Hotel Mumbai

Terrorism has no boundaries. We are seeing this in the USA right now. In the past, there have been major attacks not only in NYC, but also London, Madrid, Paris, and Mumbai. The attack in Mumbai was masterminded by Pakistani intelligence and involved sending a team of well-equipped combatants on boats to Mumbai, where for days they terrorized the city.

Different spots in the city were targeted by teams of men. There was the train station. Cafes. A hostel. Shots were fired into crowds from moving vehicles. But the main target, the one where the terrorists wanted to make their most feared statement, was the Taj Hotel - Hotel Mumbai. It is a jewel from an era gone by, but not forgotten.

The movie details the attacks and how those inside the hotel, at least some of them, managed to survive. A lot more didn’t. But what is amazing about this true story is that the staff of the hotel, by choice, stayed to help the guests. Even when they could’ve escaped the building, they chose to put their own lives at risk for the sake of those in their care. Some paid for that choice with their lives. But many people were saved because of it.

The movie is polished. The script is clear and concise. The acting spot on. The directing keeps the audience in the moment. It is a straight forward movie about a horrific historic event. It is sobering by nature and will make you think. A person should veer away from the latest Disney superhero caper to immerse themselves in this type of story, at least once in a while.

The Taj did reopen only months after the attack. Many of the staff are still there. You can see this depiction of their heroics by renting this movie on Redbox or Fandango. I give it a 5/5 on the rating scale.

Just Energy

Awful customer service, combined with a dose of racism, creates a bad SNL sketch. This is the formula I witnessed earlier this week. And it was all I could do to keep a straight face. In fact, I’m not so sure I did. I wanted to laugh so hard at the whole ridiculous situation.

I was in the room when a retiree (whom I didn’t know personally), around 70 in age but totally in good shape, decided he wanted to cancel his service with Just Energy. He discovered that in order to avoid a termination fee, he had to call to cancel. If he did so, they waived the fee. I’m sure Just Energy figures most people don’t learn that, even less will call, so in most cases they collect the fee.

The guy was an ardent Trump supporter, (the racism I witness from these supporters everyday is unbelievable and personally abhorrent), so his views are about what you expect when it comes to race relations, particularly Latinos. The guy calls the number to cancel and the person who answers immediately starts speaking Spanish.

It took a few seconds for the guy to overcome the shock. The representative realized he had an English speaker and switched to broken English. I could understand him (it was on speaker phone) but I could see where someone else might not. The man asked for someone who spoke better English or better yet to someone in the USA. The representative explained that the man had reached the company’s call center - somewhere South of the border - and that there was no way to transfer him to satisfy his request. A few seconds of this back and forth, and the representative (who you could sense was a little offended but kept his cool) suggested he call again. Then he might get someone with better English.

The guy hung up and redialed. He got the very same representative. By this point I simply wanted to double over with laughter. The representative found a way to transfer the call to a supervisor. When he did, it was still South of the border but it was a young lady and this apparently soothed the Trumpian male ego a bit. (At the end of the call there was a comment about how women must be able to learn English better than men.) He wasn’t happy, but he listened to her any way.

However, it didn’t stop there. They couldn’t properly pull his account number even though he read it to them from his bill. The guy has a common last name, so that search brought up the phone book on the computer screen. When she finally did find it, she got the man’s names mixed up and for the rest of the conversation, his middle name was the last name and his …. well, you get the picture.

It took about twenty minutes but the guy finally succeeded in his quest. The man kept going on about the lack of English speakers. I felt bad for the people at the call center as it wasn’t their fault. But it wasn’t stellar customer service either. I don’t know what companies think by outsourcing these type of jobs overseas. I’ve lived overseas and I know firsthand that when people struggle to understand me (and Americans forget, this language problem goes both ways), that a little body language can often get the point across even if the person doesn’t grasp every word. On a phone call, there is no body language. Well, none you can see at any rate.

Companies who want to take your money but then offer no proper customer service are the worse. And people, who refuse to live in a global village, are equally bad. On the other hand, I still can’t help but laugh about that episode. Hey, in today’s environment, a little laughter is rare.

Telephone Building

I came across this abandoned building this week. It says ‘Telephone’ across the side and is the type of building where, in the era before smart phones, one went to order phone service and pay the bill. No doubt this is a future archaeological site.

Moon Landing: 50 Years On

This weekend, NASA TV is running footage from the Apollo 11 mission. It was fifty years ago that man first stepped on to the moon. There is an argument to be made, that the mission was the pinnacle of America’s ascent. Since then, we’ve quit being explorers and have fallen into some Twilight Zone abyss.

They calculate that over 400,000 people were employed due to the Apollo missions. In the space of a decade, we went from not being able to get a rocket into space, to putting a man on the moon with less computer power than the cell phone in your pocket has.

There are literally hundreds of products we use in everyday life, medical cures, everyday technology, that was given birth by our exploration into space. Now, we have to rent a rocket from the Russians because we don’t have the capacity to field one on our own.

If we quit worrying about bullying the world, joined forces with other nations, and made a concerted effort to reach out into the universe together, we might surprise ourselves at what can be achieved. We are not alone in this universe. To think so is as dumb as thinking climate change is a Chinese hoax. As a species, we consume more than the planet Earth can provide us. Our future lies in the great unknown beyond the moon.

Future space exploration rests in the hands of Europe, Japan, China, and India to name the leaders. But America can have a role as well. It isn’t too late. But it will take working with others to make it happen. Space was always a humanity effort, not an American one. Nothing better says that than remembering that the Apollo 11 astronauts left a medal honoring the Russian Yuri Gagarin, the first man into space, on the moon’s surface. We should’ve never stopped going. Its time to go back.

World Cup American Style

How Americans experience soccer, was best explained by my morning when I tried to find a place to watch the World Cup Final. The only reason that soccer has exploded in America is because of the National Women’s Team. It started in the 1990’s, (I was at that Rose Bowl game), and continued through today, when, as expected, they beat the Nederlands 2-0 for a World Cup title.

First off, finding a place to watch games is a feat in itself. Most people don’t subscribe to the channels that hold the broadcast rights, so you have to venture out. Because most games are in Europe, (this holds true during European Leagues regular season), fans must track down a place that is open. In big cities, Irish pubs are great at opening early for fans. But elsewhere, you forge your own path.

This morning, I went to Buffalo Wild Wings which makes no effort to open early but did open right at game time. They have many tv screens and a policy of turning to any channel the customer wants. This meant, me, and the two women camped outside the door, missed the first 3 minutes but at least we had a tv to watch it on.

We were quickly joined by a half-dozen other people who found seats. And because we got them to turn on the volume to the game, as people streamed in, they found themselves glued to the action. The game itself was hard fought. Both sides did their nations proud. The pressure was all on the Americans though as they were the heavy favorites.

Then the bar staff got caught up in the excitement as customers in the whole place were cheering and moaning with each play. Problem was, half the people watching, knew nothing about soccer. I ended up explaining the rules of the game to the bartender and other members of the staff so they could understand what off-sides, a penalty box, corner kicks etc were. I even had to explain the time on the field. Americans are use to being bombarded with commercials during a sporting event. Drives us nuts. The fact there is a game where no one stops for 90 minutes is appealing in itself.

Most of the fans watching were women. A couple guys did come in to watch. The sport does have wide appeal here once people are exposed to it. And the experience brought back fond memories for me.

I mentioned that Rose Bowl title game which is a pivotal moment in Women’s sports in this country. There were around 100,000 fans in the Bowl that day. People were dressed up and in full party mode as the team took on China. I had gotten tickets for me and four friends. At the last moment, we hopped in my old car, drove across country. We even partied with Chinese fans in Vegas the night before. That week was a 6,000 mile road trip for us. One of the best trips I ever took. I hope everyone reading this has a week like that at some point in their lives.

Americans have natural barriers that keep them disconnected from the rest of the world. Part of it is geography and part historical culture. But the sport demonstrates we really aren’t so different and will let our guard down if given the opportunity. The American Women’s National Team, to their credit, have done all they can to make that happen.

Two last points I should make: 1. Yes, the women, who have won multiple world cups, should be paid on a scale with the men, who didn’t even make the World Cup this last time. 2. That goal by Lavelle was a beauty wasn’t it? Wow.

Robots In The Yard

This week, I saw my first robot mowing the yard. I’d seen them for sale before at Lowe’s - for a nice price tag of $1500 - but this one was hard at work. Sorta. Slow moving, I was told it runs 24/7, rain or shine. Apparently, it has trouble detecting people, as it nearly ran over me trying to get to the curbside grass. And I don’t know what happens if someone decides to play kick the can with it. For a moment, I was tempted to find out.

I don’t know how lazy you have to be to spend $1500 on one of these or what justifies that expenditure. Also, this yard was flat, smooth. Doesn’t look like it would do well in muddy spots, ruts, or navigating around what the neighbor’s dog left laying in the grass. Pictures aren’t great but here they are all the same.

The Rolling Thunder Revue

Martin Scorsese ruined this film. There’s no other way to say it. I wish I didn’t have to say it but I do. Few directors have done greater service to musical history than Scorsese. The Last Waltz and No Direction Home are but two of his best among half-dozen or more music related documentaries. Then comes The Rolling Thunder Revue and …. WHAT THE HELL WAS HE THINKING?

This ‘documentary’ (and use that term lightly) uses footage from the famous Dylan tour of that name to explore the tour and its impact. Sorta. Here is the problem: A lot of the best parts are fake. Actors. Fake stories. The sad part is there was no need for it. The concert footage and that of the musicians together is great. In many respects, this is like opening a time capsule or finding forgotten treasures in your attic.

Scorsese spoils the experience. I watch a documentary to learn or relive a moment in time. If I wanted fantasy, I could turn on a rerun of That 70’s Show. I really felt used and exploited. There is no way around this.

I love Dylan. Saw him in concert once. He has inspired some of my writing. And I know he is a trickster to some measure. But that is no excuse for Scorsese to do what he did. We have enough ‘fake’ moments in our lives these days. And in an era when an untalented trickster occupies the White House, and anyone who stands up for truth is ridiculed, this documentary had the potential to be a counter-balance and inspire the viewer to do some soul-searching. (How can you listen to Dylan perform and have it not seem relevant?). Times were rough then like they are now. Scorsese intentionally deprived the audience of that experience.

The why is the big question. I don’t know. Everyone makes a bad call at some point. But on this level, with Scorsese’s experience, this should have never happened. There was a great article published in Variety concerning this topic. It is written by Owen Gleiberman. I link the ARTICLE HERE. Read it.

The only other thing I will add, the more I see footage of Joan Baez from this period, the more I realize what a presence she was. Other than that, I feel like I wasted 2 1/2 hours of my life thanks to Scorsese. This rates a 2/5 on the scale. And only because you can’t go wrong watching Dylan and Baez perform.

The Power Warning

This weekend, there was a massive power outage across South America. This follows the shutdown of tech-related business with Target Stores in North America. I am constantly astounded by the lack of preparedness for both businesses and people to cope with a non-tech environment.

The next war, or possibly even the next major terrorist act, won’t be of the nature of the past. We’re in an age with drones in the sky and drone submarines. We’re also in an age when cyber is planned as one of the first steps of aggression. Power plants. Banks. Transportation. A stock market shutdown. Cell towers. ,Anything that can be switched off or simply crashed with a piece of malware code. It is the type of thing that is going to drive insurance companies into bankruptcy.

Surely, you don’t think tech is invulnerable. We like to act like it will always be there but simply recall how many times you’ve experienced calls being dropped, an email not going through, or a website crash and you realize how vulnerable your life is if suddenly there was no tech.

I like to recall a story from a small utility company in Illinois. They’d had unexplained glitches for months but were upgrading some equipment so they called in an outside consultant to figure out what was going on while they were doing the upgrade. Turns out they had been hacked YEARS before. The code was sitting there, ready to be activated and shutdown the whole system, whenever, the perpetrator desired. It was only by chance it was ever discovered. Makes you wonder how many places have no clue.

I’ve been in first world countries, more than once, when suddenly there was no tech. It isn’t pretty. People don’t have food. They can’t get money out of an ATM when their plastic doesn’t work. There is no bitcoin to transfer. You can’t buy fuel at the pump because the pumps don’t work when there isn’t power. You can’t even call or text. And people can’t cope.

If you don’t have an emergency plan that includes survival without all the gadgets you are use to relying on, this weekend demonstrates that this may be a good time to form one. A tech driven world may seem safe and secure, but it isn’t.

Havana Nocturne

There was no more wild place, high stakes gambling resort, loaded with sex, booze, and more sex, than Havana of the mid-20th century. Las Vegas barely deserves to stand in its shadow. None of it would’ve been possible without the Mafia. And the Cuban Revolution under the Castro brothers thrived because of that environment.

This is a stellar account by T.J. English. I closed this book with a fuller understanding of how Havana earned its reputation and also, why the Cuban Revolution succeeded. Movies like Godfather II give us a glimpse of that era but those accounts barely scratch the surface.

The city was awash in corruption and hundreds of millions in graft. The Mafia, under the brain trust of Meyer Lansky, who is the main character in this book, spent decades building up Havana into an adult playground where anything went. And the behind-the-scenes stories are astonishing.

Whether it is a group of girl scouts barging in on an orgy involving Frank Sinatra and Lucky Luciano, or ‘Superman’ (the guy with a 14 inch penis) doing private sex shows for mob bosses, or George Raft jumping up on a table to stop revolutionaries from trashing the casino, there isn’t a dull moment in this story. Mob hits, political assassinations, briefcases with millions of dollars, and rigged gambling games are all to be found in this book.

There is also a cautionary tale here. It comes with the have’s being so caught up in their own little world, they were clueless about the have-not’s. In Cuba’s case, it went a long way in giving the world Fidel Castro. I’m not sure that lesson has been learned in the current environment.

The history of the mob is well documented on these pages by T.J. English. There are interviews with people in on the dirty dealings. Books written by the mobsters. And English being on the ground where it all took place. The only question I had at the end is how many of the casino’s are still standing? I suspect not many.

This was actually a book of research for me but it is the kind of research I don’t mind because it was so informative and an excellent read. If you like gambling, the mafia, political history, or wild tales of hedonism, this is a story to pick up. Strong 5/5 on the rating scale. My goodness, what a place it must’ve been.

35th Day of May

This week marks the 30th Anniversary of what many Chinese refer to as the 35th day of May, because China censors any mention (including this blog) of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. The event is called such because it was a bloodletting of thousands of innocent, peaceful protestors who were demonstrating for democracy when the Communist Party of China brought in troops and tanks from outside the capital, and without provocation, slaughtered those who dared to demand their voices be heard. The demonstrators had been camped out for several days, and they were winning people over by the hour. Demonstrators even built their own Statue of Liberty. The move toward democracy threatened the Communist apparatus.

I was actually listening to the radio when the massacre occurred. There was a reporter, ABC’s Kyle Gibson, who was in the Square, and giving a live account. I recall hearing bullets whiz past her as she scrambled for cover and described the carnage round about her. They were secretly filming the confrontation. It was one of the best pieces of live reporting I have ever heard.

Since then, the ruling party of China has departed on a mission to repress freedom wherever it is found. It currently operates one of the largest gulag systems in history with millions locked up in camps and executed due to race or religion. It doesn’t even have to do with politics.

China censors what you see on tv or the internet. They rate citizens by their behavior, using facial recognition developed by companies like Google and Amazon. Jaywalk in China and you’re likely to find your picture up on a billboard, denouncing you as a threat to society. Your citizen score gets low enough, you lose your job and get sent off to a camp. China has embraced Big Brother so that the Communist Party may stay in power.

For many Chinese, the massacre is only a rumour, or something they’ve never even heard of after all this time. They don’t know who ‘tank man’ is - the fellow who stood by himself in front of two dozen tanks to stop their approach. Authorities arrested him and no one has ever learned of his fate or even who he was since that day.

China is a threat to humanity itself. The Chinese people can be a promise to the future of our species but only if the the ruling party falls. Until then, it seems the citizens will have to remain enslaved to a powerful elite. The country has taken many wrong turns since the Long Journey. How power does corrupt.

Upscale in the German Village

Driving through the German Village of Columbus, I spotted this upscale restaurant. I liked the shot.

DQ Sign

I drove by this old-fashion Dairy Queen sign yesterday. I didn’t know any of these signs still existed. Had to snap a picture.

University Admissions Scandal

It is a damning indictment on our society that success rests not on how smart your child is but rather if they have a piece of paper on the wall from the right institution. It is the paper that determines your child’s future, not their intellect or achievements. A whole segment of our society thrives on the graft and delusion of being successful by way of what money buys you.

The 50 people arrested yesterday in the largest admissions scandal in the history of the U.S.A., are only the tip of the iceberg. But they are emblematic of how the elite in the country think it is okay, because they are rich, for them to operate on one level while everyone else struggles.

In every aspect of our society, inequality has taken hold. 99% of the population can’t make a living wage, homeless rates among full-time workers is at a record high, but at the same time the 1% get a golden parachute if they run a business into the ground or squander the savings of that other 99%. Get arrested for defrauding banks for millions of dollars? No problem. Throw cash out there and you’ll get a lighter sentence than a drug offender. After all, its a white collar crime. Now we find out if your kid knows everything about ComicCon but nothing about science or math, you can get them into the best schools, guarantee a diploma, and have them come off as Einstein to the world. Meanwhile, the person from the 99% who actually possesses the intellect to change the world for the better struggles to be accepted and pay the tuition at the local community college.

The L.A. Times did a profile of all 50 people in the scandal. It is a cross-section of the business and academic elite. The two actresses who were arrested garnered the most attention only because they had the most famous faces. Truth is, the corruption runs deep.

I’m sorry, if you have to spend $500,000 to get your kid into a good college, or bump their SAT scores by 40%, then maybe college isn’t for them. How about spending that money on scholarships for kids whose parents are working two shifts at Walmart?

A lot of these kids had no clue what their parents were up to - which probably shows you just how dumb they are. They know they can’t pass those tests. That they’re only there because of the parent’s money and if pressed, they’d flunk out. But they don’t see that as a stain because there is such a sense of entitlement they simply think that is the way it should be.

Most of these cases involved USC and UCLA. But I’m confident if you started turning over the files at other schools, you’d find the same story. No one on the street is surprised that it was happening, only in the amount of money being spent. Until the 1% are made to reckon for their actions, the system won’t change. Lets hope this is a start.

Is The Trump Regime Behind Haitian Unrest?

The upheaval in Haiti has reached a point where something has to give. Petrol is almost impossible to obtain. Food is scarce. And while the airport is still open, roads around the capital city and into rural areas are closed. Foreigners trying to reach the airport have had to hire helicopters for the ride. But they are cutting back due to lack of fuel.

This raises the question of why it is now that we see the level of unrest being raised to the point that the current government is teetering on the brink? Could it be that the Trump regime is stirring the pot? Consider these events:

*There is a lot of off-shore oil and gold that American businesses have been trying to get to for a long time. American corporations have a long history of basically looting the region.

*Elliot Abrams, the man who helped bring you Iran-Contra and the WMD Iraq debacle, has just been put in charge of the region

*John Bolton, who has never seen a government he doesn’t want overthrown, is making the policy

*Fighters, apparently smuggling weapons into the country, were just arrested. Westerners (including Americans) were among them. This actually speaks of really poor planning as it isn’t like Haiti has a booming covert agency of any type. Then again, since Trump became President, there has been a serious of high casualty and failed military missions. Planning isn’t exactly their strong suit.

*This whole crisis exploded over missing money tied to the Venezuela oil deal with Haiti, which basically stated that Haiti was holding bad Venezuela debt in exchange for really cheap oil. As the Venezuela economy collapsed, the Haitian President was ‘advised’ to break the deal. That exposed the missing money (in the billions and some speculate that the President and his cronies got a large share of it) and created the petrol crisis. Yet, it was the Trump regime - which once referred to Haiti as a shithole country - that wanted Haiti to back off the deal because they’re going after Venezuela. (See the John Bolton comment)

*Embassies are closed. The Americans have left. The Canadians left after 100 Canadian tourist had to be rescued from beach hotels. An American group from Flint had to be saved by Navy Seals. If you think you should travel to Haiti, think again.

*The Haitian President just fired his American, French and Canadian Ambassadors. He probably thought they’d been compromised.

*The Haitian President is sending a special envoy to meet with Bolton this week. Expect an ultimatum, followed by a coup. Even with a coup it will be chaotic and no one will really control the streets.

All this has been since the first of the year. Coincidence? Don’t count on it. Thus, this begs the question is the Trump regime behind Haitian unrest and if so, to what end? Personally, to quote a congresswoman, I think its all about the Benjamins.

The Trouble With Avon

The trouble with Avon LLC starts in their tagline which is as misleading as it comes, ‘A company for women’. If it reflected truth, it would read, ‘A company for women ran by men’ because if you go to their distribution center, you’ll discover almost every area supervisor is a male, while every floor leader beneath them is female. This even when the women often have been there far longer.

Recently, there was a big ado on the financial markets about Avon possibly recovering from near bankruptcy. Yeah, don’t count on it. Because activity in their distribution center tells a different story. Here are some points to consider:

*They closed their distribution center in California in 2018. That leaves only one for the whole country, located in Ohio.

*That distribution center doesn’t field enough orders to keep its single shift working 40 hours a week this time of year. Many employees are encouraged to take unpaid time off.

*Holiday sale results meant that many promotional items, like their ‘A’ boxes, had to be broken down and used as excess.

*Tech and equipment is dated. There are constant jams and breakdowns. Many functions aren’t automated (in the current sense).

*They rely on temp workers for much of their employee base but have trouble attracting workers since the pay was until recently, under $10 an hour. Currently, it is at $11 which is still not a livable wage. At some point, if they want to stay competitive, they’ll have to really raise them.

So if you want to rely on Avon, you do so at your own peril. The health of a company can often be judged by its own internal infrastructure. And even though it imports many goods from places like China, Avon here in the States doesn’t rate too well.