but that our government tells us.   Did you ever see what they did with the initial $ 700 billion that they spent – bankers and brokers act like fairies dancing on the lawn, and still taking giant bonuses? Of course not, but that’s no proof that the money was not spent and the bonuses were not paid and are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world of economics and government.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen economic world and the world of government  which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding, except the knowledge that Santa Claus and Uncle Sam are one in the same.

It is important to understand that even though the elves took over Santa’s workshop like the workers at Republic Doors and Windows in Chicago, they have since gone back to work on Henry Paulson’s promise that the bailout would go through. And selling your old toys on EBAY, will strengthen the economy, other children will be able to get credit on their parents’ cards and help, this cold winter, to unfreeze the credit markets.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

(My sincerest apologies to Virginia and a glorious story -  But her faith and that of the journalist Francis P. Church, of the The New York Sun in 1897, perhaps can only be rewarded if we understand what we are doing to ourselves – and in turn to our children.  This Christmas help them understand that the things that are important, are not things at all.)

Michael D’Angelo

WSJ: Santa Needs a Bailout, Too 

AP:Employee Take Over, Republic Doors and Windows 

Yes, Virginia There is a Santa Claus

Beebo.org 

Newseum.Org

Wikipedia.org