stone savage

Pardox, CO

I don’t know about you, but I’ve lived in earthquake-prone areas most of my life. I’ve never much been afraid of them, nor even thought about them much, until I was in a 6.9 earthquake - and felt every moment of it. All I’m going to say about that particular event is that I learned to not disregard earthquakes anymore.

So it is with extreme confusion and consternation that I read this article from the CNN website. The idea that a government sanctioned (thanks Nixon!) activity has the effect of causing “natural” disaster - and no one is blinking an eye!

[**Edit: The CNN article no longer exists - and I have no idea why. It also no longer exists on any of the news sites where I did my initial research for this article. You can read what it once said by visiting this site.**]

To be fair it seems the sizes of the quakes are rather insignificant - but the number caused by this little operation is in the thousands. Thousands. Am I the only person thinking “Hmmm… maybe that’s not such a good idea…"?

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zeitgeist: height of the cold war
ortgeist : the United States

I read an interesting book this weekend. It was called Alas, Babylon. Like most Americans, I know the idea of nuclear war was considered a certainty during the 1950s and 1960s - however, maybe unlike most current Americans, I believe it is not all that unlikely for it to occur today.

I’m aware that there are only a few countries with ICBM capability, but it’s not the governments I worry about so much - accept, perhaps, for China’s. I worry about things like “rogue” agents working nuclear material into Mexico and then bringing it over to the U.S. - something that is a lot easier to do than many might think.

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zeitgeist: Friday, November 23, 1787
ortgeist : On the campaign trail for the Constitution

“Ambition, avarice, personal animosity, party opposition, and many other motives not more laudable than these, are apt to operate as well upon those who support as those who oppose the right side of a question. Were there not even these inducements to moderation, nothing could be more ill-judged than that intolerant spirit which has, at all times, characterized political parties. For in politics, as in religion, it is equally absurd to aim at making proselytes by fire and sword. Heresies in either can rarely be cured by persecution.” - Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers #1.

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zeitgeist: November 3, 2004
ortgeist : Southern California

I arrived at work around 9am this morning. When I walked up to the lobby deli counter to purchase something for breakfast, I was greeted by a very cheery “What can I get you, today?” from the person behind the counter. Not seeing any hemlock in view I opted for a plate of fruit and headed upstairs.

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If you’ve ever watched Star Trek (old or newer versions) you are probably familiar with the phrase “there’s an anomaly within the space-time continuum". If you’ve ever ridden in an elevator, you know the origin of these anomalies.

For some reason, and if any scientists are reading this article please look into this, when people step onto an elevator they lose the ability to reason. All rational thought gets left on the previous floor the moment the elevator doors close.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me give you a better picture about what I’m referencing.

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I had a whole rant prepared on why I’m annoyed with some or other political ideal, but I made the mistake of walking through my company’s lobby at around 12:30 P.M. today, and that whole rant was blown away.

You see, we have a “coffee” stand in our lobby, and there was a line of folks who decided to order some Espresso.

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10/26/04 17:33:25

I’ve lived in the South where if it didn’t rain every day people feared a drought was coming. I’ve lived in the North where if it didn’t rain in the fall and in the spring, people feared a drought was coming. I’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest where if it didn’t rain every 10 minutes, people feared a drought was coming.

But nothing compares to Southern California, where if it rains at all every meteorologist in the state becomes the star of their very own breaking news-story entitled “STORMWATCH [insert year]". For some reason when the skies open and nature showers us with her raindrops, Southern California goes into a frenzy. I know, for instance, that if it rains on any given day, that I might as well stay at work until 7pm to avoid the inevitable parking lot that’s normally called Interstate 5.

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zeitgeist: late 1700s
ortgeist : The British Colonies known as “America”

If I try hard enough, I can still hear my mother - muttering under her breath as she often did - that I have “no common sense". How was I supposed to know, at the age of 7, that the colder water from the Sparklett’s water dispenser wasn’t any more effective at putting out my small backyard fire than water from the tap? Hrmph!

To this day, it is often said about me that I am plenty “book-smart” but I have no “street smarts"… which is just a way for my friends to chide me about how incredibly intelligent I can be at times, while also being incredibly naive (aka “stupid"). I don’t mind that they chide me; I’ve grown used to it over the years. In some ways, I suppose it’s true that I rather take pride in it.

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zeitgeist: the 1960s through 2004
ortgeist : the (un)trustworthy in the United States

“Never trust anyone over the age of 30″ was a popular phrase with the young people of the 1960s and 70s. Was it Bob Dylan or Abbie Hoffman who said it? I can never remember which dissident said what.

In any case, many of the Woodstock Generation wore that phrase like a badge of honor during the 1960s and 1970s. Later, they swapped the word “over” with “under” as they hit their 30s.

I think they were right - both times.

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zeitgeist: election year 2004
ortgeist : the United States

I picked up a copy of U.S. News and World Report recently (the Oct 25 edition) and found myself first irritated, and then amused, by an article called “How Deep is the Divide?” written by Jay Tolson.

This article, admittedly, paints a caricature of what sorts of people make up the Republican constituency and which make up the Democratic constituency. The caricatures are as follows:

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zeitgeist: Early fall 2004
ortgeist : American telephone-owners

Ever taken a Gallup survey?

Me neither.

So why is it that those surveys seem to be all we hear about these days?

Every time I turn on the news, read an article in the paper, or look at a news-related website, I’m being inundated with the way “Americans” are “trending” in their thoughts.

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Welcome to Stonesavage.com, a public blog of random thoughts.

The name of the site comes from a poem by Robert Frost called “Mending Wall", and has a special meaning to me as I believe it is the pinnacle of modern social commentary. I hope you enjoy my random, elaborate, and sometimes amusing thoughts. If they help to inspire you to bring down some walls of your own, then so much the better!

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