This is a combination commentary and expression description. The expression is being used frequently to describe what is going on with the budget, the deficit, and the lack of courage by politicians in not even mentioning the problem with entitlement spending. Politicians noticed what happened to George W. Bush when he was accused of “trying to privatize Social Security” after he proposed allowing younger people be allowed to voluntarily put one third of their Social Security “contributions” into a private retirement account. Everyone knows something needs to be done, and everyone is “kicking the can down the road.”
Monthly Archives: February 2011
Obama’s Challenge, America’s Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformative President
The most remarkable aspect of the book by Robert Kutner (available new from Amazon for $1.96 at the link), and to the credit of the author, is that it was published well before the 2008 election. It was written with certainty that Mr. Obama was going to win. I agreed with that prediction, but wouldn’t have written a book depending on that outcome. The author writes of his admiration of Presidents Lincoln, FDR, and Johnson, and discusses how Mr. Obama could also become a transformative president. The roadmap presented is to solve the economic crisis by overcoming deregulation and reckless use of military power. I appreciated that he didn’t take the simple approach of blaming Bush for everything. In fact he writes, “Three decades of economic negligence by…elites…weakened the United States…” He even blames Clinton, saying that the economy thrived on his watch “…though some of the prosperity was built on unsustainable bubbles.”
The author presents his ideas of using Progressive approaches to governing, believing that regulation and government involvement results in a stronger economy. He also advocates that all workers should be unionized. I didn’t agree with any of that, but I do agree his assessment that senior citizens are reaping the benefits from Social Security and Medicare (apparently not considered Progressive government programs) at the detriment of the young and middle-aged. I was surprised that the book counseled Mr. Obama to go slow on implementing universal health care, and that he should put his early energies into the economy. Mr. Obama apparently did not read the book. Continue reading
Neck of the Woods
“Funtrivia.com” has a series of explanations about the origin of this idiom. “Neck” was used in English as early as 1555 to describe a narrow strip of land surrounded by water because it resembled the neck of an animal. Americans applied it to a narrow stand of woods or a settlement in the woods. In the heavily forested days of early America “neck of the woods” referred to your home and neighborhood.
DOE Comments about “An Insider’s View of Rocky Flats”
I’ve mentioned that a person who was a senior DOE official provided comments about the book after reading it on line at this web site. I’ll first mention for people who don’t like to read on a computer screen that the book is now available in paperback and can be ordered from both Amazon.com and CreateSpace.com. The book continues to be free at the book link on this web site.
The comments began with the sentence, “The mid to late 1980’s were a perfect storm of national and international events that affected the future of Rocky Flats.” The events mentioned included funding of the international anti-nuclear movement by the Soviet Union, major international accidents, DOE’s loss of a lawsuit on regulation of wastes, and a Congressional act that had a major impact on operation of DOE facilities. I’ll discuss the first three here.
The book, “An Insider’s View of Rocky Flats” discusses the declining reputation of Rocky Flats over time. There are several reviews about Soviet Espionage against the United States (Venona, Witness, Perjury, and Out of Bondage) in that link on this web site. However, I hadn’t considered the possibility of Soviet involvement in anti-nuclearprotests. A Wikipedia article, “Soviet influence on the peace movement,” discusses how the Soviets supported organizations such as the World Peace Council. That group received millions in funding from the Soviets, organized peace conferences, and refrained from criticizing the Soviets. There was a Congressional report in 1980 that listed six peace groups that received Soviet funding and were “closely connected” with the World Peace Council. I don’t doubt the anti-nuclear protests had a negative impact on the public’s perception of places such as Rocky Flats, because that was the intent of the protestors. I do doubt that most of the people participating in those protests knew or thought what they were doing was encouraged or was even funded by the Soviets. (I intend to do addtional research on this subject, and have requested references listed in the Wikipedia article.)
The commenter also provided an insightful analysis of how nuclear and industrial accidents affected the public’s acceptance of risk. Three Mile Island and Chernobyl strengthened the anti- nuclear movement. The Challenger explosion startled the nation, and the leak of a toxic gas in Bhopal, India that killed thousands was an international scandal. “When it became clear that the causes of these accidents had similar causes to the allegations that had been made about Rocky Flats, the public’s view toward Rocky Flats further hardened.”
I don’t intend to spend much time on the issue of DOE losing lawsuits in which they contended they weren’t required to comply with hazardous waste laws, since I gave that quite a bit of attention in the book. I’m working on writing a posting about how Congressional action created immense “unintended consequences” for DOE facilities.
More Than One Way to Skin a Cat
The term is used to express that there are always multiple ways of accomplishing something. However, the origin apparently had nothing to do with being creative about the approach to completing a task. Charles Funk in “A Hog on Ice” writes that it came from watching children hanging by the hands from a branch or bar, drawing the legs up through the arms and over the branch, and pulling themselves up into a sitting position. The term first showed up in print around 1845.
Paperback Version of “An Insider’s View of Rocky Flats”
Requests for a “book that can be held” in addition to the online and downloadable e-book (PDF) versions currently available on this website, have prompted me to produce a print version that I am happy to announce is now available through both Amazon and CreateSpace. You can read a short description of the book at those links. Amazon offers free shipping for orders over $25, if you want to combine an order with other books you’ve been wanting.
First and foremost, and to disprove that I have become a greedy Capitalist, electronic forms of the book will continue to be free to any and all who want to read it online or download it. I encourage you to scan the content to decide whether you want to own the paperback. I also encourage you to watch this blog over the next couple of weeks to see important information provided by people who wanted to share some valuable insights.
I’m pleased that a printed hardcopy book is now available and I intend to buy copies to give to family. To those who might want an autographed copy, I would also be happy to sign purchased copies, although you will have to hand or send me the book. Your choice will be whether you want my “business signature, Farrel D. Hobbs,” or my “personal signature, Farrel.”
Getting that out of the way, who should buy this book? I recommend it to former Rocky Flats workers who are conflicted about whether Rocky Flats delivered an overall positive or negative benefit to our nation. I recommend it to people who are interested in sorting out the factual history of Rocky Flats from the inaccurate and sensationalized urban myths.
I am pleased that an ardent critic of Rocky Flats has commented, “… his narrative is very even tempered …” and, “[h]is engaging account will be of interest to any who cares about the legacy of Rocky Flats … including peace and environmental critics.” I am also pleased that a DOE official who had some connection with Rocky Flats has referred to the “…valuable website,” which includes a link to electronic forms of this book.
The paperback version of the book is currently available at both Amazon.com and CreateSpace.com at the links given above for $9.95 + S&H.