A Modest proposal for the President of United States

American Offices are dreadful places overall in Summer in the United States. American men are forced to wear outfits that do not conform to weather outside (and hence suffer on their commutes to and from work) and American women, who often do dress to the weather (at least during the Summer) are comfortable on their commute and many have to wear sweaters/jackets when indoors. It creates a lot strife in the Office and even causes some to cry "sexism." In general our European allies think we are a bit weird in our fierce AC obsession.

Japan should be our role model for this. In the wake of the loss of generation capacity due to the shutdown of nuclear reactors following the 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami, Japan doubled down on their previous "Cool Biz" campaigns with their "Super Cool Biz" campaign. Temperatures in offices were encouraged to raised and workers we asked to adapt (even their President threw in with it, wearing short sleeves in numerous public appearance). While I admit that I have ulterior motives since I often have to wear long sleeve button downs with ties at work, this really is something that we should consider.

As President, I would request that you implement some of the policies and actions that are similar to the Government of Japan's action. With Executive Orders alone you could order the entirety of the U.S. Government, some 2.7 million people (almost 2% of the entire US work force), to adopt a more reasonable approach to the AC dial and to the expected attire from the government employees (drop the suit, drop the tie... wear short sleeve shirts, either button up or polo's). Specify a new standard (75 degrees?  Maybe allow for a phased approach do that people don't go into shock over this and overreact?) and direct D/A heads to address appropriate business attire, at least from May to October. This would also be very consistent with your positions on Climate Change (since this has been proven to decrease energy consumption in Japan) and perhaps spark similar actions in State/Local governments as well as industry.

Now mind you, I am not saying turn it off. Buildings need ventilation and, in places like the Washington DC Area, humidity really is the worst consideration. I will hit you up in another 6 months to address the other "cool" thing Japan has tried to do, the "Warm Biz" concept.

Yeah, I petitioned the White House on this item.  To sign go to https://wh.gov/iHaWD

No really, I mean it

Please stay home if you want to vote for Trump...  For the love of God and this Country. 

Apparently the people in my hometown, the (only half-heartedly) People's Republic of Arlington, listened to the whole voting thing (I think a lot of Democrats crossed the line to have the chance to vote against Trump), but not enough people are listening.

I am voting for the Libertarian candidate if the Republican's cannot figure out a way to not nominate Trump (I admit to mocking the Democrat's "super-delegate" concept for being undemocratic (part of the reason that no one really expected Bernie to get nominated, when you are as plugged in and part of the system as Hillary is, that is a heck of a windmill to tilt to challenge her), but it is looking like a good idea now....). 

I just... can't..... vote for Trump or Hillary.

Vote

Vote.

 am deeply looking forward to tomorrow's primary's here in VA (I got excited as I saw that the signs are up around my local polling place) because finally I can toss my vote into the ring. I am not deeply excited about the other options (I am going to go with Rubio, because he seems to be the best mid-line candidate) but I need to make clear that I don't want Trump as the nominee.

P.S. Ignore the request above if you are planning on voting for the Donald. If so then please, for the love of God and country, stay at home. (and that goes double for Democrats who may think it is funny to toss a ringer into the campaign and vote in the Republican primary. That is the definition of a dick move.)

Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Care

It must be a generational/cultural thing, but I just don't care about this whole decision one way or another, it is just a non-issue for me. I am an Army National Guard Officer and I really could care less whether my Soldiers are straight or gay (open or not). I just care that they do their job and not cause me too much trouble. Now I can see why some the Army branches (Infantry) as well as the Marine Corps overall get the heebie-jeebies about this, that is their culture and this represents a change that offends them (which is funny since I imagine that most gays would not be entering those lines of work anyway).

What is funny is how you can actually track the odds of acceptance of getting rid of DADT by age groups. My Dad? Very much against it, even though it has zero affect on his life. He seems concerned about fraternization as though this is a bigger issue with gays than hetero's. It isn't. If they have an inappropriate relationship in the field it doesn't matter whether it is the same or different sex, it is still fraternization, and will be dealt with accordingly (hell, its better since it decreases the chance of the female soldiers "accidentally" getting pregnant, having to be sent home and then everyone else having to cover down on their job).

I already work in a mixed unit, where ~15% of my unit is female. 40 years ago the concept that so many of the combat support units, which are often in the line of fire (Signal units, Military Intelligence, Military Police) would be so composed of females was considered odd. Times change. I bet you 40 years from now the fact that so many gays had to hide that fact will probably sound a bit odd too...

Federal Pay freeze

I am a federal employee. Believe it or not I am actually fine with the general idea that the COLA increases that we would get are frozen... I get it, the economy sucks, not a lot of people are getting anything resembling pay raises. I am happy that I have a job that pays well and gives me a reason to get out of bed (hard on cold days like this) as well as a feeling of satisfaction at the end of the day.

However......

In the end this was all about making a symbolic easy decision that will get lots of play while the country's leadership uses it as cover to avoid making the really hard decisions. Let's face it, Federal employees are great targets, in the grand scheme pounding on us will have virtually no political downside for the President or anyone who votes for it (does anyone really think that the vastly liberal government workforce is suddenly going to vote Republican?). And for the rest of the country we are one big stereotype of being overpaid and under-worked that, other than the military and a few other organizations, gets little love from either side of the aisle. I would be more accepting if this was part of a bigger plan to actually balance the budget.... Instead we are the sacrificial virgin who gets thrown in the volcano to show that the chief is trying to do something about the problem.

This solution is predicted to save 2 Billion dollars in FY11, 28 Billion over five years and maybe 60 Billion over the next 10 years. Sounds massive and impressive right? But what else are they really going to do? The federal deficit for FY09 was 1.42 Trillion dollars (1420 Billion....). The total federal debt? 13.856 Trillion dollars. So this move saved 0.15% of the current deficit (at best 0.45% if the end of ~ 6 Billion per year is realized). This isn't even what you can call a good start toward solving this problem that threatens every single American and our way of life.

Ask me how this feels when I see a plan that actually proposes to solve this crisis (and kills the crushing debt that looms over us). Until then all I can say is that the lava really hurts (though in the grand scheme this doesn't hurt me too much personally) and that the volcano is not satisfied with its latest sacrifice.

Restoring Honor.

Ok, so I didn't go. I probably would have if it hadn't been for the prior planning of the GF to schedule a free night in Annapolis at one of the historic inns (which was quite fun. I cannot remember the last time I was in Annapolis).

But I think if I had been around I would have stopped by (good incentive to go for a walk and see some entertaining people). I kind of like Glenn Beck (and now that any liberal has stopped reading this let me continue).

He is entertaining. And likable. Does he go off on rant's that feel like they should be accompanied by full rolls of aluminum foil? Hell yes.... But.... He also doesn't tell people to simply take his word for things, he tells his viewers and listeners to go off and do their own research. This is a really great message that you do not see from a lot of talking heads, and ironically borrows from the classic Hippie theme of questioning the man. Are there people that simply take him at his word (and probably misinterpret it?)? Of course. You find those people in pretty much every movement/following that you find (look how many drank the Obama kool-aid in 2008).

Oh well, onward and upward to November. Maybe we will even finally be able at to "Retire Moran" here in NoVa.

Memorial Day

This truly is the most somber of our nations holidays. Ironically it represents the gateway into our favorite time, Summer.

It's hard, as I am a currently serving Soldier in the National Guard, to not take a few minutes to think about all the people who paid the ultimate price for the freedoms that we take for granted. The odds are that at this point some one that I served or trained with is now one of those numbers. The XO of a unit that is associated my friends unit, 1/116th Infantry which is currently deployed in Iraq, MAJ Wayne Culver, is one of the latest to be added to that somber list.

BTW. I hope someone has squared away the President about this holiday. He seems confused and thinks it also includes those of currently serving. We have our own days, this is a day dedicated to our brothers who never got the chance to come home.

Stealing Valor

While Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has apologized for his shameful claims of serving in Vietnam, it still continues to draw my ire.....

I proudly serve in the Army National Guard. I joined over 5 years ago, commissioned 3 years ago, and have never been deployed. The left side of my chest has only 3 items on (that is where citations are on Army uniforms) and I only wear one badge, all of which I have earned. I can think of nothing more disrespectful to both myself and to my fellow Soldiers than to wear anything on my uniform that I did not earn and was entitled to. To do anything less is a stain on your honor.

I actually have more tolerance of people who have never served claiming honors, rank and experience that is not due to them. They do not know better. They do not know the sacrifice of time, blood and, in some cases, life that are the price people wearing the uniform pay. It pains me enormously when it is someone who has in fact served and claims any experience or honors that are not their own.

So AG Blumenthal strikes me as the lowest form of scum, who took something that he should be proud of, his military service (even with his deferments he did in fact serve) of this country at a time where it was not a popular thing. (I talk with my Dad on occasion of his service, and of his time when he was in NYC working for the Navy, where the sailors had to keep their uniforms at work for pure force protection purposes.) This was something he should have been proud of, a bond into a brotherhood of military men, a body of men and women who do in fact stand above those who have not served.

But that was all shattered with his claims of serving in Vietnam. It is ironic that now that it is socially palatable to be a Vietnam Vet, people who have not served there find it acceptable to steal some of that shine for themselves.

I must be somewhat old fashioned in that I expect leaders to be striving for the ideal and be held to greater standard than the rest of us. I truly hope that the people of Connecticut hold their own leadership to that standard, by repudiating and not electing this "man" who stole valor from his military brothers.

It has to be blackmail.

Almost everyday there is always some reference, quote or clip (in the newspaper, blog or news/newstainment source) from White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

And every day that it happens the same thought runs through my head....

"Holy crap, that guy sucks at his job. He is doing the sort of job I would expect myself to do, and I am a introverted computer guy."

followed almost immediately by....

"Whatever piece of blackmail he has on Obama must be fricking impressive for him to keep his job (and this is on a President who admitted to doing marijuana and coke)."

Avatar

Spoiler, don't read any further if you haven't seen the film.

Overall? Very pretty movie. I saw it in 3D (really no other option) and was really impressed with the effects and the animation. The 3D leant to the realism and helped immerse you in the movie.

If it wasn't so damn ham-handed in the politics I might have even given it 5 stars (out of 5). But...

Let's start with the Na'vi. I will leave out some of the complaints from the SF realm about our inability to create truly alien aliens, that's just hard to do. But overall it's like they rolled up all the "noble savage" bits and pieces put together from Indian and African belief systems and made them blue. Couldn't be more contrived to draw the sympathy's of the audience if they tried...

But my true ire? The one character that is supposed to be portraid as the noble warrior who rose above his class? The one that I left the movie with an intense desire to kill or see die in the movie? Jake Sully (the other human race traitors as well, but he is the main orchestrator). Oh, words cannot describe the ire I feel at this character who betrays humanity (in the end basically telling them to leave, go home and die). The whole thing left me with a bad taste in my mouth, too see a human choose to side with aliens to kill other humans. Were the humans the best people in the world? No. But it appears from the commentary at the end that the Unobtainium was necessary for the continuation of the human race (they never it clear what Unobtainium provides, but the ending implies that humanity is being kicked off the planet to the death of Earth... They just imply that it is corporate greed (forgetting that often these corporations are providing key and important services)). Would I bulldoze over a tree to protect humanity (even if it was full of these idealized creatures)? In a heartbeat....

Peace Prize?

Really? Maybe you should, I don't know, actually do something before they award it to someone. He should mention GWB in his acceptance speech, since in many ways this is a "Congrats for not being GWB" award.

I thought it was a joke when I heard about it this morning (my first thought, it is not April 1). But this is the same org that gave the award to a renown terrorist, Yassar Arafat, so I pretty much discount everything it does, this is just the the sprinkles on top of the icing..

So apparently I am a racist....

Whatever..... because I have the nerve to disagree with the President (wasn't that patriotic last year?) on issues that I care about and am concerned about. Obviously the big subject now is the whole health care issue (public option? No thanks... I have dealt with government controlled health care and is frustrating and annoying). I think it can all be handled a lot easier with these 3 items:

• Tort reform.... not on the table... given that so many of the people making laws are lawyers, it does not surprise me that this remains off the table. But it is one of the biggest factors for impacting our service... the insurance to protect against some of these insane lawsuits is crazy.
• Multi-State Portability - competition is good. Forcing a company to only operate in one state or creating sub-companies for each of those states? nasty inefficiency.
• Eliminating the concept of pre-conditions. If you are eligible for insurance by employment or purchase? You should be able to buy insurance. Now there needs to be some controls, in particular for those people who through their behavior or decision didn't sign up for insurance.

So I am sorry if people seem to find any disagreement with the President to be disrespectful (most of my adult life has shown me that not to be the case, from both parties) or racist, but I just do not find the current plans to be acceptable and I am not afraid to voice my disapproval.

Politics...

So as the minority here in the blogger-verse (in particular the DC blogger-verse), it is hard to describe the amusement that I am getting in the pure act of flipping channels as of late (flipping between Fox News and CNN). The sheer outrage that I am seeing from the Left is heightened by the fact that the Right (in particular the group that has been so often silent) is having the sheer audacity to use the same tactics that Lefties have been using for decades (and vehemently defended that they are tactics of a vibrant democracy) are now suddenly anti-democratic and a hindrance to the entire process (maybe because they have the nerve to dress well and take a shower more than once a week). Ah, it is pure comedy gold.... You can taste the hypocrisy. Congress in particular is finally getting the attention that it deserves.

PS, does anyone else out there wonder what dirt Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has on the President? He is so stupendously awful that for once in my life I am actually noticing a press secretary. When I find myself thinking that I could almost do his job as well as him, that says a lot. But I do heartily encourage BHO to keep him on, he is doing an awesome job of making his message become garbled and provides constant amusement to TV watchers.

Honduras.

Really, in the general scheme of things? I could barely point this country out on a map, not a country that enters into my consciousness at all..

My first reaction was, "oh, another Latin America coup? Shocking, not." But since it was a slow news day I took a closer look at the reporting. And started to get angry. At my government and the news. First clue that we were on the wrong side? Chavez was taking the same stance as us. Then you get down to the facts, the guy, Zelaya, was in a feud with both his Congress and the Supreme Court there. He seemed intent on violating the rule of the land and install himself as President for life, circumventing election laws and ignoring the law.

What I think really has me cheesed off? Multiple references to a military coup...... Um... The military acted at the direction of Congress. No military leaders were placed in charge, the president of their Congress was selected to act as President pro-tem.

And from the opinion polls? Barely 30% wanted Zelaya in office. Basically it comes down that the geniuses who came up with the Constitution did not put in an impeachment capability.

Zelaya wants to violate the Constitution (at least 8 parts of it), ignored the rulings of the Supreme Court and (this is just me) is guilty of having some bad allies (Castro, Chavez, and others of his ilk). The US is in the wrong here. We should back off and let them take care of their own problems.

Iran

Dear Iranian protesters. Good for you. You guys have more balls than I do (and definitely more than the long haired protesters here in the States). To step out like that and protest something wrong, when the potential consequences for you can be so grave? I admire and respect your bravery and determination.

I am embarrassed that my government remains silent in your struggle (we get so much flack from your government even when we remain silent. We might as well say something that deserves condemnation. Really, silent or speaking, we can do no right in your governments eyes. We might as well just issue words of encouragement to you to, supporting something that we hold so dear.). I apologize on behalf of my country.

SNOW!!!

God I love snow! We get it so rarely here in the DC region that I think I am always in shock when we actually get it here.

So anyone want to take bets the Prez makes another snarky comment about DC not being able to handle snow? The over/under here at the office is very much in favor that he will. I am so sorry that the DC region decides that it is not a good fiscal investment to have the same level of snow removal capability as locations that are more like to get his fine white stuff.

Oh well, at least I got my 2 hours (no g-d 7 AM teleconference).

Well that took all of a month

And the gun crowd? Not shocked in the slightest.

Obama to Seek New Assault Weapons Ban

The best part of this (and pretty much all anti-gunner drivel?), they can't even get their story straight. How does banning the import/manufacture of semi-automatic rifles here in this country affect the Mexican gangs using, "Grenades and automatic weapons." I have never in my life seen a live grenade for sale anywhere in here in the US and automatic weapons? Really expensive (price of the weapon plus $3000 transfer stamp? God no) and not all that common. AG Holder looks like a moron to anyone out there with a spit of common sense. (Really, this is not the way to sell this to the American public, "I think that will have a positive impact in Mexico, at a minimum." This builds up exactly zero sympathy from a majority of the public)

Orders for those evil high cap magazines? Have been placed... It may be the best investment I have made in the past year (they will probably appreciate to 2-3 times their purchase price in the next couple of years...).

Freedom takes another hit.

Virginia Passes Smoking Ban
While I personally appreciate the fact that I will be able to come home from VA bars and not smell like I rolled around in an ashtray (given that I do not, now, in the past or in the future, smoke) I kind of appreciate it.
However......
Whatever happened to personal responsibility (no one is forcing me to go to these bars)? Or, y'know, pesky things like property rights (those owners of the establishments should decide what goes on there. A number here in Arlington are smoke free already by choice (choose... yes, I like that word, choose). They decided to see if the market was right for them, and offered a choice to the consumers.

I know that a lot of y'all are celebrating this, but in this Libertarians world? I am seeing another spark of freedom being extinguished.

Like tank treads..

Yes, that is how I describe them. My trusty Yak Trax. This lovely little gift from my Mom 2 years ago has prevented me (a person with questionable grasp on walking in the normal times) near perfect traction in days like the past 2 days. I all but aim at the most imposing terrain, certain that these sweet little shoe coverings will save me from myself. While the first pair that I got is just about ready to be DX'd, a new pair is waiting in the wings. When the weather gets cold, these handy little pieces of metal and plastic get tossed into my commute bag, taken out only when I believe that the weather has returned to the safe side.

PS.... Mr. President. I have seen your mocking of the way that the DC area handles storms. I view this more on the side of thrifty-ness. To waste money on a snow system that would get all the side streets safe enough to drive on would be extremely wasteful. The reason we handle it so badly is because of that and the fact that we don't just get snow. We get the god-awful wintery mix (a little snow with sleet/freezing rain) that is very hard to handle and often lures less observant drivers to their doom.

PPS Mr. President... yes, we saw you try to use the window as a door. This is why I know that the press is on your side, if President Bush had done it the mocking would have been merciless(actually he did have some door issues, and the press in fact ate it up).

Goodbye Mr. President

I think only time will tell how your work during these crazy years is evaluated. We do not have the perspective to evaluate your performance in doing what may be one of the hardest jobs in the World during one of the more tumultuous times in history.

Thank you for your service and may God bless you in your coming years.