We here at Knews Not News were raised on certain rules in our formative years. One of those rules was that honesty isn't just the best policy but the only policy in the majority of situations we would encounter in life. If you're embarrassed or could be charged by a truthful account of your behavior, you're doing it wrong, whatever it is. And it needs to be fixed. ASAP.
Such a desire for decent behavior is a frequent motivator for many of our previous posts. We know, much more money can be made acting like jerks, but it's our lance and we can point it where we want, thank you. So we ride off again. But on this issue we are not alone.
Al Lewis of the Wall Street Journal asks the question The Truth, Your Honor? in his column for November 13. It's a question we have long demanded an answer to: how do we stop any crime from happening over and over again if 1) there is no open and personally identified recognition of guilt and 2) the penalties/remedies provided are easily reached?
It's a question we've often wondered while driving. Someone who can afford an SUV roughly the size of a dump truck can afford a triple-digit speeding ticket much more easily than someone who makes considerably less money. A setback like that can be met with a shrug instead of the questions "how am I going to make the rent?" or "what am I going to feed my children?" It's an uneven burden, but we know the poor aren't going to get a pass from anything because they're poor. No lobbyists, you know. And we get that. But the wrong-doer in traffic violations can at least be identified.
But not, as Mr. Lewis explains in the column linked above, if your crime is part of the 2008 ham-stringing of the United States economy.
But they should be identified. Someone, at some early point in this financial disaster, said, "Yes, let's do this" or "Okay, go ahead." Someone did. And it wasn't some communally designated flunky who can't even take their lunch without permission from a higher-up. It was someone with a big office and a big paycheck and enough authority to set a plan in motion that earned millions of dollars for the company and wrecked the US economy and millions of lives in the process. Someone took credit for this. Someone got the big bonus for the increase in the bottom line. And someone is protecting them, even while the US economy continues to founder. We, including Mr. Lewis, we imagine, would like to know those names. So we ask again, because no one in business or government will tell us.
Please.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
Are You Listening, Boat Anchor Manufacturers?
Check out this Des Moines Register article about how boat engines are being destroyed by using E15 gasoline in them (E15 is gasoline with 15% ethanol instead of the usual 10%).
So, let us get this straight...the government wants to offer a fuel that can't be put in small engines or any vehicle manufactured before 2001? In order to placate the oil companies and the farmers? Really? How would this make sense to anyone but Congress (whose approval rating dropped to 9% last week because of stunts just like this)?
But, on the bright side, you could use your wrecked boat or car motor as an anchor. Until the boat anchor industry wises up and starts chuckin' some cash around DC...
So, let us get this straight...the government wants to offer a fuel that can't be put in small engines or any vehicle manufactured before 2001? In order to placate the oil companies and the farmers? Really? How would this make sense to anyone but Congress (whose approval rating dropped to 9% last week because of stunts just like this)?
But, on the bright side, you could use your wrecked boat or car motor as an anchor. Until the boat anchor industry wises up and starts chuckin' some cash around DC...
Monday, October 31, 2011
A Few Kind Words about Kindness
We tend to be a snarky bunch here at KNN. We see a lot of bad news about a lot of if-not-bad-then-silly,-thoughtless,-or-avaricious people. And it wears on us. Frankly, all that grinding can cause sharp edges on anyone's psyche (and teeth).
Still, all too infrequently, we do find ourselves treated to our favorite part of human nature: kindness. A church in our region went out into the community on October 30th offering to do, well, whatever needed doing. It sounded like it was too good to be true and, shrugging, we assumed it was.
We were completely and pleasantly wrong. Those, like us, who availed themselves of the service found themselves treated to a crowd of people ranging in age from the very young to people of retirement age, doing whatever needed to be done, from lawn work to minor plumbing. For us, it was days worth of work done in just a few hours. They asked for no payment or any sort of recompense. It was amazing.
But the thing that rendered us speechless was the response from young and old when we tried to thank them for all their hard work. To a person, they thanked us for the opportunity to serve. Every one.
As referred to above, we are a snarky bunch here, but we are not so far gone that kindness and extraordinary effort of that sort fails to effect us. We dare not give the name of the church no matter how rightly they deserve their acknowledgement; kindness is the sort of thing that gets abused easily, and the people who practice it don't always count the costs they should, because it isn't in their nature to do so.
To be sure, though, there was one overwhelmed couple who so very appreciated what was done for us that it's hard to express. So we close with this: thank you, and through your generosity, we are reminded that the true benefit of kindness is not what was done for you, but that you will take up the practice of it elsewhere. And we will.
Still, all too infrequently, we do find ourselves treated to our favorite part of human nature: kindness. A church in our region went out into the community on October 30th offering to do, well, whatever needed doing. It sounded like it was too good to be true and, shrugging, we assumed it was.
We were completely and pleasantly wrong. Those, like us, who availed themselves of the service found themselves treated to a crowd of people ranging in age from the very young to people of retirement age, doing whatever needed to be done, from lawn work to minor plumbing. For us, it was days worth of work done in just a few hours. They asked for no payment or any sort of recompense. It was amazing.
But the thing that rendered us speechless was the response from young and old when we tried to thank them for all their hard work. To a person, they thanked us for the opportunity to serve. Every one.
As referred to above, we are a snarky bunch here, but we are not so far gone that kindness and extraordinary effort of that sort fails to effect us. We dare not give the name of the church no matter how rightly they deserve their acknowledgement; kindness is the sort of thing that gets abused easily, and the people who practice it don't always count the costs they should, because it isn't in their nature to do so.
To be sure, though, there was one overwhelmed couple who so very appreciated what was done for us that it's hard to express. So we close with this: thank you, and through your generosity, we are reminded that the true benefit of kindness is not what was done for you, but that you will take up the practice of it elsewhere. And we will.
Monday, October 24, 2011
What We Kept From the Last Three Months With No Posts
Good grief! Will someone please grasp this year, as it is behaving like a two-year-old on a caffeine and sugar fueled tantrum, hold the blasted thing down, and staple it to the floor? We much prefer our years to be gentler and quieter and we won't stand for this any more. How can anyone hear us complain over all this ruckus?
So, some short posts so that we may clear our mental palates and physical notebooks:
Why didn't Wile E. Coyote just go buy a hot dog?
Many newspapers reported in July that the wealth gap was widening due to the recession. Excuse me, Fourth Estate? If ever there was an example of knews, this is it.
Justice without her blindfold is greed.
The IBM Selectric typewriter turned 50 in late July. Who cares, you ask? Why, we do, of course. We miss the one we used to use. There was something reassuringly mechanical about striking the keys, not like the anemic tap of a computer keyboard. Although you can buy a keyboard with that sound to it, it's not the same, and we miss it. Its example reminds us that it was a machine, designed to do a thing, and that was all it meant. It was not a status symbol or a means of ignoring our fellow human beings or a success marker. It was a tool that meant less than the work done with it and rightly so.
(And, while we're at it, we understand completely that the iPod changed the world of entertainment. We also understand that it allows us to be served exclusively by our own desired music and video. Did we really need a device that allows us to communicate less, and thereby know each other less? Did we really need help with that?)
Being blind does not keep justice from also being vain. (Evidently justice was on our minds a bit the past three months.)
When prayer is the final realistic hope, society has failed.
Overheard at our day job: when we run away from danger, we protect our internal organs. Yes. Quite.
Finally, read this article about Ford workers essentially becoming migrant workers. Now, go get your copy of "The Grapes of Wrath" and re-read it.
We'll be back on schedule soon. Thanks for reading!
So, some short posts so that we may clear our mental palates and physical notebooks:
Why didn't Wile E. Coyote just go buy a hot dog?
Many newspapers reported in July that the wealth gap was widening due to the recession. Excuse me, Fourth Estate? If ever there was an example of knews, this is it.
Justice without her blindfold is greed.
The IBM Selectric typewriter turned 50 in late July. Who cares, you ask? Why, we do, of course. We miss the one we used to use. There was something reassuringly mechanical about striking the keys, not like the anemic tap of a computer keyboard. Although you can buy a keyboard with that sound to it, it's not the same, and we miss it. Its example reminds us that it was a machine, designed to do a thing, and that was all it meant. It was not a status symbol or a means of ignoring our fellow human beings or a success marker. It was a tool that meant less than the work done with it and rightly so.
(And, while we're at it, we understand completely that the iPod changed the world of entertainment. We also understand that it allows us to be served exclusively by our own desired music and video. Did we really need a device that allows us to communicate less, and thereby know each other less? Did we really need help with that?)
Being blind does not keep justice from also being vain. (Evidently justice was on our minds a bit the past three months.)
When prayer is the final realistic hope, society has failed.
Overheard at our day job: when we run away from danger, we protect our internal organs. Yes. Quite.
Finally, read this article about Ford workers essentially becoming migrant workers. Now, go get your copy of "The Grapes of Wrath" and re-read it.
We'll be back on schedule soon. Thanks for reading!
Sunday, August 14, 2011
A Judge Judged
For those of you who've been following the Judge Mark Ciavarella case in Pennsylvania, there's been an entirely appropriate development. Find it here.
He's the judge who was sentencing young men (sometimes without justifiable cause) to serve time at a local for-profit detention center in exchange for a kickback from the center's owners. Though this won't make up for the suicides and wreckage made of these young mens' lives, it's more than the salutatory slap on the wrist KNN usually sees.
Now, if someone would just take a similar stance on the 2008 Economic Collapse....
He's the judge who was sentencing young men (sometimes without justifiable cause) to serve time at a local for-profit detention center in exchange for a kickback from the center's owners. Though this won't make up for the suicides and wreckage made of these young mens' lives, it's more than the salutatory slap on the wrist KNN usually sees.
Now, if someone would just take a similar stance on the 2008 Economic Collapse....
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
The Complexity of Simplicity
KNN grew up on a steady diet of The Brady Bunch. First-runs and re-runs both. There. It's out.
In our defense, it was harmless enough. Except for the eye-searing wardrobe. And Alice. Never got Alice. And the singing jumped the shark long before Happy Days. Hey, it was the 70's. Silly was the norm.
But, as it turned out, we had better taste than we thought, as described in this article from the Boston Globe. Even when their lives were at their most mundane, it just flat out mattered what was going on. Mattered to us.
Why? That's where the complexity comes in. You have to have a sound story, as lived by sympathetic characters, who say and do things that are in keeping with both the point of the story and the revealed traits of those characters. Stakes with personally high investment from the focus character. A few yuks to make the medicine go down well. Complementary subplots that reveal other points of view or considerations, but come together with the main line of storytelling. A beginning. A middle. An end. A surprise or two. A point. And here's the greatest complexity of all: it's not life, but everyone expects it to be just like it, whether you're talking about hobbits or rabbits or revolutionaries. Or a blended family.
"That's the way they became the Brady Bunch." (We hear the music, don't you?)
In our defense, it was harmless enough. Except for the eye-searing wardrobe. And Alice. Never got Alice. And the singing jumped the shark long before Happy Days. Hey, it was the 70's. Silly was the norm.
But, as it turned out, we had better taste than we thought, as described in this article from the Boston Globe. Even when their lives were at their most mundane, it just flat out mattered what was going on. Mattered to us.
Why? That's where the complexity comes in. You have to have a sound story, as lived by sympathetic characters, who say and do things that are in keeping with both the point of the story and the revealed traits of those characters. Stakes with personally high investment from the focus character. A few yuks to make the medicine go down well. Complementary subplots that reveal other points of view or considerations, but come together with the main line of storytelling. A beginning. A middle. An end. A surprise or two. A point. And here's the greatest complexity of all: it's not life, but everyone expects it to be just like it, whether you're talking about hobbits or rabbits or revolutionaries. Or a blended family.
"That's the way they became the Brady Bunch." (We hear the music, don't you?)
Monday, July 18, 2011
About E-Publishing
KNN has run across a couple of interesting articles about the e-book phenomenon. People in very high-profile sources are talking about electronic publishing, but we aren't sure they're thinking about it very much.
Amanda Katz's piece in The Boston Globe from July 17 is fascinating in many ways. The thing that concerns us is that the structure of the piece seems to feature an implied or expected conflict between electronic and printed material. Why is that necessary? Does it have to be all or nothing? A no-holds barred cage match? Can't we have both?
Likewise, the piece in the New York Times on July 15 about how the structure of a non-traditional summer class introduction to the publishing industry is changing because of e-books is interesting as well. The focus is the course, but KNN has a concern. It's the blase nature of the business concern for the publishers that e-books create. Of course, they're not going to come out on stage in front of a bunch of students and yell the business equivalent of "FIRE!!" But no one quoted in the article wanted to make any sort of pronouncement about the future effect of e-books on their business. Or what their businesses plan to do about it.
It seems to be too soon to do much open thinking about this phenomenon, at least for publishers. The sense we've gotten is that the publishing industry just wants e-books to go away and they are ready for them to do that. But the Katz article shows that people are using e-books in a variety of ways, from sampling a book that they'll later want to buy a paper copy of because of ownership issues, to full replacement of paper works. Businesses of all stripes will need to get comfy with e-books or they'll inadvertently provide their competition with a technology gap that can be exploited for little or no hard investment.
KNN would like to state for the record: electronic books will not completely replace paper books. Nope. Not ever. Bank on it. But the time is now to prepare for the loss of market share that publishers will face as a result. It's coming. E-books are too convenient and too adaptable to individual choices to just go away. The market won't stand for it.
Amanda Katz's piece in The Boston Globe from July 17 is fascinating in many ways. The thing that concerns us is that the structure of the piece seems to feature an implied or expected conflict between electronic and printed material. Why is that necessary? Does it have to be all or nothing? A no-holds barred cage match? Can't we have both?
Likewise, the piece in the New York Times on July 15 about how the structure of a non-traditional summer class introduction to the publishing industry is changing because of e-books is interesting as well. The focus is the course, but KNN has a concern. It's the blase nature of the business concern for the publishers that e-books create. Of course, they're not going to come out on stage in front of a bunch of students and yell the business equivalent of "FIRE!!" But no one quoted in the article wanted to make any sort of pronouncement about the future effect of e-books on their business. Or what their businesses plan to do about it.
It seems to be too soon to do much open thinking about this phenomenon, at least for publishers. The sense we've gotten is that the publishing industry just wants e-books to go away and they are ready for them to do that. But the Katz article shows that people are using e-books in a variety of ways, from sampling a book that they'll later want to buy a paper copy of because of ownership issues, to full replacement of paper works. Businesses of all stripes will need to get comfy with e-books or they'll inadvertently provide their competition with a technology gap that can be exploited for little or no hard investment.
KNN would like to state for the record: electronic books will not completely replace paper books. Nope. Not ever. Bank on it. But the time is now to prepare for the loss of market share that publishers will face as a result. It's coming. E-books are too convenient and too adaptable to individual choices to just go away. The market won't stand for it.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Evolutionary Biologists Should See Someone About That
From BBC: Worms' Sex Life Yields Advantage Over Parasites
Our favorite quote from this story is "Sex has long troubled evolutionary biologists." KNN subscribes to the following corporate policy about such matters: live and let live, but spare us the details.
Subscribes. Really. We can show you the receipts. Money reeeeeally well spent.
Our favorite quote from this story is "Sex has long troubled evolutionary biologists." KNN subscribes to the following corporate policy about such matters: live and let live, but spare us the details.
Subscribes. Really. We can show you the receipts. Money reeeeeally well spent.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
The New Export: The New Boss, Same as the Old Boss
From NPR: Transcript
When taking up the mantle of business, even if it's for the US government, it isn't necessary to treat your employees like they're nothing. Human trafficking, sexual abuse, ridiculous working conditions...KNN asks why there isn't some sort of law that obligates US companies to follow the basic tenets of US law when operating overseas? Surely it can't hurt the bottom line that much to be civil to people. It's bad enough that we have to be greedy; do we have to be feudal?
When taking up the mantle of business, even if it's for the US government, it isn't necessary to treat your employees like they're nothing. Human trafficking, sexual abuse, ridiculous working conditions...KNN asks why there isn't some sort of law that obligates US companies to follow the basic tenets of US law when operating overseas? Surely it can't hurt the bottom line that much to be civil to people. It's bad enough that we have to be greedy; do we have to be feudal?
That paid how much?
Every organization, no matter its purpose, or success at that purpose, is susceptible to the metaphorical thirty pieces of silver. It isn't about the amount or the metal: it's about placing personal concerns over the necessities for success of the organization. That's true from the leader to the lowest foot soldier, which is why true leadership, both from the top and bottom of an organization, is so rare. It takes patience and mentoring and discipline and forethought to gain success and security for an entire organization, qualities sadly unfamiliar in the business world today. When a change in heading toward personal concerns is complete, there is no going back, because pure self-interest has been allowed a seat at the table. And it never yields the floor when it speaks and it only speaks to its own agenda. And it will never settle for less. Kinda sounds like the Terminator, doesn't it?
Monday, May 23, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
I've uploaded a copy of cover for Turning Springs as a .pdf file to my Public Access file. Check it out at http://ping.fm/ZC9uz
Monday, May 9, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Can't find my book on Amazon?
You can download it directly from Smashwords dot com by downloading the .MOBI copy. The CEO of Smashwords said it works.
Monday, May 2, 2011
The new links list and the first entry
Check it out! I've set up a new Public Access file in Google Docs! Just check the side bar!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Where are we again?
When examining the news and the web, there's always a danger of getting lost, of finding yourself in places you never intended to be. KNN feels that acutely lately, not just because of the rare and beautiful weather outside of stately KNN Manor. No, there's more, and it's difficult to, well, place.
Frm MSNBC News: Oops! Lady Liberty Stamp is of Vegas replica It's a shame when you can't even trust your stamps. It's not "lift my lamp beside the Golden Horseshoe", folks.
Frm MSNBC News: Altoona, PA won't be with us much longer We know, everything's for sale. Even the dignity of a community. And a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. But this, well, this just smells like old tuna.
And finally, not a link but a comment. With the royal wedding last week, we here at KNN have been considering the attraction that event had for our countrymen in the US. We've heard about the dress, the lingering admiration for Diana, the once in a lifetime event (okay, this is our second royal wedding for KNN, but you get the idea). But we think it may be something more. You see, a monarchy is an easily accountable form of government. One person to make decision, one person's decisions to complain about, one person to remove. We're not saying that there's any actual power behind the British monarchy and they make few life-altering decisions on any scale. But it would be nice to be able to point at someone who was on record as screwing up the US economy and say "you're fired." And there was a time when we actually did that, to King George III in that very kingdom we've been ogling for the past week. But then we took over management ourselves and now? It's not just that things are (still) bad (there and here), they're murky and not clearing and insensible. By Independence Day, the US will have largely forgotten about this blessed event, having had two more months of living in the death-of-a-trillion-cuts that is the US economy in 2011. We'll have no one to govern us, or complain about, or fire, but ourselves.
Until next time.
Frm MSNBC News: Oops! Lady Liberty Stamp is of Vegas replica It's a shame when you can't even trust your stamps. It's not "lift my lamp beside the Golden Horseshoe", folks.
Frm MSNBC News: Altoona, PA won't be with us much longer We know, everything's for sale. Even the dignity of a community. And a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. But this, well, this just smells like old tuna.
And finally, not a link but a comment. With the royal wedding last week, we here at KNN have been considering the attraction that event had for our countrymen in the US. We've heard about the dress, the lingering admiration for Diana, the once in a lifetime event (okay, this is our second royal wedding for KNN, but you get the idea). But we think it may be something more. You see, a monarchy is an easily accountable form of government. One person to make decision, one person's decisions to complain about, one person to remove. We're not saying that there's any actual power behind the British monarchy and they make few life-altering decisions on any scale. But it would be nice to be able to point at someone who was on record as screwing up the US economy and say "you're fired." And there was a time when we actually did that, to King George III in that very kingdom we've been ogling for the past week. But then we took over management ourselves and now? It's not just that things are (still) bad (there and here), they're murky and not clearing and insensible. By Independence Day, the US will have largely forgotten about this blessed event, having had two more months of living in the death-of-a-trillion-cuts that is the US economy in 2011. We'll have no one to govern us, or complain about, or fire, but ourselves.
Until next time.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Desperately Seeking...Something
Frm ABC: President Obama Releases Birth Certificate to End Birther 'Silliness' Wanted: white male seeks new conspiracy theory. Must contain unverifiable suspicions about unsavory and/or illegal activities. Electoral abuse preferred, but will accept alien abduction, magic bullets, romance with Bigfoot, or Loch Ness Monster. Access to silent black helicopters a plus. Please supply own tinfoil hat. Contact Trump 2012 campaign. Ask for Don.
Excuse Me, I Didn't Catch Your Name
Frm Time: 'Lucas Fayne,' World's Most Positive Fake Customer, Surfaces on Twitter Just when KNN was starting to believe everything we read on the Internet. What really gets us is how this kept up while everyone was seemingly ignorant to it. Shame, Intuit. Couldn't you be a little bit more creative with your urgings toward falsehood?
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Sunday (This time as advertised)
Pleasantly sunny here, but cold, cold, cold. Time to put on some warm fuzzy stuff and sit in the sun...
Frm Dumb Little Man: How to Tackle Adversity Like an Oyster All of us have harsh days and bad weeks and here at KNN, it's been both. But one of the things not mentioned in the post above is to not let a bad experience allow you to forget your plans and goals. After a particularly bad situation this week, KNN looked at the experience in terms of upcoming plans and found that nothing in the plans had changed. After that, crap week, where is thy sting?
Frm Time to Write: Will the worst book ever written become a movie? Ever watch Lifetime? During Christmas? You don't need a horrible book to make a movie. But having the worst book ever written become a movie? We here at KNN call that "destructive marketing" then rekindle the warm thoughts and hopes for our own writing projects and leave it at that.
Frm IO9: In the 1930s some predicted that giant babies would rule the world Ah, babies. They smell good (most of the time). They sound good (most of the time). And they don't rule the world. And some people can say and do things that are so wrong that they are denounced immediately. No concept warmer or fuzzier than that; truth escapes, no matter how desperately it is suppressed. Sometimes, it's the last thing we have to hold onto.
Till next time!
Frm Dumb Little Man: How to Tackle Adversity Like an Oyster All of us have harsh days and bad weeks and here at KNN, it's been both. But one of the things not mentioned in the post above is to not let a bad experience allow you to forget your plans and goals. After a particularly bad situation this week, KNN looked at the experience in terms of upcoming plans and found that nothing in the plans had changed. After that, crap week, where is thy sting?
Frm Time to Write: Will the worst book ever written become a movie? Ever watch Lifetime? During Christmas? You don't need a horrible book to make a movie. But having the worst book ever written become a movie? We here at KNN call that "destructive marketing" then rekindle the warm thoughts and hopes for our own writing projects and leave it at that.
Frm IO9: In the 1930s some predicted that giant babies would rule the world Ah, babies. They smell good (most of the time). They sound good (most of the time). And they don't rule the world. And some people can say and do things that are so wrong that they are denounced immediately. No concept warmer or fuzzier than that; truth escapes, no matter how desperately it is suppressed. Sometimes, it's the last thing we have to hold onto.
Till next time!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Wow. Just wow.
Howdy, KNN followers. We're moving to shorter posts in an effort to, well, get more of more done. We have a lot on our serving platter sized plate. But we're never too busy to point at something like this and gasp. As we would at, oh, let's say, the World's Biggest Ball of Appalling Human Behavior (Covered With Tar).
Frm St. Petersburg Times: Local governments spent freely with BP's millions Oh, come on, now. We here at KNN were all in favor of BP's fund to help the victims of the oil spill. To us, it represented a significant step forward in the fight for corporate accountability, a good first step. And then stuff like this happens? The excuses aren't even good. "I don't have one and I needed one" isn't a suitable excuse for anyone to take something they're not entitled to, elected or not.
And the profoundly pathetic thing about this situation is that BP could make a legal case to recover some of that cash on the grounds that it didn't go to the people it was supposed to help, which was the original reason for ponying up. We could see a judge ruling in their favor on that. How's that for accountability?
Until next time...
Frm St. Petersburg Times: Local governments spent freely with BP's millions Oh, come on, now. We here at KNN were all in favor of BP's fund to help the victims of the oil spill. To us, it represented a significant step forward in the fight for corporate accountability, a good first step. And then stuff like this happens? The excuses aren't even good. "I don't have one and I needed one" isn't a suitable excuse for anyone to take something they're not entitled to, elected or not.
And the profoundly pathetic thing about this situation is that BP could make a legal case to recover some of that cash on the grounds that it didn't go to the people it was supposed to help, which was the original reason for ponying up. We could see a judge ruling in their favor on that. How's that for accountability?
Until next time...
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Another Sunday...
Miss me this week? Never fear. KNN is there for you, lurking in the wings, pointing out foolishness and laughing. Takes a lot more than a busy week to keep us down. It would take someone sitting in this chair. A bald someone wearing a monocle. In a linen suit. Stroking a long-haired cat. Saying "Why no, Mr. KNN, if that is your real name. I expect you to die!"
Ah, yes, spring has sprung here in northern IL, complete with threatening weather and things growing all over the place. Tried planting these last year. All we got was some really grateful squirrels.
And now that the snow has melted away from the swing set, it gives us the chance to try this. But we won't. Because KNN doesn't want to spend the rest of the spring (and summer and autumn) wearing plaster pants. And neither should you.
And of course, the birdies are back in the north. Be careful driving, everyone. Never know what you're going to find marching in the road.
Until Next Time...
Ah, yes, spring has sprung here in northern IL, complete with threatening weather and things growing all over the place. Tried planting these last year. All we got was some really grateful squirrels.
And now that the snow has melted away from the swing set, it gives us the chance to try this. But we won't. Because KNN doesn't want to spend the rest of the spring (and summer and autumn) wearing plaster pants. And neither should you.
And of course, the birdies are back in the north. Be careful driving, everyone. Never know what you're going to find marching in the road.
Until Next Time...
Sunday, April 3, 2011
It's Sunday! And you have no idea what that means....
Because it's the first Sunday with the new blog. And Sunday at KNN means cool stuff from my RSS feeds.
Frm Bits & Pieces: The ultimate tool chest This is a great site for unusual stuff that you won't find everywhere. A lot of it (Yep, a lot) tends to be NSFW, but some of it is just plain cool. Including this gem, which is a reminder that, yes, at one time, patience was rewarded by exquisite skill and craftsmanship.
Frm Women's Day: 12 American Ghost Towns One of the things that humans always forget is that none of what we know now is permanent. None of it. And that the people who come after us will have to deal with what we've done. And the results of what we were absolutely sure about. Absolutely.
Frm IO9: Steven Spielberg's Falling Skies Love IO9. Anything in geek culture is there. Including this new Spielberg series. Are you kidding me? I can see this project, with attendant marketing, making enough money to wipe out the US debt in a year. And, on the way, turning me into a drooling fanboy.
But, is anyone else seeing an entertainment trend I'm seeing? The US defending itself from an outside threat? The Red Dawn remake? The recent alien attack on L.A. movie that tanked at the box office? Is Hollywood cashing in on the whole "be-afraid" mentality popularized on news programs (both conservative and not so much)? Conventional wisdom says those businesses have been capitalizing on our fears for decades, so why shouldn't Hollywood?
My questions are should we let them, and, if not, how do we stop them? After all, I don't have to be a fanboy for anyone.
Thanks for reading!
Frm Bits & Pieces: The ultimate tool chest This is a great site for unusual stuff that you won't find everywhere. A lot of it (Yep, a lot) tends to be NSFW, but some of it is just plain cool. Including this gem, which is a reminder that, yes, at one time, patience was rewarded by exquisite skill and craftsmanship.
Frm Women's Day: 12 American Ghost Towns One of the things that humans always forget is that none of what we know now is permanent. None of it. And that the people who come after us will have to deal with what we've done. And the results of what we were absolutely sure about. Absolutely.
Frm IO9: Steven Spielberg's Falling Skies Love IO9. Anything in geek culture is there. Including this new Spielberg series. Are you kidding me? I can see this project, with attendant marketing, making enough money to wipe out the US debt in a year. And, on the way, turning me into a drooling fanboy.
But, is anyone else seeing an entertainment trend I'm seeing? The US defending itself from an outside threat? The Red Dawn remake? The recent alien attack on L.A. movie that tanked at the box office? Is Hollywood cashing in on the whole "be-afraid" mentality popularized on news programs (both conservative and not so much)? Conventional wisdom says those businesses have been capitalizing on our fears for decades, so why shouldn't Hollywood?
My questions are should we let them, and, if not, how do we stop them? After all, I don't have to be a fanboy for anyone.
Thanks for reading!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Not Getting It
Here at K,NN, we're trying to catch on. Some of the stuff that irks us is just plain hard to understand (much less fix) with things the way they are. Write back if you can explain...
Frm the San Jose Mercury News: PG&E fine over pipeline safety records comes under increased scrutiny. So they cut the fine for this utility company (which blew up 38 homes and killed 8 people in San Bruno, CA) to pony up their records on natural gas pipeline safety. The original fine was to be $1 million for each day the records had not been turned in. We get that, and that would really sting, so we approve. But the California Public Utilities Commission changed that sufficient amount to a one time fee of $3 million. We get that, too; not happy, but at least they'll be paying something. Here's the part K,NN doesn't get: are any other pipeline sections unsafe? How will anyone know if PG&E can't tell us? Isn't that a problem worth $1 million a day to find out?
Frm the Ogden, UT Standard-Examiner: OUR VIEW: A hospital-protection bill. We here at K,NN completely understand the urge to reject responsibility. Putting empty ice cube trays back in the freezer...empty toilet paper rolls...even blaming the dog for the most recent paint-peeling odor in the living room. But when you get caught, you acknowledge your transgression to those you have offended, make it right if you can, and move on. You don't petition the governor for a stay of responsibility. Here's what K,NN doesn't get: if this bill gets passed, why would anyone set foot in Utah for any length of time? Wouldn't not utilizing the medical community there (or anything else for that matter) be more harmful than the relatively few lawsuits they get?
Frm the Associated Press: Welsh 'Hitler House' Causes Stir. Nope. Looking again. Nope. Don't see it. Ah, well. K,NN is not concerned. That magic eye stuff doesn't work on us, either. Unfocus your eye indeed. We paid good money for these glasses.
Thanks for reading!
Frm the San Jose Mercury News: PG&E fine over pipeline safety records comes under increased scrutiny. So they cut the fine for this utility company (which blew up 38 homes and killed 8 people in San Bruno, CA) to pony up their records on natural gas pipeline safety. The original fine was to be $1 million for each day the records had not been turned in. We get that, and that would really sting, so we approve. But the California Public Utilities Commission changed that sufficient amount to a one time fee of $3 million. We get that, too; not happy, but at least they'll be paying something. Here's the part K,NN doesn't get: are any other pipeline sections unsafe? How will anyone know if PG&E can't tell us? Isn't that a problem worth $1 million a day to find out?
Frm the Ogden, UT Standard-Examiner: OUR VIEW: A hospital-protection bill. We here at K,NN completely understand the urge to reject responsibility. Putting empty ice cube trays back in the freezer...empty toilet paper rolls...even blaming the dog for the most recent paint-peeling odor in the living room. But when you get caught, you acknowledge your transgression to those you have offended, make it right if you can, and move on. You don't petition the governor for a stay of responsibility. Here's what K,NN doesn't get: if this bill gets passed, why would anyone set foot in Utah for any length of time? Wouldn't not utilizing the medical community there (or anything else for that matter) be more harmful than the relatively few lawsuits they get?
Frm the Associated Press: Welsh 'Hitler House' Causes Stir. Nope. Looking again. Nope. Don't see it. Ah, well. K,NN is not concerned. That magic eye stuff doesn't work on us, either. Unfocus your eye indeed. We paid good money for these glasses.
Thanks for reading!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
In the Beginning
I wanted to name this blog something to do with the stocks, the punishment device of old. Names for most of that were already taken, so that was out, but I figured that wasn't going to work anyway. I realized that the primary effect of the stocks, what made them work, was shame. And the accounts of the people and situations I'm going to link to here in the weeks and months and, hopefully, years to come are blissfully unencumbered by shame. Unless you count the people who read them. But admit it: something is seriously wrong with the United States when situations like the ones below, and the people who perpetrate them, are allowed to thrive when so many of us are struggling. So it's Knews, Not News. Unsurprised. Familiar. As in, I knews something was wrong with that news.
Like this: Frm the Houston Chronicle: A death at sea, hardship on land. I don't know what's more shameful, that companies can get away with no other expenses but lost wages and funeral expenses because the employee died at sea (whether the company was responsible or not), or the fact that this law has been on the books, unchanged, for over NINETY years.
Or this: Frm the St. Petersburg Times: Let's Say It Again: Florida's Legislators are for sale. All I have to say is: Well. Duh. The only surprising aspect of this is that it's so blatantly above board. And that all of this is okay if they tell people in a report who bought them. Which report, no doubt, will be kept for public viewing in a locked safe. For which the combination has been lost. And sunk in the deepest part of the Everglades. Under a car. And a nuclear power plant.
Or this: Frm Business Insurance magazine: Don't Ess-may with Exas-tay. This is just silly, but I do have a question: is it Ee-fray Eeech-spay or Ee-fray Peech-say? My only experience with Pig Latin was long ago in my public high school. I wasn't really taking it seriously. It's one thing to have to study a dead language; it's quite another to have it be a primary part of a BLT.
Before I get tarred as a liberal or a conservative, I've given up on the whole Democrat/Republican thing. Anyone who wants to couch this in terms of political parties is choosing to focus on just the teeny part of the iceberg sticking up out of the water. But the rest of it is big. And it's heading right for us. And the lookouts are asleep. But the deck chairs look nice, don't they? Hey, does anyone else hear water running?
So read on. Write me back to let me know what you think. And thanks!
Like this: Frm the Houston Chronicle: A death at sea, hardship on land. I don't know what's more shameful, that companies can get away with no other expenses but lost wages and funeral expenses because the employee died at sea (whether the company was responsible or not), or the fact that this law has been on the books, unchanged, for over NINETY years.
Or this: Frm the St. Petersburg Times: Let's Say It Again: Florida's Legislators are for sale. All I have to say is: Well. Duh. The only surprising aspect of this is that it's so blatantly above board. And that all of this is okay if they tell people in a report who bought them. Which report, no doubt, will be kept for public viewing in a locked safe. For which the combination has been lost. And sunk in the deepest part of the Everglades. Under a car. And a nuclear power plant.
Or this: Frm Business Insurance magazine: Don't Ess-may with Exas-tay. This is just silly, but I do have a question: is it Ee-fray Eeech-spay or Ee-fray Peech-say? My only experience with Pig Latin was long ago in my public high school. I wasn't really taking it seriously. It's one thing to have to study a dead language; it's quite another to have it be a primary part of a BLT.
Before I get tarred as a liberal or a conservative, I've given up on the whole Democrat/Republican thing. Anyone who wants to couch this in terms of political parties is choosing to focus on just the teeny part of the iceberg sticking up out of the water. But the rest of it is big. And it's heading right for us. And the lookouts are asleep. But the deck chairs look nice, don't they? Hey, does anyone else hear water running?
So read on. Write me back to let me know what you think. And thanks!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)