Drinking Liberally Greensboro Chapter Blog

Morning, folks!

I know some of you have been paying attention to the health care bill passing through Congress, which makes it look like passing a kidney stone is easier. I think a lot of people feel that health insurers have too much of a say in our health care. With medical bills as the leading cause of middle-class bankruptcy, we have evidence that the system badly needs retuning. I don't know your opinions about the bill, but I suggest that you contact your representative and make your opinion heard.

Well, as every red-blooded North Carolinian is aware, March Madness starts today, where 64 men's collegiate basketball team vie for a trophy, as well as the associated ad revenues and expected boost in alumni giving. If you can peel your eyes from the TV screen, come join us at the Green Bean tonight at 7:30 pm, where we will talk about a very wide variety of topics, which may include a trash-talk-free discussion of college basketball. The talk is cheaper than free, and the imported beers are half-priced!

-William Moates
Greensboro DL co-host

Parting Thought: Do pets get better health care than people?

Morning folks!

Last week, I learned about two financial websites that I wanted to share with you: http://moveyourmoney.info/ and http://www.creditcardconnection.org/ . I like them both because they promote voting with your wallet, something that I do a lot. Move Your Money promotes taking your money out of the six biggest banks we bailed out in 2008 and investing it elsewhere. Credit Card Connection promotes switching from big bank credit cards to credit-union-run credit cards; they're still Visa and MasterCard cards, so they work just as well. I could go into more detail about each, but I think it would be better for you to follow the links, read up on them, and decide on your own.

Do you have any tidbits you'd like to share? Any morsels of information? Any bite-sized factoids? Or perhaps you have a smorgasbord of knowledge you'd like to offer up? If so, then join me and other info-hungry people at the Green Bean, tonight at 7:30 pm! Since talk is cheap, the buffet will be free!

-William Moates
Greensboro DL co-host

Parting Thought: When laser guns finally arrive, will they be protected by the Second Amendment?

Morning, folks!

Instead of presenting a compare/contrast essay on the Chile/Haiti quakes, I thought I might invite you to come out to the Green Bean tonight (7:30 pm as usual) and talk about movies. Who do you like for each category? Who do you hate? Did you see the nominees of animated and live-action shorts over at the Carousel?

Or would you rather talk about the Olympics? Or politics, or--controversy of controversies--the weather? Aside from Stendhal Syndrome, there must be stuff worth chatting about, so come join us, and share!

-William Moates
Greensboro DL co-host

Parting Thought: Will "Dude" ever replace "Okay" as the most ubiquitous English word in the world?

Afternoon, folks!

Sorry for the late message, but I woke up this morning with some furnace problems. Everything seems OK, so the problem is over. (However, it *did* explain why my cat was more interested in sleeping with me. Chilly temperatures make strange bedfellows.)

Anyhoo, if you'd like to talk politics, or the weather, or Climategate, or the price of tea in China, come on down to the Green Bean tonight at 7:30 pm and join in the discussion! Or, start your own--we'll listen. Our minds are as open as our ears!

-William Moates
Greensboro DL co-host

Parting Thought: Domesticated animals are simply the ones who will put up with human quirks in exchange for free food and shelter.

Morning, Folks!

We've had an interesting winter, thanks to El Nino. What's been most interesting is how our winter has been colder than (or as cold as) Vancouver's. I just compared their forecast to GSO's, and aver day will be warmer than ours for the next week. Now, if only we could get the wingnuts to look at their winter, then try to explain how it refutes climate change. I like Dylan Ratigan's response as mentioned on Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/11/dylan-ratigan-responds-to_n_459...
Mr. Ratigan shows that he understands the argument for climate change--I thought he was a weatherman for a moment.

I'm sad to see a moderate like Sen. Bayh leave the senate, but as he points out, he's more an executive than a legislator, so perhaps he will redirect his talents in that direction. I wish moderates got more respect, but since extremism is more popular (in the commercial sense) than moderation, it looks like it will get more worse--more polarized--before it gets better.

Would you like to discuss the pros and cons of both moderation and extremism? Perhaps you have your own Goldilocks moment to share? Or an Olympic moment? If so, then join us tonight at the Green Bean, where we will liberate somebeverages from their coffers. (In exchange for a few sheckels, of course. A lubricated economy is a happy economy, as they say.)

-William Moates
Greensboro DL co-host

Parting Thought: Do pessimists look at the world through azure-colored glasses?

Morning, folks!

Washington's snowed in, but that shouldn't keep you in! Now that the winds have died down, would you like to join us at the Green Bean tonight at 7:30 pm? We'll talk about the weather (which is never politically incorrect--or is it?), and other stuff. I'm trying to see the political implications of Chicago's recent quake, but I'm having some difficulty. Would you like to elucidate me? As long as you elucidate sedately, I'd be open to the discussion. Hmm? (I promise not to flare my nostrils.)

-William Moates
Greensboro DL co-host

Parting Thought: Do Orthodox Jews give birth on Saturdays?

Afternoon, folks!

Apart from the Haitian adoption fiasco--which teaches us not to adopt foreigners unless we're willing to wade through paperwork--I really don't have much to say.

However, I would like to plug a neat blog, called Whatever:
http://whatever.scalzi.com
The writer has had some of his entries compiled into a book, titled "Your Hate Mail Will be Graded", by John Scalzi. (I just started reading it a few days ago.) If you're into dark humor, or harsh opinions, then Scalzi is right up your alley (or down your gutter, as the case may be). He's probably more libertarian than liberal, and he's politically incorrect, but he's got some interesting ideas--like calling fundamentalist Christians "Leviticans".

If you were snowed in by the storm last weekend, and didn't get out until Wednesday, then you should come on down to the Green Bean tonight at 7:30pm, where foreign beers will cure those domestic heebie-jeebies, and we can gab until Gabriel blows his horn! Good beers, good wines, good talks, and good times!

-William Moates
Greensboro DL co-host

Parting Thought: Thermodynamics, not Nature, abhors a vacuum. Nature abhors a desert.

Morning, folks!

I know, I should be lamenting the end of the Dem supermajority in the Senate, but I've been distracted by Apple's new shiny, pretty thing, the iPad. Me, I'm a geek first, then a liberal second. However, I'm more interested in cool ideas than in cool toys. I'l have to ask Aristotle about how the Golden Mean applies to this--Buddha thinks I shouldn't worry about it too much. But if right thought leads to right action, then doesn't no thought lead to no action? Hrmmm... (If only I wasn't reading the Encyclopaedia Britannica alphabetically, then I'd get around to this "zen" idea sooner.)

Meanwhile, my cat thinks I should listen to my constituency--him. He's more interested in the welfare of the constituents than in cutting government spending. He doesn't want to pay taxes, or contribute to the government in any way. He asks for treats more often than I'm willing to give them--he really likes this dole. However, he doesn't constantly need attention--he's laissez-faire, in that he likes to do his own thing, or be left alone. So, are cats more like Democrats, or Republicans?

How about dogs? Are they Democrat or Republican?

If you know the answers to any of these questions, then join me at the Green Bean tonight at 7:30 pm, where we can settle this debate, as well as the toilet paper over/under debate. (Someone told me toilet paper is addressed in France's "Declaration of the Rights of Man", but I doubt it. Somehow the statement just doesn't wash.) If you have any ideas that would pass the stink test, then come along! I'll have a little bottle of Febreze, just in case...

-William Moates
Greensboro DL co-host

Parting Thought: Are characters prettier in books than they are in movies?

Afternoon, folks!

(Sorry for the late entry, but my cat was at the vet this morning. Regular stuff, like "turn your head and meow", though there's nothing down below anymore.)

I've noticed that a lot of people have been complaining about how the relief effort has been handled in Haiti, and it got me thinking about logistics. Logistics is the art of getting needed stuff to needy people in a timely manner. Needs have to be prioritized, resources have to be prioritized, supply routes have to be set up, and resources need to be gathered. A big problem in Haiti has been establishing supply routes, since most of the infrastructure--as well as the people who managed that infrastructure--were damaged or taken out by the quake. A secondary problem has been managing the supply routes so priority items could get through; Doctors Without Borders says many of their flights have been routed away form Haiti, but the air traffic control people dispute that. (The airport's ATC capability was taken out by the quake, so the U.S. military is performing ATC duty, with the airport supervising them.)

Logistics is a technical field, with people getting advanced degrees in it. Perhaps you've heard of Microsoft Project--this product was designed to help people manage logistically complex tasks. I saw a little of it in my master's program for computer science, so I'm aware of how difficult the problems can be.

However, this is not a textbook problem. Unlike regular logistics problems, logistical decisions made in the Haiti situation can cost lives. So, when the logisticians make decisions--sometimes without all the information they need, they can and do make mistakes. It's regrettable, and hopefully people learn from them.

One lesson we can learn is this--the Israeli MASH units are very good, and all other groups should take whatever lessons they can from the Israelis, and apply them where useful.

Hey. Wanna chat about this? Or about enjoyably frivolous topics, like the late night TV shakeup? Then join me tonight at 7:30 pm at the Green Bean, and we can swap ideas, swap stories, or even swap PEZ dispensers! There is no agenda, unless you bring one!

-William Moates
Greensboro DL co-host

Parting Thought: What do shopaholics do before 10 a.m.?

Morning, folks.

There's no way to be funny about a natural disaster, and it's very hard to be insightful. The only thing I can recommend is find an appropriate aid agency and give them cash. You might want to donate the shirt off your own back, but it would be cheaper to buy a shirt from nearby than ship your shirt to Haiti. I applaud all the aid and relief workers converging on Haiti, and I wish them the best, but I realize there are disaster experts at work on this problem, and any physical aid I might give would probably get in the way. When the tsunami hit Java and Indonesia in 2004, I donated money to the Red Cross, and I will do so again for this earthquake. If you have any useful talents, please lend a hand, but if not, please stay out of the way.

The new book "Game Change" shows that we still need to have an open and honest discussion about race in America, considering the various responses people gave to Sen. Reid's comments about Obama's election chances. After Steele's remarks, you have to wonder how a discussion of race could occur without either side degenerating to calling each other "racist". Apparently, the only way not to be racist is to be both enlightened *and* eloquent. (I'm tempted to say more, but my toes are too near for me to risk it.)

So, what's your opinion on elightenment, eloquence, racism, or disasters? Would you like to share them with others in a relaxed setting? Would cookies make conversation more enjoyable? If you said "yes" to any of these questions, then join me at the Green Bean tonight at 7:30 pm. Perhaps a logistics-of-happiness expert will show up--if parking is not a problem.

-William Moates
Greensboro DL co-host

Parting Thought: How do eyes know when to cry?