Stuff I'm Reading: America Between the Wars

America Between the Wars: From 11/9 to 9/11 by Derek Chollet

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a refreshing history that steers clear of editorializing, cheerleading or any of the things that could have made this partisan pap. As the title states, this is a history from the fall of the Berlin Wall (11-9) to 9-11, and how in spite of what we think, 9-11 did not "change everything." The 12 years between the end of the Cold War and the beginning of the War on Terror were years where there was great struggle to determine what the role of the U.S in the world would be--how military and economic issues would shake out in the wake of the fall of Communism. Clinton does not get off easy, neither does Bush, but in revealing faults the authors also show how the U.S' Iraq policy in 2008 is really just an extension of policies that were already in place.

While I love a good book that gleefully trashes the current administration, I really benefited more from this type of history that puts the present into perspective.


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Kyle, and why VEIP sucks.

Kyle, My hard-luck little car.

This is an update on the status of Kyle, my 1992 Honda Civic VTEC, and why I really hate the Maryland Vehicle Emissions Inspection Program (VEIP).

My car has been unable to pass the VEIP, which is a test that all cars in Maryland have to take every two years to help reduce carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons, thereby helping to control pollution. In theory, I am totally in favor of this. But in practice, it is a seriously messed up system, and here is why.

As some readers may remember, my car had a problem last year where my door did not shut, and therefore I had to hold it shut with a rope and then climb out the passenger’s side door. Because of this, I asked for an extension on my emissions test, as it requires the testers to get in and out of the car. I had three more months to put off taking this test while I tried to figure out the problem. Then, in what I referred to as the Christmas Miracle, Kyle was fixed, and I was overjoyed to finally be able to enter and exit my car like a real person. I immediately took him to the emissions facility…and failed, and was given another three month extension.

One of the ways to get a waiver for this test is if you can show you have spent at least $450 in emissions-related repairs. I took him to my mechanic, and he pretty much said that he’d have a really hard time working up that kind of a bill for me to get a waiver, and furthermore, some older cars just cannot pass this test. And furthermore than that, the VEIP level of $450 is not cumulative. In other words, you can’t drop $200, fail, and then spend another $250 and count it as $450 and get a waiver--you have to spend that much before the test. I decided it would be better to just wait until the three months were almost up and then give Kyle a tune-up and see if that would help.

I waited the three months, got the tune-up (this tune-up would cost about $220)
and went to the emissions place…and failed again. Now what? I wondered.

Question: What happens when your car keeps failing the emissions test?

Answer: Nothing.

Nothing happens. They gave me an inspection certificate with a new due date on it, one month from that date. I went into the office and I asked them, “What happens if my car keeps failing?”
“You keep coming back,” was the answer. And you keep paying $14 every time. And now I have come back and failed the emissions test every month since April. I now have a stack of papers from every failed test, and now I come to my point about why VEIP sucks:
My car, which according to their test which is designed to curb pollution, fails that test every month. According to their test, my car pollutes beyond a reasonable degree. But the only consequence is that I just have to keep coming back and giving them money every month, so that I am complying with the law. I had grave fears that failing emissions meant that I had to take my car off the road or something, but apparently that fear was unfounded. The state of Maryland apparently doesn’t actually care whether my car pollutes or not--they just want me to keep paying $14 a month to stay out of trouble.

What a fucking toothless law. Never mind the fact that my car averages less than 6000 miles a year, that the trip to the emissions place constitutes the most driving I do all month. (I ride my bike everywhere, I walk all the time and my car is mostly for errands or get my equipment to shows, so if anyone is going to accuse me of being “part of the problem” of climate change, they need to calm down.)

It is actually cheaper for me to go ahead and pay the $14 every month than it would be to actually fix my car (and believe me, while I love Kyle, he is 15 years old and I am not putting any more serious money into him).

So to review: My car, while running great, is not passing the VEIP test; the VEIP program is toothless and silly.

Not that I am unhappy that no one’s taking my car off the road or anything, but every month I do this silly pain in the ass trip to the emissions place and every month I fail and every month I give the state of Maryland $14 to keep my “polluting” car on the road.
How does this help the environment?

Davey “The polluter” G.
www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Davey G and his (Parenthetical) Album.

Creative inertia is all about killing the editor inside your head, writing what you want to write without going “nah, that sucks.” There will be plenty of time for others to say that later.
In the last three days I’ve pumped out more writing and new songs than I had in awhile because one idea paves the way for two or three more. For now, I will continue to write songs for the album for which I am using the working title of “(Parenthetical).”

www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

New Davey G songs in the works.

I’ve been down in the studio the last few days, putting together words with tunes and I think the results will end up on the next album. As it stands, I have the makings of 8 new songs. This seems to be the way in which I work--a lot of material coming out all at once.
What to look forward to at the next Davey G show: A really bizarre tango song, and a country ditty. And I think my next album might all be songs with parenthetical (like this!) titles. Maybe I’ll call the album “Parenthetical.” Though it’s probably been done before.

With any luck…2 new shows are in the works. Check back, and if you’re not already, get on my mailing list, through the link on my site!
www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Stuff I'm Reading: Charlatan by Pope Brock

Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam by Pope Brock

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Dr. J.R Brinkley, the world’s greatest quack in the golden age of quacks of the ‘20s and ‘30s, pioneered a technique in which he injected goat testicles into the testicles of men, in an effort to increase their virility. The operation was a fraud, but thousands of patients submitted themselves to this “treatment,” making Dr. Brinkley a very rich man and raising the ire of Dr. Fishbein, the man who eventually brought him down.

Along the way, however, Brinkley also pioneered some non-medical promotional techniques, many of which are still in use today. He helped to popularize early country music, bringing it to the masses as it had never been brought before. His “border blaster” radio transmissions and his airplane tours used in his campaign for Governor of Kansas were the predecessors of many modern political campaign tools. He was a uniquely American creation, almost a folk hero, for whom even the exposure of the fraud he had perpetuated failed to dull his image. And Fishbein’s actions in his effort to bring him down brought about the regulatory teeth of the American Medical Association, thereby (hopefully) ensuring that the doctor you see today has a real degree from a real college and is in fact, licensed to treat you.


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Apropos of absolutely nothing at all…

I just downloaded The Dollyrots album, “Because I’m Awesome.” They just played in my hometown of Pittsfield Massachusetts, and for possibly the first time ever, I actually wish I could have been back there instead of here.
It’s a three piece power pop/punk with a female singer--lots of fun, great energy, reminds me of The Fastbacks. I got hooked on the title track “Because I’m Awesome” when I thought about changing my name to Mr. Awesome.

Andy Poncherello has hosted this band back in the homeland a few times now and the band itself now claims Pittsfield (my hometown) as its adopted home city on their Myspace page, which gives me a small swelling of pride.
I just wanted to spread the joy and hopefully maybe you’ll like them as much as I do.

www.daveygandthekeyboard.com