Both of Us .org

This morning was a chilly -14 degrees as we made our way to our respective work places. We hoped spring might appear, or even a few days above freezing. Mother Nature has other plans. March approaches and I certainly feel spring fever. Tulip and crocus bulbs that I planted two weeks ago grow quickly, each rises several inches out of the potting soil. I scanned the seed mailers and look forward to planting heirloom varieties of tomatoes, peas and other vegetables. I should order seeds soon, so I can start some flats growing sometime mid March.

In this cold weather we have been hunkering down in the house the last week or so. Our last weekend was quiet, the first weekend in a while with no visitors and no visits. I did my taxes, JayBee played with is new tiny computer (see previous post) and we watched a the movie Curse of the Golden Flower and several episodes of the Venture Brothers.

The week continues and our home remains quiet. Tomorrow JayBee goes back to the doctor to have the stitches removed from all the the incisions that were made the week before. I believe this weekend we will be more active. Sunday we have plans to attend our first roller derby. The RollerGirls League presents two matches, the Atomic Bombshells vs. the Rockits and the Dagger Dolls vs. the Garda Belts. I have heard about how fun it is to watch roller derby from our good friends Morgon Mae and Pat. I am excited to see it for myself.

We are looking forward to visiting JayBee's sister in Denver. The trip is scheduled for the first weekend in April. This is a continuation of an annual ski trip that has its origins years ago when many of our friends in Washington DC met in the Pennsylvanian Pokonos. Many of these same people have relocated to the Rockies, and the skiing has moved to better mountains. I have yet to ski during any of the last four years I have made the trip. Will this year be my first time? I am a scardy cat when it comes to skiing. I am overly worried I will blow out a knee or ankle (both of which are rather fragile). JayBee will likely try to convince me to give the mountain a try.

We were both excited that our neighbors to the east in Wisconsin supported Barack Obama. He has ten wins in a row and has captured our support over the last few months. Democrats have two very qualified candidates to choose from. Last night we watched Obama speak at a rally in Houston TX to over 20,000 cheering folks. It is refreshing to listen to him, compared to the bumbling speaches from Bush these last seven years. Clinton speaks well too in comparison. The people at the Obama rally were diverse in all respects; race, age, gender. McCain on the other hand is surrounded primarily by old white men. McCain clearly represents a completely different crowd. The election is still many months away, but I feel excited about electing a president (either Obama or Clinton) who I respect and can be proud of.

Labels: Bush, cold weather, Melanoma, perspective, politics, winter

Yet another Democrat has bowed to a Republican whiny tantrum. This time it was California representative Peter Stark. Last week he was speaking on the house floor about S-CHIP (health care for children) and the war in Iraq. He was frustrated that Bush vetoed a bipartisan bill designed to increase the number of children in the USA that could be covered by a successful program. Instead of spending an extra 35 billion dollars to insure several millions of children, 200 billion dollars goes to an effort in Iraq. Starks was threatened censure in the House and has been roundly chastised by members of the Republican party for the following words.

"You don’t have money to fund the war or children,” Mr. Stark told Republicans last week. “But you’re going to spend it to blow up innocent people, if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president’s amusement.”

Are these words offensive enough to merit censure in the house of representatives, or merely a strong statement about the reality of the policies of Bush and the Republican party? Most Americans would agree that we are confused as a nation if we choose to spend so many billions of dollars to blow things up and run an imperial colony in the Middle East, rather than focusing on our own children and making sure they have health care.

Even more disappointing is Democrat submission to Republican temper tantrums. Democrats do not seem to understand what it means to take a position and fight for it. Republicans say crazy thing all the time and get away with it; see Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld, Limbaugh, Coulter etc.

The latest polls show only 25%of Americans think Bush is doing a good job as president. Yet with this overwhelming evidence that Americans are fed up with Bush and his party's policies, Democrats remain timid. Democrats listen to their advisers and focus groups rather than realizing there is a ground swell of resentment regarding the last 6+ years of Republican malfeasance governance.

Democrats should rise up, speak truth, and propose policy without fear of reprisal. If you hold an opinion, you should be able to stand strong in the face of criticism and fight for what you believe in. Stand up to your opposition if they complain their feelings are hurt because you were honest with them regarding the insanity of their policies. If Democrats constantly censor themselves, nothing will change. It is possible to tell Republicans that their policies are wrong and still be respectful.

I fear the Democrats behave this way in hopes of offending the fewest number of persons as possible. Republicans behavior is designed to solidify their base of voters. Clearly it works better to feed 'red meat' to your base to ensure they vote for you, rather than tap dancing around issues, neither impressing nor inspiring anyone. At times like these I really miss the strong progressive leader we once had here in Minnesota, Paul Wellstone.

Labels: politics

How does one prevent the gradual slide towards close-mindedness that seems to afflict many people as they grow older? Each of us has likely shared conversation with someone older than ourselves, who is nostolgic for days long past; peaceful carefree days when none of the problems we have today occured.

I fear becoming one of these persons as I grow older. I wonder about why, when, and how fast I might change. I am approaching forty years of age. Could the changes already be taking place as we speak? Will I one day be looking at my neighborhood with respect and pride, and the next day see it as a place filled with scary people and frightening technology?

This is not an indictment of elderly people. Rather it is my observation of the way the mind begins to change as some people age. A few symptoms of this 'aging disease' include; reflecting on an imagined past that is overly simplified and factually incorrect, disdain for current cultural trends, inflating the severity of current events, and presenting the overall attitude is that "things today are terribly worse than when I was young."

Thankfully, I do not associate many of these symptoms with my day-to-day thoughts. I concede that I often think popular culture is annoying, however I felt the same about popular culture in the 80's and 90's. I realize that societal problems exist today, but recognize there were other problems in the past and there will be different problems in the future. Today's problems are not significantly greater than problems of the past. The past held good times and some not so good times.

Do I want to go back to grade school or high school? Would I want to return to my college days or my mid 20's or early 30's again because those days were somehow better? In a general sense no, reality dictates forward progress through life. I cherish memories of my past and look forward to improving life in the present and future. I might cherry-pick some moments of my past to re-live or reminisce about youthful days of few responsibilities, but I will not damn the present because of experiences I had in the past.

One possible cause of the sour attitude of some older folks might be that society has left them behind. Perhaps some older people build bubbles of reality that may artificially lock them into one period of time. Years may peacefully pass until one day events occur which break their bubble and force in some reality. This event can be harsh and frightening, difficult to understand in light of the artificial bubble world. Further, there may be a realization that cultural norms have moved so far and so fast that one can no longer integrate oneself into the present. This could make one frustrated, angry, intolerant, and basically detached from much of what the present has to offer.

One possible preventative measure to avoid this dead end, is to remain engaged in the present. On a local level, getting to know new neighbors as they move in and staying involved with persons you have known for long time. Make new friendships to supplement your old friendships. Remain open-minded to new technology and the changes this technology brings to how the world runs. Change sometimes improves things.

This last point brings to mind the frustration that introducing roundabouts has caused to some with people in this area. They complain about the new traffic patterns without regard to the fact they will actually improve how cars get through a busy intersection.

Don't let far away events or isolated incidences dictate what you think about young people or society at large. Our world is a big place with more and more people born into it every day. Strange events and horrible tragedies are beamed into our living rooms or computer screens. We see these things more because such information is so easily transmitted now, however these bizarre and horrible things have been occurring since humans have walked the earth.

In short, I hope to stay young at mind as long as possible.

Labels: perspective, politics

I want to thank my friend, roller derby ninja, and soccer playing buddy April Soylent Mean for finding the Queen of the Scottish Fairies.

The comic above, much like the film Ma Vie en Rose "My Life in Pink" explores a child that embraces a gender outside of the binary "norm."

Growing up in a family where I was for many years the only boy in a family of seven sisters, I can remember wanting to be able to use lip gloss and wear high-healed shoes like my sisters and knowing from disapproving looks from my parents and siblings that this was not acceptable. Eventually, in grade school and middle school I got the feminine parts of my personality beaten out of me by macho Italian classmates in Catholic school.

If you have a spare moment check out the Queen of the Scottish Fairies link above, or put Ma Vie en Rose in your Netflicks que.

Labels: gender, politics

Readers may have noticed the general lack of controversial postings here lately. Instead we mainly have been writing about day to day events in our lives. I once saw the blog as a place to air some thoughts about politics and policies of our government. I grew tired of my inaction regarding my thoughts and gave up writing about them.

Not much has changed in my mind. I continue to believe our country is governed by self-serving politicians. Strong armed American policies are the actions of a world dominating empire. What has slowly changed, is my belief that I can any effect on this situation. Yes, at one point I was a blind idealist. I feel futility in that I do not think that even the thoughts or beliefs of the majority of Americans can have any changing effects on the American government or its policies.

Take the Iraq war: over 2/3 of Americans agree that the USA should define policy to get our troops out of Iraq. The populous has polled this way for over two years and what happened? 30,000 more Americans were sent in the last nine months and over those two years nearly 2000 American soldiers have died.

Of course the USA is not a true democracy, but a Republic. We vote for people to represent our will. These people will not always act in harmony with majority rule, but instead govern using their own faculties. So one would not expect all of the majority opinions to always be acted upon.

In the era of the civil rights movement, a majority of Americans were clearly on the side of status quo. With the judicial branch of government, our legislators made bold policy changes to enable civil rights laws. I selfishly hope that our governing bodies will change laws permitting gays and lesbians to enter lawful and recognized partnerships. At this time the will of the majority may be against such "gay marriages."

Playing devils advocate, I wonder if we are seeing governing against majority opinion towards results that will be beneficial in the long run. Perhaps the war waged in Iraq years in the future will be viewed as a major turn towards moderation in the Arab region. Perhaps the role the USA plays now will stabilize the region, bring peace to Israel and Palestine, will maintain the free flow of oil and resources and will make the world think again of the USA as a grand beneficent force.

I doubt it.

I am not optimistic regarding those possibilities. My opinions are based on real time observation and reflection of past actions and events. Looking back on the Bush governance of America instills no confidence in what they propose for the future. (See also Hurricane Katrina, missing weapons of mass destruction, Alberto Gonzalez, etc.) There are currently no major changes in the direction of "rehabilitation" of the Iraqi nation. This war continues to be a slow bleed going on nearly six years. Time and time again we have been told that the next 6-9 months will be decisive. When that time elapses, we are told to be patient and allow the new policies to take effect. Rinse... lather... repeat.

Sadly we take few options create change. The opposition party is scarcely different, willing to funnel more life and prosperity into this war for fear of being labeled unpatriotic. The media, controlled by major corporate interests, fully enables the war continuing without giving account of the full measure of pain and suffering we inflict daily on families here and half a world away.

Headline News Distraction:
Did you see how fat Britney Spears looked at her last performance?

Americans overwhelmingly desire a break from failed foreign policies, yet are often met with the turned backs of politicians and pundits who live in a bubble of wonk and self-aggrandizement.

That to me, is a strong dose of futility.

Labels: politics

If we do not defend our rights, we will lose them.

Have you heard about network neutrality?

If you use the internet, you should know what is happening in the US Congress right now. The long and the short of it is that corporations want to change the basic principles of the internet to give preference to big business interests.

Watch this video to learn more.

Labels: computers, politics

All is moderately well in Minneapolis lately. We are hosting our good friend from Holland for a few weeks, enjoying the perks of having guests (i.e. going out to eat more, having more social entertainment, exploring our fair city etc.) The weather has been shaping up nicely too, and I took advantage of that to do some much needed yard work last weekend.

Beyond these somewhat day to day casual events, I am writing to point curious eyes and minds to an excellent article written in the English press, the Guardian. Naomi Wolf's writing is entitled Fascist America, in 10 Easy Steps. She lays out a convincing case for the slow degradation of American democracy into a fascist state. It may not happen over night, but many of the warning signs are very present.

Among one of my pet peeves with America in general is the overall complacency of our public. Often far too concerned with the popular TV show, or celebrity scandal, collectively we as a society ignore day to day governance which threatens to take away rights and freedoms we as Americans take for granted. With this in mind, it might not be far fetched to think of American Democracy in decline. The article in the Guardian take us through step by step how democracies decline into fascist states. Please take the time to read this interesting article.

Labels: politics

If you read some of the political posts written on our blog, you undoubtedly know that I am not fond of the current President and his administration. In my last post I described another example of deceit and corruption the Bush clan. I do not want America run in this way; I do not want further examples of Bush incompetence or wrong doing plastered over the front pages of newspapers across the world.

Sadly another example has come out late this week. The current scandal involves one of the shining stars of the neo-conservative movement, Paul Wolfowitz. As you may or may not be aware, Mr. Wolfowitz, as deputy to Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentegon (deputy Secretary of Defense), was one of the leading architects of the Iraq war.

In 2005, President Bush nominated Wolfowitz to head the World Bank (an organization which loans money to developing nations). I am not certain if this was an assignment to get Wolfowitz away from a failing war in Iraq, or if it was designed to push the neo-conservative influence beyond the boundaries of the United States. The nomination smacks of Bush cronyism.

Labels: Bush, failure, Paul Wolfowitz, politics, Republicans, scandal

I am amazed with the total contempt that the Bush Administration has towards everything that is not Republican. The long list of failures, corruption and bad governing goes on and on, and there are still upwards of 40% of our country who view our president in a positive light.

I have just finished reading about how upwards of 5 million e-mail of dozens of Bush Administration members have seemingly vanished into the ether. Normally all official Whitehouse business communications, be they transcripts, letters or e-mails, must be preserved for accountability. Instead of using only official Whitehouse e-mail accounts, many members of the Bush team have been using off site e-mail. Their claim is they do not want to waste taxpayer resources to do non-Whitehouse business (i.e. Republican party fund raising). However there is evidence these off site e-mail accounts were indeed also being used for official Whitehouse business and thus doing an end-around the accountability protocols. Now it turns out that millions of these e-mails no longer exist.

Of course we are suppose to believe this massive data purge is nothing to concern our pretty minds about (maybe it was all SPAM). The honorable Bush crew would never use these off-site e-mail systems to do unscrupulous business.

I simply have no more trust left. There are a Thousand Reasons why this Administration is a failure. These people have lied and lied and lied over the last 6 years. It blows my mind that anyone could look at this news and think there is not something they are hiding. Five million e-mail messages vanish; it is amazing.

Labels: Bush, corruption, email, failure, politics