(Picture: Me registering a new young voter in Hinesville, GA)
Every voter that supports Barack needs to be reached. They need to be registered. They need to be asked. They need to be empowered. They need to volunteer. They need us to have the courage to ask and the stamina to keep asking until they help Barack win Georgia.
We need to help THOUSANDS of folks register. Not just in Atlanta, but in smaller counties like Bryan, Liberty, and Long. Atlanta is not an endless well of voters. We must increase Democratic performance in every single county of Georgia if we want Barack to Win.
How bad do we want it? Bad enough to give up a Saturday to walk the town registering voters? Bad enough to come straight from work to the campaign office to make phone calls one night a week? Bad enough to take time off of whatever we are doing the week before the election and on election day to ensure that every voter who already supports Barack gets to the polls?
"Haha I'm just making the case that our generation doesn't have it as bad as the 1960's and 70's generation so there isn't as much protest. "
This set this off. This was a response to a long note about Arkansas politics and the actions of the youth and progressive populations. Here is my response:"
The protest generation may have been faced with the draft, so it may have seemed like the threat loomed more closely, but Gen Y faces the complacency of Gen X and problems that don't seem to be as serious as the draft. But lets get real about the soon to come disasters of our time.
Peak oil is going to RAPIDLY transform our world and Americans are going to feel the pain (perhaps mainly culturally) of a messy shift in energy consumption patterns through ALL aspects of production and consumption.The huge public debt of the last two generations is going to catch up to us. It will catch up at a time when Americans have greater personal debt than at any other time in our nation. Combine this with a sour economy triggered in part by the ever growing demand for oil, and economically MILLIONS of Americans will be stressed. As this hits the fabled millions of Boomers will be retiring (the first boomer just retired early this year, did you see the story), coming into Social Security, and their strongest VOTING years! They will demand full funding of Social Security with not only NO changes, but probably increased benefits for things like Part D, etc.
And what if perhaps we do want to limit carbon emissions? Who will feel that pain? For sure Gen X, but most accutely will Gen Y feel it.
I argue though, that Gen Y is a greater protest generation than the Boomers and Co. Only about 25% of Gen Y could vote in 2004, yet we saw a huge increase in their numbers voting and they solidly voted a PROTEST vote against Bush. In 2006 it strengthened. They protested with their vote and by getting their fellow Gen Yers to vote. Just wait until November. Even more of us are eligible to vote, and the trend will be huge to protest the policies of the past and putting Obama in office.
Just wait. Fine.. here you go. I propose the largest youth protest in the history of the US. Tuesday November 4th. Be there or be square.
On April 17th 2008, I came home to a plastic bag hanging on our doorknob. It contained a notification that a sexual predator/offender had moved into the neighborhood. One Gary L. Whipple now lived just two short blocks behind our house, facing the park I run around. Reading this sheet set off my frustrations with how "we" handle sexual offenders in the U.S. justics system. Why do I need to know about this 53 year old black man (very large black man) whose crime may have been committeed 20 or even 30 years ago?
Now, I am usually in the vast minority when I speak up in conversations opposing more restrictions on the lives of those convicted (or even suspected) of a sexual offense. Most of my objections come from the fact that many crimes can easily be described as a sexual offense and this be imprinted upon the person for life. Yes, sexual molesters do tend to have higher rates of recidivism, and yes I understand the fear a parent has that their child may be harmed. But remember that many people get statutory rate charges in cases of a mutual relationship. Imagine the 16 and 23 year olds, especially if mom and dad don't want little Bobby sleeping with that 23 year old man. Slap rape charges on the 23 year old that was doing exactly what the 16 year old wanted. That will teach little Bobby to not be gay, right? What about dater rape? Do those offenders get branded FOR LIFE as sexual predators?
Now let's look at the punishment. It varies by state, but many offenders have rules that go beyond correction or rehabilitation. In the name of protections of children, many offenders are forbidden from living within 500, 1000, or 1500 feet of schools, libraries, parks, beaches or other public spaces. Some may not even be able to walk their dog in a park ever again! In many compact cities these laws could be quite onerous to someone just trying to get on their feet and live a normal life. Secluding criminals in common ghettos probably doesn't creat the positive atmosphere needed to alter the course of these people's lives.
Okay, so I have these opinions in my head about the justice meted out to "predators", "perverts", and offenders. It seems we treat them in all together different ways than other offenders of other laws. People who send thousands of young American men to death in war using lies and coercion, sure they get legacies and libraries, but one screw up with biological impulses that may be quite natural (though prohibited) can sully your name for your entire life. What's consent in Britian is an offense in the U.S. Go figure.
My opinions on this once case changed, though, as I read down the notification. His qualifying offense was Sex Battery, Coerces by threat. His victim was an adult male! Whoa now! Okay, now visions of Casey running shirtless (hey, I like to get a tan while I run) in the park and being confronted by a big, scary black man with one thing on his mind. I know I am playing into stereotypes and racism, but that is where my brain first went. The irrational, or perhaps perfectly rational, fear that parents feel about their children just ran through me, about myself.
So I remain torn on the issue. Thanks for the note, Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. I hope everyone is safe, but that there is a way to not terrorize this many long after his crime. I don't know all the details so I can't judge it though.
Should I change my habits to make me safer? Sure, but not because of this, but because this is a just a reminder that things happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime. My neighborhood is rough, but I refuse to lock myself away. Participation in everyday life in a neighborhood is necessary to improve the feeling of community. Kids need to see good role models. They need to see adults excercising, walking the dog, picking up litter near their house, communicating respectfully, with out fear, and in a friendly way with their neighbors. Plus, I am probably safer if the folks on the street know who I am and respect me.
Okay, time for a new song, this time in Spanish. I first heard this song from a CD of Shakira I checked out in the spring of 2004. I fell in love with the song while driving across the cold, cornfields of Illinois in March on my way to visit some Midwestern college towns during my spring break. She recorded this when she was about 16 years old. It was her first CD that hit big in Latin America. To this day, I say she is a great poet and artist IN SPANISH, and that her English work sucks...plain and simple.
If you don't here it on my blog, here is a link to a video of it Pienso en ti.
First in ENGLISH for you gringos:
Everyday, I think of you, I think a little bit more of you, I take apart my heart, and something inside me is destroyed. Everyday I think of you, I think a little bit more of you; Everytime that the sun comes out I look for a bit of courage to continue this way, And I see you; that I didn't touch you in that way. I pray for you every night. It dawns and I think of you. The tick-tock of the clocks rumbles in my ears and I keep thinking of you, and I keep thinking....
Now in SPANISH for everyone else:
cada dia pienso en ti pienso un poco mas en ti despedazo mi razon se destruye algo de mi cada dia pienso en ti pienso un poco mas en ti
cada dia pienso en ti pienso un poco mas en ti cada vez que sale el sol busco un algo el valor para continuar asi y te veo asi no te toque rezo por ti cada noche amanece y pienso en ti y retumba en mis oidos el tic-tac de los relojes y sigo pensando en ti y sigo pensando...
Last week the St. Petersburg Times, well regarded as probably the best newspaper in the state of Florida, ran an article on the increasing price of food around the world. Frong page and above the fold, the article tried to discuss some of the underlying causes of the increase BESIDES the increase in demand for grains caused by biofuels. It was a decent article until the last section when the author totally blew a crucial fact.
I suggest you read, and then read my follow up email to the journalist. I may have been a tad harsh on him, but it seems like a journalist for a major newspaper should do a little more complete research rather than just draw conclusions from his assumptions.
I am glad you went indepth on some of the many reasons for rising food prices, but I feel like you REALLY dropped the ball on a huge component of the increase. You posit a strong correlation between increased corn yields and increased fertilizer costs (168% since 2000).
My first thought was.."well, that's is bad logic" An average reader reading your column can even see the fallacy given what you told them: more corn, less soy and rice, Did total acres in production go up or does corn use more fertilizer than soy and rice per acre?
Then I remember something in a college class call "Conservation of Natural Resources" The basic idea (with some rough stats plugged in from quick research): industrial fertilizers are produced with huge quanties of AMMONIA. To create (afix nitrogen molecules) AMMONIA, massive amounts of NATURAL GAS are used. Upwards of 90% of the cost of AMMONIA is the NATURAL GAS used to afix nitrogen. US natural gas wellhead prices: Jan 2000=$2.6/Kcubicfeet, Jan 2008=$6.99. Price difference=$4.39 Price Difference as ratio of Original Cost: 4.39/2.6= 1.69, as a percentage increase that is 169%. http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/icm/2003/4-14-2003/natgasn.html http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/ng/ng_pri_sum_dcu_nus_m.htm
Those are rough numbers just on wellhead price, not wholesale, import, commerical or industrial delivery, but isn't that a great coincidence?
I am no agricultural economist, but I am going to bet the farm on this one: The greatest SINGLE cost behind fertilizer increase is the increase in the price of natural gas. AWESOME ARTICLE! Besides dropping the ball on this one. Feel free to call me tonight or tomorrow early if you want to real quick chat. Or call an agricultural economist from some university. I am sure they have those, right? _______________________________________________________________
Okay, I don’t watch too much TV, and have always loathed anything that is too popular, but this year I have been watching some American Idol on YouTube. This past week was Idol Gives Back or something about giving to charity, and each contestant picked a song of inspiration. Together they performed a few numbers that are generally inspirational. One they chose was "Shout to the Lord", a contemporary Christian song popular in many evangelical sects. AI removed the world "Jesus" and replaced it with "sheperd", but the rest of the song has imagery that any Christian will recognize, but that also speaks to persons of other faiths. I didn’t even catch that they took Jesus out until I read that they did. I personally was surprised to hear this kind of song on AI because I thought it was risky for their audience (people who consume popular culture by the shovel full), not just because I am not used to Christian music in the media mainstream.
Fine. It was a group number that needed to be inspirational, and that speaks to people. The other group number was "Seasons of Love" from RENT, a song that focuses on love and friends, but comes from a play full of gay people, drugs, rock music, straight sex, AIDS, New York City, vulgarity, and with a very skeptical, liberal, secular bent. Sounds fair to me. They sang the "nice" song from a risque modern play. They sang a VERY popular Christian song, but changed the reference to Jesus, thus expanding the audience by at least a billion Muslims who will still get the imagery of shepherd, savoir, and a tower of refuge and strenth.
But Christians are bitching. I happened across one blog about it, and got pissed. So I am ranting. One person suggested that the previous contestants that were openly gay would have objected to singing the song had they have still been on the show. Asinine. Rather, what an ass!
Here is part of what this person said: "I wonder what would have happened if the openly gay singers like David Hernandez and Danny Noreiga were still on? The song was left pretty ’safe’, though, from my view, was still focused on Christian imagery. I don’t know if they would have balked."
This was my response: "I find your comment about the possibility of openly gay singers "balking" over singing a Christian song plain asinine. Assuming that openly gay people are or are not Christian is prejudice, plain and simple. LGBT people are all over the spectrum when it comes to spirituality, everything from atheist to evangelical Christian.
I thought the night was supposed to be about inspiration and drawing people together to do good. In drawing out everyones better angels, I think coming together over a low common denominator like, say, HUMANITY, is quite appropriate.
Calling forth the images of "the wonders of your mighty love" shouldn’t be reserved to Christians or be used, in this sense, to proselytize. People the world over respect the music of other people, but music that speaks to people directly can help bond humanity together. Common language, themes, ideas, etc, can help everyone who listens understand that humans the world over share core values and cultural imagery.
In this setting, I am sure even some CHRISTIANS feel a little uncomfortable with the idea of asking for charity only through the lense of Christian charity. I think many Americans believe in charity because we are wealthy country and it is a human tragedy that many live in squalor while a slim minority of humanity reaps the benefits of globalization, technology, and capital."
Hell, shouldn’t they have been concerned with perfect Mormon boy David Archuleta (a current favorite to win) singing a song that comes from a worldy play? This just burns me I guess. I grew up Catholic. I still practice (sort of). I sing the contemporary worship sounds because they lift me up and inspire me and make me feel connected to something bigger. Hell, the only reason I even go to Mass any more is to sing in the choir. I leave just as much of a skeptic though, doubting the divinity of Jesus and questioning whether there is anything more than just some bigger thing that is so mysterious that all we can even imagine about it is utterly ridiculous and stupid.
And by the way, let’s be real: that little boy David Archuleta has HOMO written all over him. Give him a few years, time to escape from family and the Mormon church, and he will be singing showtunes on Broadway and giving speeches thanking some ridiculously good-looking stud for his support over the years. I love him to death, he is talented and cute, and maybe he is not actually gay, but let’s be real....
So I am going to leave you with two things. 1) the link to blog article so you can read it for yourself and 2) a song. A very interesting song in that it has changed over time. The orginal score was part of a larger patriotic piece called "Finlandia" by Jean Sibelius that was changed into a stand alone piece called "Finlandia Hymn" that quickly became a pseudo anthem of Finland. It was so beautiful though, the music, that an international version was written with lyrics that almost all nations on earth could identify with patriotically, but with a great respect for the peoples of all other nations. This is the version that most of us know as "This is my song." Here is a link to the different versions of the lyrics, check it out to see how it was changed to draw the whole world into the audience. This song literally makes me cry when I here it done well. It is beautiful and really speaks to the fact that we are all humans on this earth and that others have feelings and passions just as real as our own.
April 7th, 1933 - Prohibition ends, Utah becomes 38th state to ratify 21st Amendment
I think we should all celebrate this momentous occasion by going out tonight and enjoying your favorite brew, spirit, cordial, or vintage. Better yet! Buy one for a friend, lover or family member! Buy a locally produced product, like local wines or microbrews and support a local, more energy effecient economy!
Alcohol truly does make the world go around! Charities wouldn’t raise a dime if there wasn’t a bar at functions, no one would go to college (but those who did would probably graduate at a higher rate!), and hell, even cars run on alcohol!
Celebrate!!!
(and post below why you are thankful for ALCOHOL!!)
