Just mail it!

Every now and then someone invents a product or service that convinces people that the old fashioned way of doing things is much harder than it really is. By so fooling people they get them to spend much more than they need to.

Microwave popcorn is a perfect example. Making popcorn in a saucepan is almost as easy and just as fast as putting a paper bag of seeds into the microwave. But nobody knows that anymore because the stores have six tiers of shelves stocking microwave popcorn, and 12 inches of shelf space for plain seeds that cost about one-fifth as much per pound.

Another such product came to my attention today. A service, actually, called Sunnygram.com. It's for people who have grandparents that don't own computers. If you want to e-mail Grandma, you just e-mail Sunnygram, which will take all of your e-mails for Grandma, print them out (complete with photos) and mail them to her via the good old United States Postal Service. Sunnygram provides this helpful service for just $9.95 a month.

It's as if you couldn't print it and mail it yourself for about 50 to 60 cents worth of paper, ink and postage. You do know how to do that, right? Please say yes.

But knowing how the world works, having worked with the general public myself, I'm certain there are people who will be convinced that Sunnygram is the most viable way to communicate with an analog Grandma in a digital age. What Grandma knows that they don't is that there's a sucker born every minute.

New history page in the Toy Box

I recently posted a new page in the Bits-O' History section of the Monterey Peninsula Toy Box. It provides an accurate and reasonably complete history of the crosses overlooking local beaches, focusing particularly on the Monterey cross that was vandalized last month, and which was the subject of my September 23rd entry.

The new page is called THE TRUE MEANING OF THE CROSS.

I decided a new page was necessary to counteract the misinformation that has been spreading during the debate over the constitutionality of the cross. After all, one can't have a good argument without good facts. I was particularly dismayed to read in the Herald, once in an article and twice in an editorial, that the cross marked the site where the Portola expedition "landed." Since they came by land, and not by sea, there was no "landing." The Herald should be ashamed for failing to do such basic research, especially since part of their argument against repairing the cross was based upon it.

Perhaps they should check with me before printing stuff.

Put trains, not busses, on the railroad tracks!

On October 28th the Transportation Agency for Monterey County will decide how to develop the Monterey Branch Rail Line between downtown Monterey and the junction with the Union Pacific Coast Line at Castroville. The choices are to restore the tracks as a light rail corridor, or pave it over for a dedicated bus rapid transit line.

I cannot stress strongly enough that we need to support the rail option. The original reason TAMC purchased the Monterey Branch Line was to restore intercity rail service between Monterey and the San Francisco bay area. Frankly, I have grown dismayed that TAMC has strayed so far from this goal, favoring mere enhancements to existing local transit services. I never hear people asking for more bus service, or local rail service, but I hear many people wondering when they'll be able to ride a train to San Francisco.

Only the light rail option would eventually allow for intercity rail service, so there should be no question on this matter. The rail right of way should be developed as a rail line and not a bus line.

California has some of the best and most popular regional rail services in the country. Three popular regional rail corridors, Caltrain, the Capitol Corridor and Altamont Commuter Express, converge just 60 miles from here in San Jose. Connections from Monterey would provide local travelers with a wide variety of destinations from that hub, including San Francisco, Sacramento, Auburn, and Stockton, along with planned service extensions to Redding and Reno. It would also connect to the future high-speed rail corridor between San Francisco and Los Angeles. It goes without saying that tourists from all over California could also ride to Monterey.

It would be pure foolishness to pave the right of way for buses and eliminate the possibility of linking Monterey to the state's growing intercity rail network!

Rail also has significant advantages for local service. Additional capacity can easily be added by adding cars to a rail vehicle, without increasing labor costs for additional drivers. A rail vehicle is also more comfortable and provides a much smoother ride than buses, making rail more attractive to a wider range of potential users.

If this concerns you, please contact TAMC and urge them to adopt the rail option. Also contact the TAMC representative from your city, and your county supervisor before they vote.

Feeling cross over felling crosses

Only a lawyer could find reason to declare two pieces of wood unconstitutional. It came to light this week that the ACLU, representing an anonymous plaintiff, is doing just that. A few days ago vandals cut down a wooden cross on the sand dunes near the Monterey Beach Resort. The City of Monterey may be unable to repair or replace it due to legal opinions that a religious symbol on public park land is unconstitutional. The cross, which stood for several decades, along with a second cross above Carmel River Beach, was erected to replicate a historic event.


In December 1769 the Portola land expedition, suffering from malnutrition and illness, failed to connect with a supply ship. Before returning to San Diego, they erected two crosses, one overlooking Monterey beach, and another overlooking Carmel River Beach. They were not intended primarily as religious symbols, but as easily constructed markers that would be recognized by ships at sea. Buried under the crosses were messages reporting on their situation.

The principle of separation of church and state is intended to prevent government from forcing citizens to participate in religious activities, and to prevent churches from having undue influence over the affairs of government. It does not require that every square inch of public property must be sterilized of any religious reference.

The crosses overlooking local beaches were never intended to promote religion. Their actual historic meaning is more secular than religious. In no way do they require anyone to participate in religious worship, nor do they influence government business. Therefore they should satisfy constitutional requirements.

The fact that some people find Christian symbols offensive is not sufficient reason to remove them by legal or illegal means. Seeing offense where none is intended is nothing but a thought self-generated by the mind that is offended. It has no objective substance. Our community should not have to sacrifice cultural artifacts for the sake of a few who cannot put them into historical perspective. Nor should we reward the vandals who cut down the Monterey cross by allowing legal squabbles to obstruct repairs.
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Addendum: September 30. The Monterey Herald has posted photos of the day the cross was dedicated, indicating it was erected as part of the city's bicentennial celebration. Click here.

Mental Manipulation.

Watch this brief commercial from the Republican National Committee and see if you can spot the ways they're trying to manipulate you.



The ad begins with a thinly veiled accusation that Washington Democrats are blaming citizens for opposition to health care reform, when they're actually trying to correct misinformation that has spread like a California wildfire.

The ad then builds on this misinterpretation of misinformation by presenting a seniors "Bill of Rights" relating to healthcare. These rights include:

1. No cuts to Medicare to pay for another program.
   
2. Make it illegal to ration health care based on age.
   
3. Prevent any government role in end-of-life care.
   
4. Stop bureaucrats from getting between seniors and their doctors.

The implication is that Democrats have proposed doing all of these things. But if you listen carefully, Mr. Steele never actually says Democrats are doing that - because they aren't! Had Mr. Steele said they were actually planning these things, the RNC could no doubt be fined or sued for false advertising.

Instead, the RNC has left those accusations to the far-right opinion commentators who are not obligated to tell the truth. These people have thrown the public into a panic over proposals that don't exist, at least not in the form described. The RNC ad simply gives a wink and a nod to the rumors and implies they are true.

From what I've seen, the Democrats have no reason to disagree with the RNC's points. In fact, these are exactly the sort of things health care reformers are working to accomplish! As I noted in my previous Mental Note, this isn't about telling the truth. It's about defeating the Democrats.

AARP has posted an excellent article Health Care Reform: The Assault On Truth which corrects the Republican distortions in clear language. I'm sure the AARP is more concerned about seniors than the RNC, because all of its members are over the age of 50, and cover a broader range of the political and economic spectrum.

As for the RNC's "Bill of Rights" I think Congressional Democrats should call the GOP's bluff, and pass a resolution endorsing those very same points. After all, Mr. Steele says in his commercial these are "things we can all agree on." I just wish the GOP would acknowledge that Democrats already agree.

We Can't Do It!

Here is reason #652 why I'm no longer a Republican. Once upon a time, this country accomplished pretty much everything it set out to do.

• Defeat the Nazis. We did it.
  
• End racial segregation. We did it.
  
• Put a man on the moon (during war time, no less). We did it.
  
• Conserve energy during an oil embargo. We did it.
  

We used to be a "can-do" nation. But as the extreme right-wing nuts have taken over the once respectable Republican party, they keep telling us we can't do the things we need to do.

• Let people marry whoever they choose, regardless of their sexual orientation? It goes against the Bible, so we can't do it.
• Make our transportation systems more efficient and comfortable by modernizing passenger trains and developing high speed rail corridors? It's too expensive and government shouldn't be subsidizing trains (even though we subsidize roads, airports, waterways and shipping ports), so we can't do it.
  
• Develop environmentally friendly energy sources to clean up the Earth's atmosphere? It will cost too much, hurt the economy, and besides, that's just part of the liberal agenda, so we can't do it.
• Provide affordable health care for all? That would be socialism, which is bad, so we can't do it.

I notice the Republican party has no plan of its own for health care. During eight years of the Bush administration our energy policies focused on more oil, merely delaying the inevitable decline in oil supplies and ignoring global warming concerns. Bush also made several attempts to eliminate the few interstate passenger trains we have left. And those sticklers for strict interpretation of the constitution seem to conveniently forget that religious dogma can't be used as a policy making tool under the first amendment.

Right-wing blowhards on radio and cable TV have resorted to fabricating facts about health care reform, and have gotten their listeners to believe them without question, as evidenced by their behavior at many town hall meetings on the subject. The GOP used to be the more civilized party, but now they can't discuss anything without resorting to lies, name calling, and shouting.

They're treating every political issue as a sporting event where the goal is not to accomplish something worthy, but to defeat the opponent. They hide behind the Bible to profess their purity, and proclaim themselves as innocent victims. Yet, like the Taliban, their only goal is to attack anyone who tries to move forward to a better world. They have no constructive ideas of their own. Their ideology blinds them to the real needs of real people. If it doesn't fit within their narrow world view, we can't do it.

Stop it and grow up.

Obama Way? No Way!

The Monterey Herald reported today that some folks in Seaside are asking the city to rename Broadway Avenue as Obama Way.

I'm as much a fan of President Obama as anybody. I support his work on health care reform, I support his efforts in the middle east. I'm behind him on pretty much everything.

But let's not let our excitement get in the way of good sense. So far, President Obama hasn't had time to accomplish much, and it remains to be seen how much he can do. He may indeed be the greatest thing since Abraham Lincoln, but he needs to accomplish something enduring before we start naming things after him.

Remember when Arnold Schwarzenegger first became governator? Republicans were so ecstatic that they wanted to amend the United States Constitution so that he, a native of Austria, could run for President someday. That was before the state crashed head-on into fiscal reality. Arnold has turned out to be just another mediocre governor in a long string of mediocre governors. Who wants him to run for President now?

Obama may very well do great things. He may not. He may make some huge blunder for all I know. Be patient. Let him make his mark on history before we start imprinting his name on street signs.