End of the weekend thoughts
I had planned to go to a movie today and wound up just staying home. Between the occasional times I've felt weak over the past weeks and the fact I worked six days each of the past two weeks, I am guessing my body was demanding a day off. It got its wish. I also decided to take at least one other day off this coming week. It is a tough call given the paucity of work for me at this time of year.
For how many decades have I told myself on dreary mornings when I do not want to head off to the office, "I owe, I owe, so off to work I go" to convince myself I have no choice? I don't want to know.
* * *
As I write this blog, the death toll in that Oakland warehouse fire stands at 33. Here are some quotes from a Los Angeles Times article on how the fire may impact other artist enclaves in Oakland warehouses.
“I don’t want people to lose our creative outlet,” said Jennifer Jennings, 39. “There are already fewer and fewer places to live.”
Neela Davis was quoted as saying, “It costs money to do things by the book,” she said. “And there isn’t always the money to do it.”
Fremaux Seltzer was quoted as saying, “It’s the kind of thing you joke about in DIY houses, that a building isn’t up to fire code,” he said. “But now it’s not funny."
No, it isn't. And to make things worse, the man who operated this warehouse, one Derick Ion, took to Facebook to bemoan the loss. Not the loss of life, but the loss of his business.
The daughter of the owner's building told the San Francisco Chronicle that the building was leased as a business and was not supposed to have people living there. There are reports that the building was not permitted for use as living quarters and yet there were at least three complaints made about the building since 2014. How did building inspectors visit this place and not take note of the fact that a building that was not permitted to be a residence had a number of tenants living in it.
Is affordable but unsafe housing an alternative in order to live where one wants to? It's a really tough question.
* * *
Donald Trump has announced he will nominate retired Marine Corps four-star general James "Mad Dog" Mattis to be his Secretary of Defense. He will be only the second general officer to hold that position since it was first created in 1947. Prior to that, the Department of Defense had been known as the Department of War, but that changed with passage of the National Security Act of 1947.
That law mandated that at least ten years pass between the retirement of a military officer and that person being appointed to this specific position. An exception was made to allow the appointment of former Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall. As a General of the Army, General Marshall technically never retired. In passing the amendment to the National Security Act of 1947, Congress said, “the authority granted by this Act is not to be construed as approval by the Congress of continuing appointments of military men in the office of Secretary of Defense in the future.”
The ten year period during which a former military officer cannot serve in this post was cut to seven years in 2008. But it will still require legislation by Congress to allow General Mattis to be the next Secretary of Defense, as well as confirmation by the Senate.
I believe the Congress should discuss and review the reasons why this language was inserted into that law nearly 70 years ago, before approving the waiver for General Mattis. I find General Mattis to be very qualified for this crucial Cabinet position. That doesn't mean the discussion should not happen, as it is needed.
* * *
I don't know who is behind PJ Media but they are not very good at journalism. Look at this picture.
They used that photo at the top of an article about the death of a man at a Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs facility where maggots were found in a wound. The implication is that this was a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs facility, which is not the case. I'm not sure if it is the author of the piece, one Tyler O'Neil or whoever edited the piece is geographically challenged, but Ann Arbor is in Michigan, not Oklahoma.
The real tragedy is that if you look at the comments section of the piece, people bought into the misleading verbiage and imagery and believe this was an actual VA rather than state level VA issue.
For how many decades have I told myself on dreary mornings when I do not want to head off to the office, "I owe, I owe, so off to work I go" to convince myself I have no choice? I don't want to know.
* * *
As I write this blog, the death toll in that Oakland warehouse fire stands at 33. Here are some quotes from a Los Angeles Times article on how the fire may impact other artist enclaves in Oakland warehouses.
“I don’t want people to lose our creative outlet,” said Jennifer Jennings, 39. “There are already fewer and fewer places to live.”
Neela Davis was quoted as saying, “It costs money to do things by the book,” she said. “And there isn’t always the money to do it.”
Fremaux Seltzer was quoted as saying, “It’s the kind of thing you joke about in DIY houses, that a building isn’t up to fire code,” he said. “But now it’s not funny."
No, it isn't. And to make things worse, the man who operated this warehouse, one Derick Ion, took to Facebook to bemoan the loss. Not the loss of life, but the loss of his business.
The daughter of the owner's building told the San Francisco Chronicle that the building was leased as a business and was not supposed to have people living there. There are reports that the building was not permitted for use as living quarters and yet there were at least three complaints made about the building since 2014. How did building inspectors visit this place and not take note of the fact that a building that was not permitted to be a residence had a number of tenants living in it.
Is affordable but unsafe housing an alternative in order to live where one wants to? It's a really tough question.
* * *
Donald Trump has announced he will nominate retired Marine Corps four-star general James "Mad Dog" Mattis to be his Secretary of Defense. He will be only the second general officer to hold that position since it was first created in 1947. Prior to that, the Department of Defense had been known as the Department of War, but that changed with passage of the National Security Act of 1947.
That law mandated that at least ten years pass between the retirement of a military officer and that person being appointed to this specific position. An exception was made to allow the appointment of former Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall. As a General of the Army, General Marshall technically never retired. In passing the amendment to the National Security Act of 1947, Congress said, “the authority granted by this Act is not to be construed as approval by the Congress of continuing appointments of military men in the office of Secretary of Defense in the future.”
The ten year period during which a former military officer cannot serve in this post was cut to seven years in 2008. But it will still require legislation by Congress to allow General Mattis to be the next Secretary of Defense, as well as confirmation by the Senate.
I believe the Congress should discuss and review the reasons why this language was inserted into that law nearly 70 years ago, before approving the waiver for General Mattis. I find General Mattis to be very qualified for this crucial Cabinet position. That doesn't mean the discussion should not happen, as it is needed.
* * *
I don't know who is behind PJ Media but they are not very good at journalism. Look at this picture.
They used that photo at the top of an article about the death of a man at a Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs facility where maggots were found in a wound. The implication is that this was a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs facility, which is not the case. I'm not sure if it is the author of the piece, one Tyler O'Neil or whoever edited the piece is geographically challenged, but Ann Arbor is in Michigan, not Oklahoma.
The real tragedy is that if you look at the comments section of the piece, people bought into the misleading verbiage and imagery and believe this was an actual VA rather than state level VA issue.
posted by me at 7:11 AM
<< Home