After hours and hours of CNN & Fox coverage of the President's speech at Ft. Bragg, it comes down to this:
No one needs, wants, or is even calling for an "arbitrary date" for withdrawal. What we could use, and should have had from the beginning, is a clear objective or milestone that would mark success. Since that hasn't been clearly defined, the waning support of this billion-per-week debacle should come as no surprise. Just tell us what it is we're here to accomplish rather than repetitious rhetoric about American ideals. Be specific... when these objectives are met, we'll send this group home,... etc. Show us the "to do" list. Then saying something like "we'll stay in Iraq as long as we're needed," will actually mean something... needed to do this. When this is done, we'll come home. We deserve that, right? That's not too much to ask is it?
Funny, the speech was delivered on the anniversary of the arbritrary date on which "control" was turned over to the interim Iraqi leadership. So what's the big deal about picking more arbitrary dates anyway?
This speech is basically an admission by the president that there are no clear objectives. No real ones anyway. Had we been given clear objectives from the beginning as opposed to vague references to democracy, freedom, and the dropping of names of known, but still at large terrorist leaders who are not now, nor probably haven't been in Iraq, we wouldn't have needed a speech now. We wouldn't be calling for definitive information like dates or goals if we'd ever been given any. These clear details could have been part of a convincing argument for the war... an argument which, by the president's own admission through giving this speech, hasn't been made to this day. If it had, the need for another vague speech about defeating terrorism and spreading democracy and protecting freedoms and staying the course wouldn't be necessary.
If before the war started we would have heard, "this is what we are going to do and when it's done, we'll come home," we wouldn't need a speech. The president could just say, "we're still working on those original objectives." But we were never given clear objectives. We were given ideals that have become cliches. As long as the president continues to speak in these vague terms, which are, admittedly, hard to argue with (because they have no meaning in the real world) people all over the world will continue to have questions... crazy questions like, "do you ever see this thing ending?" or "how will we know when we've won?" If the answer to that is "when there is no more terrorism in the world," then we might as well just plan on being in Iraq as long as the world exists.
In any event, this speech didn't answer any questions. Forgive my presumptuousness in asking them. Forgive my being a responsible citizen.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Monday, June 27, 2005
Just a game... wrapped in a game inside a game.
Poor (mis)use of a Churchill quote? Perhaps, just keep reading...
I've played two games of NHL Hitz on Nintendo Game Cube since I've been here. These are, quite possibly, the first whole video games I've played since my brother and I got an Atari for Christmas in the 70's. I'm serious... I've shot a couple of people while waiting for friends to go out and I've jumped a personal watercraft over a freighter while waiting for my kids to get done with swimming lessons at the Y, but other than those 30 second glimpses, I don't play video games.
I got beat, by the way... I was the '03 Red Wings and I got beat by the Bluejackets (Todd) both times although I did manage to score a combined three goals... 1 in the first game and 2 in the second, so I'm showing improvement, which is to say, my thumbs are getting more developed. So I got that going for me.
Soooo... this caught my attention more than it usually would have while I was doing my weekly blog rounds this morning, I ran across this article about virtual/real baseball on HaveYouMetTony... a ranting sports fan after my own heart. You can get to his site through Grant's (see link to your right) or you can just go to haveyoumettony.com. Check out this article...
www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/11944265.htm
Un-frickin-believable... an ingenius marketing idea, but seriously... would you play out this game using the first two innings worth of virtual stats? Minor League ball is a blast, precisely because they're not above doing stuff like this, but this... this... I just don't know. Then again, it's just a game. I'll leave it to you to figure out which "just a game" I'm talking about. I'm not even sure at this point.
Go Dayton Dragons!
Luth, out.
I've played two games of NHL Hitz on Nintendo Game Cube since I've been here. These are, quite possibly, the first whole video games I've played since my brother and I got an Atari for Christmas in the 70's. I'm serious... I've shot a couple of people while waiting for friends to go out and I've jumped a personal watercraft over a freighter while waiting for my kids to get done with swimming lessons at the Y, but other than those 30 second glimpses, I don't play video games.
I got beat, by the way... I was the '03 Red Wings and I got beat by the Bluejackets (Todd) both times although I did manage to score a combined three goals... 1 in the first game and 2 in the second, so I'm showing improvement, which is to say, my thumbs are getting more developed. So I got that going for me.
Soooo... this caught my attention more than it usually would have while I was doing my weekly blog rounds this morning, I ran across this article about virtual/real baseball on HaveYouMetTony... a ranting sports fan after my own heart. You can get to his site through Grant's (see link to your right) or you can just go to haveyoumettony.com. Check out this article...
www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/11944265.htm
Un-frickin-believable... an ingenius marketing idea, but seriously... would you play out this game using the first two innings worth of virtual stats? Minor League ball is a blast, precisely because they're not above doing stuff like this, but this... this... I just don't know. Then again, it's just a game. I'll leave it to you to figure out which "just a game" I'm talking about. I'm not even sure at this point.
Go Dayton Dragons!
Luth, out.
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Just some stuff, briefly
I've added a couple of links that I stumbled upon while looking for something else... 'blogs are a great place to keep that kind of stuff that you would otherwise lose.
The Bill Moyers piece is a justification for Public Broadcasting in an age when most broadcasters have to reinvent themselves to keep up. I added it here because, while describing the value of public TV and Radio, he inadvertently but eloquently reminds us of what our constitution is all about, as well as providing anecdotal evidence that mainstream American looks to PBS and NPR for fair and balanced reporting, contrary to what conservative America would have us all think - and what they've conned mainstream, commercial media into backing them on.
The Peter Lee piece is a bit harsh - he's out there - but interesting nonetheless, if only because, in spite of his use of the same vagaries employed by the White House, he brings up real questions. Note that he is adamant about "blame" being as useless as being able say "I told ya so." But just watch how many people comment about his calls for accountability. Although, I suspect, many who would comment to me personally, have long since stopped reading this site. It's not that I'll miss them, but I will miss their input... their half of the conversation we all so desperately need to continue in order to work our way out of the mess we allowed ourselves to create in the last three or four elections.
Type at ya later.
Luth
The Bill Moyers piece is a justification for Public Broadcasting in an age when most broadcasters have to reinvent themselves to keep up. I added it here because, while describing the value of public TV and Radio, he inadvertently but eloquently reminds us of what our constitution is all about, as well as providing anecdotal evidence that mainstream American looks to PBS and NPR for fair and balanced reporting, contrary to what conservative America would have us all think - and what they've conned mainstream, commercial media into backing them on.
The Peter Lee piece is a bit harsh - he's out there - but interesting nonetheless, if only because, in spite of his use of the same vagaries employed by the White House, he brings up real questions. Note that he is adamant about "blame" being as useless as being able say "I told ya so." But just watch how many people comment about his calls for accountability. Although, I suspect, many who would comment to me personally, have long since stopped reading this site. It's not that I'll miss them, but I will miss their input... their half of the conversation we all so desperately need to continue in order to work our way out of the mess we allowed ourselves to create in the last three or four elections.
Type at ya later.
Luth
P.S. Thanks to all of my students who had kind words to add to the Kyle post. It's very cool to hear from you. If any of you are thinking about yearbook staff next year, send me your email addresses!
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Ohio Adjutant General Visits [unspecified location]
Major General Wayt & Logistics Crew 
After a speech to the Ohioans that make up part of the 557 ERHS, Major General Wayt, Ohio's Adjutant General, posed for pictures with VM and others from the Logistics family... the others want to be VM, of course. MG Wayt came to tell us all what a great job we've been doing and wish us well on our return home in two weeks (we're not going home in two weeks). He got a less than enthusiastic response when he asked the entire group if we spoke "HUA" (the Army acronym for Head Up A... no wait, they spell it "HOOAH" in order to dispute that derivation). He then attempted to congratulate a guy from PA (who wasn't there since it was the OHIO AG) on receiving his Purple Heart, but didn't say anything about the Ohio guy who also received a Purple Heart in the same incident, and who was in attendance. It was a meaningful, uplifting, and encouraging visit that gave us all the boost we will need to finish out our tour.
After a speech to the Ohioans that make up part of the 557 ERHS, Major General Wayt, Ohio's Adjutant General, posed for pictures with VM and others from the Logistics family... the others want to be VM, of course. MG Wayt came to tell us all what a great job we've been doing and wish us well on our return home in two weeks (we're not going home in two weeks). He got a less than enthusiastic response when he asked the entire group if we spoke "HUA" (the Army acronym for Head Up A... no wait, they spell it "HOOAH" in order to dispute that derivation). He then attempted to congratulate a guy from PA (who wasn't there since it was the OHIO AG) on receiving his Purple Heart, but didn't say anything about the Ohio guy who also received a Purple Heart in the same incident, and who was in attendance. It was a meaningful, uplifting, and encouraging visit that gave us all the boost we will need to finish out our tour.
Double Factoring
Anybody catch O’reilly crying about how the media is to blame for the public’s waning approval of the war this week? He went on and on about how in WWII the press had a lot stricter rules to follow and if they violated them, they’d get kicked out of the battle areas and have to stop reporting. It sure sounded like he felt we’d be better off if WWII rules restricting the press existed today. And what about the advances in technology that allow instant reports from around the world... should we revert to WWII technology too? What the hell Bill? Are you suggesting the American taxpayers shouldn’t get to see what they’re getting for their billion per week? Yeah, that’s Billion with a B... tax money.... why shouldn’t we get to see up to date images and hear reports about how that money is being spent? If that changes the opinions of those footing the bill for it, so be it. It’s too bad we’d all forgotten what war looked like BEFORE the election. Now we decide we don’t like it anymore? Is that what bothers you Bill? That it’s still looking more and more like a bad move? (To be fair, Mr. O'reilly also criticized the White House for not putting out better explanations for the war... on that we totally agree.)
The best part of this particular segment was that as soon as O’reilly got done arguing for more media restraint in covering that billion per week operation, he then turned around and lambasted Aruban authorities for not providing more details about their investigation of the missing girl down there. The Aruban law enforcement rep told Bill that they didn’t want to jeopardize the investigation, but Bill wanted MORE coverage.
What’s it gonna be Bill, more press or less press? Let me see if I get this... when it’s a billion a week of U.S. taxpayer money, we should have less coverage, but when it’s another country’s law enforcement agency doing their job with a few borrowed FBI agents, we need more press coverage. Billion per week - less, salaries of a couple of FBI agents assisting foriegn law enforcement authorities - more. Hmmm.
I get that it’s the conservative’s job to declare the entire world black and white, while the liberals argue that there’s gray in between, but it sure sounds like ol’ Bill wants the black AND the white AND maybe even some gray in this case. Make up your mind Bill? I heard a wise man say once, “if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” So are you standing for more media coverage or less? More as long as it doesn’t put down the president’s bad decisions? Less if it does? What’s the guiding principle behind this segment? I really want to like you Bill, but you’ll have to help me understand you first.
The best part of this particular segment was that as soon as O’reilly got done arguing for more media restraint in covering that billion per week operation, he then turned around and lambasted Aruban authorities for not providing more details about their investigation of the missing girl down there. The Aruban law enforcement rep told Bill that they didn’t want to jeopardize the investigation, but Bill wanted MORE coverage.
What’s it gonna be Bill, more press or less press? Let me see if I get this... when it’s a billion a week of U.S. taxpayer money, we should have less coverage, but when it’s another country’s law enforcement agency doing their job with a few borrowed FBI agents, we need more press coverage. Billion per week - less, salaries of a couple of FBI agents assisting foriegn law enforcement authorities - more. Hmmm.
I get that it’s the conservative’s job to declare the entire world black and white, while the liberals argue that there’s gray in between, but it sure sounds like ol’ Bill wants the black AND the white AND maybe even some gray in this case. Make up your mind Bill? I heard a wise man say once, “if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” So are you standing for more media coverage or less? More as long as it doesn’t put down the president’s bad decisions? Less if it does? What’s the guiding principle behind this segment? I really want to like you Bill, but you’ll have to help me understand you first.
God and men
In spite of believing in God, I still have a problem with folks who pick specific words out of their translation of the Bible and try to impose modern meanings for those words onto others in spite of the fact that those words have been translated, taken out of context, aged for over 2000 years, and sometimes, believe it or not, even twisted by the translator to fit a given agenda that probably has nothing to do with God. (I sincerely believe God is with me on this... or I’m with Him) anyway...
Shakespeare is a great example of why this “strict adherence” is illogical. His stuff was written in ENGLISH and it was only written about 400 years ago. We still use today many of the same words he used back then. But even those words, which began in the same language, have totally different meanings today. In addition, Shakespeare was a master at creating contexts in which his carefully chosen words had at least two meanings... one decidedly naughty, and one that would keep him from being tossed out on his ears by henchmen claiming to represent Queen Elizabeth. (she was actually a Shakespeare fan) Anyway, that’s what made him funny. It’s what made him famous. How many people today try to read him and quit because he’s not funny anymore? That’s precisely because we don’t understand his words today as they were used when he wrote them. Nor do many of us even try to appreciate his genius. His words require some study today, some dedication, because they don’t mean the same things. Now, add another 1500 years worth of language changes, cultural changes, and translation from three different languages to that and you have only begun to scratch the surface of why it’s pointless to argue specific words out of the Bible, especially when those arguing them often haven’t done the required study, haven’t been as dedicated, and probably don’t even really have any personal understanding of what the words they’re arguing even mean. Unless of course you’re saying God’s context isn’t important... that He didn’t put as much care into His work as Shakespeare did. You’re not suggesting that are you?
That brings me to an important discovery in both my spiritual journey and in my understanding of American Politics. I’ve discovered that God is vastly different from man, in spite of having created man in His image. Here’s how it applies to politics: When it comes to God’s rules, we have the Bible. When it comes to man’s rules, we have only ourselves. I won’t get into how men have corrupted the Bible cuz that’s not my point right now. Nor will I further explain how this applies to my spiritual journey because who gives a shit? My point is man’s rules are, by their origins, as flawed as man. It doesn’t matter if Republicans or Democrats drafted them. It doesn’t matter who tries to change or duck them. They’re flawed, just like humans are, and they always will be.
God doesn’t have to deal with His rules being flawed. His rules are perfect. The problem comes when men assume we are capable of creating rules like God. See, God’s perfect rules require no explanation, no debate, no deliberation. They are a matter of personal understanding and acceptance... faith. They only require adherence... and that only from those who believe in them. Men’s rules, on the other hand, need to be explained, justified, proved beneficial to the masses in order for the masses to accept them. Only when men assume they can create perfect rules... that require no discussion or agreement, do we run into the kind of trouble plaguing the democratic process in America today.
By democratic process, I refer to the idea that rules that allow people to live together are developed by and for those people. The rules don’t always please everyone, but, if properly discussed, everyone can agree that the rules are the best for all concerned. It’s not a new idea... it was created before Jesus even walked the earth. I have to believe that He would have come up with something better if He didn’t think it would work.
Yet today, that’s exactly the problem we seem to have. Rather than discussing the rules, we choose sides, condemn each other without listening to what each other has to say, and then spend more time trying to defend our own positions, prove ourselves right, prove the other side wrong, than we do developing, discussing, revising, or even getting rid of men’s rules. At least one aspect of that problem is when men who create rules believe they have a clearer line on God’s intentions than anyone else could. The rule then becomes a matter of faith rather than a matter of discussion. Democracy requires discussion. You have discussion of the rules and faith in the method of creating them, not faith in the rules themselves. The rules are only arrived at as the result of logical discussion. Logical arguments, respect for, and understanding of the other side’s position creates the most solid rules - rules that we can all accept. We should choose the people who make those rules for us with the same idea in mind.
Our interpretation of democracy has long abandoned that kind of exchange. Instead, we figure anyone who questions our ideas, as the democratic process requires, must be a member of the other side... or they must hate America... or they must be a communist or a witch... yeah, it’s become that ridiculous. Today’s version of the democratic process looks more like “how can I make my side win.” That doesn’t leave much room for listening to the other side. Hence, it’s not the democratic process. Our chosen leaders haven’t given us much of an example to follow either if you count Howard Dean or Bill Frist... or most of the others... but every now and then, there’s a glimmer of hope.
Harry Reid and John McCain (and a handful of their colleagues) chose to remember the real democratic process. They talked to each other about solutions to the filibuster “crisis.”* They agreed that while the President didn’t seem to be terribly interested in compromise, having resubmitted seven previously rejected candidates, there were a few of those candidates everyone could agree on. From there, they hammered out a way of dealing with the rest of the candidates. The way they agreed upon allowed the long standing filibuster to remain an integral part of a proven system and the crisis looks to be averted. It wasn’t averted by some easy answer or miracle solution or by Republican or Democrat triumph. It was averted by two guys who did what we pay them to do... talk, listen, debate and achieve consensus. These two guys used the democratic process.
McCain and Reid are a glimmer of hope in an otherwise disappointing and ineffective crowd. Howard Dean uses the “new democracy” just as poorly as Bill Frist has in demanding ultimatums rather than hosting discussions. The “culprits” if you want to call them that, creep around on both sides of the aisle and always have. Unless we tell them otherwise, they always will. And that’s an even more important point - we can’t wait for them to change things. They’ll vote themselves raises after we’ve gone to bed, they’ll keep nicer apartments in Washington D.C. than we have at home and they’ll take all the money and all the benefits we provide them to do whatever they please rather than what we elected them to do. But it’s not US and THEM... it’s only US. WE elected THEM to represent US. Face it, only a third of us even care enough to vote in the first place. Of that third, how many just voted for the guy whose name they heard the most? How many of us knew what a candidate had actually done before we voted for them? How many of us just believed what a TV ad said?
Only Nevadans would have voted for Harry Reid - who has even heard of him before now? But John McCain’s another story. This guy’s the real stuff...even made an attempt at the presidency... and we (the ignorant, collective WE) shot him down in favor of a philandering Arkansas governor and a Viagra spokesman. That ignorant, collective WE needs to stop throwing insults across the aisle and pushing the blame off on the other side. WE shot down good guys like John McCain, Jack Kemp, and a giant list of others. WE did it, not the other guys. Until we starting acting more like a WE and less like an Us and a Them, we’re speeding along down a scary stretch of road. How much farther are we going to go before we turn around? We’ll probably be out of oil by then.
*Further proof that the media bends over backward for Republicans in an attempt to shrug the misnomer: liberal. Why would a “liberal” press call a successful invocation of the filibuster, by Democrats, a “crisis?” It was only a crisis for the Republicans who were pissed that the Democrats used it! Filibustering worked for Republicans when they were in the minority - it’s a pretty neat part of our checks and balances system. Now it’s worked for the Democrats and our “liberal” media calls this a “crisis.” puuuhhhhhh-leeeeaaaazzzzze! How can so many people fall for the same line over and over and over again in spite of the unlimited supply of evidence to the contrary?
Shakespeare is a great example of why this “strict adherence” is illogical. His stuff was written in ENGLISH and it was only written about 400 years ago. We still use today many of the same words he used back then. But even those words, which began in the same language, have totally different meanings today. In addition, Shakespeare was a master at creating contexts in which his carefully chosen words had at least two meanings... one decidedly naughty, and one that would keep him from being tossed out on his ears by henchmen claiming to represent Queen Elizabeth. (she was actually a Shakespeare fan) Anyway, that’s what made him funny. It’s what made him famous. How many people today try to read him and quit because he’s not funny anymore? That’s precisely because we don’t understand his words today as they were used when he wrote them. Nor do many of us even try to appreciate his genius. His words require some study today, some dedication, because they don’t mean the same things. Now, add another 1500 years worth of language changes, cultural changes, and translation from three different languages to that and you have only begun to scratch the surface of why it’s pointless to argue specific words out of the Bible, especially when those arguing them often haven’t done the required study, haven’t been as dedicated, and probably don’t even really have any personal understanding of what the words they’re arguing even mean. Unless of course you’re saying God’s context isn’t important... that He didn’t put as much care into His work as Shakespeare did. You’re not suggesting that are you?
That brings me to an important discovery in both my spiritual journey and in my understanding of American Politics. I’ve discovered that God is vastly different from man, in spite of having created man in His image. Here’s how it applies to politics: When it comes to God’s rules, we have the Bible. When it comes to man’s rules, we have only ourselves. I won’t get into how men have corrupted the Bible cuz that’s not my point right now. Nor will I further explain how this applies to my spiritual journey because who gives a shit? My point is man’s rules are, by their origins, as flawed as man. It doesn’t matter if Republicans or Democrats drafted them. It doesn’t matter who tries to change or duck them. They’re flawed, just like humans are, and they always will be.
God doesn’t have to deal with His rules being flawed. His rules are perfect. The problem comes when men assume we are capable of creating rules like God. See, God’s perfect rules require no explanation, no debate, no deliberation. They are a matter of personal understanding and acceptance... faith. They only require adherence... and that only from those who believe in them. Men’s rules, on the other hand, need to be explained, justified, proved beneficial to the masses in order for the masses to accept them. Only when men assume they can create perfect rules... that require no discussion or agreement, do we run into the kind of trouble plaguing the democratic process in America today.
By democratic process, I refer to the idea that rules that allow people to live together are developed by and for those people. The rules don’t always please everyone, but, if properly discussed, everyone can agree that the rules are the best for all concerned. It’s not a new idea... it was created before Jesus even walked the earth. I have to believe that He would have come up with something better if He didn’t think it would work.
Yet today, that’s exactly the problem we seem to have. Rather than discussing the rules, we choose sides, condemn each other without listening to what each other has to say, and then spend more time trying to defend our own positions, prove ourselves right, prove the other side wrong, than we do developing, discussing, revising, or even getting rid of men’s rules. At least one aspect of that problem is when men who create rules believe they have a clearer line on God’s intentions than anyone else could. The rule then becomes a matter of faith rather than a matter of discussion. Democracy requires discussion. You have discussion of the rules and faith in the method of creating them, not faith in the rules themselves. The rules are only arrived at as the result of logical discussion. Logical arguments, respect for, and understanding of the other side’s position creates the most solid rules - rules that we can all accept. We should choose the people who make those rules for us with the same idea in mind.
Our interpretation of democracy has long abandoned that kind of exchange. Instead, we figure anyone who questions our ideas, as the democratic process requires, must be a member of the other side... or they must hate America... or they must be a communist or a witch... yeah, it’s become that ridiculous. Today’s version of the democratic process looks more like “how can I make my side win.” That doesn’t leave much room for listening to the other side. Hence, it’s not the democratic process. Our chosen leaders haven’t given us much of an example to follow either if you count Howard Dean or Bill Frist... or most of the others... but every now and then, there’s a glimmer of hope.
Harry Reid and John McCain (and a handful of their colleagues) chose to remember the real democratic process. They talked to each other about solutions to the filibuster “crisis.”* They agreed that while the President didn’t seem to be terribly interested in compromise, having resubmitted seven previously rejected candidates, there were a few of those candidates everyone could agree on. From there, they hammered out a way of dealing with the rest of the candidates. The way they agreed upon allowed the long standing filibuster to remain an integral part of a proven system and the crisis looks to be averted. It wasn’t averted by some easy answer or miracle solution or by Republican or Democrat triumph. It was averted by two guys who did what we pay them to do... talk, listen, debate and achieve consensus. These two guys used the democratic process.
McCain and Reid are a glimmer of hope in an otherwise disappointing and ineffective crowd. Howard Dean uses the “new democracy” just as poorly as Bill Frist has in demanding ultimatums rather than hosting discussions. The “culprits” if you want to call them that, creep around on both sides of the aisle and always have. Unless we tell them otherwise, they always will. And that’s an even more important point - we can’t wait for them to change things. They’ll vote themselves raises after we’ve gone to bed, they’ll keep nicer apartments in Washington D.C. than we have at home and they’ll take all the money and all the benefits we provide them to do whatever they please rather than what we elected them to do. But it’s not US and THEM... it’s only US. WE elected THEM to represent US. Face it, only a third of us even care enough to vote in the first place. Of that third, how many just voted for the guy whose name they heard the most? How many of us knew what a candidate had actually done before we voted for them? How many of us just believed what a TV ad said?
Only Nevadans would have voted for Harry Reid - who has even heard of him before now? But John McCain’s another story. This guy’s the real stuff...even made an attempt at the presidency... and we (the ignorant, collective WE) shot him down in favor of a philandering Arkansas governor and a Viagra spokesman. That ignorant, collective WE needs to stop throwing insults across the aisle and pushing the blame off on the other side. WE shot down good guys like John McCain, Jack Kemp, and a giant list of others. WE did it, not the other guys. Until we starting acting more like a WE and less like an Us and a Them, we’re speeding along down a scary stretch of road. How much farther are we going to go before we turn around? We’ll probably be out of oil by then.
*Further proof that the media bends over backward for Republicans in an attempt to shrug the misnomer: liberal. Why would a “liberal” press call a successful invocation of the filibuster, by Democrats, a “crisis?” It was only a crisis for the Republicans who were pissed that the Democrats used it! Filibustering worked for Republicans when they were in the minority - it’s a pretty neat part of our checks and balances system. Now it’s worked for the Democrats and our “liberal” media calls this a “crisis.” puuuhhhhhh-leeeeaaaazzzzze! How can so many people fall for the same line over and over and over again in spite of the unlimited supply of evidence to the contrary?
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Guest post - School Funding Fun
I was working on another rant and it keeps taking on new lives, none of which is complete yet... that's way too much build up cuz it/they will make it on here and it/they will be disappointing.
Instead for today, I got an email from a regular commenter, another who, like me, left the cozy technician/government workforce to do something more worthwhile, or at least fun. While both of us could have, would have, and maybe even did write similar stuff before becoming public school teachers, it really hits home for us now... even as we have lost our credibility since we're obviously biased. We're thinking about drinking our consciences into the toilet and starting up our own for-profit magnet school that won't have to play by the rules and will thus solve all the problems public schools are strapped with and through which we could actually make enough money to put our own kids through college. Who cares that public schools are a requirement of statehood per the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. Nobody, including our lawmakers, as John points out, pays attention to laws when it comes to public schools these days. Wow, excuse me... speaking of too much build up, here's John's rant in place of mine:
I just read an interesting piece in the Toledo Blade and it was not about Tom Noe. It seems the Cleveland Browns have donated $300,000 to the Cleveland Public Schools so that they might continue to have a high school football program (The NFL kicked in $200,000 as well!).
Now I'm all for rich people giving money to poor people - hell it's pretty much the basis for my economic belief system. But this is one fucked up way to fund a schools' athletic program. It seems that the Browns were not the first professional franchise to do this. Last year the Cleveland Indians put up money to help the school district fund its baseball and softball programs.
I'm not sure who went to whom with the idea. But whether the cash strapped school system went looking for a creative funding source or the good-hearted players and coaches of the Browns were looking to make a positive impact, this may actually set a bad precedent. Nothing, and I mean nothing, will get voters to the polls faster than canceling football season.
Oh, I know, it's mean. Boards of education all over Ohio have had to weigh the risk. Some have played the card and others blinked. At Lake local schools in rural Wood County, the board threatened to cancel the season and the voters turned out - the next day - at the school board meeting. They begged and pleaded and then made a deal. They signed a petition that said that they would support the levy in November if only the board would allow the season to go on. The board agreed and the season was saved. On November 2, the voters in the Lake local schools turned down the school levy by a staggering margin of 2 to 1. Can you imagine what the members of the board must have felt like on November 3rd. Damn.
This is, of course, but one ineffective way to get our students the funding they need - to threaten voters. It works in the short term just like the Browns saving Cleveland football will work in the short term. But will that organization be willing to part with that much money every year? For how long? And what about baseball? Will the Indians be willing to fund Cleveland baseball ad infinitum? And what about the students in poorly funded urban schools that don't have a major, or even minor league, sports franchise? Or for that matter, the poorly funded rural schools. I wonder if somewhere in Ohio there is a young volleyball player, soccer player, or golfer waiting for their corresponding major league franchise to send in a check.
The point of all of this is that we need to stop letting people off the hook for a problem that they refuse to solve. The they to whom I refer are the 99 members of the Ohio House of Representatives and the 33 members of the Ohio Senate. It is through their impotence, reluctance and moral cowardice that the school systems in Ohio suffer. The Supreme Court has spoken. But even more compelling than the verdict of the state's highest court - which frankly must not be terribly compelling to the legislature - is the continued failure of so many of Ohio's schools. Do they realize that these children deserve better but are afraid of the political fallout of suggesting a permanent income tax increase that is dedicated to education funding?
Or do they really not give a damn at all because they don't have to? Because, after all, they don't. The voters who were frustrated by the continued begging from the Lake school board voted to send the same two representatives back to Columbus. Why worry about the new third rail of State politics when you don't have to?
That's all I have to say about that - for now.
Thanks for the week off John!
Luth
Instead for today, I got an email from a regular commenter, another who, like me, left the cozy technician/government workforce to do something more worthwhile, or at least fun. While both of us could have, would have, and maybe even did write similar stuff before becoming public school teachers, it really hits home for us now... even as we have lost our credibility since we're obviously biased. We're thinking about drinking our consciences into the toilet and starting up our own for-profit magnet school that won't have to play by the rules and will thus solve all the problems public schools are strapped with and through which we could actually make enough money to put our own kids through college. Who cares that public schools are a requirement of statehood per the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. Nobody, including our lawmakers, as John points out, pays attention to laws when it comes to public schools these days. Wow, excuse me... speaking of too much build up, here's John's rant in place of mine:
I just read an interesting piece in the Toledo Blade and it was not about Tom Noe. It seems the Cleveland Browns have donated $300,000 to the Cleveland Public Schools so that they might continue to have a high school football program (The NFL kicked in $200,000 as well!).
Now I'm all for rich people giving money to poor people - hell it's pretty much the basis for my economic belief system. But this is one fucked up way to fund a schools' athletic program. It seems that the Browns were not the first professional franchise to do this. Last year the Cleveland Indians put up money to help the school district fund its baseball and softball programs.
I'm not sure who went to whom with the idea. But whether the cash strapped school system went looking for a creative funding source or the good-hearted players and coaches of the Browns were looking to make a positive impact, this may actually set a bad precedent. Nothing, and I mean nothing, will get voters to the polls faster than canceling football season.
Oh, I know, it's mean. Boards of education all over Ohio have had to weigh the risk. Some have played the card and others blinked. At Lake local schools in rural Wood County, the board threatened to cancel the season and the voters turned out - the next day - at the school board meeting. They begged and pleaded and then made a deal. They signed a petition that said that they would support the levy in November if only the board would allow the season to go on. The board agreed and the season was saved. On November 2, the voters in the Lake local schools turned down the school levy by a staggering margin of 2 to 1. Can you imagine what the members of the board must have felt like on November 3rd. Damn.
This is, of course, but one ineffective way to get our students the funding they need - to threaten voters. It works in the short term just like the Browns saving Cleveland football will work in the short term. But will that organization be willing to part with that much money every year? For how long? And what about baseball? Will the Indians be willing to fund Cleveland baseball ad infinitum? And what about the students in poorly funded urban schools that don't have a major, or even minor league, sports franchise? Or for that matter, the poorly funded rural schools. I wonder if somewhere in Ohio there is a young volleyball player, soccer player, or golfer waiting for their corresponding major league franchise to send in a check.
The point of all of this is that we need to stop letting people off the hook for a problem that they refuse to solve. The they to whom I refer are the 99 members of the Ohio House of Representatives and the 33 members of the Ohio Senate. It is through their impotence, reluctance and moral cowardice that the school systems in Ohio suffer. The Supreme Court has spoken. But even more compelling than the verdict of the state's highest court - which frankly must not be terribly compelling to the legislature - is the continued failure of so many of Ohio's schools. Do they realize that these children deserve better but are afraid of the political fallout of suggesting a permanent income tax increase that is dedicated to education funding?
Or do they really not give a damn at all because they don't have to? Because, after all, they don't. The voters who were frustrated by the continued begging from the Lake school board voted to send the same two representatives back to Columbus. Why worry about the new third rail of State politics when you don't have to?
That's all I have to say about that - for now.
Thanks for the week off John!
Luth
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Nothing to report
Another Sunday and another week has passed without incident. I'm not complaining by any stretch, but it makes for crappy reading. It also makes for slower passage of time. There was a little excitement last night. For the second week in a row, the night before our big weekend started with our power going out... meaning no a/c, no lights, no water pumps. We really are spoiled and we can tell because everyone gets cranky when the a/c goes out. They get a little stinky when the showers quit and as for the toilets... well, they'll flush if you dump enough water bottles into the tank and there are plenty of port-johns around.
I'm reading a book about the liberation of the Cabanatuan prison camp in the Phillipines. It's the place where soldiers who survived the Bataan Death March stayed for three years. A group of Rangers (who were brand new at the time) is about to liberate the camp, but the Japanese know that it's about over for them and the race is on for the Rangers to get the prisoners out before their captors execute them. The conditions and trials the prisoners faced are beyond description here. It really helps put our relatively comfy confines into perspective, yet the mistakes made in WWII leading to that tragedy, which were repeated in the Korean War and Vietnam, and are being repeated again, are what really makes our luxurious war tough to take.
I was reading a NewsMax magazine the other day, and even a guy in there (a carefully selected "fair and balanced" interviewee) says the boss dropped the ball on this by forgetting or ignoring all of the lessons learned. Issue number one, hammered home by the dissent over Vietnam, is entering a war over ideals as opposed to necessity. The case for ideals has been repeated in various forms since it popped up as a major campaign issue, but there has yet to be a convincing argument for how our operation is protecting Americans.
What gets to most of us here isn't the inconsistent internet connection, or the com blackouts after another "protected" American has been killed, or even the frequent power outages due to poor performance by contractors who make ten times as much as we do to provide power. Hell, we're used to that... well, we're actually not because we are usually self-sustaining and we're much better at it than anyone here, but even that capability was taken away from us on this trip. Anyway, it's not the intermittent luxuries that bother us in the least. What frustrates us is how this bad decision making has trickled all the way down to our own levels.
Many of us feel in the dark as to what our priority missions are and when we guess wrong, the second and third effects of our own "bad" decisions affect the mission that we never knew about in the first place, but only the people at the bottom of the chain ever have to answer for that. It almost makes me sympathetic for those sad excuses for soldiers at Abu Ghraib. As if that's not bad enough, add to it the appearance of other priorities like proper hat and PT gear wear, and who's allowed to visit whom, and what we're supposed to be worried about gets really confusing. How untucked PT shirts merit attention over bright red shorts and logo t-shirts is beyond me. How either of those merit attention over a firm return date, clear, specific daily, weekly, or even overall objectives, or consistency in implementing the rules that do matter is just plain beyond understanding. Why people here have time to keep track of who visits whom, but no time to communicate clear mission objectives baffles me. We're tired of trying to guess what's important. We're tired of being wrong. We're tired of being given little or no input other than being chastised AFTER we've done the best we could with no guidance. We're tired of the little shit being swept under the rug until it effects someone higher up the chain, and then being blamed for it in spite of all attempts to correct and make the problems known all along, and then being told it's our fault for not fixing it even though the power to do so is several layers above us. In a nutshell, we're tired of being blamed for being here.
The frustration level that can build up under that kind of bullshit over 6 months will take a while to go away. Sure, living conditions are great. Luxuries even abound, but the frustration level is beyond repair in the time we have left here. For many of us, it's beyond repair within the time that remains in our military careers. After nearly 20 successful years of accomplishing great things with great people, this trip has been a dissappointing and unfortunate chapter.
I was looking over previous posts last weekend and was actually surprised to see so much hope in most of my posts. In spite of the constant sand being kicked in our faces, I frequently assumed it would get better as we went on. It pains me to post this conceit, but when reality hits you enough times, you have no choice but to face it. My room is comfy, my buddies have remained around me and we've all been relatively safe. The food is good and plentiful. My family is safe at home and doing fairly well. I have a lot to be thankful for still, and I am thankful for that. BUT in the absence of any clear objective, mine is simply to keep busy, dodge both the literal and the figurative bullets, and get home. We'll hand our operation (loosely used term) over in much better shape than we received it. There's nothing else left here to work or hope for.
Smile!
Luth
I'm reading a book about the liberation of the Cabanatuan prison camp in the Phillipines. It's the place where soldiers who survived the Bataan Death March stayed for three years. A group of Rangers (who were brand new at the time) is about to liberate the camp, but the Japanese know that it's about over for them and the race is on for the Rangers to get the prisoners out before their captors execute them. The conditions and trials the prisoners faced are beyond description here. It really helps put our relatively comfy confines into perspective, yet the mistakes made in WWII leading to that tragedy, which were repeated in the Korean War and Vietnam, and are being repeated again, are what really makes our luxurious war tough to take.
I was reading a NewsMax magazine the other day, and even a guy in there (a carefully selected "fair and balanced" interviewee) says the boss dropped the ball on this by forgetting or ignoring all of the lessons learned. Issue number one, hammered home by the dissent over Vietnam, is entering a war over ideals as opposed to necessity. The case for ideals has been repeated in various forms since it popped up as a major campaign issue, but there has yet to be a convincing argument for how our operation is protecting Americans.
What gets to most of us here isn't the inconsistent internet connection, or the com blackouts after another "protected" American has been killed, or even the frequent power outages due to poor performance by contractors who make ten times as much as we do to provide power. Hell, we're used to that... well, we're actually not because we are usually self-sustaining and we're much better at it than anyone here, but even that capability was taken away from us on this trip. Anyway, it's not the intermittent luxuries that bother us in the least. What frustrates us is how this bad decision making has trickled all the way down to our own levels.
Many of us feel in the dark as to what our priority missions are and when we guess wrong, the second and third effects of our own "bad" decisions affect the mission that we never knew about in the first place, but only the people at the bottom of the chain ever have to answer for that. It almost makes me sympathetic for those sad excuses for soldiers at Abu Ghraib. As if that's not bad enough, add to it the appearance of other priorities like proper hat and PT gear wear, and who's allowed to visit whom, and what we're supposed to be worried about gets really confusing. How untucked PT shirts merit attention over bright red shorts and logo t-shirts is beyond me. How either of those merit attention over a firm return date, clear, specific daily, weekly, or even overall objectives, or consistency in implementing the rules that do matter is just plain beyond understanding. Why people here have time to keep track of who visits whom, but no time to communicate clear mission objectives baffles me. We're tired of trying to guess what's important. We're tired of being wrong. We're tired of being given little or no input other than being chastised AFTER we've done the best we could with no guidance. We're tired of the little shit being swept under the rug until it effects someone higher up the chain, and then being blamed for it in spite of all attempts to correct and make the problems known all along, and then being told it's our fault for not fixing it even though the power to do so is several layers above us. In a nutshell, we're tired of being blamed for being here.
The frustration level that can build up under that kind of bullshit over 6 months will take a while to go away. Sure, living conditions are great. Luxuries even abound, but the frustration level is beyond repair in the time we have left here. For many of us, it's beyond repair within the time that remains in our military careers. After nearly 20 successful years of accomplishing great things with great people, this trip has been a dissappointing and unfortunate chapter.
I was looking over previous posts last weekend and was actually surprised to see so much hope in most of my posts. In spite of the constant sand being kicked in our faces, I frequently assumed it would get better as we went on. It pains me to post this conceit, but when reality hits you enough times, you have no choice but to face it. My room is comfy, my buddies have remained around me and we've all been relatively safe. The food is good and plentiful. My family is safe at home and doing fairly well. I have a lot to be thankful for still, and I am thankful for that. BUT in the absence of any clear objective, mine is simply to keep busy, dodge both the literal and the figurative bullets, and get home. We'll hand our operation (loosely used term) over in much better shape than we received it. There's nothing else left here to work or hope for.
Smile!
Luth
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Left handed
Laurie gets her fair share of teasing for being left handed. I can't go too hard on her since my dad was and my daughter is left handed. My roommate is left handed too. That's a pretty impressive list, or rather, the people on it are pretty impressive to me anyway and it's my 'blog so get off it. But that list doesn't even begin to cover the rest of the people I know who are left handed. So I really shouldn't pick on Laurie. Than again, some of the people I know who are left handed are complete idiots. So there you go.
The reason for mentioning this is because we discovered a new form of entertainment this past weekend while gearing up for our Memorial Day festivities here at [undisclosed location]. One of the ways we tease Laurie is by reminding her that lefties, in our righty society, die on average 5 years earlier than righties. After discovering our new hobby, I can see why.
It started innocently enough Saturday evening. Somehow we all congregated outside of Greg and Bob's room on the end of Motel 6. No, wait... it was because our power went out! Anyway, their neighbors are also part of the VM crew so there was quite a gathering. We were all just sitting around solving the world's problems when Greg brought out a wrist rocket someone sent him from home and we all took turns trying to shoot the mirror off of a truck parked across the road.
Don't worry, we're all horrible shots and the mirror is still perfectly intact. Someone commented that we might as well put the slingshot away and throw rocks left handed at the truck. While John, my lefty roommate asked just what the hell someone meant by that, someone else got up and tried it. I can't remember who it was, but it was so funny to watch that pretty soon, three more of us joined in. I think it was Greg, Bob and I who joined JLo. We'd captured the attention of the other 5 or 10 guys sitting around and they were laughing at us almost as hard as we were laughing. John soon joined in only he had to throw right handed. Pretty soon about 20 guys were throwing rocks with their opposite hands.
We'd given up on the truck since it was out of our range and instead aimed for an abandoned building. The worst of us couldn't even make it across the road, 'though as the techniques improved, so did both the aim and the range. Some of our better athletes, like Shamoken Mike, who clobbered his opponent in the Friday Night Fights last Sunday by the way... TKO in the second round! were some of the worst. His manager, Joe Mango, also rather athletic, must have been exaggerating his incompetence. He took the prize.
All told, this activity lasted nearly an hour. I've never seen anything so idiotic and entertaining with so little preparation and so little cost pop up and take over so quickly. I laughed so hard my head hurt. The next morning my ribs hurt, though my left arm still feels pretty good.
Later,
Luth
The reason for mentioning this is because we discovered a new form of entertainment this past weekend while gearing up for our Memorial Day festivities here at [undisclosed location]. One of the ways we tease Laurie is by reminding her that lefties, in our righty society, die on average 5 years earlier than righties. After discovering our new hobby, I can see why.
It started innocently enough Saturday evening. Somehow we all congregated outside of Greg and Bob's room on the end of Motel 6. No, wait... it was because our power went out! Anyway, their neighbors are also part of the VM crew so there was quite a gathering. We were all just sitting around solving the world's problems when Greg brought out a wrist rocket someone sent him from home and we all took turns trying to shoot the mirror off of a truck parked across the road.
Don't worry, we're all horrible shots and the mirror is still perfectly intact. Someone commented that we might as well put the slingshot away and throw rocks left handed at the truck. While John, my lefty roommate asked just what the hell someone meant by that, someone else got up and tried it. I can't remember who it was, but it was so funny to watch that pretty soon, three more of us joined in. I think it was Greg, Bob and I who joined JLo. We'd captured the attention of the other 5 or 10 guys sitting around and they were laughing at us almost as hard as we were laughing. John soon joined in only he had to throw right handed. Pretty soon about 20 guys were throwing rocks with their opposite hands.
We'd given up on the truck since it was out of our range and instead aimed for an abandoned building. The worst of us couldn't even make it across the road, 'though as the techniques improved, so did both the aim and the range. Some of our better athletes, like Shamoken Mike, who clobbered his opponent in the Friday Night Fights last Sunday by the way... TKO in the second round! were some of the worst. His manager, Joe Mango, also rather athletic, must have been exaggerating his incompetence. He took the prize.
All told, this activity lasted nearly an hour. I've never seen anything so idiotic and entertaining with so little preparation and so little cost pop up and take over so quickly. I laughed so hard my head hurt. The next morning my ribs hurt, though my left arm still feels pretty good.
Later,
Luth
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