My daughter has an interview today with the World Food Prize Borlaug-Ruan Summer Internship Program.  It offers students the opportunity to work at research centers around the world for 8 weeks during their summer break.  So I drove my shiny black CIA looking GMC Yukon to a regional airport to pick her up and hustled her back home so we could catch up on the things going on in our lives.  This particular airport is about 90 miles away and I looked forward to that drive time all week.  The drive meant I would have well over an hour when I did not have to share her with anybody.  No competition from friends, computers, telephones, just her and I.  To my daughters’ credit and my pleasure I believe she was glad for the time for us to catch up as well. 

 

We discussed the upcoming interview and why this internship is so important to her.  We discussed her plans for college and her anxiousness to get past her youthfulness and into a position where she can effect real and positive change for less privileged people on the planet.  She is extremely driven and fears both complacency and the torrid pace of her ambitions.  She never wants to feel complacency and yet wants to be sure she enjoys her achievements along the way.  As you can see from the formatting on this blog page I am fond of the expression, “No matter where you go there you are.”  If my daughter suffers anything it is that she has an insatiable appetite for wanting more out of life.  This from a girl who has already secured an internship with our states United States Senator in Washington DC and looks to be a strong candidate for the Borlaug-Ruan Summer Internship to do the important work of reducing world hunger.  I tried to communicate to her that the world will always end up the way it is supposed to turn out as long as people are willing to work for what they believe in. 

 

She worried that many people just do not seem to care that we have brothers and sisters on this planet who are hungry, oppressed and poverty stricken.  How can that be?  Really, how can it be that atrocities and starvation occur in this world while we complain of the drive up window service at fast food restaurants, inconsistent cell phone coverage and the lack of original movies coming out of Hollywood?  What has happened to us?  How did we lose the youthful enthusiasm and urgency for wanting the world to be a better place?  It seems that for one reason or another each individual is only capable of dealing with the world around them as they see it from the space they are in.  My challenge to my daughter is to effect change she needs to alter the very space that people are in.  As long as people are of a certain mindset you will never be able to effect meaningful change in the way they see their world. 

 

As long as we fear what gender our neighbor might find appealing as a partner or if brown skinned peoples are crossing our borders to take jobs nobody else wants we will not be able to see how to make the world a better place.  As long as we live in fear of people with different religions than ours or what the tax rate is for people who make 100 times the amount of money we will ever make we are not going to be able to hear the cries of people who only want the opportunity to make their own way.  Liberty, world hunger, education, our environment, jobs and accessible health care are the issues of our time.  You would not know it by the media of the day.  Today the only thing FOX News and radio talk shows wanted to talk about was how horrific it was that people used the memorial of Koretta Scott King to express their concern that the very things the great woman stood for were not getting the attention they require.    

 

Does my daughter waste her energy on youthful idealism?  Is she naïve to be brought to tears for what she heard at the 2005 WFP Global Youth Institute or what she saw in the movie, Hotel Rowanda?  Emphatically NO!  It is our only hope that she and millions of kids like her will be able to do a better job of managing this planet than we who preside over it today.  We have lost sight of that which, if we have faith in a loving God, we will be judged on one day.     

On January 31^st, 1555 John Bradford was burned at the stake as a heretic.  As the flesh was burned from his body John Bradford pled for forgiveness of any he had offended and offered forgiveness of all who had offended him.  The English martyr is most noted for his role in the protestant reformation and originating the expression, “There but for the Grace of God go I.”   Those words resonate well in present day offering comfort to millions across continents, cultures and classes.  For all that the human condition can throw our way it seems that we can always spot someone who seems to have it worse than ourselves. 

The modern interpretation of the infamous words may or may not reflect Mr. Bradford’s original intent.  It is curious to imagine that a loving God would inflict more or less hardship on any of his children.  It is important that we not see our plight in the world as divinely managed.  Rather it would serve us better to accept the gift of free will and make the most of the talents we are born with.  With that in mind one can feel some control in their own destiny.  When we have a sense of control over our own lives personal accountability is more possible.  Some things the world throws at us are just too difficult to comprehend, however, and when that happens the idea that a higher power is available often gives us the courage to face another day.

Recently after a particularly crappy day at work I returned to an empty house and started contemplating all of the things that are normally associated with a mid life crisis.  I contemplated my career, my financial position and the fact that half of my family is, until November, living 1200 miles away.  Surly there was room for improvement in all elements of my life.  Despair can become a slippery slope if not checked.   The prophesy of gloom can become self propagating when one begins to embrace the feelings of despair.  The pity pot, some call it, is becoming all to familiar in this world of instant gratification.  Normally I am a very optimistic cat, choosing my attitude and making the most of what life gives me.  Sometimes, however, it is ironically fun to wallow in self pity.  I find myself taking the attitude of, “Hey, you’d be bummed out too if you had to put up with all the crap I am dealing with!”  Well, crap is what it is and I guess that if I think about it, rolling around in crap is not something that I really want to do.

So I am learning that emotion is the subconscious mechanism our mind uses to tell us something is wrong.  Rather than trying to figure out what the heck the problem is I have found it helpful to identify the emotion and then try to figure out what is causing it.  Identifying the emotion first is a little trick we can use to help us come to grip with what is going on in our lives. 

So cowboy up!  Chipper up buckaroo!  Wake up and smell the coffee!  What ever ya gotta do to start feeling better about your current condition is what you need to do.  If you find yourself feeling a little blue, try to figure out why you feel that way.  After you know what it is you are feeling, then you can do something about it.  And if that doesn’t help you, consider the situation of others who may work next to you, live next to you or pass you on the street.  You might just realize that, “there but for the grace of God go I"  At that moment it might be a good idea to thank your higher power for all the crap he piled on you this fine day.  Wang Chung today!

Your government has proposed the Terrorism Information Awareness program in an attempt to gather and assess data relating to the transactions of American citizens.    This combined with the program President Bush has authorized to allow warrant less wiretaps of US Citizens is alarming.  In a recent letter to the House Speaker, leading Democrats said,”We believe that the President must have the best possible intelligence to protect the American people, but that intelligence must be produced in a manner consistent with our Constitution and our laws, and in a manner that reflects our values as a nation.”

 

The NSA is barred from domestic spying but can get warrants issued with the permission of a special judicial body called the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court.  (FISA)  Recently, on FOX News, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended Bush’s actions when asked why the president authorized skipping the FISA court.  She claimed the war on terrorism is a “different type of war” that gives the commander in chief “additional authorities.”  Oh really?  Additional to say what, THE CONSTITUTION?  What is most bothersome regarding this policy of skipping the FISA court, even when latitude is provided to obtain warrants after the fact of search and seizure, is that this president still does not want to prove reasonable probable cause for his actions.  What are you really looking for Mr. President? This administration is using the threat of terrorism as a means to amass power in the executive branch and that should scare the crap out of you!

 

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution reads, The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.

 

Furthermore, the Constitution differentiates between people and citizens where citizens are a subset of all people.  In the spirit of this document the protection of all people against unwarranted search and seizure without probable cause supported by Oath or affirmation should be afforded.   

 

Our nation is built upon fundamental rights and through the framework of our constitution we have acquired certain liberties.  Civil liberty is the liberty to enjoy an absence of regulation and the freedom to pursue new liberties.  The loss of such liberties in exchange for security will lead to oppression, corruption, and a diminished quality of life for all Americans and especially for minority classes. 

 

The Bush Government has questioned the loyalty of Americans who question the constitutionality of their tactics.  They claim Justification for this is that it is now possible for a suicidal individual, inspired by the promise of paradise, to kill vast numbers of people in a single attack.  The divisive tactics of, “if you are not with us, you are against us” are undermining the integrity of this great land which stands for liberty and justice for all!

 

Former Vice President Al Gore, said, on January 16, "Is America in more danger now than when we faced worldwide fascism on the march - when our fathers fought and won two World Wars simultaneously?" He added, "Once violated, the rule of law is in danger. Unless stopped, lawlessness grows. The greater the power of the executive grows, the more difficult it becomes for the other branches to perform their constitutional roles."

They that give up essential liberty in order to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." (Benjamin Franklin)

“Everything comes to one who waits” exclaimed Mick Jagger as he introduced Can’t Get No Satisfaction, during their performance at the halftime show of Super Bowl XL.  Mick announced that they could have played the song during the halftime of Super Bowl I.  That comment went a long way to tie together the Rolling Stones with the Super Bowl as popular entertainment in the lives of Baby Boomers.  The Stones just exude cool.  I have seen lots of references to the British rock band as codgers, geriatrics, and dinosaurs in recent publicity surrounding the half time show.  Who do you think are buying the products of Cadillac, Ameriquest and Federal Express?  I would bet the target markets of those products are codgers, geriatrics and dinosaurs.   While many saw the inclusion of the band as controversial to such an American classic event it redeemed the NFL and their ability to put on a quality show in my mind. 

 

There was also an uproar regarding the booking of a British band in the heart of Motown.  To that I say, the Super Bowl is larger than the city hosting it and the presentation of the Rolling Stones is a perfect match for the Super Bowl which turned forty this year.  If the Rolling Stones don’t resonate with forty year olds, I don’t know what does.  I have had the chance to see the Stones twice in my life.  Both shows were explosions of classic tunes, high energy, and big event stature.  The Super Bowl performance as viewed on TV was no exception to the quality showmanship I had witnessed live. 

 

This year’s half time show was refreshing and intriguing which is the polar opposite of last years Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake fiasco.  Not only was that show of questionable entertainment value it also ended up being of questionable ethical value.  I don’t think there is a person on the planet who thinks that the events which occurred on last years half time Super Bowl Stage were an accident.  Last years half time left a lot to be desired.  The executives of the NFL surly wanted to avoid the controversy of last years show and needed to avoid becoming the target of the hosts of late night television talk shows.  While there was some grumbling from Motown and some snickers from the young and the hip the show came off as a big hit.  It just goes to show you, you can’t always get what you want but if you try sometime, you get what you need.

Super Sunday.  Well, for Bears fans there is not much super about this Super Bowl Sunday.  I still remember the first Super Bowl.  Way back in 1967, The Green Bay Packers played the Kansas City Chiefs.  How preposterous that the Mighty Packers would need to play a game against an upstart league with what most manly men knew was inferior talent.  Everybody knew how it was going to end up.  Conventional wisdom was that the upstart American Football League was made up of the left over talent after the NFL had made their picks.  Packers won, 35-10.

 

A traumatic day of my youth was the summer day in 1966 when the AFL and NFL announced that they would merge to make up a dual conference NFL.  The new NFL would be made of an American Conference and a National Conference.  I was furious.  Why in God’s good name would the owners of the NFL allow the upstart league to come in and dilute the talent of the established teams? All of that thinking changed in Super Bowl III When Joe Willy Namath and his upstart New York Jets beat Johnny Unitas and the seemingly unbeatable Baltimore Colts. 

 

Well, I guess it turned out all right.  The Super Bowl is broadcast in 88% of the world’s countries.  Eight of the 15 top-rated shows in television history are Super Bowls.  TV expert’s project that over 22 million homes will tune into today’s game.  More amazingly, over 50% of those homes will be hosting a party.  Annually there are more home Super Bowl Parties than even Christmas or New Years Eve parties.  That’s a lot of partying. 

 

The Super Bowl has become an event of astronomical proportions.  More food is consumed in the United States on Super Bowl Sunday than any other day of the year, with the exception of Thanksgiving.  I’m getting kind of hungry and the six hour pre-game show is about to begin.  Enjoy the game!

Barack Obama, delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in Boston July 17, 2004

In that address, the now Senator from the state of Illinois said,

“Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy; our pride is based on a very simple premise, summed up in a declaration made over two hundred years ago: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

That is the true genius of America, a faith a faith in simple dreams, an insistence on small miracles; that we can tuck in our children at night and know that they are fed and clothed and safe from harm; that we can say what we think, write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door; that we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe; that we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution; and that our votes will be counted -- or at least, most of the time.”

When the Senator from Illinois made those comments nobody was aware that in 2002 President Bush had signed a secret order in 2002 authorizing the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on U.S. citizens despite legal prohibitions against such domestic spying.   The monitoring of domestic telephone conversations, e-mail and fax communications of individuals identified by the NSA as having potential terrorism-related connections is prudent national security.  The problem with the monitoring of these suspects is in that such investigations must be overseen by a secret court that meets at Justice Department headquarters whose has the authority to approve applications for wiretaps, searches and other such operations.  That the President and the NSA operated outside of this court undermines the certain inalienable rights that are guaranteed to us as citizens of this great land. 

As we tuck our children in at night we have been robbed of the knowledge that our children have the right to say or write what they think without the protection of the law of the land.  The idea that our conversations and writings are arbitrarily subject to monitoring is unsettling.  I welcome the idea that terrorist threats are taken seriously.  What I do not welcome is the idea that a blanket of suspicion can be thrown over this land without the supervision and separation of powers that our constitution guarantees us.

Ah, Friday.  In honor of this glorious occasion let us heed the most righteous words of the iconoclastic do gooders, Bill and Ted.  “Be excellent to each other!”  No, really!  Sometimes by Friday we have had about all we can take.  Pressures of our work life, of family life and even our social lives can wear on us to the point where we get to living our lives by going through the motions.  Work has deadlines and commitments; family life is filled with errands, appointments and responsibilities.  Our social lives, unless we work at them, can get routine. 

 

Friday, that great gateway to the weekend, is where we often find ourselves energized in hopes of forthcoming opportunities to recreate our selves.  It is a day for exercising optimism!  That isn’t normally too hard of a thing to do.  What I will challenge myself to do today is not get in the way of anybody else’s optimism.  That challenge may prove to be a little more difficult than enjoying my own vision of what I hope the weekend holds for me. 

 

For starters, this means that I can not get pissed off when someone has the gall to pull out in front of me on the highway on the way into town.  Wednesday I had to actually kick off my cruise control when someone pulled onto the highway in front of me and that began the spiral which drained all my mojo for the rest of the day.  Enabling other peoples optimism means that I can’t join in on any office gossip because that not only hurts the subject of the gossip but damages the parties to the gossip as well.  Creating an environment which clears obstacles to others happiness means that I have to be supportive and responsive in all of my interactions today.  Having a genuine compassion for the plight of others means that I will feel good about myself when the day is done.

 

So let’s choose today to not just go through the motions of our routine lives.  Let’s choose to live life to the fullest today.  Recently, when talking with a very good friend we discussed living life to the fullest.  I suggested that a lot of people say they do that but not many people I know actually do.  My friend pointed out that of course nobody lives their lives to the fullest if they apply an infinite definition to that idea.  Wise words.  If we do what we can at the end of the day, that will have been good enough.

 

“Party on dudes!”

If you have not read Kurt Vonnegut’s, “A Man Without a Country, you really should.  Mr. Vonnegut writes, “For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes.  But often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten

Commandments be posted in public buildings.  And of course that’s Moses, not Jesus.  I haven’t heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere.”  ““Blessed are the merciful” in a courtroom:  “Blessed are the peacemakers” in the Pentagon” Give me a break!”

 

This is classic Vonnegut.  You know I have often questioned how so many of my Christian brothers and sisters can be such strong advocates for the political right.  To me it just suggests that single issue voting, that of a woman’s right to choose, supersedes all other consideration in their minds.  I just have a hard time believing that Jesus would pick tax cuts over support for our elderly and poor.  I don’t think Jesus would prefer defense spending over early start programs for our children and I am sure Jesus loves gay people just as much as he loves you or I. 

 

The Christian right has completely taken over political agendas with topics too hot for the average Joe to stand up against.  Nobody is I know is pro abortion. Many people believe it’s not the governments’ role to tell a woman what to do with her body.  Nobody I know is pro terrorist. Most people I know wonder it the price of war is not getting excessive in lieu of the lack of clear policies offering hope of leaving Iraq in a timely manner.  And most people I know lack the courage to put a stop to gay bashing when they are in a group of insecure heterosexuals who condemn people who may be different than they are.  My, what we won’t do to try to feel superior to others when lacking personally justifiable reasons to be proud of whom we truly are.

 

Life is too short to worry about what other people get and how other people live.  I’m going to spend today working on what I get and how I live.  If those who stand righteously as they lecture on personal accountability would spend their day working on what they get and how they live none of us would in fact, need to worry!

Ah, it is so refreshing to know that the leader of this great land finds it defeatist for those opposed to the way he runs our nation.  I guess I should be ashamed of myself for taking the myopic view that the best needs of our country are not necessarily aligned with those of the biggest oil and gas companies.  It may, in fact, make sense to exponentially raise our national debt, send those of our sons and daughters who hold integrity and honor above concern for personal safety to harms way, and shift the tax burden from the wealthy to the working class so that those who profit most in a dinosaur industry with limited resources can amass their fortunes before we run out of oil.  This is a great nation and became that way through innovation, an entrepreneurial spirit and unlimited consumption of fossil fuels in a full charge blitz to create the greatest capital investment in infrastructure the world has ever seen. 

By cutting taxes for none but the wealthiest of Americans we free up income for their investment which will protect the lifestyles of the elite for many generations to come.  They deserve it!  They are the very people who have bought, with their own hard earned money, this government which serves us so well.  It doesn’t really matter if your kids can go to college, if your mother can afford her prescriptions, or if there is no money to protect our environment.  In a Darwinian sense, if you were worthy, you would be of the social class that none of that would matter to you.  So by making it harder for those less talented at accumulating wealth we are making the world a better place.

Our soldiers pay a great sacrifice and do it unselfishly that all of us at home may have a better life.  What should bother us is that this fighting force is not representative of those who stand to gain the most by their spilled blood and loss of life.  I understand that we needed to take an unprecedented stand against terrorism as it originates in the Middle East.  As the death toll continues to climb it is apparent that we lack the vision of how to best accomplish our objectives to that end.

Our only hope will lie in electing leaders who are compassionate equally for the least and the greatest of us in any quantifiable measure.  For too long we have been corrupted by the influence of money and the protectionist policies of accumulated wealth.  Until the voice of any of us is heard with equal consideration we will continue to divide and atrophy as this planets greatest nation.  United we stand.  Divided we fall.

As if cold weather, deer, sand on the road and worn elastic in my leopard print Speedo’s weren’t enough to deal with.  Last week I took advantage of one of those days where you think it is warm enough to ride until you actually get out on the highway.  I decided to ride my Harley to return a movie at the local video store.  As I was pulling into the video store parking lot an old guy in a Buick, looking right at me, decided to pull out and head down Edgewood Road.  I was well into my turn from the center lane and had to grab all the brakes I had in attempt to avoid exchanging vehicle name badges.  Hitting breaks with all you have in the middle of a slow turn has that unwelcome tendency to high-side even the most trusted steed and the ol’ Road King was no exception.  As the bike hit that point where high-side floorboard meets the pavement I felt the inertia as the bike attempted to continue to the pavement.  I planted my size thirteen triple E Wolverine work boot, stained my milk, and managed to keep the bike upright.  Gaining composure I slowly turned my attention to the perpetrator of this fiasco and morphed from a startled unexpected bowel movement victim to that of an extremely irate, incredulous, and invincible 360 pound bearded bad biker dude.  The perp’s facial expression went from oblivious, I-always-drive-in-a-daze-moron to a startled unexpected bowel movement victim.  At that point I had an opportunity! 

I took in the deep breath that was going to be required to let out a string of expletives, damnations and condemnations when I saw the horror in the eyes of the guy for what he had almost done.  I think he knew what he was in for, he knew that he deserved it and was he just wondering how long it would last and how serious things would escalate. 

Rats!  My heart kind of melted for the old guy because I realized we all do dumb things from time to time.  It’s no excuse, but people aren’t used to seeing us out riding at this time of year and I guess it is kind of our responsibility to understand that.  And, he did actually stop before driving over me when my bike and I were fighting about where things were going to end up.  So I chose to throw him a nod of understanding and kept my expletives, damnations and condemnations to myself.  In hindsight, had I gone off on him it wouldn’t have changed what had happened, it wouldn’t have made me feel any better and it wouldn’t have enhanced his view of motorcyclists.