ERA - at last!

In a statement for Labor Day release several prominent officials will issue a proclamation calling for immediate ratification of the long-dormant Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which provides for women to compensation equal to that of men in all occupations. Among the signatories are:

First Lady Michelle Obama: "I will now be able to tell my daughters that they will not be forced into economic second-class citizenship.

Former Governor Sarah Palin: "I urge all governors to join in this bi-partisan effort to secure this long-overdue Amendment"

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton: "This finally secures the full rights of women promised by the 19th Amendment which gave us the right to vote. "

Economic Adviser Lawrence Summers: "I take this opportunity to lay to rest charges of mysogyny levelled against me as I fully support the Equal Rights Amendment."

This effort to amend the constitution has fallen short of the required ratification by the states but times have changed and several commentators have lauded it as an important boost for the economy and for U.S. reputation as a leader in the field of human rights.

protectionism

The current delay between the availability of essentially telephoning, particularly on mobile phones reminds of the absurd protectionist tactics used by the dairy industry in the 1930s and 1940s. In order to have yellow oleomargarine, you had to use a packet of yellow dye and knead it into the product.

The contention by industry spokespersons was that if they allowed yellow margarine from its maker, there would be some arcane health issue. They would never admit that they were obstructing yellow margarine because its price would nearly wreck their business.

Now the "carriers" are clinging for dear life to the absurdly expensive phone calls and putting obstacles to VOIP wherever possible. We all know that the same "networks" that send all this stuff around are used for all communications traffic and that the phone companies are as doomed as were the butterlords.

Meanwhile, we go through this silly phase of disinformation ("VOIP doesn't sound as good") and pretension. Could we please get over all this and get on with using OUR networks however we want?

Love.

Fin de Junio

Looks like I'll get through June OK.

All's right in the world of Futbol: no player on the U.S. side would qualify to even sit on the Brasil bench and when in the second half of the game the one-on-one skills of the Brazilians was made evident and it was revealed that we were no longer watching a "contest", but an "exhibition" it was clear that Americans better focus on something at which we excel, like self-delusion.

Codeine stops the cough and Dr. Time is working on the underlying infection so that my swine/avian flu is terminating itself rather than its host - me.

I'm still abuzz about "inventing" tone dialing as a means of communication. It's been so well-developed for so long that I had become oblivious to it as a solution to indexing the monster database we can now carry in our pocket. Now, to the I/O solution - the handkerchief that becomes one's display and the glove that accepts input streams without the annoyance of speaking. Where is "conviviall dingo's" foldup device now that we need it?

Love.

eternal parade

One guy says "old age is like being punished for a crime you didn't commit." I think it's the best thing that ever happened to me. Most of it is like a really long movie with only "impossible" events intervening in a mainly predictable/boring plot.

In Madrid there are a lot of benches, at least in the blocks around here and most of those downtown and all Plazas. I sit on a lot of them and watch the endless parade that has lots of my favorites, babies in strollers, rolling by powered by proud parents/grandparents/siblings. 

Eye contact is something we have instincts but not much discussion about and between adults the contacts seldom last over two seconds. Babies can lock on to you for as long as they can see you, going to great measures to twist as they pass. If their pushers stop to window shop, you get to play a lot of peek-a-boo with them. Rarely will a baby fret/cry on seeing this old guy staring with a big smile. They will blink with you and laugh if you stick out your tongue, etc.

Love.