Vending Machines, No. 59

Sunshine on Trees

Spring

Abandoned Hotel Revisited

Irrigation

Jagged Shore

Jetty

Going Down

Quote(s) of the Month

In a scathing response to the whining of Jake DeSantis and anyone else who thinks the American public is somehow legally or morally obliged to pay "retention" bonuses, Matt Taibbi writes:

[...] [L]et's just say, Jake, that you're telling the truth, that you don't know anything about this toxic portfolio. If that's the case, then why the fuck does anyone need to retain you at an exorbitant salary to help unwind that very portfolio? If these transactions aren't and never were your expertise, then where the hell is your value here?

And...

[...] [H]alf of Wall Street is unemployed right now. There are plenty of unemployed traders out there whose resumes don't include such entries as "Worked for years at small unit of AIG that helped destroy the universe; throughout that time was completely ignorant of burgeoning global disaster unfolding 5 feet from my desk."

And... well click the link and read for yourself. You won't be disappointed.

Rice Paddies (1)

Abandoned Hotel

Horikiri Pass

Vending Machines, No. 58

Self Portrait

Cell phone pic (in case it's not already pretty obvious).

Sic Transit Gloria Cyclopis

According to the latest Technorati rankings, this blog is the 471,890th best blog in the world. I remember those early, heady days when I was around 180,000th. Nothing lasts forever, I guess...

News from the Old Country

Greg Gutfeld, the host of Fox's late-night show Red Eye, after apparently insulting damn near everyone in Canada with a "lighthearted, humorous and ridiculous" portrayal of the Canadian military, and in particular its activities in Afghanistan, felt compelled to issue an apology. Well, actually, it seems the apology only came after Canada's Minister of Defence contacted Fox and demanded one.

Here's a clip of the "offending" segment, and I encourage readers to try and get through 30 or 60 seconds before stopping...



If you're anything like me, you probably found that clip offensive too. Not, however, because it mocked Canadians and the Canadian military, but because it's about the lamest, most puerile, un-funny piece of shit you've likely seen in a while. Christ on a fucking stick, if all these clowns can offer up is lame stereotypes from 30 years ago, then they should be apologizing to Americans (whom one would assume are the intended audience). What's offensive is that these fifth-rate shitheads couldn't even haul their heads out of their own asses long enough to check a fucking newspaper to see if anything they said had any remote connection to the real world. [Hint to other would-be comedians: it's only funny if there's some chance, however remote, that what you're saying could be true. Simply making stuff up requires a subtlety and nuance that nobody at Fox is capable of. At this rate, I'd say that in about 10 years anything commonly recognized as "comedy" will be associated exclusively with "the Left."]

Personally, I'd have been quite happy if the Canadian government had just ignored this. Being offended by the content of this clip is like getting upset after seeing some monkeys whacking off in their cage at the zoo...

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According to this CBC story, Canadians are among the most optimistic people in the world about their financial future. Actually, I have no idea what this is about. Possibly this?

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Good grief. Was Canada's health care the problem in Natasha Richardson's death?

Assuming Richardson initially declined medical care here [in the U.S.--R] as well, once she did present to caregivers that she was suffering from a possible head trauma, she would've been immediately transported by air, weather permitting, and arrived in Denver in less than an hour. If this weren't possible, in both resorts she would've been seen within 15 minutes at a local facility with CT scanning and someone who could perform temporary drainage until transfer to a neurosurgeon was possible. If she were conscious at 4 p.m., she most likely would have been diagnosed and treated about that time, receiving care unavailable in the local Canadian hospital. She might still have died or suffered brain damage but her chances of surviving would have been much greater in the U.S.

Sigh... I most certainly mean no disrespect to Natasha Richardson in the following, but...

I've read nothing to make me believe that she didn't receive medical care at least as good as I (a Canadian citizen) would have received in similar circumstances. And I seriously question whether I, a hypothetical not-rich visitor to the United States would receive the kind of medical care described above. In fact I question whether most Americans would receive that kind of care, as theoretically possible as it may be.

In more general terms, I sure would like to live forever, but shit happens, and I'm not going to be the guy crying because I'm on the waiting list for a heart transplant or something. That, to my mind, is not what a "health care system" is about.

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Today's weather forecast for Halifax: partly cloudy, and a bit on the cool side at -3C.

Under the Tracks (2)

"Graduation"

In Japan no milestone big or small can pass without some sort of formal ceremony to mark the occasion (and annoy the hell out of me). And so yesterday (yeah, a Sunday...) I had to get up at practically the crack of dawn (well, 8:00), put on a suit, and take the family to the "graduation" ceremony of my daughter's kindergarten. The fathers all looked like they had hangovers, and the mothers all cried (ostensibly tears of joy for our little snowflakes moving on to bigger and better things; I suspect, however, they were tears of cynical laughter at their husbands having been forced to get up so unreasonably early on a Sunday morning...).

Under the Tracks (1)

Sun on Building

Cell phone pic.