I recorded It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and we watched it the other night. When it got to the part of the show where Snoopy is the ace pilot sitting atop his dog house, trying to shoot down the Red Baron, Wilbur laughed harder than either Doug or I have EVER heard him laugh. EVER. ever.
He laughed so hard he started choking. Then he laughed so hard that he started making this gutteral noise in the back of his throat. Then he laughed so hard he began to do this sort of high-pitched sighing. He laughed so hard that Emery, Doug and me almost wet our pants. It must've gone on for 10 minutes.
There is nothing like hearing a child lose control with laughter. When he watched it again, the same thing happened. And when Snoopy is downed in the French countryside and starts traveling on foot through France (no one would ever write that into a children's show anymore, sadly) he just guffawed. Oh, it was hilarious.
player
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Hunny Bird
Wilbur has this little stuffed hummingbird that is teacher gave him last year. He calls it his hunny bird (sometimes it sounds like he's saying hunningbird or huntingbird). He took it with him this morning to school. He is so tender.Fractals
I saw this fascinating program on Nova about Fractals and the research being done based on their properties. I want to learn more about this. I told Leigh yesterday that when you are lousy at math, as I always was, you never get to the gorgeous stuff of math; you wallow in ugly, boring math. And that's where I lived. So, seeing something like this and understanding it, conceptually at least, is exciting.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
a Bee in my Bonnet
Yesterday I actually got a bee in my bonnet; it flew into my hair. I didn't realize it was a bee until I reached into my hair to pull out the leaf or the bug or whatever had just hit me on the head with the force of a rain drop fallin' on my head. As I tried to find this thing in my hair I felt a stinging sensation on my right ring finger and a moment after that the same sensation on my head.
Panic!
I saw two guys on the walking trail with leaf blowers on their backs and I ran up to them and yelled, "I've got a bee in my hair and I can't find it!" The leaf-blower-guy pulled his glove off and started digging through my hair. He located the bee and threw it with force toward the ground and stomped on it.
I felt bad about that since the bees have had so much trouble lately, but I was so grateful to the man that I put my hand on his shoulder and said thank you about a million times. He smiled and nodded to me. I realized that neither he nor his partner seemed to speak any English and I wondered what they had seen coming toward them, what had they understood about what was happening as I hollered and waved my hands and gestured toward my hair?
I have always relied on the kindness of strangers.
Panic!
I saw two guys on the walking trail with leaf blowers on their backs and I ran up to them and yelled, "I've got a bee in my hair and I can't find it!" The leaf-blower-guy pulled his glove off and started digging through my hair. He located the bee and threw it with force toward the ground and stomped on it.
I felt bad about that since the bees have had so much trouble lately, but I was so grateful to the man that I put my hand on his shoulder and said thank you about a million times. He smiled and nodded to me. I realized that neither he nor his partner seemed to speak any English and I wondered what they had seen coming toward them, what had they understood about what was happening as I hollered and waved my hands and gestured toward my hair?
I have always relied on the kindness of strangers.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
No Offense But...
Emery often begins a sentence with this phrase, "No offense Mom, but..." Each time I tell him that whenever he begins a sentence this way, he causes me offense.
A parent gave me some very, very good advice, which I find almost impossible to heed: Don't Take It Personally.
She said 'don't take it all so personally, all this stuff they do and the things they say and their boorish behavior.' She told me that by kid 3 of 4 she started to realize this in her own life - that when they complained or tried to act cool or said insulting things or said, "no offense but..." she just wouldn't take it personally.
When I am able to apply this principle, I am amazed at the result. But, even though I am a mother, I am clearly just a regular person as well. And when I work hard all day and then come home and really try to make a delicious and nutritious dinner using organic ingredients after purchasing these items with my re-usable bags and someone crinkles up his nose and makes a face like he is being asked to smell shit and says, "No offense Mom but this stuff STIIIIINNNNKKKKSSSS!" - call me psycho, but I take it as a personal affront.
I realize though that it's not personal. Sometimes they just say crap to say crap. Sometimes they just want to hear themselves talk. When did I decide that a 9-year-old was the arbiter of taste or a good judge of what's delicious? And it's no big deal. I know how nutritious and delicious it is, and I know he's going to eat it too. I enjoy that power. So, let it go Paige. Don't take it so personally. Remember who has got the upper hand here. And let him be.
A parent gave me some very, very good advice, which I find almost impossible to heed: Don't Take It Personally.
She said 'don't take it all so personally, all this stuff they do and the things they say and their boorish behavior.' She told me that by kid 3 of 4 she started to realize this in her own life - that when they complained or tried to act cool or said insulting things or said, "no offense but..." she just wouldn't take it personally.
When I am able to apply this principle, I am amazed at the result. But, even though I am a mother, I am clearly just a regular person as well. And when I work hard all day and then come home and really try to make a delicious and nutritious dinner using organic ingredients after purchasing these items with my re-usable bags and someone crinkles up his nose and makes a face like he is being asked to smell shit and says, "No offense Mom but this stuff STIIIIINNNNKKKKSSSS!" - call me psycho, but I take it as a personal affront.
I realize though that it's not personal. Sometimes they just say crap to say crap. Sometimes they just want to hear themselves talk. When did I decide that a 9-year-old was the arbiter of taste or a good judge of what's delicious? And it's no big deal. I know how nutritious and delicious it is, and I know he's going to eat it too. I enjoy that power. So, let it go Paige. Don't take it so personally. Remember who has got the upper hand here. And let him be.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
I Heart New Yorker
This is scathingly brilliant.
My Gal
by George Saunders September 22, 2008
Explaining how she felt when John McCain offered her the Vice-Presidential spot, my Vice-Presidential candidate, Governor Sarah Palin, said something very profound: “I answered him ‘Yes’ because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can’t blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we’re on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can’t blink. So I didn’t blink then even when asked to run as his running mate.”
Isn’t that so true? I know that many times, in my life, while living it, someone would come up and, because of I had good readiness, in terms of how I was wired, when they asked that—whatever they asked—I would just not blink, because, knowing that, if I did blink, or even wink, that is weakness, therefore you can’t, you just don’t. You could, but no—you aren’t.
That is just how I am.
Do you know the difference between me and a Hockey Mom who has forgot her lipstick?
A dog collar.
Do you know the difference between me and a dog collar smeared with lipstick?
Not a damn thing.
We are essentially wired identical.
So, when Barack Obama says he will put some lipstick on my pig, I am, like, Are you calling me a pig? If so, thanks! Pigs are the most non-Élite of all barnyard animals. And also, if you put lipstick on my pig, do you know what the difference will be between that pig and a pit bull? I’ll tell you: a pit bull can easily kill a pig. And, as the pig dies, guess what the Hockey Mom is doing? Going to her car, putting on more lipstick, so that, upon returning, finding that pig dead, she once again looks identical to that pit bull, which, staying on mission, the two of them step over the dead pig, looking exactly like twins, except the pit bull is scratching his lower ass with one frantic leg, whereas the Hockey Mom is carrying an extra hockey stick in case Todd breaks his again. But both are going, like, Ha ha, where’s that dumb pig now? Dead, that’s who, and also: not a smidge of lipstick.
A lose-lose for the pig.
There’s a lesson in that, I think.
Who does that pig represent, and that collar, and that Hockey Mom, and that pit bull?
You figure it out. Then give me a call.
Seriously, give me a call.
Now, let us discuss the Élites. There are two kinds of folks: Élites and Regulars. Why people love Sarah Palin is, she is a Regular. That is also why they love me. She did not go to some Élite Ivy League college, which I also did not. Her and me, actually, did not go to the very same Ivy League school. Although she is younger than me, so therefore she didn’t go there slightly earlier than I didn’t go there. But, had I been younger, we possibly could have not graduated in the exact same class. That would have been fun. Sarah Palin is hot. Hot for a politician. Or someone you just see in a store. But, happily, I did not go to college at all, having not finished high school, due to I killed a man. But had I gone to college, trust me, it would not have been some Ivy League Élite-breeding factory but, rather, a community college in danger of losing its accreditation, built right on a fault zone, riddled with asbestos, and also, the crack-addicted professors are all dyslexic.
Sarah Palin was also the mayor of a very small town. To tell the truth, this is where my qualifications begin to outstrip even hers. I have never been the mayor of anything. I can’t even spell right. I had help with the above, but now— Murray, note to Murray: do not correct what follows. Lets shoe the people how I rilly spel Mooray and punshuate so thay can c how reglar I am, and ther 4 fit to leed the nashun, do to: not sum mistir fansy pans.
OK Mooray. Get corecting agin!
Thanks, Murray, you’re fabulous. Very good at what you do. Actually, Murray, come to think of it, you are so good, I suspect you are some kind of Élite. You are fired, Murray, as soon as this article is done. I’m going to hire someone Regular, who is not so excellent, and lives off the salt of the land and the fat of his brow and the sweat of his earth. Although I hope he’s not a screw-up.
I’m finding it hard to concentrate, as my eyes are killing me, due to I have not blinked since I started writing this. And, me being Regular, it takes a long time for me to write something this long.
Where was I? Ah, yes: I hate Élites. Which is why, whenever I am having brain surgery, or eye surgery, which is sometimes necessary due to all my non-blinking, I always hire some random Regular guy, with shaking hands if possible, who is also a drunk, scared of the sight of blood, and harbors a secret dislike for me.
Now, let’s talk about slogans. Ours is: Country First. Think about it. When you think of what should come first, what does? Us ourselves? No. That would be selfish. Our personal families? Selfish. God? God is good, I love Him, but, as our slogan suggests, no, sorry, God, You are not First. No, you don’t, Lord! How about: the common good of all mankind! Is that First? Don’t make me laugh with your weak blinking! No! Mercy is not First and wisdom is not First and love is super but way near the back, and ditto with patience and discernment and compassion and all that happy crap, they are all back behind Country, in the back of my S.U.V., which— Here is an example! Say I am about to run over a nun or orphan, or an orphan who grew up to become a nun—which I admire that, that is cool, good bootstrapping there, Sister—but then God or whomever goes, “It is My will that you hit that orphaned nun, do not ask Me why, don’t you dare, and I say unto thee, if you do not hit that nun, via a skillful swerve, your Country is going to suffer, and don’t ask Me how, specifically, as I have not decided that yet!” Well, I am going to do my best to get that nun in one felt swope, because, at the Convention, at which my Vice-Presidential candidate kicked mucho butt, what did the signs there say? Did they say “Orphaned Nuns First” and then there is a picture of a sad little nun with a hobo pack?
My Gal
by George Saunders September 22, 2008
Explaining how she felt when John McCain offered her the Vice-Presidential spot, my Vice-Presidential candidate, Governor Sarah Palin, said something very profound: “I answered him ‘Yes’ because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can’t blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we’re on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can’t blink. So I didn’t blink then even when asked to run as his running mate.”
Isn’t that so true? I know that many times, in my life, while living it, someone would come up and, because of I had good readiness, in terms of how I was wired, when they asked that—whatever they asked—I would just not blink, because, knowing that, if I did blink, or even wink, that is weakness, therefore you can’t, you just don’t. You could, but no—you aren’t.
That is just how I am.
Do you know the difference between me and a Hockey Mom who has forgot her lipstick?
A dog collar.
Do you know the difference between me and a dog collar smeared with lipstick?
Not a damn thing.
We are essentially wired identical.
So, when Barack Obama says he will put some lipstick on my pig, I am, like, Are you calling me a pig? If so, thanks! Pigs are the most non-Élite of all barnyard animals. And also, if you put lipstick on my pig, do you know what the difference will be between that pig and a pit bull? I’ll tell you: a pit bull can easily kill a pig. And, as the pig dies, guess what the Hockey Mom is doing? Going to her car, putting on more lipstick, so that, upon returning, finding that pig dead, she once again looks identical to that pit bull, which, staying on mission, the two of them step over the dead pig, looking exactly like twins, except the pit bull is scratching his lower ass with one frantic leg, whereas the Hockey Mom is carrying an extra hockey stick in case Todd breaks his again. But both are going, like, Ha ha, where’s that dumb pig now? Dead, that’s who, and also: not a smidge of lipstick.
A lose-lose for the pig.
There’s a lesson in that, I think.
Who does that pig represent, and that collar, and that Hockey Mom, and that pit bull?
You figure it out. Then give me a call.
Seriously, give me a call.
Now, let us discuss the Élites. There are two kinds of folks: Élites and Regulars. Why people love Sarah Palin is, she is a Regular. That is also why they love me. She did not go to some Élite Ivy League college, which I also did not. Her and me, actually, did not go to the very same Ivy League school. Although she is younger than me, so therefore she didn’t go there slightly earlier than I didn’t go there. But, had I been younger, we possibly could have not graduated in the exact same class. That would have been fun. Sarah Palin is hot. Hot for a politician. Or someone you just see in a store. But, happily, I did not go to college at all, having not finished high school, due to I killed a man. But had I gone to college, trust me, it would not have been some Ivy League Élite-breeding factory but, rather, a community college in danger of losing its accreditation, built right on a fault zone, riddled with asbestos, and also, the crack-addicted professors are all dyslexic.
Sarah Palin was also the mayor of a very small town. To tell the truth, this is where my qualifications begin to outstrip even hers. I have never been the mayor of anything. I can’t even spell right. I had help with the above, but now— Murray, note to Murray: do not correct what follows. Lets shoe the people how I rilly spel Mooray and punshuate so thay can c how reglar I am, and ther 4 fit to leed the nashun, do to: not sum mistir fansy pans.
OK Mooray. Get corecting agin!
Thanks, Murray, you’re fabulous. Very good at what you do. Actually, Murray, come to think of it, you are so good, I suspect you are some kind of Élite. You are fired, Murray, as soon as this article is done. I’m going to hire someone Regular, who is not so excellent, and lives off the salt of the land and the fat of his brow and the sweat of his earth. Although I hope he’s not a screw-up.
I’m finding it hard to concentrate, as my eyes are killing me, due to I have not blinked since I started writing this. And, me being Regular, it takes a long time for me to write something this long.
Where was I? Ah, yes: I hate Élites. Which is why, whenever I am having brain surgery, or eye surgery, which is sometimes necessary due to all my non-blinking, I always hire some random Regular guy, with shaking hands if possible, who is also a drunk, scared of the sight of blood, and harbors a secret dislike for me.
Now, let’s talk about slogans. Ours is: Country First. Think about it. When you think of what should come first, what does? Us ourselves? No. That would be selfish. Our personal families? Selfish. God? God is good, I love Him, but, as our slogan suggests, no, sorry, God, You are not First. No, you don’t, Lord! How about: the common good of all mankind! Is that First? Don’t make me laugh with your weak blinking! No! Mercy is not First and wisdom is not First and love is super but way near the back, and ditto with patience and discernment and compassion and all that happy crap, they are all back behind Country, in the back of my S.U.V., which— Here is an example! Say I am about to run over a nun or orphan, or an orphan who grew up to become a nun—which I admire that, that is cool, good bootstrapping there, Sister—but then God or whomever goes, “It is My will that you hit that orphaned nun, do not ask Me why, don’t you dare, and I say unto thee, if you do not hit that nun, via a skillful swerve, your Country is going to suffer, and don’t ask Me how, specifically, as I have not decided that yet!” Well, I am going to do my best to get that nun in one felt swope, because, at the Convention, at which my Vice-Presidential candidate kicked mucho butt, what did the signs there say? Did they say “Orphaned Nuns First” and then there is a picture of a sad little nun with a hobo pack?
Thursday, October 23, 2008
How Deep is Your Love
I was listening to How Deep is Your Love today and I had a memory of my first dance. The boy was Van Wisdom, it was 6th grade (Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School in San Antonio) and the song was How Deep Is Your Love...
I remember a bunch of girls running up to me and saying, "Van's looking for you! Van's looking for you! He's going to ask you to dance!"
Now, in those days Van Wisdom was hot stuff and a little out of my league. I didn't even know he knew who I was.
It turns out there was a reason he was drawn to me... It turns out, I found out years later, that he was gay. In fact, even more years later, he died of AIDS. His daddy is a baptist preacher and he, Charles Wisdom, wrote a book about his son. It's a book espoused by Exodus International, a nonprofit, interdenominational Christian organization that promotes "the message of Freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ."
But, I had totally forgotten about my first dance, and to this song. The song held a special place in my memory but I wasn't really sure why.
I remember a bunch of girls running up to me and saying, "Van's looking for you! Van's looking for you! He's going to ask you to dance!"
Now, in those days Van Wisdom was hot stuff and a little out of my league. I didn't even know he knew who I was.
It turns out there was a reason he was drawn to me... It turns out, I found out years later, that he was gay. In fact, even more years later, he died of AIDS. His daddy is a baptist preacher and he, Charles Wisdom, wrote a book about his son. It's a book espoused by Exodus International, a nonprofit, interdenominational Christian organization that promotes "the message of Freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ."
But, I had totally forgotten about my first dance, and to this song. The song held a special place in my memory but I wasn't really sure why.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Republican Rep. Michele I'm-a-FOOL Bachmann
I'm sorry, this is just pathetic:
Bachmann said Tuesday she probably should have watched "Hardball" to see what it was like before she went on it.
What is it with this rash of stupid, silly, bubble-headed, inane, I-want-to-use-the-C-word, irrelevant, ill-informed, obtuse, fatuous, half-wit women? Do you only need a nice pair of legs and some sort of hair-do to be a woman in politics? Where are the women like me? She makes fools of us all.
This FOOL, IDIOT of a woman goes on Hardball and talks about how she doesn't like Obama because she doesn't think Socialism is good for America, she calls him anti-american and she says we ought to find others with anti-american views and do something about them. There are so many inanities that one doesn't know where to begin!
1. Barack Obama isn't advocating socialism, Henry Paulson is doing that.
2. Ferreting out anti-Americans isn't socialist behavior; it's fascist.
3. Going on any program, I don't care if it's Captain Billy's Whizbag, without watching the program is the mark of a fool and certainly someone too stupid to hold public office.
4. Even if she hadn't researched the program on which she was appearing, how did that entice her to say what she did?
I am tired of stupid people trying to get paid with taxpayer money to do a job for which they would never be hired, but feel perfectly comfortable getting elected to do. This woman is a scourge and should be skewered.
Bachmann said Tuesday she probably should have watched "Hardball" to see what it was like before she went on it.
What is it with this rash of stupid, silly, bubble-headed, inane, I-want-to-use-the-C-word, irrelevant, ill-informed, obtuse, fatuous, half-wit women? Do you only need a nice pair of legs and some sort of hair-do to be a woman in politics? Where are the women like me? She makes fools of us all.
This FOOL, IDIOT of a woman goes on Hardball and talks about how she doesn't like Obama because she doesn't think Socialism is good for America, she calls him anti-american and she says we ought to find others with anti-american views and do something about them. There are so many inanities that one doesn't know where to begin!
1. Barack Obama isn't advocating socialism, Henry Paulson is doing that.
2. Ferreting out anti-Americans isn't socialist behavior; it's fascist.
3. Going on any program, I don't care if it's Captain Billy's Whizbag, without watching the program is the mark of a fool and certainly someone too stupid to hold public office.
4. Even if she hadn't researched the program on which she was appearing, how did that entice her to say what she did?
I am tired of stupid people trying to get paid with taxpayer money to do a job for which they would never be hired, but feel perfectly comfortable getting elected to do. This woman is a scourge and should be skewered.
No Bad Dogs!
As I think about wanting no more bad news today, I am reminded of Barbara Woodhouse, a dog trainer who used to be on television quite often when I was growing up. She wrote a book called, No Bad Dogs:
Barbara Woodhouse, "the lady with the dogs," is already familiar to millions of Americans through the publication of her best-selling book, No Bad Dogs, her frequent appearances on such national television shows as "60 Minutes," "The Tonight show," "Donahue," "Merv Griffin," "Good Morning America," and the syndication of her enormously popular television series, "Training Dogs the Woodhouse Way."
In this irresistible book, Barbara Woodhouse passes on to the reader the simple, effective techniques as well as the infectious, positive attitude...
I feel this way about bad news: No Bad News! I am so tired of bad news all day that I'll have none of it today.
I have good news today. Good news, good news, good news, good news, good news!
It makes me think of an old spiritual - Ain't That Good News?
I got a robe in that kingdom - ain't that good news?
I got a robe in that kingdom - ain't that good news?
I'm gonna lay down this world
I'm gonna shoulder up my cross
I'm gonna carry it home to my Jesus -
ain't that good news, my Lord, ain't that good news?
I got shoes in that kingdom - ain't that good news?
I got shoes in that kingdom - ain't that good news?
I'm gonna lay down this world
I'm gonna shoulder up my cross
I'm gonna carry it home to my Jesus -
ain't that good news, my Lord, ain't that good news?
I got a crown in that kingdom - ain't that good news?
I got a crown in that kingdom - ain't that good news?
I'm gonna lay down this world
I'm gonna shoulder up my cross
I'm gonna carry it home to my Jesus -
ain't that good news, my Lord, ain't that good news?
Barbara Woodhouse, "the lady with the dogs," is already familiar to millions of Americans through the publication of her best-selling book, No Bad Dogs, her frequent appearances on such national television shows as "60 Minutes," "The Tonight show," "Donahue," "Merv Griffin," "Good Morning America," and the syndication of her enormously popular television series, "Training Dogs the Woodhouse Way."
In this irresistible book, Barbara Woodhouse passes on to the reader the simple, effective techniques as well as the infectious, positive attitude...
I feel this way about bad news: No Bad News! I am so tired of bad news all day that I'll have none of it today.
I have good news today. Good news, good news, good news, good news, good news!
It makes me think of an old spiritual - Ain't That Good News?
I got a robe in that kingdom - ain't that good news?
I got a robe in that kingdom - ain't that good news?
I'm gonna lay down this world
I'm gonna shoulder up my cross
I'm gonna carry it home to my Jesus -
ain't that good news, my Lord, ain't that good news?
I got shoes in that kingdom - ain't that good news?
I got shoes in that kingdom - ain't that good news?
I'm gonna lay down this world
I'm gonna shoulder up my cross
I'm gonna carry it home to my Jesus -
ain't that good news, my Lord, ain't that good news?
I got a crown in that kingdom - ain't that good news?
I got a crown in that kingdom - ain't that good news?
I'm gonna lay down this world
I'm gonna shoulder up my cross
I'm gonna carry it home to my Jesus -
ain't that good news, my Lord, ain't that good news?
Pickles and Johnsons
We watched a PBS documentary last night on LBJ which was, of course, fascinating. Making Lyndon interesting is about as easy as falling off a log. Jake Pickle was one of the sources and it was fun to see him given that I knew him through his grandson Bennett.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Genghis Khan Halloween Costume
Emery has wanted to be Genghis Khan for Halloween for the past 2 or 3 years and I just can't ever get it together. Some of his costumes:
Poseidon
St. Francis of Assisi
Captain Hook
The Cat in the Hat
A Cowboy
Today I enlisted D to help, as I think he has more design talent than I do (although the Poseidon costume I did for Emery was pretty amazing)... We have to decide historically if we are going for a young Genghis or an older, statesman Genghis.
Wilbur is Darth Vader and I just bought that costume no problem. he looks so cute in it too - he's all blond and blue-eyed and gorgeous in that jet black costume.
Poseidon
St. Francis of Assisi
Captain Hook
The Cat in the Hat
A Cowboy
Today I enlisted D to help, as I think he has more design talent than I do (although the Poseidon costume I did for Emery was pretty amazing)... We have to decide historically if we are going for a young Genghis or an older, statesman Genghis.
Wilbur is Darth Vader and I just bought that costume no problem. he looks so cute in it too - he's all blond and blue-eyed and gorgeous in that jet black costume.
Render unto Caesar...
So the lectionary on Sunday was this story from Matthew, where Jesus answers the religious leaders by looking at a coin and saying, "give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."
It's curious to me that so many Christians on the far right are so concerned with money in a way that seems unlike Jesus even a little bit. John McCain has rallied his troops with phrases like 'spreading the wealth around' as if any clear-eyed, right-thinking person would find that concept anathema.
But, isn't that what's fair? Isn't that what Jesus would do? And if we belong to God, if God wants us to give HIM what is HIS, isn't that our minds, souls and hearts?
I don't get to choose that my tax money, from this pacifist who doesn't believe in war, I don't get to choose where it goes. And I am patriotic enough to accept that I live in this country, this community; not everyone thinks as I do - not everyone is a pacifist... And so, we pay our tax and some of that money (a great deal of it) supports ideologies and actions that I find reprehensible. But I am an American. I am part of that community. And I pay into the greater. The thing that is great about America is that we all support the whole and the whole is utterly diverse - in culture, opinion, priority - and that diversity is our strength.
So, pay attention, all you closed-minded, right-sided fundamentalist Sadducees: Give it up! Pay to the government that which is the Government's. Be about the business of belonging to God, if that's your thing. Pay what you owe and participate in this community of divergent ideas. Don't worry about that money - if it's due then pay it. Get busy with more important matters, like loving God with all your heart, mind and soul and then love your neighbor as yourself.
It's curious to me that so many Christians on the far right are so concerned with money in a way that seems unlike Jesus even a little bit. John McCain has rallied his troops with phrases like 'spreading the wealth around' as if any clear-eyed, right-thinking person would find that concept anathema.
But, isn't that what's fair? Isn't that what Jesus would do? And if we belong to God, if God wants us to give HIM what is HIS, isn't that our minds, souls and hearts?
I don't get to choose that my tax money, from this pacifist who doesn't believe in war, I don't get to choose where it goes. And I am patriotic enough to accept that I live in this country, this community; not everyone thinks as I do - not everyone is a pacifist... And so, we pay our tax and some of that money (a great deal of it) supports ideologies and actions that I find reprehensible. But I am an American. I am part of that community. And I pay into the greater. The thing that is great about America is that we all support the whole and the whole is utterly diverse - in culture, opinion, priority - and that diversity is our strength.
So, pay attention, all you closed-minded, right-sided fundamentalist Sadducees: Give it up! Pay to the government that which is the Government's. Be about the business of belonging to God, if that's your thing. Pay what you owe and participate in this community of divergent ideas. Don't worry about that money - if it's due then pay it. Get busy with more important matters, like loving God with all your heart, mind and soul and then love your neighbor as yourself.
Friday, October 17, 2008
When I hear Plumber I think of Nixon. I think, CREEP
Remember The Plumbers? Nixon's Plumbers? Am I the only one who called up this reference and thought, "hmmm... when I hear Plumber I think Break-in." I think G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt. I am not that old, but I've seen All The President's Men. I've read John Dean's book, Blind Ambition. Don't we all remember those guys?
From wikipedia:
The White House Plumbers or simply the Plumbers is the popular name given to the covert White House Special Investigations Unit established July 24, 1971 during the presidency of Richard Nixon. Its job was to stop the leaking (hence "plumbers") of classified information to the news media during the Nixon administration. Its members branched into more nefarious projects working for the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP, or CREEP), including the Watergate break-ins and the ensuing Watergate scandal.
This poor guy Joe. He just wanted to ask a question. Now the media is combing through his statements and vetting him as if he were the McCain running mate. The guy hasn't always paid all of his taxes, isn't actually a licensed plumber and doesn't make any where near 250K. Tax analysts are even claiming that the guy would get a tax break under the Obama plan when and if he buys the business and is licensed and plumbing.
This guy probably wished John McCain had never brought up his name. Now he's in the NY Times (http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/16/joe-in-the-spotlight/?hp) and he sort of looks like a liar. Now the IRS is going to come after him for the back taxes he owes and people are making money off him selling t-shirts and coffee mugs.
Just remember: Plumbers Bad.
From wikipedia:
The White House Plumbers or simply the Plumbers is the popular name given to the covert White House Special Investigations Unit established July 24, 1971 during the presidency of Richard Nixon. Its job was to stop the leaking (hence "plumbers") of classified information to the news media during the Nixon administration. Its members branched into more nefarious projects working for the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP, or CREEP), including the Watergate break-ins and the ensuing Watergate scandal.
This poor guy Joe. He just wanted to ask a question. Now the media is combing through his statements and vetting him as if he were the McCain running mate. The guy hasn't always paid all of his taxes, isn't actually a licensed plumber and doesn't make any where near 250K. Tax analysts are even claiming that the guy would get a tax break under the Obama plan when and if he buys the business and is licensed and plumbing.
This guy probably wished John McCain had never brought up his name. Now he's in the NY Times (http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/16/joe-in-the-spotlight/?hp) and he sort of looks like a liar. Now the IRS is going to come after him for the back taxes he owes and people are making money off him selling t-shirts and coffee mugs.
Just remember: Plumbers Bad.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Living the Questions
I started a progressive Christian group study last night, the curriculum of which is called "Living the Questions." It's discussion and a DVD presentation. Some of the church leaders in the DVD are people I have admired for some time and others are new to me. Yvette Flunder, John Shelby Spong, Mel White and many others.
I love Spong - and I loved what he said in the piece we saw last night. He said that the times in the church's history when we were most certain were the times when we were acting most heinously - burning people at the stake, starting holy wars.
There is a discomfort with being in the mystery and living with uncertainty. Not knowing for certain what happens when we die is frightening. Not knowing if you are right is disconcerting. But I find if I am willing to challenge boldly-held notions, I come back to my core beliefs with conviction and clarity.
I kept thinking last night about the pastor in A Prayer for Owen Meany who is so full of doubt...
I love Spong - and I loved what he said in the piece we saw last night. He said that the times in the church's history when we were most certain were the times when we were acting most heinously - burning people at the stake, starting holy wars.
There is a discomfort with being in the mystery and living with uncertainty. Not knowing for certain what happens when we die is frightening. Not knowing if you are right is disconcerting. But I find if I am willing to challenge boldly-held notions, I come back to my core beliefs with conviction and clarity.
I kept thinking last night about the pastor in A Prayer for Owen Meany who is so full of doubt...
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Friend of Bill
This is an interesting article about Bill Ayers in The Wallstreet Journal:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122402888900234543.html
"Waving the bloody shirt" was the phrase once used to describe the standard demagogic tactic of the late 19th century, when memories of the Civil War were still vivid and loyalists of both parties could be moved to "vote as they shot." As the years passed and the memories faded, the shirt got gorier, the waving more frantic.
In 1896 the Democrats chose William Jennings Bryan as their leader, a man who was born in 1860 and had thus missed the Civil War, but who seemed to threaten the consensus politics of the time. In response, Republican campaign masterminds organized a speaking tour of the Midwest by a handful of surviving Union generals. The veterans advanced through the battleground states in a special train adorned with patriotic bunting, pictures of their candidate, William McKinley, and a sign declaring, "We are Opposed to Anarchy and Repudiation."
The culture wars are the familiar demagogic tactic of our own time, building monstrous offenses out of the tiniest slights. The fading rancor that each grievance is meant to revive, of course, dates to the 1960s and the antiwar protests, urban riots and annoying youth culture that originally triggered our great turn to the right.
This year the Democrats chose Barack Obama as their leader, a man who was born in 1961 and who largely missed our cultural civil war. In response, Republican campaign masterminds have sought to plunge him back into it in the most desperate and grotesque manner yet.
For days on end, the Republican presidential campaign has put nearly all of its remaining political capital on emphasizing Mr. Obama's time on various foundation boards with Bill Ayers, a former member of the Weathermen, which planted bombs and issued preposterous statements in the Vietnam era. Some on the right seem to believe Mr. Ayers is Mr. Obama's puppet-master, while others are content merely to insist that the association proves Mr. Obama to be soft on terrorism. Maybe he's soft on anarchy and repudiation, too.
I can personally attest to the idiocy of it all because I am a friend of Mr. Ayers. In fact, I met him in the same way Mr. Obama says he did: 10 years ago, Mr. Ayers was a guy in my neighborhood in Chicago who knew something about fundraising. I knew nothing about it, I needed to learn, and a friend referred me to Bill.
Bill's got lots of friends, and that's because he is today a dedicated servant of those less fortunate than himself; because he is unfailingly generous to people who ask for his help; and because he is kind and affable and even humble. Moral qualities which, by the way, were celebrated boisterously on day one of the GOP convention in September.
Mr. Ayers is a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), where his work is esteemed by colleagues of different political viewpoints. Herbert Walberg, an advocate of school vouchers who is a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, told me he remembers Mr. Ayers as "a responsible colleague, in the professional sense of the word." Bill Schubert, who served as the chairman of UIC's Department of Curriculum and Instruction for many years, thinks so highly of Mr. Ayers that, in response to the current allegations, he compiled a lengthy résumé of the man's books, journal articles, guest lectures and keynote speeches. Mr. Ayers has been involved with countless foundation efforts and has received various awards. He volunteers for everything. He may once have been wanted by the FBI, but in the intervening years the man has become such a good citizen he ought to be an honorary Eagle Scout.
I do not defend the things Mr. Ayers did in his Weatherman days. Nor will I quibble with those who find Mr. Ayers wanting in contrition. His 2001 memoir is shot through with regret, but it lacks the abject style our culture prefers.
Instead I want to note that, in its haste to convict a man merely for associating with Mr. Ayers, the GOP is effectively proposing to make the upcoming election into the largest mass trial in history, with all those professors and all those do-gooders on the hook for someone else's deeds four decades ago. Also in the dock: the demonic city (Chicago) that once named Mr. Ayers its "Citizen of the Year." Fire up Hurricane Katrina and point it toward Lake Michigan!
The McCain campaign has made much of its leader's honor and bravery, but now it has chosen to mount its greatest attack against a man who poses no conceivable threat to the country, who has nothing to do with this year's issues, and who cannot or will not defend himself. Apparently this makes him an irresistible target.
There are a lot of things to call this tactic, but "country first" isn't one of them. The nation wants its hope and confidence restored, and Republican leaders have chosen instead to wave the bloody shirt. This is their vilest hour.
Write to thomas@wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122402888900234543.html
"Waving the bloody shirt" was the phrase once used to describe the standard demagogic tactic of the late 19th century, when memories of the Civil War were still vivid and loyalists of both parties could be moved to "vote as they shot." As the years passed and the memories faded, the shirt got gorier, the waving more frantic.
In 1896 the Democrats chose William Jennings Bryan as their leader, a man who was born in 1860 and had thus missed the Civil War, but who seemed to threaten the consensus politics of the time. In response, Republican campaign masterminds organized a speaking tour of the Midwest by a handful of surviving Union generals. The veterans advanced through the battleground states in a special train adorned with patriotic bunting, pictures of their candidate, William McKinley, and a sign declaring, "We are Opposed to Anarchy and Repudiation."
The culture wars are the familiar demagogic tactic of our own time, building monstrous offenses out of the tiniest slights. The fading rancor that each grievance is meant to revive, of course, dates to the 1960s and the antiwar protests, urban riots and annoying youth culture that originally triggered our great turn to the right.
This year the Democrats chose Barack Obama as their leader, a man who was born in 1961 and who largely missed our cultural civil war. In response, Republican campaign masterminds have sought to plunge him back into it in the most desperate and grotesque manner yet.
For days on end, the Republican presidential campaign has put nearly all of its remaining political capital on emphasizing Mr. Obama's time on various foundation boards with Bill Ayers, a former member of the Weathermen, which planted bombs and issued preposterous statements in the Vietnam era. Some on the right seem to believe Mr. Ayers is Mr. Obama's puppet-master, while others are content merely to insist that the association proves Mr. Obama to be soft on terrorism. Maybe he's soft on anarchy and repudiation, too.
I can personally attest to the idiocy of it all because I am a friend of Mr. Ayers. In fact, I met him in the same way Mr. Obama says he did: 10 years ago, Mr. Ayers was a guy in my neighborhood in Chicago who knew something about fundraising. I knew nothing about it, I needed to learn, and a friend referred me to Bill.
Bill's got lots of friends, and that's because he is today a dedicated servant of those less fortunate than himself; because he is unfailingly generous to people who ask for his help; and because he is kind and affable and even humble. Moral qualities which, by the way, were celebrated boisterously on day one of the GOP convention in September.
Mr. Ayers is a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), where his work is esteemed by colleagues of different political viewpoints. Herbert Walberg, an advocate of school vouchers who is a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, told me he remembers Mr. Ayers as "a responsible colleague, in the professional sense of the word." Bill Schubert, who served as the chairman of UIC's Department of Curriculum and Instruction for many years, thinks so highly of Mr. Ayers that, in response to the current allegations, he compiled a lengthy résumé of the man's books, journal articles, guest lectures and keynote speeches. Mr. Ayers has been involved with countless foundation efforts and has received various awards. He volunteers for everything. He may once have been wanted by the FBI, but in the intervening years the man has become such a good citizen he ought to be an honorary Eagle Scout.
I do not defend the things Mr. Ayers did in his Weatherman days. Nor will I quibble with those who find Mr. Ayers wanting in contrition. His 2001 memoir is shot through with regret, but it lacks the abject style our culture prefers.
Instead I want to note that, in its haste to convict a man merely for associating with Mr. Ayers, the GOP is effectively proposing to make the upcoming election into the largest mass trial in history, with all those professors and all those do-gooders on the hook for someone else's deeds four decades ago. Also in the dock: the demonic city (Chicago) that once named Mr. Ayers its "Citizen of the Year." Fire up Hurricane Katrina and point it toward Lake Michigan!
The McCain campaign has made much of its leader's honor and bravery, but now it has chosen to mount its greatest attack against a man who poses no conceivable threat to the country, who has nothing to do with this year's issues, and who cannot or will not defend himself. Apparently this makes him an irresistible target.
There are a lot of things to call this tactic, but "country first" isn't one of them. The nation wants its hope and confidence restored, and Republican leaders have chosen instead to wave the bloody shirt. This is their vilest hour.
Write to thomas@wsj.com
Monday, October 13, 2008
They are open weekdays, closed on weekends...
Roger & Me is one of my favorite documentaries of all time - that and Gates of Heaven...
I love the guy in Roger & Me who is describing to Michael Moore how often the plasma donation center is open:
"They're only open on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Saturday and Sunday, they're closed. "
Gates of Heaven is a documentary about a pet cemetery. One of my favorite parts is this woman talking and she just meanders through - you couldn't write this... it's brilliant...
"I'm raised on a farm, we had chickens and pigs and cows and sheep and everything. But down here I've been lost. Now they've taken them all away from here up to that - What's the name of that place? Up above here a little ways? That town? Commences with a 'B.' Blue. It's - Blue Hill Cemetery, I think the name of it is. Not too far, I guess, about maybe twenty miles from here. A little town there, a little place. You know where it's at. But I was really surprised when I heard they were getting rid of the cemetery over here. Gonna put in buildings or something over there. Ah well, I know people been very good to me, you know. Well, they see my condition, I guess, must of felt sorry for me. But it's real, my condition is. It's not put on. That's for sure! Boy, if I could only walk. If I could only get out. Drive my car. I'd get another car. Ya... and my son, if he was only better to me. After I bought him that car. He's got a nice car. I bought it myself just a short time ago. I don't know. These kids - the more you do for them... He' s my grandson, but I raised him from two years old... I don't see him very often. And he just got the car. I didn't pay for all of it. I gave him four hundred dollars. Pretty good! His boss knows it. Well, he's not working for that outfit now. He's changed. He's gone back on his old job - hauling sand. No, not hauling sand; he's working in the office. That's right. He took over the office job. His boss told me that on the phone. But, you know, he should help me more. He's all I got. He's the one who brought me up here. And then put me here by myself among strangers. It's terrible, you stop and think of it. I've been without so much, when I first come up here. Ya. It's what half of my trouble is from - him not being home with me. Didn't cost him nothing to stay here. Every time he need money, he'd always come, 'Mom, can I have this? Can I have that?' But he never pays back. Too good, too easy - that's what everybody tells me. I quit now. I quit. Now he's got the office job, I'm going after him. I'm going after him good, too - if I have to go in... in a different way. He's going to pay that money. He's got the office job now. And he makes good money anyway. And he has no kids. He has not married. Never get married, he says. He was married once - they're divorced. Well, she tried to take him for the kid, but she didn't. They went to court. It was somebody else's kid. She was nothing but a tramp in the first place. I told him that. He wouldn't listen to me. I says, 'I know what she is.' I said, 'Richard, please, listen to me.' He wouldn't listen. He knew all, he knew everything. Big shot! But he soon found out. Now that's all over with. I've been through so much I don't know how I'm staying alive. Really, for my age... if you're young, it's different. But I've always said I'm never going to grow old. I've always had that, and the people that I tell how old I am, they don't believe me, because people my age as a rule don't get around like I do."
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gates_of_Heaven
For some reason, the hours of this store, Caramel, that Ken blogged about reminded me of the Roger & Me quote (which led me to the Gates of Heaven memory - the two have nothing to do with one another):
store hours
Monday 4-8 PM
Thursday 12-9 PM
Friday 12-9 PM
Saturday 11 AM -7 PM
Sunday 12-6 PM
Tuesday and Wednesday by appointment.
Does it really have to be that complicated? I think if I owned the store I wouldn't be able to remember what time to show up and open the doors each day.
I love the guy in Roger & Me who is describing to Michael Moore how often the plasma donation center is open:
"They're only open on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Saturday and Sunday, they're closed. "
Gates of Heaven is a documentary about a pet cemetery. One of my favorite parts is this woman talking and she just meanders through - you couldn't write this... it's brilliant...
"I'm raised on a farm, we had chickens and pigs and cows and sheep and everything. But down here I've been lost. Now they've taken them all away from here up to that - What's the name of that place? Up above here a little ways? That town? Commences with a 'B.' Blue. It's - Blue Hill Cemetery, I think the name of it is. Not too far, I guess, about maybe twenty miles from here. A little town there, a little place. You know where it's at. But I was really surprised when I heard they were getting rid of the cemetery over here. Gonna put in buildings or something over there. Ah well, I know people been very good to me, you know. Well, they see my condition, I guess, must of felt sorry for me. But it's real, my condition is. It's not put on. That's for sure! Boy, if I could only walk. If I could only get out. Drive my car. I'd get another car. Ya... and my son, if he was only better to me. After I bought him that car. He's got a nice car. I bought it myself just a short time ago. I don't know. These kids - the more you do for them... He' s my grandson, but I raised him from two years old... I don't see him very often. And he just got the car. I didn't pay for all of it. I gave him four hundred dollars. Pretty good! His boss knows it. Well, he's not working for that outfit now. He's changed. He's gone back on his old job - hauling sand. No, not hauling sand; he's working in the office. That's right. He took over the office job. His boss told me that on the phone. But, you know, he should help me more. He's all I got. He's the one who brought me up here. And then put me here by myself among strangers. It's terrible, you stop and think of it. I've been without so much, when I first come up here. Ya. It's what half of my trouble is from - him not being home with me. Didn't cost him nothing to stay here. Every time he need money, he'd always come, 'Mom, can I have this? Can I have that?' But he never pays back. Too good, too easy - that's what everybody tells me. I quit now. I quit. Now he's got the office job, I'm going after him. I'm going after him good, too - if I have to go in... in a different way. He's going to pay that money. He's got the office job now. And he makes good money anyway. And he has no kids. He has not married. Never get married, he says. He was married once - they're divorced. Well, she tried to take him for the kid, but she didn't. They went to court. It was somebody else's kid. She was nothing but a tramp in the first place. I told him that. He wouldn't listen to me. I says, 'I know what she is.' I said, 'Richard, please, listen to me.' He wouldn't listen. He knew all, he knew everything. Big shot! But he soon found out. Now that's all over with. I've been through so much I don't know how I'm staying alive. Really, for my age... if you're young, it's different. But I've always said I'm never going to grow old. I've always had that, and the people that I tell how old I am, they don't believe me, because people my age as a rule don't get around like I do."
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gates_of_Heaven
For some reason, the hours of this store, Caramel, that Ken blogged about reminded me of the Roger & Me quote (which led me to the Gates of Heaven memory - the two have nothing to do with one another):
store hours
Monday 4-8 PM
Thursday 12-9 PM
Friday 12-9 PM
Saturday 11 AM -7 PM
Sunday 12-6 PM
Tuesday and Wednesday by appointment.
Does it really have to be that complicated? I think if I owned the store I wouldn't be able to remember what time to show up and open the doors each day.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Got a Cat and Skinned Her: Janie & Lisa
Mike and I used to change the lyrics to Earth, Wind & Fire's song September and the phrases we used most were:
Got a cat and skinned her
My best friend's Lucinda-er
Had a Waring Blender
Friends Lisa and Janie gave us a Waring Blender for a wedding present at the kitchen shower they hosted for us in NYC. And I often think of sending them thank you notes randomly, because I use the blender every day. I use it every day and I think of them each and every time I use it. For one thing, it is SUCH a good blender - it crushes ice for margaritas or smoothies - it can handle any job. It was such a nice gift - and I remember thinking at the time that I couldn't believe they would spend so much money! I was so grateful. And it's as sleek and fashionable today as it was in 1997 (those girls have good taste). The shower and party (Doug and I were both there) were so elegant - up to that time, I don't think anyone had ever done anything like that for me. At a time when we really didn't have much, Lisa and Janie did a lot for us.
Lisa went on to host a baby shower for us. Both of these girls were not just at my wedding but in it. Janie's husband David chose and read a beautiful poem (that I have hanging on a wall above my desk)... They have done a lot for me. Much too much.
People would say, that's what friends do. But I don't know if I would - I mean I try to be as good a friend as my friends are to me, but I don't think I ever really make it. I am always astonished and overwhelmed by how dear my friends are - how good they are to me. I don't deserve it.
Commercial Paper and Credit Default Swaps
This American Life (http://www.thislife.org/) has done it again with show 365: Another Frightening Show About the Economy
Alex Blumberg and NPR's Adam Davidson—the two guys who reported our Giant Pool of Money episode—are back, in collaboration with the Planet Money podcast. They'll explain what happened this week, including what regulators could've done to prevent this financial crisis from happening in the first place. You can learn more about the daily ins and outs and join the discussion on the Planet Money blog.
Prologue.
Host Ira Glass goes to Union Square, a 15-minute subway ride from Wall Street, where it doesn't look like we're on the edge of an economic abyss. (3 minutes)
Act One. The Day the Market Died.
Alex Blumberg and Adam Davidson recount the 36-hour period, two weeks ago, when the credit markets froze. Plus, what it’s like now for businesses to get short-term loans, and how the hardship is spreading to every sector of the economy. (16 minutes)
Act Two. Out of the Hedges and Into the Woods.
One more confusing financial product that’s bringing down the global economy. And one of way to think about this product is this: If bad mortgages got the financial system sick, this next thing you’re about to hear about, helped spread the sickness into an epidemic. These are "credit default swaps." Alex explains. (19 minutes)
Act Three. Swap Cops.
Ira talks with Michael Greenberger, a former commodities regulator, who tells the story of when it was decided not to regulate credit default swaps. And how that decision was emblematic of the way we didn’t regulate a lot of the toxic financial products we’re hearing about now. (8 minutes)Song: "Bankrupt on Selling," Modest Mouse
Act Four. What's Next?
Ira and Adam answer the question: Was the $700 billion bailout bill signed into law today a good idea or a bad one? (10 minutes)
Alex Blumberg and NPR's Adam Davidson—the two guys who reported our Giant Pool of Money episode—are back, in collaboration with the Planet Money podcast. They'll explain what happened this week, including what regulators could've done to prevent this financial crisis from happening in the first place. You can learn more about the daily ins and outs and join the discussion on the Planet Money blog.
Prologue.
Host Ira Glass goes to Union Square, a 15-minute subway ride from Wall Street, where it doesn't look like we're on the edge of an economic abyss. (3 minutes)
Act One. The Day the Market Died.
Alex Blumberg and Adam Davidson recount the 36-hour period, two weeks ago, when the credit markets froze. Plus, what it’s like now for businesses to get short-term loans, and how the hardship is spreading to every sector of the economy. (16 minutes)
Act Two. Out of the Hedges and Into the Woods.
One more confusing financial product that’s bringing down the global economy. And one of way to think about this product is this: If bad mortgages got the financial system sick, this next thing you’re about to hear about, helped spread the sickness into an epidemic. These are "credit default swaps." Alex explains. (19 minutes)
Act Three. Swap Cops.
Ira talks with Michael Greenberger, a former commodities regulator, who tells the story of when it was decided not to regulate credit default swaps. And how that decision was emblematic of the way we didn’t regulate a lot of the toxic financial products we’re hearing about now. (8 minutes)Song: "Bankrupt on Selling," Modest Mouse
Act Four. What's Next?
Ira and Adam answer the question: Was the $700 billion bailout bill signed into law today a good idea or a bad one? (10 minutes)
Monday, October 06, 2008
Flys With Honey
What's interesting about this Keating-5 document to me is not McCain's involvement in the scandal, but the misspellings and typos. Check out:
...it flys in the face of...
Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Fool?
I am.
Sarah Palin has taken her heels off, apparently, to insinuate a relationship between Barack Obama and a man who was once a leader in the Weather Underground movement. She calls this man, William Ayers a terrorist, but the facts don't hold up.
From CNN:
In the 1960s, Ayers was a founding member of the radical Weather Underground group. Federal charges against them were dropped due to FBI misconduct in gathering evidence. Ayers, 63, is now an education professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt told CNN that after meeting Obama through the Annenberg project, Ayers hosted a campaign event for him that same year. LaBolt also said the two have not spoken by phone or exchanged e-mail messages since Obama came to the U.S. Senate in 2005.
There is no indication that Ayers and Obama are now "palling around," or that they have had an ongoing relationship in the past three years. Also, there is nothing to suggest that Ayers is now involved in terrorist activity or that other Obama associates are.
It's laughable to believe that the University of Illinois has a terrorist holding a tenured teaching position. And it's despicable, the lengths to which the McCain campaign will go; when, without much dredging or insinuating anyone could easily make the argument that as a member of the Keating 5, John McCain is the last person we'd want in the White House, given our current economic crisis.
Friday, October 03, 2008
Facebook Confusion: Friend vs. Acquaintance
Here's what's happening to me on facebook. Lovely people who I recognize but will never see again and never really had any relationship with other than attending the same high school, add me as a friend on facebook. It's a quandary. I am very particular with words - and some of these people were never my friends and they certainly aren't my friends now. They meet the classic definition of acquaintances.
ac·quaint·ance
–noun 1. a person known to one, but usually not a close friend.
2. the state of being acquainted.
3. personal knowledge as a result of study, experience, etc.: a good acquaintance with French wines.
4. (used with a plural verb) the persons with whom one is acquainted.
I wish I had the option to add these people as acquaintances instead of ignoring them or saying, in a sort of forced way, "hi friend!!" It's awkward. I don't add people as friends if we weren't ever really friends.
I have come to a decision though that I am going to have to hit 'ignore'. It's the only option. It feels like some sort of Seinfeld episode like when Jerry put his foot down about kissing virtual strangers - kissing hello, kissing goodbye. That's me. I'm just not comfortable. I can't do it I tell ya.
ac·quaint·ance
–noun 1. a person known to one, but usually not a close friend.
2. the state of being acquainted.
3. personal knowledge as a result of study, experience, etc.: a good acquaintance with French wines.
4. (used with a plural verb) the persons with whom one is acquainted.
I wish I had the option to add these people as acquaintances instead of ignoring them or saying, in a sort of forced way, "hi friend!!" It's awkward. I don't add people as friends if we weren't ever really friends.
I have come to a decision though that I am going to have to hit 'ignore'. It's the only option. It feels like some sort of Seinfeld episode like when Jerry put his foot down about kissing virtual strangers - kissing hello, kissing goodbye. That's me. I'm just not comfortable. I can't do it I tell ya.
Thursday, October 02, 2008
I'm reminded of Hopkins today.
One of my favorite poems, and one of the few I've committed to memory:
Spring and Fall
to a young child
Margaret, are you grieving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leaves, like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! as the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By & by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;
And yet you wíll weep & know why.
Now no matter, child, the name:
Sorrow's springs are the same.
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What héart héard of, ghóst guéssed:
It is the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leaves, like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! as the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By & by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;
And yet you wíll weep & know why.
Now no matter, child, the name:
Sorrow's springs are the same.
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What héart héard of, ghóst guéssed:
It is the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Helene's Spleen: Sarah "six-pack" Palin - just a regular gal for 'mongst the hoity-toity Washington elite
Helene's Spleen: Sarah "six-pack" Palin - just a regular gal for 'mongst the hoity-toity Washington elite
This is very funny. How did we get from John Doe (so respectable) to Joe Six-Pack?
This is very funny. How did we get from John Doe (so respectable) to Joe Six-Pack?
I stand by all the misstatements that I've made
On the eve of the Vice Presidential debate, I am fondly reminded of that other bumbling fool in-over-his-head VP, Dan Quayle. Here are some of my personal favorites:
"What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is." Source: (USA Today 5/10/89)
"There were no Palestinians riding on planes on September 9th."
Source Time Magazine (Quayle was referencing the 9/11 attacks)
"The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation's history. I mean in this century's history. But we all lived in this century. I didn't live in this century."
Senator Dan Quayle, 9/15/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92, The New Yorker, 10/10/88, p.102)
"Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things."
Senator Dan Quayle, 10/30/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92 and the LA Times, 10/30/88)
"Hawaii has always been a very pivotal role in the Pacific. It is in the Pacific. It is a part of the United States that is an island that is right here."
Vice President Dan Quayle, Hawaii, 4/25/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92)
The other day [the President] said, I know you've had some rough times, and I want to do something that will show the nation what faith that I have in you, in your maturity and sense of responsibility. (He paused, then said) Would you like a puppy?
Source: LA Times 5/21/89
"We are on an irreversible trend towards more freedom and democracy - but that could change."
Vice President Dan Quayle, Hawaii, 5/22/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92)
"Mars is essentially in the same orbit...Mars is somewhat the same distance from the Sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If oxygen, that means we can breathe."
Vice President Dan Quayle, Hawaii, 8/11/89 (interview broadcast on CNN, referenced in 9/1/89 Washington Post article: "A Quayle Vision of Mars")
"One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that one word is 'to be prepared'."
December 6, 1993
"For NASA, space is still a high priority."
Vice President Dan Quayle, talking to NASA employees, 9/5/90 (reported in Esquire, 8/92)
"I have been asked who caused the riots and the killing in LA, my answer has been direct & simple: Who is to blame for the riots? The rioters are to blame. Who is to blame for the killings? The killers are to blame."
Vice President Dan Quayle (during the Commonwealth Club speech 5/19/92)
"Illegitimacy is something we should talk about in terms of not having it."
Vice President Dan Quayle, 5/20/92 (reported in Esquire, 8/92)
Attributed:
"I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix."
"Potato. P-O-T-A-T-O-E."
"My friends, no matter how rough the road may be, we can and we will never surrender to what is right."
In a speech to the Christian Coalition
"You all look like happy campers to me. Happy campers you are, happy campers you have been, and, as far as I am concerned, happy campers you will always be."
In a speech to American Samoans
"I stand by all my misstatements."
"The future will be better tomorrow."
"A word of advice: 'get a job.'"
"We're going to have the best educated American people in the world."
"What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is." Source: (USA Today 5/10/89)
"There were no Palestinians riding on planes on September 9th."
Source Time Magazine (Quayle was referencing the 9/11 attacks)
"The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation's history. I mean in this century's history. But we all lived in this century. I didn't live in this century."
Senator Dan Quayle, 9/15/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92, The New Yorker, 10/10/88, p.102)
"Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things."
Senator Dan Quayle, 10/30/88 (reported in Esquire, 8/92 and the LA Times, 10/30/88)
"Hawaii has always been a very pivotal role in the Pacific. It is in the Pacific. It is a part of the United States that is an island that is right here."
Vice President Dan Quayle, Hawaii, 4/25/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92)
The other day [the President] said, I know you've had some rough times, and I want to do something that will show the nation what faith that I have in you, in your maturity and sense of responsibility. (He paused, then said) Would you like a puppy?
Source: LA Times 5/21/89
"We are on an irreversible trend towards more freedom and democracy - but that could change."
Vice President Dan Quayle, Hawaii, 5/22/89 (reported in Esquire, 8/92)
"Mars is essentially in the same orbit...Mars is somewhat the same distance from the Sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If oxygen, that means we can breathe."
Vice President Dan Quayle, Hawaii, 8/11/89 (interview broadcast on CNN, referenced in 9/1/89 Washington Post article: "A Quayle Vision of Mars")
"One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that one word is 'to be prepared'."
December 6, 1993
"For NASA, space is still a high priority."
Vice President Dan Quayle, talking to NASA employees, 9/5/90 (reported in Esquire, 8/92)
"I have been asked who caused the riots and the killing in LA, my answer has been direct & simple: Who is to blame for the riots? The rioters are to blame. Who is to blame for the killings? The killers are to blame."
Vice President Dan Quayle (during the Commonwealth Club speech 5/19/92)
"Illegitimacy is something we should talk about in terms of not having it."
Vice President Dan Quayle, 5/20/92 (reported in Esquire, 8/92)
Attributed:
"I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix."
"Potato. P-O-T-A-T-O-E."
"My friends, no matter how rough the road may be, we can and we will never surrender to what is right."
In a speech to the Christian Coalition
"You all look like happy campers to me. Happy campers you are, happy campers you have been, and, as far as I am concerned, happy campers you will always be."
In a speech to American Samoans
"I stand by all my misstatements."
"The future will be better tomorrow."
"A word of advice: 'get a job.'"
"We're going to have the best educated American people in the world."
Baby U
I heard a fascinating story yesterday on This American Life (podcast) about Geoffrey Canada, the founder of The Harlem Children's Zone. Canada started to Think Big, which is what the edition of TAL was all about. He wanted to solve big problems in a big way - getting kids out of poverty, keeping black boys from fast-tracking into the prison system and getting Harlem kids prepared for adulthood. It's truly extraordinary what Canada realized and how easy it could be to make a significant change. According to him, the most important difference between poor parents and well-to-do parents was the sheer number of words an affluent child hears. The amount of language and the quality of that language (encouraging and positive) is a deciding factor.
So, he began programs that are succeeding and showing amazing results teaching parents in Harlem things that suburban parents just know: namely that coporal punishment doesn't work, reading to your children is very important, building them up is crucial. It's interesting that in wealthy neighborhoods there is a strong sort of peer pressure to be a good parent. And there are very strong taboos about doing certain things that these poor parents were still free to do - 'popping' their kids, insulting them and running them down, yelling all the time, not going to pre-school - things that in my neighborhood we feel an intense pressure from our community to avoid. There would be a lot of gossip about me and kids wouldn't come for play dates if I were the kind of parent I heard about in this episode of This American Life. Very interesting.
www.thislife.org
So, he began programs that are succeeding and showing amazing results teaching parents in Harlem things that suburban parents just know: namely that coporal punishment doesn't work, reading to your children is very important, building them up is crucial. It's interesting that in wealthy neighborhoods there is a strong sort of peer pressure to be a good parent. And there are very strong taboos about doing certain things that these poor parents were still free to do - 'popping' their kids, insulting them and running them down, yelling all the time, not going to pre-school - things that in my neighborhood we feel an intense pressure from our community to avoid. There would be a lot of gossip about me and kids wouldn't come for play dates if I were the kind of parent I heard about in this episode of This American Life. Very interesting.
www.thislife.org
The Better to See You With
"A wolf is at the door" - George Bush
The Wildlife Action Fund is running an anti-Palin ad. A news article states:
"Last year, Palin's office announced the state would offer cash to kill wolves. Incentives included offering volunteer pilots and aerial gunner teams $150 for turning in the forelegs of freshly killed wolves."
This made me think of the movie Never Cry Wolf - an excellent film with Charles Martin Smith about Alasakan wolves. We used to love this film when I was in college. I remember watching it with Mike and Bennett. It sort of makes me sick that people were offered money to kill and dismember wolves. That movie made me love those animals.
The Wildlife Action Fund is running an anti-Palin ad. A news article states:
"Last year, Palin's office announced the state would offer cash to kill wolves. Incentives included offering volunteer pilots and aerial gunner teams $150 for turning in the forelegs of freshly killed wolves."
This made me think of the movie Never Cry Wolf - an excellent film with Charles Martin Smith about Alasakan wolves. We used to love this film when I was in college. I remember watching it with Mike and Bennett. It sort of makes me sick that people were offered money to kill and dismember wolves. That movie made me love those animals.
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