Is anyone out there listening to history??
Mr. America (R): Arrogant nazi cow!
Mrs. America (D): Racist sexist thug!
Kids (R and D combined): You both make me sick! I'm moving in with Grandma...
Divided we fall, folks.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Good, Clean, Icy Fun!
Does anyone elso out there feel like things are slowly coming to a head?
Well, I do.
Don't get me wrong. I don't know any better than the next man what is going to happen in the future. Probably less so, since my kids lost my crystal ball the other day when they were bowling. I told them not to take it outside, and it's gone now. Probably fell down the storm drain...
Anyhoo, I digress. I don't really need one of my own, since there are a few key pundits in the news, on the radio, and in the blogosphere who are eager to share their sure knowledge of all things politic. They all sound so convinced, I assume they must have some solid, spherical source of information to give them that kind of rock solid assurance that they are right and the other side is bunk.
For now, since I've misplaced my own orb of knowledge, I'll have to look at what's going on around me in the context of history to see if I can find a pattern. I've noticed there are patterns that tend to repeat themselves.
For instance, when there is a power vacuum in government, the closest thing to that vacuum will get drawn in first.
Also, large empires do not last forever, and when they finally decline, some of them do so because they have long been rotting from within.
Recently though, I've noticed that many good people can get sucked into false dichotomies, such as:
"Public option is REQUIRED" OR "Public option is OUT OF THE QUESTION"
"Barack Obama is the Savior" OR "Barack Obama is the Anti-Christ"
"Rush - talent on loan from God" OR "Rush - graduate of Beelzebub School of Acting"
Here's a thought:
What if the current health system does truly need work, in which case it will take time and expertise to map out a smart, effective, BI-PARTISAN plan for reform? Is what we are currently doing, with congress racing to pass...something (I'm not sure what) while the opposition screams foul and throws rotten tomatoes...is this truly how we get things done in America? Should it be? Are we playing football with people's lives?
What about President Obama? Should we hide in our basements and wait for the apocalypse or should we get baptized into the church of change? Is that really what I have to choose from?
Or perhaps I should copy and paste everything Conservative talk radio pundits say on their programs onto my mp3 player and just hit the replay button every time I have a conversation with someone about politics...or should I just do that with NPR?
Either/or. False dichotomy.
Here's another thought:
I don't use a check register to balance my checkbook, I use a small notepad. I know people who swear by the register and would be appalled to see me using a notepad.
So who is right? Is this a debate over principle or method?
Using a notepad over a check register does not make me "righteous". It means I am practical and use what works best for me. We are all striving to balance our checkbook. The righteousness is in the principle of balance, not in the method.
So as I listen to congress and my fellow constituents arguing over the "righteousness" of the method of healthcare reform, I worry...
And while I don't have a crystal ball, I think I can safely assume that divided, we will eventually fall.
I also think some talking heads could do with a good, clean, icy dunk, don't you?
I'm just sayin'.
Well, I do.
Don't get me wrong. I don't know any better than the next man what is going to happen in the future. Probably less so, since my kids lost my crystal ball the other day when they were bowling. I told them not to take it outside, and it's gone now. Probably fell down the storm drain...
Anyhoo, I digress. I don't really need one of my own, since there are a few key pundits in the news, on the radio, and in the blogosphere who are eager to share their sure knowledge of all things politic. They all sound so convinced, I assume they must have some solid, spherical source of information to give them that kind of rock solid assurance that they are right and the other side is bunk.
For now, since I've misplaced my own orb of knowledge, I'll have to look at what's going on around me in the context of history to see if I can find a pattern. I've noticed there are patterns that tend to repeat themselves.
For instance, when there is a power vacuum in government, the closest thing to that vacuum will get drawn in first.
Also, large empires do not last forever, and when they finally decline, some of them do so because they have long been rotting from within.
Recently though, I've noticed that many good people can get sucked into false dichotomies, such as:
"Public option is REQUIRED" OR "Public option is OUT OF THE QUESTION"
"Barack Obama is the Savior" OR "Barack Obama is the Anti-Christ"
"Rush - talent on loan from God" OR "Rush - graduate of Beelzebub School of Acting"
Here's a thought:
What if the current health system does truly need work, in which case it will take time and expertise to map out a smart, effective, BI-PARTISAN plan for reform? Is what we are currently doing, with congress racing to pass...something (I'm not sure what) while the opposition screams foul and throws rotten tomatoes...is this truly how we get things done in America? Should it be? Are we playing football with people's lives?
What about President Obama? Should we hide in our basements and wait for the apocalypse or should we get baptized into the church of change? Is that really what I have to choose from?
Or perhaps I should copy and paste everything Conservative talk radio pundits say on their programs onto my mp3 player and just hit the replay button every time I have a conversation with someone about politics...or should I just do that with NPR?
Either/or. False dichotomy.
Here's another thought:
I don't use a check register to balance my checkbook, I use a small notepad. I know people who swear by the register and would be appalled to see me using a notepad.
So who is right? Is this a debate over principle or method?
Using a notepad over a check register does not make me "righteous". It means I am practical and use what works best for me. We are all striving to balance our checkbook. The righteousness is in the principle of balance, not in the method.
So as I listen to congress and my fellow constituents arguing over the "righteousness" of the method of healthcare reform, I worry...
And while I don't have a crystal ball, I think I can safely assume that divided, we will eventually fall.
I also think some talking heads could do with a good, clean, icy dunk, don't you?
I'm just sayin'.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Paulins-R-Us
I'm potty training my three year old.
Are there other things going on in the house? Let's talk about that instead.
Bruce is still riding his bike to work. He is still supervising, to his chagrin. He aspires to someday live in the forest as a professional hermit. We're in negotiations over that one. He escapes by fishing; recently, he caught what is known in the angler world as a "mess" of blue gill. Then he brought them home, beheaded them, draw and quartered them, and then skinned them. No one, not even he, feels any compulsion to actually eat them. The older kids hid in the basement from the gore, while the younger kids looked on and gave loud, dramatic commentary. Sara later loaded the dishwasher with salad tongs, not wanting to touch anything that had been in the sink when the fish were scaled.
That night we had nice, fresh, juicy pasta with brats for dinner. The fish are still in our freezer.
The kids are all back in school and seem to be doing swell. Sara is in orchestra and choir. Brian is building a model rocket in scouts. They both love staying up late reading. Sammy is learning how to spell his name "Sam" rather than "Samm". Arthur is wearing underwear and peeing all over the house. I'm sure he does other things too, but the one is crowding out all the rest.
How's Buck doing? Really well. He seems to like us now. He's a bit of a fraidy cat. He was set upon by a couple of shih tzus during our walk the other day, wriggled out of his collar and took off for home. I tell him he needs to be more assertive. Perhaps there is a toastmasters for dogs.
Follow up on the letter to Lifetouch:
They never got back to me. I still have the pictures. End of story.
Are there other things going on in the house? Let's talk about that instead.
Bruce is still riding his bike to work. He is still supervising, to his chagrin. He aspires to someday live in the forest as a professional hermit. We're in negotiations over that one. He escapes by fishing; recently, he caught what is known in the angler world as a "mess" of blue gill. Then he brought them home, beheaded them, draw and quartered them, and then skinned them. No one, not even he, feels any compulsion to actually eat them. The older kids hid in the basement from the gore, while the younger kids looked on and gave loud, dramatic commentary. Sara later loaded the dishwasher with salad tongs, not wanting to touch anything that had been in the sink when the fish were scaled.
That night we had nice, fresh, juicy pasta with brats for dinner. The fish are still in our freezer.
The kids are all back in school and seem to be doing swell. Sara is in orchestra and choir. Brian is building a model rocket in scouts. They both love staying up late reading. Sammy is learning how to spell his name "Sam" rather than "Samm". Arthur is wearing underwear and peeing all over the house. I'm sure he does other things too, but the one is crowding out all the rest.
How's Buck doing? Really well. He seems to like us now. He's a bit of a fraidy cat. He was set upon by a couple of shih tzus during our walk the other day, wriggled out of his collar and took off for home. I tell him he needs to be more assertive. Perhaps there is a toastmasters for dogs.
Follow up on the letter to Lifetouch:
They never got back to me. I still have the pictures. End of story.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
So here is a picture of Jeffie Lee Yates standing with Arthur Warren Whitlock, Bruce's great-grandparents. I'm posting this here for a relative who I recently found on ancestry.com.
Although it doesn't look like she does, Jeffie did in fact have feet in real life. I don't know why they aren't visible in the picture. Hmmm.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Shrews kissing in the Twilight
SO I finally finished the "Twilight" series.
Sorta.
The books were ALWAYS checked out at the library, and I don't like to buy books until I've read them, so I cheated. I asked my niece how the series ended.
........*listening*........*gasp* Eeeeew! That's so DROSS!!!
Honestly though, I have no doubt it was an entertaining and dramatic read, which was why I enjoyed the first book. And I REALLY hope my Twilight-infatuated friends will continue to speak to me.
So I just got home from a looong vacation to Idaho and found my garden almost hip high, crammed tight full of weeds. The effort to excavate the vegetables continues, and has inspired the following number...*ahem*
(cue music)
I...haaate...weeeeds!
*whack*
I hate them even from the time they're seeeeds!
They harbor pests, they make a mess, they bring me to my knees!
Oh I-I-I-I haaate weeeds!
*whack*
My back is sore, my fingers stiff, and so's my derr-i-ery.
I have to bribe my children to make them co-op-er-ary.
And when we pull, the roots they stay,
So it's all tem-po-ra-ryyyyyy
Oh I-I-I-I haaaate WEEEEEDS!
*WHACK*
(from "Kiss Me Kate", the director's cut)
Next year, it's small, easily managed raised beds and black underlay. Period.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The Last Straw
I do not heart commercials.
I am a habitual user of the mute button, an arch rival of internet pop-ups, and a fervent advocate of the do-not-call list. And I particularly dislike being solicited by the schools through the mountains of handouts that are sent home each week in my kids backpacks.
So when my son's preschool sent home a packet of pictures in his backpack a couple of weeks ago, the proverbial camel was already groaning. I scratched my head, puzzled, as I could not recall ordering more pictures; I already had preschool pictures that had been taken back in the fall. I thought maybe it was a gift (silly girl!) and set them aside.
It wasn't until later, when I investigated the packet's contents more closely that I discovered the order form. Apparently, I needed to send money back to the school if I wanted to keep the pictures. They were extorting me with my own son's image!!
The whole situation reminded me of the one and only time I took my kids to the circus. After paying a king's ransom to enter, we were inundated with people trying to convince/guilt us into shelling out more money. They even stopped the show in the middle and the ringmaster, holding up the quality of toy you find at a Wal-Mart checkout lane, spent several minutes promoting the toys and encouraging the kids (i.e. the parents) to buy them (Hmmm...I dunno, should I purchase the inflatable spiderman for twenty dollars, the very same inflatable spiderman that they sell at the grocery store for a dollar??? Is this circus spiderman jewel-encrusted perhaps, and I've simply failed to notice???)
So there I was, irked to the extreme at being caught again in a guilt advertising campaign (Aww, look how cute he is! We simply must buy these pictures! He will hate us forever if we don't!!) I couldn't bring myself to return the packet in my son's backpack. At first, I was tempted to run them through the shredder and send them back in a baggie, perhaps with a mafia-style note. I considered for a time just keeping them and saying nothing, hoping that maybe Lifetouch would take the hint.
I finally settled on the following response:
May 13, 2009
Dear Lifetouch,
I am a stay-at-home mom with three school-age children. I felt it imperative to speak up for myself and other busy parents regarding your current marketing strategy.
I do not appreciate the practice of sending home picture packets that were not ordered to try to entice/guilt parents into purchasing what we don’t need. We are already being inundated with information/advertising/fundraising from the schools. This latest marketing strategy is simply the last straw.
Please be informed that my child’s backpack is sacred and is to be used for educational purposes only. It is not to be used to transport advertising into the home, as I did not give you my permission to use my child as your soliciting tool. One picture day notification per year (we only need one picture per school year) and one notification of the makeup day is acceptable. Twice a year is pushing it. Twice a year, with the spring packet being taken, printed, and presented to the child without my permission, is really irritating.
I attempted to express my dissatisfaction with this service over the phone in a polite and reasonable manner, both with the school and with the local Lifetouch office. Both entities suggested I anticipate when the packets would be sent out and send a note to the school each year requesting that my child’s picture not be taken and sent home. Neither was willing to make my life easier by exempting me from this “service”.
As I am more than happy to return the pictures to Lifetouch, you may send a self-addressed stamped envelope, or you may send a representative by my home to retrieve the picture packet in person. You may contact me at the number provided below to arrange for mail delivery or pick-up, whichever mode of retrieval is preferred.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Mom
I am a habitual user of the mute button, an arch rival of internet pop-ups, and a fervent advocate of the do-not-call list. And I particularly dislike being solicited by the schools through the mountains of handouts that are sent home each week in my kids backpacks.
So when my son's preschool sent home a packet of pictures in his backpack a couple of weeks ago, the proverbial camel was already groaning. I scratched my head, puzzled, as I could not recall ordering more pictures; I already had preschool pictures that had been taken back in the fall. I thought maybe it was a gift (silly girl!) and set them aside.
It wasn't until later, when I investigated the packet's contents more closely that I discovered the order form. Apparently, I needed to send money back to the school if I wanted to keep the pictures. They were extorting me with my own son's image!!
The whole situation reminded me of the one and only time I took my kids to the circus. After paying a king's ransom to enter, we were inundated with people trying to convince/guilt us into shelling out more money. They even stopped the show in the middle and the ringmaster, holding up the quality of toy you find at a Wal-Mart checkout lane, spent several minutes promoting the toys and encouraging the kids (i.e. the parents) to buy them (Hmmm...I dunno, should I purchase the inflatable spiderman for twenty dollars, the very same inflatable spiderman that they sell at the grocery store for a dollar??? Is this circus spiderman jewel-encrusted perhaps, and I've simply failed to notice???)
So there I was, irked to the extreme at being caught again in a guilt advertising campaign (Aww, look how cute he is! We simply must buy these pictures! He will hate us forever if we don't!!) I couldn't bring myself to return the packet in my son's backpack. At first, I was tempted to run them through the shredder and send them back in a baggie, perhaps with a mafia-style note. I considered for a time just keeping them and saying nothing, hoping that maybe Lifetouch would take the hint.
I finally settled on the following response:
May 13, 2009
Dear Lifetouch,
I am a stay-at-home mom with three school-age children. I felt it imperative to speak up for myself and other busy parents regarding your current marketing strategy.
I do not appreciate the practice of sending home picture packets that were not ordered to try to entice/guilt parents into purchasing what we don’t need. We are already being inundated with information/advertising/fundraising from the schools. This latest marketing strategy is simply the last straw.
Please be informed that my child’s backpack is sacred and is to be used for educational purposes only. It is not to be used to transport advertising into the home, as I did not give you my permission to use my child as your soliciting tool. One picture day notification per year (we only need one picture per school year) and one notification of the makeup day is acceptable. Twice a year is pushing it. Twice a year, with the spring packet being taken, printed, and presented to the child without my permission, is really irritating.
I attempted to express my dissatisfaction with this service over the phone in a polite and reasonable manner, both with the school and with the local Lifetouch office. Both entities suggested I anticipate when the packets would be sent out and send a note to the school each year requesting that my child’s picture not be taken and sent home. Neither was willing to make my life easier by exempting me from this “service”.
As I am more than happy to return the pictures to Lifetouch, you may send a self-addressed stamped envelope, or you may send a representative by my home to retrieve the picture packet in person. You may contact me at the number provided below to arrange for mail delivery or pick-up, whichever mode of retrieval is preferred.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Mom
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
An Open Letter to Rush Limbaugh: I hope you fail, sir.
Dear Mr. Limbaugh,
I have become increasingly alarmed at the rhetoric coming from your corner and can remain silent no longer (dangit!).
I've been a sporadic talk radio / NPR listener for about seven years now. I became a listener primarily because I was bored and it gave me something to listen to while I tended to various duties at home and in the car. I continued to listen because many of the things that were being discussed hit home and were not being discussed elsewhere. I never completely agreed with your political takes, and was periodically turned off by your manners, but being able to listen to news bits that were not played on the mainstream media was especially refreshing and informative.
Mr. Limbaugh, I am a moderate. I know for you that's a ticket to the "coward's corner", so I'd like to explain to you what that means to me rather than letting you define it.
A moderate, or perhaps an "Independent" if you like, is one who has become distrustful of political parties and is thoroughly disgusted with the arrogance and the acrimony and the disconnect of the politicians in Washington. A moderate is not one who can't make up their mind, but rather one who knows where they stand very well and cannot fit their core beliefs into any one party platform.
This wasn't such a big deal once upon a time, when to be a Republican or a Democrat was merely a political affiliation, not a religious soap box for hypocrites.
As a moderate I believe in listening to people, even when I don't agree with them. I believe it is necessary for a healthy individual to be capable of having a respectful conversation with an individual who's beliefs do not reflect my own, while demanding the same respect for my own beliefs in turn. I understand from listening to your show the other day that you do not speak to your enemies. I don't believe this attitude is healthy, and your condoning of such immature behavior is not helpful in a time when more than ever we need to be united on our common ground. If we can't find common ground, then one or the other group is going to get pushed off the edge, and that will not be pretty. We are not France, nor do we wish to be.
Nature abhors a vacuum, sir.
If the only people you will give credit for having any valid points or concerns are those of your political ilk, then your fodder is sparse indeed, and your understanding will remain where it is, and over time will crumble in on itself, stale and depleted.
If your strategy is to attack Pres. Obama every time he blows his nose wrong, then you will be perpetuating a lie: that Mr. Limbaugh is always right and Pres. Obama is always wrong. And people like me, who see the vacuum of logic, will draw further away from both political parties, and more particularly away from people like you.
Others, however, will continue to be fired up to the point of religious fervor, very much the way the far left is behaving in response to Pres. Obama's election. In this, sir, I sincerely hope more people will recognize the holes in your arguments and will keep themselves apart from the frenzy you are helping to stir.
In this regard, sir, I hope you fail.
But if not, I hope that those of us who, whatever our politial affiliation may be, continue to love this country AND love our neighbor will be able to hold the system together sufficient for things to not completely fall apart at the hands of quarreling, hypocritical, blind partisans.
And remember, "Moderation in all things" includes politics.
I'm just saying...
Sincerely,
Liz
(A fellow American)
I have become increasingly alarmed at the rhetoric coming from your corner and can remain silent no longer (dangit!).
I've been a sporadic talk radio / NPR listener for about seven years now. I became a listener primarily because I was bored and it gave me something to listen to while I tended to various duties at home and in the car. I continued to listen because many of the things that were being discussed hit home and were not being discussed elsewhere. I never completely agreed with your political takes, and was periodically turned off by your manners, but being able to listen to news bits that were not played on the mainstream media was especially refreshing and informative.
Mr. Limbaugh, I am a moderate. I know for you that's a ticket to the "coward's corner", so I'd like to explain to you what that means to me rather than letting you define it.
A moderate, or perhaps an "Independent" if you like, is one who has become distrustful of political parties and is thoroughly disgusted with the arrogance and the acrimony and the disconnect of the politicians in Washington. A moderate is not one who can't make up their mind, but rather one who knows where they stand very well and cannot fit their core beliefs into any one party platform.
This wasn't such a big deal once upon a time, when to be a Republican or a Democrat was merely a political affiliation, not a religious soap box for hypocrites.
As a moderate I believe in listening to people, even when I don't agree with them. I believe it is necessary for a healthy individual to be capable of having a respectful conversation with an individual who's beliefs do not reflect my own, while demanding the same respect for my own beliefs in turn. I understand from listening to your show the other day that you do not speak to your enemies. I don't believe this attitude is healthy, and your condoning of such immature behavior is not helpful in a time when more than ever we need to be united on our common ground. If we can't find common ground, then one or the other group is going to get pushed off the edge, and that will not be pretty. We are not France, nor do we wish to be.
Nature abhors a vacuum, sir.
If the only people you will give credit for having any valid points or concerns are those of your political ilk, then your fodder is sparse indeed, and your understanding will remain where it is, and over time will crumble in on itself, stale and depleted.
If your strategy is to attack Pres. Obama every time he blows his nose wrong, then you will be perpetuating a lie: that Mr. Limbaugh is always right and Pres. Obama is always wrong. And people like me, who see the vacuum of logic, will draw further away from both political parties, and more particularly away from people like you.
Others, however, will continue to be fired up to the point of religious fervor, very much the way the far left is behaving in response to Pres. Obama's election. In this, sir, I sincerely hope more people will recognize the holes in your arguments and will keep themselves apart from the frenzy you are helping to stir.
In this regard, sir, I hope you fail.
But if not, I hope that those of us who, whatever our politial affiliation may be, continue to love this country AND love our neighbor will be able to hold the system together sufficient for things to not completely fall apart at the hands of quarreling, hypocritical, blind partisans.
And remember, "Moderation in all things" includes politics.
I'm just saying...
Sincerely,
Liz
(A fellow American)
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