As I sit here in my perch I am watching the sun come up in Colorado for the last time for a bit. We are heading out on the latest version of TTG’s Magical Mystery Tour. It is strange and yet incredibly exciting to know that tomorrow that big orange ball will pop up a lot earlier thousands of miles away in Copenhagen. I hope I never lose that childlike enthusiasm for things that are new. I spent yesterday morning as the Shuttle Assistant for the Hike For Hospice in Morrison. It is actually very cool to be in the foothills a mere 30 minutes from downtown Denver. The people, the housing, their way of looking at life are really quite different. Now my title got me a bucket replete with towels and disinfectant in case one of the rider’s dogs got so excited that he or she couldn’t hold it. I kid you not. It was my job description. Lo how the mighty have fallen. The round trip between the parking lot and the base station for hikers was about twenty minutes. Going to, yours truly held court and thanked people for coming. On the way back I struck up a conversation ( surprising huh?) with my driver. Gary. The tale unfolds. It seems he came to America from the former Socialist Republic of Georgia. He and his wife and three kids pled for and were granted political asylum. Six years later they became citizens. The system works. He and his family came to Denver because a cousin had already settled here. He said with the mountains it reminded him of home. For the next few hours between runs he extolled the virtues of the United States and dissed his former homeland. Some were obvious and others were quite intriguing. As so many others he didn’t speak the language at first. He could have remained in the captivity of an ethnic neighborhood but he plunged head-on into learning the speak and the ways of his new home. He wasn’t particularly gifted in book smarts but he had the look and sound of a survivor. And here he was driving for Grey Lines. He kept repeating what a wonderful country we had here. People were friendly, outgoing and courteous. Maybe he bypassed the Big Apple. He said in Russia the locals were quiet and almost demeaning. Never look out for your neighbor. You are in it for yourself. It is a hard life and if you were poor you were shunned as unworthy. No welfare. No food stamps. If you were homeless or a drunk you died from the elements. No one even stopped to pay you any matter. As a resident of a Moscow satellite they hated the so called motherland.They had seen subservience since the days of Stalin and it never sat well. I asked how come the polls say they love Putin? Interestingly he said those were the native Russians not the occupied hinterlands. He said the people were old and naive. The fortunate young and oligarchs had fled or were too busy partying to worry about such mundane things. The remaining ones were happy to rally behind a politico that would rub the sweet salve of nationalism on their broken psyches. As we made our final run I could see a man that maybe had hoped for more in his life but was so incredibly grateful for what he had. At sixty four years of age he had to keep working but that was okay. The sixty or so hours of driving were worth it. When he got home there was a glass of wine and maybe some Georgian music. Life is simple. Just live it. As we shook hands and bade good by I felt a kinship. I thanked him for sharing…for letting me know how lucky I am. I had my new buddy and also so many that had come to remember a loved one. I asked one group who they were there for. A lovely young woman spoke up and said it was for her daughter. She was twelve years old when she died. Another was there for her dad whom I recalled visiting. He was ninety two. Funny how death doesn’t pay attention to time in service. What an incredible day. As I drove home I thought about many things. I looked at the housing developments where Toll Brothers or Shea had carpet bombed hundreds of residences in large swathes. I drove the back streets of Denver and saw mansions and bungalows that go so far back in time. So many people. So many different ways of living. So many outlooks and political persuasions. How are we ever going to get us pulling on the same oar? We are going to many cities and burgs on the Continent. We will meet Danes and Poles. Swedes and Finns. Italians and Brits. Sure there will be museums and churches and palaces of every description. But I am really going to try to meet just ordinary folk. People like Gary. I am going to do my best to ask questions and just listen. I might just have plenty of reason to reinvent myself. God help my poor wife. I will write when I can but won’t guarantee to greet every Wednesday morning. Hopefully there will be lots to ponder and share. I’ll let you know if I run into Putin. Ciao or whatever. As always, Ted The Great Factoids: Until the 1930s most legal immigrants were male. By the 1990s women accounted for just over half of all legal immigrants. Contemporary immigrants tend to be younger than the native population of the United States, with people between the ages of 15 and 34 substantially overrepresented. Immigrants are also more likely to be married and less likely to be divorced than native-born Americans of the same age. Seven out of ten immigrants surveyed by Public Agenda in 2009 said they intended to make the U.S. their permanent home, and 71% said if they could do it over again they would still come to the US. We get an average of 3 million immigrants a year. Denver’s population grew 8.2 percent between 2010 and 2013. Since 2000, Denver has grown 17.3 percent. Must be doing something right. Butterfly Hospice cares for kids under the age of eighteen either in residence or usually in the home. If you want a dose of reality go to your nearest Children’s Hospital, get a cup of coffee and just sit in the lobby. It’s a wake up call.

I got into it with a dear old friend this week. It was not pretty and I am not proud of my overreaction. He made a statement that I have it in for rich people. I am Irish and I am stupid. I got on a tear about arrogance. You can figure out the rest. The whole process has stuck in my craw over these last several days.

By definition arrogance is thinking that you are better than most if not all of the world. You look down on people. You want to exercise your superiority which in my mind is a prelude to insecurity but that is another story. You really don’t care about the rest of the world. It’s all about you. It has nothing to do with being rich or poor. You see, arrogance is all around us.

I really locked horns with Archbishop Chaput when he was here in Denver. He is now in Philadelphia and no doubt happy he is far away from me. I told him I really had a problem with priests being holier than thou. Ironic huh? In a pastoral way he tried to tell me that priests were in their own realm and had a special calling from God. I in no uncertain terms told him we all put our pants on the same way and we are all in this together. Kind of like what Francis is saying now. I really do have have to call him soon to see if he is in line with Rome’s teaching on this one. Was he exercising his superiority?

Of course there is the arrogance of power. Whether you hold the purse strings or the finger on the trigger you have swag. It is a false hubris but a mighty one. The most obvious correlation is to the very rich. But that is far too easy. They can be anyone or anything they want. When you live in an ivory tower the world always looks the same….below you. It doesn’t let the rest of us off the hook.

Think about a fully armed SWAT member or a gang member with a 357 Magnum. You can be in your perch on top of an armored vehicle or a rooftop. You’ve got power. Just walk down the street on a dark night in your local hood. The cops on one side and a Crypt on the other. You are talking about severe disdain for your fellow man on either side of the barrel.

How about the gender thing? I am a guy. I’m big. I’m strong and I can kick the crap out of you a la Ray Rice. I can also berate you and make you feel like dirt. I am lord and master of the mansion. Hunter gatherer and all that BS. This is beyond sinister and yet it goes on in the confines of trailers as well as mansions every day. You don’t think that is arrogant?

I could go on and on but it touches everywhere. Doctors, lawyers, teachers, judges. All have their little fiefdoms over which they hold court and wield power because of their implied expertise. Don’t you dare question me. Do you know who I am? Yeah I do, so back off.

Even in casual settings. A few weeks ago I got in the Foretees Lottery for a Saturday morning tee time at our club. After the drawing I was scheduled to play at 8:30 AM with a +3, a 2 and a 4 handicap. That sounded like fun. They were young guys and I was looking forward to getting to know them. Lo and behold they bailed out Friday afternoon for greener pastures at another time. Why stoop to play with a lowly 14? I was left to fend for myself and wound up not playing. Sounded on the surface as a little arrogant to me. Maybe they had heard of my golf swing?

Coincidental with this type of thinking is the appellation of genius or super star to just about anybody. Genius is a strong term connoting an exceptional natural capacity of intellect as it relates to science, art music etc. Webster’s words, not mine. Einstein? I can do that. DaVinci. Easy peasy. Oprah? Nick Sabine? Bill Clinton? Maybe we are on different wave lengths. But as long as we adulate success, personality and beauty and consider them pinnacles to be sought after then maybe we should be subservient.Being looked down upon? Why not? I think a genius comes along once or twice in a lifetime as opposed to once or twice a week. But then again that is just me and therein lies the rub.

From the top of the world here I could get a big head. I could revel in the fact that with all my pondering I have it all figured out. Maybe I can put words down on paper but I shouldn’t delude myself into thinking I am real smart. I truly am like every one of you. I am a schmuck trying to make my way in the world and in some way hope to make it a better place.

I am passionate about my causes. I try to convince people that my way is better or they should be looking at the world around them and at least scratch below the surface. Just think! I really do try to listen but I guess if you feel strongly enough about something you ought to defend it to the death.

Uh oh! I guess that means I am arrogant. Thinking sometimes I know better and yes maybe at times feeling like I have a little more going on upstairs. Guilty as charged. What it really comes down to is the difference between that so called passion and being a jerk about it. For some of you I am truly am sorry if I have crossed the line. Hopefully my malady is not terminal. My heart really is in the right place.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:
I have just returned from a luncheon where the guest speaker was Marcus Luttrell, former Navy Seal and author of the Lone Survivor, about a raid gone very bad in Afghanistan. He was the only one of four to make it back. He told the story with incredible candor and poignancy.You could have heard a pin drop. Before the festivities my good friend John Horan aka The Body Snatcher made it possible for me to attend a private meeting with Marcus. There were the parents of two of the three killed in action. The small suite was also fortified with three other Seals currently on active duty and just returning from deployment. Wasn’t sure if i should feel secure or scared to death. As I looked around the room I realized they can all be as arrogant as they want. They were certainly heads and shoulders above me…and probably most of you.

I was struck by an article in the paper today that told of helicopter moms hiring decorators for their son or daughter going off to college. In the age where everyone is screaming about their college loans are you kidding me? Once again we have proven that an annual rite of passage has to be gussied up and improved upon.

Forget about the fact that going to college has for time immemorial been about learning and trying to figure out things on your own like trying to get rid of that huge zit on your nose before your big date. I can just imagine telling my father that I almost flunked out of Georgetown my sophomore year because the atmosphere just wasn’t quite right. Or my room was not the right shade of mauve. The fear of God,my father and Vietnam got me back on the right track not Martha Stewart or whoever she was way back then.

Now ambience is defined as the feeling or mood associated with a place, person or thing. That is very cool. As I conjure up thoughts of this or that I definitely can get elated or depressed in one fell swoop. Abject terror was rappelling down a fifty foot cliff in survival school. Bliss can be achieved by viewing the Pacific from a Hawaiian island with a tall vodka and tonic in one’s hand…..or as a young parent knowing that the rug rats are finally asleep. But the funny thing is no one had to tell me how to do that.

Today is different. We need consultants and books for everything from dressing to eating to sleeping and the like. I am sure people look at me with my ten year old Brooks Brothers polo shirt or my faded khaki shorts and think how ghastly. At a party one time a fellow invitee subtly dropped the idea that he had owned a similar shirt to mine… ten years ago. Up yours, Mac. I am just breaking it in.

My daughter Megan is a decorator and wife Kathy is a closet one. They gather weekly to rearrange every piece of furniture in our humble one floor abode. If I was blind I would be dead from walking into things that were over there the week before. What do you mean you like that chair? We have to recover it or buy a new one. How else are we going to keep this economy humming ? You have no sense of fashion TTG. None.

Enter Feng Shui which is not pronounced anything like it shows. It actually translates into “wind water” which like anything that costs a lot of money makes no sense whatsoever. The goal is to harmonize everyone with your surrounding environment. I think this was dreamed up by some gay Chinese dude trying to increase his lot in life. If this is so cool why does pictures of the annual Chinese Party Congress look like a throwback to the old Apple 1984 Super Bowl ad?

They describe polarity as one creating exertion and the other receiving it. Yin and Yang. I thought that was invented by Cheech and Chong but what do I know? Actually it is more like Pelosi and Boehner or O’Reilly and Maddow. That’s not exactly a revolutionary thought but then again it might be in Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book.

I was watching the Broncos preseason game in my office on my eight year old Vizio TV. This used to be our main mode of visual reception but it has been replaced by a bigger and jazzier version of a one year old Samsung in the living room. I have now been told that the incredible picture I am now getting is obsolete. I have to have a curved screen that will allow that 350 pound lineman to jump right into my space. Really? Pretty soon we will be able to have sweat smells wafting from the box. Special, huh?

We have a bunch of things that are drastic improvements over the old. I grew up in an old colonial house with seven people and three very small bathrooms. With three brothers it bordered on disgusting but we lived to tell about it. When Grandma Shorty came to stay and fell asleep on the john it became downright difficult. I would have loved to put one through the hoop in quiet meditation rather than having brother Brian beating down the door but that’s life. And many of you had only one salle de bain for the ship’s company. How did we ever survive?

Point being is that ambience is truly a feeling or mood. It can be Ralph Lauren or Coco Chanel or even better grassy field or a dock on the bay. It can be the staccato beat of Spanish Harlem or South Beach. Perhaps just sitting by the river with some wine and cheese. Who says the South Platte can’t be the river Seine? You can look out to the Rockies or the Poconos. Sheepshead Bay….or San Francisco Bay. It really doesn’t cost much. It’s what you make it and they are all just perfect on their own.

We are a consumer society. We crave new and different. Gotta keep up with the latest trend. It’s incredible when we see a home built in the 90’s and consider it dated. It was the cat’s meow back then. Whether it is cars or suits, place settings or coffee makers there is always something new and different around the corner. When that creates vibrancy and innovation it is refreshing. When it makes us slaves to Madison or Fifth Avenue it is sad. It blows me away how we are made to be beholding to fashion and fads all the while someone telling us how we are supposed to look. Really?

I am going to pick my spots and do my own thing. Surprising eh? Sure I am an old fart but hopefully not a codger. I hope my grandkids still think I am crazy but in a good sense. The best ambience of all is when I can sit here in Command Central and try to pound out thoughts that will get you to think. Nothing more. Nothing less. I don’t have to pay anyone to show me how that is done.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:
The National Retail Federation reports that we will spend $48 BILLION this year on electronics, furniture, bedding and supplies for our little darlings to feel at home while they are away.

IKEA was founded in the Netherlands in 1943. It now totals 350 stores in 43 countries. It has annual sales totaling more than $25 billion US. God knows how much you have to pay someone to put together the furniture once you buy it.

You can get a bottle of presentable red for $10, some cheese for $5 and a box of crackers for $3. The blanket comes from your house. Not a bad date for under $20 .

In the US we spend about 7% of our household budgets on food for about $50 billion. Russian families spend 38%. On the other hand we spend $225 billion on clothes per annum but a far cry from Europe who is leading the way at $350 billion. It costs to be trendy.

These past few weeks have had more than their share of what we can only call atrocities. You know an extremely cruel or evil act to be perpetrated. This crowd called ISIS seems to have them down pat. But they are not alone. Every manner of being has strayed across the line throughout history. It’s just our sensitivities tend to get piqued by the people or countries involved or to a large degree how much publicity it gets.

We had a story here in Denver of a woman’s live in boyfriend who threw a four month old infant against a wall because it was crying too much. Does that qualify? Or how about a drunk driver who goes down the interstate in the wrong direction and kills a family of four. How am I doing? Two trucks hit a motorcyclist at two in the morning, stopped to see if he was alive and then took off probably after knowing he would not survive. These are real life in our fair city and occurring everywhere else throughout the land of the free and the home of the brave.

I remember in Viet Nam when a Vietnamese naval vessel was blown up by sappers just upriver of us. Nine people were killed and the place we called home was the closest receptacle for the body bags to wait for transport. They sat there on the dock for three days in the blazing sun of the U Minh Forest. I recoiled at the smell and the fact that life meant so little to these people. Fast forward forty some odd years and I can’t help but believe things haven’t really progressed and the opposite might be the case.

This has been a tough week. I have run into every sort of negative thought and vitriol from all sorts of people. Maybe I am a magnet or caused it ? I hope not. So much centered around Ferguson. One fellow almost screamed the statistics of black crime into the phone. I told him I got it but he just wanted to pursue the evidence. I asked him a simple question. If you stopped and frisked every white person on a Saturday night or better yet pulled over every white person driving at that hour, how many arrests for drugs, DUI and even weapons would occur? What an absurd question TTG !

There is no question black neighborhoods are a seed bed of illegal activity. I really tried to imagine what it must be like to live there. No so easy. As a kid of five your first memories are of a drug deal, a shooting or a run down apartment and a mother who has two jobs or does crack. There is no male in the house or if there is it is because your mother is easy. You see the teenagers being rousted and the pimps and dealers making money the old fashioned way ….preying on people’s weaknesses. This is in every aspect a culture.

As you grow older you realize you are marked by those inherited flaws and a thing called skin color. The degradation you feel most days is humiliating. Sometimes this borders on paranoia. Everybody thinks you are piece of crap and you start to believe it. They say you need to pick yourself up and get out of this. You say if I am a male I better get a gun or join a gang. There is nothing more empowering than a weapon. You now have your way with women but stability is something you have never known. Love ’em and leave ’em just like they did to you.

I thought about the politicians promising everything and delivering nothing. I thought about neighborhoods being gentrified and then no longer affordable. The building boom comes and the poor are just collateral damage. You just run out of places to go. The bullshit keeps piling up and the resentment in your heart is dark. The things go kaboom and then true lawlessness takes place. The truly sad part is there are good people there. As in any place it is the few that make the good look bad. But nobody wants to look for the bright side. We just want to paint with wide strokes. You get the job done quicker that way.

I in no way condone a big black thug stealing a box of cigars and intimidating a poor owner. I also can’t abide by a cop unloading his revolver into even a six foot eighteen year old. One or two shots maybe. Seven, eight? I’ve got a problem. Bungling of stories and evidence? No excuse. A true crisis of management and leadership. The silence of the black leadership on things like family and illegitimacy is deafening. The system my friends on both sides of the fence( and there are definitely two sides) is really screwed up.

The upstart of all of this has been a notable lack of leadership by anyone. The elite can be smug and say the Democrats should take ownership of their constituency. We have a black president. Let him deal with it. Sharpton and Jackson can rabble rouse that the one percent or cops caused all this. Boehner, Reid, Pelosi, McCain? Haven’t heard bupkis. What was I thinking? Just like everything else in our Pandora’s box just wait until after the elections when there is not so much at stake.

We were all outraged at the gruesome beheading of James Foley. That was an atrocity. Boko Haram, Al Quaeda, Assad all can be described as evil. But I will hold out to you that right here in the US of A we have more than our share of problems not only in the ghettos of urban America but in the homes down the street. Bullying, verbal and physical intimidation, hatred of our fellow man and benign indifference happen in all walks of life. I hope that we have not become so soulless that we can’t see it and much worse not want to do anything about it.

As always

Ted The Great

Factoids:

In psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud defined hate as an ego state that wishes to destroy the source of its unhappiness.More recently, the Penguin Dictionary of Psychology defines hate as a “deep, enduring, intense emotion expressing animosity, anger, and hostility towards a person, group, or object.”Because hatred is believed to be long-lasting, many psychologists consider it to be more of an attitude or disposition than a temporary emotional state. Wow!

Residential segregation is the physical separation of two or more groups into different neighborhoods, or a form of segregation that “sorts population groups into various neighborhood contexts and shapes the living environment at the neighborhood level.” This is an incredible dynamic in the effort to end poverty especially among blacks. Right side and wrong sides of the tracks.

Atrocities can be against people, the environment or religions. The Khmer Rouge in Cambodia during the early 70’s. Today people slaughter rhinos for their horns. The Crusades can be considered an atrocity. Obviously the Holocaust during World War II but others consider the Irish Potato Famine of 1845 and subsequent actions by the British to be right up there. Man’s ability to be so bereft of morals is quite amazing.

You see it hundreds of times a day even if you only watch a scant amount of TV. It signals a transition from the guts of the program to the dreaded commercial. The screen goes black if only for a nanosecond. When you use a VCR and fast forward the ads it is your cue to hit PLAY again. Or if you are an old fart like me you watch it fly by and have to hit rewind. Such is life.

I got to thinking about our world and all that is happening and has happened over the last few years. As a culture we have the unique ability to fade to black on a lot of things. Remember the Arab Spring? A distant thought. Columbine? Sandy Hook? Aurora? We moved right on. How about Boko Haram? When was the last time 200 kidnapped school girls came to mind? There have been two crashes of Manila Airlines jet with over 500 people gone. We have dismissed the picture of rotting bodies in the fields of some God forsaken place called Ukraine. We have more important things to do.

And now we have a thing called Ferguson. There is anger, bitterness and a strife we can only imagine. We will watch the scene play out on TV for the next few days and then move to the next because after all a story has to have legs. I don’t say this with disdain or guilt. How we handle these things in a study in human nature and our own psyches.

You can take any life changing episode. Do I dwell on it or do I just move on? Now I can say I must get on with my life. There is nothing I can do about it. It’s history. I’ll hang on long enough to get the gist. Pay your respects and go out to dinner afterwards. I can’t figure out if I am resilient or just terribly uncaring?

There is one story I wish we would not fade to black on and that is the death of Robin Williams. I remember him as Adrian Kronauer in Good Morning Viet Nam. He was both whacky and poignant. His rendition of a traffic jam over the Ho Chi Minh Trail was a classic. He knew how to poke fun at the brass. He was irreverent. He was nuts. Wonder why in some strange way I feel a kindred spirit?

More importantly he put a very recognizable face on a thing called depression. Some have said he took the easy way out. If you know anything about suicide you know differently. He fought his addictions and his demons constantly. Not for weeks or months but for decades. All the while putting on a happy face. Just remember suicide is a not a quick exit. It is the acquiescence of some poor devil who has said I just can’t fight it any more.

You know I don’t like Hollywood types with all their self absorption. This guy was different. He was an everyman. If you ran into him on the street he would talk. If you needed help in anything he was there. People just reveled in his madness and to that point he was scary. Part of us wanted to be just like him. To be zany and outrageous and sat f__k it all. He played by a different set of rules and we all wish we could find the book.

It did make me think about the lifestyle. Kathy and I went to a concert with Santana and Rod Stewart. Usually when you go to a revival of sorts they are a letdown but this one was great. I watched Santana who has been doing doing this for a long time. How many stages and towns has he been to? How many times did he have to get up for a performance only to have to come down to get some sleep? His choice. His problem. He has made a lot of money doing it. But then again at what price? It’s a crazy world.

We live in a “what have you done for me lately” world. Fame and fortune are short and bittersweet. We fade to black a lot. We get caught in this vortex of life and just don’t know how to hit pause and smell the roses. We really don’t understand what life is like on the other side of the fence. We are somewhat of a hit and run society. We have to have bigger, better, faster without looking at the collateral damage. I guess that is progress but will we ever be happy?

Black is a color of many hues. I don’t particularly care for it but my daughter loves it. Ansel Adams found it very rewarding. So did Johnnie Cash and Gary Player. It is what you make it. Black can signal finality or even silence. If I fade to something I hope it is a bright green or red or at worst grey. Find your own remote control and set it any way you like. So much for this and now back to our story…life as we know it. and it is damn good.
As Always
Ted The Great

Factoids:
Sherwin Williams lists 137 shades of black. The Stones of course said “Paint It Black”.

One of black’s definitions list as “very dark, an absence of light.” Hmmm. Black humor is grim or distorted. Sinister and evil come right in there.

During Apartheid in South Africa you were subjected to a pencil test. If you hair was so frizzy that you could stick a pencil in it then you were black.

In 2011 there were 39,518 suicides and untold number of attempts. one ever 13 minutes. Men are more successful than women. The highest age brackets are 45-64 (18.6%) and 85+ (16.9) I am only 69.

By my calculation Santana has performed in concert at least 5,000 times.

I could write about the many crises we have in the world this week but for the moment I am putting off fixing the world’s problems for another day. Dropped the gang off at the airport. Next stop London. Man it is quiet around here. Thinking of Paris, Rome and all things Continental. One of our favorite things to do when we cross the pond is walk everywhere. The hell with the map. Guys never ask directions. You can get lost but still find wonderful things.

I love alleys and doorways. It can be the Rue de Whatever or a cobblestoned byway in Assisi or San Francisco. You peer down them and see dumpsters but also hidden troves. Perhaps a garage door with just so many layers of ebony paint and brass hardware shined with pride. I wonder if a Bentley or Jetta lays just beyond the wall ready to hit the road or maybe just a fast trip to the boulangerie?

The real fun begins when there is a courtyard ringed by a story or two. It sets the stage for what lies beyond. Rich man. Poor man. Doesn’t matter. It’s the beginning of a wonderful relationship. A man’s home is his castle and this is the moat. If I give you entry then I am opening my world to you. Should I take a chance and knock? Just some idiot Americano saying “Howdie”. The rap on the door is unanswered. Probably thinks I am selling bibles or encyclopedias. Do they do that anymore?

That door is a true window into the owners heart. Is is bright red or dark green? Is there a heavy wrought iron grill work that says keep out or can you peek through the storm door that is clear glass? Is it cold with aluminum and silica or warm with the earth tones of oak or alder? There is a picture in our hallway here with Number 10 Downing Street displayed. It is bright yellow and flanked by all manner of flora. What a pleasant break from governmental BS. It almost says “We are home and at your service.” What a novel concept.

I am not crazy about doors in condos. They all look the same. Hallways seem barren and boring. Many years ago when we lived in Stuyvestantown in NYC I remember walking by 7A and picturing some little old lady in her housecoat preening her cat and watching the Soaps, all the while worrying about some sort of intruder. She would probably run down to get the mail or a quick run to Dagostino’s. Then back inside before she has to interact. Triple and quadruple bolt the door. This is living?

Actually I have a thing about locked doors. Growing up in a large colonial there was at least four or five ways you could break and enter. That’s okay, with four boys they were never locked. Have kept that same philosophy even on the mean streets of wherever. We don’t have much we consider to be of value so if you need it that bad, have at it. Just don’t mess up my new paint job. Several years ago in Vail we had a lovely home on a hill. We were going to Hawaii for our 25th wedding anniversary. Had to call a locksmith because we couldn’t find a key to secure the establishment. Such is life.

Maybe I will just walk the streets and try to figure out this or that person’s idea of heaven. The windows always go a long way to figuring out who is inside. Fenestration is an art form….both inside and out. At our new digs we have floor to ceiling chunks of open space and we love them. At our old 1895 house the original sashes were humongous. Took a team of two or three to open them. Kathy loves to turn on lamps and unfettered they shone both inside and out. A passerby noted one time that they loved what we had done with the interior of the house. We thanked them and then took note of the fact that we had never had them inside. But then again maybe we had.

I respect people’ s privacy but I don’t know why heavy drapes are the rage. In the winter time maybe. In the spring and summer let it rip. Now sheer curtains and opaque shades can play a game. Sort of half and half. I’ll give you a little peek but not open the kimono all the way so to speak. Wait! Did I just say that? Just my sleaze ball self sneaking out every now and then. Gotta have a little fun, eh?

Now some of you are thinking, “Where the hell is bright boy going with all of this?” The answer is simple. Nowhere! I have ascribed this time to Random Acts of Writing. Reverie is one of my favorite pastimes. I know some of you are so incredibly busy or important that you don’t have time to do this. Others are so wrought up with problems and strife that flights of fancy are impossible to conceive. You have no idea how sorry I feel for you.

You can walk anywhere to find alleys, doorways and windows. You don’t need an transoceanic airplane. You can take a bus. They are right out there in front of your nose. You can’t see them if you fly by at 25 or 90. Texting and phone work dull the senses and prevent any sort of perception. You have to look to see. I just finished the morning papers before tickling the keyboard. Consider this my therapy. I hope it is for you in a way. On a day where a wonderfully creative and generous comic decided to end his life maybe that is the canary in the coal mine for our all too complicated way of life. Simple things are simply the best. Enjoy them.

As Always

Ted The Great

Factoids:

Alley is a great word. we have “Tin Pan Alley” One account claims that it was a derogatory reference to the sound of many pianos resembling the banging of tin pans. Another version claims the name stemmed from the way that songwriters modified their pianos so that they had a more percussive sound. After many years, the term came to refer to the U.S. music industry in general

Alley Oop was a comic strip for many years and probably still exists. It was about a caveman in a time warp.There was also a song “Alley Oop” which some of us remember by the world acclaimed Hollywood Argyles. The phrase is some sort of usage of “Allez” and “Hop” which was used by French trapeze artists and gymnasts and translates to Let’s Go.

We also have the Alley Oop pass in basketball which started as the center streaking down the court trying to make the best of a bad pass.

We have the Alley Cat which is an absurd dance done at weddings that I cannot stand probably because after one or two steps I am totally lost and feel like an idiot on the dance floor.

I was going to do some work on researching Kirstie Alley but I decided not to go there.

These factoids are about as whacko as this week’s blog. Hope you had fun.

I was just driving to pick up my grandsons for their bon voyage before moving to London on Monday next. I am getting in practice speaking the King’s English. As I listened to the initial progress of the cease fire I heard first from Hamas and then from an Israeli as to what they thought of each other. Oy vey! Hamas said the Jews chopped up Christians to make matzoh ball soup. The Israeli mentioned the word terrorist three times in one sentence and he wasn’t referring to his mother in law. This can’t turn out well.

Without trying to solve the quagmire at hand I did try to take it up to 30,000 feet and just look at the whole concept of conflict. Obviously there has to be two parties at work with differing viewpoints on how the world or a company or a family should be run. Each side believes very strongly in his or her point of view. This could be a simple rivalry, unintended collision, tug of war or downright strife….as in very bitter.

Now anger is the result of the very bitter and is a truly visceral reaction. In a full blown cook off as your fight or flight kicks in big time. You are pissed and this change can be noted by the veins popping out of your forehead, something that resembles a gag reflex and then you are forced to put your tongue in motion far ahead of any rational thought. I have always felt it is better both physically and psychologically not to leave anything in the bag. I shake, methodically point a finger at nothing in particular and then can’t believe that everyone does not see my point. In a biblical sense I think this is weeping and gnashing of teeth. A little while later Kathy comes out of her bomb shelter when the all clear is sounded.

What triggers all this? The first ingredient is a lack of knowledge or understanding of why we disagree. I have this all figured out and why confuse the issue with facts? I also know exactly what you are thinking so why discuss anything? To this we add equal amounts of threats to my manhood. You have put me down and no one does that. You have made me look like a fool in front of my wife, kids and the guy across the street.

My self esteem is at stake. I have been hurt by whatever you said and there is no taking it back. Think this is silly? Think again. We move further and further down the road and then there is no turning back. Let’s really amp it up. Maybe add in gender? Culture or race? Education? Economic wherewithal? Or the grand poobah of all…..RELIGION! I am still at a loss as to why we are all so virulent in espousing our faith. Anointed ones, chosen ones, and the only way to salvation doesn’t leave a lot of room to maneuver. It’s my way or the highway and if I am right you are going to hell. Nice thought.

We in America are convinced we are not only the sole world power but that our way is right. Call it a religion of sorts. We are the policeman, role model and final arbiter when it comes to world problems. Since ’91 Putin has had this very large inferiority complex. Since 9/11 every cult or terrorist organization thinks they can take us on. I can imagine Germany, China, France and every small nation state deep down harbor some really bad juju towards us.

What to do? Probably in the rear view mirror it would help to keep things simple. This can be in the world, office or domestic politics. If you have a minor problem work at it. Don’t let it fester. It only follows that the more complex an issue becomes the harder it is to rectify. Avoidance in the hope it will go away does not work. The key is letting all feel they have a place at the table. Their beliefs and ideas have validity in their eyes and should be considered. This goes under another name…diplomacy.

Tom Friedman wrote a wonderful column before we went into Iraq. By then it was a foregone conclusion and he said we should show some respect for the people of Iraq. He said they were proud and wanted to be considered. As we roared toward Baghdad I think no one had gotten their copy of the New York Times. We took down Sadaam’s statue but not before raising the Stars and Stripes. It became about us.

I am not as dumb as I look. Conflict is a part of life. It’s when it dissolves into tantrums and intransigence that I have to take pause. Tell me when we shut down our government or we tear each other apart in divorce and dissension that we are not like a launcher of rockets or a leveler of apartment buildings and schools. Damn it somewhere in between lies a way to go forward. Count your victories as Phyrric if you will but I would much rather win the war.

Immigration. Global Warming. Social Security. Medicare. Obamacare. I can’t just stand there on my heretofore positions. I have to see if there is a way to not only compromise but now I really get scary when I say collaborate. You might take great joy in bringing things to a halt.Go ahead. Stand on principle. You too may say it is your way or the highway. I can’t. I have to listen to both sides with the same zeal you maintain your positions. I have to find a way to make this work rather riding on my high horse. It beats the alternative.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:
“Conflict” is a Parker Brothers board game. It is also a series of war games for X Box. How about a computer game called “Conflict,”A Middle East Simulator?” Not yet? You need to download “Conflict,” a song performed by Disturbed on their album, “Sickness” What a country!
There are thousands of titles on winning. Not too many on losing. As Leo Durocher said,” Show me a good loser and I will show you a loser.”

The three largest elements of conflict in a marriage ergo divorce are sex,money and in laws. Not necessarily in that order.I say it is because two people who liked each other stopped talking and their egos prevented any further development. Can be applied globally.

Webster defines conflict as a serious disagreement or argument, typically a protracted one. The antonyms are peace, harmony and calm. Unfortunately the latter are not what I would call visceral feelings. Too bad.

I really have to stop reading newspapers. It is not only depressing but it changes the whole karma of a lazy and beautiful summer in Colorado. Might do the same for you who are ensconced at the beach. Couldn’t the world use a little respite from arguing, killing, raping, pillaging and of course the time honored practice of corruption.

Corruption is nothing new and will probably exist for long past what you and I might consider a lifetime. The heydays of Sparta, Rome and Alexandria were great until the mire became too thick and drowned everyone. No more, no less. The monarchies and fiefdoms of the Middle Ages? Slam dunk to qualify for disaster. Robber barons and mafiosa in the early 1900’s? It’s part of our heritage. That doesn’t make it stink any less.

We have a world economy today which just exacerbates the situation. It has brought untold riches to petty thieves and operatives in outlying places. Tribesman in Afghanistan and Libya can hold sway over the distribution of oil and opium throughout the world. You don’t think these guys revel in the power given to them by the consumers of varying types of drugs? Think again.

I met the inspector general of the Health and Human Services of these United States when on a trip to Italy a couple of years ago. We waxed eloquently about how we could change the waste and theft in the government and then he made an enlightening comment. He said that in his mind the true threat to our civilization was corruption. I thought it to be interesting but not life threatening until I really put Ted’s Head to the task.

Let’s assume there is this utopia of moral high ground that we all strive for. Nobody’s perfect but we try to act with some degree of decency. We are all faced daily with the conundrum of good taste with the slightest hint of impropriety. Now is it me or has the fine line of ethical or acceptable moved a tad from the center? It also seems the movement has picked up steam with more and more people not only able but willing to look the other way. As Jay Leno once said,”Of course 90% of the men love Bill Clinton when he says oral sex is not having sex!”

The first lie is the toughest. Then it becomes almost second nature. Cheating? Once you have crossed the line you can justify anything. Politicians convince themselves that the millions foisted on them are because they are genuinely lovable as opposed to being openly bought. Major financial institutions rigging LIBOR? You have to do it to remain competitive. This grade of concrete in the construction project is a little substandard but hey, who is going to notice? Did the lawyer or doc overbill? Of course my summer house should be painted on the company. As CEO it is important I have a place to relax from the pressures of corporate life.

Then there is the best excuse of all….everyone is doing it so it must be okay. I am not talking about minor things. I am also not talking about Elizabethan England. It is just a sense that we have gone too far. We push envelopes and then you come full circle by not having any at all. A country and even moreso a world is judged by how it views right and wrong. We become desensitized by seeing neighborhoods in Damascus, Gaza, Donetsk and Israel blasted to smithereens for the sake of some principle. In Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan anarchy reigns. Can we really look at Russian Ukrainians looting a downed aircraft of goods and credit cards and not feel sickened? These weren’t just soldiers but locals looking past rotting corpses to the booty to be plundered. I hope you were reviled? I was and it had nothing to do with which side I was on.

There have been many civilizations throughout millennia. Somewhere along the way they lose their way and crash and burn We always borrow from the previous eras and one would hope we would bring value from those pasts and not necessarily the dregs. We should be cognizant with all our windows into history of past mistakes and excesses. Do you really think the Roman Empire at its worst was something to be idealized and imitated? The Middle Ages were brilliant in their art and culture but not every aspect should be replicated. At least not in this poor author’s mind.

I am not trying to be a missionary or holy roller. I have far too much work to get done on this old fart’s routine to be looking for trouble elsewhere. I am not going to tell you how to live your life or what values you should hold true. You might think it is cool to have someone throw up on you onstage like Lady GaGa and call it art. Have at it. Padding bills? Major or minor? Cheating the government, your company or your spouse? I’ll let you and you alone be the judge.

I guess what I am really saying is we should all take a pause. Sit down and really think about what is right and wrong for each one of us. Not what the world says is okay but your own judgment. After careful scrutiny if you think it works, go for it. It seems to me we are just rushing forward because we are too busy to sit down and figure out where we really are. To figure out what we stand for. As a person,a country and a world. Gotta go. I have a lot of thinking to do.

As always
Ted The Great

Corruption
Synonyms…..breakdown, decay, decomposition, festering, putrefaction, putrescence, rot, spoilage
Antonyms
morality, virtue

Disasters bring out the worst in people with both public officials, individuals and private companies at the trough during hurricanes, tornadoes, BP Oil spill etc. making false claims or billing for work never done.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was convicted on 20 counts of conspiracy, bid rigging, bribery, wire fraud and income tax evasion.

The bids for the winning cities for the World Cup and Olympics are laced with gifts, entertainment, outright payments every time the decision comes around.

And finally from my good friend Neal Seibert comes the following:

In 1887 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the
University of Edinburgh , had this to say about the fall of the
Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior: “A democracy is always
temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent
form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until
the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous
gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority
always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from
the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally
collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a
Dictatorship.”

“The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the
beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200
years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage.”

And that’s the truth!

Like everything else controversial in the world there are at least two sides to every story. Since I am going to assume the mantle of investigative reporter I hope you will appreciate that this is not favoring either one of them. Or as Sergeant Joe Friday used to say, “the facts ma’am, just the facts.” I could take on plane downings or the current Israel-Palestinian bloodshed but I decided to stay in our own back yard. If we can’t figure this out how are we going to tell the rest of the world what to do?

We have two borders of our for spacious skies, Canada and Mexico. For a country of our size that in itself is quite remarkable. Let’s say the Canucks are very happy to stay in their own home so let’s head south. Depending on who you are talking to this is either the easiest or most difficult entry into the US of A. Let’s assume for the moment that 11-12 million are here illegally and a vast proportion of those came across from Mexico.

Now the good guys and girls come directly through 45 legal crossings with 330 ports of entry. Ports of entry can be airports, seaports etc. and thus the variance in numbers. Sit down for a moment because there are 350,000,000 legal border crossings annually. That’s workers, visitors, shippers whatever by the millions every year.

This southern border from California to Texas is just shy of 2000 miles long. For you easterners that don’t understand distances, San Diego to Seattle is a mere 1500 miles. Maine to the Florida Keys is around 1900. And if you went from San Diego to Chicago on a straight line you are talking the actual distance of 2000 miles. You are all very smart but I just can’t imagine building a humungous fence from the beaches of California to Lake Michigan. Not just a barbed wire one but let’s say about twenty feet high of concrete or steel with lights and sensors.

We tried. Dubya said let’s do just that. They got 600 miles finished at the cost of $1.7 billion or $2.8 million per mile. Just the fence. And the cost of keeping it up over its practical lifespan was an additional $50 billion. Boeing was under contract to put all the goodies in so it was more than an edifice and was so over budget that we dropped that idea. The current immigration bill under some sort of consideration has at its first requirement before further enactment a secure border. How would you and I define that? Are you ready to pay up? Can we ever accomplish it?

The tactic at hand is to actually build these ramparts close to any major metropolitan center of which there are several and man the hell out of them so that any furtive crossings are limited to the boonies. We have travelled to Mexico by car and you ain’t seen boonies till you see these. A combination of mountains, rivers, deserts and all sorts of nasty wildlife far from any road or civilization tells something of the desire of these people to make a better life. We currently have 20,000 agents patrolling and matching wits with the coyotes. The transgressors have paid $5-10,000 per to get led to the promised land. Moses coulda been rich.

For everyone that tries only about a third get through. Apprehensions are around 410,000. This is where it gets interesting. If you are from Mexico you get sent back when caught. Under a law signed by President Bush in 2008 any non border state children under the age 18 have to be detained and receive a hearing before a judge. This was actually put in to discourage and curtail human trafficking. Well the coyotes put this in their sales pitch to parents and they were off to the races so to speak.

Under the law, Health and Human Services has to come in and put the children in the least restrictive setting or they can be sent to family members already here until the hearing occurs. Due process probably requires a lawyer to be assigned. Speedy hearings are not the norm because there are 59 immigration courts of all sorts and they are manned by only 243 judges. Some of these are of dubious talent and work ethic but let’s not muddy the water. Sorry I couldn’t help it. Now divide the above into over 400,000 awaiting hearings and well…you get the picture. The best laid plans of mice and men.

The parents are happy to blow ten grand if it gets the kid out of harm’s way for anywhere from 1-5 years and they will roll the dice from there. Just so you don’t think we are the only Mecca, Belize, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama and even Mexico have seen immigrants rise up to seven fold.

I bring up all this insanity to try to demonstrate just how difficult one of our many items on the National To Do list is to pull off. There are laws and regs that I hope were fashioned by some relatively decent people. They couldn’t foresee all the ramifications but they are there….and we are stuck with them. I hope the intransigence on both sides is as galling to you as it is to me. Imagine the cahones of Orrin Hatch to say.”there is no real appetite for immigration reform in Congress right now.” Are you really kidding me?

The sales pitch for reelection says we need experienced legislators. I for one say that rookies have an even chance of doing as good a job. Can’t do much worse. Pick one who does not speak with forked tongue and support the hell out of them. Most of all when the lead singer for the glee club from either side gets up before the mikes in DC and chants “we have had enough,” tell them to look in the mirror. They are not the fairest of them all.

As Always
Ted The Great

Factoids:
If I didn’t give you enough in the above I am at a loss. But there is actually one. A silver tongued devil I was playing golf with in Arizona some years ago was profound when he said,”Send all them bastards back.” I asked if he meant all 13 million at the time. He said “You are damned right”. When I asked how he would accomplish it he said “Put them in buses”. When I tried to point out that each bus has a maximum capacity of 50 people he opined,”I don’t give s__t, send them all back!” And that’s a fact.

A couple of weeks ago Kathy shot 90 on a rather difficult golf course for women. It occurred to me that for some that is a fabulous accomplishment. For others it was a lousy round.That night there was a stunning sunset and the day’s last rays lit up the sky with pastels and hues that would challenge Monet’s pallet. For some the day was partly sunny and for others it was cloudy with a chance of rain.

Now this all would cause one to wonder if an afternoon thunder burst is ruinous to your picnic or a welcome relief for parched fields? Is there shocking beauty in a tropical storm as it pounds a coast or a curse on Mother Nature for economically destroying one of those very lucrative weeks of the summer? Last week a fellow joined us for a scotch and cigar at Churchill’s and proclaimed this winter to be the best one yet for weather in Palm Springs. Sunny and gorgeous day after day. Somehow I think he missed the other side of the fence where drought threatened a way of life in the Imperial Valley.
I watched Frontline and I saw the strife in Ukraine and Syria. It was compelling and perplexing. Was it all that important whether or not you were a nationalist or ethnic Russian? For these people it was and they were willing to kill their neighbors to prove a point. To me it was insane but maybe they said the same in 1780’s about those whack job colonialists. From my easy chair they were bickering malcontents and to them it is their homeland and their heritage. How arrogant of me.

As I wander around my little spectrum I keep an ear to the ground as to what is going on around me. It gives me way too many ideas and that of course is the way Ted’s Head operates. Last week a young man was trying to differentiate between networks and communities and that seemed to be a good point to ponder. Today we have social networks but are they really social? We slip on and off anonymously. We may or not post but lying low is usually the norm. Now in community we interact. We see each other face to face. We have to be more responsible. You are right in front of me. It’s like small towns. You are my neighbor. I am responsible for you in every aspect of the word. I can’t leave you on the street bleeding any hurting. Big cities? Who gives a shit? Look at Chicago on Fourth of July weekend.

Many years ago I travelled through the World Trade Center as I went home from Wall Street. One night the rush hour was waning and I bounded down a flight of stairs trying to catch the 6:25 to my sweet little burgh of Chatham. At the foot of the walkway on the cold marble floor lay a man in a rapidly growing pool of blood. He had slit his wrist and the world was passing him by maybe even wishing good riddance to this poor bastard. I wrapped my handkerchief around his wrist and told a person to stay with him while I ran to get a Port Authority cop. After they took him away I couldn’t help but wonder how many had blown by him laying there? Network or community?

Good old Father Pat blasted me right between the eyes at 7:30 mass. He spoke of a thing called compassion. Webster calls it a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.That is pretty cool. I can do that. But wait a minute. He said we really don’t have true compassion. What? He said for most people it only goes so far. You can feel badly for family, friends and even coworkers. But that does not count for Blacks or Hispanics. You can feel that way for Americans but not Syrians, Iraqis, Jews or Palestinians. Thanks coach. I knew you wouldn’t make this easy. You mean I can’t pick and choose.

This whole social order thing is proving to be rather complex. Back in NJ for the wedding this weekend everything seemed to slow down. It was held at this idyllic church in a tiny town surrounded by large country estates. Fr. Paddy exemplifies everything Irish and as he finished the rite with his sung Irish Blessing there was nothing but good will toward men. The reception was replete with intelligent young people who were on their way up the corporate ladder but who had not acquired the airs of swells. The music was loud and raucous. Nothing but good times here. We stayed at Kathy’s sister’s house and the Morris County Record didn’t go beyond local fare. That was just fine.

On the way to the airport I took a wrong turn and wound up in a rather run down part of Newark. No tree lined streets here. At the Hudson Newsstand I picked up the New York Times. What did I do that for? Major portions of the world were fighting for turf and annihilating anything in their way. Citi was paying $7 billion to the feds and docs were cheating Medicare. Mexican border crises, drunk drivers in head on crashes and Midwest flooding rounded out the high points…or low points as it were. Sorry TTG this is life.

I am torn somewhere between this thing called acceptance and activism. I get networks but I so love community. I have not grown so cold that I can just look the other way. Your world is my world. I get all the legal ramifications but don’t you feel the slightest bit of remorse for a 12 year old Honduran who was just born in the wrong place? Then again I wonder if I am compassionate if I am equally pissed off at Palestinians and Israelis alike? I understand that things must change and with them our views on life. Yet somewhere there has to be love for one another that doesn’t have boundaries or limitations. Now that is a beauty I think we could all behold. Not easy but let’s keep looking.

As always
Ted The Great

Factoids:
Kathy Kenny was ready to give up golf and Lakewood Country Club a few weeks ago …..before her 90.
In 2010 there were 33,687 deaths resulting form car crashes. There were 38,364 people who decided to take their own lives. That number might actually be low because of the way local officials report causes of death.
There are more than twice as many Israelis as there are Palestinians in the war zone. At the same time 87% of the deaths since 2000 are Palestinian. But the majority of the Israeli deaths are to civilians. Try getting your arm around those figures and come up with a solution.
There are roughly 1200 people per square mile in New Jersey. 858 in Massachusetts. 417 in New York. In Montana there are 7 per square mile. 6 in Wyoming and 1.3 in Alaska.
There are 27,532 per square mile in New York City.11,884 in Chicago. 3922 in Denver. 2100 in Sioux Falls, SD.
You would think with all those people crammed together there would be community.