what if?

A Member of the Family

If you're a pet lover as I am, you'll feel for this family's loss.

Bentley's lawyer argued the law doesn't recognize the right to sue for emotional stress over a dead bird.

The case was dismissed.

But Miksch has recently hired a new lawyer and is preparing another lawsuit. She wants a jury to decide how much she is owed.

She hopes her new lawsuit will change the way pets are treated by Florida case law.

The case essentially asks, what is a pet worth? The sticker price in a pet shop from when you bought it? The fee the animal would cost today? Or the sum of some made-up equation involving veterinarian bills racked up over a decade multiplied by the months it takes to get over the death?

Even Miksch isn't sure.

"I know Baby is not worth the same as my son, I know the difference, " she said. "But pets are family. You can't just replace them."

Freeh to Choose

And he does.

If You Embrace Freedom

Then you will applaud this column by John Stossel.

"Fair trade" is code for protectionism disguised as retaliation against other countries that may or may not practice protectionism, and it's a bad sign when even Republicans talk about "fair" rather than "free" trade.

We should practice free trade no matter what others do. Why? Because freedom is good in itself. If foreign governments want to hurt their citizens, it's no reason for ours to hurt us.

People who live in different countries are divided by a political boundary, but boundaries are accidents of history or the results of politicians' arbitrary decisions. Political boundaries are economically irrelevant. When left free, people trade across them as naturally as they do across state lines. Trade is trade. Buyer and seller both benefit. "Thank you." "Thank you."

If you're worried about a trade deficit with, say, China, imagine that China became the 51st state. We'd immediately forget all about that so-called deficit. Who cares if New York runs a trade deficit with Pennsylvania? As Adam Smith wrote, "Nothing . . . can be more absurd than this whole doctrine of the balance of trade."

Parrot-Blogging

How can you not love this face?

For more, check out Our House.

Just the Facts, Ma'am

Good analytical philosophers can tell when language is used to report honestly.  Professor Burgess-Jackson is a good analytical philosopher, and he is well aware that too much of what the New York Times purports to sell as straight news is anything but.

Here are the goods.

Thanks, Professor!

Memorial Day

My more than packed schedule cut me off from most of the Real World last week.

Here is a link, however, that very well captures the spirit of yesterday's Memorial Day holiday.

"It is the soldier, not the reporter,
Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,
Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier,
Who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag."

God bless America.

What else is there to say - but "thanks"?

Work, Work, Work

My occupation (realtor) has kept me quite busy the past few weeks.  In addition, my avocation (bridge player) finds me competing at a local regional tournament, and writing a daily column for our newsletter, and being a guest speaker, and taking photographs of players, and updating our bridge blog every day!

Thus - not too much time and energy left over for what if?

My apologies - and hope to be back in full force soon!

Two Assaults

One on language.

The other on humanity.

Wretchard has the details.

The problem with the word "torture" is that it has been so artfully corrupted by some commentators that we now find ourselves at a loss to describe the kinds of activities that the al-Qaeda interrogation manual graphically recommends. Now that the term "torture" has been put in one-to-one correspondence with such admittedly unpleasant activities as punching, sleep deprivation, a handkerchief pulled over one's face and loaded with water, searches by women upon sensitive Islamic men or the disrespectful handling of Korans -- what on earth do we call gouging people's eyes out?

Frugality

My friend Keith Burgess-Jackson is a philosophy professor.  Not surprisingly, many of his blog posts address age old questions of the discipline - and more modern ones, too.  Often, though, the good professor, like any curious philosopher, wonders about aspects of daily life.  Today, "frugality" is examined.

Keith is often frugal, and I share his affection for it.  To me, "frugality" is a desire not to waste - an inclination to make do with less rather than more.  Of course, as the professor points out, each of us has our own beliefs as to what is and is not frugal behavior - and then our own preferences as to which activities seem "worth" frugal behavior and which do not.

I put a lot of value upon frugality.  My underlying belief is that if we do not waste, then on those occasions when "more" is not a luxury, but a necessity, the odds are greater that what we need will be there.  For instance, I try hard not to waste my financial resources.  Though often I am capable of spending more on whatever I wish to get - be it large (automobiles, furniture or a vacation) or small (clothes, nail polish, meals) - I try to spend at little as possible to get what I really need.  Whatever is left over then can be saved and invested.  If I then find myself requiring more funds for an emergency - or perhaps something more frivilous, but something that I very much want - my frugality will have paid off.  What if I find myself with far more than I myself need?  Should I find myself in such a pleasant spot, then I can give my resources to an organization or individuals that I believe will do good.

"Looking Like America"

Hardly anyone better expresses what is wrong with racial preferences than John Rosenberg at Discriminations.

“Diversity,” like any true tribalism, treats all its valued components as fungible: what matters about a poor rural black son of a sharecropper from Pike County, Alabama; a hip-hop homey from the ghetto; the daughter of two black surgeons from Brookline; or a black Kenyan is that they’re all black. It’s good for the rest of us to be exposed to any one of them, doesn’t really matter which one. (Note, while I’m here, that “diversity,” as an argument, advocates using blacks to benefits whites. The blacks who were “diversity” admits to, say, to the University of Michigan would receive all of its benefits if they were forced to attend Michigan State or the University of Northern Michigan; the whites in Ann Arbor, alas, would be deprived of that exposure, and hence of the benefits of “diversity,” to the degree the former “diversity” admits weren’t there.) At some point maybe someone will explain to me why racial quotas are bad if racial preferences are good.

Just an excerpt.  Do read the whole thing.

My Lists

David Strom and Margaret Martin are my fellow bloggers and friends in Minneapolis whom I met due to our shared connection of being birdie parents.  They're also quite industrious; check out their blog and see all the lists of "to-do's" that they've got!

This morning, David and Margaret inspired me.  Here are my own personal lists, like theirs, for home improvement and what's blooming in the garden.

Home Improvement

1. Clean out the gutters (at least once a year).
2. Unpack the boxes in the basement that have remained untouched since my house was built in 1991.
3. Clean birdie poop off the high windows in the bedroom.
4. Try to find all the records in my office to do my taxes for 2006, in the hopes that my estimates will be close to whatever the actual bottom line is on the return.
5. See if the barbecue grill cover really is still in the woods outside the deck - and then fetch it back.
6. Organize my office.
7. Discover why the laptop sometimes runs as if it's on dial up circa 1993.
8. Trim the bushes (at least once a year).
9. Figure out what to do with the 122 samples from Clinique and Estee Lauder that are strewn around the bathroom and my closet.
10. Replace aging birdie cages.
11. Go shopping for garden plants - maybe (see below.)

What's Blooming in the Garden

1. Some ground cover with tiny white flowers (strawberry something or other?)
2. A couple of hanging-on daffodils.
3. A few allium.
4. Hardy geranium ground cover.
5. Just planted New Guinea impatiens.  (Give them a few weeks to croak.)

That's about it.  Plants hide in fear when they see me coming through the aisle.  However good Margaret is with all sorts of living creatures that go into the ground?  I'm about the opposite.  Call us "the Green Thumb" meets the "Kiss of Death" thumb.

And One of the Skeptics

A man who's been involved with energy most of his life.

"The science of global warming is speculative. But there's nothing speculative about the damage a C02 capture program will do to this country. I know the names of many of the thousands of people--American workers, their families--whose lives will be destroyed by what has become a deceitful and hysterical campaign, perpetrated by fear-mongers in our society and by corporate executives intent on their own profits or competitive advantage. I can't stand by and watch."

I'm not certain exactly who and what is responsible for warming.  Neither am I certain what should be done (if anything) about it.  Or, for that matter, what, if anything, can be done by man about it.

I only know that I am definitely not a True Believer.

The High Priest of Man-Made Global Warming

Al Gore.  According to James Traub, Gore has achieved something beyond rock-star status:

A woman in a blazing orange shirt emerged from her flight, did a double take and cried, “Isn’t that AL GORE?!” There was no ignoring this fan. As she came over to thank Gore for trying to save the planet, I saw that my bags were in the way. “I’ll move them,” I said; and Gore, before he could think, said, “No, don’t.”

Six years after the Supreme Court declared him the loser of a presidential race that seemed his for the taking, Al Gore has attained what you can only call prophetic status; and he has done so by acting as he could not, or would not, as a candidate — saying precisely what he believes, and saying it with clarity, passion, intellectual mastery and even, sometimes, wit. Everywhere he goes, people urge him, almost beg him, to run for the presidency.

If you read the entire column, you will appreciate that Traub seems to be much of a true believer, too - both in MM global warming and Al Gore's mythic abilities to lead the world away from disaster.  Catch lines like this one: 

The very fact that Gore feels that this requires an explanation shows what a high-minded rationalist he is.

Ah, yes.  Gore has the intellect and mind above most others.  Those of us who don't agree with his explanations are thick-headed or slow-witted.

What If My Parents Get Old?

My mother never had to face aging parents.  Her father died in a New York City train crash when she was a toddler.  Her mother passed away in her early 40's due to heart disease and overweight.  Mom worked like a demon keeping her figure slim and her health intact, and she was most successful.  Nevertheless, when she entered her 40's, anxiety enveloped her.  Though Mom is a champion worrier in most circumstances, worry increased then.  Mom seemed to feel the Angel of Death lurking in the shadows.

My grandmother's fate never befell Mom.  With Mom in her early 80's, and Dad entering the second half of that decade, my parents still live in their beautiful Florida townhouse.  Weathering more serious health battles and mobility issues in the past couple of years have plagued Mom.  But, she and Dad still go out for dinners, play bridge, attend movies and theatre and socialize frequently. 

My sister and I wonder, however .... What if our parents can't live on their own any longer?  How will we know?  Who decides?  What should we do?

This column from the New York Times Magazine addresses these hard questions, and more.

Despite their advancing ages, I hope that my parents are around - and in good health - for many more years to come.  One of my close girlfriends is currently visiting her 102 year old mother, aka "The Energizer Bunny."  People are living longer and better; my wishes may well be realized.

Yet, if they are not . . . . How do I know what to do?  Where are the reference manuals?

Search, and you won't find them.  Everyone and every family must cut its own path.  Drop a parent at the drugstore - or call their child?  What can I tell you?

Hide and Go Seek

Remember the game we used to play as children?  We'd hide, and others would try to find us.

Sandy Berger has hidden something.  The odds are, however, that we will never know exactly what Sandy stuffed in those socks. 

Why would a man willingly give up a law degree, seemingly without a fight?  All we can do is wonder.  The answers are hidden, and whether we can seek them out or not is undeterminded. 

What we do know, however, is that Sandy's working very hard to keep the answers hidden.  And this is not child's play.

Dead and Buried

Sixty Minutes has been on TV for 39 years.  I began watching it as a teenager.  Back then, in the Dark Ages,60 Minutes was a hard hitting, straight shooting news program that captured large audiences - with good reason.

Alas.  Today, it seems to have gone the way of too much of the fare we see on the aptly named boob-tube.  The show no longer appears to strive for accuracy and balance.  Instead, "People Magazine" type headlines and slanted information seems to be what's on the menu.

Sixty Minutes recently produced a show in which I have more than casual interest. They focused on the real estate industry; my profession and livelihood.

Now, if I or a group with which I am associated are doing wrong, I want to know about it.  I'll do what I can to personally change, or work hard to make sure that the group alters whatever is a problem.

Unfortunately, however, the Sixty Minutes segment simply misrepresented the truth.  What they reported isn't even close to accurate.  Moreover, they elected to not have a voice from the "other side" - something they seem to do more and more these days.  The National Association of Realtors has the ugly details - and the proper information.

I remember the "good old days" of Sixty Minutes.  Unfortunately, it seems those days are dead and buried.

Double Mint

As what if? readers know, I'm a Rudy fan.  But, a candidate that can write something like this surely has potential to be a decent president.

I’m reminded of something my Daddy used to say: A man who walks around smiling all the time can’t possibly know what’s going on. However, I am optimistic. I think we all are. But as Americans, our optimism comes not from an analysis of how things are, but from our belief that we can change what we see for the better.

We have road maps — at least two of them in fact — the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution — to guide us. How can we look at the world without thinking about inalienable rights, and doing everything necessary to protect our country? How can we think of fiscal policy or even health-care policy without remembering the limitations appropriately placed upon government and the importance of individual freedom?

This is a message that needs to be delivered.

My judgement is that Rudy Giuliani or Fred Thompson; you can take either man to the bank.  Double mint, so to speak.

Kids Not Learning?

No wonder.  They've got utter morons attempting to teach them.

MURFREESBORO, Tennessee (AP) -- Staff members of an elementary school staged a fictitious gun attack on students during a class trip, telling them it was not a drill as the children cried and hid under tables.

The mock attack Thursday night was intended as a learning experience and lasted five minutes during the weeklong trip to a state park, said Scales Elementary School Assistant Principal Don Bartch, who led the trip.

"We got together and discussed what we would have done in a real situation," he said.

But parents of the sixth-grade students were outraged.

"The children were in that room in the dark, begging for their lives, because they thought there was someone with a gun after them," said Brandy Cole, whose son went on the trip.

Perhaps next class they'll shoot some kids with a gun, so they'll know how that experience feels. 

Teachers are supposed to teach; not terrify.  Guess no one informed these staff members.....

Happy Mom's Day!

My mom may be half a continent away from me.  No matter where we are, though, I wish my mom a wonderful holiday and thank her for an entire lifetime of nagging!  Oops; I mean, a lifetime of caring and advice - LOL!

And to all my other friends who are loving and devoted mom's - happy holiday to you, too!

Telling It Like It Is

Can anyone truly disagree with what Judge Janice Rogers Brown has to say about government and welfare?

Whatever happened to self-respect and self-care?