August 2009 - Page 6 of 7 - Ramblin' with Roger

Cory and Ike

I was surprisingly saddened by the death of Corazon “Cory” Cojuanco-Aquino last week, only in part because she led a peaceful revolution that toppled the corrupt Ferdinand Marcos regime in the Philippines two and a half years after the assassination of her husband. Interesting how there have been several presidents and prime ministers in Asian countries with relatively short post-colonization periods, but not yet in the USA.

I’m also reminded, though, of the father of an ex-girlfriend of mine. The ex and I have remained friends, so I would visit her from time to time. Her father, living only a couple blocks away from her, would come over and we’d all play hearts. During the game, he would test us on our knowledge of current events. On one visit back in 1986, all he said, “What does this mean?” He put his hand in the shape of the Aquino liberation L. Fortunately, I knew the answer. He died a few years back, and when I heard about Cory’s death, I found myself mourning again his death.

Frederick J. Eikerenkoetter II, better known as Reverend Ike was a radio and television evangelist, a proponent of a prosperity gospel known as thinkonomics. Long before pikers like Joel Osteen, Ike was doing his thing. I thought he was a charlatan, a snake-oil salesman, but this was the 1970s, in my unchurched period, and I found him an entertaining charlatan.

Here’s just a bit of his schtick, as reported here in 2007:

His mail ministry has long included an ever-changing variety of items: miracle prayer cloths, lucky coins, prosperity bracelets and the like, each said to help the user tap into his or her own inner divine power (Reverend Ike suggested, for instance, that the prayer cloth be used to rub lottery tickets or horsetrack betting slips). His latest offerings are “Musivation Ringtones,” ringtones for cell-phones he says will motivate followers towards prosperity and success.

The Reverend Mrs. Eula M. Dent Eikerenkoetter (“Rev. Mrs. Ike”), B.A., M.A., D.Sc.L., his wife, serves as Senior Co-Pastor, and his son, The Right Reverend Xavier Frederick Eikerenkoetter (“Rev. Ike’s Son”), B.A., M.Sc.L, D.Sc.L., is his “Bishop Coadjutor.”

“I love money and money loves me.”
“The lack of money is the root of all evil.”
“The Bible says that Jesus rode on a borrowed ass. But I would rather ride in a Rolls Royce than to ride somebody’s ass!”
“Be proud of the way I look, because you spend $1,000 a week to buy my clothes.”
“The best thing you can do for the poor is not be one of them.”

Like the writer, I was surprised he was still around, and I had missed his passing until I saw it mentioned on ABC’s This Week.

Another death to report: our cordless phone. My in-laws got it for us the week our daughter Lydia was born. I poo-pooed the need, but now I’ve miss it terribly the last four days. My father-in-law said it only cost about $15, and to replace the battery would cost about $12; talk about your planned obsolescence.

ROG

C is for Census

As of 01 August 2009, the world had 6,774,705,647 people, give or take. About 307 million of them resided in the United States. That info came from the International Data Base, part of the U.S. Census Bureau, which in turn is housed in the US Department of Commerce. And you thought it only dealt with domestic population statistics.

I was an enumerator for the 1990 US Census. An enumerator is the person who comes to your house in the US when you fail to fill out the form that you have been mailed. (People would save taxpayer dollars by filling and mailing the form themselves.) I did this job from late April to mid-August. Lots of employees dropped out, but since it was my primary source of income – and taking another job was impractical, since I was accepted to go to library school in September – it was an ideal position for me. I even made it into a story that was printed in the Schenectady (NY) Gazette in June of that year, though I cannot, for the life of me, find it right now.

The Census, of course, is mandated in the Constitution: “The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct,” it says in Article I, section 2.

1930 Census taker, Rev. smith, enumerates a Navajo tribe

The questions asked in the Census naturally have evolved over the years. Many of them can be seen here. My personal “favorite” Census has to be the one from 1890, when they asked questions such as:
4. Whether white, black, mulatto, quadroon, octoroon, Chinese, Japanese, or Indian
23. Whether defective in mind, sight, hearing, or speech, or whether crippled, maimed, or deformed, with name of defect.
1890 was a technological breakthrough as well.

Census goes high tech: 1960.

1960 marked the first time people could self-select their race, 1970 featured the introduction of Hispanic ethnicity and 2000 was the first Census where one could pick more than one race.

2000 was also the last year of the long form which asked about income, education, transportation and other topics to one in six households, including mine in 2000. Data users such as local governments tired of waiting 10 years for new information prompted Census to replace the long form by the American Community Survey, which will provide annual statistics; I respond to an article about it here. The ACS has generated some controversy of being too intrusive, in part because Census has not promoted it, figuring it would affect only a small portion of people each month.

I could write about Census forever. I haven’t even touched on the Economic Census, that takes place every five years, or some of the other activities of the Bureau. And, of course, the 2010 Census, with fewer than a dozen questions per householder comes out next year. But that’s enough for now, except to ask the ABC Wednesday people stopping by briefly to describe the censuses in their countries. That’s enough for now.
ROG

The "Obama Birthday Surprise"

It’s Barack Obama’s 48th birthday. While I do have some real policy issues with him (I fear a quagmire in Afghanistan, among other issues), those can wait. After all, it IS his natal day, wherever he was born.

OK, I jest, but that is my basic point. I think that too many people, including me, have gotten caught up with the various attacks on the President, from whether he’s a natural-born citizen of the United States to whether he’s a racist (Jeremiah Wright –I heard invoked by Glenn Beck just recently – to Skip Gates) to whether he’s a socialist (single payer health care). Or merely the Antichrist who wants to euthanize old people. What we’ve been missing, what I’ve been missing, with all those trees, is the forest.

I’ve become convinced that the proponents of these theories don’t need to PROVE the smears against Obama as unAmerican (by birth or by values). It’s merely necessarily to repeat them over and over. And over and over and over again.

Take the birthers, please. Jon Stewart pretty much eviscerated their points a couple weeks ago. The very next day, I get an e-mail that goes on and on and on about how the group (I won’t bother identifying them) will lead a campaign to “FAX All 50 State Attorneys General To Investigate Obama’s Birthday FRAUD”
According to published reports,[WHAT published reports?] Barack Obama’s legal team has been paid over one million dollars, so far, to STOP anyone from seeing ANY of his actual identification documents, or many other documents:
* Actual long-form birth certificate (NOT an easily-forged electronic copy of a short-form document that is not even officially accepted in Hawaii) except by legal authorities in Hawaii…
* Columbia University senior thesis, “Soviet Nuclear Disarmament” – writing about the USSR; maybe he’s also a Communist? …
* Obama’s client list from during his time in private practice with the Chicago law firm of Davis, Miner, Barnhill and Gallard Hey, yeah, and while you’re at it, reveal why the clients were there. But wait, wouldn’t that violate lawyer-client privilege?
* Baptism records
* Obama/Dunham marriage license
* Obama/Dunham divorce documents
* Soetoro/Dunham marriage license
* Soetero/Dunham Adoption records
But would even THAT be sufficient? Ask David Hernandez.
It’s a longer list, but it’s brilliant in its innuendo.

The point is that it does not matter what Obama does; he will be criticized. And not on legitimate grounds, such as the deficit, but over specious stuff.

Take the mundane example of the so-called “beer summit”. Obama was criticized for his choice of beer – Bud Light. But think about it: don’t you believe he’d be criticized for ANY pick he made? If he’d picked a German beer, he’d be criticized for not picking a domestic brew. (Is Anheuser-Busch still considered “domestic” now that InBev owns it?) Even a selection of Sam Adams would have been picked as blue state elitist, I’m willing to bet. There was never going to be a satisfactory choice.

So for the President’s birthday, we should vow to vow not to get confounded by the – dare I say it? – vast right-wing conspiracy – designed to make sound and fury signifying absolutely nothing. Let us hold this President accountable for the substantive issues, but ignore the politics of distraction. And distraction it is, though it has the capacity of being believed. The repetition gives some the belief that “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” except that it’s the same cabal blowing smoke.

Jaq’s back meme

I had done this meme back in December 2008, when Jacquandor returned to blogging. But it was in draft in Blogger and – oops – never actually posted it!

No time like the present. The skips, I gather, are because I had already answered similar questions (then) recently:

1.Bought everyone in the bar a drink – yeah, but there were only a couple people IN the bar
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive – not even a dream of mine
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid – no
6. Held a tarantula – for some reason, I think I did at some controlled environment
7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone – yes
08. Said “I love you” and meant it – yes
09. Hugged a tree – several
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise – yes
14. Seen the Northern Lights – no
15. Gone to a huge sports game – define “huge”. I went to some championship high school basketball games.
18. Touched an iceberg – no
20. Changed a baby’s diaper – pretty sure I did this BEFORE I had a child, though it had been so long that when Carol was pregnant, I actually volunteered to diaper a friend’s child to get back into practice.
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon – no
23. Gotten drunk on champagne – well, no. Too much champagne doesn’t get me drunk, it gives me a headache.
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope – well, yes, but not in far too long.
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment – nothing comes to mind, but it’s possible.
27. Had a food fight – not an outright fight; might have flicked a french fry or two.
28. Bet on a winning horse – no. Considering my distance from Saratoga, I’ve actually only been to the track once, surprisingly.
29. Asked out a stranger – define. I’ve been to parties where I’ve meet people and ultimately asked them out.
30. Had a snowball fight – yes.
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can – yes.
34. Ridden a roller coaster – yes, but not in years. It was a tradition that my father rode with my baby sister, I rode with my other sister, and my mother would hold our glasses, lest they fall off.
36. Danced like a fool and didn’t care who was looking – probably.
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day – no. I have adopted accents, though.
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment – sure.
39. Had two hard drives for your computer – no.
40. Visited all 50 states – 30.
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk. I drove home someone who was drunk. I didn’t have a license or a permit. And the statue of limitations on that has definitely passed.
42. Had amazing friends – heck, yeah.
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country – no.
45. Stolen a sign – maybe.
46. Backpacked in Europe – no.
47. Taken a road-trip – define; certainly from my POV.
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love – most definitely.
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them – no. But I have eaten with strangers on a train, which is the tradition.
54. Visited Japan – no.
56. Alphabetized your CDs – how the heck would I find 1500 CDs if I didn’t alphabetize them. There are the classicals (arranged by composer), the pop (arranged by artist), the genre -soundtracks, e.g. (arranged by title).
57. Pretended to be a superhero – is the Hulk a superhero?
59. Lounged around in bed all day – probably in February 1975. I was quite depressed.
60. Played touch football – yes, but not in years.
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken – of course.
69. Toured ancient sites – I always thought my grandmother’s house, built before 1870, was an ancient site.
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight – never played it at all.
72. Gotten married -yes.
74. Crashed a party – possibly.
76. Gone without food for 5 days – not even in my poorest days.
77. Made cookies from scratch – yes, but the payoff wasn’t worth the effort.
78. Won first prize in a costume contest – no.
80. Gotten a tattoo – no.
81. Rafted the Snake River – no, nor any other river.
82. Been on a television news program as an “expert” – no, but I was in a newspaper story about American Idol as an expert on keeping a secret from the time a television show is taped to the time it airs
84. Performed on stage – my father, sister and I performed as the Green Family Singers when I was a teenager. Also did a little theater.
85. Been to Las Vegas – no.
86. Recorded music – yes, but only for personal consumption.
87. Eaten shark – no.
88. Kissed on the first date – yes.
89. Gone to Thailand – no.
90. Bought a house – yes.
91. Been in a combat zone – no.
92. Buried one/both of your parents – buried my father.
93. Been on a cruise ship – no.
94. Spoken more than one language fluently – still working on English.
95. Performed in Rocky Horror – I brought an umbrella.
96. Raised children – more like raising a child.
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour – no.
98. Passed out cold – don’t believe so.
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country – no
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over – thrice in 1977 alone.
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge – no. Rode on it though.
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking – probably.
103. Had plastic surgery – no.
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived – definitely.
105. Wrote articles for a large publication – well, the Fantastic Four Chronicles had a print run of 70,000.
106. Lost over 100 pounds – gained and lost.
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback – probably.
108. Piloted an airplane – no.
109. Touched a stingray – no.
110. Broken someone’s heart – unfortunately, yes.
111. Helped an animal give birth – watched kittens being born, providing her bedding, but she didn’t seem to need much help.
112. Won money on a TV game show – rumor has it.
114. Gone on a photo safari – no.
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears – no, and not likely to.
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol – my grandfather had me fire his rifle when I was 6 or 7; landed on my behind.
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild – I was watching a piece on CBS Sunday Morning and, of the many different types of mushrooms, only about 20% were considered fit for human consumption. That would be a no.
118. Ridden a horse – first time 6/9/1976, the day after my first hangover. Not recommended.
119. Had major surgery – minor surgery (on knee).
120. Had a snake as a pet – no.
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon – never been to the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for 30 hours in a 48 hour period – quite possibly. I had an allergic reaction to a pain medication, slept all day on someone else’s sofa, then got taken to the ER where I was attached to an IV for nine hours suffering from severe dehydration.
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. States – no, 3 to 30.
124. Visited all 7 continents – only this one.
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days – no, though I have been canoeing.
126. Eaten kangaroo meat – no.
127. Eaten sushi – yes, but don’t love it. My wife does, though.
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about – almost certainly.
130. Gone back to school – a couple times, once successfully.
131. Parasailed – no
132. Touched a cockroach – dead ones.
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes – maybe.
134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey – started, never finished.
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read – yes.
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating – no, since I’ve never killed anything other than bugs.
137. Skipped all your school reunions – no, went to HS 10th and 35th. But never been to a college reunion.
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language – yes, in Mexico.
139. Been elected to public office – if nominated, I shall not run.
140. Written your own computer language – heavens, no. Though I did work with same whemn I was a SYSOP for an electronic BBS. terribly boring stuff to me.
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream – my dreams are so unfocused, I can’t say.
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care – well, that was the plan for my father, but he died.
143. Built your own PC from parts – nope.
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you – no.
145. Had a booth at a street fair – yes.
146. Dyed your hair – no, but someone once sprayed my hair gold.
147. Been a DJ – at my brother-in-law’s wedding in 1999. it was hard; I wanted to expand the listeners’ range, but I could get them on the dance floor only with the more traditional fare. Oh, and I did read the news on my college radio station for a few weeks.
148. Shaved your head – no, but there just isn’t that much there anyway.
149. Caused a car accident – caused, no. been in, yes.
150. Saved someone’s life – sure.

Last Run

As I’ve probably alluded to, my wife Carol has been away at college for a couple weeks. Last summer, she did two intense weeks of intensive study, and she had to read a half dozen books and write a half dozen papers before she even got there. Then this past school year, she had a 600-hour internship. Now she’s back at college for another two-week stint, after the preparatory reading and writing.

This has meant that I have been calling her every morning between 6:30 and 6:45, her only free time, just before breakfast. I was about to call her one day last week when I see an e-mail from her, titled: “Sleeping late Wed 7/29”

“I am turning off my alarm clock to sleep in in the morning because I am just getting back to my room now. If you get this message, don’t call me in the morning. I’ll call you later to catch up during the day at work and then again in the evening so I can talk to Lydia.”

My wife is an early riser, so this was quite curious.

“There was a bus accident tonight when MCLA was returning from Tanglewood. I was not on the bus that ran off the road and am OK, but tired. I was on the bus that was following the one that ran off the road headlong into a ditch so we were right there. It looks as though the driver of that bus had a seizure and lost control of his bus. Two coaches got off our bus, opened the back emergency door, and tried to give the unconscious driver CPR and then the AED but got no response, and the driver was pronounced dead. I helped the rest of the adults climb out of the back of the bus. Five were taken to the hospital for minor (as far as we know now) injuries.

“MCLA classes are canceled for Wed. morning and will probably resume after lunch. They are getting counselors to talk to us if needed.”

It turned out that the bus driver had a heart attack. The 70-year-old man had just come back to work after bypass surgery. Carol could hear her bus driver talk to this guy, and he indicated that this particular drive would be his “last run” for the night. Ironically accurate.

Carol and I agreed that it would probably be better not to mention the bus accident to Lydia, since it might make her worry about her mother and/or worry about taking the bus on the field trip that very day.

I never did talk to Carol on Wednesday, but I did on Thursday and subsequently; she is fine.

One curiosity about the media coverage is that the Times Union, the local paper, had a reported a school bus accidents in Pittsfield involving five students. Since it didn’t mention the school, it gave the impression that the students were of the K-12 variety, rather than graduate students. ROG