What’s in Paul’s grab bag? Unconnected thoughts and observations which don’t rate separate blog posts, but when aggregated together might amount to something:
Recently Overheard:
“I knew the car companies were going under 20 years ago, when the union guys started making six figures and buying summer homes.” — attorney friend at a house party
“I told them according to Nevada employment law they had to pay me overtime for more than 40, so they fired me. Then they screwed me out of unemployment.” — unemployed 20-something in a Las Vegas parking lot
Wishful Drinking:
I admire Carrie Fisher and very much want to see her one-woman show, Wishful Drinking. According to the link it’s being made into an HBO documentary, so I may be able to order the DVD one day (yay).
Of all the reasons I quit drinking, one that still resonates with me was the realization I’d fallen into the trap of thinking that this bout of drinking — this night, this dinner and a movie, this set of convivial friends, this particular bottle of expensive scotch, this particular party — was going to be different from all the other nights I’d gotten drunk, this this time it was going to be better. If that isn’t wishful drinking, what is? Because it never gets better. It’s always the same, unless it’s worse. Booze is such a liar.
The Military & the Cult of the Generals:
When I was an Air Force fighter pilot I was perforce aware of general officers, and even worked closely with a few of them. One showed a general a great deal of deference and respect, of course, but at the same time one didn’t fawn. Halfway through my career I spent three years in a joint command led by Navy admirals and Army generals, and became aware that outside fighter pilot circles in the USAF fawning is de rigeur.
As with everything the military does, escalation has set in, and today’s generals and admirals now expect genuflection. Two summers ago I saw an article about the USAF’s new “senior leader intransit comfort capsules“:
See, the idea is you slide one of these babies into the cargo section of a C-17, KC-10, or C-5, and our betters don’t have to rub shoulders with the troops. They don’t even have to see them!
I copied the link, meaning to blog about it within a few days, but lost track of it until today. Searching Google for updates, I can find only the same articles and citations I saw two years ago, so I don’t know the current status of this particular manifestation of flag officer worship. Either the USAF got a grip, or they hid the project somehow. Since the first alternative could only occur in an alternate universe, they must have hidden it.
Arizona, Pride of the Nation:
Of course every loyal Arizonan understands that the new laws in our great state have nothing — nothing, I say — to do with race or ethnicity. Show us your papers? It’s not that undocumented migrants are Hispanic, it’s that they’re illegal (oh, sorry . . . the preferred typography is ILLEGAL!!!). Firing teachers with Spanish accents? It’s not that teachers with heavy Spanish accents are Hispanic, it’s that they’re hard to understand. Banning ethnic studies classes? It’s not that we don’t want Hispanic kids learning about Hispanic culture, it’s that we want them learning about America. It’s perfectly logical and aboveboard. So why is everyone twisting our words and intentions around and accusing us of racism?
This latest incident in Prescott? Where city officials directed a school principal to order the volunteer artists who’ve been painting a mural on the walls of an elementary school to repaint all the faces white? Where good citizens have for months now been driving by the volunteers and kids painting the mural, rolling down their windows and screaming nigger and spic?
Sure, on the surface it looks kind of bad, but really, it’s about art. Why, as the principal himself explained, “We asked them to fix the shading on the children’s faces . . . we were looking at it from an artistic view. Nothing at all to do with race.”
Of course. Now aren’t you all ashamed of yourselves?
I have it on good authority that the reason Arizona closed it’s highway rest stops late last year was to refurbish them, which takes time. They have to install “whites only” signs on all the restrooms and picnic pavilions, and dig slit trench latrines for everyone else. Doesn’t have anything to do with race. It’s about, uh, spending taxpayer dollars in accordance with taxpayer wishes . . . yeah, that’s the ticket! I congratulate Governor Brewer on her foresight, and can’t wait to visit our soon-to-be less crowded rest areas!
So please please don’t boycott our great state. We want your (white) tourist dollars!