I haven’t been tagged with this particular meme, but what the Hell, I’m opinionated enough to think that people care what I think about this stuff, so here goes:

1. Black and White or Color; how do you prefer your movies?

Intelligently written and competently directed, I don’t give a damn if they are color or black and white, as long as the format matches the message.

2. What is the one single subject that bores you to near-death?

Politics and partisanship, unfortunately, both play a key role in question number 5 below…

3. MP3s, CDs, Tapes or Records: what is your favorite medium for prerecorded music?

Hell, I still have tapes and records of my favorite artists back in the day I was buying all three formats available, CDs, tapes, AND records. I prefer whatever format gives me the best fidelity at a reasonable price, which tends to be CDs. For marginally interesting music I buy the AAC files from iTunes (slightly superior to typical MP3 files, but not by much… I’m a believer in using the most advanced technology that gives the desired result).

4. You are handed one first class trip plane ticket to anywhere in the world and ten million dollars cash. All of this is yours provided that you leave and not tell anyone where you are going … ever. This includes family, friends, everyone. Would you take the money and ticket and run?

Nope. Been there, done that. I moved to France alone, lived there for over a year and one-half alone, and returned alone (all except for a cat, who did NOT appreciate the change of venue, believe me). I’ve had enough of being alone, no matter what money might be “sacrificed” in the process.

5. Seriously, what do you consider the world’s most pressing issue now?

The idiots who think that security and freedom are a trade-off against each other and do not or refuse to understand that the two are complimentary instead of in opposition to each other.

6. How would you rectify the world’s most pressing issue?

I try to rectify this issue every day by posting to this weblog and every other venue available to me. I only wish I could spread the message wider. Want to help?

7. You are given the chance to go back and change one thing in your life; what would that be?

In MY life? To not get married to the wrong person like I did back when I was young and stupid.

8. You are given the chance to go back and change one event in world history, what would that be?

Damn, this one is tough, but somehow I think the crucifiction of Jesus would have prevented both the atrocities committed by the so-called Christians in the Middle Ages and possibly have changed the nature if not even the formation of Islam. Somehow, the easygoing nature of paganism exhibited in the Roman Empire is preferable to the religious zealotry demanding “death to the infidels” that has been shown by BOTH Christianity and Islam in the past millenium and one-half.

9. A night at the opera, or a night at the Grand Ole’ Opry — which do you choose?

I’ve been to both, and I prefer the opera. I’d like to see The Magic Flute by Mozart one of these days.

10. What is the one great unsolved crime of all time you’d like to solve?

Literally? The murders committed by Jack the Ripper. A more relevant crime? What really was the vote in Florida in 2000…

11. One famous author can come to dinner with you. Who would that be, and what would you serve for the meal?

It depends on who is considered an “author” because Sir Issac Newton was an author, and I’d love to have a discussion with him over Scotch and smoked salmon.

12. You discover that John Lennon was right, that there is no hell below us, and above us there is only sky — what’s the first immoral thing you might do to celebrate this fact?

Ummm, what if I already think that there is no Hell below us and above us only sky? Does that mean all my acts are already immoral? God is unknowable by us, and heaven and hell are mere creations to make us feel better in the face of the infinite.

The current tempest in a teapot over the impending sale of a British company that manages the operations of several important port facilities in the United States to a holding company based in Dubai of the United Arab Emirates, while devoid of real national security substance, serves to illustrate the lack of competence of the administration which was touted upon first being elected as a new era of good management since the President-elect of the time (a.k.a. Texas Governor George W. Bush) had an MBA.

Ironically enough for me, in the issue of the sale of the company that controls the management of several American ports, I agree with the Bush administration in substance that the change in ownership does not present a national security risk (surprise!!! especially to those who understand the true depths of my distaste for George W. Bush and his cronies).

What prompts the present furor?

In the end, it all comes down to a matter of competence.

A lack of competence all too clearly illustrated in terms unambiguous to all but the most rabid partisan, coupled with a lack of understanding of the process of accountability that currently exists for the executive branch in our system that has evolved substantially from the original intentions of the founders.

Let us start with a list:

(1)  the utterly inadequate response of the federal government to hurricane Katrina, not only due to the political crony completely unsuited to the job of heading FEMA but also because of the paralysis of the supposedly competent man appointed to run the Department of Homeland Security (the mere name of the department he heads brings the chill of harsh historical memory to those who are aware of such resonances)

(2)  the hash made of the post-invasion situation in Iraq (note the source of the link…), including the commencement of the occupation up to the recent threats of removal of US support directed towards the democratically elected representatives in that tattered and torn nation

(3)  the complete lack of preparation for the opening days of the new Medicare Prescription Drug Program(which was supposed to be one of the key accomplishments of the current administration, but after an entire month doesn’t seem to be ironed out…)

I’m at three strikes already without delving deeply in the least nor even bringing up how striking the metaphor of the recent incident where Vice President Cheney shot a hunting companion is for the entire administration of George W. Bush.

Competence…

It is an easy characteristic to identify, and even more readily recognized as lacking, as it so sorely and obviously is in the administration of President George W. Bush.

Brownie, you’re doing a heck-of-a-job…
    -President George W. Bush
    during a whirlwind image-restoration photo-op
    tour of the area devastated by hurricane Katrina,
    while people were still trapped in a flooded New Orleans

Hence the distrust of those who are members of both parties when it comes to the exhortations by the Bush administration of “trust us, we have reviewed the situation” in the matter of the management of several major ports of the United States (note this is the management of operations, not of security, which is still under the full control of the US government, for what that is worth…).

So where do we go from here with an administration that has shown beyond all reasonable doubt (partisans are NOT reasonable) that it is incompetent in actually administering US policy either domestically or abroad?

I’m damned if I know…

OK, boys and girls, the world is in serious danger of the wheels coming off when Velociman, hedonist extraordinaire, is starting to sound like me in saying “Think about it.”

Yikes! Things are worse than I thought…