Speechless

Someone on a mail list I subscribe to posted a quote from President Bush which was pretty much incomprehensible. I've read and heard some of Bush's inarticulateness, but this just seemed unbelievable. A bit of googling brought up the entire speech and question and answer period though. My source is no less than the whitehouse.gov site. So, now that its veracity can be confirmed, marvel at the linguistic prowess of the man the American people elected twice to lead our country. The question and answer are in reference to the president's plan to overhaul the Social Security system.:

"Q -- really understand how is it the new plan is going to fix that problem?

THE PRESIDENT: Because the -- all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculate, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There's a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those -- changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be -- or closer delivered to what has been promised.

Does that make any sense to you? It's kind of muddled. Look, there's a series of things that cause the -- like, for example, benefits are calculated based upon the increase of wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. Some have suggested that we calculate -- the benefits will rise based upon inflation, as opposed to wage increases. There is a reform that would help solve the red if that were put into effect. In other words, how fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those -- if that growth is affected, it will help on the red."

Yeah, I understand now, and I think that's a great plan Mr. President.
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The World Of Laundromat Photos

I was looking over the log files for my web site Rocketjam.com the other day. One of the search phrases used to find the site was "laundromat photos". I have a little 'artsy' photo-essay on the site featuring the local laundromat. I found it curious that someone would search on that phrase and I googled it to see where my page showed up in the results. Surprisingly, it doesn't show up until the third page of Google's results. There is a whole world of laundromat photos on the web!

Google's number one hit has photos of laundromats in Lubbock Texas, perhaps an archetypal laundromat city. And of course Google yields worldwide results for laundromat pix. In my laundromat photo essay, I wrote:

"Laundromats have their own ambience. The hum of dryers and chugging and spinning of washing machines. Gray people with expressionless faces attending to a weekly cycle."

After looking at some of the sites Google turns up, I think the above is true for virtually all laundromats everywhere. I find it curious that so many people are shooting laundromats and then posting the pictures to the web. Laundromats have kind of a late 1950's/early 1960's hi-tech look. Maybe there's a feeling of innocence we associate with the futuristic aspirations of America circa 1955-1965. The hope of a world made better through high technology. The reality of the new century seems more like a William Gibson or Philip K. Dick dystopia than the future projected by Disneyland. So we use the hi-tech we now have, digital cameras and the internet, and capture nostalgia of the hi-tech past.

Dick Cheney, Meet Rod Nordland

Rod Nordland has been Newsweek's Baghdad bureau chief for the past two years. He's lived in Iraq and experienced the situation there, first-hand. He recently wrote a column with some final thoughts as he leaves that post. It presents a very discouraging picture:

"Living and working in Iraq, it's hard not to succumb to despair. At last count America has pumped at least $7 billion into reconstruction projects, with little to show for it but the hostility of ordinary Iraqis, who still have an 18 percent unemployment rate. Most of the cash goes to U.S. contractors who spend much of it on personal security. Basic services like electricity, water and sewers still aren't up to prewar levels. Electricity is especially vital in a country where summer temperatures commonly reach 125 degrees Fahrenheit. Yet only 15 percent of Iraqis have reliable electrical service."

Maybe Dick Cheney should have talked to Mr. Nordland before he made his recent statements on Larry King Live that the insurgency is in its last throes.
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Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me

I guess some people take the Newspeak coming out of the Bush administration's mouths seriously, despite the fact that the Bushies have proven over and over again that they have no clue what they are doing there. And despite the fact that the administration apparently willfully lied about the "need" to invade Iraq in the first place.

Statements Vice President Cheney made in his recent interview on Larry King Live border on the the surreal. Or maybe he believes it's always darkest before the dawn

World View Quiz

Here's a quiz that classifies your world view. I scored as a Postmodernist, although I scored almost as high as a Cultural Creative (a term I hadn't heard... I'll have to google that one). I also scored above 50% for Idealist, Existentialist and Modernist. Have I been reading too much philosophy?
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