Operdoc's blog

If you like to read, if you're a Hunter Thompson fan, check out the Book Mark bookstore on Thursday, Aug. 7. Writer William McKeen will be there with his new book 'Outlaw Journalist: The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson.'

And you may want to ask them when they will have local writer Bucky McMahon, author of the fine book of adventure essays, 'Night Diver'.

7 pm. Across the street from that silly looking panther on Atlantic Blvd near the ice cream shop..

Have you ever been to WikiLand? Probably. You played some game of trivia, you swore you knew the answer, but Alex Trebek told you otherwise. Alex is wrong you said to yourself, and you raced to the computer. Sure enough, Clark Gable was born in 1901. It says so right there in the Wikipedia. Who are the Wiki people and where to they live? They are everyone and live everywhere. You may be one of the Wiki People and not even know it. I’ve always thought the Wiki People were benign, harmless, but when I stumbled across WikiHow, I had to reconsider. Do the Wikis really know enough to publish a How To on How To Fall Out of Love? And don’t most of us already know how to do that? Perhaps. But I was once skeptical of Wikipedia. No doubt before long, I will meet one of the Wiki people, open my arms, smile and say, “Do you know how to celebrate the international year of the potato?”

Cough, ough, cough, ough. Seems that Jacksonville has a carbon footprint like Big Foot.

Findings: “significant miles of travel [involving] low-efficiency trips that either start or end outside the metro area’s boundaries.” Bureaucracyspeak for urban sprawl. “We’re in a hot climate with a large commuter base,” stated Jennifer Mcharen, founder of the Jacksonville Carbon Neutral Initiative. Outside my window I see a Toyota Yaris (mine) and 4 SUVs, 2 jeeps, a Ford F-250 truck and an Oldsmobile 98. When I drive around town, occasionally, I see shopping malls and shopping malls and more shopping malls. I’m 53, so I remember the first gas crisis in 1973 and the 2nd gas crisis in 1979 and all the other gas crises since. As George Bush says-“Is we learning yet?”

Perhaps, like me, you have too much time on your hands and you read the recent article in Science Daily about the rapid population expansion of “Gigantic Burmese Pythons in South Florida.” As their name implies, Burmese Pythons are not native to Florida. Apparently, a few pets escaped or were let into the wild, and now there are thousands of them living in the Everglades and surrounding areas. Being large (largest found in Florida so far was 16 feet long and weighed 152 pounds) scientists are concerned about their proliferation and effect on native species. (autopsied pythons contained the remains of, among other animals, bobcats, domestic cats and young American alligators). So, what does the train of thought look like that ultimately leads to someone owning a Burmese Python? In my estimation, the train doesn't get very far out of the station before it's derailed into a deep, rocky, gully. The thought is grievously injured and unconscious for several days, and then it limps out of the gully with permanent brain damage. Can someone explain? Why own an animal that sits curled up in a very large cage 22 hours a day until it gets hungry and needs to be fed two dozen rats or the neighbor’s schnauzer? Anyway, they are not here yet, but they’re coming. Watch out for little Johnny and make sure you keep Fifi on a leash.

Have you ever seen the movie ‘Queen of Outer Space’ starring Zsa Zsa Gabor? A camp classic no doubt. Somehow I missed it. Luckily, I did not miss the recent publishing of ‘Night Diver’ by Neptune Beach legend Bucky McMahon. Mr. McMahon lives near our state capital now, but once resided in our little corner of the world, Fletcher graduate 1973. Over the last two decades he’s written travel/adventure pieces for Outside magazine, Esquire, and several other top notch mags. This collection contains essays that (as described by novelist Janet Burroway) “take you deep underwater, slogging through the swamp, brachiating through the jungle, luffing past the lava flow, yawning in the classroom, yo-yoing on the open sea; and now and again just for good measure surfing the psychic cosmos.” I highly recommend this fine book. Try Amazon or go directly to the source at http://buckymcmahon.com/... Rumor has it Mr. McMahon may give a reading and signing at the Book Mark in Atlantic Beach this summer. McMahon sightings are more likely than wave sightings until September.

Remember Reverend Wright? Allow me to introduce you to two supporters of Senator John McCain. To my extreme right is Reverend John Hagee, a televangelist from San Antone. The good Rev is known for having called the Catholic Church "the great whore". He also supports a pre-emptive strike on Iran. Says it's predicted in the book of Esther. Seems he can't wait to be whisked to heaven when Armageddon comes. Reverend Hagee receives $840,000 a year for his ministries. "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Matthew 19:24. To his right, a round of applause for Pastor Rod Parsley. Pastor Parsley calls for the eradication of Islam. Seems Islam "is an anti-Christ religion". McCain calls him one of "the truly great leaders of America". The pastor says it is the "divine purpose" of the United States, that "We were built for the conflict. We get off on warfare." "Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God." Matthew 5:9. By the way, my buddy Buddha says may Nirvana always be within your reach. Especially, the first CD.

I recently heard Dylan's Tombstone Blues, and realized that I’ve always misheard this line: "Daddy’s in the alley, he’s looking for the fuse.” I thought Daddy was looking for food, which brings us to the art of vote pandering.A big selling point for both Clinton and McCain has been gas tax relief. This follows on the heels of President Bush’s pandering tax rebate. They've got my vote, unless…What would be accomplished? The gas tax is allocated for highway maintenance and safety. Pot holes, crumbling bridges, things like that. So we save 25 bucks and the roads get worse.And then, there are administrative costs. It’s costing 49 million dollars to mail our rebate checks. What’s the cost of suspending and rescheduling the gas tax? Are we this stupid? Will we really allow a presidential candidate to buy our vote for 25 bucks? Just wondering?

Well, tax season is over and gosh, just where do my tax dollars go?

I'm glad you asked. It seems that for every tax dollar paid, ten cents goes to pay the interest on our military debt. Not actually on the military (28.7 cents per tax dollar). Compare that to the amount spent on a broad category called Environment, Energy and Science. We spend 2.6 cents per tax dollar on that.  How about Education Training and Social Services. 4.4 cents per dollar.

So what does our military budget look like compared to an agressive, militant country like China? Well, China has a budget of 640 billion dollars of which 59 billion dollars are spent on the military. That's a whopping 9 per cent of their budget. How's that compare to what we spend to pay for the interest on our military budget? Not so easy to say, but somewhere near the same. We will spend around 600 billion on the military this year.
Okay then, well what about the national debt in the United States? Currently, the national debt is $9,343,927,725,739 or 9.3 trillion give or take a few billion. Really? And how much do we spend every day fighting the war in Iraq? Well that's about 720 million dollars a day. So we spend 40% of our budget on the military, including 10% just to pay off the debt and we still have a national deficit of 9.3 trillion. That's right. Kind of crazy, huh? Hope every one enjoys their tax rebate check.

You'd barely know it Jacksonville, but today is Earth Day. I started my morning by riding my bicycle to yoga class. I locked it next to the dumpster, which was filled to overflowing with recyclable paper, cardboard, aluminum cans and rotting food. I know that we have a recycling program (although a lot of people seem to ignore it), but what about a composting program? In San Francisco. the city picks up all compostable items in a separate container every week and guess what? They are approaching 75% recycling of so-called trash.San Francisco (and other cities) have also restricted the use of plastic bags at supermarkets and big box stores.

I've been away from the beaches for twenty years. Things have changed and things have remained the same. Nicer places to eat, places to practice yoga, lots more good music to choose from (though still not enough). Right wing politics still abound, there are more shopping centers, strip malls, cars, traffic backups, and still a really poor movie scene.

I must say the weather is hell of a lot better here than San Francisco, but maybe I should wait 'til August.

I hope to comment on politics, culture and the environment and whatever pops into my head.

Feels good to be back.