The Long Road Out

When your business policies are unethical, there's normally an additional cost of business; public relations, false advertising (often with a green tint), and philanthropy in the sorts of activities that give the appearance that you care about humans. That's what happens with bad companies.   For instance, the major airlines.   I like picking on United because their employees seem the most miserable and the experience of dealing with them is the most institutionalized.   With the other airlines, every once in a while some rogue employee acts up and does the right thing. Today's wonderful policy:  trying to change the return flight on a ticket I paid for 45 days ago--for a flight in three weeks. The original ticket on business was $1103 and returned to Newark.   I needed to switch to Logan in Boston.   The new ticket, including the $200 change fee, was $2471.   Yup, that's right...the increase was more than the original ticket.   And they've ...

Most U.S. citizens don't know that France occupied Mexico in the 1860's.   In fact, they probably assumed that Spain was somehow in control, if they've thought about it at all.   True, Spain was the main colonial bully, from the 1500's until, a fter eleven years of war (1810–21), New Spain became the sovereign nation of Mexico, with the signing of the  Treaty of Córdoba . A brief period of monarchy (1821–23)  was followed by the founding of the Republic of Mexico, established under a federal constitution in 1824. That left free reign to the US to attack Mexico in 1846.   We didn't really want to occupy the country like the Spanish--we just wanted to take half of the land, which we did in 1848 via the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.  So much for the Mexican-American War, and the glory of San Antonio and Davey Crocker and Sam Houston.  Now we have Beverly Hills and Phoenix! So, 1848 passes.   A half-sized Mexico continues, initiating a series of li...

We always hear about Napoleon Bonaparte--otherwise know as Napoleon I or Napoleon the Great… And then, in the 1850's, Napoleon III appears as the last French monarch. It made me wonder, who on earth was Napoleon II?   Hardly any one talks about him! So, here is the timetable: Napoleon Bonaparte (“I”) declared himself emperor in 1804 and lasted until 1814 when the Bourbons reinstalled a King (Louis XVII). Louis didn’t last long—half a year, before Bonaparte reinstalled himself—for an even shorter period before he was exiled to Elba.   In an attempt to hang on before exile, he annointed his son—Napoleon II (!) Emperor.   Napoleon Junior was only 4 years old the day he became Emperor--but he only lasted about two weeks before the Bourbons managed to kick him out, putting Louis XVIII back as king.   This 100 day period of I and II in charge is known as “The First Empire.”   Ha…for a few months.  By the way, Napoleon II was also sent into exile...

So I read that Jennifer Lawrence believes that she's in a film, Mother !, about human destruction of the Earth.  She plays a young housewife with large breasts who needs to protect her home from the riff raft in a way that has not been equalled in cinema since Sam Peckinpaugh did Straw Dogs . And Javier Bardem thinks he's in a film about the rise of cults.   He plays a narcissistic poet with writers block who thinks reader adulation is heroin. OK for Jennifer and Javier--they've both done some fantastic films and some great acting. However, the film barely pays homage to climate change or cults. What it services is yet another artistic exploration of how cool it is that older men, particularly if they have artistic pretentious, can fuck younger women.   The guy in this movie, played by Bardem, is a prime example for the older guy who gets exactly what he wants, sulks when believes there's the slightest chance that he won't, lies at other times, and then just...

The experts who work in City government are at it again...making things as bad as possible.   Here are some new ways that our many agencies are working against us as hard as they can: Landmarks Preservation--set a new low by requiring a co-op owner to remove a story and a half of new construction a year after it was completed.   The coop happened to have a ceiling door that was used as an escape route for an underground railway station--cool, huh?   But this construction project had been passed and certified and given the go-ahead by every one, and besides, the building was private and no one has access to the old 19th Century door.  But some idiot--and I use the word kindly--found out about this after the fact and rescinded the permits.   The result?   Another year of closed sidewalks as the owner tears down what was completed.  I'm not a pro-owner kind of guy, but even I feel badly...it hurts to tear out nice new renovation and send all those cons...

North Korea, Iraq, and Yemen all signed on to the Paris Climate Accords two years ago despite being emeshed in conflict.  So did the U.S.!  Our involvement was surprising because we rarely sign on to any global treaties or laws.   We do not recognize international law, human rights covenants, and many other agreements that are a natural part of the fabric for the entire rest of the world. But fortunately we have a friend or two when it comes to climate change.   First Syria.   OK, it's true, Syria was under a western travel ban at the time the Accords were negotiated and signed.   Representatives of Assad's government are not allowed to travel to the west, so the only way they could have participated was if the agreement was shipped to Russia for a special session. Second, Nicaragua.   Ortega's government refused to sign because they took the position that voluntary compliance wasn't enough--especially for countries like the U.S. which have a long ...

The World Science Festival, which started its 10th year last night in New York City, goes for very high production values…and the 2017 opening night program offered the talents of Pilobolus, Renee Fleming--and Joshua Bell knocking the hell out of the violin.   The previous 9 years of the WSF have looked straight into the cosmos to confront the expansiveness of time and space--so this year added the relatively new knowledge that the universe is expanding at an  accelerating  pace.  The program  ended with a wild version of “The Sound of Silence ” backed by Brian Greene's forward-look into astronomical physics--a universe that's spinning away from us.    Think about that when you think about true silence.  "Hello darkness my old friend," indeed... For example,  soon (in cosmos-time) you won’t be able to see any stars because all the galaxies will be moving away from us at speeds faster than light.  (My partner thinks the...