THE STORY SO FAR: PART 332: WEDNESDAY

“80 PERCENT OF U.S. ADULTS FACE NEAR POVERTY, UNEMPLOYMENT”

GIVEN THAT SO MANY OTHER COUNTRIES OPERATE SOCIAL SAFETY NETS—WITH CONSIDERABLE SUCCESS--WHY DOES THE U.S. REFUSE TO?

The lack of outrage about the structural flaws in the U.S. economy continues to amaze me—though I really shouldn’t be surprised. Stories of real economic significance have a disconcerting habit of dying fast. It is almost as if our corporate media were more interested in distracting us than keeping us informed. The Royal birth served this time around. The Wiener situation helped. A penis is more fun to write about than poverty. In fact, now I contemplate the matter, it is more fun overall.

The media mindset is another fundamental problem. The structural flaws in this economy are not a hot new story that you can summarize in a sound bite.  Instead this issue represents an existential threat to our national wellbeing, and requires a much more measured approach backed up by a deep knowledge of the subject matter. Journalists with such credentials are in short supply and rarely have the freedom to say what they really think.

The story—dated July 28 2013--that really got my personal attention was an AP report, summarized in the Huffington Post, which stated that:

Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream.

The gauge defines "economic insecurity" as a year or more of periodic joblessness, reliance on government aid such as food stamps or income below 150 percent of the poverty line. Measured across all races, the risk of economic insecurity rises to 79 percent.

While racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to live in poverty, race disparities in the poverty rate have narrowed substantially since the 1970s, census data show. Economic insecurity among whites also is more pervasive than is shown in the government's poverty data, engulfing more than 76 percent of white adults by the time they turn 60, according to a new economic gauge being published next year by the Oxford University Press.

"Poverty is no longer an issue of `them', it's an issue of `us'," says Mark Rank, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis who calculated the numbers. "Only when poverty is thought of as a mainstream event, rather than a fringe experience that just affects blacks and Hispanics, can we really begin to build broader support for programs that lift people in need."

The fact that the richest country in the world allows this situation to continue is an absolute disgrace—and now the Republicans are trying to cut Food Stamps (which are already too low).

This is mean-spirited, shabby behavior, morally wrong—and economically inefficient. Currently, corporate interests are working hard (and successfully) to create a low wage economy—and purchasing power is being reduced accordingly. For the time being, shale oil and the revival of the auto industry are giving the economy a boost, but the bulk of the economy is deeply troubled. Most of the jobs that are available are badly paid, part-time, or both.

The fact that 80% of the population is at risk is truly mind blowing—especially as this figure is projected to rise to 85% by 2030. This reflects an economic system that is not working in the interests of the population as a whole. Now this has been obvious for a considerable time; but, given that Congress is controlled by corporate money, nothing is being done about it.

Worse still, though economic insecurity is rampant in the U.S.—with all its attendant pressures—I see scant evidence that people understand the sheer scale of the forces they are up against—and that unless they fight back, continued decline is inevitable.

At one stage, the deficit was considered to the source of all our ills, but now that issue is fast being resolved, it can be seen that the real problems are much more widespread and deeply rooted. Here, I would add that Europe’s adoption of Austerity has proved to be a disaster—a case history in what not to do. Certainly, there are times to cut back—and government expenditure always needs to be tightly controlled—but cutting is ill advised when your economy is sluggish or in recession. Then you merely undermine growth and increase unemployment—which is exactly what has been happening. Our own extensive cutting of government jobs, mainly by Republican state governors, plus the sequester, has had exactly the same effect.

FINANCIALIZATION: Thanks to taxpayer money, and massive support by the Federal Reserve—which continues at the remarkably rate of $85 billion a month—the financial sector has now fully recovered and is more prosperous than ever. In fact, it is the largest business sector on Wall Street. Meanwhile, the well-being of the average American continues to decline. These two facts are directly related.

 

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 331: TUESDAY

THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT ALL

I have been thinking a great deal about multimedia recently—partly prompted by my recent burst of screenplay writing; partly because I don’t have TV at present so am relying on my computer for entertainment; and partly because, as a writer, it’s my job to be aware of this particular world.

The growth of video is downright frightening to a traditional wordsmith like me—and sometimes I wonder whether the written word will survive in anything like its present form—or will it evolve into pictograms or something similar. However, I’m fairly confident that it will see me out, which is just fine by me. And if my difficult children do get me a headstone, I don’t want it to show a video at the press of a button—it’s the way things are going—but to be granite and inscribed with good old fashioned words saying something like:

WORDS, WOMEN & WINE

HE DIED OF EXHAUSTION

Actually, that just about says it all, now I think about it—and, no, I don’t mean to be sexist. Trust me, it covers a multitude. Inspired by reading when I was a kid, it was my ambition to have adventures when I grew up—and life has not let me down. What exactly constituted an adventure? I didn’t know—which is part of the point.

In fact, my current focus is not the survival of the written word, but lengths and formats. Supposedly, a movie’s length is based upon the endurance of the average bladder—and U.S. TV programs are based on the maximum number of ads that can be squeezed in before viewers shoot their sets—but today with Smart phones, tablets, endless recording devices and the internet, the possibilities are endless.

My preference is for a movie—if it’s any good—to be 120 t0 140 minutes, but am otherwise biased towards mini-series and part-works. I like the idea of being able to develop a story free of the merciless time constraints of a movie script.

Such thoughts apart, it is clear that there is going to be a growing demand for short programs—ten to twenty minutes long—to provide sustenance for the YouTube generation.

This is a tough one to crack well—my comfort zone is long form—but it’s a compelling challenge. Indeed, one might almost call it an adventure.

PEOPLE DON’T DIE ANYMORE: Americans seem to have a profound fear of death (yet we chose  lifestyles which kill us sooner than other developed countries). People don’t die, they “pass” or, as I read today, they “enter into rest.” This is rubbish, and is undermining that wonderful thing, the English language.

“Bring back death,” should be our cry—and personally, I intend to die. 

 

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 330: MONDAY

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE REALLY GOOD (ORDINARY) AMERICAN MOVIE?

 

I love the movies and have the sneaking suspicion that, on average, they have real life beaten hands down. I have put in “on average” to cover myself against some rather special people who may be tempted to chastise me for seeming to dismiss some wonderful moment or occasion (of which I am glad to say I have had many).

But though romance and great lovemaking are wonderful and memorable—as are one’s children (when small) and close friends, romance in particular can be exceptionally painful—whereas, where movies are concerned—the  pain, thankfully, is confined to the screen.

But enough of the preamble. What I really want to say is that there seems to be a decided shortage of the kind of intelligent, well written, well acted, tightly edited, and crisply directed movies—which an adult (and here I do not mean porn) can watch with enjoyment—and which Hollywood used to turn out in profusion; and which didn’t cost an arm and a leg to make.

My archetype is EXPERIMENT IN TERROR starring Glen Ford which admittedly had the advantage of also starring Lee Remick and Stephanie Powers and being directed by Blake Edwards—but otherwise was a routine movie. In fact, I originally saw it in black and white back in 1962 when I was at university in Dublin, Ireland. It was a compelling, and thoroughly entertaining, thriller.

I’m prompted to raise this thorny subject because I have just been reading about the apparent financial failure of no less than six enormously expensive blockbusters, and because I have been watching of the recent crop of thrillers via Netflix—for both professional reasons and just to chill out—and have been decidedly under-impressed. Mostly, the latter—even when starring well known names—are mediocre at best. And I’m being charitable.

All of this makes me wonder if Hollywood is not losing its production quality edge when it comes to movie making.

Watching a number of foreign movies and TV series—French, Swedish, British etc.—reinforces that viewpoint. The production quality of the British TV series, WAKING THE DEAD, for instance, way exceeds that of most U.S. made thrillers that I have seen over the last few years—and for sheer originality of plotting and characters, you would be hard to beat LUTHER.

I’m not against blockbusters, especially when they are of the quality of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA or A BRIDGE TOO FAR, but I’m far from sure the current trends are healthy for the U.S. movie industry—or for the viewing public.

Fortunately, Netflix’s outstanding HOUSE OF CARDS and HBO’s GAME OF THRONES (which I haven’t seen, but which is being widely praised) gives us hope. On the other hand, the programming of the mainstream networks could well induce one to find a high bridge over a hard place, and jump.

ELECTRONS VERSUS PAPER: “Nielsen reports that they have it on good authority that fiction eBook sales will overtake print by 2014. According to their Understanding the eBook Consumer July Report, Nielsen estimates that for next year, eBook sales of fiction will amount to 47 million units, some 300,000 ahead of the paperback figure and 48% of total fiction sales.”

I’m reserving my opinion at this stage. We live in very strange times where the book business is concerned.

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 329: SUNDAY

THE WORK OF THE DEVIL

Every so often, Microsoft’s Windows Live Writer—which I like a lot and use for blogging—seems to get confused by life and refuses to upload to my blog. Yesterday that happened again—to my vast frustration. On the other hand I eventually found a solution so arguably should pleased at my ingenuity.

I am reluctant to take a bow. I don’t pretend to be a computer guru—and will happily settle for software that just plain works.

Years ago, I forecast that we would reach this nirvana by 2010—(and I started trying to use a computer, after some preliminary disasters, in 1986) but it appears that I have been optimistic. Certainly, there has been considerable progresss, but I still seem to spend too much of my time advancing from glitch to glitch. That said, I get a great deal of work done by computer so I shouldn’t complain too much—and I’m deeply grateful to those companies whose software can be relied upon.

In that spirit, from time to time, I’m going to recommend software that I have used personally for a period (in excess of six months) and which I have found robust and reliable. This does not mean no glitches will ever occur—bug-free software is, so I’m told, as rare as hen’s teeth. It merely reflects my experience. After that, you are on your own.

My opening advice: Buy a Mac. Windows, despite being vastly improved, is the work of the Devil at his absolute worst.

Bill Gates, despite the commendable work of his foundation, needs to apologize to one and all for the misery he has caused by marketing an operating system that not only sucks—but which is endemically flawed because of its underlying structure. He knows this is the case, yet has never tried to remedy the problem. In contrast, when Apple recognized the limits of the Mac OS,  they bit the bullet and introduced the Unix based system that has been so extraordinarily successful ever since.

SOFTWARE RECCOMENDATION: If you are a compulsive note-taker and collector of electronic clippings—which I will confess I am—you would be hard to do better than to store your data in EVERNOTE. It is cross-platform, features EVERNOTE CLIPPER which makes saving web pages ridiculously easy, and saves both in the Cloud and on your local hard drive. Go look and play. There is a free version or you can pay. I pay. It’s worth it.

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 328: SATURDAY.

TO INVEST, OR NOT TO INVEST? THAT, SADLY—WHERE THE U.S. IS CONCERNED—IS NO LONGER THE QUESTION

The most disturbing thing about the Great Recession is how little we seem to have learned from it. The financial institutions which were the primary cause of it have been bailed out by their victims (the typical U.S. taxpayer). How cool is that if you are a banker? You can come near to destroying your own country—and the U.S.A. will pay you for the privilege. In fact, the Federal Reserve is still subsidizing the financial sector throughout Quantitative Easing to the tune of $85 billion a month.

Meanwhile, the deep structural problems that beset our economy are causing truly terrible damage on an ongoing basis—and vast human misery. Yet, there is still no sign of the grass roots outrage that might force change.

What are these deep structural problems? I shall list but a handful.

• The financialization and corporatization of the U.S. in almost every conceivable way from our daily lives to Congress.
• The abdication of most corporations from any feelings of responsibility towards their workers.
• Income inequality on a massive and steadily increasing scale.
• Unemployment, under-employment, or job insecurity nearly across the board.
• Declining earnings for most Americans. In fact, we are now back at 1995 earning power—and continuing to lose ground.
• Increasing costs for all Americans—particularly where gas, education, healthcare and housing costs are concerned. But other area have not remained inflation free. Food costs have also increased.

This seems to be a remarkably supine electorate. It is profoundly disturbing. Somewhere along the line—which broadly means over the last 40 years—corporate power seems to have pounded most Americans into fatalistic acceptance of the rankest injustices. It’s a truly miserable story.

The above chart—which I found on that superb financial site, THE BIG PICTURE—demonstrates the inadequacy of the U.S.’s investment in infrastructure (roads, bridges, rail, ports, sewers etc.). To that depressing fact should be added the unwillingness of corporate America, despite record profits, to invest adequately as well. Overall, we have a serious investment deficit.

No investment in America today—no American jobs tomorrow.

This never used to be the American Way, but clearly times have changed. And so have Americans.

King George had nothing on the abuse inflicted on Americans by Americans.

Meanwhile, this Great Nation has been busy fighting a war in Afghanistan (while giving it intermittent attention) while invading Iraq (for no good reason at all). 

We’ve killed hundred of thousands, made millions wretched, wasted trillions of dollars, put our children into debt, wrecked countries, and de-stabilized whole regions. Add in our own dead and wounded—and the misery and vast costs involved—and one cannot but wonder whether this is America’s shining hour.

We are, as others have already said, “better than this.” It might be helpful if we demonstrated this.

PUBLIC OPINION: Only 28% of Americans currently think the war in Afghanistan has been worthwhile.

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 327: FRIDAY

WHERE DO YOU PUT AN IDEA?

Writing is all about ideas—developing them (which may take years or decades) and then transferring them into written words (the really tricky part). Overall, the emergence and development of ideas is rarely a smooth process.

Ideas, especially when they emerge, are rarely fully formed—and have absolutely no discipline. They also have the disconcerting habit of vanishing before they can be corralled—or of evolving subtlety so that you retain some of the concept, but the part that made the idea special has been lost.

There are rare exceptions to this, of course—sometimes ideas emerge fully formed and are obligingly tractable—but most ideas are fragments of a greater whole (whose totality is probably unclear) and are not well behaved. In fact they can be downright squirrelly.

From a writer’s point of view, the questions are what to do with ideas while they gestate—and how to find them again. The latter is crucial. Filing is vastly easier than finding.

Personally, I now keep all my electronic clippings and notes in Evernote—an excellent program in many ways though I still prefer askSam’s search mechanism. As for the fragments that often evolve into ideas, I have decided to restart my journal despite years of failure trying to maintain one.

Wish me luck!

PHOTO: It’s my belief that one way or another, hybrid electric and electric aircraft are coming. The photo is of one of the pioneers, the eSpyder—and it is entirely electric.

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 326: THURSDAY

I’LL TELL YOU A STRANGE THING—TYPOGRAPHY, AND LAYOUT IN GENERAL, IS EXTRAORDINARILY IMPORTANT TO ME

On the face of it, it shouldn’t really matter what typeface you write in.

The meaning of words doesn’t change regardless of how they look, after all.

Or does it?

Pre-computers. the industry standard was Courier 12. Post computerization, more flexibility is tolerated where book manuscripts are concerned—but if you want to have a snowball’s chance of selling a screenplay, you would be decidedly unwise to deviate from Courier 12.

It’s clunky, and not proportional, but it is what the movie industry expects and is comfortable with. And it is worth remembering that the movie industry, for all its cutting edge technology and relative youth, is nothing if not conservative. 

I’m not a typographer, and have never been trained in layout, but I confess I’m much more comfortable when I’m working with a typeface I like, and a layout I find visually appealing.

The layout of this blog—for better or for worse—reflects  my taste. You would be amazed—or perhaps appalled—at how much work I did to achieve this simple result. 

Yes, I know both faces may be considered unoriginal—but they meet my objectives: (1) To be be clear and readable. (2) To be aesthetically pleasing.

QUOTE:

"Opinions are made to be changed -- or how is truth to be got at?"

-- Lord Byron,
British poet

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 325: WEDNESDAY

IT FEELS GOOD TO BE BLOGGING AGAIN

I regard blogging as a kind of warm-up exercise for my brain—even though I often blog in the evening after my main writing work is done. I think I temporarily stopped blogging at the beginning of June because I had the sense—in the case of the screenplay—that my main work wasn’t done, yet was determined to crack the problem however long it took; so I worked through my blogging time.

I think I was wrong in that regard. I would have been better off knocking off at a reasonable hour and letting my subconscious have a crack at it. Add in a good night’s sleep, and wonders can result.

One of the better decisions of my writing life was to decide not to plan my blogs. Yes, I know that sounds counter-intuitive—after all, I do plan my books—but the attraction of not planning is that it frees the mind and encourages spontaneity. Also, it acts is a sort of intelligence test. After all, if you can’t write a few hundred words on demand, what kind of state must your brain be in!

I would like to qualify my comment about planning books. Editors like authors to supply detailed outlines because that enables the editor concerned to exert more control over the book at the earliest stage (and editors love power).

I confess I’m not a fan of that approach because it hinders the creative process. I don’t object to writing a brief synopsis, but essentially I prefer to let the story evolve on the page. Simply put, the mere process of writing—at least in my case—seems to stimulate creativity.

Writing begets ideas which in turn facilitate the ability to write. In fiction, to give but one example, characters have a habit of seeming to develop lives of their own. In non-fiction, the description of ideas tends to stimulate other ideas.

The process is a virtuous circle but it is dependent on your writing in the first place. It may look that way, but nothing done well is easy. Clear, entertaining writing—which reads effortlessly—is hard pounding.

BOOK RECCOMENDATION: Unfortunately, Americans tend not to be introspective about the state of this Great Nation and The American Way Of Life—and the massive corporate and government propaganda that dominates our existence is near entirely successful at both distracting and deluding us. Nonetheless, the truth is out there if you are prepared to dig and put the pieces together. To that end, may I suggest Dr. Frank Luntz’s book, What Americans Really Want…Really. There are views I don’t agree with—but it is a fascinating read. And frightening. It certainly raises a fundamental question: Is our culture quite what we pretend it to be?

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 324: TUESDAY

SORELY MISSED—THE WRITING HIGH!

My work pattern seems to consist of sustained periods of intense focus on a book, or screenplay, or similar writing-related project—followed by a period of recovery and preparation for the next major task. I won’t pretend to argue that such is the best way of working, because I tend to ignore virtually everything else when I’m “in the zone”—but it’s the one that seems to work best for me.

Ideally, I would work in a more balanced way—and many writers do—but I seem to thrive on the intensity of absolute focus much as some military characters I know seem to crave the adrenalin rush that comes from combat. Indeed, I have a sneaking suspicion they are not entirely dissimilar.

After a manuscript is completed (not that such a work is every truly finished to one’s satisfaction) there is a definite sense of loss combined with a desire to move on to the next work. However, sheer exhaustion tends to temper the creative imperative—and then there are certain practicalities of life that have to be attended to.

Right now, I’m in recovery mode and trying to figure out various ways to work more effectively—an obsession that makes me laugh at myself more often than not as I change the layout of my desk or devise yet another system that I will forget to implement—but actually I seem to be getting somewhere this time around.

Nonetheless, between you, me, and my local squirrel—I’m dying to get back to a major writing project again. 

I miss the action.

PHOTO: This is an FN F2000 bullpup rifle. The great advantage of a bullpup is that, because the magazine and firing mechanism are set way back behind the trigger, you can have a reasonably long barrel yet a short weapon overall. Short weapons are easier to handle in vehicles and in other confined spaces. However, because the ejection port is set way back as well, it can be uncomfortably close to the firer’s face—not so good when hot brass is spewing out. The FN F2000 gets around that by featuring an unusual mechanism that ejects forward.

Interesting weapon.

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 323

CONGRATULATIONS EMANUEL!

I have an amazing sister, Lucy—actually she is the youngest of twelve—who married a Ghanian and then went on to have no less than five decidedly impressive and accomplished children.

The photo shows Lucy—who seems to know the secret of eternal youth—and Emanuel on his graduation day.

And now Lucy is in Australia meeting up with our sister, Hermione.

Wonderful people!

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 322: SUNDAY

MINIMALISM—IF YOU ARE A TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY WRITER—IS NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE

Sleep is a wonderful thing—especially when you are trying to recover from something. The current fashion is to use drugs—often quite a number of pills in combinations with unpredictable consequences—but my preference is to rely on sleep first and to utilize meds as little as possible. I have no idea whether I’m right or not, but I do know that a good night’s sleep sets you up for the following day like nothing else.

Having slept late into Saturday morning, today, Sunday, I woke up full of vim and vigor and worked for twelve hours straight without a break.

“Madness!” I hear you think (metaphorically speaking) and I am not even going to try to give you an argument. However, I was on a mission—akin to the search for the Holy Grail—which was to try and determine what software I have on my computer, what software I need, and to slay the balance.

After all, a writer should focus on writing, not mastering the intricacies, deficiencies, eccentricities, and peculiarities of Microsoft Access (to give but one example).

Simplicity is all. Surely all a writer needs is a word processor and little else—and can get by with ink and a quill pen at a push

What I discovered sent me screaming into the darkness (I have tolerant neighbors).

If you include utilities, I seem to be using around a hundred different programs.

No wonder writers take to drink and have nervous breakdowns.

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 321: SATURDAY

SUBCONCIOUS UNCHAINED!

Currently, my subconscious is doing its own thing—which can be somewhat discombobulating.

By that, I mean that instead of quietly working away according to my priority list, as determined by my conscious mind, it seems to have its own agenda. 

The cheek of it!

Now, this is scarcely a new phenomenon—the damn thing has had a mind of its own for as long as I can recall—but it normally wanders within tolerable parameters.

No longer! Instead it seems to have decided to work on a book which I have not planned to write for some time. As a consequence, I am being fed ideas—which have nothing to do with the task at hand—at  a near overwhelming rate (and they are mostly good ideas).

In fact, it looks like I’m going to be forced to write them down which rather defeats my fight to avoid being distracted. On the other hand, good ideas are rare and wonderful things, but have a habit of going walkabout if not given a home. In short, they demand to be written down. Let me stress the imperative: ideas have absolutely no manners.

As I have remarked previously, my subconscious tends to behave itself when I’m in the zone—as I was when working on the screenplay—but it seems to have a low threshold of boredom and to misbehave when I’m working on anything else.

An author’s mind can be a tough place to inhabit.

What is this book to be about? I’m a believer in the notion that books should not be talked about until written—but I’ll give you a broad hint. It will be a military novel complete with political intrigue, copious action, sex, humor, and much else besides.

I’ll probably have to share credit with my subconscious.

And yes! The tank in the illustration is an Israeli Merkeva. Is that a clue to my book—or a deception?

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 320

WAITER, THERE IS A HOLE IN MY BLOG!

For some strange reason, I stopped blogging on May 31 2013. If I have the energy, I intend to fill in the gap because I’m determined to complete a year without a break—but I feel very bad that I let it happen in the first place. I feel I have let both my readers and myself down.

My apologies to us all!

The irony is that I didn’t do it consciously. I made no decision to stop blogging temporarily. Instead, I decided the screenplay I had written could be further improved—and seem to have focused all my efforts on that task to the exclusion of virtually everything else.

Very strange! Downright obsessional, one might say—except that the saving grace was that I achieved the improvement I was after. It’s amazing what you can do with absolute focus, 70 hours a week, and nearly three months.

I also managed to put my back out a few weeks ago. After it, I could stand or lie down without too much pain—but sitting was agony. This created decided problems where writing was concerned. Clearly I shall have to learn to type standing-up just in case such a thing happens again (or would kneeling add a special intensity?). Meanwhile, I’m delighted to say, I’m recovering.

You know the irony is that I really like blogging. It seems to anchor me somehow—and it definitely stimulates creativity. I can only conclude that my imperative to do the best possible job on the screenplay overrode that pleasure.

On to a more cheerful subject: I’m truly delighted that Netflix’s HOUSE OF CARDS has been nominated for multiple Emmys. It is a singularly impressive production  – especially when shown without ads. It shows what can be done with U.S. TV, but rarely is. Good for Netflix! Praise to all concerned.

Sometimes I wonder about American free-market capitalism. Actually I wonder about it very often. So, if the polls are to be believed, is an ever increasing proportion of the rest of the population.

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 311: TUESDAY

THERE APPEAR TO BE TWO OF ME ON LINKEDIN—I AM MORTIFIED, BUT I KEEP ON FORGETTING TO KILL ONE

I grew up in the days when we still plowed with horses, we ate rabbits routinely rather than chicken, the nearest thing to a TV in most houses was a radio, and flying was in converted wartime aircraft (and a real luxury).

Dragons—needless to say—roamed the skies, and dinosaurs were a traffic hazard. What is more, it was not uncommon to need a starting handle to start a car.

I’ll bet you have never heard of, let alone seen, a starting handle. You haven’t lived.

To be fair, my grandmother was old-fashioned; and elsewhere in the world—other than on her farm—people had been using tractors for years—but I just want to make the point that I grew up in a very different time, literally decades before computers were in general use, and probably centuries before the Social Media were invented to complicate life.

Accordingly, when I was first introduced to LinkedIn, I didn’t take it seriously. I played with it a bit, didn’t take the time necessary to learn how it worked, wrote a very imperfect and unpolished profile—and forgot about it.

Years later, I did do a rather better job on a fresh site—but didn’t think to remove the first one. And, I forgot about it again.

Now, my more recent effort is doing an excellent job, and I seem to be connecting with all sorts of fascinating people, but every so often someone tries to make a connection with the old site—and all is confusion.

My earlier LinkedIn site has to go—but whenever I contemplate what is involved—my pre-tractor brain decides life is too short for this, and steers me towards something more manageable.

I’m in disgrace. I blush. I promise I will kill my doppelganger “real soon now.”

PHOTO: Yes, that aircraft is the civilian version of the wartime DC-3—the kind that dropped paratroops on D-Day—and one like it was the first aircraft I ever flew in. It had canvas seats, but no parachutes for the passengers which, at the age of three, I thought was very unfair.

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 310: MONDAY

THE SWISS HAVE A REPUTATION FOR BEING FINE ENGINEERS—AND NOW ARE TACKLING HELICOPTERS WITH THE MARENCO SKYeSH09

ONE WILL BE FLYING SOON

The above graphic is merely an illustration, of course, but the word is that the real thing will actually be flying fairly shortly—probably around October or November 2013. Note the ease of access through huge side doors and clamshell doors at the rear. It also has more internal cabin height than is normal in a helicopter of this 2.5 Metric Tonne Class.

With a fast cruise speed of 270 km/h (145 knots) it is not only one of the fastest single engine light helicopter in the category, but it also offers very long range – in excess of 800km (430 nautical miles) with standard fuel tanks. But perhaps the most noteworthy characteristic is its extremely low noise, not only inside the large cabin, but also the external noise level.

It promises to be a very neat machine which will seat 5-8 in individual crashworthy seats. Let me quote from Marenco’s own website.

COMPOSITE CONSTRUCTION A lightweight cell (fuselage) constructed of composite materials with high crash resistance (a technology utilized in the formula 1 industry), excellent aerodynamics and the high ceiling optimized cabin configuration, unsurpassed, with regards to available space, ease of loading, in flight visibility and unrivalled comfort.

GLASS COCKPIT Innovative, ergonomic and intuitive man-machine interface with a modular Glass Cockpit designed to enhance safety and situational awareness, integrating the most advanced technology in aviation including advanced flight systems that have been proven in the business-jet industry. Enabling the pilots to focus on the flight and the essentials of safety, benefiting from the natural layout of control elements, switches and adjustable seats.

The avionics suite provides all-weather operations capability, including a full digital NVG compatible cockpit with large area displays and enhanced graphics. Complying with satellite-based navigation, communication and surveillance requirements that will maximize a 24 hour operation of the helicopter.

BEARING-FREE ROTOR SYSTEM Superior manoeuvrability with an advanced bearing-free rotor system with 5-blades in full composite with the advantages of a fail-safe design and corrosion free, all of which will bring reduced maintenance requirements, low life cycle costs, low vibration levels and the highest degree of reliability and safety with absence of risk of mast bumping.



MODERN TURBINE A modern turbine with excellent fuel consumption, no hard TBO (Time Between Overhaul) and a modern FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control), reduces pilot workload especially during startup and leads to excellent hot and high performance.



SHROUDED TAIL ROTOR SKYe SH09 is fitted with a shrouded tail rotor resulting in reduced noise emission levels, low maintenance layout, high safety level as the risk of contact with obstructions or bodily harm is greatly reduced. Maestro has been designed to orchestrate a silent symphony and preserve your environment of operations.

In terms of flight characteristics, the shrouded tail rotor will circumvent the anti-torque thrust which is applied during flight and will offer high damage tolerance.

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 309:

THE BOEING CH-47 IS A TRULY AMAZING HELICOPTER & IS NOW UP TO THE CH-47F MODEL—AND COOL!

THE SPEC OPS MODEL IS THE MH-47G

The tandem helicopter was first developed by Frank Piasecki. His concept eventually evolved into the Army’s CH-47, which first flew in 1961. The aircraft is now over half a century old. Now that is seriously cool.

But wait, there is more! Just read the following story by Robert Sterling.

Members of the U.S. Army at Fort Riley, Kan., test out the COOLS upgrade to the Chinook, turning over rollers that are used for cargo loading into a flat surface to haul passengers.

Whether responding to natural disasters or flying into the heat of battle, the CH-47 Chinook continues to be one of the most versatile aircraft ever built.

One example of this is the aircraft’s new Cargo On/Off Loading System, or COOLS, which allows Chinook crews to quickly reconfigure the floor of the helicopter to accommodate passengers or carry cargo.

“You can take off on a cargo mission with the rollers installed,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Joe Hoecherl, Product Manager, CH-47 Modernization. “If you have a change of mission in route, in 15 minutes or less you can flip over to a flat floor so it’s safe to take passengers.”

“COOLS really gives the Army the flexibility of performing a variety of troop missions and cargo missions without any restrictions,” said Boeing CH-47F Project Manager Greg Solakian.

The Army plans to retrofit its entire CH-47F fleet, as well as some D models, with COOLS. By 2015, COOLS will be standard during production.

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 308: SATURDAY

WHERE WOULD THE WORLD BE WITHOUT TRIVIA…?

This is such an oddball story about FDR, it just might be true. Either way, it is a charming little story.

Hours after Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Secret Service found themselves in a bind. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was to give his infamy speech to Congress the next day, and although the trip from the White House to Capitol Hill was short, agents weren’t sure how to transport him safely.

At the time, Federal Law prohibited buying any cars that cost more than $750, so they would have to get clearance from Congress to do that, and nobody had time for that.

One of the Secret Service members, however, discovered that the US Treasury had seized the bulletproof car that mobster Al Capone owned when he was sent to jail in 1931. They cleaned it, made sure it was running fine and had it ready for the President the day after.

And run properly it did. Capone's car was a sight to behold. It had been painted black and green so as to look identical to Chicago’s police cars at the time. It also had a specially installed siren and flashing lights hidden behind the grille, along with a police scanner radio. To top it off, the gangster’s 1928 Cadillac 341A Town Sedan had 3,000 pounds of armor and inch-thick bulletproof windows. Mechanics are said to have cleaned and checked each feature of the Caddy well into the night of December 7th, to make sure that it would run properly the next day for the Commander in Chief.

The car was sold at auction for $341,000.00 in 2012.

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 307: FRIDAY

OCCASIONALLY, I FEEL LIKE AN ANT—ENTIRELY INSIGNIFICANT IN THE CONTEXT OF THIS VAST WORLD. BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT ANTS ARE NOTHING IF NOT DETERMINED—AND ARE SURVIVORS

ALSO, I’M AN ANT WHO WRITES, AND LOVES TO WRITE—AND THAT BALANCES THINGS OUT

To be fair, I don’t normally feel like an ant. I’m a little large, for starters, and decidedly shaggier (especially when, as now, I need my hair cut and beard trimmed—more like an anteater) but I shrink to ant mode when I read something like the following. It came from a mailer from a company called HUBSPOT and was written by a talented lady called Jessica Meher.

22 years ago, something remarkable happened. 36-year-old physicist Tim Berners-Lee, changed the world forever using just a few lines of computer code.

That day, the first ever website was born.

While the website was basic at most, it was the just the start to connecting millions of people to endless amounts of information.

Now there are more than 700 million websites on the internet and every 60 seconds more than 5,067 web pages are created.

For most businesses, a website is the Grand Central Station of marketing -- connecting branding, social media, email, lead generation, ecommerce, and more. But not all websites are created equal. Out of the millions of websites we've analyzed through MarketingGrader, 72% received a failing grade of 59 or below (Tweet This Stat). Yikes!

What made me say “yikes!” was the statement that there are 700 million websites on the internet and every 60 seconds more than 5,067 web pages are created.

Given such staggering competition, how presumptuous to believe that anyone would read my output. But, hell, I’m an ant—and since when did ants worry about such things.

We just go about our business regardless—and my business just happens to be writing!

 

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 306: THURSDAY

‘THE ROAD’ IS A THOROUGHLY DISTURBING MOVIE—BUT VIGGO MORTENSEN MAKES IT WORTH WATCHING

I have long enjoyed and admired Viggo Mortensens’s acting, but didn’t realize he was such an interesting man.

Viggo Peter Mortensen, Jr. (Danish: [viɡ̊o ˈmɒːdnsn]; October 20, 1958) is an American actor, poet, musician, photographer and painter. He made his film debut in Peter Weir's 1985 thriller Witness, and subsequently appeared in many notable films of the 1990s, includingThe Indian Runner (1991), Carlito's Way (1993), Crimson Tide (1995), Daylight (1996), The Portrait of a Lady(1996), G.I. Jane (1997), A Perfect Murder (1998), A Walk on the Moon (1999) and 28 Days (2000).

Mortensen's career rose to new heights in the early 2000s with his role as Aragorn in the epic film trilogy The Lord of the Rings. In 2005, Mortensen won critical acclaim for David Cronenberg's crime thriller A History of Violence. Two years later, another Cronenberg film Eastern Promises (2007) earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. A third teaming with Cronenberg in A Dangerous Method (2011) resulted in a Golden Globe Best Supporting Actor nomination. Other well-received films in recent years have included Appaloosa (2008) and the 2009 film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel The Road.

Aside from acting, his other artistic pursuits include fine arts, photography, poetry, and music. In 2002, he founded the Perceval Press to publish the works of little-known artists and authors. Mortensen is politically active. He campaigned for Dennis Kucinich in the 2008 United States presidential election, and later endorsed Barack Obama for President.

A great actor and an admirable man—whose career speaks for itself.

 

 

 

 

THE STORY SO FAR:PART 305: WEDNESDAY

THERE ARE MANY GOOD BLOGS OUT THERE, BUT THE BASELINE SCENARIO IS EXCEPTIONAL

THE BASELINE SCENARIO blog is actually written by both James Kwak and Simon Johnson. Both are excellent writers and thoughtful commentators on the state of the U.S. economy.

Today, I’m going to focus on James Kwak, primarily because he has been featured more recently – and he’s a positive master of the short blog. Here, I am green with envy, because although I believe I write interesting blogs (mostly) I haven’t yet mastered the art of writing a thought provoking and stimulating blog in a couple of paragraphs.

James Kwak clearly has—and I salute him. Of course, he can also write entertainingly at length as well, but he is a positive maestro when being brief. The following is a mid-size example—and yes, he has a delightful sense of humor. He is also a knowledgeable critic of our Big Banks and of Financialization—the increasing dominance of the Real Economy by finance—and I salute him for that too.

'13 Bankers' In 4 Pictures: Why Wall Street Profits Are Out Of Whack

• by James Kwak

My three-year-old daughter, looking at 13 Bankers, said, "It doesn't have any pictures." (She was hoping for a book about yaks.) Actually, it has a few pictures, although they are just pictures of data. But those pictures themselves tell an interesting story.

The first part of the story is the "financialization of the economy." There are many ways to describe this phenomenon--looking at the ratio of financial assets to GDP, or the ratio of debt to income, and so on. But we thought this was the best way to show it.*

Those are corporate profits of the financial sector and the nonfinancial sector. It's an index, so the two lines are defined to intersect in 1980. Looking back from 1980, you can see that financial and nonfinancial profits grew at basically the same rate since the Crash of 1929. Then in the 1980s, financial profits took off into the stratosphere, defying even the crash of the stock market in 2000.

Remember that financial services are an intermediate product--that is, we don't eat them, or live in them, or put them on in the morning. They are supposed to enable a more efficient allocation of capital, so that the nonfinancial economy is more productive. But what we saw since the 1980s was the unmooring of the financial sector from the rest of the economy.

The right edge of the figure is also telling. That plunge in financial profits is Q4 2008--the three months right after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, and Wachovia. But then in the next three quarters, financial sector profits shot back up to the levels of the boom. That's called business as usual. And it's not what happened to the real economy.

Keep an eye out for the two books he co-wrote with Simon Johnson as well. They are respectively 13 BANKERS and WHITE HOUSE BURNING.

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 304: TUESDAY

GIVEN THE EXTRAORDINARY AMOUNTS OF MONEY SPENT BY THE PENTAGON, YOU MIGHT THINK THEY WOULD PLAN & COORDINATE A LITTLE BETTER…

Actually, if you know anything about the Pentagon at all, you would not be remotely surprised at the lack of planning and coordination. In fact, some would say—with very good reason—that the Pentagon spends far more time and resources on internal warfare, rather than fighting external enemies. They call this ‘inter-service’ rivalry. If you added the adjective ‘vicious’ you would be closer to the mark. And, over a career, trillions of dollars are at stake. That is seen by most as a good enough reason to sacrifice one’s integrity. You just have to go-along-to-get-along—and that general’s star will be yours. In fact, that star (more is better) may well make you a millionaire. Why not indeed! Over 70 percent of your peers are working for defense contractors. This is capitalism in action. 

Indeed, not only are the the services largely preoccupied with fighting each other, but they make the whole business more complicated by squabbling with the Department of Defense’s giant civilian democracy. Add in positive legions of defense contractors—many of dubious reputation—and the differing agendas of retired members of the Club of Generals—and it is positively amazing that anything of military value emerges at all.

Well, occasionally it does, but only after excruciating development times—we are normally talking decades these days—and at a cost which may well be described as grotesque (or do I need a stronger word?). As a consequence, the American Way of War is the costliest in the world—by a wide margin—and it is highly debatable whether it is effective.

Yes, we can destroy things and kill a lot of people—many not necessarily the enemy—but that is not the same as winning wars. Do our generals seem to understand that fact? The evidence is not encouraging. We have great soldiers in the lower ranks, and extraordinary courage is often displayed—but careerism seems to take over at light colonel level.

The above photo shows a Boeing's Phantom Badger vehicle emerging from a V-22 aircraft. The significant point is that it fits. Well, it certainly should since it was specifically designed to do so because the original designers of the Osprey hadn’t considered the possibility that the aircraft might need to carry a military vehicle—so none fitted—not even that staple of military transport, the ubiquitous HMMWV. And, in case you are not clear on the subject, the V-22 was designed, solely and entirely, for war—over two and a half decades at that. You might think that a penny would have dropped during that time..

Given that war has been mechanized since WW I (1914-18), you might well find that a curious omission. Anyway, as a consequence of the military utility of the Osprey not being thought through properly, its fuselage is an awkward size and really not too good even for carrying troops. The thing is unnecessarily and foolishly cramped. As for its other faults, I’m writing a blog, not a book (right now).

Well, perhaps development had to be rushed, and the project was underfunded—or the developers were new at the game?

What charitable thoughts! In fact, development took over a quarter of a century, the corporations concerned were those novices, Bell and Boeing—and if I told you the cost in billions of dollars, I would be putting your heart at risk. But, I’m prepared to gamble. How would $39 billion grab you? And no, that is not close to the full program cost. I’m merely talking about development. But, where does development stop and fly-away cost step in? Well, that is a little hard to answer, you understand. Further development is always required. The costs? Develoment is about exploring the unknown. Besides, why should we know when the Pentagon can't even be audited?

Yes, it us entirely true that the Pentagon can suck money in, fail to account for it, and suffer no consequences. Yes, that is illegal. Yes, Congress does nothing.

So what are the costs of reinventing the jeep—a task which should have been entirely unnecessary—and what are the costs per unit of the Badger? I don’t know as yet, but I am sure they are exorbitantly high—and that you, the American taxpayer, will be—once again—paying the bill.

Will you check it carefully? No, you will not—and therein lies the real tragedy. Far too many Americans know too little, and don’t seem to care.

Meanwhile the MICC—the Military Industrial Congressional Complex—gnaws away at our standard of living, the quality of our lives, and any faint remnants of probity.

Frankly, it is pretty damn evil. Frankly, the fact that you don’t care is no better.

THE STORY SO FAR: PART 303: MONDAY

A WHOLE NEW APPROACH TO COMMUTING—YOUR VERY OWN JETPACK

As you know, I love aviation developments, but I am somewhat undecided about this class of transport. But let me quote from the press release issued by Martin Aircraft, and you can make up your own mind.

The Auckland-based company has conducted initial manned test flights of the latest prototype of its ducted-fan Jetpack after receiving a permit to fly from New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority. The single-pilot machine is being developed to comply at first with rules governing microlights, but new CEO Peter Coker acknowledges Martin will have to work with individual regulators around the world if the Jetpack is to fulfill its promise as a “motorbike in the sky.”

Designed for a cruise speed of 30 kt., range of 30 km (19 mi.) and endurance of 30 min., the vertical-takeoff-and-landing Jetpack is attracting interest for uses as disparate as search and rescue, pipeline inspection, corporate events, flying displays and a “jetpack experience” for thrill seekers. As an unmanned heavy lifter, with the ability to carry a 150-kg (330-lb.) payload, the machine is being looked at by the agricultural and film industries, Coker says.

Flight tests of the company's 12th and latest prototype are underway. After initial manned hops, prototype P12 is being flown unmanned to expand the low-altitude envelope as Martin modifies the engine, after which manned flights are planned to resume. The modification adds a balance shaft to reduce vibration inherent in the 200-hp. V4 two-stroke, designed and built by Martin itself after it could not find an engine powerful, light or compact enough.

Mounted behind the pilot, the engine powers a pair of ducted fans that provide both vertical thrust and flight control. Compared with P11—the previous prototype that had center-of-gravity challenges, says Coker—the ducts have been moved down and increased in size, and a “robust” fly-by-wire system added to increase flight performance. Martin is aiming for a maximum speed of 40 kt. Empty weight manned is 180 kg and maximum takeoff weight 330 kg, for a payload with full fuel of 100 kg.

Altitude is limited to 3,000 ft. by microlight rules but, in May 2011, P11 was flown unmanned to 5,000 ft. to show the machine could fly out of ground effect and “prove this is an aircraft,” Coker says. That flight ended with the first deployment of the ballistic recovery parachute, a standard safety feature of the Jetpack. “The parachute is part of the system, and is connected to the engine so that, if it is not performing correctly, it will deploy automatically,” he says.

“We are developing an active parachute to get the dead-man's curve down to a very low level,” he adds. Normally associated with helicopters, the dead-man's curve is the lower corner of the height/velocity chart where a power failure can be fatal. “We'd like the parachute to be usable down to 6 meters or so.” Below that, the carbon-fiber landing gear would absorb the impact. “The undercarriage can withstand a fairly reasonable arrival, and the pilot is enclosed in carbon fiber for safety,” Coker says. A flotation collar will provide buoyancy in a water ditching.