It’s not enough, part deux

 Life, Politics  No Responses »
Apr 062011
 

As a result of several comments I received regarding my recent post referencing Steve Kirsch, I feel compelled to offer some clarification.

My intention was not to cast dispersions on Steve in particular. Steve has donated and been active in many philanthropic endeavors. The post was meant to cast a wide berth, and include everyone who has reached a particular stature in life, i.e. Steve Case (AOL), Sergey Brin (Google), Larry Ellison (Oracle) etc. and the vast majority of our elected representatives, who have the resources to make a REAL difference in the world, but IMO, choose to act only selfishly, without considering the plight of others, or don’t act at all.

I was referring to everyone who waits to put their resources to valuable use only for things that benefit themselves directly. Everyone who waits for a catastrophic event to spring into action. Everyone who needs to be embarrassed [chided] into acting before they are willing to help.

We have become….[snip]

Like I said in that previous post, what they’re doing

……… JUST ISN’T ENOUGH ………………

It’s not enough!

 Life, Politics  3 Responses »
Mar 012011
 

I came across this interesting article in this months San Francisco magazine. It’s about Steve Kirsch, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, who founded several companies, including Infoseek, and his committed efforts, in time and money, to finding a cure for Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia, a disease he was diagnosed with in July of 2007.

The article also mentions several other high profile entrepreneurs, who have made similar commitments after being diagnosed with deadly diseases, including Steve Case (AOL), Sergey Brin (Google) and Larry Ellison (Oracle).

Now while I admire these individuals for what they have accomplished in their lives, and their efforts to fight their disease, for me it raises much larger questions. Why does it take a disaster or the diagnosis of a deadly disease to make people spring into action? And why are the efforts of these individuals only directed towards their particular diseases?

In my opinion, it just isn’t enough these individuals are trying to do something to help themselves, and others who are lucky [or unlucky] enough to be along for the ride. Where is their commitment to society? What about the millions of Americans (and millions of others around the world), fighting for their lives, but don’t have the resources of these individuals? Are they to be left out, and forgotten? Is everyone else not important enough?

Unless we start realizing how are actions affect each other, and that our lives are all interconnected, we are destined [doomed] to endure the same fate as those of the past and currently around the world.

It’s over! Finally!

 Politics  No Responses »
Nov 032010
 

Happy days are here again. Well, sorta-kinda-maybe.

One of the longest election cycles, in memory, has come to an end, and I can finally get back to watching live TV again.

Now while the election didn’t go exactly how I had hoped, and my faith in the intelligence of the American electorate took a big hit, fortunately [most] Californians did not get swept along in that same wave that has over taken much of the rest of the country.

All that remains now is to see what transpires over the next two years before all the insanity begins again, but at least I can take solace in the fact, I won’t have to listen to the likes of Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina any more.

Some things you just can’t put a price tag on.

At first I laughed when I read Prop’s 20 & 27

 Politics  No Responses »
Oct 242010
 

But then I cried!

Proposition 20, removes elected representatives from the process of establishing congressional districts and transfers that authority to the recently-authorized 14-member redistricting commission comprised of Democrats, Republicans, and representatives of neither party.

Not necessarily a bad idea, but Proposition 27 eliminates the [recently-authorized] 14-member redistricting commission and consolidates the authority for establishing state Assembly, Senate and Board of Equalization districts with elected representatives who draw congressional districts.

That is just getting ridiculous! What happens if both propositions pass?

What California really needs is a proposition to end all propositions, or if we don’t want elected representatives to run the state, then how about a proposition to disband the legislature, and put everything up for a vote of the people [letting the special interests run the state]?

The internet: Is it really such a good thing?

 Life, Politics  No Responses »
Oct 182010
 

I’ve come to the realization I spend way to much time sitting in front of my computer. I’ve actually known this for a long time, but I just don’t seem to be able to do much about it.

Some of it is actually productive, like answering work emails, keeping track of my finances, and logging in my miles on the bike, but that only takes up a small portion of my time in front of the computer.

Too much time is spent playing around on Facebook, reading emails from other lymphoma survivors (OK, that might actually be considered worthwhile), and reading news and political commentary, sometimes even commenting when the urge arises.

Even writing this blog seems to occupy more time than I would like.

And now that I have my DroidX, I find myself spending even more time staring at a VDU (visual display unit).

Certainly the internet has been a boon to the world in many ways. Most notably for the amount of information that has been made much more readily available to everyone, and something I have availed myself of  tremendously, especially in the area of medicine. Without the internet, there is no doubt in my mind, I would not be in the position, health wise, I am today.

Of course, there is at least one caveat to all this, and that is, there is no one, or thing, filtering this information. There is no one, or thing, telling is what information is inaccurate, incomplete, misleading, highly suspect or an out right lie. We’re all left to our own devices to decide what is the truth or simply agenda driven.

Yes, there are organizations like factcheck.org and snopes.com, but by the time they’ve screened it, and printed their interpretation, the information has already made its rounds to the naive and unsuspecting, who accept it as gospel, without doing any additional investigation. Plus, who is to say those interpretations or comments aren’t suspect as well?

It’s a double edged sword, one we all need to be aware of, but unfortunately, I believe, too many of us are not.

Sometimes I still yearn for the ‘good ole days’, as I often like to say, before the internet. I get this way a lot, especially this time of year, when the days get shorter, and the weather more inclement, but life truly was so much simpler back then. My only question is, were we better off?

I’m not sure I can answer that question with any certainty. In fact, I’m not even sure there is a good answer.

Been there, done that

 Cycling, Life, Politics, Restaurant Reviews, Vacations  1 Response »
Oct 092010
 

Well I got my dose of NE Ohio and Pittsburgh this past week, and the experience can pretty much be summed up by those 4 words.

I didn’t expect much from Newton Falls, but neither did I expect what I saw. The area is unbelievably depressed. Abandoned factories, store fronts and houses are everywhere, and what houses aren’t abandoned are unbelievably dilapidated.

It was truly depressing, to see a place I lived for 4 years, and where Edie grew up, deteriorate so much.

But I was even disappointed in Pittsburgh as well.

I had heard so much about how Pittsburgh had changed, and while there where a lot of improvements, especially in the downtown area, most of the city was either unchanged or depressed as well.

The streets are narrower than I remember, the houses smaller, the streets in worse condition than in LA, and riding a bike in this city can definitely be hazardous to your health. Plus all my favorite breakfast and deli haunts were replaced by Starbucks and Brueggers.

Even the famous Primanti Bros Restaurant that has been featured on many network TV shows was a disappointment. They say it’s been around since 1933, but I don’t remember it from my time living in Pittsburgh, and I think I know why. Anyone who thinks a sandwich topped with [tasteless] cabbage (they called it coleslaw) and [tasteless and soggy] french fries is any good, can be fooled into believing anything, and I’m not easily fooled. This place exists on the hype alone.

It was still good to get home to see what I wasn’t missing, and to get any thoughts of ever moving back out of my system.

It’s so good to be ‘home’ in Long Beach, CA, and back on the bike again. Pittsburgh doesn’t have anything on LA or Long Beach (except maybe for the Steelers, but I can still root for them from afar). I plan on being here for the duration, even if Meg Whitman gets elected governor.

 Older Entries  Newer Entries