A response to a facebook friend who wrote this about the article: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/12/22/the-strategic-failure-of-the-purist-lefts-persistent-attacks-on-president-obama/
'
I'm no purist, but I do think Obama deserves criticism for his failure to negotiate on tough issues. Like David Brooks and others have noted extensively, he caves before negotiations start.
This is quite different than the example set by Ury and Fisher, two most noted experts on negotiation:
"Any method of negotiation may be fairly judged by three criteria: It should produce a wise agreement if agreement is possible. It should be efficient. And it should improve or at least not harm the relationship between the parties. (A wise agreement can be defined as one that meets the legitimate interests of each side to the extent possible, resolves conflicting interests fairly, is durable, and takes community interests into account." 'Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In' -- Ury, Fisher and Patton
I think that Obama does the latter two things well. I think he is an efficient pragmatist who works to improve relationships between his party and the other. But I don't believe that he is very skilled at interest-based bargaining. And he often resorts to positional bargaining.
When he does, he often takes a position then gives it up without much debate or discussion. He is usually the first to concede, and continues to do so until the essence of the original interest is lost.
Instead, he ought to negotiate from a position of combined interests, like with the payroll tax extension, where both parties wanted the same thing. They really couldn't afford not to find a common ground on which to stand.
The President ought to be better able to discern where that is, and work toward it. For whatever reason, Obama hasn't been able to do so, and I don't totally fault him for that. But I do fault him for giving up the things which the American people supported (like a public non-profit option for health insurance) before the dirty work of negotiation actually began.
And I am no lefty. I'm a left-leaning centrist, recovering hard-right religious conservative. Seriously.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
A response to Milele Coggs:
In reply to the question of how to create jobs:
Corporate personhood and the dominance of lobbyists must be eliminated from the political process. The economy needs regulation, and that's been prevented by powerful forces which represent what caused the economic divide to become the unsustainable one which exists today.
The corporations always want to make bigger profits, maintain current living standards, even when their workers are stretched to their limits to create an artificial productivity which is also unsustainable. We're doing three jobs now just so people who run these businesses can maintain a boon-level profit margin.
So while Exxon Mobil has made the biggest profits in the history of the world (twice in two quarters in the past few years), they've cried hardship and been granted benefits as if they were struggling to create jobs.
We need economists and elected officials to remind businesses that without a vibrant middle class there is no market for their products. There is no economy which will remain viable. Then again, the long-term business plans of corporations do not really consider the long-time health of this economy. They build for the next quarter.
Regulation can change that.
We need to keep the top market for U.S. goods as the local one. Yeah, exports are great, but without our priority on our own we've got less natural accountability for these corporations. They can build the Chinese ports and economy--knowing that they'll have an emerging market for goods which we won't be able to afford over here.
So we need to shepherd these corporations toward three things:
1) Realizing the new profit-margin reality. Accepting the new normal, and hiring more employees to ease the burden on their employees.
2) Building for the long term. Reminding them that this is their primary market and they should invest in the health of our nation. This should lead to ending outsourcing.
3) Identities as businesses, and not as people. They do not deserve human rights. Humans do.
Corporate personhood and the dominance of lobbyists must be eliminated from the political process. The economy needs regulation, and that's been prevented by powerful forces which represent what caused the economic divide to become the unsustainable one which exists today.
The corporations always want to make bigger profits, maintain current living standards, even when their workers are stretched to their limits to create an artificial productivity which is also unsustainable. We're doing three jobs now just so people who run these businesses can maintain a boon-level profit margin.
So while Exxon Mobil has made the biggest profits in the history of the world (twice in two quarters in the past few years), they've cried hardship and been granted benefits as if they were struggling to create jobs.
We need economists and elected officials to remind businesses that without a vibrant middle class there is no market for their products. There is no economy which will remain viable. Then again, the long-term business plans of corporations do not really consider the long-time health of this economy. They build for the next quarter.
Regulation can change that.
We need to keep the top market for U.S. goods as the local one. Yeah, exports are great, but without our priority on our own we've got less natural accountability for these corporations. They can build the Chinese ports and economy--knowing that they'll have an emerging market for goods which we won't be able to afford over here.
So we need to shepherd these corporations toward three things:
1) Realizing the new profit-margin reality. Accepting the new normal, and hiring more employees to ease the burden on their employees.
2) Building for the long term. Reminding them that this is their primary market and they should invest in the health of our nation. This should lead to ending outsourcing.
3) Identities as businesses, and not as people. They do not deserve human rights. Humans do.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Fear, Progression, and Time
What I learned in Northern Ireland has enabled me to understand the Scott Walker era in Wisconsin.
When those who have power fear that they're losing it, they do crazy things. This is often the catalyst for conflict throughout the globe. They've already lost. No generation behind them will support their politics in this increasingly connected world. Zuckerberg ought to be given a Nobel Peace Prize--I mean, facebook has toppled despotic regimes and enabled movements which are truly grassroots, like the "occupy" movements.
The Tea Party, conversely, is a puppet organization run with intentionally vague leadership structures, but funded by well-organized financial backers--who have increasingly more destructive intentions for our economic future. They want to keep what they've gleaned unfairly and unjustly, and create a permanent majority which will enable them to keep their dissipating power. We're losing some battles versus this well-funded machine, but we will never lose the war. They're assuring it by their lack of introspection.
This may be their day, and we'll suffer the fears and consequences of the assaults of these cowards who think they're heroes. But the radical right is alienating people, and it is not easily justified to the young.
So even though they legislate to change the rules, break the law, and try to mitigate the shifting tide of opinion among the generations who are younger than them, they will not prevail. Our younger generations are more peaceful, less truncated, and more globally connected, and thus, more progressive.
It is time which is our biggest ally. The world is a more peaceful one right now than it has been, largely due to the efforts of the same U.N. which is demonized by the same. The meek ARE getting ready to prevail, and we will, in time.
When those who have power fear that they're losing it, they do crazy things. This is often the catalyst for conflict throughout the globe. They've already lost. No generation behind them will support their politics in this increasingly connected world. Zuckerberg ought to be given a Nobel Peace Prize--I mean, facebook has toppled despotic regimes and enabled movements which are truly grassroots, like the "occupy" movements.
The Tea Party, conversely, is a puppet organization run with intentionally vague leadership structures, but funded by well-organized financial backers--who have increasingly more destructive intentions for our economic future. They want to keep what they've gleaned unfairly and unjustly, and create a permanent majority which will enable them to keep their dissipating power. We're losing some battles versus this well-funded machine, but we will never lose the war. They're assuring it by their lack of introspection.
This may be their day, and we'll suffer the fears and consequences of the assaults of these cowards who think they're heroes. But the radical right is alienating people, and it is not easily justified to the young.
So even though they legislate to change the rules, break the law, and try to mitigate the shifting tide of opinion among the generations who are younger than them, they will not prevail. Our younger generations are more peaceful, less truncated, and more globally connected, and thus, more progressive.
It is time which is our biggest ally. The world is a more peaceful one right now than it has been, largely due to the efforts of the same U.N. which is demonized by the same. The meek ARE getting ready to prevail, and we will, in time.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
What the 99 percent need...
is increased wages.
No plan on either side of the aisle addresses an increasingly significant core issue of our economic downturn, wage depression. When the average middle class male makes 1,500 less per year now than he made in 1973, we have problems.
Nothing, apart from regulation and health care reform, can restore the take home pay which has been lost. No business will suddenly decide to pay their employees 20% more after a deal is done. So where must we recoup the lost income? We must find a way to lower the cost of benefits so that people are taking home more money.
We also need to see the cost of health care return to the levels they were at pre-2000. People don't spend money if they have less and less discretionary spending. The CEOs and magnates don't understand that because they don't live that way.
Meanwhile, the stability factor our or state and national economy, public workers and their consistent wages and benefits... and therefore stable tax base... have been diminished and eradicated.
So we're operating with less of a foundation than before. The base is gone, the middle-class is non-existent.
The big businesses are making stable profits due to our strained increased productivity and the deregulation and decreased taxation of the Bush era. But they are not willing to relinquish anything that was granted to them, or open their coffers and hire new employees.
All the talk about small businesses is smoke and mirrors. They're of no concern to the plutocrats. If more small businesses fail our nation will become more and more controlled by fewer and fewer entities, like in the food industry. The "Wal-Martization" of our economy helps no small business. Instead, like what that company did to Rubbermaid the year after they were considered the best-run business in USA, they'll be forced by the massive corporate machines to outsource, reduce quality, and lower costs to the point where there is nothing left of what the previous company was--except for the name.
I like some things about Herman Cain, but he should know that a 9% sales tax would further stunt our economic growth, even with a lower income tax. Sales tax is regressive because the middle class and below spend a larger percentage of their income on goods and services. So they'll pay a higher percentage price for that plan... which will mean that they will be more hard pressed and afraid to spend each dollar they earn.
Somewhat like the impact of Walker's budget bill on my income at the lowest end of the state income spectrum... it means I lost 16% of my total income. Meanwhile, a professor or a state official might see a 5% loss of income. With sales tax, the rich often don't have to pay it--not unlike the way they've got loopholes for corporate taxes right now. A large percentage of companies pay zero corporate taxes.
We need to create a regulation system which makes it very hard to outsource, which restores fiscal sanity to utilities, energy, and health care. We need for the middle class to be paid for their sacrifices, and for their debts... increasingly created by shrinking incomes and promises of future prosperity, should be forgiven.
The year of Jubilee is NOW.
No plan on either side of the aisle addresses an increasingly significant core issue of our economic downturn, wage depression. When the average middle class male makes 1,500 less per year now than he made in 1973, we have problems.
Nothing, apart from regulation and health care reform, can restore the take home pay which has been lost. No business will suddenly decide to pay their employees 20% more after a deal is done. So where must we recoup the lost income? We must find a way to lower the cost of benefits so that people are taking home more money.
We also need to see the cost of health care return to the levels they were at pre-2000. People don't spend money if they have less and less discretionary spending. The CEOs and magnates don't understand that because they don't live that way.
Meanwhile, the stability factor our or state and national economy, public workers and their consistent wages and benefits... and therefore stable tax base... have been diminished and eradicated.
So we're operating with less of a foundation than before. The base is gone, the middle-class is non-existent.
The big businesses are making stable profits due to our strained increased productivity and the deregulation and decreased taxation of the Bush era. But they are not willing to relinquish anything that was granted to them, or open their coffers and hire new employees.
All the talk about small businesses is smoke and mirrors. They're of no concern to the plutocrats. If more small businesses fail our nation will become more and more controlled by fewer and fewer entities, like in the food industry. The "Wal-Martization" of our economy helps no small business. Instead, like what that company did to Rubbermaid the year after they were considered the best-run business in USA, they'll be forced by the massive corporate machines to outsource, reduce quality, and lower costs to the point where there is nothing left of what the previous company was--except for the name.
I like some things about Herman Cain, but he should know that a 9% sales tax would further stunt our economic growth, even with a lower income tax. Sales tax is regressive because the middle class and below spend a larger percentage of their income on goods and services. So they'll pay a higher percentage price for that plan... which will mean that they will be more hard pressed and afraid to spend each dollar they earn.
Somewhat like the impact of Walker's budget bill on my income at the lowest end of the state income spectrum... it means I lost 16% of my total income. Meanwhile, a professor or a state official might see a 5% loss of income. With sales tax, the rich often don't have to pay it--not unlike the way they've got loopholes for corporate taxes right now. A large percentage of companies pay zero corporate taxes.
We need to create a regulation system which makes it very hard to outsource, which restores fiscal sanity to utilities, energy, and health care. We need for the middle class to be paid for their sacrifices, and for their debts... increasingly created by shrinking incomes and promises of future prosperity, should be forgiven.
The year of Jubilee is NOW.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Uncertain Wants
Have you ever made yourself sick wanting something, only to find out that you really didn't want that thing when you acquired it?
Monday, July 18, 2011
GOP Files For Moral Bankruptcy
Recently, an acquaintance replied to a thread with this title by claiming that the left became morally bankrupt "long, long ago."
I was astounded that a Christian could make such a claim, but not surprised. I'm sure he was referring to the two pillars of the GOP religious-right manipulation campaign, homosexuality and abortion. If this friend really believes that the GOP champion these two issues which are often the litmus test of their truncated view of morality, then he ought to ask himself why the GOP hasn't eliminated abortions, and why they're waffling on things like civil unions. They don't care about those issues at all, apart from the entrenched religious-right votes--which are consistently driven by fear and myopic religious fervor.
Sure, if you believe that those two issues are pillars of right doctrine, then you can judge those you vote for by how they think about these issues. But to do so within a Christian context is woefully incomplete. These are ancillary issues of faith, not even discussed by Christ even once in his time on Earth.
It depends what you define as morality, but I have found that there are moral blind spots which are much more immoral on the right side of the fence. The religious right ignores the mandates of Christ himself to serve the poor and heal the sick by supporting the GOP agendas which marginalize more of the poor and eliminate the possibility for the sick to be healed. They espouse beliefs that people should earn these things, even though the central doctrine of their own salvation narrative is that salvation is a free gift which cannot be earned by merit.
The entire message of the christian faith, on whose backs the party has ridden for years without true allegiance, is undermined by the right's lack of compassion. The arrogance of the right is so intertwined with the politics of late that there is little morality to be found at all. The number one thing in Christ's message was love. It was the very reason which he became incarnate and died on the cross. It is what separated the message of Christianity from the pantheon of other world religions. But the small "c" christianity of the GOP undermines that message so that there is little difference, and that the message of salvation is completely individual, and a choice.
This fits with the skewed message of the right. They've pushed a hyper-individualistic message which champions personal responsibility and lacks any pity for those who lack the skills or the resources to make it within that sort of environment. They've pitted the rich versus the poor and given human rights to corporations, which are the most amoral (lately, mostly immoral) entities on Earth. The GOP has lost it's way. There are few Republicans who are doing more than fighting for their political lives right now. They cannot possibly believe that what they are doing is in any way "moral" or "right".
Then again, I guess I have much more hope that people actually take courageous moral inventories regularly of their own lives and values. The 12 steps have taught me, and many folks like me that without being able to hold one's self accountable, and having others to do the same, that we are likely to be moral train wrecks.
The individualism posing as patriotism of the right is the problem. It leads to sin, and hence, immorality. The GOP has lost it's way, and has become a more insidious evil--an angel of light foretold in the Bible as the utmost of evil.
The left is not free from sin and manipulation. They do politics too, but not with the same hatred of the right. The left often legitimately loves, even if imperfectly, and does put forth effort toward filling the gaps within society. They aren't tied to the same level of corporate greed because there's so much less profit to be made while serving the marginalized.
Sure, poverty can also be a big business. But they're often closer to the message of Christ than the right. Still, I think that Milwaukee Sewer Socialism trumps both of them in that category, despite the irrational fear and vinegar which has been spewed behind the term "socialism" in the past ten years. There's always been a strong socialist element as an offset within our U.S. political system, and to root it out now, amidst such a climate of brutal capitalism, would be the end of our great nation.
I mean it. I think that it will doom us to suffer a dismal end. Then again, have any of you noticed that there is no Eagle in the Revelation story? It has always perplexed me that we're not hinted at being part of Armageddon. We'll be the modern epitome of the Roman Empire, it seems. I hope that I do not live to see such things.
I was astounded that a Christian could make such a claim, but not surprised. I'm sure he was referring to the two pillars of the GOP religious-right manipulation campaign, homosexuality and abortion. If this friend really believes that the GOP champion these two issues which are often the litmus test of their truncated view of morality, then he ought to ask himself why the GOP hasn't eliminated abortions, and why they're waffling on things like civil unions. They don't care about those issues at all, apart from the entrenched religious-right votes--which are consistently driven by fear and myopic religious fervor.
Sure, if you believe that those two issues are pillars of right doctrine, then you can judge those you vote for by how they think about these issues. But to do so within a Christian context is woefully incomplete. These are ancillary issues of faith, not even discussed by Christ even once in his time on Earth.
It depends what you define as morality, but I have found that there are moral blind spots which are much more immoral on the right side of the fence. The religious right ignores the mandates of Christ himself to serve the poor and heal the sick by supporting the GOP agendas which marginalize more of the poor and eliminate the possibility for the sick to be healed. They espouse beliefs that people should earn these things, even though the central doctrine of their own salvation narrative is that salvation is a free gift which cannot be earned by merit.
The entire message of the christian faith, on whose backs the party has ridden for years without true allegiance, is undermined by the right's lack of compassion. The arrogance of the right is so intertwined with the politics of late that there is little morality to be found at all. The number one thing in Christ's message was love. It was the very reason which he became incarnate and died on the cross. It is what separated the message of Christianity from the pantheon of other world religions. But the small "c" christianity of the GOP undermines that message so that there is little difference, and that the message of salvation is completely individual, and a choice.
This fits with the skewed message of the right. They've pushed a hyper-individualistic message which champions personal responsibility and lacks any pity for those who lack the skills or the resources to make it within that sort of environment. They've pitted the rich versus the poor and given human rights to corporations, which are the most amoral (lately, mostly immoral) entities on Earth. The GOP has lost it's way. There are few Republicans who are doing more than fighting for their political lives right now. They cannot possibly believe that what they are doing is in any way "moral" or "right".
Then again, I guess I have much more hope that people actually take courageous moral inventories regularly of their own lives and values. The 12 steps have taught me, and many folks like me that without being able to hold one's self accountable, and having others to do the same, that we are likely to be moral train wrecks.
The individualism posing as patriotism of the right is the problem. It leads to sin, and hence, immorality. The GOP has lost it's way, and has become a more insidious evil--an angel of light foretold in the Bible as the utmost of evil.
The left is not free from sin and manipulation. They do politics too, but not with the same hatred of the right. The left often legitimately loves, even if imperfectly, and does put forth effort toward filling the gaps within society. They aren't tied to the same level of corporate greed because there's so much less profit to be made while serving the marginalized.
Sure, poverty can also be a big business. But they're often closer to the message of Christ than the right. Still, I think that Milwaukee Sewer Socialism trumps both of them in that category, despite the irrational fear and vinegar which has been spewed behind the term "socialism" in the past ten years. There's always been a strong socialist element as an offset within our U.S. political system, and to root it out now, amidst such a climate of brutal capitalism, would be the end of our great nation.
I mean it. I think that it will doom us to suffer a dismal end. Then again, have any of you noticed that there is no Eagle in the Revelation story? It has always perplexed me that we're not hinted at being part of Armageddon. We'll be the modern epitome of the Roman Empire, it seems. I hope that I do not live to see such things.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
God, Liberty, & Capitalists
Ron Paul is right to cite the source of our liberty being from the divine. The Declaration of Independence spells this out quite clearly.
But one must ask then why corporations are granted the same inalienable rights as individual persons. Doesn't that make the Capitalist who created the corporations GOD?
But one must ask then why corporations are granted the same inalienable rights as individual persons. Doesn't that make the Capitalist who created the corporations GOD?
Ann Coulter's Dangerous Judgement
So apparently Ann Coulter is on a book tour now. She's written a book, 'Demonic', about how liberals have an evil mob mentality, and act out as 'mobs' in many cases.
I think that Ann is more than simply mistaken. She's got it backwards. The actions of the Tea Party, and of her cohorts in the conservative press, Fox News in particular, is quite similar to that of a mob. Whether it's evil is up to God to decide. Here's why.
The thing is that what Coulter says about liberals is the antithesis of reality. It's actually true of her party, particularly in the last ten years.
The liberal is actually, by nature, more capable of thinking as an individual, even within a crowd. The mentality of the right is often more driven by strong leaders and a pack mentality.
And, for the religious side of her accusation, mainstream Christian theology teaches that the most effective tool of the demonic forces is for the devil or his minions to pose as "an angel of light". Evil posing as good.
Conversely, the unforgivable sin noted in the Bible has often been identified as equating evil with the divine. The person who makes such a judgement opens themselves up to hell either way by my count...
I think that Ann is more than simply mistaken. She's got it backwards. The actions of the Tea Party, and of her cohorts in the conservative press, Fox News in particular, is quite similar to that of a mob. Whether it's evil is up to God to decide. Here's why.
The thing is that what Coulter says about liberals is the antithesis of reality. It's actually true of her party, particularly in the last ten years.
The liberal is actually, by nature, more capable of thinking as an individual, even within a crowd. The mentality of the right is often more driven by strong leaders and a pack mentality.
And, for the religious side of her accusation, mainstream Christian theology teaches that the most effective tool of the demonic forces is for the devil or his minions to pose as "an angel of light". Evil posing as good.
Conversely, the unforgivable sin noted in the Bible has often been identified as equating evil with the divine. The person who makes such a judgement opens themselves up to hell either way by my count...
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Letter to NPR...
Hello WUWM friends,
By now we know that the Cato Institute is a puppet org for the interests of the Koch brothers. Created by them to gird their political agendas, the Cato institute is now understood to be a ruse. Remember, they're behind the "climategate" scandal, the instigators of bad press versus the entire climate science community, and the biggest contributors to efforts to roll back environmental initiatives.
That's ancillary to the story I heard this morning in the 9:00 hour, which was about teachers and their reputations in the public sector. Twice the Cato Institute was referenced and given a chance for their rep to comment on perceptions about teachers and their unions. This is outrageous! (sorry, I had to use an exclamation) The Koch brothers have been funding ads in WI and around the country which have done much like what climategate did, skew the public perception against teachers and their unions.
I'm a long time listener, and a recovering fundamentalist from the far religious-right, but even I was disappointed when I heard the reference to the "Cato Institute: a libertarian" think-tank. First, the Cato institute is not Libertarian in their practice of their focus. They have no philosophical basis for that claim. It's just a tag they've chosen to purport to seem ideologically ethereal.
By now we know that the Cato Institute is a puppet org for the interests of the Koch brothers. Created by them to gird their political agendas, the Cato institute is now understood to be a ruse. Remember, they're behind the "climategate" scandal, the instigators of bad press versus the entire climate science community, and the biggest contributors to efforts to roll back environmental initiatives.
That's ancillary to the story I heard this morning in the 9:00 hour, which was about teachers and their reputations in the public sector. Twice the Cato Institute was referenced and given a chance for their rep to comment on perceptions about teachers and their unions. This is outrageous! (sorry, I had to use an exclamation) The Koch brothers have been funding ads in WI and around the country which have done much like what climategate did, skew the public perception against teachers and their unions.
In WI, just after 100,000 plus teachers and supporters of unions were at the Capital, amidst weeks of protests, the Koch brothers, through their second of three puppet orgs, The Americans for Prosperity, began running ads which demonized teachers for missing classes, and their unions as thugs and malcontents. The very same ad played in your NPR story may have been funded by the Koch's, then your reporter cites their research into the perceptions?
I know that the Cato institute is the equivalent of an intra-agency metrics tracking entity to measure the results of their own efforts to sway perception and gain political capital. But NPR, as the last bastion of objective journalism in USA, should not post their quarterly numbers, so to speak. Please make every effort to expunge any notion that the Cato Institute has any credibility or objectivity. They don't . It's time that NOVA dump funding from one ot the Koch brothers and it's time that NPR severs any and all ties to any of the 35 or so orgs which they fund.
I know that the Cato institute is the equivalent of an intra-agency metrics tracking entity to measure the results of their own efforts to sway perception and gain political capital. But NPR, as the last bastion of objective journalism in USA, should not post their quarterly numbers, so to speak. Please make every effort to expunge any notion that the Cato Institute has any credibility or objectivity. They don't . It's time that NOVA dump funding from one ot the Koch brothers and it's time that NPR severs any and all ties to any of the 35 or so orgs which they fund.
That story was not journalism, it was an infomercial.
Thank you for your time. I've certainly come a long, long way from the days when I would have eaten that up.
Peace,
Christian E. Vettrus
Milwaukee, WI USA
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Sagging Jeans Prohibition Not Merely Intrusive
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/14/nation/la-na-baggy-pants-20110415
"intrusiveness by government has reached a new peak in America, with the State of Florida now in the process of legislating a dress code that bans baggy pants. Seriously! I can't believe the Florida electorate voted in the current governor and legislature in order to get laws like this." -- fb friend
A friend posted this on Facebook regarding a new law in Florida to prohibit sagging/baggy jeans.
Although I agree that it is intrusive. I am torn. I live in the inner-city of one of the most segregated cities in USA, and worked with semi-incarcerated juveniles for 5 years.
Sagging is a problem. I see youths with their pants beneath their manhood out on the streets regularly. There might even be a belt cinched, but it's beneath their rear end. This is indecent at the very least.
But the real problem is that those pants with 28" legs are used to hide weapons and things. We confiscated them as contraband when the kids were admitted to our facilities (I worked at two different ones). I've seen a gangbanger produce a baseball bat from one of those pairs of jeans on one occasion, and that's not the worst sort of weapon that they conceal.
These pants are also used for property theft and shoplifting. Again, they hold an awful lot.
I've not been quite able to discern the sagging phenom as a counterpart of this second issue, but often the cause is quite different than one might think. I sometimes wonder if someone sags their jeans to show that they're unarmed. The gangbanger who is armed is often grasping the jeans waist and possibly the weapon with one hand at all times, so who knows?
I know that when I first lived in the 'hood I was judgemental about why folks walk down the middle of the street and not the sidewalk. Then I realized that people often don't shovel snow off the walks in the winter round here... and that you are less likely to be jumped if you walk in the street. So it actually makes some sense.
Of course, the drug dealers walk in the street to facilitate quick transactions also.
Anyway, don't be so quick to apply the same outrage to this issue. It isn't just minority youths who wear these things. It's all types of them. They're kids, and they need structure anyway.
But they're not the problem. The companies like JNCO who produce these clothes are... and they produce jeans with logos that are tailored to gang bangers. They have five and six pointed crowns embroidered on them depending upon the maker.
What people don't realize is that many major clothing and shoe manufacturers have actually tailored their lines of clothing to gangs. Converse, Nike, Starter and others are notorious for this. It's a fact that most white folks don't see. But I can identify clothes which are used to "flag" for gang membership.
The baggy jeans are an emblem of a dangerous subculture which is not race-bound. It's complicated for sure. No simple answers here. Big Brother in this case is more right than wrong...
"intrusiveness by government has reached a new peak in America, with the State of Florida now in the process of legislating a dress code that bans baggy pants. Seriously! I can't believe the Florida electorate voted in the current governor and legislature in order to get laws like this." -- fb friend
A friend posted this on Facebook regarding a new law in Florida to prohibit sagging/baggy jeans.
Although I agree that it is intrusive. I am torn. I live in the inner-city of one of the most segregated cities in USA, and worked with semi-incarcerated juveniles for 5 years.
Sagging is a problem. I see youths with their pants beneath their manhood out on the streets regularly. There might even be a belt cinched, but it's beneath their rear end. This is indecent at the very least.
But the real problem is that those pants with 28" legs are used to hide weapons and things. We confiscated them as contraband when the kids were admitted to our facilities (I worked at two different ones). I've seen a gangbanger produce a baseball bat from one of those pairs of jeans on one occasion, and that's not the worst sort of weapon that they conceal.
These pants are also used for property theft and shoplifting. Again, they hold an awful lot.
I've not been quite able to discern the sagging phenom as a counterpart of this second issue, but often the cause is quite different than one might think. I sometimes wonder if someone sags their jeans to show that they're unarmed. The gangbanger who is armed is often grasping the jeans waist and possibly the weapon with one hand at all times, so who knows?
I know that when I first lived in the 'hood I was judgemental about why folks walk down the middle of the street and not the sidewalk. Then I realized that people often don't shovel snow off the walks in the winter round here... and that you are less likely to be jumped if you walk in the street. So it actually makes some sense.
Of course, the drug dealers walk in the street to facilitate quick transactions also.
Anyway, don't be so quick to apply the same outrage to this issue. It isn't just minority youths who wear these things. It's all types of them. They're kids, and they need structure anyway.
But they're not the problem. The companies like JNCO who produce these clothes are... and they produce jeans with logos that are tailored to gang bangers. They have five and six pointed crowns embroidered on them depending upon the maker.
What people don't realize is that many major clothing and shoe manufacturers have actually tailored their lines of clothing to gangs. Converse, Nike, Starter and others are notorious for this. It's a fact that most white folks don't see. But I can identify clothes which are used to "flag" for gang membership.
The baggy jeans are an emblem of a dangerous subculture which is not race-bound. It's complicated for sure. No simple answers here. Big Brother in this case is more right than wrong...
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Blessed are the flexible for they'll not be bent out of shape.
May I learn to bend with the wind,
like a rock in a stream.
May I understand the patience,
of sincere transformation.
Mold my heart like play-doh,
press it into childlike shapes.
Quench the raging fires,
which cause my heart to burn.
Still my desperattion,
and quiet my labored breath.
For I am thoroughly fragile,
and completely broken.
My Unfathomable Love Reciprocated
I'm immeasurably blessed to be loved by my wife.
I am flabbergasted by how much I love her.
For the life of me,
I cannot figure out why she loves me.
But it's the gasoline in my tank,
She's the balm to my wounds,
I am flabbergasted by how much I love her.
For the life of me,
I cannot figure out why she loves me.
But it's the gasoline in my tank,
She's the balm to my wounds,
My muse and my counselor,
And her presence makes me swoon.
And her presence makes me swoon.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Good Friday
Today was the first time I have been able to attend an Episcopalian Good Friday service. We've been attending our church for about nine years now, but each year I have been unable or unwilling to take the time off to attend the service. Or, we've been traveling to our parents houses for Easter family time.
The latter has always been a tradition for both of our families. It's been a time to get together around the Christian holiday and have a brief visit, usually complicated by the fact that our places of employment don't give time off for it, and that my wife has often worked for churches. She works as a part-time lay minister right now for our church, and it seems important that she be here on most high holy days for that reason.
But usually we're out of town. This year, in my fortieth year on the planet, the time seemed right for what might be a permanent change. We decided to stay home and immerse ourselves in the traditions of our Holy Week. It's been great so far.
I've always been more inspired by penitence than celebration, so Holy Week seems to fit my worship posture (prostrate) of choice, and the Good Friday liturgy was incredibly profound. I must admit that it was quite a bit longer than I had liked, and that my knees and back were sore after the 75 minute service. But that seemed appropriate to the day.
What was most encouraging was the liturgy itself, which mentions many things in the solemn collects which I have never prayed for in a church, even ours. I remember praying for all levels of government by name, including the United Nations (which is the unique part), and a detailed set of prayers for people who don't know Christ, and for people of varying degrees of faith. There was a sense of the evangelical mixed with the thorough desire for unity among the body of Christ. That's not unusual, but the depth of the prayers was worth noting.
My wife noted appropriately that the anthems before the cross (kneeling) were also profound. I was feeling quite a bit of back pain by this point, and kneeling was making my knees hurt, so my focus was wavering. But I did not miss the sung anthem "Faithful Cross"...
Faithful Cross above all others,
One and only noble tree,
None in foliage, none in blossom,
None in fruit thy equal be,
Sweetest wood and sweetest iron,
Sweetest weight is hung on thee.
AMEN
(Venatius Honorious Fortunatus, tr. J.M. Neale)
Even communion was different, with humble vessels and without the full blessing, provided for us from the "reserve host" which was a very Catholic concept for me. I guess I keep thinking we're much more removed from the transubstantiation issue than we are. There's something which was very serious about that, and how much that signifies.
I've not sorted it all out yet, but my experience was powerful, albeit subtle. I was quieted and humbled by my own humanity in the presence of the divine. The old testament Psalm 22, read in unison was such a distinctly prophetic passage that it almost seemed silly that the folks who were studiers of the Psalms as part of the Torah were not sold on Jesus as their Messiah. But even now we reject Christ. I do so daily by my sin, and that does not make sense. If I could just keep the knowledge of this sort of experience in front of me at all times...
The latter has always been a tradition for both of our families. It's been a time to get together around the Christian holiday and have a brief visit, usually complicated by the fact that our places of employment don't give time off for it, and that my wife has often worked for churches. She works as a part-time lay minister right now for our church, and it seems important that she be here on most high holy days for that reason.
But usually we're out of town. This year, in my fortieth year on the planet, the time seemed right for what might be a permanent change. We decided to stay home and immerse ourselves in the traditions of our Holy Week. It's been great so far.
I've always been more inspired by penitence than celebration, so Holy Week seems to fit my worship posture (prostrate) of choice, and the Good Friday liturgy was incredibly profound. I must admit that it was quite a bit longer than I had liked, and that my knees and back were sore after the 75 minute service. But that seemed appropriate to the day.
What was most encouraging was the liturgy itself, which mentions many things in the solemn collects which I have never prayed for in a church, even ours. I remember praying for all levels of government by name, including the United Nations (which is the unique part), and a detailed set of prayers for people who don't know Christ, and for people of varying degrees of faith. There was a sense of the evangelical mixed with the thorough desire for unity among the body of Christ. That's not unusual, but the depth of the prayers was worth noting.
My wife noted appropriately that the anthems before the cross (kneeling) were also profound. I was feeling quite a bit of back pain by this point, and kneeling was making my knees hurt, so my focus was wavering. But I did not miss the sung anthem "Faithful Cross"...
Faithful Cross above all others,
One and only noble tree,
None in foliage, none in blossom,
None in fruit thy equal be,
Sweetest wood and sweetest iron,
Sweetest weight is hung on thee.
AMEN
(Venatius Honorious Fortunatus, tr. J.M. Neale)
Even communion was different, with humble vessels and without the full blessing, provided for us from the "reserve host" which was a very Catholic concept for me. I guess I keep thinking we're much more removed from the transubstantiation issue than we are. There's something which was very serious about that, and how much that signifies.
I've not sorted it all out yet, but my experience was powerful, albeit subtle. I was quieted and humbled by my own humanity in the presence of the divine. The old testament Psalm 22, read in unison was such a distinctly prophetic passage that it almost seemed silly that the folks who were studiers of the Psalms as part of the Torah were not sold on Jesus as their Messiah. But even now we reject Christ. I do so daily by my sin, and that does not make sense. If I could just keep the knowledge of this sort of experience in front of me at all times...
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Learning to Err.
http://www.ted.com/talks/kathryn_schulz_on_being_wrong.html
Today on facebook there was a TED video posted about what to learn from being wrong. That made me think that being wrong is what courageous people do well.
I, by contrast, am a coward. I detest being wrong, particularly if it was something which could be helped by good information or proper planning. I've learned to live with it uncomfortably, mostly because of nearly sixteen years of marriage. No amount of planning or information can keep me from just being wrong in the context of a marriage. I just am... and far too often.
I really, really hate to be wrong. I hate taking risks where I might fail. I avoid the opportunity to be wrong. This means that I am not taking risks which will employ my creativity, engage my mind, and inspire my soul.
I need to learn to be wrong-er. I need to be courageous enough to live.
Today on facebook there was a TED video posted about what to learn from being wrong. That made me think that being wrong is what courageous people do well.
I, by contrast, am a coward. I detest being wrong, particularly if it was something which could be helped by good information or proper planning. I've learned to live with it uncomfortably, mostly because of nearly sixteen years of marriage. No amount of planning or information can keep me from just being wrong in the context of a marriage. I just am... and far too often.
I really, really hate to be wrong. I hate taking risks where I might fail. I avoid the opportunity to be wrong. This means that I am not taking risks which will employ my creativity, engage my mind, and inspire my soul.
I need to learn to be wrong-er. I need to be courageous enough to live.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Uninformed Voters
A PBS "Need To Know" article recently compared uninformed voters to drunk drivers. That's been said before with less poignancy, but the reply has always been something about how our system is set up to insure that this isn't a problem, i.e. that's why we need the electoral college.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/the-daily-need/are-bad-voters-like-drunk-drivers-new-book-says-they-are-and-that-they-should-stay-home-on-election-day/8609/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=fanpage&utm_campaign=pbs
In our current political climate, post Citizens United, where the attack ads are funded by anonymous benefactors like the Koch brothers via shadow groups like Americans for Prosperity, and often girded by faux research groups like their very own Cato Institute, I would wager that there are more misinformed voters by far. Few people invest enough time to do the research of understanding the basis for their own political opinions, even less the motivations of their candidates or the track record of their party of choice.
This is why I have no party. I am slightly more informed than the average American. I've learned this by traveling overseas, and by interacting with folks on all sides of issues at home and abroad. It's clear to me that Europeans have a more informed view of our national politics and its impact than we do. There are many reasons for that, but they're not justifications.
In the Upper Midwest (at least MN and WI) we work harder. Seriously, having worked in a field where I traveled on the road 90% for several years, working in AZ, CO, GA, NV, IL, MI, OH, IN, and others, I saw the difference in drive and commitment to hard work which is inherent to a Wisconsinite. I was told to slow down and take it easy in several states in varied dialects. I say this because it is part of the problem. In Wisconsin there are a large majority of folks who work very hard at their jobs, for less pay, and don't have time to invest in politics.
They rely on old fashioned values and litmus tests. They vote based upon a couple of issues and often vote a straight ticket. I always that way for years, and that was the way most of my church brethren and coworkers did too. We were sure that we were right, and we didn't bother to look any further.
We trusted our party leaders and elected GOP officials to do what they said. This was a very satisfying position to take. It was a religion-backed, morally superior, self-justified stance which led to arrogance and overconfidence. I used to browbeat and argue my way toward belittling the "other" into realizing that they were wrong (at least that they couldn't change my mind).
But the first President Bush changed that for me. He was a liar who duped me. He was no "Reagan Republican", and that was what I wanted at the time. He was a waffling centrist who would do whatever he needed to do to get his own agenda (secret to us) accomplished. At that point I had little awareness of how prevalent this was throughout politics.
Anyway, to make a long story short, I changed my mind. I began doubting the integrity or the positions of my party. Traveling overseas, and moving ot an inner-city stripped the last bastions of allegiance away. I saw the impact of policies I took for granted.
So now I am a hater of politics, but a lover of transparency in it. I pursue fairness and centrism wherever I can find it. Instead of being driven to the polarized sides of our political climate by the disparate positions, I have continued to stake my claim near the center. Admittedly, I have been more left than right for quite some time. But I won't ever vote a straight-ticket on principle. Instead, I try to vote based on which candidate appears to be the most fair-minded and reasonable.
Unfortunately that is not always electable nowadays. Our PAC groups and Koch orgs are lighting fires all around, driving the ignorant masses toward fear-driven votes for the GOP, a party which no longer feigns compassion toward the poor or the needy. People are angry and that makes them as unstable as drunk drivers, yeah, I think I agree. They're easily incited toward political bad choices, at their own expense--and at the expense of those they crash into.
The fact that Russ Feingold lost to Ron Johnson is the best example of how fairness and centrism can't win any more. Feingold was a maverick who voted on his conscience (right or wrong) rather than along party lines, and he was willing to work across the aisle. But he was beaten by a guy who was uncivil and demeaning in his ads. He motivated the angry right to oust a man who worked very hard to represent the progressive WI agenda in favor of a rich dude with a message of hatred and arrogance.
The reality that most of us live in the center, but vote on the fringes (and that a large percentage of Americans don't vote at all) is troubling. We're forced to take sides. The two party system is often one where there is no choice which meets the majority of the values of the voters. I think this is why there are so many who don't vote. They don't have a party.
But I digress. The problem of uninformed voters is more a problem of misinformed ones, post Citizens United. PAC groups can run ads which amplify their corporate free speech rights. These ads are often 90% lies wrapped in 10% truths, and that makes them an insidious evil. Their messages are couched in incendiary and hateful language which is meant to divide folks and motivate them to vote angry.
Those sort of voters have the right to vote, but they should not vote. They're unwitting pawns in a corporate chess game which works very hard at undermining government measures meant to instill fairness and reason in society. When we eradicate these laws we create a more hostile society without protection for its citizens. That motivates our anger even more and inspires even more divisiveness and angry voting.
I'd not choose to take away the keys from the anger-drunk voter. Rather, I would like to create a prohibition of corporate funding for hate ads. I'd like to eliminate the drug at the source. I'd like slanderous ads to end, and for PAC groups and corporate free speech to end. Let people vote, not companies.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/the-daily-need/are-bad-voters-like-drunk-drivers-new-book-says-they-are-and-that-they-should-stay-home-on-election-day/8609/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=fanpage&utm_campaign=pbs
In our current political climate, post Citizens United, where the attack ads are funded by anonymous benefactors like the Koch brothers via shadow groups like Americans for Prosperity, and often girded by faux research groups like their very own Cato Institute, I would wager that there are more misinformed voters by far. Few people invest enough time to do the research of understanding the basis for their own political opinions, even less the motivations of their candidates or the track record of their party of choice.
This is why I have no party. I am slightly more informed than the average American. I've learned this by traveling overseas, and by interacting with folks on all sides of issues at home and abroad. It's clear to me that Europeans have a more informed view of our national politics and its impact than we do. There are many reasons for that, but they're not justifications.
In the Upper Midwest (at least MN and WI) we work harder. Seriously, having worked in a field where I traveled on the road 90% for several years, working in AZ, CO, GA, NV, IL, MI, OH, IN, and others, I saw the difference in drive and commitment to hard work which is inherent to a Wisconsinite. I was told to slow down and take it easy in several states in varied dialects. I say this because it is part of the problem. In Wisconsin there are a large majority of folks who work very hard at their jobs, for less pay, and don't have time to invest in politics.
They rely on old fashioned values and litmus tests. They vote based upon a couple of issues and often vote a straight ticket. I always that way for years, and that was the way most of my church brethren and coworkers did too. We were sure that we were right, and we didn't bother to look any further.
We trusted our party leaders and elected GOP officials to do what they said. This was a very satisfying position to take. It was a religion-backed, morally superior, self-justified stance which led to arrogance and overconfidence. I used to browbeat and argue my way toward belittling the "other" into realizing that they were wrong (at least that they couldn't change my mind).
But the first President Bush changed that for me. He was a liar who duped me. He was no "Reagan Republican", and that was what I wanted at the time. He was a waffling centrist who would do whatever he needed to do to get his own agenda (secret to us) accomplished. At that point I had little awareness of how prevalent this was throughout politics.
Anyway, to make a long story short, I changed my mind. I began doubting the integrity or the positions of my party. Traveling overseas, and moving ot an inner-city stripped the last bastions of allegiance away. I saw the impact of policies I took for granted.
So now I am a hater of politics, but a lover of transparency in it. I pursue fairness and centrism wherever I can find it. Instead of being driven to the polarized sides of our political climate by the disparate positions, I have continued to stake my claim near the center. Admittedly, I have been more left than right for quite some time. But I won't ever vote a straight-ticket on principle. Instead, I try to vote based on which candidate appears to be the most fair-minded and reasonable.
Unfortunately that is not always electable nowadays. Our PAC groups and Koch orgs are lighting fires all around, driving the ignorant masses toward fear-driven votes for the GOP, a party which no longer feigns compassion toward the poor or the needy. People are angry and that makes them as unstable as drunk drivers, yeah, I think I agree. They're easily incited toward political bad choices, at their own expense--and at the expense of those they crash into.
The fact that Russ Feingold lost to Ron Johnson is the best example of how fairness and centrism can't win any more. Feingold was a maverick who voted on his conscience (right or wrong) rather than along party lines, and he was willing to work across the aisle. But he was beaten by a guy who was uncivil and demeaning in his ads. He motivated the angry right to oust a man who worked very hard to represent the progressive WI agenda in favor of a rich dude with a message of hatred and arrogance.
The reality that most of us live in the center, but vote on the fringes (and that a large percentage of Americans don't vote at all) is troubling. We're forced to take sides. The two party system is often one where there is no choice which meets the majority of the values of the voters. I think this is why there are so many who don't vote. They don't have a party.
But I digress. The problem of uninformed voters is more a problem of misinformed ones, post Citizens United. PAC groups can run ads which amplify their corporate free speech rights. These ads are often 90% lies wrapped in 10% truths, and that makes them an insidious evil. Their messages are couched in incendiary and hateful language which is meant to divide folks and motivate them to vote angry.
Those sort of voters have the right to vote, but they should not vote. They're unwitting pawns in a corporate chess game which works very hard at undermining government measures meant to instill fairness and reason in society. When we eradicate these laws we create a more hostile society without protection for its citizens. That motivates our anger even more and inspires even more divisiveness and angry voting.
I'd not choose to take away the keys from the anger-drunk voter. Rather, I would like to create a prohibition of corporate funding for hate ads. I'd like to eliminate the drug at the source. I'd like slanderous ads to end, and for PAC groups and corporate free speech to end. Let people vote, not companies.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Costco Date
Today was a very good day. Jen and I traveled up to Costco after a nice inexpensive breakfast at Alterra, a great little splurge which set the table for a big savings day.
We've been struggling financially but we got some coupons from Costco in the mail and wanted to use some of our meager savings to make some purchases there to prepare for leaner times which might be ahead. We planned ahead, set a budget of $200-300 based upon our budget. We left having spent $307, and having saved $42 in coupon savings for things we actually can use above and beyond the exceptional savings which Costco provides.
We found organic chicken and ground beef, staples in fruit and veg, excellent deals on frozen fish, lunchmeat, and sliced cheese. We had a coupon for Jarlsberg, a Norwegian cheese which is a luxury item, but which was a fantastic deal. We got some toiletries which we needed, and stocked up on the basics in bulk. This is great, since we just finished remodeling a storage area in our hallway to store stuff. So now we can have a nifty place to stack bulk paper products, etc.
We're getting organized, simplifying our lives, and coming up with a new normal. That's been tough at times, but today we felt very rich in blessings and provision. We even got a break on our membership renewal, which would have cost $50, but cost 17 because of a dividend issue from 2010.
Jenni needed new contact lenses desperately, and our vision place really overcharges us. I was looking for a different option. Anyway, I noticed the great prices for contacts at Costco and Jenni had the vision place fax her perscription... which meant she got six months of contacts (which she will stretch to a year) for $55. That was a big savings over our old place.
Little blessings like this really make me happy. It was clear that in all things today the Lord had blessed us. There were little reminders of how good God is to us, personal moments of connection.
I know that it doesn't pair with good theology to think of God intervening in our lives in magical ways like this. But experiences of this sort do serve to inspire me. I believe that God does communicate with us in still, small, personal ways if we are listening or looking and listening for those things.
Today I felt as though my ears and eyes were opened, and God broke through my inadequacy. That was needed, and is greatly appreciated.
Ephesians 5:20 reads... " always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
We've been struggling financially but we got some coupons from Costco in the mail and wanted to use some of our meager savings to make some purchases there to prepare for leaner times which might be ahead. We planned ahead, set a budget of $200-300 based upon our budget. We left having spent $307, and having saved $42 in coupon savings for things we actually can use above and beyond the exceptional savings which Costco provides.
We found organic chicken and ground beef, staples in fruit and veg, excellent deals on frozen fish, lunchmeat, and sliced cheese. We had a coupon for Jarlsberg, a Norwegian cheese which is a luxury item, but which was a fantastic deal. We got some toiletries which we needed, and stocked up on the basics in bulk. This is great, since we just finished remodeling a storage area in our hallway to store stuff. So now we can have a nifty place to stack bulk paper products, etc.
We're getting organized, simplifying our lives, and coming up with a new normal. That's been tough at times, but today we felt very rich in blessings and provision. We even got a break on our membership renewal, which would have cost $50, but cost 17 because of a dividend issue from 2010.
Jenni needed new contact lenses desperately, and our vision place really overcharges us. I was looking for a different option. Anyway, I noticed the great prices for contacts at Costco and Jenni had the vision place fax her perscription... which meant she got six months of contacts (which she will stretch to a year) for $55. That was a big savings over our old place.
Little blessings like this really make me happy. It was clear that in all things today the Lord had blessed us. There were little reminders of how good God is to us, personal moments of connection.
I know that it doesn't pair with good theology to think of God intervening in our lives in magical ways like this. But experiences of this sort do serve to inspire me. I believe that God does communicate with us in still, small, personal ways if we are listening or looking and listening for those things.
Today I felt as though my ears and eyes were opened, and God broke through my inadequacy. That was needed, and is greatly appreciated.
Ephesians 5:20 reads... " always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Politics & Fairness
I've been told that I have become increasingly political in the past few years. That may be true. However, there's a subtlety which I think that people who observe my actions and words have missed.
I've certainly shifted from being a hard-right fundamentalist straight-ticket GOP backer. I used to vote on two issues, abortion and gay rights as my litmus tests for political decision making. I was a fiscal conservative who thought I understood the basis for my interest in smaller government and localized decision-making.
But a lot has changed in my life. I've seen much of the world. I've been blessed to work with peace groups in Northern Ireland, along side great people working for justice in the inner-city, and have recently been an active member in a labor union--a group I used to despise.
The funny thing is that i no longer have a party. I'm not quick to label my disparate opinions with a moniker. Other people have been quick to call me marxist, communist, democrat, socialist, atheist. None of those things is true.
I am a fan of Milwaukee's "sewer socialist" tradition, but favor a blended republic with some socialist parts and some capitalist parts within it.
I guess if I were to distill what drives my political activism more than anything else now is a singular principle. Fairness.
I seek balance and fairness from my elected officials. In the hyper-partisan environment in USA right now I feel that I have no home, and that the powers that be have bowed to special interests whose aims are to push people to the margins.
I want to be in the center, able to decide based on the merits of any issue. The fact that currently the GOP has taken an approach which is much more inherently unfair and punitive to the middle class and the poor, while girding the rich and powerful has pushed me toward democratic interests.
But if the GOP ever decided to read the Bible they espouse at times as the basis of their decision-making, and work toward equity and an inclusive nation with a focus on long-term growth and care for the workforce. If they put their compassionate hats on and come up with a health care system which will serve business interests while insuring every citizen, then I am going to shift toward them.
Life isn't about taking sides, in my opinion. It's about fairness. The person who says life isn't fair has given up, or has entrenched themselves in a side of a partisan battle. I prefer to remain open to fairness and compassion wherever I find it.
I've certainly shifted from being a hard-right fundamentalist straight-ticket GOP backer. I used to vote on two issues, abortion and gay rights as my litmus tests for political decision making. I was a fiscal conservative who thought I understood the basis for my interest in smaller government and localized decision-making.
But a lot has changed in my life. I've seen much of the world. I've been blessed to work with peace groups in Northern Ireland, along side great people working for justice in the inner-city, and have recently been an active member in a labor union--a group I used to despise.
The funny thing is that i no longer have a party. I'm not quick to label my disparate opinions with a moniker. Other people have been quick to call me marxist, communist, democrat, socialist, atheist. None of those things is true.
I am a fan of Milwaukee's "sewer socialist" tradition, but favor a blended republic with some socialist parts and some capitalist parts within it.
I guess if I were to distill what drives my political activism more than anything else now is a singular principle. Fairness.
I seek balance and fairness from my elected officials. In the hyper-partisan environment in USA right now I feel that I have no home, and that the powers that be have bowed to special interests whose aims are to push people to the margins.
I want to be in the center, able to decide based on the merits of any issue. The fact that currently the GOP has taken an approach which is much more inherently unfair and punitive to the middle class and the poor, while girding the rich and powerful has pushed me toward democratic interests.
But if the GOP ever decided to read the Bible they espouse at times as the basis of their decision-making, and work toward equity and an inclusive nation with a focus on long-term growth and care for the workforce. If they put their compassionate hats on and come up with a health care system which will serve business interests while insuring every citizen, then I am going to shift toward them.
Life isn't about taking sides, in my opinion. It's about fairness. The person who says life isn't fair has given up, or has entrenched themselves in a side of a partisan battle. I prefer to remain open to fairness and compassion wherever I find it.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
"I've Made Myself So Sick..."
I've waited hours for this
I've made myself so sick
I wish I'd stayed
asleep today
I never thought this day would end
I never thought tonight could ever be
this close to me
just try to see in the dark
just try to make it work
to feel the fear before you're here
I make the shapes come much too close
I pull my eyes out
hold my breath
and wait until I shake...
but if I had your faith
then I could make it safe and clean
if only I was sure
that my head on the door was a dream
I've waited hours for this
I've made myself so sick
I wish I'd stayed asleep today
I never thought this day would end
I never thought tonight could ever be
this close to me
but if I had your face
then I could make it safe and clean
if only I was sure
that my head on the door was a dream...
So go the lyrics of my fave song by the Cure. The song is a sentimental one for me in many ways. The Cure represents my emotional self, with fragility and brokenness very close to the surface at all times. And they also speak to my love for my wife... a Cure fan and alt-music child of the eighties.
I love that about her, btw.
But for the past couple of days I have been out of work, sick. It's not measurable with a thermometer kind of sickness, though. I've had a persistent headache which has moved to the bounds of a migraine at times. I've been suffering back and body aches which have been sharp and exhausting simultaneously.
I'm still hungry, unable to say that I am flu-ish, or that I have the common cold. I've had allergy symptoms for a while now, and take meds for that when I recognize the symptoms.
But this is different. It's sort of a malaise with manifest symptoms of real illness. I wonder if the massive stress in my life right now, the family problems, and the job dissatisfaction I feel are to blame. I've been thinking a lot about the line from this song. Am I a self-fulfilling prophecy or sorts?
I do have a tangible possibility for the source of sickness, though. We've had some problems with water intrusion in our home and I fear that I am seeing signs of mold, and water damage which is new this Spring. I'm terrified as to what that would mean for us and our home. I know that it's very hard to remove, and that the mold if untreated can cause serious illness.
But that might just be paranoia, which adds to my anxiety and stress, which leads me to believe that I am simply making msyelf sick with worry. I no longer know for sure what is real in this regard. All I know is that I feel like sh** when I am typing this.
I've made myself so sick
I wish I'd stayed
asleep today
I never thought this day would end
I never thought tonight could ever be
this close to me
just try to see in the dark
just try to make it work
to feel the fear before you're here
I make the shapes come much too close
I pull my eyes out
hold my breath
and wait until I shake...
but if I had your faith
then I could make it safe and clean
if only I was sure
that my head on the door was a dream
I've waited hours for this
I've made myself so sick
I wish I'd stayed asleep today
I never thought this day would end
I never thought tonight could ever be
this close to me
but if I had your face
then I could make it safe and clean
if only I was sure
that my head on the door was a dream...
So go the lyrics of my fave song by the Cure. The song is a sentimental one for me in many ways. The Cure represents my emotional self, with fragility and brokenness very close to the surface at all times. And they also speak to my love for my wife... a Cure fan and alt-music child of the eighties.
I love that about her, btw.
But for the past couple of days I have been out of work, sick. It's not measurable with a thermometer kind of sickness, though. I've had a persistent headache which has moved to the bounds of a migraine at times. I've been suffering back and body aches which have been sharp and exhausting simultaneously.
I'm still hungry, unable to say that I am flu-ish, or that I have the common cold. I've had allergy symptoms for a while now, and take meds for that when I recognize the symptoms.
But this is different. It's sort of a malaise with manifest symptoms of real illness. I wonder if the massive stress in my life right now, the family problems, and the job dissatisfaction I feel are to blame. I've been thinking a lot about the line from this song. Am I a self-fulfilling prophecy or sorts?
I do have a tangible possibility for the source of sickness, though. We've had some problems with water intrusion in our home and I fear that I am seeing signs of mold, and water damage which is new this Spring. I'm terrified as to what that would mean for us and our home. I know that it's very hard to remove, and that the mold if untreated can cause serious illness.
But that might just be paranoia, which adds to my anxiety and stress, which leads me to believe that I am simply making msyelf sick with worry. I no longer know for sure what is real in this regard. All I know is that I feel like sh** when I am typing this.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Guests Welcome At Own Risk...
You could stay at our house for "free", a lovely four bedroom arts & crafts bungalow with the stained glass built-ins, and 1920's charm. We've had guests from four countries and all walks of life stay with us for extended periods.
We're three blocks from the lovely Washington Park lagoon, in the stylish bungalow district of the Uptown Crossing neighborhood (emphasis on 'hood) of Milwaukee. We're five minutes from Miller and Harley, 10 minutes from Miller Park, and 20 minutes from all the festivals and the big lake.
We live amidst one of the more diverse neighborhoods of the second-most segregated cities in USA, and you'll be minorities (if you're white) while you stay here. So you'll get a priceless cultural immersion experience and multicultural education while you stay with us.
The curfew is nightfall because you don't want to be out parking your car on our street after dark. We do offer a guest "club" for your car so no worries there, and have one extra garage off-street parking space if needed in our vintage cinder-block 3-car garage. Minivan to midsize will fit...
We don't have a pontoon boat, but we can offer you some discarded steel drums, some barn twine and some particle board. But you'll have to stay close to the steel drums while floating in the lagoon because otherwise the scrappers will steal them off of you. Think: Sandord & Sons with a more dilapidated pickup truck.
DISCLAIMERS: We're only five blocks from the gorgeous district 3 police station, but they'll take 25 minutes to arrive if you call 9-1-1. So please arrange for alternative insurance coverage and personal protection strategies.
We're not responsible for any lost, stolen, or damaged possessions while staying with us. We have had a car stolen from one of our guests, and it ended up four blocks away dumped in an alley with a busted column and window out. There was no gasoline left in it, and it had probably been used in a crime. But the good thing was that they left a really big, nice claw hammer and screwdriver in it when they parked it. Hey, one cannot complain about free tools! So that was thoughtful of them. And hey, your car might make the news!
Oh, and if you're looking for recreational pharmaceuticals I am sure that you'll be pleased with our location. Despite vigilance by many of us, there are still folks dealing stuff in our area. I discouraged a deal down the street on Saturday night...
*I'm only half joking, and I am not sure which half anymore.*
We're three blocks from the lovely Washington Park lagoon, in the stylish bungalow district of the Uptown Crossing neighborhood (emphasis on 'hood) of Milwaukee. We're five minutes from Miller and Harley, 10 minutes from Miller Park, and 20 minutes from all the festivals and the big lake.
We live amidst one of the more diverse neighborhoods of the second-most segregated cities in USA, and you'll be minorities (if you're white) while you stay here. So you'll get a priceless cultural immersion experience and multicultural education while you stay with us.
The curfew is nightfall because you don't want to be out parking your car on our street after dark. We do offer a guest "club" for your car so no worries there, and have one extra garage off-street parking space if needed in our vintage cinder-block 3-car garage. Minivan to midsize will fit...
We don't have a pontoon boat, but we can offer you some discarded steel drums, some barn twine and some particle board. But you'll have to stay close to the steel drums while floating in the lagoon because otherwise the scrappers will steal them off of you. Think: Sandord & Sons with a more dilapidated pickup truck.
DISCLAIMERS: We're only five blocks from the gorgeous district 3 police station, but they'll take 25 minutes to arrive if you call 9-1-1. So please arrange for alternative insurance coverage and personal protection strategies.
We're not responsible for any lost, stolen, or damaged possessions while staying with us. We have had a car stolen from one of our guests, and it ended up four blocks away dumped in an alley with a busted column and window out. There was no gasoline left in it, and it had probably been used in a crime. But the good thing was that they left a really big, nice claw hammer and screwdriver in it when they parked it. Hey, one cannot complain about free tools! So that was thoughtful of them. And hey, your car might make the news!
Oh, and if you're looking for recreational pharmaceuticals I am sure that you'll be pleased with our location. Despite vigilance by many of us, there are still folks dealing stuff in our area. I discouraged a deal down the street on Saturday night...
*I'm only half joking, and I am not sure which half anymore.*
Sunday, April 10, 2011
High Caliber Immersion
Yesterday I was invited to go to a gun range and shoot a .45 caliber handgun at a range in Waukesha with a veteran who just bought a handgun. It was an impressive weapon for sure, and an experience I will not soon forget.
When I walked out of the range after shooting my heart was pounding out of my chest. I was invigorated as a man, and a descendant of warriors on my Nordic side. I also felt the poignancy of what it must be to be asked to raise a weapon against another human being. I briefly spoke about that with my host. He agreed, and I did want to ask about his military service and whether he'd had to make that choice, but know enough to not ask. I think that's something which a veteran ought to bring up on their own.
I've had thoughts about becoming a law enforcement officer in the past. I did spend 6 months in law enforcement of sorts, working in parking enforcement for the City of Milwaukee. That was enlightening to say the least, but by no means was it a primer for policing. There were aspects of that job which are almost identical to some minor parts of policing, but it was largely a economic tool for the budget deficits in Milwaukee during an economic downturn, instead of a position which promoted the enforcement of just laws which protect and provide for the citizens who it purports to serve.
Anyway, back to shooting. I took 60 shots at four silhouette targets. I did better than I thought, and admittedly I have some shooting experience from years back, mostly with a .22 caliber rifle and pellet guns. I have an NRA award for the latter which I earned while using my off-time as a camp counselor wher they had a certified range.
An aside, at the same place I had the time to earn a marksmanship award for the 50-pound recurve bow for archery. It was a very alpha-male summer for me...
But this was different. I could not escape the fact that I was shooting a handgun, a weapon which is not typically used for hunting. It's used for police work or self-defense by the law-abiding. And that was what led my hands to tremble so much when I first picked it up. I was conscious of how serious the decision to hold a handgun in ones' hands is, and how it must change any person to have fired one in the direction of a living person.
And next to me were folks who were shooting at targets which looked strangely like arabs or urban assailants, which I found offensive. I don't see how that is necessary, but I understand the sentiment which has caused these to be published. That doesn't make it right for me. It simply means that I am less judgemental of the folks who were shooting at them.
I mourn for the world we live in. It pains me to think that I live amidst such divisive times, where so much violence exists in the human hearts. I am not immune. I often fantasize about owning a handgun for "protection" in the home I live in. Living in the inner-city of one of the most segregated cities in the U.S. mean that I face daily challenges to my own innate racism and classism. As enlightened and justice-centered as I work to be, I am faced with examples of crime and poverty daily. It's easy to become complacent toward the crime, callous toward minorities who I see engaging in these crimes, and to harbor resentment.
Last night when I returned home around midnight I saw a cadillac parked at the end of my one way street, where it intersects with North Avenue. There was an individual standing outside the running vehicle, and this was at a spot where a troubled commercial building is, that our neighborhood assn. has worked to board up and prevent becoming a nuisance property. There are no residences at this particular spot, and it's somewhat dimly lit.
So I knew what I know about what that means. And as an active individual who reports and discourages crime two blocks from my house, I circled back and drove toward them. I was sure to take down my handicap tag from my mirror and I put my radar detector unit with the red light on the windshield, with the spiran cord hanging down. It makes my car, which is a midsize sedan, look like an unmarked cop car, and I proceeded to drive slowly down the street. As I approached the individual I was sure to gather place, make, and model information and scan the pedestrian for a description. I paused at the stop sign when I had passed them, glanced back in my rear view mirror in a fashion which would make me appear to be scoping them out. I've seen cops do this very thing.
I had my cellphone with 9-1-1 entered and ready to dial this whole time. So I signaled and turned to come back around for another pass. I figure that if they were up to no good the car will be gone when I return for a second trip by them.
I slowly drove around the two block radius to get back to the intersection to turn down that block and was not surprised to see that the car was gone. What usually happens is that the pedestrian (drug dealer) gets into the car of the buyer and they drive off, make the deal, and drop the pedestrian off somewhere else.
We are vigilant against these crimes happening near us, but it takes a vigilance which sometimes can be exhausting. A couple of years ago I set up a surveillance to watch a neighbor across the street making drug deals in front of their home at all hours at night. There were several 9-1-1 "crime in progress" calls made, and several emails and phone calls to other active neighbors. We got some of it on digital video.
So why am I talking about this now? Well, I realize that I am bold about fighting crime in my neighborhood without owning a gun. I don't know how owning one might change that. I just don't trust myself.
A year ago another of my neighbors, a guy I worry about a bit, who has some shady behaviors of his own, stood waving a handgun in the air and yelling while standing on his front lawn. I don't want to be that guy.
And I don't want the handgun to change the way I interact with crime. I'm no vigilante. I've seriously considered becoming a cop, and being trained in law enforcement as a career. It appeals to me, even though I am not a fan of confrontation (seriously). I'm capable of it, as proven by my parking enforcement stint, LOL. I'm fair and good at verbal de-escalation. But I am not a fan of confrontation, and that's particularly why I have not pursued a job as a police officer or game warden (another option I have pondered).
So I am solemnly aware of the responsibility which a handgun brings for the owner, aware of my own fragility, sin and tendency toward violence. And this was all prompted by 30 minutes with a .45, so I don't know what that means, other than that I probably over think everything in my life. Still, I think that it was an important exercise.
When I walked out of the range after shooting my heart was pounding out of my chest. I was invigorated as a man, and a descendant of warriors on my Nordic side. I also felt the poignancy of what it must be to be asked to raise a weapon against another human being. I briefly spoke about that with my host. He agreed, and I did want to ask about his military service and whether he'd had to make that choice, but know enough to not ask. I think that's something which a veteran ought to bring up on their own.
I've had thoughts about becoming a law enforcement officer in the past. I did spend 6 months in law enforcement of sorts, working in parking enforcement for the City of Milwaukee. That was enlightening to say the least, but by no means was it a primer for policing. There were aspects of that job which are almost identical to some minor parts of policing, but it was largely a economic tool for the budget deficits in Milwaukee during an economic downturn, instead of a position which promoted the enforcement of just laws which protect and provide for the citizens who it purports to serve.
Anyway, back to shooting. I took 60 shots at four silhouette targets. I did better than I thought, and admittedly I have some shooting experience from years back, mostly with a .22 caliber rifle and pellet guns. I have an NRA award for the latter which I earned while using my off-time as a camp counselor wher they had a certified range.
An aside, at the same place I had the time to earn a marksmanship award for the 50-pound recurve bow for archery. It was a very alpha-male summer for me...
But this was different. I could not escape the fact that I was shooting a handgun, a weapon which is not typically used for hunting. It's used for police work or self-defense by the law-abiding. And that was what led my hands to tremble so much when I first picked it up. I was conscious of how serious the decision to hold a handgun in ones' hands is, and how it must change any person to have fired one in the direction of a living person.
And next to me were folks who were shooting at targets which looked strangely like arabs or urban assailants, which I found offensive. I don't see how that is necessary, but I understand the sentiment which has caused these to be published. That doesn't make it right for me. It simply means that I am less judgemental of the folks who were shooting at them.
I mourn for the world we live in. It pains me to think that I live amidst such divisive times, where so much violence exists in the human hearts. I am not immune. I often fantasize about owning a handgun for "protection" in the home I live in. Living in the inner-city of one of the most segregated cities in the U.S. mean that I face daily challenges to my own innate racism and classism. As enlightened and justice-centered as I work to be, I am faced with examples of crime and poverty daily. It's easy to become complacent toward the crime, callous toward minorities who I see engaging in these crimes, and to harbor resentment.
Last night when I returned home around midnight I saw a cadillac parked at the end of my one way street, where it intersects with North Avenue. There was an individual standing outside the running vehicle, and this was at a spot where a troubled commercial building is, that our neighborhood assn. has worked to board up and prevent becoming a nuisance property. There are no residences at this particular spot, and it's somewhat dimly lit.
So I knew what I know about what that means. And as an active individual who reports and discourages crime two blocks from my house, I circled back and drove toward them. I was sure to take down my handicap tag from my mirror and I put my radar detector unit with the red light on the windshield, with the spiran cord hanging down. It makes my car, which is a midsize sedan, look like an unmarked cop car, and I proceeded to drive slowly down the street. As I approached the individual I was sure to gather place, make, and model information and scan the pedestrian for a description. I paused at the stop sign when I had passed them, glanced back in my rear view mirror in a fashion which would make me appear to be scoping them out. I've seen cops do this very thing.
I had my cellphone with 9-1-1 entered and ready to dial this whole time. So I signaled and turned to come back around for another pass. I figure that if they were up to no good the car will be gone when I return for a second trip by them.
I slowly drove around the two block radius to get back to the intersection to turn down that block and was not surprised to see that the car was gone. What usually happens is that the pedestrian (drug dealer) gets into the car of the buyer and they drive off, make the deal, and drop the pedestrian off somewhere else.
We are vigilant against these crimes happening near us, but it takes a vigilance which sometimes can be exhausting. A couple of years ago I set up a surveillance to watch a neighbor across the street making drug deals in front of their home at all hours at night. There were several 9-1-1 "crime in progress" calls made, and several emails and phone calls to other active neighbors. We got some of it on digital video.
So why am I talking about this now? Well, I realize that I am bold about fighting crime in my neighborhood without owning a gun. I don't know how owning one might change that. I just don't trust myself.
A year ago another of my neighbors, a guy I worry about a bit, who has some shady behaviors of his own, stood waving a handgun in the air and yelling while standing on his front lawn. I don't want to be that guy.
And I don't want the handgun to change the way I interact with crime. I'm no vigilante. I've seriously considered becoming a cop, and being trained in law enforcement as a career. It appeals to me, even though I am not a fan of confrontation (seriously). I'm capable of it, as proven by my parking enforcement stint, LOL. I'm fair and good at verbal de-escalation. But I am not a fan of confrontation, and that's particularly why I have not pursued a job as a police officer or game warden (another option I have pondered).
So I am solemnly aware of the responsibility which a handgun brings for the owner, aware of my own fragility, sin and tendency toward violence. And this was all prompted by 30 minutes with a .45, so I don't know what that means, other than that I probably over think everything in my life. Still, I think that it was an important exercise.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Waukesha Election Fraud Musings
There should be no such thing as "human error" in U.S. elections, at least not by election officials which leads to a city's votes going missing for two days.
There should be no human hands involved after the ballot leaves the voters hand.
I mean, I could have falsified 14,000 paper ballots to back up the digital file she said she had simply forgotten to "send". And she's an IT expert with 15 years of experience? I mean she's certainly capable of altering the record and covering her tracks, and she's more than experienced enough to not make this level of "mistake".
Did she get a confirmation number? Aren't there failsafe measures? Checkpoints?
How can a person who lost her state job for fraud in 2002 win an election weeks later as County Clerk?
What are the criminal charges which someone who keeps election records on a personal computer should face? Shouldn't she do hard jail time?
And how is it that the most Republican county in the state suddenly finds 7,500 votes for the candidate who lost the most hotly contested state supreme court race in history, where the Koch brothers had given massive amounts of dollars (3-1) to win and get total GOP control. The fact that without the win by the GOP candidate the Governor's plans and attacks on state employees would likely be failed ones, and result in legal action against him and his administration is palpable.
It seemed like Walker had little concern about breaking civil service, legislative, and state laws because he knew that if it reached the state supreme court that he had a majority there. That's why Prosser has to be inserted into office at all costs... and that's why the GOP is committing fraud at this level.
The truly tragic thing about this is that the Governor will ignore the 750,000 votes cast for Kloppenburg if she's deemed the loser. He's already said that this was a Madison versus the rest of the state contest, dismissing the result for Kloppenburg as the fact that Madison had such a large turnout--a dismissive way to ignore the massive shift in votes throughout the rest of the state... remember, Prosser won with over 95% of the votes the last time he ran.
Seriously, when the GOP commits fraud it's impressively large. Meanwhile, they'll bitterly argue that there is rampant fraud in Milwaukee County because three felons tried to vote and were turned away.
Well, the recalls are coming.
There should be no human hands involved after the ballot leaves the voters hand.
I mean, I could have falsified 14,000 paper ballots to back up the digital file she said she had simply forgotten to "send". And she's an IT expert with 15 years of experience? I mean she's certainly capable of altering the record and covering her tracks, and she's more than experienced enough to not make this level of "mistake".
Did she get a confirmation number? Aren't there failsafe measures? Checkpoints?
How can a person who lost her state job for fraud in 2002 win an election weeks later as County Clerk?
What are the criminal charges which someone who keeps election records on a personal computer should face? Shouldn't she do hard jail time?
And how is it that the most Republican county in the state suddenly finds 7,500 votes for the candidate who lost the most hotly contested state supreme court race in history, where the Koch brothers had given massive amounts of dollars (3-1) to win and get total GOP control. The fact that without the win by the GOP candidate the Governor's plans and attacks on state employees would likely be failed ones, and result in legal action against him and his administration is palpable.
It seemed like Walker had little concern about breaking civil service, legislative, and state laws because he knew that if it reached the state supreme court that he had a majority there. That's why Prosser has to be inserted into office at all costs... and that's why the GOP is committing fraud at this level.
The truly tragic thing about this is that the Governor will ignore the 750,000 votes cast for Kloppenburg if she's deemed the loser. He's already said that this was a Madison versus the rest of the state contest, dismissing the result for Kloppenburg as the fact that Madison had such a large turnout--a dismissive way to ignore the massive shift in votes throughout the rest of the state... remember, Prosser won with over 95% of the votes the last time he ran.
Seriously, when the GOP commits fraud it's impressively large. Meanwhile, they'll bitterly argue that there is rampant fraud in Milwaukee County because three felons tried to vote and were turned away.
Well, the recalls are coming.
Life and Alternative Learning Lessons
The urgency of getting a degree done in 4 years seems to push students to unreasonable class loads in my opinion. I always had the acceptable losses class, where I could not study enough for it and took a lesser grade than I hoped for. I struggled in college, and really was not ready to go to college when I did. I was an underdeveloped human being who needed to develop socially first.
Skipping class and not studying enough were primary causes for my struggles in college. I majored in participation in organizations and working out at the physical education center. I spent three nights a week going to campus Christian orgs or Bible Studies and developing my faith and my identity as a person. It was good for me, what I needed most.
But as for my college career, I had no idea what I wanted to pursue. I changed major and minor nine times, pursued education until there was a two-year waiting list, bombed on meeting the requirements of a paper for a core social work class, which led me to get less than a "C" (the prof said it was an excellent sociology paper, but not a social work paper) and drove me to change to sociology as my major--the one which I eventually earned a degree in.
My problem is that I cannot memorize. Well, I could, but it takes my teflon brain 3-5x the time it takes the average person. I don't know why, but I think it had to do with APNEA even then. I have a condition called ideopathic hypersomia in addition, which makes me tired during the day. I do recall sleeping in the student union lounge instead of going to class some days.
This is why when I took my Spanish classes I took them in the summer and only one course at a time, quit my job and studied/did class 12-14 hours per day (four days per week). I got an A- and B+ and wish I had done better. But some folks can memorize things and some cannot.
I always did better in the courses which required logic and understanding, or encouraged proficiency of utilization of formulas (which weren't memorized). Art History Classes were brutal for me... I had to try memorize images, artist full name with correct spelling (baroque artists), the year painted, the city where it now resides, and the name of the museum or collection in which it sits in that city. That was a part of my art minor, and I thought it was a waste of time.
It would not be one if I was planning to be a curator, or schmooze at cocktail parties among the luminaries of the art world. But I wanted to expand my appreciation of art, and this took it away for me.
Often the science courses were the most trouble for me, unless they were understanding-driven. Biology courses were usually exercises in precision memory. What value is remembering phylum, genus, and species unless you're going to be a biologist who is working with a specific animal species? I can only guess that the people who found this invigorating were meant to find that coursework as a sort of an entry interview into the field. Otherwise, I don't know how identifying bird species has any value as part of a college degree. Sure, for personal enrichment, if I want to be a bird watcher, great. But not as part of a degree program, in my unhumble opinion.
I'm not justifying every poor students' performance. One thing I NEVER did when I was in college the first time was speak with my professors. That was a big mistake. I always felt that I didn't fit the instruction/measurement style in many of my classes, and didn't ever make my struggles known to the instructor. Not that it could have changed things much, because my problems were my own to fix, but it might have lent itself to some assistance in small ways.
And I didn't go to tutoring either.
But when I finished my degree with those Spanish classes I went to tutoring, spoke with my prof/T.A.s outside of class, and asked lots of questions in class.
The tutoring is what saved my bacon, as well as studying with peers in our coffee shop. If I had tried to go it alone the memorization hurdle which kept me from completing my degree for 13 years would still exist.
What's so odd about me is that despite my inability to memorize things, I have always been considered of above-average intelligence (very early on in school), and in my jobs I have risen to positions like SME (subject matter expert), where I was the sole trainer and interpreter of a 600 page technical standards document for a telecom vendor. I cannot say that I memorized it, but I had an astounding ability to grasp the "spirit of the living document" and make right judgements about how to interpret it--and to interact as a customer liaison.
I was a secondary ed student for two years in college and I resonated with the concept of alternative learning styles. I never found a way to cope when a class didn't meet my style. I guess I always thought that I had to be just like everyone else, and learn the same way. But now I know that is not true.
But when I learn something, after all the extra effort, I thoroughly understand it, and then can teach it. But it takes me a long, long time to memorize the details. But the professors seemed to test on the details, rather than the understanding. I give that methodology an "F".
By the time I figured out some things about myself, and found a program and courses which fit me, I was a super-senior. I'd wasted an awful lot of credits and sunk my gpa. I still have a whole lot of regrets about my choices, and that I had no idea of my medical conditions or of what my learning style is. I still don't know what method works best for me to learn. But I do know myself well enough that I earned a 3.5 when I went back to college. I had a career gpa of 2.6 prior to that.
Skipping class and not studying enough were primary causes for my struggles in college. I majored in participation in organizations and working out at the physical education center. I spent three nights a week going to campus Christian orgs or Bible Studies and developing my faith and my identity as a person. It was good for me, what I needed most.
But as for my college career, I had no idea what I wanted to pursue. I changed major and minor nine times, pursued education until there was a two-year waiting list, bombed on meeting the requirements of a paper for a core social work class, which led me to get less than a "C" (the prof said it was an excellent sociology paper, but not a social work paper) and drove me to change to sociology as my major--the one which I eventually earned a degree in.
My problem is that I cannot memorize. Well, I could, but it takes my teflon brain 3-5x the time it takes the average person. I don't know why, but I think it had to do with APNEA even then. I have a condition called ideopathic hypersomia in addition, which makes me tired during the day. I do recall sleeping in the student union lounge instead of going to class some days.
This is why when I took my Spanish classes I took them in the summer and only one course at a time, quit my job and studied/did class 12-14 hours per day (four days per week). I got an A- and B+ and wish I had done better. But some folks can memorize things and some cannot.
I always did better in the courses which required logic and understanding, or encouraged proficiency of utilization of formulas (which weren't memorized). Art History Classes were brutal for me... I had to try memorize images, artist full name with correct spelling (baroque artists), the year painted, the city where it now resides, and the name of the museum or collection in which it sits in that city. That was a part of my art minor, and I thought it was a waste of time.
It would not be one if I was planning to be a curator, or schmooze at cocktail parties among the luminaries of the art world. But I wanted to expand my appreciation of art, and this took it away for me.
Often the science courses were the most trouble for me, unless they were understanding-driven. Biology courses were usually exercises in precision memory. What value is remembering phylum, genus, and species unless you're going to be a biologist who is working with a specific animal species? I can only guess that the people who found this invigorating were meant to find that coursework as a sort of an entry interview into the field. Otherwise, I don't know how identifying bird species has any value as part of a college degree. Sure, for personal enrichment, if I want to be a bird watcher, great. But not as part of a degree program, in my unhumble opinion.
I'm not justifying every poor students' performance. One thing I NEVER did when I was in college the first time was speak with my professors. That was a big mistake. I always felt that I didn't fit the instruction/measurement style in many of my classes, and didn't ever make my struggles known to the instructor. Not that it could have changed things much, because my problems were my own to fix, but it might have lent itself to some assistance in small ways.
And I didn't go to tutoring either.
But when I finished my degree with those Spanish classes I went to tutoring, spoke with my prof/T.A.s outside of class, and asked lots of questions in class.
The tutoring is what saved my bacon, as well as studying with peers in our coffee shop. If I had tried to go it alone the memorization hurdle which kept me from completing my degree for 13 years would still exist.
What's so odd about me is that despite my inability to memorize things, I have always been considered of above-average intelligence (very early on in school), and in my jobs I have risen to positions like SME (subject matter expert), where I was the sole trainer and interpreter of a 600 page technical standards document for a telecom vendor. I cannot say that I memorized it, but I had an astounding ability to grasp the "spirit of the living document" and make right judgements about how to interpret it--and to interact as a customer liaison.
I was a secondary ed student for two years in college and I resonated with the concept of alternative learning styles. I never found a way to cope when a class didn't meet my style. I guess I always thought that I had to be just like everyone else, and learn the same way. But now I know that is not true.
But when I learn something, after all the extra effort, I thoroughly understand it, and then can teach it. But it takes me a long, long time to memorize the details. But the professors seemed to test on the details, rather than the understanding. I give that methodology an "F".
By the time I figured out some things about myself, and found a program and courses which fit me, I was a super-senior. I'd wasted an awful lot of credits and sunk my gpa. I still have a whole lot of regrets about my choices, and that I had no idea of my medical conditions or of what my learning style is. I still don't know what method works best for me to learn. But I do know myself well enough that I earned a 3.5 when I went back to college. I had a career gpa of 2.6 prior to that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)