The Goat Rope

Has the worm turned?

2012-01-26T13:49:00.000-05:00

Image by way of wikipedia.

I have lived most of my life in a time of widening economic inequality and have been making noise about it for a long time now. For years, it seemed like people were just getting used to it. As one of Dostoevsky's characters put it (I think it was in Crime and Punishment), "Man gets used to anything--the scoundrel."

But lately it seems like that may not be the case. More and more people are talking about it. It's front and center in political debates these days. Something weird must be up when predatory capitalism becomes an issue in the Republican presidential primary.

I think for all its quirks, the Occupy Wall Street movement deserves a lot of credit for surfacing the issue and getting it out there. The whole 99 percent/1 percent thing has become a bit of a meme, a term invented by Richard Dawkins to describe an idea or phrase that catches on.

It's still too soon to tell whether this is a sea change or a flash in the pan. But a turning worm would be nice.

THE MONEY/HAPPINESS THING discussed here.

NEED A DOSE OF ZEN? Click here.

THIS IS YOUR BRAIN on politics.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Grab bag

2012-01-25T10:58:00.002-05:00

El Cabrero just read his first John Le Carre novel, to wit The Spy Who Came In From the Cold. This is probably going to sound really bad but it kind of made me almost nostalgic for the Cold War. When it came to an end, while other people were celebrating, I remember wondering what other kinds of demons would be loosened which had been held in check before. It turned out to be quite a few.

I hope I'm wrong about this, but it occurred to me then that the dangers of the future might make that nearly 50 year period of relative equilibrium, also known as a balance of terror, look like good old days.

On that cheery note, here are a few items that caught my eye today...

RATING THE SOTU. Here's Lawrence Mishel of the Economic Policy Institute on President Obama's state of the union address.

DUMBING US DOWN. Working in groups can do just that.

DOGS appear to have been domesticated as long as 33,000 years ago. Next question: have they found any fossilized squeaky toys?

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Feeling good is optional

2012-01-23T20:12:00.000-05:00

I have always felt that there is a lot to be learned from physical exertion. An example of that occurred to me after I started training for and running (or limping) in races again after knee surgery this summer.

Here is the life lesson I learned: there is absolutely no necessary connection between feeling good and doing OK. By that I mean that one can feel totally miserable and still meet or exceed goals. In one recent 5 mile race, my legs felt like broken dead sticks, my lungs burned and my feet hurt with every step. But I finished a few minutes ahead of my goal (though admittedly way behind most other people).

It would be nice to feel good when you're up against a challenge. It may even have happened to me at some point in the distant past, although I can't recall it. But it's not required. What is required is to keep going.

OPTIMISM, ANYONE? Paul Krugman seems to see sun shining through the economic clouds.

FEEDING THE TROLLS. Here's an op-ed by yours truly on why WV needs an office of minority affairs to address racial disparities.

AN UNFORTUNATE MEME: the welfare queen.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Occupying the courts

2012-01-22T21:30:00.000-05:00

Last Friday marked the second anniversary of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, which gave corporations even more power than they had before to corrupt democracy.

That day, over 100 people gathered in Charleston, WV, as they did around the country to make a statement that this was not cool.

One of my favorite parts of the event was a bit of street theater in which Uncle Sam tried to teach certain justices the difference between real people and corporations.

All kinds of people showed up.

Of course there were signs. This was one of my favorites.

And there was music, including a song by Little Steven aka Steve van Zandt which I hadn't heard for years. If you recall, Little Steven is part of Bruce's E Street Band and played Silvio Dante on The Sopranos.

A good time was had by all.

How much longer?

2012-01-19T19:45:00.000-05:00

Ken Ward had a great post in Coal Tattoo today, which is the sixth anniversary of Massey Energy's Aracoma mine fire which killed miners Don Bragg and Elvis Hatfield. Nobody far up the corporate ladder was prosecuted for those deaths, although MSHA did level record fines (at the time) against the company.

Just think: if justice would have truly been done then--and if the big dogs at Massey were justly served--there's a good chance those 29 miners killed at Upper Big Branch might be alive. Ward quotes lawyer Bruce Stanley, who represented the families of Bragg and Hatfield:

Sadly, aggressive prosecution against upper management in the Aracoma case might have spared us the horror of UBB. We’ll never know, of course. But we certainly hope that the lesson of making deals with the devil has been learned, that the criminal investigation makes its way into the boardroom as well as the guard shack, and that Alpha chooses a different path than its predecessor.

This time around, at least, federal prosecutors haven't ruled out additional prosecutions.

I don't mean to get too apocalyptic,or too vengeful, but I can't help thinking of the verse from the Book of Revelations where the martyred saints cry out to God, asking how much longer justice would be delayed.

The Secret for dogs

2012-01-18T22:49:00.001-05:00

A few years back, the New Age book titled The Secret told readers that the universe was pretty much a wish-granting machine. Here at Goat Rope Farm, the humans are pretty skeptical of such claims, but the animals appear to be true believers.

One great practitioner of The Secret is Arpad, the Great Pyrenees who serves as security chief. He seems to believe that the universe is like a banquet spread out just for him--and it seems to work out that way.

Wednesday, while on a routine afternoon walk, he struck out on his own following his nose and showed up shortly thereafter with the latest gift from the universe, which consisted of the skull, spinal column and ribs of a deer that went down during hunting season.

For him, it's just another example of the generosity of the universe.

A BANG OR A WHIMPER? Here are some possible doomsday scenarios for your dining and dancing pleasure.

ANCIENT PERUVIANS ATE POPCORN. So what movies did they watch?

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Stand

2012-01-17T20:05:00.000-05:00

I think there is a Zenlike profundity to the old REM song "Stand." I have long noticed that people concerned with things like peace and social justice are often deeply concerned about things that are far away.

There's nothing wrong with that. It's admirable. But I keep going back to the ancient observation of the Stoic philosopher Epictetus, who noted that we have control over some things but not others. And it's always seemed to me that we have more power where we are than where we aren't. That's where the REM lyrics come in.

Stand in the place where you live. Stand in the place where you work. Stand in the place where you are.

It's like Vegas. The odds are against you, but you must be present to win.

INEQUALITY. It matters.

YOU MAY THINK PEOPLE ARE GOOD AT USING THEIR MIDDLE FINGERS, but they have nothing on a species of Madagascar lemurs.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

A song that came to mind

2012-01-16T20:50:00.000-05:00

Sitting through my beloved state of West Virginia's official celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, which really had some great and unexpected moments, I couldn't help thinking about some of the lyrics of Phil Ochs' song Crucifixion, which, as the title implies, is a bit of a downer.

For Ochs, it was a song about Christ, about King himself, and maybe about a Kennedy or two. But it's also about how we somehow like to neutralize the threats posed by some people who shake things up and turn those who were dangerous in life to something harmless but fascinating in death--while we get off on the drama of it all.

Here's a link to the lyrics (although I heard I line or two differently).

ON THE VIRTUE OF NOT STAYING QUIET. Here's Krugman on Dr. King's legacy today--and what we can learn from it.

A CHANCE FOR A GOOD BILL? For the last few years, I've worked with friends to try to pass a bill that would begin to address racial disparities in WV. This article makes it sound like something might happen this year. Would that it were so.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Long time coming

2012-01-15T18:01:00.000-05:00

“We must rapidly begin theshift from a "thing-oriented" society to a"person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profitmotives and property rights are considered more important than people, thegiant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of beingconquered.” --Martin Luther King Jr.

Would that it were so

2012-01-13T10:50:00.002-05:00

Kudos to AFLCIO president and former UMWA leader Rich Trumka for calling for serious discussions about climate change and the future of coal. Of course, I don't expect political leaders in the Mountain State of Denial to pay a lot of attention, but every little bit helps.

ON THE POSITIVE SIDE, climate change may make reptiles smarter.

NOT ONLY ARE CORPORATIONS NOT PEOPLE, but America isn't one either.

LOOKING AHEAD, Nobel economics laureate Joseph Stiglitz sees a rough year in 2012.

HAS ANYONE NOTICED that I've gone a week without mentioning zombies?

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

One good thing

2012-01-12T09:38:00.000-05:00

I was a little underwhelmed by WV Governor Tomblin's state of the state address last night but there was one high point. Here it is, by way of Ken Ward's Coal Tattoo blog:

Just as we must continue to mine coal, we must make certain that our miners are safe. We have created a new rock dusting laboratory. We have increased the number and the salaries for our mine inspectors. We are re-checking our rescue chambers to make sure that they are safe. And, we have diligently worked to determine the causes of the Upper Big Branch disaster to make sure a disaster like that never happens again!

To build on this progress, I will submit legislation designed to improve mine safety. This legislation will enhance rock dusting standards, protect whistleblowers, mandate methane sensors at long walls, and increase pre-shift reviews. We will prohibit mines from announcing that an inspector is coming, and we will provide more training for self-rescuers. We will also begin a year-long study on the training of our inspectors, our foreman, and our miners. Coal mining is a dangerous profession, but we can make it safer. One death in our mines is one death too many.

Some of these recommendations were part of an independent study team appointed by then governor Joe Manchin in the wake of the Upper Big Branch disaster.

If Tomblin's legislation goes through--and governors' bills often do here--that might be the only bright spot in what looks right now to be a less than stellar legislative session.

The writing on the wall

2012-01-10T19:37:00.000-05:00

I saw a bit of graffiti today that had a Zenlike quality. It just said "Life takes time."

CLOSER TO MIDNIGHT. That would be the doomsday clock.

OCCUPATIONS. Naomi Klein discusses the future of the Occupy movement here.

TO SEE THE WORLD IN A GRAIN OF SAND. Or, to be more exact, to see the amazing biodiversity in a single scoop of sea sand.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: UNIMAGINABLE

Mondegreens are us

2012-01-08T11:48:00.000-05:00

“Mondegreen” is a term coinedby Sylvia Wright for what happens when we mis-hear song lyrics. The wordoriginated when Wright misunderstood the lyrics of an old ballad which shebelieved contained the lines that said

They have slain the EarlO' Moray,

And LadyMondegreen.

The real second line said

“and laid him on the green.”

I think most people have come up with their share of Mondegreens,consciously or otherwise. When the Spousal Unit was a kid, she though thelyrics of Johnny and June Carter Cash’s "Jackson" started by saying “We gotmarried in a peanut” instead of a fever.

El Cabrero, of course, is way above such silly errors. Althoughthere was one time when the Stevie Nicks song “Edge of seventeen” came on theradio and I wondered aloud, “why the hell is she singing about a one-wingeddove?”

I’ll bet you’ve got a Mondegreen or two up your sleeves as well,Gentle Reader.

FIXING AMERICA. Here's a review of a book on the topic by one of my favorite economists.

THE WHOLE CORPORATIONS/PEOPLE THING is discussed here.

DOGS LOVE TO SNIFF IT. But who would have thought this could help killer whales?

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

One more (zombie) thing

2012-01-04T15:22:00.000-05:00

OK, for the record, I never swore off blogging aboutzombies. I just said I planned on cutting back a bit. And I have, mostly.

But a friend sent me this item about how Delaware CountyOhio health officials used volunteer “zombies” to help with a hazardousmaterials decontamination drill. When the call for zombies went out, peoplecame from as far as 100 miles away to join in. They were given instructions formakeup and those who needed it got help in that department. There waseven a “best zombie walk” contest.

Fortunately for the volunteers, they were decontaminatedwith a fire hose and candy rather than having their brains whacked. Butsome zombiephobes, including no doubt my over-educated daughter, would want toremind the public that real zombies won’t go down that easy.

(Said daughter also has a thing about bears…which makes mewonder about the possibility of a zombie/bear alliance.)

GEARING UP FOR THE SOCIAL JUSTICE FIGHTS OF 2012? Click here.

ARGUMENTATIVE TEENS may not be such a bad thing.

APOCALYPSE NOW? Maybe not.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Never. Happen. Here.

2012-01-03T11:35:00.000-05:00

When I learned that Ohio officials suspended activities at a well pumping fracking liquid underground after several earthquakes in the area, I felt a little jealous.

I hate to say it, but I don't think something like that would never happen in West Virginia. Given the fact that too many state leaders have such cozy relationships with extractive industries, it would be unthinkable that they would inconvenience any such industry in the least regardless of the damage done to the public or the land itself.

SO THAT'S WHY IT WAS A LOUSY YEAR. Here are some pretty telling charts about the state of the economy in 2011.

THIS THING ON SCORPION EYES kinda weirded me out.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Breaking the freeze

2012-01-02T13:27:00.002-05:00

El Cabrero is generally OK with resolutions, New Year's and otherwise. One that I plan on working on this year is breaking the freeze. The term "breaking the freeze" comes from Rory Miller's writings about violence and self defense, but the idea applies in lots of situations.

Here's how I break it down. Sometimes, when people are in dangerous or simply high pressure situations, they tend to freeze up. Freezing up was once probably an evolutionary adaptation to predators, which often track motion. But it can get you killed or, in less dramatic situations, can cause all kinds of problems, even on as simple a scale as procrastinating and causing work to pile up.

The important thing to do when you are in freeze mode is to recognize it and force yourself to do something. Once you break the freeze by actually acting, you're better able to deal with the situation. One thing I plan on working on this year is breaking the freeze in the sense of making it a practice to make myself jump in and do the things I'd rather delay or not do at all.

Starting tomorrow. Or maybe the day after.

TALKING SENSE. Here's Krugman on debt, national and otherwise.

FAMILY VALUES? Here's an interesting Gazette editorial on how the recession and economic hard times are affecting marriage.

BREAKING HABITS. Here's an interesting item from NPR about kicking bad habits.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Garlic day

2011-12-29T15:43:00.002-05:00

A major seasonal ritual at Goat Rope Farm this time of year is the planting of the garlic, which is the one plant for which I have any gardening affinity. The custom here is to pick a day after the first frosts of winter but before the ground is hard; break up the soil, add compost (thanks, goats), dig rows; plant and cover cloves then and cover the rows with straw for mulch. That's pretty much it until mid summer. It's nice to think that during the bleak midwinter and chilly days of early spring the year's first crop is doing its thing.

THE LINK MAKER IS STILL ON STRIKE. Links about serious issues to resume next week.

IN LIEU OF WHICH, here's a superficial rural thought for the day: I wish someone would invent a chainsaw with a battery and key starter...I nearly wore my arm out yesterday yanking fruitlessly on the cord.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Pagan goats

2011-12-28T12:29:00.000-05:00

You usually don't see goats in nativity scenes, live or otherwise. This NY Times item even reports of a goat escaping from a live nativity scene. For that matter, goats don't usually show up in Christian iconography except in Last Judgement scenes, in which they represent the damned.

Having lived around them, I'd have to say that they don't seem to have much of an affinity for Christianity either. In fact, I detect a certain fondness for classical Greco-Roman paganism among them. Zeus, father of gods and men, was after all nursed by a goat as an infant on the island of Crete and they were also associated with Dionysus.

As I've mentioned here before, the word tragedy probably originally meant goat song, i.e. something performed at the festival of Dionysus.

Maybe that explains why our goats seem more into Saturnalia than Christmas at this time of year.

And the winner is...

2011-12-27T16:01:00.001-05:00

An occasional holiday practice around these parts is the search for spectacularly tacky Christmas presents. This year, the Spousal Unit received a real winner from her Parental Units. It was a clock. Or rather, a tiny bit of it was a clock. The rest of it was a peacock with filaments coming up behind the tail which light up and change colors when plugged in.

What better gift for a woman with real peafowl?

The Parental Units-in-law found this one at a clock repairers shop, where apparently it had been abandoned (perhaps like the infant Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame). At any rate, the store owner sold it very cheaply, even joking about taking money to get rid of it.

(Still, it's kind of cool to look at.)

NEWS OF THE WORLD. The serious link makers are still on strike this week, although a frivolous one or two might show up.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Think of the possibilities

2011-12-26T19:13:00.000-05:00

If anyone ever wondered if there are any practical reasons for blogging, I have an answer. A few days before Christmas, I mentioned here that I wanted to read Tony Horowitz's new book on John Brown, Midnight Rising.

It so happened that a friend and Goat Rope reader had it and was done with it. She put it in the mail and it came on Christmas Eve.

That's what I'm talking about. Thanks, YSF!

(Note to self: need to figure out whether that works year round or only near holidays. Oh yeah, and next time mention need for new car.)

LINKS. There are none. The linkmaking elves are on vacation this week.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Just saying

2011-12-23T09:13:00.000-05:00

If this is true, it is SOOOOO not my fault.

Merry Christmas and all that!

Last zombie word...for a while

2011-12-22T10:11:00.001-05:00

It seems vaguely inappropriate to mention zombies in yet another blog post this close to Christmas, but I received some important correspondence after yesterday's tongue in cheek post (which is here).

A friend of mine wrote to tell me that, in the event of a zombie apocalypse, more than one website recommends the khukuri knife as a means of neutralizing the walking dead and thus staying off their menu.

If you don't believe me, click here and here.

I filed this knowledge away for future reference in the event of a mass zombie outbreak. (It turns out that said friend actually gave me a khukuri a while back, before I got on the whole zombie thing.)

However, this raises a professional dilemma for me. El Cabrero works for a Quaker organization and it is well known that Quakers have a testimony against violence. However, it is not clear whether this would apply to zombies, since they technically are not alive. Until I get a ruling from the central office, I shall devoutly hope that no zombie apocalypse ensues and, if one does, I will attempt to confine the dispatching of said zombies to non working hours.

Here's wishing you and yours, Gentle Reader, a happy and zombie-free holiday season.

SCROOGED by Congress.

A PERFECT STORM. White Castle, the chain that makes the little burgers which I crave, is contemplating selling alcohol as well. If that goes through, I think I've gotta move to Ohio.

I WANNA READ this new book about John Brown's raid.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

More on the whole zombie thing

2011-12-21T09:51:00.001-05:00

I have mentioned more than once that my over-educated daughter has an inordinate fascination with zombies. Prompted by her repeated expressions of concern, I have undertaken extensive research and watched one episode of The Walking Dead.

On the basis of this scientific research, I have developed what I call the Cabrero Theorem of Zombie Apocalypses, which should be worth a Nobel Prize. It goes like this: the survivability of a zombie outbreak is inversely proportional to their intelligence. Or, conversely, it is directly proportionate to their stupidity.

(In other words, if they are smart, communicative and can use tools, we're gonna get eaten.)

((But then if they were, would they really be zombies?))

You can quote me on this, but please use a footnote.

NO DIRECT CONNECTION, but how about that US House of Representatives?

STIRRING UP A HORNET'S NEST. A local controversy with racial overtones is brewing in Charleston, where Kanawha County school officials are resisting a community-led effort to name the new West Side Elementary School after Mary Snow, a great African American educator.

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF MARRIAGE is discussed here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Getting the band together?

2011-12-19T07:58:00.000-05:00

El Cabrero has been a negligent blogger lately due to crazy days. I'll try to do better this week, although I sense there's a bit of slacking going on out there.

First up, here's a possible sneak preview. Things might be about to get interesting with the Occupy movement in West Virginia. Rumor has it that the mostly young Occupy activist may link up with union retirees fighting to regain promised benefits. More on that to come if it takes off. This could be fun.

(Disclosure: one of my all time favorite social justice fights was supporting workers at this aluminum plant during a long and bitter lockout around 20 years ago. This could be like getting the band together again. A good fight is a great Christmas present.)

IN THE SPIRIT OF FAIR PLAY. I was encouraged to see this story break last week about Alpha Natural Resources reaching a contract deal with the United Mine Workers at five coal preparation plants. Alpha, you will recall, bought out the notoriously anti-union (anti-human?) Massey Energy and they really seem to be trying to make a fresh start.

This is just gossip, but I heard through a relative who spends time in the eastern Kentucky coalfields that former Massey miners are finding the transition from the old company to the new like going from night to day. The record will show that there is absolutely no evidence to convict me of either optimism or coal company fandom, but Alpha does seem to be way less evil than Massey and I hope that this apparent trend is real and that it will continue.

CHRISTMAS REFLECTIONS are the theme of the Rev. Jim Lewis' latest Notes from Under the Fig Tree.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

This and that

2011-12-15T09:21:00.005-05:00

It's disappointing but not surprising that the WV legislature passed a gutted version of its Marcellus Shale bill aimed a regulating the new natural gas boom at the behest of Governor Earl Ray Tomblin.

Holy "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," Batman!

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE, the WV Board of Education passed an anti-bullying policy that explicitly protects gay and lesbian students. That ought to give a couple religious right groups something to howl at the moon about.

WINDOWS AND MIRRORS. If you are in the Charleston area today and tomorrow (that would be Thursday Dec. 15 and Friday Dec. 16) come check out "Windows and Mirrors," a traveling art exhibit about the war in Afghanistan. It will be shown at Mountaineer Good News Garage, 221 Hale Street, from 5-8 tonight and from 10-2 on Friday. Here's coverage about it from the Gazette and the West Virginia News Service. Or you can read all about it here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Of haikus, public hearings, rhetoric and zombie brains

2011-12-12T22:07:00.004-05:00

Sometimes, working within a restricted format promotes creativity. Think of haiku for example. There rules are pretty strict--5, 7, 5--but you can come up with all kinds of things.

Sometimes I think testifying at public hearings in the WV legislature is similar. You don't get a lot of time to make your point; sometimes you just have a minute. Some speakers barely get through trying to establish their bona fides or street cred before time runs out.

Public hearings are weird things in WV politics. Sometimes they are like consolation prizes for bills that are going to die. At least they give supporters a chance to rant. Always, they are political theater.

The latest example came Monday during a public hearing about the Marcellus Shale natural gas bill. By way of background, a joint committee of the legislature came up with a pretty good compromise bill. However, Gov. Tomblin announced that he wanted to "tweak" the bill and bring it before a special session of the legislature. To a lot of people concerned with surface owners' rights, the environment and such, Tomblin's idea of tweaking was more like gutting.

Hence the pubic hearing. The oil and gas industry brought in people from all over the state, but in the end critics of the "tweaked" version outnumbered industry supporters.

I attended the public hearing but didn't plan to testify until I was told that numbers mattered this time. I agreed to do it, but only because I was able to come up with a one minute metaphor. It went something like this:

A good Marcellus Shale bill is like a four legged chair. One leg should promote local jobs for local workers. Another should protect surface owners. The third should protect the environment and especially water, which will probably be the oil of the 21st century. The last and perhaps most important leg should protect the people of West Virginia by ensuring that this won't be another time when the social costs get passed on to citizens and taxpayers while the profits leave the state.

I don't know whether that made sense to anybody else but I value the practice of trying to cook a message down to the shortest, stickiest and most memorable form (whether I get there or not). I guess that's why I'm a sucker for public hearings these days.

ZOMBIES ON THE BRAIN. So my daughter (yes, the one with the advanced degree) is still mulling over the possibilities and prospects of a zombie apocalypse. She sent me a link to this CNN item on zombie brains today.

Again, I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry. Or threaten to eat her brains...

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Have knee will travel

2011-12-12T06:08:00.004-05:00

After spending the summer with a blown out knee and part of the fall with one recovering from surgery, it is so nice to have a leg back. I can kick again, although I'm still not at 100 percent in that department.

The best part is the ability to run again. But first let's clarify the meaning of that word as there seems to be some confusion there. Often people have told me that they've seen me out there walking. I try to explain that what looks like walking to them is running to me. I maintain that running is subjective: if you think you're running and it feels like you're running, then you are regardless of speed.

I'm hoping now to build up speed to the point where I can hold and maintain a respectable pace for several miles. Yesterday I met a pace goal at a 5K. I hope to keep that pace at a 5 miler in January and then a 10K in February, although that will mean a lot of interval training between then and now. If that happens, who knows? Maybe a half marathon or the Charleston 15 mile distance run in the summer.

It's not that I enjoy such events at the time. I hate them. But it feels pretty good to have just finished one.

THE D-WORD discussed here.

RATS have empathy; why doesn't the 1 percent?

MORE ON THE UPPER BIG BRANCH DEAL here.

BANKING ON COAL. Here's a connection between Wall Street and a warming planet.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Of fat cats and three for the road

2011-12-09T06:00:00.004-05:00

2011 is a pretty good year for fat cats. Here's a picture of a rally held yesterday in Charleston calling on congress to extend unemployment insurance. The rally was supported by union members, the usual suspects, and people from Occupy Charleston, some of whom just got back from rampaging around Washington DC.

"JOB CREATORS." Here's Krugman on the real life Gordon Gekkos.

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS A LITTLE SAFER TO GO UNDERGROUND. Here's the latest on former Massey CEO Don Blankenship's latest coal maneuvers. (It occurred to me that the last few days may have been a bit of a PR setback.)

FRACKED UP. I am shocked, shocked at this report suggesting that hydraulic fracking may not be good for water supplies and human health. I'm glad that WV politicians and industry hacks are already at work denying this.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Lies, damn lies and more of the same

2011-12-08T06:50:00.000-05:00

According to the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus, "War is the father of all things." I think strife was more what he was getting at in that famous statement but you get the idea. According to Darwin, all life is a ceaseless struggle for existence. And according to Sun Tzu, "All warfare is based on deception."

All of which points to the fact that the living world of nature isn't just all about strife; it's also all about deception. Animals and even plants have evolved elaborate methods of camouflage. Natural examples of deception abound when it comes to eating and being eaten as well as in mating rituals and dealing with others of the same species. In strictly Darwinian terms--which aren't very nice--the ability to deceive rivals, prey and even potential mates had an adaptive value.

No wonder we're so good at it. I recently read a book about evolutionary psychology that suggested that the well known ability of humans to deceive themselves may have been adaptive as well. That would explain a lot...

Lies and cheating are a major subject of contemporary psychological research, as this item from NPR about cheating reports.

I think you'll find it worth a look. Honestly.

UPPER BIG BRANCH JUSTICE? Here's Coal Tattoo on possible future criminal charges for Massey officials. And here's an editorial on unfinished justice from the NY Times.

BEACHFRONT PROPERTY could be coming to you. Not in a good way.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Mining the news

2011-12-07T11:44:00.002-05:00

Here's some of the latest coverage on the settlement of the Upper Big Branch mine disaster from the Charleston Gazette (special focus on the reactions of the families), the New York Times, the Washington Post; and NPR.

As always, the best place to go for all things coal is Ken Ward's uber-blog Coal Tattoo.

One to watch

2011-12-06T08:22:00.002-05:00

In the immortal words of Bob Dylan, "Things are going to get interesting right about now." The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration will release its report today on Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine disaster which killed 29 miners. More interestingly, federal prosecutors will be briefing family members about the state of their ongoing investigations. Let's hope there's way more to come. Here's what we know now by way of Ken Ward in the Charleston Gazette.

More to come.

Regarding daughters, doctorates and zombies

2011-12-05T06:08:00.003-05:00

So my daughter (that would be the one with the advanced degree) announced this weekend, without a trace of apparent irony, that the television series The Walking Dead actually reassured her that a zombie apocalypse could be managed, thanks in part to the stupidity of said zombies. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.

SPEAKING OF ZOMBIES, this item takes on right wing zombie ideas.

ON A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT NOTE, here are two takes on the current state of American politics by Dionne and Krugman.

DOWN UNDER. Urgent undersea tubeworm update here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Back in paradise, again

2011-12-02T12:39:00.003-05:00

El Cabrero is back in WV for the first full day in a few. I had been in Philadelphia for a training for trainers on nonviolent action. Many of the people who attended were co-workers with the American Friends Service Committee around the country who had been involved to one degree or another with the Occupy movement.

It so happened that on the night after our first training, police evicted the Philly encampment, which added a certain something to the experience. I came home to find that police were going to evict Occupy Huntington WV last night.

I've always had mixed feelings about the movement. Personally, I value mobility and unpredictability so much that I would have trouble distinguishing between occupying a place and being incarcerated in it. I guess my hillbilly genes predispose me to raiding rather than occupying. The martial artist in me cannot fathom a movement without goals or specific points of focus for action; it's like swinging wildly at an opponent rather than striking vital points when openings occur.

Still, the occupiers of the world really changed the national conversation and drew attention to issues of corporate power and inequality in a way that nothing else has for a while and nobody can take that away from them.

The big question is: what's next? As winter moves on and police move in, will occupiers fade away? Will the more prosaic skills of organizing, education and action seem appealing in comparison with encamping? Who knows? It already went farther that I ever thought it would and it might have a few more surprises to come.

In any case, the struggle will continue.

TWO MORE TAKES ON THE MOVEMENT. Here's the New Yorker on the history and possible future of the movment. And here's a more critical take on it from Philly itself.

OH GOOD. Here's the latest in fun and games from former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Hard travelin'

2011-11-29T00:00:00.000-05:00

El Cabrero is about to hit the road for a few days, so posts will be irregular for the next stretch. The good news is that this should be an interesting road trip that involves attending a nonviolence training for trainers intended for people working with the Occupy movement. I've had my share of training and being trained, but never this exact thing before.

The bad news is that air travel from and to my beloved state of West Virginia is a bit of a pain in the tuchis. On Tuesday, for example, I have to get up at 3:00 a.m. to catch a 5:30 flight. Not that I'm complaining or anything.

Meanwhile, here are a few items that caught my eye...

THESE DAYS MODERATION IS RADICAL, according to E.J. Dionne.

TAXING IDEAS. Here's Paul Krugman's latest op-ed on (real) deficit reduction.

THE NEXT CONGRESSIONAL MESS is discussed here.

AN OCCUPATION THAT NEEDS OCCUPYING: the field of economics.

AND THAT CRACKDOWN ON OCCUPY SITES...click here for more.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

My true calling

2011-11-27T16:08:00.003-05:00

According to the Steve Martin movie The Jerk, everyone has a special purpose. Who am I to dispute with such a treasured social artifact?

Every time I visit Vermont, I think I receive a glimpse of my special purpose, the talent for which I was permitted to exist on this earth.

It consists of shoveling manure out of a barn that has housed sheep for the winter. The job is a perfect one for me, one which I frequently find myself daydreaming about. It consists of vigorous exercise and unskilled, socially useful labor which requires absolutely no thought on my part. You just shovel, wheel out, dump and repeat. Over and over.

My day job, alas, requires a lot of thought and not nearly as much physical activity as I would like (although some might say there are similarities between my real and ideal profession).

FEEDING THE TROLLS. Here's an op-ed by a friend of mine on the balanced budget amendment which fortunately failed to pass in the US House.

TALKING PEPPER SPRAY here. And here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

A dog's Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T05:00:00.000-05:00

Humans aren't the only ones who enjoy the holiday season. Arpad looks forward to this time of year as one to celebrate the bounty of nature and the generosity of the universe. Here he is with the latest gift, courtesy of nearby deer hunters.

Annual Thanksgiving Possum Recipe

2011-11-23T15:00:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's that time of the year. Holidays are all about tradition and it has long been a custom at Goat Rope to feature a possum recipe at this special time of year. We do this in the hopes that others will partake of this creature so that we do not have to.

This year's selection is one called "Opossum Pie." It looks better than recipes we have featured on previous Thanksgivings (perhaps because there is no possum in it).

Click here to enjoy. Happy Thanksgiving!

Some days no deal is a good deal

2011-11-22T13:46:00.003-05:00

I was glad to see that the [not very] super committee in Congress did not reach an agreement on deficit reduction. Such a "compromise" with the current crew would consist of throwing seniors, working people, the poor and children under the bus. Now we live to fight another day.

Here's a useful item from the National Women's Law Center on the non-deal.

And, in the unlikely event people are serious about rational deficit reduction, here's a great graphic on the costs of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Loud silence

2011-11-21T13:51:00.005-05:00

Compared to happenings in other places, the Occupy movement in West Virginia so far has been pretty tame. Not that I'm complaining. In case you missed it, here's a news story plus two videos from Occupy UC Davis. The first video shows sitting protesters being pepper sprayed point blank a by campus police officer.

The second video is even more dramatic. It features the silent protest of UC Davis chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi as she walked by students after defending the spraying. As a friend of mine put it in an email, this would be an example of "nonviolence done right."

UNLIKELY MESSENGER DEPARTMENT. Here's an item from Business Week, a periodical not generally known for its Marxist leanings, about how inequality hurts the economy.

MORE ON "creative protest" here.

A WOMAN'S PLACE is in the union. Another friend who sent me this link observed that "Among the most progressive union leaders I have worked with over the years, the women, by in large, have held out a great deal of hope for the future."

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Oh really?

2011-11-19T18:41:00.005-05:00

If you have been in or around West Virginia any over the last couple of years, you will have heard a lot about the Obama administration's "war on coal." If you drive anywhere in the state, chances are you've passed a billboard with a picture of several Appalachian states with words that reads "Obama's no jobs zone."

West Virginia's ruling class has long mastered the art of the hissy fit and they have been throwing one ever since W left the White House.

But as Ken Ward notes in Saturday's Charleston Gazette, coal employment in Appalachia is actually at a 14 year high.

So if there is a "war on coal" being waged by the administration, I guess you could say it's not going very well. Or you could just call BS.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Gratuitous animal picture

2011-11-17T11:55:00.000-05:00

We interrupt today's programming to share this picture taken by the Spousal Unit of Arpad drinking from our pond. I suppose I could come up with some metaphor about how things ripple out but mostly I wanted to give people the chance to look at my Sweet Little Angel Baby from Jesus in Heaven.

OK, so he barks all night, still smells like a skunk a month after his last encounter, and drags in random body parts of slain animals in hunting season. But other than that he's just perfect.

NINE DEMANDS OF THE 99 PERCENT. Here's the first eight. You can add your own.

WHAT HE SAID. Here's an op-ed by the WV AFLCIO's Larry Matheney.

IF PEOPLE WERE SERIOUS ABOUT DEFICITS INSTEAD OF CUTTING PROGRAMS, the solutions would be pretty obvious.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Perfect. Not.

2011-11-16T16:08:00.002-05:00

Today, as I was driving my car in the rain, fiddling with my iPhone, working a crossword puzzle, repairing a chain saw and playing my guitar (not really--I can't repair chain saws), a friend sent me a sadly funny series of text messages.

The first one read thus:

I just got asked if I read [Ayn] Rand.

The second read thus:

They went on to say they pick up the audio books at the library.

The third one read thus:

I said, "You do see the irony in that, right?"

(Rand didn't believe in public libraries...or pretty much public anything.)

According to my friend, the Randite in question "didn't even understand when I pointed it out." He went on to say "There is a huge disconnect in this world." Amen to that.

"OCCUPYING OUR DEMOCRACY." Here's Robert Reich on the first amendment rights of corporations and the lack thereof for some people.

MORE ON THAT here.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND WEIRD WEATHER discussed here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Moving towards motion

2011-11-15T16:19:00.003-05:00

The one undeniable achievement of the Occupy movement is the fact that it has changed the national conversation and drawn major attention to economic inequality and the growing power of organized wealth.

All along, though, a nagging question has bothered me. It's kind of the same one that bothered me when US troops were sent to Afghanistan: what's the exit strategy? At what point does one declare victory? When and how do we move on to the next phase of the struggle? It's like the old joke of the dog that chased the car; what does it do when it gets it? Here are some thoughts about this from some people who helped start the movement.

This possible move towards mobility doesn't necessarily mean giving up all encampments, but it might entail recognition that one does not gain points just by camping out. It might be good to move at some point towards a more mobile phase, where different places are targeted for nonviolent action depending on unfolding events. Time could also be spent building stronger alliances between the upstart movement and older social justice institutions.

My reservations about static occupation are not intended as a criticism; it may be largely a matter of temperament. I value mobility above almost anything else so the idea of being tied to one spot makes me feel claustrophobic. Plus, as a person of Scotch Irish descent, I have a hereditary disposition to prefer raiding to occupying.

In any case, the challenge now is how to keep the movement fresh and let it evolve in new and exciting directions.

Napoleon again

2011-11-14T22:24:00.004-05:00

Watching the WV legislature is an occasionally enjoyable spectator sport. Earlier today, which is almost yesterday at this point, I watched an interim committee meeting in which the staff person for an anti-gay "religious" group dug himself in deeper and deeper in a rambling speech.

A line from Napoleon which may well have appeared here before came to mind: "Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."

(Of course El Cabrero has no enemies. He may, however, have any number of euphemisms.)

THIS IS GOING TO BE INTERESTING. The Supremes vs health care reform, that is.

EXTREME INEQUALITY makes for bad economics.

THE WHOLE REGULATIONS KILLING JOBS THING isn't all it's cracked up to be.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

This and that

2011-11-14T07:20:00.004-05:00

Ready or not, here comes the week. Here are a few items that caught my eye.

POLITICS, MORALITY AND THE BRAIN discussed here.

A NEW PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT? Economist Jeffrey Sachs thinks so. I'm not so sure yet.

ZOMBIE "PHILOSOPHY" here's NPR being unnecessarily nice to bad ideas.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

The time has come, the walrus said

2011-11-11T09:22:00.003-05:00

I have several things on my mind heading into the weekend. First off, I'd like to acknowledge the sacrifices made by this country's veterans past and present and to express my hope that in the future fewer will have to go through the ordeal of armed conflict.

Second, one thing that really gets my goat, no pun intended, is the stupid war waged by government agencies against small farms and real food. It's ironic that laws and bureaucracies impede the local food movement while tolerating an industrial "food" system that tortures animals, exploits labor and ruins the environment.

Here's a pretty horrific example of fascism against farm and food from the state of Nevada.

Regular readers of this blog know that I often defend the role that government can play in regulating capitalism and countering its excesses--but this kind of thing doesn't really help in that department. It is this kind of outrage that turns otherwise normal people into libertarians.

Finally, I'm off this weekend to attend an intensive yoga seminar. I have a feeling it will be tougher than the karate training I did in Okinawa a while back. I did, however, have this insight on the difference between ju jitsu and yoga:

In ju jitsu, you apply painful joint techniques to your opponent; in yoga you do it to yourself.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

This is what happens when boxer dogs watch The Godfather

2011-11-10T07:45:00.000-05:00

Sometime this past summer, when the Spousal Unit was away, I watched the Godfather movies. Apparently Edith, our boxer, was paying attention. As said Spousal Unit put it in her Facebook page yesterday,

Dogs don't get that playing Godfather isn't for everyone. (ok so it's not a horse head but stepping out of the shower to this was pretty shocking).

However, it probably had less to do with mob vendettas than with the abundance of "gifts" that hunters leave in the woods this time of year, of which this deer leg is but one example.

OCCUPYING THE HOMELESS. Here's a look at the developing and sometimes bumpy relationship between the Occupy protests and homeless people around the country.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN? Here's a look at progressive victories in this week's elections and what they may mean going forward.

SHELLACKING ON THE RIGHT. Here's E.J. Dionne on the same.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Sweet

2011-11-09T06:08:00.003-05:00

A hearty congratulations to voters in Ohio, who delivered a stunning rebuke to union busters and others who wished to declare open war on the middle class. CNN projects that voters defeated attacks on collective bargaining by a measure of 62 to 38 percent.

That should be a major setback to the plutocratic agenda (and, I hope, the tripartite alliance of greed, ignorance and hatred on which it depends for political success). It would be nice to think that some kind of change is in the air.

Here's the NY Times on yesterday's elections. Aside from the victory in Ohio, I think it's interesting that voters in Mississippi rejected a strict anti-abortion measure.

The whole thing of what constitutes a person is a bit murky these days. I modestly propose that we focus instead on distinguishing between real people and corporations. Sorry, Mitt.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Better than Christmas

2011-11-07T15:00:00.000-05:00

Arpad, shown here with booty from a past hunting season, is a firm believer in the generosity of the universe.

It's getting to be the favorite season of Arpad, Great Pyrenees and chief of security at Goat Rope Farm. From his perspective, it's way better than Christmas.

Instead of just one Santa Claus, the woods this time of year are full of gift bearers armed with hunting rifles, shotguns, and bows who seem to come for the express purpose of leaving offerings for the lucky canine.

At this time of year (and through the winter) he is apt to disappear on foraging runs and emerge from the woods with any number of hides, bones, or internal organs of dead deer.

I noticed the official opening of his blessed season this weekend when he showed up with a dirty snout and no interest in his regular food. I can hardly wait to see what he drags home next.

STIGLITZ ON THE GLOBAL PROTESTS. Here's a Nobel laureate on the protest movements that have swept the world this year.

Sneak preview:

...unfettered markets lead to economic and political crises. Markets work the way they should only when they operate within a framework of appropriate government regulations; and that framework can be erected only in a democracy that reflects the general interest – not the interests of the 1%. The best government that money can buy is no longer good enough.

MAD MEN AND NOSTALGIA discussed here.

THIS IS THE BRAIN on cooperation.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

To start off the week

2011-11-06T18:26:00.003-05:00

Here's some disturbing news about the state of the economy: most of today's unemployed aren't eligible for unemployment insurance anymore. And before anybody opens a can of libertarian dreck, here's a reality check: there are four unemployed Americans for every one new job.

OCCUPATIONS. Here's Bill Moyers on the Occupy movement.

THE NEWEST GENERATION GAP is economic.

THAT "WAR ON COAL," assuming it exists, isn't going too well, hissy fits of the industry and its lackeys to the contrary.

URGENT SPERM WHALE UPDATE here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Just a thought

2011-11-03T13:49:00.003-04:00

I'd like to be wrong about this, but the congressional "super committee" in charge of slashing the deficit seems to be composed of a mixture of bullies and appeasers in equal numbers. This means they are likely to spare the wealthy (the 1 percenters in the parlance of our times) and tax dodging corporations from any increased taxes while slashing the programs that help sustain the other 99 percent.

If that is the case, I think it would be a very good thing if the Occupy movement took up the cause and started kicking up some national dust, with a little help from unions and other friends. To paraphrase Che Guevara, "create two, three, many Oaklands!" (Nonviolently, of course.)

ONE NATION, DIVIDED. Here's Jim Hightower on the 99/1 thing.

VETERANS OCCUPY. This story is a day or so old but worth a look. Around the country, quite a few veterans are stepping up their involvement in the Occupy movement in the wake of the injuring of Iraq war vet Scott Olsen by police in Oakland, which helped spark that city's general strike.

THE R WORD. Here's another one on the future of the Occupy movement.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Regarding marriage and the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

2011-11-02T14:25:00.006-04:00

Here come the Magyars! A painting of Prince Arpad and his followers crossing the Carpathians by way of wikipedia.

For several years, I've been making my way, a little at a time, through the unabridged version of Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. I'm not sure why, exactly, but it might have something to do with the ability of the author to turn a phrase. They knew a thing or two about that in the 18th century.

I've gotten through most of it and only have a scant 500-600 pages to go. Some parts are a slow slog, but my interest picks up here and there.

Recently, I've stumbled upon a section directly relevant to my marriage. Some years a go, I committed matrimony, as my late father used to say, with a female of Hungarian extraction. A Magyar if you will.

A few days back, I got to Gibbon's discussion of the migration of the Hungarians into Europe and took great delight in reading them aloud to the Spousal Unit. Here are a few sample passages that I rushed to share:

When the black swarm of Hungarians first hung over Europe, about nine hundred years after the Christian era, they were mistaken by fear and superstition for the Gog and Magog of the Scriptures, the signs and forerunners of the end of the world.

and

Except the merit and fame of military prowess, all that is valued by mankind appeared vile and contemptible to these barbarians, whose native fierceness was stimulated by the consciousness of numbers and freedom....Their simplicity has been praised; yet they abstained only from the luxury they had never known: whatever they saw they coveted; their desires were insatiate, and their sole industry was the hand of violence and rapine.

and

...mercy they rarely asked, and more rarely bestowed: both sexes were accused as equally inaccessible to pity; and their appetite for raw flesh might countenance the popular tale that they drank the blood and feasted on the hearts of the slain.

I thought she would be pleased by this affirmation of her heritage and my efforts of cultural competence, but it didn't seem to work.

I guess you just can't be nice to some people.

THE STATE OF THE YOUNG. Here's an interesting report on how young Americans are doing.

OBSERVATIONS TO OCCUPIERS. Here's a well known linguist talking to young activists.

A CERTAIN DISGRACEFUL CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE is meeting to see how much damage it can inflict on the American people...if we let it.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Mandatory jokes

2011-11-01T16:41:00.007-04:00

There are certain jokes, not particularly funny, which have become mandatory in and around Goat Rope Farm. Many though not all have their origin in movies. Over time, these have acquired an almost ritualistic significance and are triggered by certain conversational cues.

I am passing them on in case people out there are running short of ways of messing with and otherwise irritating the people they encounter.

Here's a sample:

*When someone comes up with a steaming pot and says "Coffee?," the obligatory reply is "Yes, I know." (Source: Airplane and the Naked Gun movies)

*When someone says "Can I ask you a question?," the obligatory reply is "You just did."

*When someone says "I'm going to go change," the obligatory reply is "Don't you go changing."

*Finally, anytime someone asks what to do with something or where to put it, the obligatory response (from Five Easy Pieces) is "Hold it between your knees."

TAXING FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS sounds like a winner, but it faces an uphill climb in the US.

MORE ON THAT ONE PERCENT THING here.

URGENT CANNIBAL ANIMAL UPDATE here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Silly is the new serious

2011-10-31T15:05:00.000-04:00

I have always had a distaste for the strident, which can be an occupational hazard (no pun intended) among people who work for social justice. That's why I find the levity in recent Occupy Wall Street protests refreshing, one example of which involves people parading around dressed as zombies. As this article, titled "Gandhi Meets Monty Python" suggests, there's a lot of that kind of humor going on these days all over the place.

Regular readers of Goat Rope will perhaps recall similar silly actions with a point in West Virginia. A few years back, when the then governor was messing with Medicaid, several of us held a bake sale for Medicaid that made around $100 bucks. That was silly enough, but then we got a big check printed and arranged a ceremony, with media in attendance of course, in which we presented the proceeds of the sale to the state treasurer's office.

This summer, on the anniversary of the Bush tax cuts, we held a Bake Sale for the Really Rich, complete with street theater. The state AFLCIO liked the idea and held hot dog sales around the state on the anniversary of the creation of Social Security. Dogs were sold at 1935 prices to raise federal revenue in order to spare the very wealthy from having to pay their fair share. After that, another event was held in which the hot dog proceeds were delivered to the Bureau of the Public Debt in Parkersburg.

You can't be silly all the time, alas, but it is good to break things up and act in unpredictable ways.

JOBS, BRIDGES AND BOMBS discussed here.

IS THE CONVERSATION CHANGING? Maybe.

THE SEVEN BILLION THING discussed here.

PET LOVING AND MEAT EATING pondered here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Scaring dogs with decorations

2011-10-30T16:27:00.004-04:00

This year's buildup to Halloween featured a first in my experience: dogs fooled by seasonal decorations.

It happened one evening during the routine dog walk, in which boxer Edith and Great Pyrenees Arpad are usually joined by mut Smiley from down the road. As we were making our way to the end of the road and back for the usual two mile stroll, Edith and Smiley stopped in their tracks, hackles raised, and they growled across the field.

It took a while to figure out what they were growling at, but it turned out to be something on the order of scarecrows. I wasn't surprised that Edith would freak about some new sight--she has been known to bark and growl for 20 minutes at an ironing board--but Smiley is more street smart.

Eventually they got over it. But it occurred to me that many of the things we are afraid of in life turn out to be pretty much the same when all is said and done.

Happy Halloween!

YET ANOTHER TAKE on the Occupy movement here. Oh yeah and here too.

WANNA EAT SOME BUGS? Some people are proposing insects as a cheap food source. I am less than enthused about the idea, but I figure we've all done it at some point unconsciously. I did deliberately try eating one spiced grasshopper in Mexico however.

SPEAKING OF BUGS, AND IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING, yes, bugs are scared of fish.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Angels and memory

2011-10-28T15:12:00.005-04:00

I just finished making my way through Dante's Divine Comedy for the umpteenth time. Every time I read it I come across something I'd missed before. This time I was struck and mildly amused by the discussions between the Pilgrim and his beloved Beatrice in Paradise.

When she's not chewing the poet out, she sometimes sounds like the host of Mr. Wizard's 14th Century Science World as she discusses the fine points of late medieval cosmology. At other times she enters upon long theological digressions and the occasional rant.

I particularly enjoyed her detailed discussion of angelology in Canto 29. According to her, and she was in a position to know in the context of the poem, angels possess will and intellect but--contrary to popular opinion on earth--they have no memory and no need of it because they are always gazing at the mind of God:

From the first moment these beings found their bliss
within God's face in which all is revealed,
they never turned their eyes away from It;

hence, no new object interrupts their sight
and hence, they have no need of memory
since they do not possess divided thought.

So there you have it. She didn't discuss the whole how many on the head of a pin thing however.

AT THE OTHER END OF THE GREAT CHAIN OF BEING, Massey officials may face more criminal charges in the wake of the Upper Big Branch mine disaster which killed 29 miners in April 2010.

OCCUPATIONS. The future of the Occupy Wall Street movement is considered here.

SUPERSTITIOUS? It may help.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Windy city indeed

2011-10-27T14:58:00.005-04:00

One of my favorite WV authors is Breece Pancake (1952-1979) who wrote short stories about my hometown under the fictional name of Rock Camp.

In the only remotely humorous story in his posthumous collection, "The Salvation of Me," a character dreams of escaping our corner of Appalachia and striking out for the big town of Chicago. He keeps saving up money to make the getaway but winds up blowing it on shooting pool.

Going to Chicago became an inside joke with some friends who knew and loved Pancake's work. It meant blowing this popsicle stand and hitting the big time.

I thought of Breece this week when I actually made it to Chicago for a few days of meetings. Generally, when I go on these things, the only part of the city I see is the inside of a meeting room.

This time I was a bit luckier and got to run a few miles along the lake, which helped me realized that "windy city" isn't just a clever nickname. It would be really easy one way and like jogging the wrong way through a wind tunnel on the way back.

It occurred to me that WV could use a great lake or some such massive body of water. Who knows, maybe with climate change it'll get one.

MORE ON THAT ONE PERCENT THING here and here.

TAXING MILLIONAIRES is something most millionaires support.

A WAR IS WINDING DOWN. How come people who opposed it aren't claiming success?

UPPER BIG BRANCH. Here's the latest fallout from criminal investigations of Massey's mine disaster.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

"Industrial homicide"

2011-10-25T20:56:00.003-04:00

The United Mine Workers of America released its report today on Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine disaster of April 5, 2010 which killed 29 miners. Previously, reports on the disaster have been released by the WV Governor's Independent Investigation Panel and the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

The title of the report sums up the union's position: "Industrial Homicide." According to the union:

Massey Energy must be held accountable for the death of each of the 29 miners. Theirs is not a guilt of omission, but rather, based on the facts publicly available, the union believes that Massey Energy and its management were on notice of and recklessly tolerated mining conditions that were so egregious that the resulting disaster constituted a massive slaughter in the nature of an industrial homicide.

The union calls on federal prosecutors to pursue this case all the way up the corporate ladder, which leads to former CEO Don Blankenship.

Read more here from Ken Ward's uber-blog Coal Tattoo.

THE WHOLE 1 PERCENT THING. Uhhh, there might be something to it.

NOTE: Still on the road. Regular posts will resume in a day or so.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Rendezvous with destiny...and a skunk

2011-10-24T18:54:00.003-04:00

We knew that it was written into the very fabric of the universe. We knew the day would come. We knew it was only a matter of time before Arpad, our Great Pyrenees and the official security chief of Goat Rope Farm, would have a run-in with a skunk.

He stays pretty busy at night keeping an eye out for unwelcome visitors. Possums and raccoons have fallen to his wrath. Coyotes keep their distance. But last night he picked a quarrel with a member of the striped tail tribe and he had the odor to prove it.

Of course, under ordinary circumstances I would have rushed to de-skunkify him but this morning I left the house before 4 am to catch a flight.

As Dylan said, "I can't help it if I'm lucky."

NOTE: the link truck is broke down again. Well may the world go.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Too bad...

2011-10-23T19:25:00.003-04:00

...about autumn views in West Virginia. My seasonal good deed for the day was rescuing a torporous snake on the road today after the sun began to go down. I can't be sure but I think it was a copperhead.

El Cabrero is about to hit the road for a bit so posts may be irregular. Here are a few items that occupied my attention:

LEONARD PITTS ON THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT here.

10 WAYS TO SUPPORT IT here.

POLITICS ON THE BRAIN discussed here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Gratitude for bad things that didn't happen

2011-10-21T12:14:00.004-04:00

Methinks the human race is kid of wired for ingratitude. We notice when things are bad more than when they're not. How many times does a typical person recognize when he or she doesn't have a toothache and be thankful?

El Cabrero is trying to do better in that department. Last week, for example, my foot suddenly swelled up like a balloon. It was hot and it hurt. I couldn't put a shoe on it. Until then, I was excited about having that knee surgery that allowed me to jog again. But I could barely limp with this.

After looking around on the web, I was convinced I had gout, which apparently isn't just for 18th century aristocrats anymore.

I was not happy.

Then it just went away. I'm jogging again. And gingerly kicking a heavy bag.

I'm grateful today for not having gout. And all the other bad things that aren't happening at the moment.

POLLUTION. The right wing jobs program.

INEQUALITY. Here's a quick look at why it matters.

SO NOW YOU KNOW. Some millipedes sing.

THAT WHOLE END OF THE WORLD THING apparently didn't happen.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Social media: rethinking the limits

2011-10-20T14:45:00.000-04:00

About a year ago, popular New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell published an article in that magazine about the limits of social media like Facebook and Twitter in movements for social change.

I was pretty impressed with his argument at the time. If memory serves, he talked about how weak ties such as those from an online community could help in accomplishing some things, these would not be enough when push came to shove. The US Civil Rights movement, for example, relied on strong ties based on trust and commitment.

Then came the events of the "Arab spring" earlier this year and the success of the Occupy Wall Street movement in which social media played a major role. It might be time to rethink Gladwell's argument. Obviously, it's not a case of either/or but social media has turned out to be more of a game changer that I would have expected.

Here's a little anecdote about the impact of social media from the Occupy efforts in Charleston, WV. Yesterday, a wet and miserable day for occupying anything, an official connected with the city apparently came by the Occupy site and told people they'd need to take down their tarps and signs.

Word got out via Facebook right away. People jumped in, made calls, contacted the media, etc. In the end, a compromise was achieved. That's not exactly a case of turning back the tanks but it was interesting.

FRAMING THE OCCUPATION. Here are some suggestions from George Lakoff on messaging for the movement.

THE END OF THE WORLD, AGAIN. Oct. 21 is the latest predicted date for the end of the world. Here's a look a predicted apocalypses of the past. There seems to be a common theme...something about not happening.

OCCUPYING THOUGHTS. Here's the latest edition of the Rev. Jim Lewis' Notes from Under the Fig Tree.

URGENT ZOMBIE WASP UPDATE here. And it's really creepy. This would make one hell of a gross out horror movie if it happened to people.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Goats announce farm occupation

2011-10-19T13:22:00.007-04:00

We should have expected this given the worldwide outbreak of protests inspired by Occupy Wall Street. The goats here have announced their official occupation of Goat Rope Farm after meeting in a general assembly to prepare their demands.

According to Arcadia S. Venus, duly elected spokesperson, who stressed that she was not the leader of the group, "We want grain at least twice a day, plus beet pulp, alfalfa cubes and decent hay. And we demand clean drinking water and a formal acknowledgement that whenever we poop in it it's your fault."

Since these demands have basically all been met, aside from the formal acknowledgement, we anticipate that the occupation will continue indefinitely.

SENSE IS TALKED HERE about the American Jobs Act.

ANOTHER TRILLION. Outstanding student loan debt has hit the magic number.

IN CASE THERE'S A BABY IN YOUR LIFE, they learn more from playing than from watching screens.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Coolest. Science. Story. Ever.

2011-10-18T15:26:00.004-04:00

OK, nevermind what is going on in the world today. Check this out: some scientists believe that giant intelligent kraken-like octopi used to eat dinosaurs in prehistoric oceans and then deliberately arrange their bones.

Since nothing I could write or link could possibly be cooler than that, I'm going to stop right.

(Thanks, J.A.!)

Signs of the times

2011-10-17T17:10:00.000-04:00

Some interesting signs were on display at Occupy Charleston WV this weekend.

This one asks a good question.

This one is pretty factual.

A novel idea!

This was one of my favorites.

Yes we might.

Interesting times, anyhow.

IS WALL STREET LOSING ITS IMMUNITY? Kinda.

IS AN AWAKENING GOING ON? Could be.

A SEISMIC EVENT? Maybe.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

The kids are alright: occupying Charleston

2011-10-16T10:07:00.007-04:00

Charleston, WV was one of many cities around the country and the world that held Occupy Wall Street solidarity actions. I attended it for several hours on Saturday. The nicest thing about it was the fact that here was a decent crowd of people gathered together to confront economic injustice--and I didn't know 90 percent of them.

While it was a diverse group, many of the people who participated were young in years, in activism or both. That was good thing. Many members of the initial group that called for the action were young adults, most of whom had never done this kind of thing before. Overall, I'd say that around 200 people were there for some or all of the action.

I wasn't able to attend the preliminary planning meetings, but the group made some smart decisions early on to focus on the main message of Occupy Wall Street: the power of corporations and growing economic inequality, rather than getting sidetracked on issues such as mountaintop removal. Issues like that need to be dealt with, but this wasn't the time and place.

After gathering for a time at a small park on Kanawha Boulevard, the group marched through the city to assemble outside Chase Bank, a protest magnet these days, then marched to the Robert C. Byrd Federal Courthouse.

A number of protesters had arranged with the city to camp at Haddad Riverfront Park for the occupation itself and I think plans are in the works for a series of events in the days to come.

The people who pulled this together very quickly did a great job. It was interesting to watch the interactions. Public response was overwhelmingly positive from people driving by. Similar events were held at other places in West Virginia. All told, a pretty impressive day of action, not just here, but all over the place. The challenge in the days ahead will be to find ways of keeping up momentum while also reaching out to more allies and developing a greater variety of actions and strategies.

If you go to facebook, you can follow charleston events at

http://www.facebook.com/OccupyCharlestonWV

And, by the way, check out the American Friends Service Committee WV Ecnomic Justice Project's Facebook page here.

A mean spirit walks abroad

2011-10-14T16:50:00.003-04:00

Here's a bit of weekend reading matter that is well worth your time from my friend Elizabeth Gaucher's Esse Diem blog. It's about many things, including parenthood, "the baby tunnel" (I love that concept), and the fact that there is a mean spirited-ness in the land that typically manifests itself in taking potshots at disadvantaged people.

The technical term for such attitudes and the people who hold them, at Goat Rope Farm anyway, is chicken****. And believe me, we here at Goat Rope Farm know chicken*** when we see it. See also people who pick on others whom they think can't fight back.

The title of her post is Waking Up with a Stranger. And, yes, it is a metaphor.

Click here and enjoy!

P.S. Watch the news this weekend, laddies and lassies! Occupy Wall Street solidarity actions are going to break out all over the country and at several places in El Cabrero's beloved state of West Virginia.

Something's happening

2011-10-13T18:05:00.001-04:00

I'm not sure what's causing it, but some things are starting to change. First there was the Occupy Wall Street movement, an ad hoc event that kept on happening. Then similar actions spread around the country.

Occupy Huntington in WV has been going on for nearly a week. Related events are planned for Saturday in Charleston and other WV towns, in addition to dozens and maybe hundreds around the nation and world.

Labor unions have not only expressed support for the Occupy movement but have also initiated numerous actions of their own around the country, including a jobs rally last night in Charleston.

Another ad hoc crew assembled in Charleston Thursday on a rainy lunch our to hold signs calling for job creation. Among those who attended were members of the Laborers union, MoveOn supporters, and representatives of the National Association of Social Workers, WV Citizen Action, the American Friends Service Committee and other labor friendly organizations. Mary Hill and Diane Parker, both members of the Laborers International Union of North America, took the lead in organizing the event.

I'm still not sure whether this is a flash in the pan or the start of something big, but it would be nice to think that people were losing the inclination for servility and the habit of groveling at the feet of a plutocracy.

ANOTHER TAKE. Here's economist Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University's Earth Institute on the Occupy Wall Street protests and the issues driving them.

CORPORATIONS AND PEOPLE. Sorry, Mitt, but not everyone is convinced they are one and the same.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Nice kitty

2011-10-12T16:20:00.001-04:00

Image by way of wikipedia.

The holler in which Goat Rope Farm is situated is pretty rich in living things. Yesterday's post featured a giant puffball, just one representative of its happy fungus population.

When we first moved here 8 years ago, there were no squirrels. Now they're all over the place. Deer are plentiful--so plentiful I'm hopeful that Artemis, goddess of wild things and the hunt, will spare one for me this fall. Wild turkeys are everywhere too. Coyotes often howl at night, which puts Arpad, our Great Pyrenees on high alert. Blue and green herons show up from time to time when the creek is full of minnows. The other day we saw a red fox on a walk.

But this weekend, we had a special treat when we spotted a bobcat. From various signs, we thought there were some around here, but it was quite a thrill to get a look at one. Of course, bobcats are masterful predators and we have chickens and such. I hope it finds other food but would somehow begrudge a big kitty less for a chicken or two than a neighbor's dog or a possom or raccoon.

Next up: maybe a bear?

DOING THE NUMBERS. This series of charts shows what the Wall Street occupiers are so upset about. If you click on the link, you will find a picture of a protester with a sign containing profanity, but the bulk of the article is about statistics on economic inequality.

NOTE: THE LINK TRUCK BROKE DOWN TODAY. That's all we've got.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Puff daddy

2011-10-11T15:29:00.000-04:00

Say what you want about 2011--it's a great year for puffballs. The spousal unit photographed this fungal monstrosity this weekend. The boots provide perspective if you can make them out. We're talking bigger than a basketball. Luckily, it hasn't started talking and eating people yet.

MESSY BUT GOOD. Here's Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson on the Occupy Wall Street movement.

MATHEMATICAL MODELS FOR PEACE AND VIOLENCE? Maybe.

GOOD CARTOON here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Shodan

2011-10-10T16:45:00.000-04:00

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming for a personal announcement: my daughter earned her shodan (first degree black belt) in karate this weekend. It occurred to me that I got mine the same year she was born.

She's been around it her whole life but for some reason got seriously into it a few years back. A lot of people approach it as a sport or fitness activity, but I recommended she approach it in a traditional way, as a serious fighting art and classical budo or martial way. She did, applying fiercely the admonition of Shotokan karate master Gichin Funakoshi, who had this to say about practice:

Be deadly serious in your training. Your opponent must always be present in your mind, whether you sit or stand or walk or raise your arms. Should you in combat strike a karate blow, you must have no doubt whatsoever that the one blow decides everything. If you have made an error, you will be the one who falls. You must always be prepared for such an eventuality.

She brought that serious attitude to her form or kata practice, prearranged solo exercises in which one executes techniques in multiple directions against imagined opponents. She also proved to be quite a predator in kumite or sparring. In practice, she would only spar with toughest and best she could find, duking it out with black belt men who outweighed her by half or more.

When she did compete, she generally dominated the ring, often kicking her opponents out of it. She once said that I seemed prouder of her when she did that than when she got her doctorate. For the record, that isn't necessarily true. But it might be.

WHAT HE SAID. Here's Paul Krugman on the ruling class hissy fit over the Occupy Wall Street movement.

THE POLITICS OF OCCUPATION. Here's Robert Reich on the Wall Street protesters and the Democratic party.

THEY'VE GOT BEN AND JERRY'S anyway.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Occupied territory

2011-10-09T13:30:00.006-04:00

The Occupy Wall Street solidarity movement officially hit West Virginia this weekend in Huntington. Organizers, many of whom were connected in some way with Marshall University, planned to begin rallying outside Chase Bank on Friday evening, stay there until Sunday, and finish with a march.

I stopped by for a couple of hours on Friday and there might have been as many as 100 people, if you count comings and goings, which in my experience is a good number for Huntington. I'm sure the number of hardy souls who camped out on the street was smaller, but it seems like they had a good support system organized and I'm not aware of any conflicts with the police.

There seemed to be a wide variety of people with many viewpoints, united by a concern for growing inequality. The event also seemed to provide an opportunity for people who have never engaged in this kind of activity before. I'd never seen most of the people who participated before and I've done a thing or two in Huntington over the years. It's hard to say how many more events will happen in WV or around the country but this is something I didn't see coming.

I think the movement will be stronger if it sticks more closely with the 99 percent message rather than covering the map of issues. A populist economic message could really resonate in southern West Virginia--if people can avoid getting sidetracked with coal controversies. Those issues need to be dealt with, but this probably isn't the best venue. Just saying.

LOOKING AHEAD. Here's an op-ed by yours truly on economic policy options for WV.

AFGHANISTAN. Here's a statement from WV Senator Joe Manchin on the 10th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. Sample quote:

"As I have said before, we must choose between rebuilding Afghanistan and rebuilding America because we can’t afford to do both. And I choose to rebuild America.”

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

So many social engagements, so little time

2011-10-07T13:09:00.003-04:00

The number of Occupy Wall Street solidarity actions keeps growing. In WV alone, I've heard of new actions planned for Parkersburg, Lewisburg, and Elkins since the last post. I plan on checking out the Huntington action this afternoon and will report back from that.

It looks like all kinds of things are in the works around the country, from relatively short rallies to prolonged literal occupations of various places. While I am officially in favor of whatever works, I prefer ones that don't drag out too long.

When I was on the local volunteer fire department, a member once defined a good call (response to an alarm) as one where you get in, get out, and go home. A bad one was one where you were stuck for hours doing nothing interesting.

Examples of bad calls were things like meth lab busts, which entail sitting in the truck for hours while law enforcement does its thing, or downed power lines, where you just babysat the line and kept people away from it until somebody from the power company arrived.

I've modified the good call definition to cover a good action, with a few embellishments: a good action is one where you get in, get out, declare victory, go home and put "Mission Accomplished" on your metaphorical aircraft carrier.

May all your calls and actions be good ones!

SPEAKING OF WHICH, Krugman has this to say about the Occupy actions in today's NY Times:

we may, at long last, be seeing the rise of a popular movement that, unlike the Tea Party, is angry at the right people.

The rest is here.

And here's Naomi Klein.

And here's Jim Hightower.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Occupations

2011-10-06T09:30:00.000-04:00

Since my last post here on the Occupy Wall Street movement, which isn't just for Wall Street any more, momentum seems to be building. I've gotten several emails from different groups announcing their solidarity with these efforts.

According to this CNN story, Big Apple unions are joining in the action. More on that from NPR here. It's still too soon to tell how long this will last, but this item, also from CNN, suggests it's far from over.

So far, I know of several events planned for WV cities and towns. One is set for Huntington tomorrow. Others will be held on Oct. 15 in Charleston, Wheeling, Morgantown and Martinsburg.

10 YEARS OUT. As the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan approaches, a new survey finds that many veterans of the post-9/11 era don't think the wars were worth the sacrifices involved.

LIVING FOSSILS (AND COOL PICTURES) here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Occupy wherever

2011-10-04T17:07:00.004-04:00

I've taken part in some interesting conversations, virtual and real, over the last few days about the Occupy Wall Street movement, which has spread way beyond Wall Street these days. At first, I wasn't inclined to pay much attention. I've seen em come and go.

But something strange happened. It just kept growing, not only in Wall Street but all around the country. Jeez, they're even planning to Occupy Huntington WV on Friday and actions are also planned for Morgantown and Wheeling. It's kind of interesting to see something pretty spontaneous erupting all over.

Nobody seems to be in charge. The fact that tons of younger people are getting involved, probably for the first time, is something you don't see every day.

This seems to be happening on a much bigger scale than the much touted right wing anti-health care reform bullying that helped put the Tea Party on the map at congressional town hall meetings in 2009.

A common criticism of these new actions is that they seem to take a (nonviolent) shotgun approach, meaning that they cover the map of issues rather than getting too specific. And from what I've seen, there's some validity to that. I tend to be pretty specific and focused about issues I've worked on. Still, it's interesting and exciting to see such a spontaneous series of actions raising economic justice issues.

It's still too soon to see whether this is a flash in the pan or the start of something big. You never can tell. Historically, a lot of big things start out small and messy. It doesn't happen very often, but it happens.

The American Friends Service Committee is encouraging staff and volunteers who have the inclination and the ability to take part in actions, provided these actions are nonviolent, that they target issues rather than specific individuals, and that they lift up the dignity of all individuals.

I'm reminded of a couple of verses from the New Testament book of Acts. The Rabbi Gamaliel, when asked about the nascent Christian movement urges a wait and see approach:

"if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; if it be of men, it will come to naught, but if it be of God, ye will not be able to overthrow it; lest perhaps ye be found even to fight against God."

I don't mean to drag God into this literally, but I like Gamaliel's point. This may fizzle out or it may have legs. We'll see. Messy or not, I'd like to see it run like hell.

Learning to be miserable

2011-10-03T16:10:00.001-04:00

This weekend I ran another 5K run with my seven year old grandson. Unlike last time around, this Saturday the weather was wet, cold and raw. The kid in question also has asthma, which made breathing in cold weather painful. Then there were foot problems. He was running in new shoes and complained about foot pain.

While a 3.1 mile jog is a piece of cake for an active adult, it is a long way for a little kid to go. I don't think I ran that far until I was in my teens.

In my efforts to keep him going, I explained that one of the real advantages of distance running was that it teaches you how to be miserable and keep on going. Unfortunately, that is a pretty useful life skill.

He finished the run anyhow.

GETTING MEAN. Here's the latest budget gutting I mean cutting proposal from US House Republicans.

NEEDED: a left.

WALL STREET. The protests there are picking up steam and spreading beyond Wall Street. Here's a take on it from a participant and here's the latest from CNN.

KOCH BROTHERS. Here's info about more fun and games from the bankrollers of the American right.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

First fire

2011-10-02T16:26:00.003-04:00

A seasonal milestone came and went this weekend. On Saturday evening, for the first time in months, I stoked up the wood stove in a big room that serves as a sometime dining room and general vegging space.

It was an "oh yeah" moment for me. For the last several months, I've thought of the woodpile as place of physical exertion whereat I do battle with recalcitrant fallen trees. It was nice to be reminded what all that exertion was for.

Although we don't cook with it or rely on it as the primary heat source for the house, there is nothing quite like a fireplace on a chilly evening. No wonder that the hearth was the center of the home in earlier centuries.

Hestia, Greek goddess of the hearth, was poor in mythology. You don't see her rampaging around the fields of Troy in the Iliad. But she held a place of honor in the daily life and devotions of the Greeks. For good reason.

WHO'D A THUNK IT? Scientists are using Twitter to study how moods rise and fall on a global basis.

MAYBE WE WERE RIGHT AFTER ALL. Back in 2009, there was a big struggle in the legislature to address the solvency of WV's unemployment insurance fund. Labor took the lead and I tried to get in a lick or two as well. Some business groups fought it tooth and nail. It now turns out the the fund weathered the recession well and that, unlike many states, WV hasn't had to borrow from the feds.

AMERICA'S FIRST BIG YOGI didn't do headstands.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

My summer of Shelby

2011-09-30T13:45:00.000-04:00

The R.H.O. himself.

The summer of 2011 officially ended last week and the weather is starting to act like it, for now anyway. I'll remember this season for several reasons, some pleasant, some not. The trip to Italy was cool; the constant knee pain not so much.

But aside from all that, I will remember this as my summer of Shelby. It was during this season that I listened to an unabridged recording of all three volumes of Shelby Foote's masterful Civil War trilogy.

I'm talking over 110 CDs of around an hour and 15 minutes each. If I did the math right, that comes out to 135+ hours. That's a lot of Shelby. He took up my time doing chores, driving, walking the dogs, mowing the lawn, etc.

I have mentioned before how I worship him and have been known to channel him from time to time. I love his long, rambling sentences and sharp wit. I only wish the version I listened to was read by the author. But then I'd listen to a recording of the real Shelby reading the phone book.

When you spend that much time with an author you notice things. I noticed that Shelby had a real issue with William Tecumseh Sherman, which is perhaps not so surprising from a true son of the south.

I wish I had a dollar for every time he referred to Sherman as a "red headed Ohioan." He seemed to be unable to refer to Sherman, who is bound to show up a lot in a book on the subject, without mentioned his hair color.

It made me wonder whether the divine Shelby had a thing about redheads too.

NEED A DOSE OF POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC SANITY? Click here.

CLASS WARFARE, JUST MATH or basic morality?

THE AMERICAN LEFT and its impact on America is discussed here.

YOUR TALKING ANIMAL FIX is here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

A patron saint with whom not to mess

2011-09-29T14:39:00.004-04:00

Today, Sept. 29, in addition to being Rosh Hashanah, is the feast day of St. Michael and All Angels. I have always had a love for Michael, whatever he may or may not be. I think of the mighty archangel as the patron saint of all those who have ever opened a can of whoopass in a righteous cause.

Here's a passage from the Book of Revelation that is often read in churches on this day:

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

The way things are these days, I kind of wish I had Michael on speed dial.

GOOD QUESTION. Dean Baker asks here why deficit hawks oppose a small tax on financial speculation.

UNEMPLOYMENT. It's not just for blue collar workers anymore.

HEALTH CARE REFORM. This could get interesting.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Jesus and goats, or a caprine crime wave

2011-09-28T16:46:00.006-04:00

I have long noticed that Jesus, or at least the author(s) of the Gospel of Matthew, didn't seem to like goats much. In chapter 25 of that gospel, it is said that the apocalyptic Son of Man will come and

he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.

The guys on the left are gonna get it.

Since we got goats, I've had a few problems with that verse. I mean, goats can't help not being sheep, whereas people presumably have some type of choice about whether they will behave decently. Amongst my many heretical musings I also began to wonder whether the Second Person of the Holy Trinity harbored a prejudice against goats...or did he just have better information?

A caprine crime wave that hit Goat Rope Farm last night helped to answer that question. It seems that Cornelius Agrippa (above) decided to batter his way into the part of the barn where grain and hay are stored....

...busting up a door in the meantime. He was then joined by several accomplices and they had a good time knocking over storage cans, chowing down, relieving themselves on fresh hay and generally trashing the place.

I'm now willing to concede the point. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Jesus knew a thing or two about a thing or two.

TAXING QUESTIONS. A new poll suggests that Americans overwhelmingly favor increasing taxes on the wealthy.

AMERICAN NATIONALISM considered here.

COAL GOING UNDER? Some analysts predict a steep decline in the WV coal industry over the next few years.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

On the road again

2011-09-27T11:37:00.005-04:00

Last weekend marked a welcome milestone. A bit shy of four weeks after having arthroscopic knee surgery I ran, sort of, my first post-op 5K. I was really slow but it was nice to be in motion again.

Jogging had been out of the question this summer due to persistent knee pain. Other favorite activities had to stop too, like jumping rope, kicking a bag and sparring. Karate became pretty much impossible towards the end. I tried to make do on a bike but it just wasn't the same.

One thing that made the run more special was the fact that I completed it with my 7 year old grandson, who ran every step of the way. In fact, the little bugger finished ahead of me.

I think I can still take him in karate though.

YOU PROBABLY ALREADY KNEW THIS, but the price of health insurance is going through the roof.

THE MORAL ARC THING. As far as I can tell, the moral arc of the universe swings around randomly (in fact, "moral universe" seems like an oxymoron, but here is an interesting alternative perspective.

WHAT DO YOU SEE? Human perceptions of race vary with perceptions of social status--and vice versa.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Feeding the trolls

2011-09-26T09:17:00.004-04:00

I understand that it is the custom in Zen Buddhist monasteries to collect any remaining grains of rice after a meal and offer them to the hungry ghosts. Hungry ghosts in the Buddhist conception of the wheel of life and death are those beings who were greedy in previous lives.

In that unpleasant state or realm, one has a huge and empty belly that is always hungry but a tiny throat that can't swallow much. Feeding them is a meritorious act of generosity.

I've come to think of writing op-eds, like this one of mine, as a similar act since putting one in the paper feeds the trolls, which in this case refers to right wingers who lurk around the web in order to attach their remarks to pieces they disagree with like lampreys latching on to fish.

I devoutly hope that this act of providing nourishment will serve me well in my next rebirth.

THE DEATH PENALTY. E.J. Dionne argues that only conservatives can end it.

CLASS WARFARE, revisited.

CHIMPANZEES are just not that into cooperation.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

The relativity of crime

2011-09-23T11:44:00.001-04:00

Woody Guthrie put it one way and Bob Dylan put it another, but both went to the heart of the matter.

First Woody:

Well, as through this world I've rambled
I've seen lots of funny men.
Some will rob you with a six-gun
And some with a fountain pen.

Then Bob:

Steal a little and they throw you in jail
Steal a lot and they make you king

Some might suggest that the same is true of crimes that involve the loss of human life. This item from In These Times contrasts the execution of Troy Davis on shaky evidence with the fact CEOs like Massey Energy's Don Blankenship who have presided over companies where workers have been killed on the job often never face sanctions of any kind.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Unspectacular and always human

2011-09-22T15:05:00.001-04:00

"Evil is unspectacular and always human, and shares our bed and eats at our own table."--W. H. Auden

GET BUSY. Here's a "Move the Money" toolkit from AFSC about how to get involved in working for a sane federal budget

CLASS WARFARE? Elizabeth Warren rather forcefully whacks that notion here.

ONE TO WATCH. Here's a new website that aims to be a resource for state and national acting to promote shared prosperity. The name of the site says it all: buildingthemiddleclass.org.

FOR ADULTS ONLY. Wild (but probably not very hot) squid sex is discussed here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Thought for the day

2011-09-21T08:54:00.004-04:00

A friend of mine raised an interesting point the other day. What if they repossessed wars when people couldn't pay for them anymore?

ECONOMIC BLOODLETTING. Krugman came up with a good analogy.

THE REAL CLASS WAR. Here's a quick look at the wealth gap.

THE SCIENCE OF STUBBORNNESS is discussed here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

This is our concern, Dude

2011-09-19T15:32:00.003-04:00

This item from CNN pretty much sums up the problem for millions of Americans:

Over 46 million people are living in poverty, 2.6 million more than in 2009 and the poverty rate has reached 15.1 percent.

The outlook is grim. The recession has compounded decades of growing economic inequality, structural poverty, and urban decay. With the projections that unemployment will remain high for several years, these numbers are not likely to improve.

Making matters worse, as Ron Haskings at the Brookings Institution noted, "Safety net programs run by the federal and state governments are helping millions of families avoid poverty, but thee programs could be subject to cuts at the federal and state level because of continuing deficit and debt problems."

The article goes on to note that most politicians from either major party don't even want to go there. Methinks a key task of the next stretch is to get their attention, which will no doubt require making some noise and kicking up some dust.

THIS WOULD BE FUNNY IF IT WAS A JOKE. Republicans are crying "class warfare" over Obama's proposal that millionaires should pay at least as much in taxes as middle class Americans.

BORED WITH BURIAL OR CREMATION? Get juiced.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED.

Brave too

2011-09-18T17:01:00.004-04:00

Much of West Virginia is still buzzing about Landau Eugene Murphy's winning of the America's Got Talent contest. The Logan County native has proven that Sinatra-style crooning can still work in unlikely places.

I was amused by this anecdote as reported by WV Metro News:

At one point, his rare talent prompted a wager. A friend bet Murphy he couldn't sing Sinatra and get away with it at a bar out in a rural area of the southern West Virginia county.

But like the judges on AGT, the bar goers were amazed, Murphy says with a smile.

"Ever since, I've never had to pay to go into that bar," said Murphy.

I'd say we can add courage to Murphy's other admirable qualities.

THE NEW AMERICA? Here's a sad look at the new reality for millions of Americans.

WHAT'S OFF THE AGENDA (BUT SHOULD BE ON IT) here.

HOW TO FLIRT LIKE AN ANIMAL here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Three for the road

2011-09-16T08:14:00.004-04:00

It's starting to feel a bit like fall in El Cabrero's beloved state of West Virginia, which means among other things that I need to get to work on that wood pile this weekend.

Meanwhile, a few items caught my eye today. First, here's Dean Baker and what to like and not like about Obama's jobs plan. Second, here's Paul Krugman on the GOP's "let em die" approach to health care. And finally, here's an urgent dinosaur feather update.

Cheers!

And the winner is...

2011-09-15T08:10:00.005-04:00

The big news in many parts of West Virginia today--and especially the southern coalfields around Logan County--is that singer Landau Eugene Murphy Jr., who formerly washed cars at an auto dealership, was voted the winner last night on America's Got Talent.

Murphy has been no stranger to hard times and was even homeless for stretch, but his victory brings $1 million, a recording contract and the chance to open in Las Vegas.

While he obviously needed votes from all over the country to win, West Virginians were pulling hard for him. In Logan, people would come together to watch the show and cheer. West Virginia's acting governor Earl Ray Tomblin, also from Logan County, urged state residents to vote for him. I even saw a billboard supporting Landau in Huntington earlier this week.

West Virginians, whatever our differences, are a pretty tribal crew and we're always excited when one of our own makes good. A story like this is the stuff of movies, and I wouldn't be surprised if that happens one of these days.

Congratulations and all the best to Landau in the future.

SHIFTING THE DATA. Here are 10 things to note from the release of the latest poverty data.

WHILE WE'RE AT IT, here's a look at 11 unpleasant facts about America's unemployment problem.

IS THERE A GENE FOR OPTIMISM? Maybe kinda sorta.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Poor us

2011-09-14T07:19:00.003-04:00

The Census Bureau released its poverty data this week and the results were pretty much what you would expect with a persistent recession and/or a very weak recovery further weakened by the phasing out of Recovery Act programs. Without the latter, things would have been much worse.

For an overview, here are the comments of Robert Greenstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and here's an article about the situation in West Virginia.

OKAY, LET'S LOOK AT SOME BUGS. Having satisfied my duties as a social justice blogger, I now suggest you check out this Wired Science post which shows close up pictures of scary monsters. Fortunately, these monsters are way smaller than we are.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Evil wood spirits

2011-09-12T22:25:00.001-04:00

Evolutionary psychology is a disciple that has taken off in recent years (although some Republican presidential candidates may not have gotten the memo). It basically examines how natural selection has shaped human beliefs and behaviors.

An example of this is the idea that people are hardwired to look for agency in the world. Agency in this sense means intelligence and purpose. We tend to see the world as inhabited by beings more or less like ourselves, i.e. with intentions, thoughts and feelings. This belief was adaptive in the sense that false positives (thinking there is a tiger when there is no tiger) are safer than false negatives (thinking there is no tiger when there is).

In a word, we are all animists by nature. Who, after all, hasn't spoken to their car or some other inanimate object at one time or another?

El Cabrero is as devout an animist as his hunter gatherer ancestors. My agency detector has been particularly active lately in trying to reduce a disorderly wood pile into nice, wood stove sized pieces to burn this winter.

The woodpile has been there a while and all the easy pieces have long since been split. The ones that remain are tough and knotty. Some indeed seem to be imbued with a preternatural obstinacy and malevolence as they resist the splitting maul and all that a wedge and a sledgehammer can throw at it. Such a trait might be commendable in a living tree but seems highly inappropriate in a piece of dead wood.

In the case of some particularly stubborn pieces, it gets personal. I have probably expended more calories on a few of them lately than they will put out this winter. After a while, it's less about heat than vengeance. When at last I stand victorious over the shattered foe, I exult over the remains like some kind of atavistic troglodyte, saying, in effect, "Take that, ************!"

A rational animal indeed...

NOTE...El Cabrero is on the road and too lazy or busy to hunt up links.

Ten years out

2011-09-10T16:51:00.005-04:00

I remember a morning 10 years ago when the weather was beautiful. It was on the cusp of the change of seasons, when the onslaughts of August had been beaten back but the chill winds of Autumn hadn't yet begun to blow.

I was sorting through different details and trying to figure out a week's hectic schedule when I made a phone call to a friend who broke the news of major destruction in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

I looked out the window to a field where a neighbor kept donkeys who were playing in the sun and rolling in the grass. I was struck by the contrast between that idyllic rural scene and the death and devastation that had just happened. And I wondered about what was to come.

There's been a lot of water under that bridge since then and a lot of twists and turns--many of them wrong turns. It's always tempting to wonder what if this or that had gone down differently, if different choices would have been made in the wake of the attacks. Or how different things might have been if they would have been foiled. Too bad that history doesn't give us the chance to rewind and try again.

You can't unring a bell, as Dylan sang. But you can control which bells to ring or leave unringed as we move ahead.

Profits or jobs?

2011-09-09T09:50:00.003-04:00

President Obama's jobs speech last night laid out a vision for giving a boost to a fragile recovery. Here are some reactions from the Center for American Progress, the Economic Policy Institute, the Campaign for America's Future and the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

My short take is that, while the proposed American Jobs Act is not perfect (I'd prefer less in tax breaks and more in direct job creation), it is a step in the right direction.

I guess he wasn't just happy to be there

2011-09-08T13:50:00.001-04:00

El Cabrero scrupulously combs the web daily in order to come up with hard hitting relevant information for you, Gentle Reader. Today I hit the jackpot.

According to this AP article, a gentleman from D'Iberville Mississippi was arrested at a grocery store after leaving the store with several items in his shorts which were unpaid for, including two bags of jumbo shrimp and a pork loin.

That in itself isn't particularly noteworthy. However, also included amongst these in-shorted items (I just made that word up) were two live lobsters.

Now, I'm no legal scholar but it seems to me that the shoplifting charge should not include the lobsters. There should be some kind of general understanding that would prevent people who put live lobsters with intact claws in their undergarments from being charged with a criminal offense. Rather, it should be assumed in such cases that such people had a pretty compelling reason to do so.

WHAT HE SAID. Here's Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz on what it would take to put Americans back to work.

SPEAKING OF WORK, here's a look at green jobs in the coalfields from Ken Ward at Coal Tattoo. Short version: there are some, but there could be lots more.

JOBS OR AUSTERITY? In times like these, you can't have both.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Fountain of what?

2011-09-07T21:55:00.000-04:00

Earlier this summer, as an exercise is spiritual self-mortification, I waded through Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. Regular readers might recall earlier disrespectful posts in the subject.

It so happened about the time I was done with the book that a friend, who happens to be a Jesuit priest, told me I should check out the film version. I figured, why not? After on, once one has wallowed in a manure pit there is no reason to go out of one's way to avoid stepping in some.

Then I got downright curious about the movie version. The novel, such as it is, stretches on for hundreds and hundreds of pages. How could someone get it into a movie?

It turned out that the 1949 film version was written by Rand herself. And, to give the devil her due, I must say she really did it. For all the inevitable differences between a book and a movie, she got the feel of it...which is to say the film is every bit as comically wretched as the novel.

Gary Cooper stars as the architect Roark. He was a lot cooler in Sargent York. He just looks kind of silly over two hours of posturing and swaggering. And poor Patricia Neal, who played Dominique Fancon. She just kind of darts around the screen like some odd tropical fish in an aquarium.

Roark's buildings are apparently intended to strike the viewer with their originality, although in retrospect they are kind of comic versions of the kinds of architectural monstrosities we've gotten used to over the last half century.

One final thought: Rand in both the book and film continually slams ancient, medieval and Renaissance architecture in favor of modern boxes. After tooling around Italy for a week this summer and viewing all kinds of the old stuff, I'll take it any day of the week.

SOMETHING THAT WORKED. Nutritional assistance programs kept hunger in check during recent hard times.

A BLOG OF NOTE. Here's a link to the Economic Policy Institute's new blog.

WORK SHARING. Dean Baker argues that it should be part of President Obama's jobs program.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Choose a weaker enemy

2011-09-06T20:10:00.001-04:00

It is a sad fact of social and political life that people often suffer outrageous oppression or exploitation from the very powerful but end up taking their frustrations out on some powerless group that is easy to scapegoat.

It's way safer...

I've been in a medieval mood since visiting Italy this summer and one book on my current pile is Umberto Eco's novel The Name of the Rose. There's a great illustration of the above point in that novel when the young monk Adso converses with the whacked out Salvatore, who resides at the monastery where the action takes place.

Salvatore grew up in extreme poverty and was swept up in radical and heretical movements. Although the "horde of shepherds and humble folk" he joined dreamed of bringing down the overlords, they mostly wound up massacring defenseless Jews instead. Adso then asks why the Jews were attacked when their main oppressors were greedy lords and bishops. To quote from the book,

He replied that when your true enemies are too strong, you have to choose weaker enemies. I reflected that this is why the simple are so called. Only the powerful always know with great clarity who their true enemies are.

Gee whiz, it's a good thing that nothing like that can happen any more, huh?

A MODEST PROPOSAL. Here's a suggestion that this country needs some good jobs.

POLITICS TODAY is getting pretty weird. On all sides.

STAY COOL. Fiddler crabs chill out with their big claws.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Who knew?

2011-09-05T12:23:00.006-04:00

Image by way of wikipedia.

We interrupt Goat Rope's regularly scheduled programming due to a major news development reported this weekend on NPR which has forced El Cabrero to remake his cognitive map of the world.

According to someone who should probably know,

"Alligator wrestling is not a thinking man's sport."

And to think that all these years I was convinced you had to be really good at math to do it...

One other point to ponder about that statement...it was made to people who paid $100 to learn how to wrestle alligators. Could there be some intended or unintended irony or something there?

MASS DISTRACTION. Here's Krugman talking sense on jobs and deficits. Again.

TWO FROM LABOR. Here are two good Labor Day op-eds from the Charleston Gazette. The first is by Teamster leader Ken Hall and the second by state AFLCIO secretary treasurer Larry Matheney.

SPEAKING OF WORKERS, a new report (the easiest part of which was written by yours truly) looks at the state of working West Virginians. Here's a link to press coverage from the Gazette and the West Virginia News Service and here's a link to the report itself.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Labor Day

2011-09-02T08:42:00.003-04:00

"Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration."

Confessions of St. Arpad

2011-08-31T12:11:00.004-04:00

Like St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (354-430), Arpad, the (sort of) Great Pyrenees security chief of Goat Rope Farm, has spiritual struggles of his own.

Just as Augustine, prior to his conversion, prayed for chastity, provided it come at a later date, Arpad has been heard to pray thus:

"Lord, make me a vegan--but not yet!"

UNIONS AND INEQUALITY. When membership in the former goes down, the latter goes up.

ON A RELATED TOPIC, many top CEOs take home more pay than their companies pay in taxes.

AUSTERITY=JOB LOSS. Meanwhile, back in real America, more than 200,000 public sector jobs were lost in 2010.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

There but for fortune

2011-08-30T10:39:00.005-04:00

I've spent a lot of time working over the years to expand access to health care to as many people as possible. As a consumer of the system however, (as recently as yesterday with outpatient knee surgery) I must say that I feel a bit ambivalent about it.

Let me put it this way: I want everyone to have it when they need it--but I hope they don't have any need of it beyond basic wellness and maintenance. Getting caught up in health care treatment at a hospital or other facility can be just as disconcerting and disempowering as getting caught up in any bureaucracy. Still, it's far better than going without care.

My recent experience with knee pain has made me think a lot about the plight of the uninsured, most of whom are working people. For various reasons, including my own tardiness and/or wishful thinking, it took me all summer to get around to surgery.

My problem was pretty small in the grand scheme of things, but still every step was painful, and it also hurt when trying to rest. I had to stop doing a lot of the things I loved doing. God forbid I would stumble on anything or have to turn suddenly or get jerked by a dog on a walk; the pain would be breathtaking. Let's just say it was a drag and that it didn't do a whole lot for my not-always-sunny personality.

My point is this. I'm one of the lucky ones in that my condition wasn't that bad and didn't last that long and I could get it fixed. But many Americans, probably millions, have it much worse every day. The Affordable Care Act, while far from perfect, would go a long way towards changing that for the better. It is sad to think that even now there are lots of people, including major political "leaders" working tirelessly to make sure that won't happen.

ONE MORE THING. I'm not up to scanning for links today, but my thoughts also go out to victims and survivors of the hurricane. We have relatives in Vermont and the scenes from places I know there are very disturbing. While West Virginia's mountains usually protect us from the worst effects of hurricanes, we know a thing or two about devastating floods here too--and wish we didn't.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: KNEE HIGH