Health care in the United States costs twice as much as it does in any other developed country but 45 million Americans don’t have health insurance.  Self centered alarmists continually decry that we can not afford to pay for those 45 million uninsured Americans to have coverage because they don’t want to have to pay for it.  Setting aside the hypocrisy of denying health care for people in a nation built on Christian principles it makes smart economic sense to reform our broken health care system.  Barack Obama’s website claims, “Health care premium costs are growing five times faster than wages, and half of all bankruptcies are caused by medical bills. More and more businesses are struggling with health costs, or dropping coverage altogether.”  The rising costs of health care are a direct result of the drain on the system by uninsured Americans. 

            We can provide universal health care coverage for all Americans and we can pay for it by sharing the cost among government, businesses and consumers.  The net result of providing this coverage, of removing the uninsured from the more expensive treatment of catastrophic, chronic or emergency care that often results from deferred medical treatment is a net savings to the average American consumer of $2500 per year.  This is common sense.  A $15 bottle of anti-biotic and a $45 office visit would save thousands of dollars to a health care system that would currently see an uninsured citizen hospitalized with ailments of the likes of pneumonia, bronchitis or influenza. 

Obama's plan retains the private insurance system but injects additional money into the system to pay for expanding coverage. Those who can't afford coverage would get a subsidy on a sliding scale depending on their income, and virtually all businesses would have to share in the cost of coverage for their workers. The plan offered would be similar to the one covering members of Congress.  “If you already have health insurance, the only thing that will change for you under this plan is that the amount of money you will spend on premiums will be less," Obama said. "If you are one of 45 million Americans who don't have health insurance, you will after this plan becomes law."  All but the smallest businesses who don't make a meaningful contribution to the health coverage of their workers will be required to support this plan and the law would also will repeal the temporary Bush tax cut for the wealthiest taxpayers.

I have grown very weary of the “what about me” mentality of the naysayer’s of universal health care coverage.  The gullible masses of the middle class that swallow the spin of the corporate guard continually rant that they don’t want to pay for somebody else to benefit from basic medical care.  The irony is that they are paying for it already and by providing universal coverage care would be regulated and distributed in more cost effective ways.  The fact is that 45 million Americans, 9 million of which are children, can not afford or are forced to choose among too many demands on their few dollars to afford health care.  When we are talking about basic human needs, fundamental quality of life considerations we should expect to support those less fortunate.  We have ventured too far away from the challenge issued by JFK when he asked, “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.”  This country is too great to have children crying in bed at night as they suffer from untreated fevers or debilitating pain that could be eased with readily available meds. 

Those richest Americans who are facing the loss of the ill-advised Bush tax cuts should be the last ones to complain for shouldering some of the responsibility of this plan.  This country has provided them the opportunity to live extravagant lifestyles beyond what should be their wildest dreams.  The tax cuts targeted are those that were given to the richest of the rich and in case they didn’t know it, when they die they can’t take it with them anyway.  I’m pretty much guessing that any who are reading this page don’t have anything to worry about in the repealed tax cut regard.  So there ya have it.  A sensible plan from a sensible candidate in Barack Obama.  See, you like him more all the time, don’t ya?

 

            I knew it!  I have to admit I had my doubts at times but now, after over six years of watching President Bush undermine everything I hold dear about being an American I can now say; I do not hate the messenger but rather I have hated his message up until this point in time.  The immigration reform bill proposed by President Bush is not perfect but, by George, it is a bold step in the right direction.  Suddenly I am finding it amusing when the President says things like, “they don't want to do what's right for America.  The fundamental question is; will elected officials have the courage necessary to put a comprehensive immigration plan in place?"  Suddenly questioning other peoples patriotism when they don’t agree with the President seems much less unreasonable.  Suddenly when the President admonishes opponents with "If you want to kill the bill, if you don't want to do what's right for America, you can pick one little aspect out of it.  You can use it to frighten people or you can show leadership and solve this problem once and for all." Suddenly I see a man who embraces compassionate conservatism and is maybe not acting primarily out of some sinister cloaked corporate consideration.

            President Bush’s bill provides temporary legal status to unlawful immigrants, provided they come forward, pay a fine and undergo a criminal background check.  To apply for a green card, they would have to pay another fine, learn English, return to their home country and wait in line.  The plan also creates a guest worker program that allows foreign laborers to enter the US temporarily but offers no guarantee they will eventually earn citizenship.  There is nothing wrong with that.  The new green card plan and the temporary worker program both require adherence to the steps outlined above and provide for stronger security along the Mexican border.  The plan gets less appealing when it offers points that abandon the principles of welcoming the tired, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. A new point system under the Bush plan would prioritize skills and education over family in deciding who can immigrate.  Real Americans would prioritize family over marketable commercial skills but suddenly I am willing to settle for some positive first steps to solve our immigration problem.

            We have to know who is in our country.  That part of all of this immigration issue I get.  What I don’t get is why those who say they aren’t racist are not screaming about the Canadian border.  I think the problem of illegal immigration is more about unwanted Mexicans than anything to do with national security.  There are unmonitored crossings on our northern border and I don’t see any clamoring for even a $7 per hour security guard at those crossings let alone a 2000 mile fence.  All of the opposition to what anything resembling amnesty, all of the outrage for illegals breaking "the law" seems more aligned with the brown skin of our southern neighbors than it is with illegal entry across our border.  When everybody is concerned with securing all of our borders I might think something less than racism is at the heart of this issue.

            Holy-moly…the Red Hog is plumb tuckered out after the weekend’s graduation festivities.  I hope you all had a great weekend.  Seeing all of our family and friends at Courtney and Clayton's graduation reception was a blessing.  I saw my cousin Elizabeth, her husband Larry and my cousin Debbie from Arizona over the weekend. I hadn't seen them for years.  I'm proud of my kids and all of their accomplishments and now looking forward to what the future holds for them.  For my immediate future I see an early bed time to gear up for a return to work.  All I have for you today is a little sarcasm relating to a Yahoo news story I saw this morning.

            AP: MONTGOMERY, Ala. - An 11-year-old boy used a pistol to kill a wild hog his father says weighed a staggering 1,051 pounds and measured 9 feet 4, from the tip of its snout to the base of its tail.  "I was a little bit scared, a little bit excited," said Jamison, who lives in Pickensville on the Mississippi border. He just finished the sixth grade on the honor roll at Christian Heritage Academy, a small, private school. Jamison, who killed his first deer at age 5, was hunting with father Mike Stone and two guides in east Alabama on May 3 when he bagged Monster Pig. He said he shot the huge animal eight times with a .50-caliber revolver and chased it for three hours through hilly woods before finishing it off with a point-blank shot. With the animal finally dead in a creek bed on the 2,500-acre Lost Creek Plantation, a commercial hunting preserve in Delta, trees had to be cut down and a backhoe brought in to bring Jamison's prize out of the woods.  Ahhh, nothing quite warms the heart like hearing a nice story of a good Christian boy repeatedly maiming one of God’s creatures, chasing it to exhaustion, executing it and then bulldozing saplings and wildflowers to extract his trophy.  I’m not anti hunter, even a little bit, but 8 shots? 

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070526/ap_on_fe_st/odd_monster_pig_8

 

Today is Graduation Party Day.  Stop by the Palo Community Center if you are in town between the hours of 1 and 4 today.  She Who Must Be Obeyed has kept me pretty busy and we went to some parties for friends of the kids Saturday.  I didn't want to leave you hanging though so I thought I would share a very special legend with you.

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy.

"It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/TwoWolves-Cherokee.html

 

            Happy Friday Red Hog Readers!  Tonight is commencement for the students of Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids; the culmination of a lot of sweat and tears, laughter, worry, accomplishments and tender moments.  I can get through it.  I’m sure of it.

            With all of the running around in preparation for the weekend’s events I have not had the time, or the desire to be honest, to keep the heat up on my political rants.  I was, however, invited to an invitation only Barack Obama appearance in Cedar Rapids this coming Tuesday.  I will try to get some pictures and tell you what “the man” has to say.  It would seem unlikely that I will get the chance but, if given, I will certainly express my displeasure with the wasted opportunities I see in the 110^th Congress.

            The Democratic majority America sent to Washington has proven to be weak and spineless when confronted with the bullying tactics of the Commander in Chief.  But perhaps more disturbing than that is that it seems the addiction to power has overtaken this Congress much the same as it did the Congress before.  The legislation passed that writes another unrestricted check of $95 billion to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The bill is void of any accountability on the part of the President.  That “blank check” Democrats said they would never send the president…they sent it.  No timeline, no demand for troop training, no readiness requirements and no rest requirements were included in the bill.  The reason accountability needed to be attached to the war funding bill was because the lack of accountability has only resulted in more American dead, more sectarian violence in Iraq and increased participation in militias associated with terrorism.  We are not better off than we were four years ago and everything we hear from the war front suggests things will get worse before they get better. 

            When it comes to ethics reform I felt certain that the Democratic controlled Congress would have learned their lessons from the scandal plagued behavior of their Republican predecessors.  Nope.  The Senate in January approved a lobbying plan that would require disclosures of bundling and force former lawmakers to wait two years, as opposed to one, after leaving Congress before becoming lobbyists.  Bundling is the practice of lobbyists or PAC’s raising money on behalf of candidates and then turning over accumulated donations.  Current law holds that individuals must disclose contributions but bundlers can remain anonymous.  So the guy who goes out and raises bucket loads of money for candidates, the one who does all the hard work for which he might expect remuneration can remain in the shadows when he lobbies Congress for political favors.  Veteran lawmakers didn’t like that provision because that system has served them well for many years.

            The House passed two bills this week.  They rejected the two-year "cooling off" period that would be detrimental to legislators leaving office for highly paid lobbyist positions.  And they pulled the bundling provision out of the bill to hold it up for a separate vote at a later date.  Watch closely for debate on the bill to be done in the cover of night when other more high profile debate is dominating the news wires.  In the same manner the Congress failed to stand up to the President on war funding they failed to include the bundling language in ethics reform because the probable defeat of the legislation would have been embarrassing to a Congress trusted to office on promises of ethics reform.

            I suppose it was a little myopic to believe that changing the party that controls the Congress would be sufficient to change the sense of entitlement in Washington.   What Congress would do well to realize is that the grass roots infrastructure that invoked the change in leadership is still in place.  If the election of 2006 demonstrated nothing else it proved that the days of a centralized political machine and the tactics of big money smear campaigns are no longer sufficient to ensure a candidates election to office.  Millions of web surfers are relying more and more on social networks, blogs and online news sources for their information.  People are sophisticated enough to go to trusted sites for their information on candidates and if Congress doesn’t get the job done they will be held accountable. 

            That’s what I will tell Senator Obama if given the chance.  For the record Obama voted no for the blank check war funding and as a member of the Senate voted yes for the ethics reform issues identified in today’s post. 

 

Well, that’s it.  Yesterday was the last day of high school for my 18 year old twins.  We bought each of the kids a laptop computer as a graduation present.  The ultra light, sleek and powerful notebooks we purchased make the laptop I use for work seem sluggish and obsolete.  The new laptops flat out make me embarrassed of the old desktop clunker that I pound out these posts on every night.  I don’t suppose my home computer would be so bad if it were not for that nausea inducing smoke that pours out of the back of the tower sometimes.  Okay I exaggerate but that little fib reminded of the supposedly true technical support call taken by an ISP from a frantic client one evening.  The help desk technician took a call from a panicked user who told the internet provider they should call 911 and exit the building immediately.  It seems smoke was coming out of the wall jack where her network cable was plugged in and she assumed there was a fire at their end.

  That story may or may not be true but working in IT you occasionally come across some crazy things.  A number of technicians have come and gone in my time with the credit union and we used to always get a chuckle out of a manager who was constantly trying to convince us that she needed a “labtop.”  We would always egg her on under the pretense that; if she could justify a need for a “labtop” it might be possible replace her perfectly functional desktop unit.  She never got that laptop.  I kind of always figured if she didn’t know what to call it she didn’t deserve one.  That employee is no longer with the company and we were really missing her until the other day when a new-hire assistant manager called me.  You guessed it.  The newbie felt she needed a “labtop” because there were many days when it would be convenient for her to take work home at night.  The laptop ain’t gonna happen but I’m tempted to send the human resources department a bouquet of flowers.

 

Last night, while I was writing my post I decided to take a break and open my email.  My oldest son had sent both his mother and I a note that said, “As I prepare to walk down a new road in life I figured it would be a good time to look back upon the road I had just walked.  I hope that you guys know that I appreciate you so much more than I show at times and I felt a need to tell you that.”  I hope you know how much we appreciate you too Clayton.  These first 18 years have been so wonderful that I can’t help but be excited about traveling a new road myself.  I will travel that road not so much as a parent but as a friend of a man who I greatly adore.  God Bless you son.  Now go out and find a summer job!

 

Sometimes life is just not fair.  That son who I adore so much has been the cause of emails from the school from time to time advising us that he had missed a class or that he had been involved in some form of mild rebellion or another.  His twin sister has always been the consummate student.  Perfect grades and attendance and honor upon honor have been bestowed upon her throughout her academic career.  So yesterday, on her last day of school, she was visiting with a friend and a favorite teacher and lost track of time.  When she realized she had overstayed her lunch period by 20 minutes she gained a rebellious streak of her own and decided to cut her class.  Her brother had done that too many times to count and had never once suffered negative consequences from the school.  Courtney would have no such luck.  The teacher had thrown a surprise test on the final day of school and now, to keep her Salutatorian status in tact, Courtney has to go back in the morning and take a makeup exam.  So it goes Courtney.  You have your mother’s brains and your father’s luck.

 

Support The Troops!

            Do you have a minute to consider what it means to support the troops?  The White House recently took a stand that seems to totally contradict any reasonable definition of what supporting the troops might mean.  Red Hog Reader Jay Sherman, the brick breaking Tae Kwon Do master from Dubuque, sent me a link to an Army Times article that reported, “The House Armed Services Committee recommends a 3.5 percent pay increase for 2008, and increases in 2009 through 2012 that also are 0.5 percentage points greater than private-sector pay raises.”  The pay increase was meant to offset a disparity in pay for soldiers compared with civilian sector wages.  Bush budget officials said the administration “strongly opposes” both the 3.5 percent raise for 2008 and the follow-on increases, calling extra pay increases “unnecessary.” 

            The Bush administration also opposed a death gratuity for federal civilian employees who die in support of military operations and new benefits for disabled retirees and the survivors of military retirees.  They also oppose “the transfer of the GI Bill benefits program for reservists from the Department of Defense to the Department of Veterans Affairs, a step that GI Bill supporters said is needed to set the stage for increases in reserve benefits that have been kept low by the military because it views the program as a retention incentive rather than a post-service education program.”  It smacks as absurd that the administration who is responsible for multiple deployments and extended tours for our military would “strongly oppose” a pay increase for the sacrifices the soldiers are making.  To declare that this modest raise is unnecessary confirms that the Commander in Chief sees our troops as a commodity.  The accusations made by Bush and Cheney that those who want our troops brought home undermine our soldiers morale smacks of the ultimate hypocrisy.

 

Do You Trust Big Oil?

As of yesterday, gas prices are the highest in U.S. history—we just passed the 1981 record, even adjusted for inflation.

Prices could reach $4.00 per gallon in parts of the country, just in time to crimp summer vacation plans. As consumers suffer, the oil industry continues to reap the windfall— record breaking profits on an almost quarterly basis. It's outrageous!  Enough is enough. Hearings start today on H.R. 1252, a House bill that would make gas price gouging a federal crime, punishable by 10 years in prison.

• Oil company lobbyists are frantically trying to stop the bill. Your representative needs to hear from you today. Will you sign a petition asking Congress to pass the price-gouging bill—and then send it to your friends? Sign the petition: "Gasoline price gouging should be made a federal crime before the summer price increases hurt more American families."  Rep Bart Stupak (D-MI), sponsor of the House bill said this of his motivation to introduce the legislation: "In April ... crude oil was $7 a barrel cheaper than last year (but) gas prices were almost 50 cents a gallon higher. Clearly there's more at play than simply the world crude oil market."
• In April, more than two-thirds of Americans reported that their gas bills were causing financial difficulty; with a full third saying it was having a "serious" impact on their families.
• That same month, the top two US companies, Exxon-Mobil and Chevron-Texaco, announced a combined $14 billion in first quarter profits.
• It seems like even the oil industry has gone too far this time, and it's time to balance the scales. The Senate passed a price-gouging measure out of committee last week, and the House bill now has over 100 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle.
• The oil industry is nervous. They've sent their lobbyists to the Hill in full force to stop—or at least weaken—these bills and they're pulling out all the stops. The American Petroleum Institute, an industry front group of more than 400 oil and gas companies, even threatened that new laws could increase gas prices more.
• Enough is enough. This summer, we can stop Big Oil from profiting at the expense of American families. Can you sign the petition to ask your representative to make gasoline a price gouging a federal crime now?
• Sign the petition: Stop Price Gouging!
• Don't forget to pass it on to your friends—this week is an historic opportunity to send Big Oil a message that we've had enough.

 

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            With the upcoming graduation of my twins I have taken time to measure what it is that I treasure in life.  The biggest responsibility I have for reception preparation has been that of memory tender.  The perusal of old family photo albums has been about as wonderful of a task as any harried father could have ever been assigned.  I was relieved to notice that my kids seemed to have had a happy childhood.  I had remembered it as such but the photo evidence seems to support my recollections.  It bothered me that I could not place a few of the pictures I reviewed for display at next weekend’s shin-dig.  I suppose that at the times those pictures were taken I was mentally absent, lost in the worries of work or finance or whatever.  Sunday afternoon my daughter and I went to pick up some supplies and while she ran into the store I was scanning some CD’s trying to pick out just the right music to lay down on a video presentation I had built on the computer. 

            I came across Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle” and although I found it to be the perfect song for my project I wished to God I hadn’t.  The photo show images were playing in my mind as I listened to the song and it about killed me.  I was thankful for the sunglasses I was wearing as my eyes watered up, yet again.  There was a guy sitting in a convertible in the parking stall next to me waiting for his family to return from the store and I wanted to jump out, grab him by the lapels and scream at him, “Seize the day lad, seize the day!”  I restrained myself when I imagined the fight or flight response that might invoke.

            Our pastor shared a story with us in church Sunday morning that had inspired the “what do I treasure?” thoughts that had plagued me throughout the day.  He offered a story that I am going to share with you and then tomorrow or maybe the next couple of days I’d like to consider what our priorities mean in our lives.  The story is The Lunch Bag: Author Unknown, Source Unknown and it is a true story of Robert Fulghum and his 7-year-old daughter Molly.

It was Molly's job to hand her father his brown paper lunch bag each morning before he headed off to work. One morning, in addition to his usual lunch bag, Molly handed him a second paper bag. This one was worn and held together with duct tape, staples, and paper clips.

"Why two bags" Fulghum asked.

"The other is something else," Molly answered.

"What's in it?"

"Just some stuff. Take it with you."

Not wanting to hold court over the matter, Fulghum stuffed both sacks into his briefcase, kissed Molly and rushed off. At midday, while hurriedly scarfing down his real lunch, he tore open Molly's bag and shook out the contents: two hair ribbons, three small stones, a plastic dinosaur, a pencil stub, a tiny sea shell, two animal crackers, a marble, a used lipstick, a small doll, two chocolate kisses, and 13 pennies.

Fulghum smiled, finished eating, and swept the desk clean - into the wastebasket - leftover lunch, Molly's junk and all.

That evening, Molly ran up behind him as he read the paper.

"Where's my bag?"

"What bag?"

"You know; the one I gave you this morning."

"I left it at the office. Why?"

"I forgot to put this note in it," she said. "And, besides, those are my things in the sack, Daddy, the ones I really like - I thought you might like to play with them, but now I want them back. You didn't lose the bag, did you, Daddy?"

"Oh, no," he said, lying. "I just forgot to bring it home. I'll bring it tomorrow."

While Molly hugged her father's neck, he unfolded the note that had not made it into the sack: "I love you, Daddy."

Molly had given him her treasures. All that a 7-year-old held dear; Love in a paper sack, and he missed it - not only missed it, but had thrown it in the wastebasket. So back he went to the office. Just ahead of the night janitor, he picked up the wastebasket and poured the contents on his desk.  After washing the mustard off the dinosaurs and spraying the whole thing with breath-freshener to kill the smell of onions, he carefully smoothed out the wadded ball of brown paper, put the treasures inside and carried it home gingerly, like and injured kitten. The bag didn't look so good, but the stuff was all there and that's what counted.

After dinner, he asked Molly to tell him about the stuff in the sack. It took a long time to tell. Everything had a story or a memory or was attached to dreams and imaginary friends. Fairies had brought some of the things. He had given her the chocolate kisses, and she had kept them for when she needed them.

"Sometimes I think of all the times in this sweet life," Fulghum concludes the story, "when I must have missed the affection I was being given. A friend calls this 'standing knee deep in the river and dying of thirst.' “We should all remember that it's not the destination that counts in life - it's the journey.  The little girl smiles, the dinosaurs and chocolate kisses wrapped in old paper bags that we sometimes throw away too thoughtlessly, each day, each a tiny treasure.

The journey with the people we love is all that really matters. Such a simple truth and yet it is one so easily forgotten.

            Think about this story some before tomorrow.  Are you tuned in to the people around you, to those who may be calling for your attention?  I don’t doubt that you are but I think we can all benefit from taking a look at where we are from time to time. Have a great day Redhog Readers. 

 

            The world we live in seems crazy to me at times.  There are too many rules and with the prospect of that trend unlikely to recede anytime soon I worry for our ability to show tolerance and maintain common sense.  When I was a kid growing up in the 60’s kids didn’t need to wear helmets and knee pads to ride their bicycles, we didn’t have to wear seat belts, the speed limit on the interstate was 80 mph and our parents could smoke any dang place they wanted to light up.  Toy guns were highly prized possessions.  Presenting our prized possession at “show and tell” we knew that the more realistic they were the more likely we were to be the envy of all the other boys in the third grade.  There were no such things as child restraint units, neighborhood watch committees or zero tolerance law enforcement and you know what?  We felt safe!  Hell, we even played with 18 inch projectiles of sharpened steel where we stood on opposite sides of the back yard and hurled them toward each other and called it fun!  I miss my lawn darts. 

            Setting aside the absurdity of what it takes to get on an airplane these days, the governments invasion of our phone lines and internet, or even the self righteous smoking bans imposed by hypocritical and still suffering ex-smokers on those of we unenlightened; I believe the worst of the over-reactionary social distortions imposed upon us must be our education systems adoption of zero tolerance for perceived threats at school.  Consider the following:

• A 12-year-old with hyperactivity disorder told students ahead of him in the lunch line to leave some potatoes, or “I’m going to get you.” The principal called the police and the Louisiana boy was arrested for making a terrorist threat. He spent two weeks in jail awaiting a hearing.
• In Arlington, Virginia, two 10-year-old boys put soapy water in their teacher’s drink as a prank. The teacher insisted that the young boys be charged with felonies, although their case was later dismissed.
• An 11-year-old girl was arrested after asking her teacher for permission to use a smooth-edged steak knife that she had brought from home to cut a piece of chicken that she was eating for lunch.
• A disabled 14-year-old was charged as an adult with strong-armed robbery and jailed for six weeks. The boy, who had no criminal record, was accused of taking $2 from a classmate. After 60 Minutes II showed an interest in the case, all charges were dropped.
• Eight-year-old Hamadi Alston found an L-shaped piece of paper in a school book. While playing “cops and robbers” with his friends during recess, Hamadi used the paper as a pretend gun, exclaiming “Pow, pow!” At the conclusion of recess, Hamadi was taken to the school office and interrogated to tears. Hamadi was arrested by the Irvington, New Jersey, Police Department for “threatening to kill other students” with his paper pistol. He spent almost five hours in police custody and was required to make two court appearances before charges were finally dropped.

 

The origin of the modern “zero tolerance” policy originated from the fear of school shootings that developed during the 1990s. The Clinton Administration trumpeted legislation that required “‘zero tolerance’ for guns in schools.”  In what began as a well-intentioned move zero tolerance, in practice, has become an excuse for authority to shirk their responsibility of knowing what is going on in their jurisdiction and a scapegoat for a lack of common sense.

My own son served a three hour in school suspension for taking a very unrealistic toy gun to school in his backpack one day last fall.  He realized he had made a mistake when he took his books from his bag at school and tried to hide the fact and never removed the toy from his bag.  Another child saw it and when Carter refused to show it to the other kid that child went and reported him to the teacher.  While my boy’s school principle apologized that, after talking to Carter she knew there was no threat or intent of threat, district policy was clear and punishment would need to be administered.

Zero tolerance enforcement perpetuates a “paranoid atmosphere” and is diminishes our perception of justice.  Taking “rules are rules and must not be questioned” attitude is contradictory to the spirit of living in an open and just democracy.  It also opens the door to unjust persecution by any who might witness infractions and have an issue with a perpetrator.  That isn’t any way to live.  When we spend our days and nights in fear, distrusting our neighbors and watching their every move the liberties we lose are our own.  Vigilance is one thing.  Paranoia and hysterical over reaction is quite another.

 

On my trip back from Kansas City I opted to eject the CD that was playing for the um-teenth time and tuned in to “Fresh Air” on NPR.  The show was a rebroadcast of an interview with writer-director Guillermo del Toro that originally aired January 24^th 2007.  Del Toro’s film Pan's Labyrinth won three Academy Awards this year and is out now on DVD.  I was instantly drawn in to the depth of this film maker’s commentary on writing and directing and had to share my thoughts with you.  The interview is about 40 minutes long and if you have time I would strongly recommend that you check it out.  Click here.  I will be watching Pan’s Labyrinth as soon as I am done posting.

            Del Toro talked about his movie and how fairy tails can help us make sense out of atrocities such as war or famine.  He talked about his life and how writing everyday has helped him escape some darker periods in his life by giving him the energy and power to get through the day.  Del Toro said he also reads a lot and many times he will read a story that moves him and that helps him to make sense of the world around him, help him see the world in a different way.  Such is the power of art.

Pans Labyrinth has been described as a parable of disobedience and choice set in the aftermath of the Spanish civil war.  Many times in life we are faced with those kinds of choices; choices of right and wrong but circumstance or fear can make it very difficult to do the right thing.  In life we encounter things that go wrong every day.  Del Toro believes that conceit plays a huge role in war and divisions around the world.  He made the observation that when you step back from conflict people look very much the same.  He defended his use of fantasy to tell his stories because he thinks things such as politics and religious differences are imagined conceits.  While many people see fantasy as being a fabrication del Toro argues that our religious and political differences are really fabrications of a similar nature.

Del Toro commented on situations where we are confronted with people who hide behind the status quo.  He cited examples of people claiming to not being responsible for the making of rules, of claiming to be just following orders.  That type of obedience, del Toro said, where you find refuge in the corporate, or when you find refuge in the religious or the political majority is the most despicable form of cowardice.  In the story Pan’s Labyrinth the Captain makes others non-human so he can torture or kill them.  Instantly the analogy can be made of what so many of us in America are doing under the guise of a war on terror.  Suddenly all Muslims want to come to America to kill us, they are dehumanized so that we are willing to go along with those who make the rules; we are just following orders when we support “killing them over there so they don’t kill us over here.” 

I noticed in the Republican’s second debate of presidential hopefuls that not once during their 90 minute production did the topics of health care, education or the environment come up.  And yet there was an exorbitant amount of chest pounding about terrorists.  Most disturbing was the roar of the audience when candidate after candidate advocated imprisoning suspects without due process, torture as a means of intelligence gathering and staying the course.  All of the candidates in trying to play to the fringe militant base of the GOP talked tough and del Toro’s final thoughts seemed very appropriate.  Every time you turn towards a truth that is not your own you confide the guidance of your soul to somebody else’s choices.  When you do that you are making a huge mistake.  Such is the power of art.

 

            I’ve been attending a conference in Kansas City, hosted by my employer’s data processor, this week and I’m about ready to head for home.  I always look forward to these events but this year a slew of projects at work and the emergence of Harley weather combined to make for a long week.  I suppose I have never been a good traveler when it comes to taking trips without the family.  Even those glorious trips I make on my Harley each summer end up cut short because there always comes a time when I have been gone from home long enough.  So tomorrow, after attending a couple of morning sessions, I will hop in the truck and head for home.  Lori from Hahnathome.com suggested on my post yesterday that she can’t imagine my driving the speed limit.  She knows me.  And yet that is what I intend to do…all…the…way…home.  Wish me luck with that.

            Actually I think I am capable; especially in light of the motivation that led to yesterdays post.  Rising gas prices and the impact of burning fossil fuel on the environment make it prudent to re-evaluate my driving habits.  Oh, and there is this scary age thing.  I have been freaked out on several occasions recently; to the point that it has been a topic of discussion in among my family that my driving has slowed recently.  As we have made the trip into town over the last couple of weeks I would be driving along, we would be talking about this or that and I would look down at the speedometer of the family vehicle and notice that I was running 5-10 miles per hour under the speed limit!  This is particularly bothersome to me as one who has frequently made disparaging comments about old people driving slow when I come up behind them. 

            I had always assumed that old timers drove slow merely in an attempt to annoy me when I came upon them on the open road.  Now it seems that they may in fact be completely oblivious to their traffic obstruction and their speed is merely a reflection of the sub-conscious minds desire to slow down time.  At least it makes sense to me in light of the times I have caught myself lolly-gagging down the highway.  I haven’t noticed that I putter when I am alone in the driver’s seat but rather when I have the whole family along for a ride.  It is as if I drive a little slower I can keep my kids close for just a little longer and delay their departure off to college and lives of their own. 

            As a reflection of my fast paced lifestyle I returned to my motel room after today’s sessions and took a little nap.  Our host had a wonderful evening planned of dinner and visits to jazz clubs in the KC area and I wanted to be rested to maximize the experience.  About 10 minutes after the bus had left I woke up with drool on my chin wondering where the hell I was.  So it goes.  My blackberry was sitting on the nightstand beside my bed flashing that I had a message.  I quickly checked my messages and was particularly glad to hear that Carter, my seven year old Harley man, had wanted to talk with me because he missed me.  I called him right away and caught up with him on the weeks events and promised him we would jump on the Harley for a ride as soon as I got home.

            Carter graduated last weekend from the ranks of riding in front of his dad for short stints around the neighborhood to riding on back and out on the highway.  She Who Must Be Obeyed had rightfully enforced the rule that my little Harley Guy could not venture out on the open road until his feet could reach the passenger pegs.  Carter could still not reach the pegs when I set him on the bike this spring for his annual fitting and he was greatly disappointed.  And then he asked something that let me know he truly has the spirit of a Harley man.  He asked, “Dad, can’t you buy taller pegs?”  Arrgh arrgh arrgh!  One of the fundamental characteristics of being a true Harley guy is the ability to recognize that there are most likely accessories available to meet any need you might have.

            I called my local Harley dealer and they assured me they could help me out and $500 later (hey, I had to have stylish chrome accessories) we mounted some adjustable floor boards on the back of the bike that were just high enough to help Carter experience some wind in his hair.  For his first ride I