Morning Coffee (25)

I know.

Good Morning. However, the "goodness" of this morning (or any morning) remains to be seen. I will let you know at 1159.

Big news yesterday, of which I'm sure you all heard. NASA announced that they found substantial evidence that suggests recent water flows on the surface of Mars. They've taken some 240,000 images of various locations in the past nine years using the Mars Global Surveyor, and in doing so have been able to compare before and after photos over the years. Remarkably, several sites they looked at exhibited characteristics of significant water flows (the amount equal to approx 10 regulation swimming pools) down the side of a few craters. These results were shocking even to the scientists involved. No longer are they chasing water; they've found it. During their press conference, of which I watched about 30 minutes, they went in to detail and argued their case quite methodically. Let me say that the existence of water on Mars is not a new discovery. It has been known for some time now that Mars does have subsurface ice and water which is subject to seasonal frost; this has been observed. However, surface water has not. Liquid, moving surface water. I think this is one of the more significant scientific findings of my lifetime. Does it mean that there exists life on Mars? No, not necessarily. But it does increase the odds a bit. Life needn't be the observance of Martian cows; it could be as simple as single celled organisms, or as some scientists theorize, nano-bacteria that is a mere 10% of the size of the smallest currently known organism (the existence of such bacteria anywhere, including Mars, is itself hotly contested in the scientific community). Interestingly enough, virtually no one in my office seemed to care all that much. I guess no one cares about space anymore. Other than Hawking that is.

I know.

Almost as, and perhaps more surprising than the recent Mars discovery, incoming House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) has announced that the House of Representatives will actually have to work this year. Some of you know of my disdain for our government's laziness. I wrote what I thought to be a pretty good blog about it earlier this year, you know, before my life went to shit and I did such things as update my blog. Anyway, this year's Congress will have worked a grand total of 103 days. Yes, that's all year. Typically, these hacks, to whom we pay $160,000 a year, work a mere three days (and not 8 hour days) a week. That is when they're not in recess; which is a lot. Month off in August, six days for Memorial day, two week recess in April…it goes on and on. So they're going to have to earn their money this year, although one could argue against their actually earning their wage no matter how many five day weeks they will work this year, which will NOT be as many as I will, I'll wager.

To add a bit of cynicism, the reason is probably to pass a bunch of laws real quick to highlight the Democrat's "efficiency" during the 2008 election run up. I truly doubt they're doing it because they believe that to do otherwise is somehow wrong.

Nevertheless, the new schedule is causing some dissent in an otherwise tight ship (I say that in jest, obviously). Some of the enlightening things said:

• "Keeping us up here eats away at families. Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families - that's what this says." - Jack Kingston (R-GA). Really Jack? Boo hoo. How about the troops in Iraq? You think that doesn't destroy marriages? How about students going to school full time, while working nearly full time, while worrying about making enough money to feed his family and stressing about finding a job after graduation? You think that doesn't destroy marriages? Think again pal. Suck it up. You've got way more money than most of us plebeians, and you can retire after your term's up and have a good retirement check and benefits for life. I don't want to hear your incessant mewling.


• "I'll have to talk to the other mothers and see if we can move it to the weekend." - Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL) regarding running her 7-year-old daughter's Brownie troop meetings. Huh. For some reason I don't have sympathy for you Debbie. Moms and dads all over the country have to juggle their brutal work schedules with family commitments. Some of them, for example our men and women in uniform among others, do not have the luxury of seeing their kids at all, even on the weekends. And most of them aren't able to provide private school educations to their kids either. Parents have to miss stuff all the time. It sucks, but it's part of growing up. How dare we, the people of the United States, ask you to inconvenience yourself and your family to do your job?

Is that harsh? Perhaps. It isn't the first time, and won't be the last that I'm accused of being harsh. In fact, just the other night I was accused of being just that. But the fact is, these people should be honored to serve their country in this capacity. It shouldn't be looked at as some burden, some inconvenient duty that should otherwise be shirked. If they don't want the job, they can give it to me. These people get automatic raises every single year, yet they complain about having to work a five day week? Millions of Americans have the same work schedules. Perhaps it's time our aristocracy sinks to our level.

I know.

Word of the Day: Cozen: (transitive verb): 1. to mislead by means of a petty trick or fraud; deceive; 2. to persuade or induce to do something by cajoling or wheedling; 3. to obtain by deceit or persuasion. (intransitive verb): to act deceitfully.

On This Day in History: Do I really need to tell you?

Pearl Harbor (1941) - "Yesterday, December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan…deliberately sought to deceive…by false statements and expressions of hope..." Select excerpts from FDR's speech to Congress on 08 Dec 1941.

I implore you to take a moment this morning and think about what this day means to our history and our future. It awakened a sleeping giant; a military and economic superpower, the likes of which had never been seen in the history of the world. No empire or nation has ever wielded this sort of power; nor has any nation or empire done so with such tact and restraint. We are heirs of the legacy of the Greatest Generation, and it is our duty to preserve that legacy, improve upon it, make it our own and continue to shape the future. We have big shoes to fill, and we may never grow into them, but that does not absolve us the responsibility of trying…we must try. For if we don't, we will lose everything that they built. And everything that we want to keep.

"I'm back down. I’m in the undertow. I'm helpless and awake in the undertow. I'll die in within your undertow. It seems like there's no other way out of this undertow. Euphoria."

And a bonus, just for you:

"Who are you to wave your finger? So full of it. Eye balls deep in muddy waters, fuckin' hypocrite. Liar, cheater, mirror show me what's the difference? So who are you to wave you finger? Who are you to wave your fatty fingers at me? You must have been out your mind. You must have been high."

I know.

And because of that, another:

"I don't want to be hostile, I don't want to be dismal, but I don't want to rot in an apathetic existence either. See, I want to believe you, and I want to trust you, and I want to have faith to put away the dagger. But you lie, cheat, and steal. And yet I tolerate you. Veil of virtue hung to hide your method while I smile and laugh and dance and sing your praise and glory."