It’s possible that the Data General minicomputers from long ago shown in the video were running MUMPS-dialect operating systems that I had custom-assembled in Cambridge, Massachusetts for Epic Systems when they were still in Madison. That receipt listing a 800 bpi 9-track tape drive makes me laugh. How well I remember having to calculate data blocking factors for the various computer tape drives of those times.
I once had to drive a rental car 300 miles from Cranbrook, British Columbia to the Federal Express depot at the Spokane airport to pick up an operating system tape. A customer neglected to tell me he bought a different tape drive than the one he first ordered, so the tape I brought with me to Canada wouldn’t work. So I called the office to get a compatible tape created, and sent to the nearest place that could receive overnight delivery from Boston.
Ya know, I’m trying to stick to fun retirement stuff, like drawing, listening to music, and having dental work done. But I used to be, in admittedly a small city, a reporter, and I am appalled by the recent exchange between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and NPR reporter/anchor Mary Louise Kelly.
Trump’s “fake news” smokescreen apparently requires his subordinates to also play the same disrespectful take-no-prisoners game with the media. I believe what Kelly has reported about Pompeo’s post-interview treatment of her, and I consider Pompeo’s lies about what happened to be yet another embarrassment for the Trump administration. Yes, Kelly asked some tough questions of Pompeo, but she was completely professional. As Pompeo’s boss buddy likes to say, read the transcript.
Pompeo could have left well enough alone but, no, he had to harass and attempt to intimidate Kelly. Would he have pulled the same bullying tactic on Kelly’s co-anchor Steve Inskeep? Maybe, but I’m betting no. Trump obviously loved hearing about the abuse, and he was quick to publicly praise Pompeo for “doing a good job on her.”
But it’s telling, isn’t it, that Pompeo wasn’t standing at the White House ceremony with Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? That’s because credit for the Israel-Palestine agreement went to Jared Kushner. There is of course actually no reason to celebrate, because there is no deal. The agreement is between only the United States and Israel. Gosh, how tough could that have been to negotiate?
Even a layman can see that Pompeo is Secretary of State in title only, as he seems to have absolutely no say at all in America’s foreign policy. Instead, Trump’s son-in-law and Rudy Giuliani are running side-channel diplomatic initiatives. At a social event a couple of months ago I spoke with a woman whose daughter has quit foreign service because of the lack of support for senior career diplomats. Pompeo’s complete failure in speaking up for these people and the work they do has not only destroyed morale within the State Department, it puts the lie to his criticism of Hillary Clinton when she held the same position.
Hasn’t Mike Pompeo had enough? The way he exploded at Kelly shows he may be at his limit of tolerance. If he had any pride left he’d give up being just another one of Trump’s whipping boys, apologize to Kelly, and announce his resignation. One possible explanation for why Pompeo continues to stick around? He’s the “Anonymous” who’s the loyal opposition working on the inside. Hey, maybe the kerfuffle with Kelly was staged as proof of Pompeo’s loyalty! See how easy it is to come up with conspiracy theories?
Political cartooning, like printed newspapers, continues its long, slow decline. (Sometimes not so slow.) One of the greatest practitioners of the art was Pat Oliphant. Now retired, much of Oliphant’s work has been collected at the University of Virginia, which is now holding an exhibit.
Even without Oliphant’s consistently original ideas and humor, I have always admired his art. His ink line, for all these years, appeared to me as having come off of a brush. The late Jeff MacNelly, who died 20 years ago in his early 50’s, used a brush, but to my surprise, as this video shows, Oliphant inked with a pen. Even more surprising, he used acrylic ink, not India ink.
Since retiring almost three years ago, I have been watching CNBC’s ‘Nightly Business Report’ on PBS. I was disappointed to see that the December 27 installment marked the end of the program.
I assume CNBC thinks this will get more people watching their cable network, but I won’t be one of them. Oh, well, there’s still ‘Marketplace’ on NPR… I hope.
In my view there are two ways for a working person to think about a routine task they have done countless times. One way is to become bored and careless. The other way is to use the repetitive nature of the work as a way to spot inconsistencies, even tiny things that are out of the ordinary, and use that insight to fix, and preferably prevent, problems. It’s the moment of thinking to yourself, “Hey, wait a second, that doesn’t look right.”
Unfortunately, many people take the former approach, which is why tasks that are based on a fixed routine, and are repeated every day, can and do go wrong. Like renewing my medical plan, for example. Will my coverage, with its $1234.25 monthly premium, be effective as of January 1, or will it be associated with the incorrect member ID that was assigned to me by mistake? I have been told there is no way to know until after a monthly database update has been completed on January 3, which means I’d better not need to see a doctor tomorrow or Thursday. Gee, I wonder if anything ever goes wrong with database updates for third-party billing systems?
As I predicted, back on Inauguration Day, Trump is being impeached.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Impeachment charges against President Donald Trump went to the full House on Friday, following approval by the House Judiciary Committee.
The House is expected to take up the two articles of impeachment next week.
Republicans say that Democrats have wanted Trump impeached since election day, but the real problem is a zebra can’t change its strips. Or, in this context, Donald can’t help being Donald, making impeachment inevitable.
Only a month into his Presidency, Trump said, “Nobody knew health care could be so complicated.” By itself, that one statement was proof he wasn’t competent to hold office; but it’s corruption, not incompetence, that leads to impeachment.
Trump’s abuse of power has been clearly established in the House. Republicans in the Senate won’t convict him, but I suspect it will be to their everlasting shame, once the full extent of Trump’s toxic presidency is revealed.
