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Thursday, April 09, 2009

April Ramblin'

I briefly attended that vigil for Binghamton yesterday. Would have stayed longer but for the fact that it was cold, occasionally rainy, and I had the child, who has been sick recently, in tow. She may not have understood the point of the gathering, attended by about 45, including Albany's mayor (who, not incidentally is, running for re-election), but I still wanted her to be there. That event, along with the story in question, probably prompted this response from me.

THE best television newsperson to come out of the Capital District of New York State, Ed Dague, is in chronic pain. Touching story. I met him at least twice, which I should write about sometime, I reckon.

Greg finds legislation he just can't get behind.

Gordon touts Robert Johnson, as well he should.

They are remastering the whole Beatles catalog. Given the fact that I've already bought it all about thrice (US LP, UK LP, CD), do I want to buy this AGAIN? No, yet the Past Masters package sounds annoyingly intriguing.

Ken Levine talks about Point of View, one of my favorite episodes of M*A*S*H. Did the TV show House steal it? Didn't see the House ep, but I have my doubts.

15 free downloads to pep up your old PC, which I haven't tried yet, but I figure if I post it, it'll remind me.

I'm getting fairly obsessed with getting the Denver mint state quarters. All I need are Hawaii, Washington state, Missouri and, most problematic, Pennsylvania, the eldest. Oh, and the District of Columbia; just got the Philly mint version this week. Haven't seen the Puerto Rico quarter yet.

My good buddy Steve Bissette discusses, in great deal, including 27 8 by 10 color glossies, Saga of the Swamp Thing #20, the transitional first issue by Alan Moore, John Totleman, and himself that starts off the neat book I just received.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

Speaking of Swamp Thing, the co-creator of, and later Steve's editor on, the title, coping as well as one can, given the circumstances, but there's a movement afoot to replace the comics he wrote or edited and, to that end, for people to contribute to a Len Wein comics checklist. I always liked his work during my days of reading Marvel Comics.

So THAT'S what happened at the Albany Comic Show Sunday, before I got there.

ADD's Eisner picks. I'll take his word for it, since the only thing on the list I own is Mark Evanier's Kirby book, though Coraline has been on back order for about a month.

Evanier tells A Story You Won't Believe about Spike Jones.

I'm so pleased: Two weekends ago, we went to the in-laws for their 50th wedding anniversary. Last weekend was Lydia's 5th birthday party at the State Museum. Next weekend is something else again. This coming weekend, Easter, the wife and her mother were trying to come up with a plan to get together. The final resolution - we're all staying in our respective homes and resting; I mean we'll go to church and all, but no travel. I for one am exhausted, and so is my wife, so this is a good thing.

Nik from Spatula Forum celebrates five years of blogging by talking about...

Arthur from AmeriNZ celebrates both his 100th blogpost and two years of podcasting.


ROG

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

L is for Liberia


I have long been fascinated with the western African nation of Liberia. I have a friend at my former church from Liberia who has traveled back to her homeland a number of times in the last 25 years, when it was safe to do so.

Looking at the map above, there were only four countries on the whole continent that were independent when I was born; much of the rest were colonies of Europeans. Sudan was controlled by an Anglo-Egyptian combo, and the Union of South Africa, as it was then known, controlled Southwest Africa, now Namibia. And it wasn't that long ago before that Ethiopia had been taken over by Italy before and during World War II.

So what IS this place with a flag very similar to that of the Unites States, an island of liberation in a sea of colonies in west Africa with a capital named for a U.S. President? And what is the relationship between the countries of the red, white and blue?

The roots of what came to be known as Liberia came from an unlikely mix of people who formed the American Colonization Society. From the Wikipedia post: "Supporters of the ACS may be divided into three main groups. The first consisted of those who genuinely felt that it was the best solution to a difficult problem and might lead to a gradual emancipation. Another smaller group was a pro-slavery group who saw removal as an answer to the problems associated with 'dangerous' free blacks. Perhaps the largest group of supporters was made up of those who opposed slavery, but did not believe in anything remotely resembling equality of the races." Thus, the Society was supported by an unlikely combination of free blacks, abolitionists and slave holders, though by no means a majority in any of those groups.

The "settlement of freed slaves from the US in what is today Liberia began in 1822" with the active and tacit support of American political leaders. "By 1847, the Americo-Liberians were able to establish a republic." But there was, for many years, tensions between the resettlers and and the folks native Africans who were forced to accept them. It didn't help that those who once had been in the Western Hemisphere and their progeny tended to look down on the natives.

From the CIA World Factbook: "William TUBMAN, president from 1944-71, did much to promote foreign investment and to bridge the economic, social, and political gaps between the descendents of the original settlers and the inhabitants of the interior." This was facilitated by the United States, which "began providing technical and economic assistance that enabled Liberia to make economic progress and introduce social change. Both the Freeport of Monrovia and Roberts International Airport were built by U.S. personnel during World War II."

Unfortunately, the last couple decades of the 20th Century found the country rife with instability. "In 1980, a military coup led by Samuel DOE ushered in a decade of authoritarian rule. In December 1989, Charles TAYLOR launched a rebellion against DOE's regime that led to a prolonged civil war in which DOE himself was killed. A period of relative peace in 1997 allowed for elections that brought TAYLOR to power, but major fighting resumed in 2000. An August 2003 peace agreement ended the war and prompted the resignation of former president Charles TAYLOR, who faces war crimes charges in The Hague related to his involvement in Sierra Leone's civil war." Indeed, just this month, Taylor's lawyers asked for a U.N. tribunal to acquit their client of all charges.

"After two years of rule by a transitional government, democratic elections in late 2005 brought President Ellen JOHNSON SIRLEAF to power...President JOHNSON SIRLEAF, a Harvard-trained banker and administrator, has taken steps to reduce corruption, build support from international donors, and encourage private investment...The UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) maintains a strong presence throughout the country, but the security situation is still fragile and the process of rebuilding the social and economic structure of this war-torn country will take many years."

Despite the history, the United States does not appear to have a "special relation" with Liberia, as the United Kingdom, for instance, has with the Commonwealth or the French has with some of its former colonies.
***
I'm taking a wild guess that no one in the ABC Wednesday group picked Liberia, no?
ROG

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Vigil for Binghamton in Albany

ROG

The Phone, the phone is ringing

One of the rules of the house is that we don't answer the phone we're eating dinner. My running joke: "That's why God created the answering machine." Even when we're not eating, we screen our calls. We have Caller ID, and unless it's a name or number I recognize, it goes to the machine; "Private Name, Private Number" always goes there, and sometimes it's someone we know, so then we respond accordingly. I didn't think I'd like it, but my favorite gizmo is the fact that I can tell who's calling while the TV's on so I can see if it's worthwhile getting up.

At work, though, I don't have that luxury. If the phone is ringing, I answer. I have access to four different lines. One is my direct line. One is the line for the library; we have a rotation, whereby I'm first on the phone on Tuesday and second on Thursday. However, if it gets to the third ring, regardless of the day, we each try to pick it up, for after it gets to the fourth ring, it goes to voice mail, and it's a minor pain to retrieve.

The other two phones are the main office phones. Back in our old place, with our ancient, supposedly inferior system, if I heard the phone ringing at lunchtime or late in the day, I could hit *70 and pick it up. In our current location, though, only the secretary and office manager initially could answer the main phones, which wreaked to me of bad customer service. They are not glued to their desks and so they would often miss calls. Some of them were important government officials or even a delivery person in the lobby of our own building, who can't get in without being buzzed in.

Things improved somewhat when a free-standing phone was installed near the copy machine. Not only did the secretary not have to run back to her desk, I could run over and pick it up if necessary. Eventually, I realized that the phone chord was long enough to reach my desk, so for the last hour of the day, after the front desk personnel left at 4 p.m., I'd haul it over to my desk for the last hour.

Finally, at my request, I was given a new phone with all four lines. This saved me an inordinate amount of time and effort during the day. Though I've discovered we do seem to be getting more prerecorded messages like this one: "This is your second call. This is your second opportunity to save money on your auto insurance..."

It's the little things that make a job more or less tolerable. When I first started working at the SBDC 16 years ago, I shared a phone line with the fax line, and far too often, I'd pick up and get an earful of the whiny, high-pitched noise of a fax transmission. Getting my own line a few months letter made my life SO much easier.

But what prompted this post was a particular call I got a couple weeks ago to my direct line. "Hello," the live voice said. "Is this Roger Green?" Yes. "This is Roger Green from Ramblin' with Roger?" It is. "Hello, I'm XXX. You may be surprised to hear from me. But I need a trustworthy person to transfer some monies from my country into the United States. And we know that you are a reliable person." He said a couple other things. It was the Nigerian scheme - live, on the phone! I quickly said "no, thank you", mostly because I was awaiting a call from my wife about our daughter, but I would LOVE to have heard more about it. All I know is that he called from Rhode Island and that he had that typical British/African vocal pattern.

Monday, April 06, 2009

Twitter redux

Get your twitter mosaic here.






I had a very busy weekend, what with the child's birthday party, church and a comic book show - so here's some of my Twitter posts, annotated, for the last month. I haven't noted retweets or where I've plugged my blog. The followers' pic above was taken on April 5 at 8:45 p.m., EDT.

Went to daughter's friend's 5th bday. Princess theme saccharine as you might imagine. Misunderstandings w/ mgmt at end really soured me.5:08 PM Feb 28th from web
This had to do with the number of giveaways Lydia could take. I don't think the organizer made it clear, and I ended up giving her $5, and appearing to her to be the indulgent parent, because I didn't make Lydia return some of the items.

Mom in Charlotte, NC getting 3-6 inches of snow in this storm, same as or more than I am- Albany, NY. NOT why she moved south in 1974.5:33 PM Mar 1st from web
In fact, February and March were well below average in terms of snow, after a wet December and January.

Looking at the bus readout; it said 03/03/09. I said to friend Dionne, "Hey, an arithmetic sentence: 3X3=9." She said, "You're weird."10:07 AM Mar 3rd from web
She doesn't know about my algebraic calculations with license plates.

Citicard credit card bill arrived today, due in 13 days. Shouldn't there rules vs that? Or are they hoping I'll be late paying? Not me.12:01 AM Mar 4th from web
I thought that 2005 "personal responsibility" bill was a war against consumers; it seems, though , thaty it has backfired on the credit card companies.

Woke at 3 a.m.EDT to get pain reliever from upstairs med cabinet, find NO meds. Dental floss, cosmetics, rubbing alcohol, Vicks Vaporub.2:50 AM Mar 8th from web
A sign that my wife, not I order these things.

On the other hand, let child sleep in, took late bus to daycare, which had been w/out power until 5 min before we got there. Serendipity.11:06 AM Mar 9th from web
This was a complaint about Daylight Saving time and how difficult it is for children.

In the market for laptop. Not only does wife need it for school in summer, we have to fight re computer usage each a.m. I generally lose4:32 PM Mar 12th from web
So true.

Schmuck just threw 6 napkins, receipt out car window onto my street. As cars went by, litter spread 5 house lots before I could pick up.8:05 AM Mar 14th from web
Why 6 napkins for 1 Dunkin Donuts XL coffee bought 3/13 5:35 am, 457 Alb-Shaker Rd? And using a VISA (ends w 0507) for a $2.47 purchase?8:09 AM Mar 14th from web

Not only did I want to kvetch, i wanted to note how much info one can glean from a simple receipt.

Wife, daughter away. Go CRAZY! Clean house, get rid of old e-mails, write a couple blog posts, watch the Oscars - only 3 weeks late.10:54 PM Mar 14th from web
The rare times they're both away, I have my own "to do" list which I can never nearly complete.

Bus stop guy:The bus is taking a long time. Me:It's not so bad. Guy:It's just the WAITING. Me:Yeah, the waiting IS the hardest part.8:21 AM Mar 17th from web
Apparently, when I'm tired in the morning and not feeling chatty, I speak in Tom Petty lyrics. I wonder if the guy knew.8:22 AM Mar 17th from web

Generally, I try to keep my tweets into one 140-character post; decided not to for this one.

Discovered leaving 1/2 hour early from work would only get me home 20 min earlier, because traffic is so much heavier at 5:10 than 5:40 pm.8:26 PM Mar 18th from web
Actually, rediscovered.

Town meeting last nt: how fed stimulus $$ will help NYS. Lots of info, LOT of agency reps who were to talk for 3 min ea; many didn't.1:48 AM Mar 19th from web
Wrote about this here.

Wish I could pick Binghamton, sister's alma mater,univ of my hometown, over Duke, just can't. Am picking Siena-ALB Co- over Ohio St. in OH.2:01 AM Mar 19th from web
actually wrote more about March Madness men's basketball...

Received Mar 23 Sports Illustrated today w March Madness preview, now that I don't need it. Only a week late; Mar 30 TIME also arrived.2:26 PM Mar 21st from web
...about which i shan't bore you further.

“If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.”-Lewis Carroll, copped by George Harrison, who changed get to take.11:39 AM Mar 24th from web
Listening to George.

ABC's Life on Mars' penultimate episode tonight. Reportedly will have decent conclusion, unlike The Nine, ABC show from couple yrs ago.7:43 PM Mar 25th from web
Finally watched the last episode. It was OK.

Kibosh on date w wife tonight; babysitter canceled last night -pneumonia. What a lame excuse!10:12 AM Mar 28th from web
Need either last min babysitter or someone to take our tickets to Albany Symphony or someone to go w Carol OR me to ASO. Quel bummer.10:14 AM Mar 28th from web
It's not ASO, it's Albany Pro Musica, St. John's Passion by Bach.10:53 AM Mar 28th from web
I was really glad someone was able to use our tickets to Albany Pro Musica's St. John's Passion by Bach.12:05 AM Mar 29th from web

The woman who we gave our tickets to thanked us by buying us an ASO CD, left in our mailbox when we came back from church.

after several days of cod, cloudy weather, today's 65, sunny was like a heat wave. too sunny; ended up w near sunburn, function of vitiligo7:55 PM Mar 28th from web
30 minutes of direct sunlight actually did me in for the remainder of the day. Oh, yeah, that was supposed to be cold, not cod.

Happy 50th wedding anniversary to my parents-in-law. They traveled 15 hours to celebrate my parents' 50th anniversary back on 3/12/2000.12:08 AM Mar 29th from web
In-laws' gathering inc presents exchange for Xmas, my birthday, Lydia's bday, etc. Got my first Brad Paisley and Diamond Rio albums7:25 PM Mar 29th from web

And I've STILL not heard these albums.

If I were in NYC: promo for Diana Krall new CD Quiet Nights, FREE PERFORMANCE Tues Mar 31 1pm Winter Garden at World Financial Center12:14 AM Mar 29th from web
Lucky Tosy!

Some are very attentive re who follows,unfollows them. Not an issue for me. Just discovered someone following me, was following me before.7:38 PM Mar 29th from web
Obviously that person had unfollowed me, and I just didn't notice. I can't obsess about that stuff; it'd suck all the joy out of Tweeting.7:40 PM Mar 29th from web

This generated a bit of back-and-forth.

Sermon today noted compassion is rooted in Greek word splochna, meaning spleen. Compassion's not just a surface thing, it's a guts thing.7:21 PM Mar 29th from web
This was a sermon at my in-law's church.

Dan Seals died. Very 1st concert I ever saw was Seals & Crofts, 11/12/71, NYC . Jim Seals was Dan's brother8:07 PM Mar 29th from web
I remember the date of the S&C concert because it's the birthday of one of the founders of the Baha'i faith, which S&C espouse.

5-yr-old daughter worried her sisters (dolls, plushes) might be afraid of thunderstorm; I put them all in guest bed to support ea other.8:22 PM Mar 29th from web
Gotta talk about the kid SOMETIME.

Procrastination: bought bus pass, filed last of medical reimbursement claims on deadline day.9:38 PM Mar 31st from web
I mailed one batch of forms, faxed another and by this date STILL didn't know if they were all received. So I refaxed EVERYTHING on the final day.


ROG