Journal Entries
Quotation of the moment
Posted Mar 15, 2006
"Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don't know we don't know."
Donald Rumsfled, US Secretary of Defense, in 2003
Discuss this Journal entry [2]
Latest reply: Mar 15, 2006
NIMBY strikes again!
Posted Mar 31, 2005
The "Not In My Back Yard" phenomenon is alive and well in Denver.
I just don't understand how building a place for people who are homeless to live will drive down property values more than having them sleeping on the streets.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/4330172/detail.html
Proposed Downtown Lofts For Homeless Upsetting Neighbors
Some Argue There Are Too Many Low-Income Units Already In Area
"However, some in the surrounding neighborhood say too much housing for the poor is already concentrated there and vow to fight the development."
"Parvensky said they will work with neighbors and architects to design the lofts, which would be a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. He wants to put neighbors at ease and come up with a plan that enhances the community, not detracts from it."
"The proposed four- or five-story building will sit across the street from the Tower on the Park, a highrise where some units are sold for $500,000 or more. The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless bought the property last week for $3 million. Right now, there is just a parking lot."
Discuss this Journal entry [10]
Latest reply: Mar 31, 2005
Taxpayer input on how their money is spent?
Posted Mar 9, 2005
Can't have that, now can we?
'Sen. Dave Owen, R-Greeley, said allowing voters to ratify budget decisions would be a mistake and set a bad precedent for future lawmakers. "People voting on the budget? We can't have that," he said.'
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/4261243/detail.html
Discuss this Journal entry [2]
Latest reply: Mar 9, 2005
It's not *always* bad news, take 2
Posted Mar 5, 2005
Just when you think you can count on people, in general, to be self-serving, self-centered idiots who don't really care about anybody else...
There's this woman I used to work with, named Linda. I USED to work with her because she was forced to give up her job after having missed three months following hip replacement surgery with lost of post-operative complications and a host of related medical problems. Basically, she had trouble moving, let alone workig, for over six months and has now been unable to find work for another six months. So, she's been out of work for about a year now. There are reasons why she can't get governmental disability payments, which aren't relevant to this.
So, I've maintained a bit of a friendship with her, and learned that she was in imminent danger of being evicted from her apartment due to non-payment of rent, due to non-presence of money. She still had the place because she was able to scrape together a bit of her past due rent money and get it to her landlord. Of course, that meant that she didn't have money for her medicines.
I figured that 1) if she didn't have money for medicine, she probebly didn't have money for food and 2) she could use a bit of a morale boost and 3) both of these situations could be resolved if I collected cash donations from other people who she had worked with and had each person who donated sign a card.
I sent an email to 36 of my coworkers who had also worked directly with Linda, describing her situation and hoping to be able to surprise her with the card and $50.00 or $60.00. That was yesterday.
I delivered the card and cash today. She was surprised. So was I.
I wasn't surprised that I was delivering the card. I had some advance notice that I'd be doing that, after all, since it was my plan. What surprised me was that I wasn't delivering $50.00 or $60.00 along with the card.
I was delivering $250.00 and the news that people who couldn't come up with the cash today were insisting that I allow them to give me some money for her during the next two weeks.
Kinda restored a little of my lost belief that there might be something worthwhile about humanity.
NBY
Discuss this Journal entry [4]
Latest reply: Mar 5, 2005
Quotation of the moment - Regarding Elections in the States
Posted Oct 11, 2004
"If the people are gonna elect turkeys to tell them what to do, then the people are gonna have problems. Tiy can't blame the turkeys. The Constitution never guaranteed smart government; it guaranteed representative government. And it works - That's what we've got."
"The trouble with the dXmn system is that it selects for the skills needed to get elected, and nothing else...which requires only an ability to fool a sufficient number of people for just long enough to get the votes. Unfortunately the personal qualitites necessary for attaining office are practically the opposite of those demanded by the office itself. A test that you can only pass by cheating can't possible select honest people, can it?"
- author James P. Hogan, in the novel "Code of the Life Maker"
Kinda gets right to the heart of how the American electoral process works, doesn't it?
NBY
Discuss this Journal entry [12]
Latest reply: Oct 11, 2004
David Conway
Researcher U180337
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