According to the authors of "Food Fight" one of the reasons for higher rates of obesity in lower-income populations is that it simply costs more to eat a healthy diet. This fact was brought home to me in a powerful way yesterday when I made my usual weekly trip to the grocery store. As I walked through the produce section, an area which I normally hit pretty heavily, I was horrified to see how much prices have risen in just a few weeks. Prices on year-round produce like bananas and onions have gone up 15-20%. I kid you not. Seasonal produce is even worse. Early strawberries are in and I was surprised they weren't offering financing on the spot. And there are these little tomatoes that I'm totally crazy over but I wasn't willing to pay $6 for two packages (on sale). Let me be clear on this too - I wasn't at some upscale organic yuppie market in a wealthy part of town, I was at the King Soopers (a supermarket chain owned by Kroger) not far from my house (a quiet area that's fairly blue-collar in character).
Next I visited the meat department. I say visited because it's hard to say I shopped there. I spent a few minutes being horrified over the prices, and then walked out with a package of chicken thighs, one of the few affordable items I saw. I'm not sure when we had steak last, but at $8.49/lb (for a not-terribly-special New York Strip) it's going to be a while before we have it again. Boneless skinless chicken breasts were $7.00/lb. They had some special cuts of beef and lamb left over from Easter, and at the prices they charged I didn't wonder why they hadn't sold - a really nice roast for $42.
I left the store with a head of cabbage, a few cans of various types of beans, the aforementioned chicken thighs, a can of soup, and a complete sense of despair. We're not talking poverty and food insecurity here, it's not that bad for us, but we're definitely feeling the pinch. The despair I felt came from my sympathy for those who were already having a tough time making ends meet, as I wondered just what they were doing. Our grocery bill has skyrocketed over the last few months. I'm a careful shopper - sales, coupons, loyalty cards, the works. And don't give me any nonsense about tracking my purchases, they can do that whether or not I use a card, and I really don't care if they look to see what brand of tuna or laundry detergent I buy if it will save me $5-10/trip. At the same time, we're cutting back on things. I'm resurrecting some dishes that I haven't cooked since Hubby and I were newlyweds and watching every single dime. During that time (mid/late 1980's) our grocery budget was quite small. We never went hungry but I learned to be creative about cooking meals that were nutritious, flavorful and economical. That was good training for now, when what goes on our table and in our lunch bags is once again determined by what's on sale.
Getting back to "Food Fight", the authors say that there are fewer full-fledged supermarkets in lower income neighborhoods, and smaller neighborhood markets carry less inventory of produce and charge more for it, which makes it harder for lower income residents to obtain healthy foods on a regular basis. They also discuss the price disparity between healthy foods (such as fresh fruits and vegetables and lean meats) and less-than-healthy foods (fattier meats, cold cuts, hot dogs, chips/cookies/snack foods). Sometimes it's a matter of dollars and cents - a mother can feed her kids fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish and lean meats for two weeks, or she can feed them hot dogs, chips, sugary cereals and soft drinks for a month - no real choice there. This also identifies a real problem in our society, culture and economy if only those who are well-off can afford to eat a healthy diet. The authors speculated about, but didn't take a position on, a potential tax on junk food and sugary drinks. I have to admit there was one potential use of revenues from such a tax that I found appealing and beneficial to all - these tax revenues could be used to subsidize the prices of produce and other healthier foods. If the prices of carrots and apples were subsidized, then the hypothetical mother described above would be able to purchase apples (currently $1.99-2.49/lb) for the price of cheese puffs (on sale, $1.25/bag).
In the meantime, I'm just grateful that Hubby is willing to try some of the vegetarian dishes I've come across lately. Tonight I made a wonderful dish of black beans, canned tomatoes, corn and rice with a sprinkling of shredded cheese and some spices. Inexpensive and delicious! I'm also grateful that he doesn't mind the simple meals I've resurrected from the early days of our marriage. He appears to be enjoying the walk down memory lane.
This is the worst spike in prices I've seen in a very long time. It reminds me of the bad old days back in the late 1970's/early 1980's, the time when conservative voters put Reagan into office and the government spent billions of dollars fighting communism while people here in the US were paying 13% interest on their mortgages. I kid you now. I don't want us to revisit those times with the only differences being substitute McCain for Reagan and terrorism for communism. This is a crucial election cycle, one in which the people of this country will be able to choose between hope and fear, between progress and regression, between environmental destruction and preservation, between peace and war, between violence and understanding. The choice we make will reverberate throughout the history of our country, and our planet, for decades. Choose wisely.
"Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it."
Mahatma Gandhi
Peace,
AuntieM
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Out of my mind, back in 10 minutes
Hi, you've reached AuntieM. I've mentally checked out for a while, please leave me a message and I'll get back to you when I return to sanity (or whatever passes for sanity around here). BEEP.
This mental vacation I've been taking for the last few days has done me a world of good. In the vein of not really being here - I'm not here, I'm a fig newton of your imagination - here are some random thoughts and things that have made me laugh:
Passage from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in which Ford Prefect descrbes spending a year out of his mind, pretending he's a lemon slice and the lake he's jumping into is a gigantic gin and tonic. Hmmm... sounds refreshing.
More Hitchhikers: The key to learning how to fly is to aim yourself at the ground and miss.
Jeff Foxworthy describing a woman with a large rear end: looks like a poodle riding a Hippity-Hop.
“Laugh, and the world laughs with you. Snore, and you sleep alone.” - Yakov Smirnoff
Talking cat: Yes, I'm serious. Boycat has a pretty impressive vocabulary that he uses quite effectively. Last night I cooked a tuna dish for dinner so of course both Boycat and Girlcat were underfoot. Boycat was running out of patience so he stood up tall, looked me in the eye and said very clearly "Me now?" A sentence. Clearly enunciated. It was impressive. Normally his best word is "No!", and I hear it frequently when I give him his shots. Unfortunately Girlcat isn't nearly as verbally expressive - she thinks everything can be summed up in one sound: Prrrruuu? That's okay though, she's smart when it comes to mechanical things. This is a mixed blessing because she has learned how to open drawers and now likes to nap in a drawer of thermal underwear. I kid you not. She can also open the doors to the crawlspace,which has necessitated the installation of a child lock on those doors. She's fascinated by how things work. I may regret this later, but I'm in the process of teaching her how to work the snooze alarm. so she can go hit the button for me when I don't want to get up just yet.
Oral hygiene for cats: I've started the cats on an oral hygiene regimen which they actually enjoy. Remember the tuna? Cats love tuna juice almost as much as they love tuna itself. Cats also need help keeping their teeth clean. Here's the chocolate/peanut butter moment: Cats will chew on a toothbrush dipped in tuna juice and brush their own teeth! Boycat and Girlcat now have their own toothbrushes, the smallest child-size brushes I could find. Whenever we open a can of tuna I drain the juice into a bowl instead of down the drain, and the cats get to brush their teeth. I had to get Hubby to help me with that last night because I can only brush one cat's teeth at the time, and those cats will nearly fight to be first! Try it yourself, it's pretty amusing.
“There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.” - Douglas Adams
Something that has amused and entertained me greatly over the last few weeks is a TV series called "Breaking Bad" which is an origial production of AMC-TV. This series is about a high school chemistry teacher (played by Bryan Cranston, a favorite actor of mine) who discovers he has inoperable lung cancer. He is faced with a very poor prognosis and the knowledge that his family will suffer severe financial hardship after his death. At the same time he is introduced to the world of crystal meth by his brother in law, a DEA agent who invites him on a ride-along to watch them bust a meth lab, and he gets the idea that he can score lots of cash quickly by cooking meth with the help of a former student who has the sales connections. After all, he knows the chemistry and is able to produce a chemically pure product that soon becomes extremely popular on the street. This description doesn't even begin to do the show justice, however - it is a darkly written story with some really twisted humor that is made even more intense by the seriousness of the plotline. This one is so worth checking out!
One project I'm going to tackle this weekend is making a dress to wear at commencement in mid-May. I picked up my cap and gown this week. It's interesting that some people are simply more formal than others, generally due to age and upbringing. In some respects I'm kind of formal about things - wearing a dress with my gown instead of shorts, that sort of thing. But I decided to defy convention with my choice of footwear. Ordinarily I'd wear a nice pump with a dress, but not this time. The commencement ceremony will be held outdoors, in the morning, so at the very least the grass will be dewy. Heels are never a good idea when walking on grass. I've been searching for weeks now for the perfect shoe to wear to commencement, and I've kept on coming back to the same ones, even though I never thought I'd own a pair, much less wear them with a dress, and to a ceremony at that! But I'm going to. I bought a pair of Crocs in a pink that will go well with my dress, and now I'm all set. I seriously doubt I'll be the only person wearing them; out here they're ridiculously popular. Besides, it seems like such a college graduate thing to do... wait till I get my BA, maybe I'll go with shorts and flip-flops.
Later,
AuntieM
This mental vacation I've been taking for the last few days has done me a world of good. In the vein of not really being here - I'm not here, I'm a fig newton of your imagination - here are some random thoughts and things that have made me laugh:
Passage from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in which Ford Prefect descrbes spending a year out of his mind, pretending he's a lemon slice and the lake he's jumping into is a gigantic gin and tonic. Hmmm... sounds refreshing.
More Hitchhikers: The key to learning how to fly is to aim yourself at the ground and miss.
Jeff Foxworthy describing a woman with a large rear end: looks like a poodle riding a Hippity-Hop.
“Laugh, and the world laughs with you. Snore, and you sleep alone.” - Yakov Smirnoff
Talking cat: Yes, I'm serious. Boycat has a pretty impressive vocabulary that he uses quite effectively. Last night I cooked a tuna dish for dinner so of course both Boycat and Girlcat were underfoot. Boycat was running out of patience so he stood up tall, looked me in the eye and said very clearly "Me now?" A sentence. Clearly enunciated. It was impressive. Normally his best word is "No!", and I hear it frequently when I give him his shots. Unfortunately Girlcat isn't nearly as verbally expressive - she thinks everything can be summed up in one sound: Prrrruuu? That's okay though, she's smart when it comes to mechanical things. This is a mixed blessing because she has learned how to open drawers and now likes to nap in a drawer of thermal underwear. I kid you not. She can also open the doors to the crawlspace,which has necessitated the installation of a child lock on those doors. She's fascinated by how things work. I may regret this later, but I'm in the process of teaching her how to work the snooze alarm. so she can go hit the button for me when I don't want to get up just yet.
Oral hygiene for cats: I've started the cats on an oral hygiene regimen which they actually enjoy. Remember the tuna? Cats love tuna juice almost as much as they love tuna itself. Cats also need help keeping their teeth clean. Here's the chocolate/peanut butter moment: Cats will chew on a toothbrush dipped in tuna juice and brush their own teeth! Boycat and Girlcat now have their own toothbrushes, the smallest child-size brushes I could find. Whenever we open a can of tuna I drain the juice into a bowl instead of down the drain, and the cats get to brush their teeth. I had to get Hubby to help me with that last night because I can only brush one cat's teeth at the time, and those cats will nearly fight to be first! Try it yourself, it's pretty amusing.
“There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.” - Douglas Adams
Something that has amused and entertained me greatly over the last few weeks is a TV series called "Breaking Bad" which is an origial production of AMC-TV. This series is about a high school chemistry teacher (played by Bryan Cranston, a favorite actor of mine) who discovers he has inoperable lung cancer. He is faced with a very poor prognosis and the knowledge that his family will suffer severe financial hardship after his death. At the same time he is introduced to the world of crystal meth by his brother in law, a DEA agent who invites him on a ride-along to watch them bust a meth lab, and he gets the idea that he can score lots of cash quickly by cooking meth with the help of a former student who has the sales connections. After all, he knows the chemistry and is able to produce a chemically pure product that soon becomes extremely popular on the street. This description doesn't even begin to do the show justice, however - it is a darkly written story with some really twisted humor that is made even more intense by the seriousness of the plotline. This one is so worth checking out!
One project I'm going to tackle this weekend is making a dress to wear at commencement in mid-May. I picked up my cap and gown this week. It's interesting that some people are simply more formal than others, generally due to age and upbringing. In some respects I'm kind of formal about things - wearing a dress with my gown instead of shorts, that sort of thing. But I decided to defy convention with my choice of footwear. Ordinarily I'd wear a nice pump with a dress, but not this time. The commencement ceremony will be held outdoors, in the morning, so at the very least the grass will be dewy. Heels are never a good idea when walking on grass. I've been searching for weeks now for the perfect shoe to wear to commencement, and I've kept on coming back to the same ones, even though I never thought I'd own a pair, much less wear them with a dress, and to a ceremony at that! But I'm going to. I bought a pair of Crocs in a pink that will go well with my dress, and now I'm all set. I seriously doubt I'll be the only person wearing them; out here they're ridiculously popular. Besides, it seems like such a college graduate thing to do... wait till I get my BA, maybe I'll go with shorts and flip-flops.
Later,
AuntieM
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Think
"Time to think is an essential political act." - Margaret Wheatley
Let's take a moment and reflect on the above quote.
Taking the time to think about what's going on in our world may seem like a rare indulgence in our busy lives. Stopping to think may possibly be one of the most dangerous political acts we can commit. I believe our government would likely see it as such because a population that thinks is a population that questions, and the last thing our current administration wants is to be faced with a bunch of questions they don't want to answer. So instead they try to program us with patriotic slogans and empty rhetoric designed to distract us from thinking, questioning and searching for the truth.
I don't know about you, but I'm tired of being told what to think and how to believe. I get especially militant on major religious holidays because not subscribing to the culture's dominant religious belief does tend to leave one out in the cold on days such as today. This morning I thought I would get out and run some errands - grocery store, etc - and now I wonder what's open and what sort of difficulties I'll run into as I try to do what I need to do. Hubby is working tonight, and I'm bouncing between schoolwork and housework - it's a normal Sunday for us. Outside our oasis of calm the rest of the world is in holiday mode, so nothing is normal.
Tomorrow my Spring Break begins, and this time I feel like I really need it! It's not that I'm overstressed or there's anything unusual going on with me. It's that I've recently realized that I don't have to be working ALL THE TIME, that sometimes I deserve a little down-time. It's all a part of maintaining healthy boundaries in your life. We stress that in my workplace, and those lessons are beginning to filter over into my personal life as well. A couple of weeks ago I was totally exhausted, asleep-on-my-feet tired, and was trying to figure out what to do. I had both housework and studying that were competing for my attention and I was becoming frustrated with myself (because of course I saw my tiredness as a personal failing - I had stuff to do!). Then it suddenly hit me: it's okay for me just to bail out occasionally. It's more than okay, it's healthy. I saw just how unhealthy it was to continue to push myself beyond my limits, and realized that laying down my burdens for a few hours was not an act of surrender, it was an act of kindness to myself. I acknowledged my needs and chose to honor those needs. So I took a nap, and it was great! And the stars didn't fall from the sky, the world kept turning on its axis, Hubby still loved me, my GPA stayed high, and I was able to tackle my studying and housework much refreshed as a result.
So what am I doing for Spring break? As much as I wish I could say I'm going to go lie on a beach and relax, that's just not in the cards. Sigh... I need some beach time. I'm going to take some time to rest, to breathe, and to think (a la the Margaret Wheatley quote). I'm also going to give the house a mid-semester cleaning and do some sewing. The cleaning needs to be done, and I'm only talking about a few hours worth, not days. The sewing is fun, relaxing and meditative for me, and besides, I need a new dress for commencement and would much rather sew than shop. I have a backlog of sewing projects like you wouldn't believe, and am at the point at which I must re-prioritize them to fit the upcoming warmer weather. Need to put the heavy fabrics aside for a few months and focus on lighter-weight clothing.
Maybe it doesn't really matter where we are, a beach or home. Maybe what matters is that we silence the voices that mute our own thoughts, disconnect from the sources that try to tell us what we "should" think and "should" believe, and simply THINK, of anything or nothing at all. That way lies inner truth and self-discovery that can't be found in any church. Perhaps an appropriate subject for thought is "what is truly important to me?" As I just re-read this paragraph I realize that meditation may well be the answer, as well as allowing ourselves time to experience meditative thought, to enter a mental state in which our minds are free to go where they may while we tag along for the ride. Maybe we all need to take a mental spring break.
"All that we are is the result of what we have thought." -Buddha.
Peace,
AuntieM
Let's take a moment and reflect on the above quote.
Taking the time to think about what's going on in our world may seem like a rare indulgence in our busy lives. Stopping to think may possibly be one of the most dangerous political acts we can commit. I believe our government would likely see it as such because a population that thinks is a population that questions, and the last thing our current administration wants is to be faced with a bunch of questions they don't want to answer. So instead they try to program us with patriotic slogans and empty rhetoric designed to distract us from thinking, questioning and searching for the truth.
I don't know about you, but I'm tired of being told what to think and how to believe. I get especially militant on major religious holidays because not subscribing to the culture's dominant religious belief does tend to leave one out in the cold on days such as today. This morning I thought I would get out and run some errands - grocery store, etc - and now I wonder what's open and what sort of difficulties I'll run into as I try to do what I need to do. Hubby is working tonight, and I'm bouncing between schoolwork and housework - it's a normal Sunday for us. Outside our oasis of calm the rest of the world is in holiday mode, so nothing is normal.
Tomorrow my Spring Break begins, and this time I feel like I really need it! It's not that I'm overstressed or there's anything unusual going on with me. It's that I've recently realized that I don't have to be working ALL THE TIME, that sometimes I deserve a little down-time. It's all a part of maintaining healthy boundaries in your life. We stress that in my workplace, and those lessons are beginning to filter over into my personal life as well. A couple of weeks ago I was totally exhausted, asleep-on-my-feet tired, and was trying to figure out what to do. I had both housework and studying that were competing for my attention and I was becoming frustrated with myself (because of course I saw my tiredness as a personal failing - I had stuff to do!). Then it suddenly hit me: it's okay for me just to bail out occasionally. It's more than okay, it's healthy. I saw just how unhealthy it was to continue to push myself beyond my limits, and realized that laying down my burdens for a few hours was not an act of surrender, it was an act of kindness to myself. I acknowledged my needs and chose to honor those needs. So I took a nap, and it was great! And the stars didn't fall from the sky, the world kept turning on its axis, Hubby still loved me, my GPA stayed high, and I was able to tackle my studying and housework much refreshed as a result.
So what am I doing for Spring break? As much as I wish I could say I'm going to go lie on a beach and relax, that's just not in the cards. Sigh... I need some beach time. I'm going to take some time to rest, to breathe, and to think (a la the Margaret Wheatley quote). I'm also going to give the house a mid-semester cleaning and do some sewing. The cleaning needs to be done, and I'm only talking about a few hours worth, not days. The sewing is fun, relaxing and meditative for me, and besides, I need a new dress for commencement and would much rather sew than shop. I have a backlog of sewing projects like you wouldn't believe, and am at the point at which I must re-prioritize them to fit the upcoming warmer weather. Need to put the heavy fabrics aside for a few months and focus on lighter-weight clothing.
Maybe it doesn't really matter where we are, a beach or home. Maybe what matters is that we silence the voices that mute our own thoughts, disconnect from the sources that try to tell us what we "should" think and "should" believe, and simply THINK, of anything or nothing at all. That way lies inner truth and self-discovery that can't be found in any church. Perhaps an appropriate subject for thought is "what is truly important to me?" As I just re-read this paragraph I realize that meditation may well be the answer, as well as allowing ourselves time to experience meditative thought, to enter a mental state in which our minds are free to go where they may while we tag along for the ride. Maybe we all need to take a mental spring break.
"All that we are is the result of what we have thought." -Buddha.
Peace,
AuntieM
Friday, March 21, 2008
Fox News = Faux news
I just saw something that made me so angry that I had to blog about it. I watched a video which exposed the extremely negative slant that Fox News has taken on Barack Obama and his campaign. Now I know that different media outlets slant their news according to their institutional views and/or the beliefs of their corporate masters. I also know that we all have the right to express our own opinions, or at least we did pre-Patriot Act. But this time they've gone too far. Here are some of the highly distorted views of Obama that Faux News has been handing out as their idea of 'fact':
- One of their anchors repeatedly refered to Obama as being a "Half-rican", talking about his mixed heritage. The very idea that she should be able to take racial potshots at him is completely offensive to me. I thought that sort of name-calling went out of favor in the early 1960s when segregation ended.
- They questioned his patriotism repeatedly because he committed the grave offense of not wearing an American flag pin on his lapel, and apparently was seen not placing his hand over his heart during the Pledge of Allegiance. So Faux News began to spread stories that implied Obama isn't enough of a patriot to be president. Apparently they qualify candidates by who waves the biggest flag...
- Repeated emphasis of Obama's middle name, Hussein, to imply close ties with the Middle East. Guess if his middle name was Ivan they'd try to portray him as a Communist left over from the Cold War.
- The anchors at Faux News try to create an association with liberalism and anti-American sentiment by implying that liberals who work to change this country for the better are somehow trying to destroy this country. It's a good think that the founding fathers didn't think that way, otherwise we'd still be singing "God Save the Queen". The framers of our constitution didn't think that change for the better was a threat, so why should Faux News? Oh yeah, I forgot - they're heavily invested in protecting the status quo.
- The anchors at Faux News actually stated "Obama is not Jesus." Glad they got that one figured out, I didn't know there was ever any confusion between the two.
- They actually said that Obama sounded like Hitler. Like Hitler! They also said they didn't know why people get all excited when Obama speaks, and speculated that it was some sort of mass hysteria like that which happened when Hitler spoke. Funny, when the ideas go against their beliefs it's hysteria. Bet if there was such a massive outpouring of support for a conservative Republican candidate they wouldn't question the reasons why.
Here's some news that got swept under the rug in the midst of all of Faux News' Obama-bashing: McCain received an endorsement from televangelist Rick Paisley, whom he considers to be his spiritual advisor. Paisley was quoted as saying, "I do not believe our country can truly fulfill its divine purpose until we understand our historical conflict with Islam. I know that this statement sounds extreme, but I do not shrink from its implications. The fact is that America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed..." Let's hope that McCain doesn't share the misguided belief that America's raison d'etre is the destruction of Islam.
And then there's Pastor John Hagee, whose endorsement John McCain was "honored" and "proud" to receive. Hagee says Katrina was God's punishment for homosexuality, Jews are to blame for anti-Semitism, and Catholicism is the "Whore of Babylon" and "a cult." Nice, huh? That sort of bigoted perspective is just what I want in a Commander in Chief.
If you wish to see these reports for yourself and make up your own mind about the biased reporting provided by Fox News, go to http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3495&id=12363-8890007-Q3dTV_&t=455 There is also a petition that MoveOn.org is going to distribute to the major news outlets asking them to stop parroting Fox News broadcasts and spreading Faux lies.
“You're not to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it.” - Malcolm X
Peace,
AuntieM
5 years later...
Wednesday was the fifth anniversary of Bush's imperialistic invasion of Iraq which supposedly was going to protect us against terrorist attacks by securing as many oil interests as possible for his oil buddies in Texas and by creating billions of dollars worth of business for Cheney's Halliburton.
Oops, I don't sound bitter, do I?
A few weeks after the invasion, Bush stood in front of a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished". Guess that means he'd accomplished his mission of creating a quagmire of military conflict that would take years to resolve, cost billions of dollars and thousands of American soldiers' lives, while enriching the oil companies and the military-industrial complex beyond their wildest dreams. If that was what he meant, then yeah, Mission Accomplished.
But something on the local news warmed my heart: there were about half a dozen candlelight vigils and protests against our continued presence in Iraq. Peaceful demonstrations organized by folks just like you and me, who have had enough and are ready to make their voices heard. These people gave up an evening to make a statment, to speak out for change, to demand peace, and apparently enough of them did so to warrant a litttle media coverage of their own (which has been really rare lately). What they did was such a wonderful start, and we need to keep it going. We need to make our voices heard clear to Washington and around the world, to call for an end to the US occupation of Iraq and withdrawal of US troops as quickly as possible.
Please be clear about this right up front: I am not advocating violence. Sometimes I worry that in my passion my words may be mistaken for a call to arms, instead of a call to action. The only way to create peace is through peaceful means. I am advocating peaceful protest, opportunities in which average folks can come together and unite their voices in a call for peace and for change.
In a conversation with a colleague yesterday I was reminded that there are so many people out there who are dissatisfied with the course that our country is taking, and who would like to work together for change, but just don't know where to start. I think many of us are struggling with the same questions, namely "What can I do to make a difference? How can I get involved?" I include myself in that number because I don't have the answers either. I use this blog as a tool, a sounding board on which I post thoughts and await reactions, positive or negative. Let me give you one idea of a place to start: get signed up with MoveOn.org and get on their e-mail list for local events, because most of the protests on Wednesday that made the news were organized by MoveOn.org members. This will let you find out about upcoming events in your area that you can help with, or you can even organize your own events and publicize them locally through MoveOn.org.
On the subject of ending the war in Iraq, I must point out that Barack Obama has proposed a plan to get US troops out of Iraq within the first 16 months of his presidency. This isn't some pie-in-the-sky claim, he gave details on exactly how he intends to do this. It is too long to reproduce here, but complete text of his speech may be found on his website, www.barackobama.com, or on www.moveon.org I urge everyone to go and check it out. This is the first reasonable exit strategy I've heard anyone present, and it certainly beats McCain's ideas of perpetual war, and Hillary's any-way-the-wind-blows support of ending the war. Also check out Obama's five-point plan for restoring America as a center of growth, advancement, positive change and international respect. I cannot do justice by paraphrasing, so I have reproduced a summary of Obama's plan below (emphases are mine).
"First, in addressing global terror and violent extremism, we need the kind of comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy I called for last August. We need to strengthen security partnerships to take out terrorist networks, while investing in education and opportunity. We need to give our national security agencies the tools they need, while restoring the adherence to rule of law that helps us win the battle for hearts and minds. This means closing Guantanamo, restoring habeas corpus, and respecting civil liberties. And we need to support the forces of moderation in the Islamic world, so that alliances of convenience mature into friendships of conviction.
Second, the threat of nuclear proliferation must serve as a call to action. I have worked across the aisle with Richard Lugar and Chuck Hagel in the Senate to secure dangerous weapons and loose nuclear materials. And as President, I will secure all loose nuclear materials around the world in my first term, seek deep cuts in global nuclear arsenals, strengthen the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and once more seek a world without nuclear weapons.
Third, the danger of weak and failed states risks spreading poverty and refugees; genocide and disease. Now is the time to meet the goal of cutting extreme poverty in half, in part by doubling our foreign assistance while demanding more from those who receive it. And now is the time to build the capacity of regional partners in conflict prevention, peacekeeping, and the reconstruction of ravaged societies.
Fourth, the catastrophic consequences of the global climate crisis are matched by the promise of collective action. Now is the time for America to lead, because if we take action, others will act as well. Through our own cap and trade system and investments in new sources of energy, we can end our dependence on foreign oil and gas, and free ourselves from the tyranny of oil-rich states from Saudi Arabia to Russia to Venezuela. We can create millions of new jobs here in America. And we can secure our planet for our children and grandchildren.
And fifth, America's sluggish economy risks ceding our economic prominence to a rising China. Competition has always been a catalyst for American innovation, and now should be no different. We must invest in the education of our children, renew our leadership in science, and advance trade that is not just free, but fair for our workers. We must ensure that America is the economic engine in the 21st century just as we were in the 20th."
It is time for us to reclaim our country, to make it once again a government by the people, of the people and for the people. It's time for us to restore democracy, take back our civil rights, end prisoner abuses and torture at Guantanimo Bay, and demand the withdrawal of our troops from Iraq. It's time for liberty and justice for ALL, not for some. We are at a pivotal crossroads in history, and the choices we make now will have lasting repercussions on the type of world our descendants inherit. It's time for change.
"I'm asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington... I'm asking you to believe in yours." - Barack Obama
Peace,
AuntieM
Oops, I don't sound bitter, do I?
A few weeks after the invasion, Bush stood in front of a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished". Guess that means he'd accomplished his mission of creating a quagmire of military conflict that would take years to resolve, cost billions of dollars and thousands of American soldiers' lives, while enriching the oil companies and the military-industrial complex beyond their wildest dreams. If that was what he meant, then yeah, Mission Accomplished.
But something on the local news warmed my heart: there were about half a dozen candlelight vigils and protests against our continued presence in Iraq. Peaceful demonstrations organized by folks just like you and me, who have had enough and are ready to make their voices heard. These people gave up an evening to make a statment, to speak out for change, to demand peace, and apparently enough of them did so to warrant a litttle media coverage of their own (which has been really rare lately). What they did was such a wonderful start, and we need to keep it going. We need to make our voices heard clear to Washington and around the world, to call for an end to the US occupation of Iraq and withdrawal of US troops as quickly as possible.
Please be clear about this right up front: I am not advocating violence. Sometimes I worry that in my passion my words may be mistaken for a call to arms, instead of a call to action. The only way to create peace is through peaceful means. I am advocating peaceful protest, opportunities in which average folks can come together and unite their voices in a call for peace and for change.
In a conversation with a colleague yesterday I was reminded that there are so many people out there who are dissatisfied with the course that our country is taking, and who would like to work together for change, but just don't know where to start. I think many of us are struggling with the same questions, namely "What can I do to make a difference? How can I get involved?" I include myself in that number because I don't have the answers either. I use this blog as a tool, a sounding board on which I post thoughts and await reactions, positive or negative. Let me give you one idea of a place to start: get signed up with MoveOn.org and get on their e-mail list for local events, because most of the protests on Wednesday that made the news were organized by MoveOn.org members. This will let you find out about upcoming events in your area that you can help with, or you can even organize your own events and publicize them locally through MoveOn.org.
On the subject of ending the war in Iraq, I must point out that Barack Obama has proposed a plan to get US troops out of Iraq within the first 16 months of his presidency. This isn't some pie-in-the-sky claim, he gave details on exactly how he intends to do this. It is too long to reproduce here, but complete text of his speech may be found on his website, www.barackobama.com, or on www.moveon.org I urge everyone to go and check it out. This is the first reasonable exit strategy I've heard anyone present, and it certainly beats McCain's ideas of perpetual war, and Hillary's any-way-the-wind-blows support of ending the war. Also check out Obama's five-point plan for restoring America as a center of growth, advancement, positive change and international respect. I cannot do justice by paraphrasing, so I have reproduced a summary of Obama's plan below (emphases are mine).
"First, in addressing global terror and violent extremism, we need the kind of comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy I called for last August. We need to strengthen security partnerships to take out terrorist networks, while investing in education and opportunity. We need to give our national security agencies the tools they need, while restoring the adherence to rule of law that helps us win the battle for hearts and minds. This means closing Guantanamo, restoring habeas corpus, and respecting civil liberties. And we need to support the forces of moderation in the Islamic world, so that alliances of convenience mature into friendships of conviction.
Second, the threat of nuclear proliferation must serve as a call to action. I have worked across the aisle with Richard Lugar and Chuck Hagel in the Senate to secure dangerous weapons and loose nuclear materials. And as President, I will secure all loose nuclear materials around the world in my first term, seek deep cuts in global nuclear arsenals, strengthen the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and once more seek a world without nuclear weapons.
Third, the danger of weak and failed states risks spreading poverty and refugees; genocide and disease. Now is the time to meet the goal of cutting extreme poverty in half, in part by doubling our foreign assistance while demanding more from those who receive it. And now is the time to build the capacity of regional partners in conflict prevention, peacekeeping, and the reconstruction of ravaged societies.
Fourth, the catastrophic consequences of the global climate crisis are matched by the promise of collective action. Now is the time for America to lead, because if we take action, others will act as well. Through our own cap and trade system and investments in new sources of energy, we can end our dependence on foreign oil and gas, and free ourselves from the tyranny of oil-rich states from Saudi Arabia to Russia to Venezuela. We can create millions of new jobs here in America. And we can secure our planet for our children and grandchildren.
And fifth, America's sluggish economy risks ceding our economic prominence to a rising China. Competition has always been a catalyst for American innovation, and now should be no different. We must invest in the education of our children, renew our leadership in science, and advance trade that is not just free, but fair for our workers. We must ensure that America is the economic engine in the 21st century just as we were in the 20th."
It is time for us to reclaim our country, to make it once again a government by the people, of the people and for the people. It's time for us to restore democracy, take back our civil rights, end prisoner abuses and torture at Guantanimo Bay, and demand the withdrawal of our troops from Iraq. It's time for liberty and justice for ALL, not for some. We are at a pivotal crossroads in history, and the choices we make now will have lasting repercussions on the type of world our descendants inherit. It's time for change.
"I'm asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington... I'm asking you to believe in yours." - Barack Obama
Peace,
AuntieM
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Too strange not to be true
I just heard something on our local news that was far too strange not to record for posterity. We've got a fairly sizeable snowstorm moving into our area tonight so I decided to catch the weather forecast to see just how bad my morning commute will be tomorrow, and I heard about something that makes dealing with snow on the roads seem like a picnic. On a highway in California a tractor-trailer overturned and lost its load, releasing approximately 8 million bees in the area. The truck was filled with beehives, and the bees went everywhere. The news report said that residents were advised to keep their windows closed (DUH!). At least we can shovel the snow away, salt the icy spots and go about our business. Could you imagine calling in to work because your yard is full of bees and you can't get to your car without being stung?
I'm reading a fascinating book right now (okay, I'm reading about 5 fascinating books right now but this is the one I want to write about.) It's called Food Fight by Kelly D. Brownell, PhD and Katherine Battle Horgen, PhD, and it's about the obesity epidemic in this country, factors that fuel this epidemic, and what we can do about it personally and as a nation. One huge factor discussed is the explosion of serving sizes, particularly in restaurants (both fast-food and sit-down restaurants). It's completely horrifying how serving sizes have exploded, and how we've bought into them so thoroughly. When I was little, soft drinks came in returnable glass bottles, and we would buy 8oz Cokes or 10 oz. Pepsi's. That was sufficient, and we didn't drink soda all day, we actually drank tea or water or juice too. According to Food Fight, 20 oz soft drinks are becoming the new norm. Burgers have also grown tremendously; in 1957 the average hamburger contained 1oz of beef and 210 calories, today it's 6oz beef and 618 calories (p182). And for many, that's a snack!
What made me think about this book is a commercial I just saw for a really disgusting pizza with five different meats layered between two crusts. Come on now, what is that anyway? Does it come with a free angioplasty? And I really can't stand watching Burger King commercials, I believe that BK has set a corporate goal of marketing the unhealthiest, most disgusting burgers it can concoct. Maybe I'm getting a little mental about healthy eating, but I'm about to the point that a lot of those extreme items are just revolting. I'll take a vegetarian pizza, thin crust, extra sauce and easy on the cheese, please. YUM! Other than that, my fast food intake is now limited to Subway's heart-healthy options, or Wendy's for chili, baked potato and side salad.
This book also contains some discussion on the pros and cons of taxing unhealthy foods. I'm not going to take a stand on this issue one way or another, but if it ever happens I hope that some of the tax proceeds will go toward subsidizing healthy foods to lower their prices and make healthy eating more affordable. I spend a fortune each week just in the produce section, and it is clear to me that larger familes on limited incomes must resort to less expensive, carbohydrate- and fat-laden foods just to make ends meet. I myself have resurrected some of the dishes I used to cook back when Hubby and I first got together and money was really tight. Let's face it, for all of my jokes about being a poor college student and Hubby's jokes about being the husband of a poor college student, we're not joking - things are getting tight and getting tighter due to the drastic rise in prices on everything from apples to gas to bread and beef. Time to get creative with tuna and mac/cheese again, and to dust off my vegetarian cookbook ($8/lb for steak, or $0.50 for a pound of lentils - you do the math). Beans and brown rice and cheese, with a can of diced tomatoes, some onions and peppers, that's a wonderful meal right there.
"Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos - the trees, the clouds, everything." - Thich Nhat Hanh
Peace,
AuntieM
I'm reading a fascinating book right now (okay, I'm reading about 5 fascinating books right now but this is the one I want to write about.) It's called Food Fight by Kelly D. Brownell, PhD and Katherine Battle Horgen, PhD, and it's about the obesity epidemic in this country, factors that fuel this epidemic, and what we can do about it personally and as a nation. One huge factor discussed is the explosion of serving sizes, particularly in restaurants (both fast-food and sit-down restaurants). It's completely horrifying how serving sizes have exploded, and how we've bought into them so thoroughly. When I was little, soft drinks came in returnable glass bottles, and we would buy 8oz Cokes or 10 oz. Pepsi's. That was sufficient, and we didn't drink soda all day, we actually drank tea or water or juice too. According to Food Fight, 20 oz soft drinks are becoming the new norm. Burgers have also grown tremendously; in 1957 the average hamburger contained 1oz of beef and 210 calories, today it's 6oz beef and 618 calories (p182). And for many, that's a snack!
What made me think about this book is a commercial I just saw for a really disgusting pizza with five different meats layered between two crusts. Come on now, what is that anyway? Does it come with a free angioplasty? And I really can't stand watching Burger King commercials, I believe that BK has set a corporate goal of marketing the unhealthiest, most disgusting burgers it can concoct. Maybe I'm getting a little mental about healthy eating, but I'm about to the point that a lot of those extreme items are just revolting. I'll take a vegetarian pizza, thin crust, extra sauce and easy on the cheese, please. YUM! Other than that, my fast food intake is now limited to Subway's heart-healthy options, or Wendy's for chili, baked potato and side salad.
This book also contains some discussion on the pros and cons of taxing unhealthy foods. I'm not going to take a stand on this issue one way or another, but if it ever happens I hope that some of the tax proceeds will go toward subsidizing healthy foods to lower their prices and make healthy eating more affordable. I spend a fortune each week just in the produce section, and it is clear to me that larger familes on limited incomes must resort to less expensive, carbohydrate- and fat-laden foods just to make ends meet. I myself have resurrected some of the dishes I used to cook back when Hubby and I first got together and money was really tight. Let's face it, for all of my jokes about being a poor college student and Hubby's jokes about being the husband of a poor college student, we're not joking - things are getting tight and getting tighter due to the drastic rise in prices on everything from apples to gas to bread and beef. Time to get creative with tuna and mac/cheese again, and to dust off my vegetarian cookbook ($8/lb for steak, or $0.50 for a pound of lentils - you do the math). Beans and brown rice and cheese, with a can of diced tomatoes, some onions and peppers, that's a wonderful meal right there.
"Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos - the trees, the clouds, everything." - Thich Nhat Hanh
Peace,
AuntieM
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Frustration and the political process
This morning I went to my county Democratic convention/assembly as an alternate delegate for Obama. I was all excited about taking part in this process for the first time, especially to represent a candidate in whom I truly believe. So I was pretty excited to get up before the sun and show up at the Colorado School of Mines around 7:30am. I got even more excited when I saw the traffic jam leading onto campus and the tremendous number of people who had also turned out early on a Saturday morning to make their voices heard. I knew going in that since I was an alternate, there was no guarantee that I would get to participate in the convention/assembly. I was prepared to be philosophical about it, to be turned away after a couple of hours instead of being seated as a delegate and take the attitude of "at least I tried". Funny how things just don't go anywhere near the way you imagine.
First off, according to Jeffco Dems they are used to dealing with around 500 delegates and alternates. Today they had 4000 delegates and 1500 alternates. The process broke down under the sheer weight of numbers. At the beginning we were told we should know by midmorning whether or not we alternates would be seated as delegates. Midmorning came and went. Around 11am they told us they were still trying to sort things out and it was likely that anyone who registered after 7:30 would not get seated, but they should know around 12:30. Since my registration time was so close (8am) I decided to stick around and try my luck. Around 1pm they came out again and said they would need lots more alternates than they thought and the majority of us would be seated as delegates. Yay, we all cheered, we haven't wasted a pretty Saturday sitting in an auditorium for nothing.
We all had to register when we arrived, and turn in a preference poll card that indicated our binding vote for the Democratic presidential nomination. Once we checked in, there was nothing to do but find a semi-comfy seat and hang out. I took textbooks and tried to study. During all this time the Jeffco Dems did all they could to keep us entertained - we listened to lots of speeches, some of which were pretty interesting, and the mistress of ceremonies did a heck of a job trying to do standup comedy and keep well over 1000 sleepy, Starbucks-deprived and politically-opinionated people placated.
Anyway, around 2pm they announced that they woudl begin seating alternates, but the method which they proposed to use drew official protests from both campaigns, because they were going to seat alternates according to time of check-in instead of replacing one Obama or Clinton delegate with a corresponding Obama or Clinton alternate. They finally came to a decision that I found rather upsetting considering the events of the day - they decided not to seat any alternates, period. Thanks for coming in and giving up your Saturday, drive carefully, please leave now. I felt pretty used and abused.
You know those preference cards I mentioned that we turned in during the registration process? What they're going to do is match up which candidates' delegates did not show up and insert the appropriate number of alternate votes for the same candidate. So I'll never ever even know if my vote today counted or not! I find that incredibly frustrating. If I could just know that my vote meant something, then I wouldn't feel like I'd wasted my day, especially in a rather busy week in which I've hardly even been able to see Hubby. I did manage to race home in time to see him for 10 whole minutes before he left for work.
Yes, yes I know, participating in our political process is never a waste of time. It's a privilege which we should value and perform with pride and honor. It was just really frustrating. At the same time I had some interesting conversations, got lots of exercise wandering all over the CSM campus, and picked up some cool bumper stickers (I even found one that was irreverent enough to float Hubby's boat, which is a rarity because he normally disdains stickers on his vehicle.) I would be willing to do this again, but I have to say that next time I'll only go as a delegate, not an alternate.
On a lighter note, I'm meeting my friends M and S for dinner tonight, girls evening out! I can't wait! We start out talking about what's going on in our lives but we always work our way around to figuring out ways to change the world. Like the Margaret Wheatley book I wrote about a few weeks ago, changing the world starts with a few friends sitting around talking. Can't wait to see what kind of world-changing ideas we come up with tonight!
“Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people.” - Eleanor Roosevelt
I'm off to dinner with great minds!
Peace,
AuntieM
First off, according to Jeffco Dems they are used to dealing with around 500 delegates and alternates. Today they had 4000 delegates and 1500 alternates. The process broke down under the sheer weight of numbers. At the beginning we were told we should know by midmorning whether or not we alternates would be seated as delegates. Midmorning came and went. Around 11am they told us they were still trying to sort things out and it was likely that anyone who registered after 7:30 would not get seated, but they should know around 12:30. Since my registration time was so close (8am) I decided to stick around and try my luck. Around 1pm they came out again and said they would need lots more alternates than they thought and the majority of us would be seated as delegates. Yay, we all cheered, we haven't wasted a pretty Saturday sitting in an auditorium for nothing.
We all had to register when we arrived, and turn in a preference poll card that indicated our binding vote for the Democratic presidential nomination. Once we checked in, there was nothing to do but find a semi-comfy seat and hang out. I took textbooks and tried to study. During all this time the Jeffco Dems did all they could to keep us entertained - we listened to lots of speeches, some of which were pretty interesting, and the mistress of ceremonies did a heck of a job trying to do standup comedy and keep well over 1000 sleepy, Starbucks-deprived and politically-opinionated people placated.
Anyway, around 2pm they announced that they woudl begin seating alternates, but the method which they proposed to use drew official protests from both campaigns, because they were going to seat alternates according to time of check-in instead of replacing one Obama or Clinton delegate with a corresponding Obama or Clinton alternate. They finally came to a decision that I found rather upsetting considering the events of the day - they decided not to seat any alternates, period. Thanks for coming in and giving up your Saturday, drive carefully, please leave now. I felt pretty used and abused.
You know those preference cards I mentioned that we turned in during the registration process? What they're going to do is match up which candidates' delegates did not show up and insert the appropriate number of alternate votes for the same candidate. So I'll never ever even know if my vote today counted or not! I find that incredibly frustrating. If I could just know that my vote meant something, then I wouldn't feel like I'd wasted my day, especially in a rather busy week in which I've hardly even been able to see Hubby. I did manage to race home in time to see him for 10 whole minutes before he left for work.
Yes, yes I know, participating in our political process is never a waste of time. It's a privilege which we should value and perform with pride and honor. It was just really frustrating. At the same time I had some interesting conversations, got lots of exercise wandering all over the CSM campus, and picked up some cool bumper stickers (I even found one that was irreverent enough to float Hubby's boat, which is a rarity because he normally disdains stickers on his vehicle.) I would be willing to do this again, but I have to say that next time I'll only go as a delegate, not an alternate.
On a lighter note, I'm meeting my friends M and S for dinner tonight, girls evening out! I can't wait! We start out talking about what's going on in our lives but we always work our way around to figuring out ways to change the world. Like the Margaret Wheatley book I wrote about a few weeks ago, changing the world starts with a few friends sitting around talking. Can't wait to see what kind of world-changing ideas we come up with tonight!
“Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people.” - Eleanor Roosevelt
I'm off to dinner with great minds!
Peace,
AuntieM
Monday, March 10, 2008
Bad appliance karma
And you thought you were done reading about my domestic difficulties.
I couldn't believe this happened, and spent quite a few minutes trying to wish it away. Of course that didn't work; if it had, then Bush would have vanished into thin air years and years ago. After all of Saturday's tribulations of the washer - cleaning up the flood, wringing out soaking wet clothes by hand, spending way more than I'd planned for the new washer (which I'm still lookinjg forward to, it's really nice), and having to spend Saturday evening in a laundromat listening to Poker Scum talk incessantly while I was trying to study, I thought that my appliance issues had been settled. I got up early on Sunday and finished my homework, and then I had a very pleasant afternoon visiting with a friend who came by for coffee. Later that evening I heated up some homemade spaghetti (damn, I can cook!) and after dinner I started to pop the dishes into the dishwasher. That's when the dishwasher committed suicide in a fairly spectacular manner - when I opened the door there was a loud POP and SPARKS FLEW OUT OF THE DAMNED THING!!! I didn't know dishwashers could shoot sparks. They went everywhere, I thought my pants were going to catch fire. I think the whole thing shorted out. Then the smell of scorched wiring began to permeate the kitchen. I quit worrying about my pants and started worrying about the whole house catching fire instead. Fortunately the smell and slight bit of smoke cleared and there was no more trouble. Of course there was also no more life to the dishwasher.
Dearly beloved, we are gathered to bid farewell to the GE Adora II dishwasher, predeceased by its warranty six months ago. Of course.
So now Hubby and I must buy a new dishwasher. That's pretty much going to take care of the rest of our tax rebate. D'oh!
What makes this really bad is, this whole thing may be my fault because I made a smart-assed joke when I saw Hubby off to work on Sunday afternoon. I smiled and told him "I'll do my very best not to kill another major appliance today." I should have known better. I really should have known better. Late last night before I went to bed (Hubby wasn't home from work yet and I had an early meeting today) I wrote him a note warning him not to do anything with the dishwasher and telling him what happened. When he got home he woke me to let me know he was home safe (that's our routine, always has been) and was laughing over my note. Thank heaven Hubby's got a good sense of humor about things that can't be controlled. Even when they involve the untimely and fairly spectacular deaths of two major appliances in two days.
"I don't pretend to be an ordinary housewife." - Elizabeth Taylor
Later,
AuntieM, domestic disaster
I couldn't believe this happened, and spent quite a few minutes trying to wish it away. Of course that didn't work; if it had, then Bush would have vanished into thin air years and years ago. After all of Saturday's tribulations of the washer - cleaning up the flood, wringing out soaking wet clothes by hand, spending way more than I'd planned for the new washer (which I'm still lookinjg forward to, it's really nice), and having to spend Saturday evening in a laundromat listening to Poker Scum talk incessantly while I was trying to study, I thought that my appliance issues had been settled. I got up early on Sunday and finished my homework, and then I had a very pleasant afternoon visiting with a friend who came by for coffee. Later that evening I heated up some homemade spaghetti (damn, I can cook!) and after dinner I started to pop the dishes into the dishwasher. That's when the dishwasher committed suicide in a fairly spectacular manner - when I opened the door there was a loud POP and SPARKS FLEW OUT OF THE DAMNED THING!!! I didn't know dishwashers could shoot sparks. They went everywhere, I thought my pants were going to catch fire. I think the whole thing shorted out. Then the smell of scorched wiring began to permeate the kitchen. I quit worrying about my pants and started worrying about the whole house catching fire instead. Fortunately the smell and slight bit of smoke cleared and there was no more trouble. Of course there was also no more life to the dishwasher.
Dearly beloved, we are gathered to bid farewell to the GE Adora II dishwasher, predeceased by its warranty six months ago. Of course.
So now Hubby and I must buy a new dishwasher. That's pretty much going to take care of the rest of our tax rebate. D'oh!
What makes this really bad is, this whole thing may be my fault because I made a smart-assed joke when I saw Hubby off to work on Sunday afternoon. I smiled and told him "I'll do my very best not to kill another major appliance today." I should have known better. I really should have known better. Late last night before I went to bed (Hubby wasn't home from work yet and I had an early meeting today) I wrote him a note warning him not to do anything with the dishwasher and telling him what happened. When he got home he woke me to let me know he was home safe (that's our routine, always has been) and was laughing over my note. Thank heaven Hubby's got a good sense of humor about things that can't be controlled. Even when they involve the untimely and fairly spectacular deaths of two major appliances in two days.
"I don't pretend to be an ordinary housewife." - Elizabeth Taylor
Later,
AuntieM, domestic disaster
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Extra, extra!
No, you're not hallucinating, I'm actually writing twice today. I was doing my Philosophy homework, i.e. writing on on the discussion board, and the post I wrote was so pertinent for this blog that I decided it must be shared.
This was my discussion board post: "I caught a brief news blurb earlier this week about this wall they're building to seal our border with Mexico against illegal immigrants. It seems that this oh-so-wonderful wall will cross over land owned by some pretty wealthy and influential people in Texas, who have complained that they don't want this to happen. Our government has responded in typical fashion and given in to the desires of the wealthy and powerful. Now the wall will have planned gaps to avoid infringing on the property of the wealthy. (Not terribly secure, if you ask me, and I thought the propaganda was supposed to convince us that all illegal immigrants are criminals and terrorists. Guess that doesn't apply to the ones who cross over in the better neighborhoods.) Everyone else whose land is impacted will just have to deal with it. Reminds me of when they put up the Berlin wall... which didn't work out so well in the end either."
We've already lost our country. We lost it the day we allowed our government to take away our constitutional rights. We lost it the day we traded our freedoms for a false sense of security and became the land of the formerly free and the home of the perpetually terrified. We lost it the day we learned that our government is using torture and we did nothing to stop it. We lose it every day we fail to protest our soldiers dying in Bush's war for oil. The only way we'll ever be able to regain our country, our constitutional rights and our collective self-respect is to work toward creating peace, attempting to remedy the harm we've allowed to happen, and by learning from those mistakes and making an honest record of those mistakes available for future generations to learn from so they won't let it happen again. It's time for the Bush administration to eat some crow, admit they made a mistake by invading Iraq, and get the hell out of there. It's time for us to march in protest of the Patriot Act, flood our legislators with demands to repeal the Patriot Act, deluge them with petitions, tie up their phone lines and fill their e-mail boxes with our pleas until they listen and take action. It's time for the torture to end and for the US to own up to its violations of the Geneva convention. It's time for change. It's time for hope to be restored. It's time for this country to begin acting like a responsible member of the world community once more. It's time for peace, and justice, and understanding. It's time for all of us to roll up our sleeves and get to work rebuilding a country we can be proud of.
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it--always.” - Gandhi
Peace,
AuntieM
This was my discussion board post: "I caught a brief news blurb earlier this week about this wall they're building to seal our border with Mexico against illegal immigrants. It seems that this oh-so-wonderful wall will cross over land owned by some pretty wealthy and influential people in Texas, who have complained that they don't want this to happen. Our government has responded in typical fashion and given in to the desires of the wealthy and powerful. Now the wall will have planned gaps to avoid infringing on the property of the wealthy. (Not terribly secure, if you ask me, and I thought the propaganda was supposed to convince us that all illegal immigrants are criminals and terrorists. Guess that doesn't apply to the ones who cross over in the better neighborhoods.) Everyone else whose land is impacted will just have to deal with it. Reminds me of when they put up the Berlin wall... which didn't work out so well in the end either."
We've already lost our country. We lost it the day we allowed our government to take away our constitutional rights. We lost it the day we traded our freedoms for a false sense of security and became the land of the formerly free and the home of the perpetually terrified. We lost it the day we learned that our government is using torture and we did nothing to stop it. We lose it every day we fail to protest our soldiers dying in Bush's war for oil. The only way we'll ever be able to regain our country, our constitutional rights and our collective self-respect is to work toward creating peace, attempting to remedy the harm we've allowed to happen, and by learning from those mistakes and making an honest record of those mistakes available for future generations to learn from so they won't let it happen again. It's time for the Bush administration to eat some crow, admit they made a mistake by invading Iraq, and get the hell out of there. It's time for us to march in protest of the Patriot Act, flood our legislators with demands to repeal the Patriot Act, deluge them with petitions, tie up their phone lines and fill their e-mail boxes with our pleas until they listen and take action. It's time for the torture to end and for the US to own up to its violations of the Geneva convention. It's time for change. It's time for hope to be restored. It's time for this country to begin acting like a responsible member of the world community once more. It's time for peace, and justice, and understanding. It's time for all of us to roll up our sleeves and get to work rebuilding a country we can be proud of.
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it--always.” - Gandhi
Peace,
AuntieM
Follow-up on the washer saga
Here's the rest of the story: The repair tech said the switch on our machine was fried and a new switch (including labor & trip charge for today) would cost us $280. That's to fix a 5+year old machine for which we paid either $299 or $350 (can't remember which). The life span of a washer is 5 years. I had a feeling the machine would cost more to repair than it was worth, so while the tech was working on the machine I was comparison-shopping for new machines. By the time he gave me the above news I had already selected my first choice for a replacement machine. Since the tech was still here I got his opinion on the replacement machine too, and he was impressed and said I'd picked a good quality machine that would last for years.
So once he left I ran off to my favorite big-box home improvement store and purchased our new washer! I got a front-loading, energy efficient washer that will be much more cost-effective than our old one, so hopefully it will begin to pay for itself on day one. It uses 60% less water, half the detergent, its super-quiet and will cut our drying time in half. It cost a bit more than I expected because I also got the base that raises the machine to a much more user-friendly height, as well as the service plan (I was vulnerable and the plan provides full coverage for repair or replacement with a new machine, less than $100 for 4 years). I think I did well. So did Hubby, once he got over the initial sticker shock. I think it's going to be a purchase we'll be happy with for a long time.
I think I know what we'll spend our refund/rebate check on in May - paying off the fancy-schmancy washer! I'm still planning to walk my own talk and use a portion of that money to create positive change. Haven't figured out what I'll do yet, but will let you know when I do. All I know is we shouldn't pass up the opportunity to use the government's money to do some good for a change. One thing I never really found out about these upcoming checks is: is this like the ones we got in 2001 which were just an advance on our refunds, or is this money completely separate? I'd really like to know that, it would have a significant impact on how we spend our check (or it would have, pre-washer!)
After all that my work was not yet done. I still had a basket of extremely wet laundry, as well as a backlog of laundry, that all needed to be washed. So I wound up spending a couple of hours at a local laundromat, trying to study while our clothes washed and dried. Not a bad atmosphere for studying actually, except for this oddly familiar woman who kept on talking to me. I chatted with her because I'm too polite for my own good, and because I was trying to figure out where I knew her from. Why didn't I ask her? She had a really strange vibe that raised caution flags for me, to the point that I never told her my name or anything about myself. After I got home I remembered where I knew her from and was very grateful I listened to my intuition - she used to play poker in the casino where I worked, and she was one of our "problem children". She was "poker scum". She just didn't know how to behave in public and frequently started disputes with other players that I had to mediate. On one occasion I even had to eject her from the poker room. Fortunately my appearance has changed somewhat (for the better) since I left the gaming industry, it's hard to recognize acquaintances when you see them out of their normal context, and she was so self-absorbed I don't think she could see past the tip of her own nose anyway, so I'm not surprised she didn't recognize me. But I was very pleased that she didn't, because all of that is in the past and not worth my time and energy.
Anyway, that was my day - too damn busy with domestic issues to even think about rabblerousing and agitating, what a day! The most fun I had all day was taking my Philosophy exam on Marx, truly a man after my own heart! Worthwhile reading is what he wrote on alienation of labor and how valuing the products of labor more than the laborer himself leads to dehumanization of the worker and idolatry of the products of labor. Heavy, beautiful and so true. One misconception about Marx really gets under my skin: when Marx wrote in opposition of private property, he didn't mean what we think of as private property, i.e. houses, cars, etc. He meant the product of alienated labor. He believed that property and the wealth derived from it by the factory owners, which resulted from the alienation and dehumanization of the workers, was wrong and needed to be abolished. He opposed the spiritual disconnect that occurs when a worker is treated as less-than-human, like an animal or a machine, and believed that each worker puts a portion of his spirit and humanity into the products of his labor, that sharing of the worker's spirit and humanity should be honored, and that the products of labor shouldn't be valued more than the laborer who contributes his spirit and humanity to their existence.
Peace,
AuntieM
So once he left I ran off to my favorite big-box home improvement store and purchased our new washer! I got a front-loading, energy efficient washer that will be much more cost-effective than our old one, so hopefully it will begin to pay for itself on day one. It uses 60% less water, half the detergent, its super-quiet and will cut our drying time in half. It cost a bit more than I expected because I also got the base that raises the machine to a much more user-friendly height, as well as the service plan (I was vulnerable and the plan provides full coverage for repair or replacement with a new machine, less than $100 for 4 years). I think I did well. So did Hubby, once he got over the initial sticker shock. I think it's going to be a purchase we'll be happy with for a long time.
I think I know what we'll spend our refund/rebate check on in May - paying off the fancy-schmancy washer! I'm still planning to walk my own talk and use a portion of that money to create positive change. Haven't figured out what I'll do yet, but will let you know when I do. All I know is we shouldn't pass up the opportunity to use the government's money to do some good for a change. One thing I never really found out about these upcoming checks is: is this like the ones we got in 2001 which were just an advance on our refunds, or is this money completely separate? I'd really like to know that, it would have a significant impact on how we spend our check (or it would have, pre-washer!)
After all that my work was not yet done. I still had a basket of extremely wet laundry, as well as a backlog of laundry, that all needed to be washed. So I wound up spending a couple of hours at a local laundromat, trying to study while our clothes washed and dried. Not a bad atmosphere for studying actually, except for this oddly familiar woman who kept on talking to me. I chatted with her because I'm too polite for my own good, and because I was trying to figure out where I knew her from. Why didn't I ask her? She had a really strange vibe that raised caution flags for me, to the point that I never told her my name or anything about myself. After I got home I remembered where I knew her from and was very grateful I listened to my intuition - she used to play poker in the casino where I worked, and she was one of our "problem children". She was "poker scum". She just didn't know how to behave in public and frequently started disputes with other players that I had to mediate. On one occasion I even had to eject her from the poker room. Fortunately my appearance has changed somewhat (for the better) since I left the gaming industry, it's hard to recognize acquaintances when you see them out of their normal context, and she was so self-absorbed I don't think she could see past the tip of her own nose anyway, so I'm not surprised she didn't recognize me. But I was very pleased that she didn't, because all of that is in the past and not worth my time and energy.
Anyway, that was my day - too damn busy with domestic issues to even think about rabblerousing and agitating, what a day! The most fun I had all day was taking my Philosophy exam on Marx, truly a man after my own heart! Worthwhile reading is what he wrote on alienation of labor and how valuing the products of labor more than the laborer himself leads to dehumanization of the worker and idolatry of the products of labor. Heavy, beautiful and so true. One misconception about Marx really gets under my skin: when Marx wrote in opposition of private property, he didn't mean what we think of as private property, i.e. houses, cars, etc. He meant the product of alienated labor. He believed that property and the wealth derived from it by the factory owners, which resulted from the alienation and dehumanization of the workers, was wrong and needed to be abolished. He opposed the spiritual disconnect that occurs when a worker is treated as less-than-human, like an animal or a machine, and believed that each worker puts a portion of his spirit and humanity into the products of his labor, that sharing of the worker's spirit and humanity should be honored, and that the products of labor shouldn't be valued more than the laborer who contributes his spirit and humanity to their existence.
Peace,
AuntieM
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Washday blues
It's relatively early on a Saturday afternoon and I'm already worn out! The source of my exhaustion is our washer, which decided to overflow this morning. I caught it just a couple of minutes after it started, but you wouldn't believe how far the water had already gone! I had a minor flood in my house and it was a grand mess to clean up. Apparently the washer forgot to spin before adding rinse water, and presto - an indoor waterfall! I had to unplug it to make the water stop flowing - glad I didn't get shocked in the process.
I've never had to deal with this sort of problem and didn't really have anyone to call for advice so I had to make it up as I went along. I first attacked the standing water with a mop, then dragged out the carpet shampooer to extract water from the carpet, and finished up by bailing the water out of the washer and wringing out the clothes by hand. During this whole process Boycat danced around nervously because part of the flooded area was his bathroom and HE HAD TO GO!
Fortunately Hubby slept through all of this. I worried about waking him, since he works nights, but there was no way I could let any of that cleanup wait till afternoon. Fortunately he slept right through it though he says he does remember hearing something like a vacuum cleaner. And no, I was actually all right with doing the cleanup myself because the actual flooded area was fairly small, only big enough for one person to work in, and we have one mop and one carpet shampooer. Besides, he would give me the same courtesy if there was a minor emergency during my sleep cycle and he was awake to deal with it.
So now I'm sitting here waiting for a repair technician to come by and tell us if our washer can be saved, or if it will simply cost too much. Hubby and I decided that if the repair will be more than $200, then today I'll be buying a new washer. I really don't want to spend a chunk of change on a major appliance right now, but if I do then at least it will give me the chance to get something a little more energy-efficient. Wish I could spring for a front-loader, but they tend to be more expensive and I don't think I can justify the extra cost.
Oh, and now I have a basket full of very wet clothes sitting in the foyer, and unless the repair person can breathe life into our machine, I'll also have to visit a laundromat this evening. If that's the case I'm going to grab the rest of the laundry and strip the beds too - might as well make the trip worth my while. I actually like laundromats - gigantic triple load washers and dryers that make short work out of anything. I can study well at laundromats too - there's something about the steady hum of laundry machines that just puts me right into a great mental zone for learning or writing. I wrote most of my novel to the sounds of our laundry machines.
I guess it's strange to see my domestic side, since I primarily show my activist/rabblerouser side on this blog. Just so you know, I've been a housewife (working, but a housewife at the same time) for almost 22 years. It still doesn't come easily to me. In a way I envy those who can tell company to come on over without giving notice - I need three days minimum to make the house presentable. I quit striving for "House Beautiful" a long time ago; my goal is House Comfortable and Reasonably Sanitary. I manage that most of the time. Anything more just seems like a waste of effort.
My friend M paid me the highest compliment last week when I went to her house for coffee: She welcomed me in and said it was wonderful knowing she didn't have to clean because I was coming over. That's a comfortable friendship, and I plan to return the compliment when she comes for coffee tomorrow! It's so nice being able to welcome a friend to your home without worrying what they'll think because (gasp, horrors!) your house isn't pristine and perfect.
"My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint." - Erma Bomeck
I still have the iron Hubby and I got as a wedding gift. It still looks pretty new, and works quite well despite being over 20 years old. Guess that's because I haven't put a lot of mileage on the thing. My theory on ironing is, if it comes out of the dryer wrinkled it's because God wants it that way, and I'm not going to mess with a plan.
A lot of years ago a fellow dealer commented on my domestic abilities - he called me "Martha Stewart on crack". So appropriate, I love that title!
Well, the repair tech should be here any minute to tell me whether I will be washing clothes or buying a new washer this evening. Will let you know what happens.
I've never had to deal with this sort of problem and didn't really have anyone to call for advice so I had to make it up as I went along. I first attacked the standing water with a mop, then dragged out the carpet shampooer to extract water from the carpet, and finished up by bailing the water out of the washer and wringing out the clothes by hand. During this whole process Boycat danced around nervously because part of the flooded area was his bathroom and HE HAD TO GO!
Fortunately Hubby slept through all of this. I worried about waking him, since he works nights, but there was no way I could let any of that cleanup wait till afternoon. Fortunately he slept right through it though he says he does remember hearing something like a vacuum cleaner. And no, I was actually all right with doing the cleanup myself because the actual flooded area was fairly small, only big enough for one person to work in, and we have one mop and one carpet shampooer. Besides, he would give me the same courtesy if there was a minor emergency during my sleep cycle and he was awake to deal with it.
So now I'm sitting here waiting for a repair technician to come by and tell us if our washer can be saved, or if it will simply cost too much. Hubby and I decided that if the repair will be more than $200, then today I'll be buying a new washer. I really don't want to spend a chunk of change on a major appliance right now, but if I do then at least it will give me the chance to get something a little more energy-efficient. Wish I could spring for a front-loader, but they tend to be more expensive and I don't think I can justify the extra cost.
Oh, and now I have a basket full of very wet clothes sitting in the foyer, and unless the repair person can breathe life into our machine, I'll also have to visit a laundromat this evening. If that's the case I'm going to grab the rest of the laundry and strip the beds too - might as well make the trip worth my while. I actually like laundromats - gigantic triple load washers and dryers that make short work out of anything. I can study well at laundromats too - there's something about the steady hum of laundry machines that just puts me right into a great mental zone for learning or writing. I wrote most of my novel to the sounds of our laundry machines.
I guess it's strange to see my domestic side, since I primarily show my activist/rabblerouser side on this blog. Just so you know, I've been a housewife (working, but a housewife at the same time) for almost 22 years. It still doesn't come easily to me. In a way I envy those who can tell company to come on over without giving notice - I need three days minimum to make the house presentable. I quit striving for "House Beautiful" a long time ago; my goal is House Comfortable and Reasonably Sanitary. I manage that most of the time. Anything more just seems like a waste of effort.
My friend M paid me the highest compliment last week when I went to her house for coffee: She welcomed me in and said it was wonderful knowing she didn't have to clean because I was coming over. That's a comfortable friendship, and I plan to return the compliment when she comes for coffee tomorrow! It's so nice being able to welcome a friend to your home without worrying what they'll think because (gasp, horrors!) your house isn't pristine and perfect.
"My second favorite household chore is ironing. My first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint." - Erma Bomeck
I still have the iron Hubby and I got as a wedding gift. It still looks pretty new, and works quite well despite being over 20 years old. Guess that's because I haven't put a lot of mileage on the thing. My theory on ironing is, if it comes out of the dryer wrinkled it's because God wants it that way, and I'm not going to mess with a plan.
A lot of years ago a fellow dealer commented on my domestic abilities - he called me "Martha Stewart on crack". So appropriate, I love that title!
Well, the repair tech should be here any minute to tell me whether I will be washing clothes or buying a new washer this evening. Will let you know what happens.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
A sad anniversary
March 19 will be the 5th anniversary of the war in Iraq. Funny, when this whole thing started I don't recall any predictions of our winding up in such a quagmire 5 years later. All I remember hearing was patriotic rhetoric and government propaganda which threatened all of us with the terrorist boogeyman if we didn't send our loved ones off to fight and die for the glory of Halliburton and Blackwater.
My, it feels good to sharpen my claws after a few days off...
Now here we are, almost 5 years into Bush's pet war, and what have we got to show for it? Let's make a list:
1) We're not any safer. If anything, our world is a much more dangerous place than it was before the Iraq war, because we've made so many enemies across the globe. There are very few nations who would come to our aid right now if we had a serious problem. Some nations would even snicker and say "serves them right", and we'd deserve that.
2) We're poorer as a nation because we surrendered the civil rights that our forefathers fought and died to give us, simply because the government waved the terrorist boogeyman in our faces until we were too scared and confused to oppose the Patriot Act, and then we woke up the next day to warrantless wiretaps, detention without due process and severely curtailed freedom of speech. Oh yeah, we're a lot poorer today.
3) As of 3/4/08 there have been 29,320 US soldiers wounded and 3974 killed in the Iraq war (data from http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/), so we're poorer as a nation for the suffering and death this imperialistic war has brought to our soldiers.
4) We're so divided as a nation, and the war in Iraq is one of the big reasons behind this division. It's going to take a lot of work and commitment for us to come together as one nation or one people again.
5) Oil companies are making record profits while ordinary citizens are having trouble filling their gas tanks. Rumor has it that gas may hit $4.00/gallon by summer, and that's going to put increased strain on families that are barely getting by now as it is. Everything else will become more expensive too, because it takes fuel to transport products to our neighborhood stores.
6) We're poorer as a nation because we've surrendered our principles in our quest for a feeling of safety that, in all reality, we'll never have again. (More on that later.) We've become a nation that uses torture instead of opposing it, and this has cost us much respect, from both the international community and ourselves.
I think we all need to realize that our golden age of security ended on 9/11/2001. We're never again going to be free from the threat of terrorism, so we might as well just suck it up and get on with our lives. Learn to deal with the uncertainty of the future and enjoy the present. Tune out the fearmongering government propaganda. Listen to that small voice inside you and ask it, "What can I do to make this world a better place?" I seriously doubt that voice is going to tell you to stock up on antibiotics and bottled water in case of another terrorist attack. Instead, that voice may tell you to reach out to a neighbor, to work for a worthy cause, to participate in a rally or protest, to make your voice heard somehow above the din of war-drums, to speak out and demand change, and to work to create change.
"Those who stand for nothing fall for anything." - Alexander Hamilton
Peace,
AuntieM
My, it feels good to sharpen my claws after a few days off...
Now here we are, almost 5 years into Bush's pet war, and what have we got to show for it? Let's make a list:
1) We're not any safer. If anything, our world is a much more dangerous place than it was before the Iraq war, because we've made so many enemies across the globe. There are very few nations who would come to our aid right now if we had a serious problem. Some nations would even snicker and say "serves them right", and we'd deserve that.
2) We're poorer as a nation because we surrendered the civil rights that our forefathers fought and died to give us, simply because the government waved the terrorist boogeyman in our faces until we were too scared and confused to oppose the Patriot Act, and then we woke up the next day to warrantless wiretaps, detention without due process and severely curtailed freedom of speech. Oh yeah, we're a lot poorer today.
3) As of 3/4/08 there have been 29,320 US soldiers wounded and 3974 killed in the Iraq war (data from http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/), so we're poorer as a nation for the suffering and death this imperialistic war has brought to our soldiers.
4) We're so divided as a nation, and the war in Iraq is one of the big reasons behind this division. It's going to take a lot of work and commitment for us to come together as one nation or one people again.
5) Oil companies are making record profits while ordinary citizens are having trouble filling their gas tanks. Rumor has it that gas may hit $4.00/gallon by summer, and that's going to put increased strain on families that are barely getting by now as it is. Everything else will become more expensive too, because it takes fuel to transport products to our neighborhood stores.
6) We're poorer as a nation because we've surrendered our principles in our quest for a feeling of safety that, in all reality, we'll never have again. (More on that later.) We've become a nation that uses torture instead of opposing it, and this has cost us much respect, from both the international community and ourselves.
I think we all need to realize that our golden age of security ended on 9/11/2001. We're never again going to be free from the threat of terrorism, so we might as well just suck it up and get on with our lives. Learn to deal with the uncertainty of the future and enjoy the present. Tune out the fearmongering government propaganda. Listen to that small voice inside you and ask it, "What can I do to make this world a better place?" I seriously doubt that voice is going to tell you to stock up on antibiotics and bottled water in case of another terrorist attack. Instead, that voice may tell you to reach out to a neighbor, to work for a worthy cause, to participate in a rally or protest, to make your voice heard somehow above the din of war-drums, to speak out and demand change, and to work to create change.
"Those who stand for nothing fall for anything." - Alexander Hamilton
Peace,
AuntieM
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Obama = Real Change
Okay, today I'm being political. I'm getting fired up for this afternoon, when I am scheduled to attend a house party in support of Barack Obama. The focus of this party is to make calls to Texas and Ohio residents to encourage them to vote for Obama in their primary on Tuesday. Free weekend long distance on cell phones being put to good use. The original goal of this phone campaign was 1 million calls by Tuesday, but they've already exceeded this level so now the goal is 1.5 million calls by Tuesday. This is the same sort of phone-work I did the weekend before the Colorado primary, so I know it's fun and easy. I'm grateful that people all over the country are willing to open their homes to host these house parties. I thought about doing that but let's face it - my house is a disaster during the semester, and there was no way I could clean and prepare even a basic refreshment spread while keeping up with my studies. And as much as I want to work to support Obama, classes come first. However, I do have most of my studying done - just a bit more to read for Philosophy, I love Marx! - so I can go have fun this afternoon with a clear conscience.
"If each and every one of you makes a decision to invest a little bit of time during this small window, just a few months, to try to move this country forward, I am absolutely confident that it's going to happen. And we're not just going to win an election; we are going to transform the country." – Barack Obama
Here's the really political part of this post. I was checking out Obama's website and found lots of good information there which I blatantly ripped off to reproduce here - don't think they'll mind since, A: I'm attributing all of it; B: It is being used to show Obama in a positive light; and C: Any additional exposure for Obama's words is a good thing! As I read these items I knew there was no way I could do them justice by attempting to paraphrase, so here they are:
"We are a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. Those things are not contradictory. We have to have stronger border security, but that has to be done intelligently. We need stronger border patrols and electronic surveillance. We have to crack down on employers who are hiring undocumented workers purposely because they don't want to pay U.S. workers decent wages. We need to give illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship. This way, they will no longer be undercutting U.S. workers because they will be following the same laws." – Barack Obama
Thank you, Mr. Obama! It's high time that the powers-that-be recognized that the best way to deal with high numbers of illegal immigrants is to help them become legal citizens! We need an amnesty and an expedited citizenship procedure for those undocumented immigrants who are already in this country, are gainfully employed and have clean criminal records. I believe the vast majority of undocumented immigrants are here simply to work for and hope for a better life, and it is to the advantage of the entire country to help them become legal residents and taxpaying citizens.
"Real change isn’t calling NAFTA a victory and saying how good it was for America until you decide to run for President, like Senator Clinton did. I won’t stand here and tell you that we can stop every job from disappearing because of trade, but I will tell you that when I am President, we will end the tax breaks for corporations who ship our jobs overseas and give them to companies who create good jobs right here in America. That’s real change." - Barack Obama
Right on! One thing I like about Obama is although he's dedicated to producing change, he is also realistic about what sort of changes can be accomplished. There's no way we can stop unethical companies from shipping jobs overseas in order to escape paying livable wages or to avoid pollution laws, but there's no reason we should support these companies by giving them tax breaks to do it!
"Real change isn’t saying that you’ll stand up to lobbyists and special interests when you’ve taken more money from Washington lobbyists than any Democrat or Republican running for President, like my opponent has. I’m the only one in this race who’s actually passed laws to take power away from lobbyists, they haven’t funded my campaign, and they will not drown out the voices of working Americans when I am President. That’s real change." - Barack Obama
Nothing to add here, this says it all.
"Real change isn’t voting for a bankruptcy bill that makes it harder for working families to climb out of debt and then saying that you’re glad it didn’t pass once you start running for President. One of the first things I did when I got to the Senate was fight against the credit card industry’s bankruptcy bill, and when I am President, we’ll reform our bankruptcy laws so that CEOs can’t dump your pension with one hand while collecting their bonus with another. That’s real change." - Barack Obama
Did you know that the bankruptcy reform laws that went into effect under Bush's administration were drafted by a group of executives from the financial sector? The very people who have since made out like bandits as a result of this legislation? (This is according to the documentary "Maxed Out" which examines the credit crisis in the US; you need to watch this one at your earliest opportunity.) Where did W get the bright idea that letting the foxes guard the henhouse would produce good results? I'm so glad that this issue is on Obama's radar and that he's going to make changing these laws a priority of his administration. We've just gotta get him elected first.
"And real change isn’t voting for George Bush’s war in Iraq and then telling the American people it was actually a vote for more diplomacy when you start running for President. The title of the bill was “A Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq.” What else were you voting for? I knew what it was, and that’s why I opposed this war from the start, and why I will bring our troops home when I am President. That’s real change." - Barack Obama
This has become my top issue, and it warms my heart to see Obama's declaration of intent to bring our troops home. Bush's imperialistic war must end.
I want to close this post with some quotes from supporters of Obama. Each writer states the reasons behind this choice in her own words, and their words are so thought-provoking that I am reproducing them here without comment, because there is nothing I can add to enhance them.
Dear Senator Obama,
This letter represents a first for me--a public endorsement of a Presidential candidate. I feel driven to let you know why I am writing it. One reason is it may help gather other supporters; another is that this is one of those singular moments that nations ignore at their peril. I will not rehearse the multiple crises facing us, but of one thing I am certain: this opportunity for a national evolution (even revolution) will not come again soon, and I am convinced you are the person to capture it. – Toni Morrison
"A President Like My Father"
Over the years, I've been deeply moved by the people who've told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama. – Caroline Kennedy
"Why I'm Backing Obama"
…The biggest barrier to rolling up our sleeves and preparing for a better future is our own apathy, fear or immobility. We have been living in a zero-sum political environment where all heads have been lowered to avert being lopped off by angry, noisy extremists. I am convinced that Barack Obama is the one presidential candidate today who can encourage ordinary Americans to stand straight again; he is a man who can salve our national wounds and both inspire and pursue genuine bipartisan cooperation. Just as important, Obama can assure the world and Americans that this great nation's impulses are still free, open, fair and broad-minded. – Susan Eisenhower, The Washington Post
Another member of the Kennedy pantheon is now behind Barack Obama. Ethel Kennedy, widow of Bobby Kennedy, announced her support for Obama today, comparing the Illinois senator to her late husband. “Barack is so like Bobby, who struggled for the rights of the poor in the Mississippi Delta and Appalachia, traveled to California to stand in solidarity with Cesar Chavez and farm workers, and fought to end another war that cost so many lives," Kennedy said in a statement released by the Obama campaign. “Over these past few years, I’ve watched Senator Obama inspire Americans from all walks of life to believe in real change and a new sense of hope and possibility. He’s a magnetic force, drawing the nation together for the common good and galvanizing us all to help shape our country’s future," Kennedy added.
Peace,
AuntieM
"If each and every one of you makes a decision to invest a little bit of time during this small window, just a few months, to try to move this country forward, I am absolutely confident that it's going to happen. And we're not just going to win an election; we are going to transform the country." – Barack Obama
Here's the really political part of this post. I was checking out Obama's website and found lots of good information there which I blatantly ripped off to reproduce here - don't think they'll mind since, A: I'm attributing all of it; B: It is being used to show Obama in a positive light; and C: Any additional exposure for Obama's words is a good thing! As I read these items I knew there was no way I could do them justice by attempting to paraphrase, so here they are:
"We are a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. Those things are not contradictory. We have to have stronger border security, but that has to be done intelligently. We need stronger border patrols and electronic surveillance. We have to crack down on employers who are hiring undocumented workers purposely because they don't want to pay U.S. workers decent wages. We need to give illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship. This way, they will no longer be undercutting U.S. workers because they will be following the same laws." – Barack Obama
Thank you, Mr. Obama! It's high time that the powers-that-be recognized that the best way to deal with high numbers of illegal immigrants is to help them become legal citizens! We need an amnesty and an expedited citizenship procedure for those undocumented immigrants who are already in this country, are gainfully employed and have clean criminal records. I believe the vast majority of undocumented immigrants are here simply to work for and hope for a better life, and it is to the advantage of the entire country to help them become legal residents and taxpaying citizens.
"Real change isn’t calling NAFTA a victory and saying how good it was for America until you decide to run for President, like Senator Clinton did. I won’t stand here and tell you that we can stop every job from disappearing because of trade, but I will tell you that when I am President, we will end the tax breaks for corporations who ship our jobs overseas and give them to companies who create good jobs right here in America. That’s real change." - Barack Obama
Right on! One thing I like about Obama is although he's dedicated to producing change, he is also realistic about what sort of changes can be accomplished. There's no way we can stop unethical companies from shipping jobs overseas in order to escape paying livable wages or to avoid pollution laws, but there's no reason we should support these companies by giving them tax breaks to do it!
"Real change isn’t saying that you’ll stand up to lobbyists and special interests when you’ve taken more money from Washington lobbyists than any Democrat or Republican running for President, like my opponent has. I’m the only one in this race who’s actually passed laws to take power away from lobbyists, they haven’t funded my campaign, and they will not drown out the voices of working Americans when I am President. That’s real change." - Barack Obama
Nothing to add here, this says it all.
"Real change isn’t voting for a bankruptcy bill that makes it harder for working families to climb out of debt and then saying that you’re glad it didn’t pass once you start running for President. One of the first things I did when I got to the Senate was fight against the credit card industry’s bankruptcy bill, and when I am President, we’ll reform our bankruptcy laws so that CEOs can’t dump your pension with one hand while collecting their bonus with another. That’s real change." - Barack Obama
Did you know that the bankruptcy reform laws that went into effect under Bush's administration were drafted by a group of executives from the financial sector? The very people who have since made out like bandits as a result of this legislation? (This is according to the documentary "Maxed Out" which examines the credit crisis in the US; you need to watch this one at your earliest opportunity.) Where did W get the bright idea that letting the foxes guard the henhouse would produce good results? I'm so glad that this issue is on Obama's radar and that he's going to make changing these laws a priority of his administration. We've just gotta get him elected first.
"And real change isn’t voting for George Bush’s war in Iraq and then telling the American people it was actually a vote for more diplomacy when you start running for President. The title of the bill was “A Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq.” What else were you voting for? I knew what it was, and that’s why I opposed this war from the start, and why I will bring our troops home when I am President. That’s real change." - Barack Obama
This has become my top issue, and it warms my heart to see Obama's declaration of intent to bring our troops home. Bush's imperialistic war must end.
I want to close this post with some quotes from supporters of Obama. Each writer states the reasons behind this choice in her own words, and their words are so thought-provoking that I am reproducing them here without comment, because there is nothing I can add to enhance them.
Dear Senator Obama,
This letter represents a first for me--a public endorsement of a Presidential candidate. I feel driven to let you know why I am writing it. One reason is it may help gather other supporters; another is that this is one of those singular moments that nations ignore at their peril. I will not rehearse the multiple crises facing us, but of one thing I am certain: this opportunity for a national evolution (even revolution) will not come again soon, and I am convinced you are the person to capture it. – Toni Morrison
"A President Like My Father"
Over the years, I've been deeply moved by the people who've told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama. – Caroline Kennedy
"Why I'm Backing Obama"
…The biggest barrier to rolling up our sleeves and preparing for a better future is our own apathy, fear or immobility. We have been living in a zero-sum political environment where all heads have been lowered to avert being lopped off by angry, noisy extremists. I am convinced that Barack Obama is the one presidential candidate today who can encourage ordinary Americans to stand straight again; he is a man who can salve our national wounds and both inspire and pursue genuine bipartisan cooperation. Just as important, Obama can assure the world and Americans that this great nation's impulses are still free, open, fair and broad-minded. – Susan Eisenhower, The Washington Post
Another member of the Kennedy pantheon is now behind Barack Obama. Ethel Kennedy, widow of Bobby Kennedy, announced her support for Obama today, comparing the Illinois senator to her late husband. “Barack is so like Bobby, who struggled for the rights of the poor in the Mississippi Delta and Appalachia, traveled to California to stand in solidarity with Cesar Chavez and farm workers, and fought to end another war that cost so many lives," Kennedy said in a statement released by the Obama campaign. “Over these past few years, I’ve watched Senator Obama inspire Americans from all walks of life to believe in real change and a new sense of hope and possibility. He’s a magnetic force, drawing the nation together for the common good and galvanizing us all to help shape our country’s future," Kennedy added.
Peace,
AuntieM
Saturday, March 1, 2008
My woefully neglected blog...
Oops, what can I say? It's been a busy week, but a good one as well. I finished writing two large grant applications at work this week - what a relief! I also had three exams this week, just finished the last one so now I can relax. My week culminated with coffee at a friend's house - what a wonderful way to enjoy a Friday, I'd been looking forward to that all week! Now for my weekend I can actually pry my nose out of my textbooks, have a go at a bit of housework, finish sewing a jacket I've been working on since before the semester started, and ... write on this blog! Yay!!!
One thing I'm starting to wrestle with in my personal life is choosing a path for grad school. I know that I need to have a decision made by fall so I can start applying to different programs to start the following fall. Right now I'm looking at different opportunities, and I think I've found a really good one - a Masters of Public Administration program through the University of Colorado at Denver, that I can complete entirely online, with a concentration in Nonprofit Management. This is my current front-runner, even ahead of the Master of Social Sciences program at CU-Denver. In an effort to be thorough and to explore all of my options I do plan to investigate other schools, primarily CU-Boulder, Regis University and the University of Denver. Honestly though, I'm just too egalitarian to really go for DU (expensive private school and you really pay for their name and reputation - $31K a year for undergrad, don't know how much grad school is) or Regis ($25K a year for undergrad, a Jesuit school with a strong reputation for scholarship). I think state-sponsored schools are much more my cup of tea. In contrast, this MPAd program at CU-Denver will run me around 18K FOR THE WHOLE PROGRAM, not just for one year, and will help prepare me to do what I want to do - work to create positive social change at either the nonprofit or government level. I can also use my electives to get enough graduate-level credits in one specific discipline of the social sciences to qualify me to teach at the community college level with this degree.
The problem I've always had with making up my mind about educational and career paths has always been my perspective that making these choices narrows down my path in life, and I expressed this last night to my friend over coffee. She has also been wrestling with these choices, and referred to an e-mail I sent her a few weeks ago, which I am exerpting here:
"Hey, I just had a mind-blowing thought. I was talking with Hubby and words jumped out of my mouth that took me by surprise, so much so that I had to send you a quick e-mail. I told Hubby (in answer to my own question of why didn't I go back to school a long time ago) that back then I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up but now I know I don't have to restrict myself to just one thing - I can be a teacher and work for a nonprofit and be a writer and a political activist and rabblerouser. This was my epiphany - and that's what has really freed me from stressing over what to major in and what path to take. In my head it was all about making THE RIGHT CHOICE, like once I chose a path I was irrevocably locked into it for life, and that really stressed me out like you wouldn't believe. Once it became clear that I could use a very broad education to prepare for multiple roles simultaneously, I started to see that selecting a path of study doesn't really narrow down my choices nearly as much as I thought. Yes, my path of study is a crappy one if I want to be an astrophysicist, but it will be great for any of the areas I want to be involved in - I don't have to choose just one! And even after I get my BA, and my Masters, I still don't have to choose just one - I may wind up doing Fund Development part time, teaching part time, writing books of social commentary a la Noam Chomsky and working on various liberal political causes in my spare time.
"The reason it felt so important to share this with you ASAP is because I know you've stressed a lot as well over the path you want to take with your education, and I thought this notion might be helpful for you as well. At this point in college I don't think it's about narrowing choices down to one specific field and position within that field, it's about selecting a few broad areas that really speak to you and learning as much as you can about them. The rest will come."
By reminding of me of my own words my friend made me realize that I was falling right back into my old trap and looking at the choice of a Master's program as restricting my choices rather than opening them up. Thanks to her I now realize that whichever program I choose will create more choices for me than I currently have, and no choice is irrevocable. Thank you, M!
I also had an interesting conversation with a brilliant coworker this week on acceptance, childhood incidents and perfectionism. His insights always help me learn more about myself and gain a better understanding of my own actions and how they are motivated by childhood experiences and long-held beliefs. I was trying to finish the aforementioned two large grants and was frustrated because I thought I'd omitted a fairly major piece of required information. I was starting to freak out a little bit as a result, and I think he could see that. The story he related helped me see that my own quest for perfection and my perfectionist traits stem from a quest for acceptance from my family. I won't go into major details here but I always felt like an outsider in my own family, and I think on some deep-down level I thought if I could only be perfect then they'd have to accept me. That's a heavy load to carry, and it certainly doesn't teach you how to deal with the inevitable screw-ups that are just simply bound to happen. If you're perfect and never let yourself fall, you never learn how to pick yourself up and dust yourself off and try again. You never learn to say "Oops." Learning how to say Oops, clean it up and go on without self-recrimination is crucial. Like I said, he's brilliant.
“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.” - Gandhi
Or, perhaps, denying themselves of the precious right to err.
Peace,
AuntieM
One thing I'm starting to wrestle with in my personal life is choosing a path for grad school. I know that I need to have a decision made by fall so I can start applying to different programs to start the following fall. Right now I'm looking at different opportunities, and I think I've found a really good one - a Masters of Public Administration program through the University of Colorado at Denver, that I can complete entirely online, with a concentration in Nonprofit Management. This is my current front-runner, even ahead of the Master of Social Sciences program at CU-Denver. In an effort to be thorough and to explore all of my options I do plan to investigate other schools, primarily CU-Boulder, Regis University and the University of Denver. Honestly though, I'm just too egalitarian to really go for DU (expensive private school and you really pay for their name and reputation - $31K a year for undergrad, don't know how much grad school is) or Regis ($25K a year for undergrad, a Jesuit school with a strong reputation for scholarship). I think state-sponsored schools are much more my cup of tea. In contrast, this MPAd program at CU-Denver will run me around 18K FOR THE WHOLE PROGRAM, not just for one year, and will help prepare me to do what I want to do - work to create positive social change at either the nonprofit or government level. I can also use my electives to get enough graduate-level credits in one specific discipline of the social sciences to qualify me to teach at the community college level with this degree.
The problem I've always had with making up my mind about educational and career paths has always been my perspective that making these choices narrows down my path in life, and I expressed this last night to my friend over coffee. She has also been wrestling with these choices, and referred to an e-mail I sent her a few weeks ago, which I am exerpting here:
"Hey, I just had a mind-blowing thought. I was talking with Hubby and words jumped out of my mouth that took me by surprise, so much so that I had to send you a quick e-mail. I told Hubby (in answer to my own question of why didn't I go back to school a long time ago) that back then I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up but now I know I don't have to restrict myself to just one thing - I can be a teacher and work for a nonprofit and be a writer and a political activist and rabblerouser. This was my epiphany - and that's what has really freed me from stressing over what to major in and what path to take. In my head it was all about making THE RIGHT CHOICE, like once I chose a path I was irrevocably locked into it for life, and that really stressed me out like you wouldn't believe. Once it became clear that I could use a very broad education to prepare for multiple roles simultaneously, I started to see that selecting a path of study doesn't really narrow down my choices nearly as much as I thought. Yes, my path of study is a crappy one if I want to be an astrophysicist, but it will be great for any of the areas I want to be involved in - I don't have to choose just one! And even after I get my BA, and my Masters, I still don't have to choose just one - I may wind up doing Fund Development part time, teaching part time, writing books of social commentary a la Noam Chomsky and working on various liberal political causes in my spare time.
"The reason it felt so important to share this with you ASAP is because I know you've stressed a lot as well over the path you want to take with your education, and I thought this notion might be helpful for you as well. At this point in college I don't think it's about narrowing choices down to one specific field and position within that field, it's about selecting a few broad areas that really speak to you and learning as much as you can about them. The rest will come."
By reminding of me of my own words my friend made me realize that I was falling right back into my old trap and looking at the choice of a Master's program as restricting my choices rather than opening them up. Thanks to her I now realize that whichever program I choose will create more choices for me than I currently have, and no choice is irrevocable. Thank you, M!
I also had an interesting conversation with a brilliant coworker this week on acceptance, childhood incidents and perfectionism. His insights always help me learn more about myself and gain a better understanding of my own actions and how they are motivated by childhood experiences and long-held beliefs. I was trying to finish the aforementioned two large grants and was frustrated because I thought I'd omitted a fairly major piece of required information. I was starting to freak out a little bit as a result, and I think he could see that. The story he related helped me see that my own quest for perfection and my perfectionist traits stem from a quest for acceptance from my family. I won't go into major details here but I always felt like an outsider in my own family, and I think on some deep-down level I thought if I could only be perfect then they'd have to accept me. That's a heavy load to carry, and it certainly doesn't teach you how to deal with the inevitable screw-ups that are just simply bound to happen. If you're perfect and never let yourself fall, you never learn how to pick yourself up and dust yourself off and try again. You never learn to say "Oops." Learning how to say Oops, clean it up and go on without self-recrimination is crucial. Like I said, he's brilliant.
“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.” - Gandhi
Or, perhaps, denying themselves of the precious right to err.
Peace,
AuntieM
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