FZ2878

For the fourth time in my 56 years I’ve heard about the suicide of a friend. Compared to the three other boys and men I’ve known who have taken their own lives, I knew this gentle young man the least, but he’s the first that could be considered a relative, as he was a second cousin of my wife.

I was only 14 years of age when the first person I knew, a close neighbor, personally took his own life. I really didn’t understand what had happened that day and remember breaking down crying when I was by myself in the bathroom. I don’t know why I cried, I just know that I did.

Now when I hear of someone who is not terminally ill or severely handicapped committing suicide, my first reaction is anger. Anger at the waste, anger at the thoughtlessness, and anger at the harm caused to the relatives and friends of the deceased. Perhaps that’s selfish on my part not to be sympathetic to the motives that could move someone to the point of courage or cowardice to take their own life. To be honest I think it would take more courage than cowardice, but to those of us who believe we would fight to the last moment to preserve life, to do otherwise would be incomprehensible.

Worldwide, there are more than a million suicides annually. That’s more than homicides and more than deaths due to war. Over the last 5 years, we’ve seen death by suicide increase by more than 60%, with the highest increases in developing countries. Men succeed more often than women despite the fact that women attempt suicide more often than men. Experts believe that this is because men tend to choose more violent methods of suicide, using firearms, knives and hanging, compared to those methods chosen by women which are more likely to be drug overdoses.

Personally, I think I’m too much of a coward to commit suicide. I can picture choosing assisted suicide if I was suffering immensely, and saw no other way out of my endless misery, but again that would be the choice of a coward.

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Every time I come to the Netherlands, I can't help think that the United States could learn a thing or two from the Dutch. Over the last week I've watched their incredible capacity to move people using their mass transit system while at the same time reaping the results of their investment into an infrastructure which encourages people to use human-energy-propulsion methods (i.e. the bicycle).

They employ a version of the “hub system” similar to what the top airlines have been forced to embrace as a cost cutting philosophy to become more efficient. The hub system develops hubs to which all feeder routes converge and connect. The Dutch do this so effectively with their cities as the natural hub where everyone wants to go. And I mean everyone.

In Amsterdam for example, there is an incredible array of choices for the commuter to get from the outer suburbs into the incredible city of Amsterdam. And all of the various forms of mass transit have been developed to feed off of and take advantage of the Dutch people's love affair with the bicycle.

The mass transit systems are well thought out and well maintained. For the commuters, this means that you get incredibly efficient, incredibly clean, safe, and very cheap mass transit to the hub city of Amsterdam, and once you are there, you can continue to rely on their mass transit system in and around the city as well. Or you can do as the natives do and grab a bike.

And when you examine the system closer, the bicycle is the key that sets Holland's system apart from any other big city with a subway or commuter trains system. One of the first things visitors to Amsterdam notice are the thousands of bikes locked everywhere they are allowed, but even more impressive to someone from the United States are the huge bicycle parking lots.

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My friend asked me this morning if I was going to write about the death of Michael Jackson, and my answer was “maybe.” Why would you even hesitate to comment on a story like the demise of the “King of Pop?”

Maybe it’s because in one way, at one point in my life I was really impressed by this young man’s talent, and recognized him as one of the most musically gifted people of modern times, at least since John Lennon. Maybe it’s because after that period of awe, I began to see the terrible effects of celebrity on what turned out to be just another human being. Michael Jackson at his death was a poster boy for the cliché “Be careful what you wish for.”

This good looking, show-stage effeminate young man transformed into a hideous testament against plastic surgery. His private life went from one of unbelievable creativity to a tail-spin of one bizarre action after another. What good does all that money do if you cannot be happy? Money and fame is something that many people dream about all their lives, but until you’ve achieved it, you’ll have no idea what it can cost you.

Michael Jackson is not the first casualty of fame and fortune. The list starts before Jesus Christ, and goes on through time all the way to yesterday when the news broke that Michael Jackson was dead at the age of 50. Fame is gained at the cost of anonymity, which in turn marks the end of normalcy. To the ranks of the rich and famous, normalcy equals boredom. To many of those same people normalcy equals obsession and extravagance that goes beyond the bounds anything anyone could consider healthy. Michael crossed all borders of normalcy and seems to have been obsessed with being white and constantly surrounded by adolescent boys.

Michael Jackson will be remembered in mention for a couple more generations, at least as long as his sixth studio album, Thriller, holds the record for “Best Selling Album of All-Time” with over one hundred million units sold. That record will likely hold strong for some time, as his closest contenders are all following the number two album, AC/DC’s Back in Black with around forty-five million sold, not even half of what Thriller sold.

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Mention Ronald Reagan, and Republicans bow their heads in homage to St. Ronald as if he he’d been the Messiah of the conservative movement. Anyone who wants to become a mover and a shaker in the Republican party better make sacred reference to Ronald Reagan, and after they finish painting glowing imagery of the conservative knight in shining armor, they’d better drop to their knees and ask Rush Limbaugh for forgiveness for their sins.

That is the rite of first communion into the GOP. So why is the party shrinking faster than the polar icecaps, which according to Republicans are not shrinking, the same people who believe the whole lie of global warming is just a socialist plot to restrict big business? The answer is Ronald Reagan.

Before you burn me at the stake for patriotic blasphemy I’ll give you a liberal’s point of view on how Ronald Reagan single-handedly sent the GOP onto their path towards extinction, and how Reagan politics played a major role into getting this country into the mess we’re in today. History may one day show, that Ronald Reagan was one of the worst presidents in our nation’s history, not because he was ineffective, not because he was incompetent, but because he popularized hate, and bigotry, and made it politically correct to hold the middle and lower class people in total disdain in order to elevate the wealthy to super-wealthy no matter what the cost to our nation.

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The United States is an automobile oriented society and has a long history of our love affair with anything on wheels. Part of the reason that we have so many cars on our roads was the migration from inter-city living to the suburbs and the American distaste for mass transit, whether it’s on subways, trains or buses. Couple that with America’s love for the automobile not only as a utilitarian object to get from Point A to Point B, but also as a statement of personality, style and social status.

There are few experiences that rival the excitement of taking delivery of a shiny new car, sliding into the driver’s seat, and taking a deep breath of that “new car” smell. But why do certain cars and vehicles seem to naturally attract bad drivers? Is it the style, or lack thereof? Is it caused by socio-economic factors? I don’t know. But I do know after 40 years of driving, with more than 10 years as a professional, and close to a million miles logged behind the wheel, I’ve concluded that certain vehicles, either by their make, their vehicle type, or because of the personalized modifications made to them, that happen to be “Bad Driver Magnets.”

What follows is a totally non-scientific observation of the 10 vehicles I hate most to get stuck behind because of the likelihood that a bad driver will be sitting in the driver's seat. Not included on this list are vehicles like semi-tractor trailers, buses, and large trucks like dump trucks or cement mixers, because although they will surely slow you down, it is not primarily due to the fault of the driver.

Also not listed here but worth a dishonorable mention are “multi-tasking” drivers like the make-up artists, the diners and the phone-talkers. Since women started driving in large numbers back in the 60’s there has been a rash of rear-view mirrors ripped off of windshields because of all the women who put their makeup on while they drive. During the morning commute it’s common to pull up at a stop light and in the car in front of you, see the rear-view mirror yanked down at an angle so the driver can put on her mascara or eye shadow. And if the light turns green before she’s finished that eye, you’ll just have to wait.

But of the multi-taskers, nobody is worse than the cell-phone driver. Ever since cell phones became smaller than a toaster, cars have been transformed into rolling phone booths. I think back to when I was a kid, and my father or mother made their phone calls before we got into the car, all of us kids piled into the back seat, calling “dibs” on a window, because until we got to where we were going, looking out the window was all there was, no DVD players, no Gameboys, and nothing but “old people’s” music on the radio as we watched the world pass by. How ever did we manage? If you observe other drivers at any given moment you'll see how many are driving with one hand, and holding their cell phone to their ear with the other. Now with texting so popular, you have another whole dimension added to the dangers caused when cars are mixed with phones. I've read statistics that people on phones present the same risk as drunk drivers. Maybe more cars have to have a designated phone talker while the driver concentrates on driving.

So here it is....

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It’s tradition to make a resolution for the New Year, and seeing that we are greedy American's who never get enough, we often have a whole list of resolutions, so impossible to succeed, breaking them is as much of a tradition as making them.
 
 
So in the true American spirit of tradition, I give you my Top 10 New Year's Resolutions for 2009, and I can guarantee you, I'm sure to break each and every one of them.
 

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2008 marked the birth of a new presence on the web with the creation of www.fz2878.com. Humble beginnings and lots of experimentation led to a blogsite that officially started on June 1st, 2008.

What follows are the Top 10 viewed posts of 2008. While I don't feel as though all could be considered my "best", some are among my favorites. While there are many factors which could make one post more viewed than another, it's safe to say that the news climate in which it was written has a lot to do with it. In concert with the news climate, the title and the tags of the post draw people to any given article.

For better or for worse here's the Top 10 Posts for 2008
by William S. James

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The entire world is on the verge of becoming one year older and it’s difficult not to get pensive about the year we just lived. As my father would always say, “Another year shot to hell!” Well, it was a rough one, but not without some positives.

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As much as I would like it to work in the United States, I have my doubts that any bicycle sharing program could work here. The first program of its kind in the U.S. was launched in Washington D.C. early this year with a mere 120 bikes. Hardly what could be considered a confident initial investment.

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When I wrote my first blog post more than 6 months ago, it was very personal and satisfying. I wrote the entries I chose just to please myself, and nobody else. I wrote stuff, and figured that if somebody else wanted to read it, fine, if not, oh well, just as long as it made me happy that was all that mattered.

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You sit there with your smug protestations and your sweet lollipop view of the world, and you whine and cry, and you weep and snivel at the slightest ripple of controversy, as if anyone cares what you think. You barely get fifty people a day who read your blithering crap, and why? Because you suck! You probably even pay off those fifty as it is, because you SUCK!

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I often think about freedom from an almost outside looking in perspective. I know the freedom I dream of, but I’m not sure how to realize it. In some respects, I don’t think the world is ready for my definition of freedom, and I know I couldn’t get elected for any office on my platform, because I would offend too many people. If I spoke my true feelings on freedom, I would be branded an anarchist, a reactionary, a lunatic, and in the eyes of many, the worst of all, a sinner.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt said:

“In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.”

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“Damn it was hot in there.” George slumped in the leather seats of the diplomatic Mercedes Benz limo he had gotten on loan from the Chinese Government. He looked at the floor suspiciously, tensed, and then relaxed as he remembered the Secret Service had had the car for twenty-four hours. They had checked it out with a flea comb. He adjusted his air vent so it blew right on his face. “It was goddamned hot in there.”

“Oh it wasn’t that bad, George, stop complaining, it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Christ Laura, it was hotter than a Texas taco.”

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Jorge was pissed today, and it was great. Normally, Jorge Rodriguez, perennial side-kick on the 560 WQAM, Neil Roger’s Show, doesn’t want to do “serious”, but today Jorge was focused and “all kinda pissed off”. But what was most amazing today, was that he was getting hot and bothered about politics. When the boss is there, Jorge is usually the mellow, “anti-political” side of the often politically charged commentary throughout the show.

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The citizens of the United States know that something about this country has changed. Many would like nothing more than to be able to engage in this sort of Woodstock style of patriotism that hinges on flag decals, flag pins, car flags, and “God Bless America”, but there’s this kind of bad aftertaste, that just won’t go away. Like the taste of blood spilt in the war that’s taking place in our own streets, with violent crimes and organized crime exploiting hard-working and not-so-hard-working people.

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