Happy New Year???

Tomorrow evening cries of "Happy New Year" will abound. If it is wishful thinking I can accept the traditional celebration of a new year. Realistically, I feel it is more prudent to greet 2017 with a "May God have mercy on us". I've been around for a long time and this is the first time I have looked at the New Year with fear. On January 20, 2017 Donald Trump will become POTUS and the United States will enter its declining years. If we are lucky we will at this time next year eagerly anticipate the New Year but I wouldn't bet on it unless Congress decides it is truly the representative of the people and not a puppet at the hands of the Trump family. Happy New Year? I guess it will depend on what comes out of Twitter.

Will Snail Mail Make A Comeback?

The internet has given us e-mail and texting as popular forms of communication. In the process the United States Postal Service and its snail mail have suffered large losses and some say are terminal. Terminal? Not so fast. Hell, politicians and their shenanigans were much safer with snail mail. By the time a stupid snail mail became public they were already history. Not so with e-mail. E-mail as Hillary Clinton and Debbie Wasserman Schultz well know can get into the wrong hands in real time. Any politician worth his salt must have concluded by now that e-mail should not be the bearer of smears and sensitive comments. Snail mail is a much better choice. By the time snail mail is delivered the events leading to its creation are history. Of course snail mail will not make a comeback. We are too committed to quick ways of becoming asses. For instance, tweeting has become an important form of communication for most politicians. In the future politicians will only be guilty of stupid squawks. Incidentally, is it texting's turn to upset some politician's apple cart?

Tweets, Chirps & Squawks

A couple of days ago I started to compose a post for this blog. As I mused over what I had written, I was shocked to realize that I was not blogging, I was Tweeting.

My blog page, About Blogging, states : At times my posts may resemble “tweets” and I may wax sentimental about some event or person in my past but I’m not ready to abandon blogging for Twitter or Facebook.

I guess I’m ready. Not to abandon blogging, but to admit that tweeting is not a substitute for blogging. If I find myself tweeting, I will delete the post and in turn “tweet, chirp or squawk” on Twitter (see the sidebar). So far, I have kept my distance from Facebook. In the meantime, if I have anything to say beyond 140 characters worth, Blogger is it.

ed note: Of course this was an underhanded way of breaking my blogging slump. In my defense it did take more than 140 characters.

Digitally Savvy

The Chicago Tribune reports that its sister publication, The Chicago Sun-Times, has fired all of its photographers and plans to use freelance photographers and reporters with smart phones to shoot photos. According to the Sun-Times:

"The Sun-Times business is changing rapidly and our audiences are consistently seeking more video content with their news. We have made great progress in meeting this demand and are focused on bolstering our reporting capabilities with video and other multimedia elements. The Chicago Sun-Times continues to evolve with our digitally savvy customers, and as a result, we have had to restructure the way we manage multimedia, including photography, across the network."



The story did not shock me. It is just the latest in a newspaper taking action to improve its bottom line by the novel approach of cheapening its product. What intrigued me were the words, "The Chicago Sun-Times continues to evolve with our digitally savvy customers.....". Digitally savvy customers? Sounds impressive but what in hell is a digitally savvy customer?

As I understand it, the modern definition of a digitally savvy person is someone who can use computers or other digital equipment. A digitally savvy person is also one who can use numbers and do arithmetic. Now that explains the "evolve" part of the Sun-Times statement. When all we could do was work with numbers on a sheet of paper we needed professional news coverage. Now that we have evolved into computer savvy individuals and become addicted to smart phones we have no need for sophisticated newspapers; Twitter, You Tube and Facebook will do the trick as well as dumbed down newspapers.




May Day! May Day!

To be inert is inexcusable. To be alert is commendable. To be an introvert is not all bad. To be an extrovert is not all good. To be a pervert is definitely all bad. They all find their way to the social media.

Twitter encourages an introvert to assert himself, while Facebook is an extrovert's dessert. Both medias are a home for perverts anxious to exert hurt with their dirt.

Writing this post was a lark but its bark may not hit the mark. Inert as it is , I will insert it anyways. Oh what the hell, it is better than ranting and raving about things better left to the experts. Or is it?

Stay tuned for my post about  dandelions.

 May Day! May Day! Blog in trouble!

What price privacy?

The most uninteresting person in the world - on the left

Just finished reading Consumer Report's expose on privacy. The emphasis was on Facebook but I suspect that Twitter and even Blogger are targets for invasion of our sacred privacy. I'm flattered to think that someone is lurking in blogoshere to usurp my identity. I would forewarn them that they are barking up the wrong tree. To assume my identity, the would be usurpers will be doomed to being the most uninteresting  person in the world ( my apologies to Dos Equis). Just to play safe, upon Consumer Report's  recommendation I have removed my John Barrymore image from Twitter and Facebook. Blogger for the time being will have to put up with my true image.

I wonder if all this privacy crap has something to do with the phone call I got today. I have won 5.5 million dollars. The caller did not want my bank account number or my my credit card number. He, in broken English, just wanted me to confirm that I was who I was. Of course I am who i am. Am I a millionaire? I wouldn't be wasting my time on blogger if I was.

After seeing some of my more recent images, I'm seriously thinking of changing my Blogger image. Not in the interest of privacy but in the interest of propriety.

Listening Post

One of the definitions of a listening post is:

A position from which to listen or gather information.

Listening Position

While in my favorite listening position in the recliner,  I heard a cerebral voice suggesting that I write a listening post. Why not? A post devoted to what I've heard is just what the blogosphere has been waiting for. One problem. My listening position invariably subjects me to dreams and nightmares which affect the recollection of what I've actually listened to. Nonetheless, I'll try to recall what came through at my listening post.

Listening Post

I heard Arianna Huffungton on the Colbert Show dismiss the right and the left in favor of right and wrong. At first blush it makes sense. At second blush some rightie might say that he heard that you are either a right rightie or a wrong leftie. As I listened to more from Ariana, I concluded that what we really need is common sense rather than righties and lefties. That's what happens when dreams confuse what you are actually listening to.

How about all the speculation on presidential candidates? If you listen to the pundits, the 2012 presidential election is old news. The real news is who is going to run in 2016. I've listened to all of their guesses and decided that it was time to wake up. If these characters lull us to sleep by declaring that the 2012 race is boring we are likely to be confronted by President Romney. Now that would indeed be a nightmare.

I keep hearing that Social Security and Medicare are in trouble because of an aging population. As I understand it, these programs were needed for the aged, so why are we blaming the aged. If everyone passed on before the age of 65, Social Security and Medicare would be in excellent shape. I'm sure some rightie will come up with a program to make this happen. I've also heard that those vitamin pills advertised for those past the age of 55 may be a version of Soylent Green. 2022 is just around the corner. I wonder if Charlton Heston is planning a presidential run in 2022. Probably not, I've heard he's still knocking at those pearly gates clutching his favorite rifle.

How about those Secret Service agents carousing with prostitutes in Colombia? I listened to a female lawmaker suggest that the solution to this sort of male behavior was to enlist more female Secret Service agents. I'm not quite sure whether the intent is to eliminate the need for prostitutes or just give gigolos a shot at the president.

I put my ear to a railroad track the other day hoping to pick up some news but discovered that all the news makers are flying these days.

Many people these days get their news from Twitter and Facebook. I tried listening to both but the silence was deafening.

I listened to some Cleveland sports pundits proclaim that Johnny Damon will be the second coming of Christ when he is activated as a Cleveland Indian. This will only happen if he grows a beard  and lets his hair grow down to his shoulders. He's done that before.

The High Primal has a habit of accusing me of not listening to a thing she says. Not true. How else could I have come up with "According To Marge".

That yawn I just heard was either from my horde of readers or just me getting ready for another listening post session.

Food For Thought From Twitter

I found these tweets by @harryfinch in Twitter especially thought provoking:

Sometimes I wonder how long a year actually lasts.

Anyone looking for a sign eventually finds one.

Memo to Tea Party: the American Revolution was not a grassroots movement

My advice is to learn to mark the sun's progress, for only it knows when it is time for the first drink of the day.

He traveled exclusively by train, so when a destination could not be achieved by rail he was rewarded with the comfort of not having to go.

The demise of the book is no big deal, unless you regret the loss of beautiful objects.

If you want to understand America, consider the kitchen island.

Any American with half a brain considers himself an exile.

We are an entire country, a nation, sitting out a war. And it is our war.

I hereby resolve .....

My last few blog posts are starting to resemble Twitter. They might even be classified as litter. Could it be that my blog is out of kilter and has lost its glitter? My lack of creativeness is apparent and has made me bitter. I don't want to fritter my time away so I hereby resolve that in 2010 my aim will be quality and quantity be damned. I think I've twittered again but it's still 2009!