Alien Citizen

Procrastinating by Learning to Speak French

2010-05-15T20:00:00.000-07:00

Cet automne, je serai un étudiant diplômé. Je recherche géobiologie, mais, dans la première année, je vais devoir prendre des cours en sciences de l'environnement et l'ingénierie.

Switching Focus?

2010-01-30T11:17:00.000-08:00

Ugh, Politics is so stressful. I can't bring myself to post on the political goings on much anymore. Most stressful development recently: The supreme court's decision to overturn campaign finance regulations.

On another note, I have been applying to graduate schools and was admitted to CalTech yesterday. Now the question is, can I live in Pasadena/LA for 5 years at a school with a serious diversity problem? Despite CalTech's reputation, its ranking as one of the best schools in my field, I think I'm going to the University of Oregon (assuming I get in).

UOregon

Pros:
Supportive Faculty
2-3 Faculty who I want to work with
It's in Oregon
Faculty collaboration
Affordable Housing
Research I am already familiar with

Cons:
Lack of Diversity

CalTech

Pros:
Top Ranking/Reputation

Cons:
Lack of Diversity
Lack of affordable housing?
Research that I am far less familiar with (steep learning curve)

I'm also waiting to hear from UC San Diego and UC Irvine.

Massachusetts Resident? Get out and Vote for Martha on Tuesday!

2010-01-17T22:22:00.001-08:00

I am returning to my blog today to ask all MA residents to please vote for Martha Coakley on Tuesday... Let us not allow Scott Brown destroy all the work that Ted Kennedy accomplished towards finally passing health care reform. Teddy wanted to make sure the children of this country have healthcare and accomplishing this was both his dying wish and just the right thing to do...And most of us don't need anyone to tell us that children deserve to be protected, that they deserve to have healthcare. But Scott Brown says on his website, "...I am opposed to the health care legislation that is under consideration in Congress and will vote against it. It will raise taxes, increase government spending and lower the quality of care, especially for elders on Medicare." What he doesn't say is that Medicare passed in 1965 despite staunch Republican opposition to that program too. That it is Republicans who dramatically increased government spending for most of the past decade. That you cannot lower the quality of care for the 86.7 million people who have no healthcare. To allow this senate seat to go to a person who is not willing to make healthcare reform a priority in the US today would be wrong...for all of us. Please make phone calls, vote on Tuesday, and remind others to do the same.

Yep, he's a Dick.

2009-01-30T17:52:00.001-08:00

CPR training online

2009-01-04T11:22:00.001-08:00

If, like me, you could use a refresher on how to perform CPR on adults, children, and infants, check out this website from the University of Washington. They have video demonstrations of how to perform CPR on each.

Need a Movie for Thanksgiving?

2008-11-27T20:14:00.000-08:00

Hulu is showing a winner tonight, Penny Marshall's A League of Their Own. I think maybe I heard that the national Japanese team recently picked a girl to play pro baseball.

Have you Filled Out Your Obama Campaign Supporter Survey Yet?

2008-11-19T14:02:00.000-08:00

"Someone's" Obama Campaign Supporter Survey:

OPTIONAL: How would you like to see this organization move forward in the months and years ahead? And how would you like to be engaged as a volunteer and organizer?:

I want to see and be a part of grassroots efforts to reform our education system, eliminate poverty in the United States, and provide national healthcare.

OPTIONAL: What first inspired you to join this campaign?:

Well, we needed to get rid of the Bush administration and all it stood for. Also, all of the momentum that the Obama campaign was generating through the participation of other young people like myself. And I had some students who were extremely enthusiastic about the campaign and made me realize that he might have a chance since young people were actually engaged and might get out and vote in battleground states like Ohio and Florid, I wanted to be sure that he didn't lose because people like myself didn't put all our effort into helping...so I did everything I could do while still working full-time, including blogging the truth and making phone calls.

OPTIONAL: What was the best part of your volunteer experience?:

When I started making phone calls, relatives joined in. It was good to know that my actions had a real effect on other people. I could especially see that I was having a real effect when I called one women in New Mexico to tell her where her polling place was and discovered that this was information that she really needed and also wanted. She was clearly enthusiastic about getting out and voting (for Obama) but didn't know where her polling place was and said she would have gone to the wrong location if I had not called. So, I'm certain I got at least two more people vote that day (her and her equally enthusiastic husband).

OPTIONAL: What could have been improved about your volunteer experience?:

The online tally of how many phonecalls you made was always wrong for me and inspired some bad feelings on my part. Everytime I logged in, and no matter how much calling data I inputted, it said that I had made just one call (or maybe 4 at one point) and I had made tens of phone calls each time. The online site for entering data also blocks you from editing the data you entered for each voter, it locks you out after you submit the information. This is frustrating if you realize that you haven't entered all the information you had or that you made an error entering the information. This happened the first time I made a phone call for the campaign.

OPTIONAL: What was your greatest achievement as a volunteer? What was your greatest challenge?:

I hate making phone calls but I called over 80 people...maybe a hundred (I don't remember). As mentioned to a previous question, I know for certain that I helped get out the vote in at least one state. I also got my sister involved. So making phone calls and having some really good conversations with voters was my greatest achievement and also a challenge. Maybe using the website was the greatest challenge though because of the incorrect data, the not allowing me to edit data I had submitted, and because it automatically generates a call list but then doesn't allow you to send these back if you know will be too busy to make calls.

OPTIONAL: Did you meet a fellow volunteer or field organizer who inspired you? How did they inspire you?:

No. Seeing all the people at the DNC convention and the very cool idea of texting to the campaign (I did this) and seeing Obama accept the nomination as the democratic presidential candidate...that was inspiring.

Fungus and Diesel

2008-11-06T17:43:00.000-08:00

Did you hear about the fungus that creates Diesel? A scientist, Strobel, found this fungus, Gliocladium Roseum, in the Patagonian trees and (after storing it in his freezer for a year) he discovered that this fungus creates real diesel...it's the genuine product and would run your car. Strobel is speculating that perhaps this fungus is responsible for some of the diesel that we have depending on, helping to process the biological matter from fossils... If we were able to use this fungus for commercial production of diesel fuels then it would mean that we were able to drastically reduce the carbon emissions created from the refining of diesel fuel. However, I wonder if this benefit would be undone by the increase in demand for diesel. If diesel is easily gotten goods and everyone starts burning more and more of it, who cares how cleanly we first came by it?

Studs Terkel: Oral Historian

2008-11-05T07:53:00.000-08:00

The mainstream media (incl CBS, ABC, and NBC) only gave a brief summary of the life and passing of Studs Terkel. I think his work illuminating the struggles of working Americans deserves much more coverage. Here is more from BBC.

Super Obama

2008-11-05T04:35:00.000-08:00

It's a Beautiful Night!

2008-11-04T22:16:00.000-08:00

That quickly finished election was such an unexpected scenario for me. I am so much more optimistic about the world now than I was when I woke up this morning. Senator Obama not only won the election, and is therefore the president-elect now, but he won by an amazingly large number of electoral votes. Everyone did it! We did it! And after my disappointing phone calls this morning I was very glad to hear that he won Florida too. Thank you to all the people who believed that this could work and voted for Obama in every state. Today is beautiful and tomorrow will only be more so.

What to do on Election Day.

2008-11-04T05:22:00.000-08:00

I made calls to Florida all day while at work...whenever I had a minute then I made another call. But it was really a waste of time. The people I called were clearly very conservative and probably most of the phone numbers were disconnected or otherwise changed. I also experienced this when I was teaching. The kids from the most disadvantaged backgrounds, the ones that most needed me to be involving their parents in their schoolwork, were the hardest to contact. They sometimes didn't have telephone numbers at all but even when they did they changed often.

Anyway, I am no longer following the election news...until there is an answer. I guess I'll listen tomorrow morning but even then I doubt there will be a definite answer. It is all so stressful. One of my sisters came over and baked an election day cake. Delicious. And we watched Wall-E, a movie I really enjoy.

What Have I Done?!

2008-11-03T06:15:00.000-08:00

There's No One More Irish Than Barack Obama

2008-11-03T06:09:00.000-08:00

Calling Party

2008-10-31T19:28:00.000-07:00

I went to a voter call party... We used multiple pages of numbers from Moveon.org and called people in Tampa, Florida to ask if they could volunteer this Saturday or Sunday. We got a lot of answering machines but the people who actually answered their phone had all already voted (for Obama) except for one woman who said that she was having trouble voting because of the long lines. Unfortunately, I was the only one who got people to agree to volunteer...luck of the numbers I guess.

Check out this resource from PBS' Now.

Oh My

2008-10-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

http://www.rickeypac.org/

Little Mosque on the Prairie

2008-10-24T12:35:00.000-07:00

Can you believe some people are still saying that Obama is a Muslim? If they didn't equate Muslims with terrorists then this might not matter so much to them. Little Mosque on the Prairie is a television show making a real difference in how people see their Muslim neighbors. I have often wondered why we can't have television like this popular sitcom here in the United States... I hear, however, that an American version is in the works. Hopefully it will not lose it's intelligence and originality in translation.

It has an ongoing storyline and I think you can watch the show from episode I on Muxlim.com.

Rayyan, one of the primary characters on the show, is described on the CBC website as a "headscarf-wearing, forward-thinking, Muslim, feminist doctor. She's like a young, good looking Maude. Rayyan embraced her faith in university and is much more devout than her parents. She often prays she's adopted." Except for that last sentence, it's a very good description of her character. And her parents do often get in trouble with her for doing non-Muslim things like playing the lottery (gambling).

Will Your Vote Count?

2008-10-23T09:22:00.001-07:00

Talk of the Nation will investigate whether our votes will be counted this time around. Listen in today at 2pm Eastern time on your local NPR radio station.

2008-10-20T06:56:00.000-07:00

Tumult builds over alleged ‘Lose your home, lose your vote’ scheme

Botswana's former President Festus Mogae has won a $5m (£2.8m) prize to encourage good governance in Africa.

2008-10-20T05:15:00.000-07:00

Click on the title of this post to find out more...A reminder to keep Botswana on my travel list. Not all African governments are corrupt, as one might be apt to think watching the limited coverage of Africa in the national media (whose stories are limited to the aids and violence that plague too many countries in the continent).

Ohio Decides to Make a Change

2008-10-07T12:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the last day for one stop registration and early voting (at polling place or by mail) in Ohio. So, I called several voters there in the morning and encouraged them to take advantage of the opportunity. One woman hung up the phone as soon as I said I was calling on behalf of Barack Obama but everyone else (whose number was still in service) said they were planning to vote for Barack Obama, though not early. I could usually tell before I asked if they would be able to commit to voting early. Almost everyone was taking precious time out of their workday or family life to talk to me and I really appreciate their generosity in doing so. One woman was feeding her daughter while she was talking to me. Another guy on his way to work said, when I asked him who he was planning to vote for, "No way am I voting for that old guy." I lived in Cleveland, Ohio for a couple of years when I was very young and I very much hope that this group of voters is representative of how Ohio will vote this time around. If Obama can win over the working class families of Ohio and get them to get out there and vote then I think he really does have a chance at winning this election.

Can We Bring Democracy to the United States?

2008-09-27T17:31:00.001-07:00

I would like to devote my efforts to raising awareness about our broken voting system for the remaining month in this election season. If I do post, it will mainly be on this topic.

END POVERTY NOW

2008-09-27T17:30:00.001-07:00

Would you like to open a checking account with Goldman Sachs?

2008-09-22T00:18:00.000-07:00

Last week, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were the only remaining investment banks in the country. This week, they are officially federal "bank holding companies." That means that they can play with money directly from us little people who will make deposits at the commercial banks they can now legally open. Says MorganStanley in a Sunday press release,

Morgan Stanley sought this new status from the Federal Reserve to provide the Firm maximum flexibility and stability to pursue new business opportunities as the financial marketplace undergoes rapid and profound changes. The Firm will pursue initiatives to expand the retail banking services it offers its retail clients and build a stable base of core deposits. Morgan Stanley has more than 3 million retail accounts and had $36 billion in bank deposits as of August 31, 2008.

Free checking with Morgan Stanley! Open a saving account with Goldman Sachs and receive $10 free. They are opening their first national bank in Utah (actually converting their Utah industrial bank to a national bank).

We are supposed to feel comforted now because (thanks to all the deregulation in Wall Street spearheaded by McCain and friends), even with those 3 million retail accounts and $36 billion in bank deposits, they weren't under the watchful eye and regulatory power of the Federal Reserve before...not like they have to be now. Still, they want us to believe that business goes on as usual for them,

The Firm does not expect significant adverse tax or accounting effects from this new status, nor does the Firm expect there to be limitations on its activities that would have a material impact on Morgan Stanley’s overall business.

A number of my college classmates went to work for these investment banks. I can't tell you how glad I am that I didn't. I'm not interested in the cold calculations for maximum profit. When the world is looking a little rosier again, I'm sure these big banks and their friends will be crying for less regulation again..."Save us, little people, save us..."

Fabricating Reality

2008-09-19T20:35:00.000-07:00

I am just started out with Blender. So far, I can only aspire to one day be able to make material of this quality. Even with the skills, it takes a lot of work. One estimate being 70 hours for 10 seconds of video. The Republicans have proven much faster at fabricating reality.

Opening Eyes, One Film at a Time

2008-09-17T19:58:00.000-07:00

I was asked to compile a list of upcoming movies worth watching and that's why I am on this tangent right now. But there are several very promising looking films coming out including the documentaries Trouble The Water (a documentary filmed by a couple while they fought to survive Katrina and then after), Flow (about the privatization of the world water supply), and I.O.U.S.A (about the compounding debt the Republicans are leaving us). Except for Flow, whcih already came out on the 12th of September, these films will all be released on Monday. Stealing American: Vote by Vote, has already been released. Those are just a few of the additions to my list of films I'd consider spending precious time viewing. I definitely want to see The Lucky Ones (out next Friday)...Tim Robbins is back! Yes. And if the trailer is any measure, he and his costars (Michael Peña and Rachel McAdams) do not disappoint.

When is this Movie Coming Out?

2008-09-16T22:38:00.000-07:00

W by Oliver Stone

Afterthought: I do not know anything about this movie except what was in the preview. In the trailer, Bush and folks looked like the idiots and A-Holes they really are, if you ask me. But maybe I'm reading more into it than is really captured in this movie?

Photos from the Republican Convention

2008-09-16T04:59:00.000-07:00

This picture is sad...and funny. Punditkitchen.com had me laughing several times. Sometimes humor is good medicine...and this country has a real sickness.

Two Very Different Tax Plans

2008-09-13T22:15:00.000-07:00

Crooks and Liars already posted this but I just saw it...the difference in the presidential candidates tax plans is drastic. The national non-cable network nightly news has been attempting to make it appear that there is in fact little difference between them, that neither are really going to help the middle class. I saw a story recently on one of the three CBS, ABC, NBC networks saying that both plans, and Obama's especially, would give a modest middle-class family of three or four a tax break of only 500 dollars. Sounds like they need to get their numbers straight unless those were the mythical middle class people of the McCain universe where you can be middle class and earn millions of dollars at the same time. If they were out of that book, then indeed Obama would not be giving them a tax cut.

Would the Real Pig Please Stand Up

2008-09-13T07:13:00.000-07:00

...Reflecting on 9/11

2008-09-11T19:46:00.000-07:00

McCain criticized Wasilla earmarks in 2001

2008-09-11T10:22:00.001-07:00

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain criticized two of his future running mate's hometown projects in broadsides in 2001 against congressional "pork-barrel" spending, records from the Arizona senator's office show.

What I am Thinking in this Moment of Silence

2008-09-11T07:52:00.000-07:00

Today, they read the names of all 2996 victims of the 9/11 attack. I don't know how long it took but it would have taken far longer if they had also read the names of the 4155 Americans killed in the Iraqi occupation. If they added the 1,255,026 Iraqis killed in the occupation then they would literally be reading names for the rest of the summer.

Antiwar.com has this quote from H.G. Wells on their website...

A time will come when a politician who has willfully made war and promoted international dissension will be...surer of the noose than a private homicide.
– H. G. Wells

McCain Sees Red...Lipstick...in the Mirror

2008-09-10T20:31:00.000-07:00

This is just ridiculous of the McCain campaign. They are starting to look like immature middle schoolers. "It's because I'm Swedish, that's why you gave me a bad grade!" Back when I was teaching middle school, I had a student say this to me once (actually twice). It was one of those days and my response came right out of the sarcastic bad teacher playbook, "You know, you're right. If you were Norwegian then that would be fine but Sweden...just doesn't fly." That shut him up. I guess the equivalent response here would be to say to McCain, "You know, you're right. I should have said dog (ergo Pitbull). You can put lipstick on a dog but it's still a dog."

Nice.

2008-09-09T12:30:00.000-07:00

McCain = The 3rd coming of Bush

McCain and Palin, Just - Like - You.

2008-09-09T02:46:00.000-07:00

McCain and Palin, Just - Like - You.

"Vasquez is a single mother of two daughters...a classic victim of the sub-prime lending machine that approved a no down-payment loan without ever verifying her income...Vasquez said that she knows she needs a lawyer, but said she cannot afford one. The only family is a sister who has no room at her house, so if Vasquez loses her home through foreclosure, she said she has no place to go."

"John McCain said in an interview with Politico... "that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own."

"I think -- I'll have my staff get to you," McCain said. "It's condominiums where -- I'll have them get to you."

The answer, according to the group Progressive Accountability, is an even 10 homes, ranches, condos, and lofts, together worth a combined estimated $13,823,269.

John and Cindy McCain own a plethora of houses spread throughout the United States, including: two beachfront condos in Coronado, California, condo in La Jolla, California, a two-unit condominium complex in Phoenix, Arizona, three ranch houses located outside of Sedona, Arizona, a high-rise condo in Arlington, Virginia, a rental loft, and, according to GQ, a loft they bought for their daughter, Meghan."

McCain and Palin, Just - Like - You.

""It’s hard to describe. It was kind of a surreal state. I was numb. It’s almost like a death. You feel helpless. You’re embarrassed, humiliated, angry, disgusted, all of those kinds of feelings. And then there’s the neighborhood, the disconnect with all those people you’ve been accustomed to over the years. We lost a lot of stuff, lost the community that we knew. It causes depression, stress and physical ailments, not to mention a lot of shame. You feel bad for people to know you’ve been evicted.""

"On house ownership, the Palins can’t match the McCains’ eight homes, but her real estate portfolio is respectable, thank you very much. Palin owns three houses, according to her 2007 financial disclosure form. The forms don’t list the value of the properties, but indicate that one is residential and the other two are used for recreation."

"A survey by the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute (EPI) shows the number of low- paying service jobs is growing in 47 of the 50 states, while the number of better-paying industrial jobs, mostly in manufacturing, is shrinking. The study found the average annual pay in industries where jobs are declining, such as manufacturing and information technology, is $44,570, while jobs in expanding industries such as leisure and hospitality pay an average $35,410 a year. “It’s bad enough that we’ve lost so many jobs, but this shows that the jobs lost were good jobs,” says Michael Ettlinger, director of the Economic Analysis and Research Network."

The average american salary is $42,028.

"Gov. Palin's salary is approximately $82,000 per year, her husband reportedly makes $100,000/yr."

"McCain's Senate salary and book royalties amounted to $215,304 in 2006 and $258,800 in 2007...Cindy McCain is the heiress to Hensley and Company, a lucrative beer distributor company in Arizona. Her wealth has been estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars. "

McCain and Palin, Just - Like - You.

A political joke from the seven-year old...

2008-09-08T21:37:00.000-07:00

A pitbull with lipstick ate Sarah Palin. The pitbull said, "You shouldn't have said that." :-P

She just turned seven last month. Kids say the darndest things.

More Official Palin Photos

2008-09-07T01:00:00.001-07:00

Isn't it spooky how much Palin looks like a desperate housewife?

But just wait until she gets into the White House (when McKook kicks the bucket)...
and realizes what exactly the president does..."everyday"...

From Someone Who Knows What Really Went Down

2008-09-06T23:42:00.000-07:00

Under investigation for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew her support.

This quote is from Anne Kilkenny's letter informing the rest of us on who the real Sarah Palin is. If you haven't already done so, please read the rest of her very honest letter.

Sarah Palin's mother-in-law uncertain about how she'll vote

2008-09-06T22:28:00.000-07:00

"I'm not sure what she brings to the ticket other than she's a woman and a conservative. Well, she's a better speaker than McCain," Faye Palin said with a laugh.

The woman's own mother-in-law doesn't think she has enough experience! And Faye Palin disagrees with her daughter in law's staunch pro-life stance. Read more here. I guess it is particularly understandable that her mother-in-law would not support her despite her ultra-conservative views since Governor Palin stabbed Mama Palin in the back, back in the day, voting for the opposition when her mother-in-law ran for the mayor's seat Sarah had just vacated due to term limits. No way Faye Palin is going to vote for you now Sarah!

And I'm really doing research on Governor Palin but other articles on people like Bristol Palin are quite abundant and I'm coming across the strangest information. We are supposed to be so sure that the Trig = grandson story was just an incorrect rumor based on the teen's current pregnancy but then why did her daughter suddenly transfer last fall to an Anchorage high school away from that small town where everyone knows everything? I was completely done with this stupid story and even believed that Trig was Sarah's until I read that. Is Sarah really pregnant and how old is Trig? Not that I care...really.

Back to the issues...if you would like to see some of how Gov. Palin stands on the issues, please see ON The Issues.com for more info.

This Election is Not About Issues

2008-09-03T11:13:00.000-07:00

According to Moveon.org, even McCain's campaign manager admitted that all McCain has to rely on is attacks, saying that for them, "This election is not about issues." Well, lets just see how gullible the American people are this time... If we vote for the republican party after they have screwed us over for the last 8 years then we're saying they are right on the issues and they should keep doing the same thing, exploiting workers more than ever before and leaving the most vulnerable members of our society to "fend for themselves". McCain has great healthcare and he uses it. What does everyone else have and what kind of healthcare will you/they have in the kind of depression the Bush administration just nearly created and which we haven't seen since the 30s, bank runs and all?

More Food for Healthy Eating: Kimchi

2008-09-02T18:07:00.000-07:00

Sustainable Architecture aka Healthy Homes

2008-08-31T22:37:00.000-07:00

This is how homes should be built... Living Homes definitely fit my philosophy of life.

The ironic thing is that, while the houses in the videos are quite expensive, if this was how most homes were built then construction of homes in general would be much more affordable and more people would hopefully be able to own their own places. Not only that but everyone living inside would be healthier for the significant decrease or absence of synthetic chemicals and our healthcare costs (remember, it's all about the money) as a nation would drop significantly because people would suffer less from, among other things, various types of allergies and even cancer. Those FEMA trailers were really very concentrated (sick) examples of what we do to ourselves in real houses over a more protracted period.

Meanwhile, I'm regularly hit with a barrage of chemicals everyday in the form of paint fumes from renovation at work, second hand smoke outside my building and in town, exhaust from cars when I go for a walk, and pesticides in the grass I walk through...just to name a few. It's hard to know sometimes whether it's even safe to breathe.

* I did get the treadmill by the way. Not sure when they will be able to deliver it but I'm finally going to have a Nordictrack C2155. Now I just need some 3/4" plywood to build the table.

Question: If I breathe in more chemicals when I exercise than I do otherwise then is it healthier to go ahead and exercise anyway or stay inside (on my bum) with an air cleaner running?

Girl Power at School, but Not at the Office

2008-08-31T15:30:00.000-07:00

I know a lot of people, including myself, who could learn something from this article from the New York Times.

Of course, if people like McCain another conservatives use this as an excuse to continue to not to vote for equal pay for women then they are doing a real disservice to everyone.

Healthy Delicious

2008-08-31T14:01:00.000-07:00

We are none of us the scientist...

2008-08-31T13:17:00.000-07:00

Do it right this time (wear the seat belt, exercise, help someone in need). Don't wish to go back to the start...

You Name It, and Exercise Helps It

2008-08-30T11:37:00.000-07:00

By JANE E. BRODY
The New York Times
Published: April 29, 2008

Randi considers the Y.M.C.A. her lifeline, especially the pool. Randi weighs more than 300 pounds and has borderline diabetes, but she controls her blood sugar and keeps her bright outlook on life by swimming every day for about 45 minutes.

Randi overcame any self-consciousness about her weight for the sake of her health, and those who swim with her and share the open locker room are proud of her. If only the millions of others beset with chronic health problems recognized the inestimable value to their physical and emotional well-being of regular physical exercise.

"The single thing that comes close to a magic bullet, in terms of its strong and universal benefits, is exercise," Frank Hu, epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health, said in the Harvard Magazine.

I have written often about the protective roles of exercise. It can lower the risk of heart attack, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, dementia, osteoporosis, gallstones, diverticulitis, falls, erectile dysfunction, peripheral vascular disease and 12 kinds of cancer.

But what if you already have one of these conditions? Or an ailment like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, congestive heart failure or osteoarthritis? How can you exercise if you're always tired or in pain or have trouble breathing? Can exercise really help?

You bet it can. Marilyn Moffat, a professor of physical therapy at New York University and co-author with Carole B. Lewis of "Age-Defying Fitness" (Peachtree, 2006), conducts workshops for physical therapists around the country and abroad, demonstrating how people with chronic health problems can improve their health and quality of life by learning how to exercise safely.

Up and Moving----

"The data show that regular moderate exercise increases your ability to battle the effects of disease," Dr. Moffat said in an interview. "It has a positive effect on both physical and mental well-being. The goal is to do as much physical activity as your body lets you do, and rest when you need to rest."

In years past, doctors were afraid to let heart patients exercise. When my father had a heart attack in 1968, he was kept sedentary for six weeks. Now, heart attack patients are in bed barely half a day before they are up and moving, Dr. Moffat said.

The core of cardiac rehab is a progressive exercise program to increase the ability of the heart to pump oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood more effectively throughout the body. The outcome is better endurance, greater ability to enjoy life and decreased mortality.

The same goes for patients with congestive heart failure. "Heart failure patients as old as 91 can increase their oxygen consumption significantly," Dr. Moffat said.

Aerobic exercise lowers blood pressure in people with hypertension, and it improves peripheral circulation in people who develop cramping leg pains when they walk — a condition called intermittent claudication. The treatment for it, in fact, is to walk a little farther each day.

In people who have had transient ischemic attacks, or ministrokes, "gradually increasing exercise improves blood flow to the brain and may diminish the risk of a full-blown stroke," Dr. Moffat said. And aerobic and strength exercises have been shown to improve endurance, walking speed and the ability to perform tasks of daily living up to six years after a stroke.

As Randi knows, moderate exercise cuts the risk of developing diabetes. And for those with diabetes, exercise improves glucose tolerance — less medication is needed to control blood sugar — and reduces the risk of life-threatening complications.

Perhaps the most immediate benefits are reaped by people with joint and neuromuscular disorders. Without exercise, those at risk of osteoarthritis become crippled by stiff, deteriorated joints. But exercise that increases strength and aerobic capacity can reduce pain, depression and anxiety and improve function, balance and quality of life.

Likewise for people with rheumatoid arthritis. "The less they do, the worse things get," Dr. Moffat said. "The more their joints move, the better."

Exercise that builds gradually and protects inflamed joints can diminish pain, fatigue, morning stiffness, depression and anxiety, she said, and improve strength, walking speed and activity.

Exercise is crucial to improving function of total hip or knee replacements. But "most patients with knee replacements don't get intensive enough activity," Dr. Moffat said.

Water exercises are particularly helpful for people with multiple sclerosis, who must avoid overheating. And for those with Parkinson's, resistance training and aerobic exercise can increase their ability to function independently and improve their balance, stride length, walking speed and mood.

Resistance training, along with aerobic exercise, is especially helpful for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; it helps counter the loss of muscle mass and strength from lack of oxygen.

In the February/March issue of ACE Certified News, Natalie Digate Muth, a registered dietitian and personal trainer, emphasized the value of a good workout for people suffering from depression. Mastering a new skill increases their sense of worth, social contact improves mood, and the endorphins released during exercise improve well-being.

"Exercise is an important adjunct to pharmacological therapy, and it does not matter how severe the depression — exercise works equally well for people with moderate or severe depression," wrote Ms. Muth, who is pursuing a medical degree at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Feel-Good Hormones---

Healthy people may have difficulty appreciating the burdens faced by those with chronic ailments, Dr. Nancey Trevanian Tsai noted in the same issue of ACE Certified News. "Oftentimes, disease-ridden statements — like 'I'm a diabetic' — become barricades that keep clients from seeing themselves getting better," she said, and many feel "enslaved by their diseases and treatments."

But the feel-good hormones released through exercise can help sustain activity.

"With regular exercise, the body seeks to continue staying active," wrote Dr. Tsai, an assistant professor of neurosciences at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. She recommended an exercise program tailored to the person's current abilities, daily needs, medication schedule, side effects and response to treatment.

She urged trainers who work with people with chronic ailments to start slowly with easily achievable goals, build gradually on each accomplishment and focus on functional gains. Over time, a sense of accomplishment, better sleep, less pain and enhanced satisfaction with life can become further reasons to pursue physical activity.

"Even if exercise is tough to schedule," Dr. Moffat said, "you feel so much better, it's crazy not to do it.

Treadmill Desk Part II

2008-08-29T12:52:00.000-07:00

This is really catching on! I'm going to do it...I am. I'm ordering a treadmill and then I'm going to build a desk around it. All my colleagues say they want one too.

McCain comes a courtin'

2008-08-29T08:06:00.000-07:00

According to NPR, someone wrote that Governor Palin was the presumptive GOP vice presidential candidate this morning on Wikipedia and then this information was quickly erased. I was then sure she had to be the one because it's an effective and divisive blow against the democrats. Such drama in this race. Because now the "staunch Hillary supporters" have yet another stupid excuse to abandon their party... People who say they will vote for McCain, because they couldn't vote for Hillary, clearly don't have any respect for Hillary and what she stood for whatsoever. And it would be really sexist to vote for McCain simply because he chose Palin. What ever happened to considering the issues...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7588435.stm

Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention 2008 - Acceptance Speech

2008-08-28T11:15:00.000-07:00

Michelle Obama's Last Day of the DNC

2008-08-28T08:28:00.000-07:00

Still Watching...

2008-08-27T19:14:00.000-07:00

I may have disagreed with some of his policies but Pres. Clinton has always been an amazing speaker. "People, the world over, have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power." Powerful stuff. :-)

And I was also pleasantly surprised by how compelling Kerry's speech was. He wasn't Kucinich but he involved the audience and even did some magic to make Obama's great-uncle Payne, a WWII hero who helped liberate a Nazi death/concentration camp, appear next to Michelle Obama in the audience.

I tried to stay up to watch Biden but just didn't get enough sleep last night... :-(

Brian Schweitzer - McCain 'Has It Wrong'

2008-08-27T06:12:00.000-07:00

One commentator noted, " This guy is great. He should have been the keynote speaker instead of Warner."

Dennis Kucinich Tells It Like It Is

2008-08-26T20:07:00.000-07:00

2008 DNC: Dennis Kucinich 'Wake Up America!'

Free Ride: John McCain and the Media

2008-08-26T20:01:00.000-07:00

If I had the money, I think I might buy several boxes and give away copies to people around the country.

2008-08-26T08:37:00.000-07:00

Go watch McCain come closer than ever to teling the truth, at helenwheels' blog, Just Ain't Right.

Buchanan on McCain Foreign Policy II

2008-08-26T08:02:00.000-07:00

That the mainstream media is not eating this up is just another sure sign that there is something wrong and the only kind of fair and balanced that we will see this election season is the FOX News brand of fair and balanced...

McCain’s moral mercenary

STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER

Posted Aug 26, 2008 @ 12:03 AM

Who is Randy Scheunemann?

He is the principal foreign policy adviser to John McCain and potential successor to Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski as national security adviser to the president of the United States.

But Randy Scheunemann has another identity, another role.

He is a dual loyalist, a foreign agent whose assignment is to get America committed to spilling the blood of her sons for client regimes who have made this moral mercenary a rich man.

From January 2007 to March 2008, the McCain campaign paid Scheunemann $70,000 — pocket change compared to the $290,000 his Orion Strategies banked in those same 15 months from the Georgian regime of Mikheil Saakashvili.

What were Mikheil’s marching orders to Tbilisi’s man in Washington? Get Georgia a NATO war guarantee. Get America committed to fight Russia, if necessary, on behalf of Georgia. Scheunemann came close to succeeding.

Had he done so, U.S. soldiers and Marines from Idaho and West Virginia would be killing Russians in the Caucasus, and dying to protect Scheunemann’s client, who launched this idiotic war the night of Aug. 7. That people like Scheunemann hire themselves out to put American lives on the line for their clients is a classic corruption of American democracy.

U.S. backing for his campaign to retrieve his lost provinces is what Saakashvili paid Scheunemann to produce. But why should Americans fight Russians to force 70,000 South Ossetians back into the custody of a regime they detest? Why not let the South Ossetians decide their own future in free elections?

Not only is the folly of the Bush interventionist policy on display in the Caucasus, so, too, is its manifest incoherence.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates says we have sought for 45 years to stay out of a shooting war with Russia and we are not going to get into one now. President Bush assured us there will be no U.S. military response to the Russian move into Georgia.

That is a recognition of, and a bowing to, reality — namely, that Russia’s control of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and occupation of a strip of Georgia cannot be a casus belli for the United States. We may deplore it, but it cannot justify war with Russia.

If that be true, and it transparently is, what are McCain, Barack Obama, Bush, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel doing committing the United States and Germany to bringing Georgia into NATO? For that would commit us to war for a cause we have already conceded, by our paralysis, does not justify a war.

Not only did Scheunemann’s two-man lobbying firm receive $730,000 since 2001 to get Georgia a NATO war guarantee, he was paid by Romania and Latvia to do the same. And he succeeded.

This is the situation in which the interventionists have placed our country: committed to go to war for countries and causes that do not justify war, against a Russia that is re-emerging as a great power only to find NATO squatting on her doorstep.

Scheunemann was executive director of the “Committee for the Liberation of Iraq,” a propaganda front for Ahmad Chalabi and his pack of liars who deceived us into war. Now he is the neocon agent in place in McCain’s camp.

The neocons got their war with Iraq. They are pushing for war on Iran. And they are now baiting the Russian Bear.

Is this what McCain has on offer? Endless war? Why would McCain seek foreign policy counsel from the same discredited crowd that has all but destroyed the presidency of George Bush?
“Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence ... a free people ought to be constantly awake,” George Washington warned in his Farewell Address. Our Founding Father was warning against the Randy Scheunemanns among us, agents hired by foreign powers to deceive Americans into fighting their wars. And none dare call it treason.

Patrick Buchanan is a columnist for Creators Syndicate.

Buchanan on McCain Foreign Policy I

2008-08-26T07:51:00.000-07:00

It's not everyday that Pat Buchanan and I can find something we can agree on...

****************
August 15, 2008

Blowback from Bear Baiting

By Patrick Buchanan

Mikheil Saakashvili's decision to use the opening of the Olympic Games to cover Georgia's invasion of its breakaway province of South Ossetia must rank in stupidity with Gamal Abdel-Nasser's decision to close the Straits of Tiran to Israeli ships.

Nasser's blunder cost him the Sinai in the Six-Day War. Saakashvili's blunder probably means permanent loss of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

After shelling and attacking what he claims is his own country, killing scores of his own Ossetian citizens and sending tens of thousands fleeing into Russia, Saakashvili's army was whipped back into Georgia in 48 hours.

Vladimir Putin took the opportunity to kick the Georgian army out of Abkhazia, as well, to bomb Tbilisi and to seize Gori, birthplace of Stalin.

Reveling in his status as an intimate of George Bush, Dick Cheney and John McCain, and America's lone democratic ally in the Caucasus, Saakashvili thought he could get away with a lightning coup and present the world with a fait accompli.

Mikheil did not reckon on the rage or resolve of the Bear.

American charges of Russian aggression ring hollow. Georgia started this fight -- Russia finished it. People who start wars don't get to decide how and when they end.

Russia's response was "disproportionate" and "brutal," wailed Bush.

True. But did we not authorize Israel to bomb Lebanon for 35 days in response to a border skirmish where several Israel soldiers were killed and two captured? Was that not many times more "disproportionate"?

Russia has invaded a sovereign country, railed Bush. But did not the United States bomb Serbia for 78 days and invade to force it to surrender a province, Kosovo, to which Serbia had a far greater historic claim than Georgia had to Abkhazia or South Ossetia, both of which prefer Moscow to Tbilisi?

Is not Western hypocrisy astonishing?

When the Soviet Union broke into 15 nations, we celebrated. When Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Kosovo broke from Serbia, we rejoiced. Why, then, the indignation when two provinces, whose peoples are ethnically separate from Georgians and who fought for their independence, should succeed in breaking away?

Are secessions and the dissolution of nations laudable only when they advance the agenda of the neocons, many of who viscerally detest Russia?

That Putin took the occasion of Saakashvili's provocative and stupid stunt to administer an extra dose of punishment is undeniable. But is not Russian anger understandable? For years the West has rubbed Russia's nose in her Cold War defeat and treated her like Weimar Germany.

When Moscow pulled the Red Army out of Europe, closed its bases in Cuba, dissolved the evil empire, let the Soviet Union break up into 15 states, and sought friendship and alliance with the United States, what did we do?

American carpetbaggers colluded with Muscovite Scalawags to loot the Russian nation. Breaking a pledge to Mikhail Gorbachev, we moved our military alliance into Eastern Europe, then onto Russia's doorstep. Six Warsaw Pact nations and three former republics of the Soviet Union are now NATO members.

Bush, Cheney and McCain have pushed to bring Ukraine and Georgia into NATO. This would require the United States to go to war with Russia over Stalin's birthplace and who has sovereignty over the Crimean Peninsula and Sebastopol, traditional home of Russia's Black Sea fleet.

When did these become U.S. vital interests, justifying war with Russia?

The United States unilaterally abrogated the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty because our technology was superior, then planned to site anti-missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic to defend against Iranian missiles, though Iran has no ICBMs and no atomic bombs. A Russian counter-offer to have us together put an anti-missile system in Azerbaijan was rejected out of hand.

We built a Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline from Azerbaijan through Georgia to Turkey to cut Russia out. Then we helped dump over regimes friendly to Moscow with democratic "revolutions" in Ukraine and Georgia, and tried to repeat it in Belarus.

Americans have many fine qualities. A capacity to see ourselves as others see us is not high among them.

Imagine a world that never knew Ronald Reagan, where Europe had opted out of the Cold War after Moscow installed those SS-20 missiles east of the Elbe. And Europe had abandoned NATO, told us to go home and become subservient to Moscow.

How would we have reacted if Moscow had brought Western Europe into the Warsaw Pact, established bases in Mexico and Panama, put missile defense radars and rockets in Cuba, and joined with China to build pipelines to transfer Mexican and Venezuelan oil to Pacific ports for shipment to Asia? And cut us out? If there were Russian and Chinese advisers training Latin American armies, the way we are in the former Soviet republics, how would we react? Would we look with bemusement on such Russian behavior?

For a decade, some of us have warned about the folly of getting into Russia's space and getting into Russia's face. The chickens of democratic imperialism have now come home to roost -- in Tbilisi.

Split 'Em Up!

2008-08-25T07:34:00.000-07:00

You can buy any one of these buttons at the Obama shop. I'll bet there are several people who are wearing more than one of these buttons at once. I, myself, am going to wear this one...

I know, I know...I'm an alien. Shhhh. They'll never know.

Is Target Another Walmart?

2008-08-25T06:59:00.000-07:00

So, where should we buy our clothing? I occasionally buy from Target. They have nice stuff at nice prices and they aren't Walmart. A few years ago, I actually overheard employees saying how much they enjoyed working at Target (No fooling!), something I would never even hallucinate about Walmart workers saying. But was this an anomaly and does Target really respect the rights of its employees? Is Target really any different or do they buy all their clothes from sweatshops? Is Target different from Walmart or just smaller?

From corpwatch.org, comes the article, Target: Wal-Mart Lite, from which this quote is taken.

“The way the global garment industry is, there are so few factories that respect workers’ rights that there is no way Target gets its clothes from workplaces where workers’ rights are being respected,” said Allie Robbins, national organizer of the group United Students Against Sweatshops.

I have only just started researching this but I'll let you know what I find out about Target. I have already started learning to sew so I can make my own clothes as many of our great grandparents and maybe grandparents or even parents used to do. I can make a high quality linen skirt but haven't tried pants yet. I made the little one a cute little pink jumper with a puppy print. The question this leads to...Who is making the fabric that I buy? I simply have no interest in paying slaveholders, child kidnappers, feudal lords, or factory overseers and their bosses.

Walk While Working

2008-08-24T19:17:00.000-07:00

I switched from being a very active teacher,

who regularly ran in the hallway to the amazement of her students, to becoming a university administrator who spends her day sitting in her office in front of a computer.

I knew immediately that this wasn't going to work very well health-wise for me. The ironic thing was that because there is more flexibility in this job I can for example actually go out and speedwalk or jog at lunchtime. There is even a fitness center on campus that faculty and staff can become a member of for less than the cost of a commercial gym membership. But what I have really had my eye on for months now is Dr. James Levine's walking workstation idea. He is a medical researcher at the Mayo Clinic and has realized the benefit of incorporating moderate levels of constant activity throughout your day. People who fidget by twiddling a pen or pacing the room for example

are generally lighter in weight than those that do not. All those little extra bits of exercise spread throughout the day really add up. Dr. Levine decided to design a workplace that would allow office workers like the people on his team to exercise while remaining productive and, in fact, perhaps even increase their productivity thanks to the extra energy boost they get from the exercise. For example, he put a track around their office (yes, on the inside) so that workers could hold walking meetings. For the same reason, he put whiteboards on the walls for jotting notes. Did you know that you burn an extra 20 calories an hour just by swapping out sitting for standing?

This is the first thing that I did in my office, I raised my computer monitor (originally onto an ugly box until the office manager came in and took pity on me, giving me a real monitor stand from the closet) and my keyboard and pushed my chair to the side so I could stand (sometimes with one knee kneeling on the chair). This was usually a pretty easy thing to get used to. As long as I had had a reasonable amount of sleep then it was easy to automatically work while standing when I came to work in the morning. (Just don't sit in the first place...it'll be harder to get up once you do.) The most exciting idea however was to put a treadmill at each person's standing desk so they could walk at a very leisurely 1 mph while working at their computers. They even made a deal with Steelcase to create a single-unit treadmill computer desk.

But since this thing sells for some loony price ($4500? $3500? I've heard different numbers), most people (and there are now many of us) who want to do this have rigged their own versions of a computer desk at their treadmills with anything from cheap metal shelves and nuts and bolts to wooden boards and monitor stands. There are actually several people now who are selling desks that fit over your preexisting treadmill. Me, I am going to go buy a large lapdesk from Levenger and attach it to a really cheap treadmill like this one. I hear that the motors on treadmills don't like to be run at low speeds because they heat up too quickly without the fast moving air to cool them down but I can't afford anything pricey so I'll make due with this for now. There are even groups online for people who want to walking offices! I am so excited...If I can really rig this up then I'll lose 20 lbs without even thinking about it!

Check out James Levine talking about his awesome idea on Good Morning America...

Also, here is a very nice report on this phenomenon from NPR, Treadmill Desk Heats Up Office Jobs.

I'll be taking a class this fall during my lunch break so I won't be able to do that hour of exercise but I'll be exercising the rest of the day (plus walking 5 miles to work as I have also begun doing) if this works out. Wish me luck...and get moving!

P.S. Getting up and standing or even better moving around rather than sitting up on your bum is a good thing for kids as well. Kids are really less tired and more full of productive energy after being somewhat active all day... On the other hand, being physically active means they are spending their energies on this positive activity that will make them healthier rather than expending their energies in negative ways. This is another post for another day.

Where is my email? Where's my text message?

2008-08-23T06:55:00.001-07:00

I had my email open all day yesterday and this morning and never received the message saying Obama chose Biden as VP. And I didn't get my text message either. Don't they know how important I am to this election? :-P Did you get your message? And what do you think of Biden as Obama's running mate? I'm still digesting this one.

Edit: Okay, I finally received my email message at 10:02:45am. What gives?

Alien,

I have some important news that I want to make official.

I've chosen Joe Biden to be my running mate.

Joe and I will appear for the first time as running mates this afternoon in Springfield, Illinois -- the same place this campaign began more than 19 months ago.

I'm excited about hitting the campaign trail with Joe, but the two of us can't do this alone. We need your help to keep building this movement for change.

Please let Joe know that you're glad he's part of our team. Share your personal welcome note and we'll make sure he gets it:

http://mybarackobama.com/welcomejoe

Thanks for your support,

Barack

A High-Powered Job

2008-08-23T06:45:00.000-07:00

If you think you might like running for president, maybe you should try this job first.

Eat My Baozi!

2008-08-21T19:29:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhh, good food! I just thought of these and had to post a picture. Steaming hot vegetarian baozi (made right with not too much salt) is just delicious. For the uninitiated, jiaozi and baozi (素包子) are chinese dumplings or steamed buns with a yummy filling. I've made these a few times but this is a picture I pulled off of Flickr.

And at the blog, Riceagain, the author shares a successful recipe they found on Wikipedia for steamed buns.

Then, of course, there are also the Baozi from another planet.

What Kind of Man is McCain?

2008-08-17T15:53:00.000-07:00

The British Timesonline published the following list, on Friday, of examples of McCain's sense of humor. His jokes are, at best, less than tasteful. It was his comment to his wife, quoted at the end of this article, that I think I found to be one of the most disgusting of these and revealing of what kind of person he is. Cindy is so bleeding rich...Why doesn't she leave him and support Obama? Really, why not? Anyway, here are John's "jokes"...

1. The rape joke. During his 1986 Senate campaign, he told the following joke in front of a number of journalists: “Did you hear the one about the woman who is attacked on the street by a gorilla, beaten senseless, raped repeatedly and left to die? When she finally regains consciousness and tries to speak, her doctor leans over to hear her sigh contently and to feebly ask, 'Where is that marvelous ape?'"

2. The “Bomb Iran” song. Earlier in his presidential campaign, McCain was asked by a participant at a town hall meeting when the US “should send an air mail message to Tehran”. He replied: “Do you know that old Beach Boys song, Bomb Iran?” before proceeding to sing “Bomb bomb bomb” to the tune of the hit Barbara-Ann

3. The one about killing Iranians. In July, McCain was asked by reporters on the campaign trail about data showing a ten-fold increase in US exports to Iran during Bush’s presidency, with a particular rise in tobacco exports. “Maybe that’s a way of killing them,” he replied, chuckling awhile before adding: “I meant that as a joke.” Iran, understandably, was not so amused.

4. The Chelsea Clinton joke. At a Senate Republican fundraiser in 1998, when Chelsea was just 18, he took aim at both her appearance and that of the then attorney-general . "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly?" he asked guests. "Because her father is Janet Reno."

5. The one about waterboarding. Despite previously condemning primary rival Rudy Giuliani for comparing the race to torture, McCain made a similar reference at a press conference with Florida governor Charlie Crist in January this year. When Crist was asked by reporters whether McCain had pressured him for his endorsement, McCain, a torture victim himself, interjected: "It was just waterboarding."

6. The other ones about waterboarding. About a month later, McCain made a very similar joke reported in the New York Times. With his presidential hopes apparently fading, a number of his staff had deserted the campaign, only to return when McCain resurrected his bid with a New Hampshire victory. There was, he jibed "a short period of waterboarding to find out what they did in their absence."

7. The Fidel joke. In February amid reports of Castro’s failing health, McCain told a town hall in Indiana, "I hope he has the opportunity to meet Karl Marx very soon."

8. The Alzheimers jibe. Shortly after President Reagan had been diagnosed with the degenerative illness, McCain made the following joke at a Republican fundraiser. “ Do you know the best thing about having Alzheimer's?” he asked. “You get to hide your own Easter eggs.”

9. The IED joke. When appearing on the admittedly satirical (and liberal-leaning) programme The Daily Show earlier this year, McCain joked that he'd brought host John Stewart an improvised explosive device as a gift from Iraq. The jibe drew criticism from relatives of US soldiers, over 1,700 of whom have been killed by IEDs.

10. The one about the French. In an interview with Fox News, McCain aimed at America’s allies in Afghanistan. "You know," he began, "the French remind me a little bit of an aging actress of the 1940s who is still trying to dine out on her looks but doesn't have the face for it."

But despite his penchant for a little not-so-gentle ribbing, McCain doesn't cope very well on the receiving end. During his 1992 Senate campaign, a little inter-spousal teasing got out of control when, in front of aides and three reporters, his wife Cindy playfully twirled his hair and noted that he was thinning a little on top. His reply? "At least I don't plaster make-up on like a trollop, you c**t."

Great Fathers: Unsung Heroes

2008-08-15T13:41:00.000-07:00

Okay, I just had to respond when I accidentally came across a really offense post attacking Obama as a father. The author seemed to believe that there are no good African-American fathers and therefore Obama must be pretending to be a good father but couldn't possibly actually be one. It wasn't the attack on Obama that bothered me so much as the assumption that there are no good African-American fathers. I know many. None of these good fathers are really celebrated in popular culture and many people (like Obama and Cosby) have been understandably vocal about the number of absent African-American fathers. Maybe it's time we started talking about those that are there and doing good with their kids...

Here's my reply to that blogger:
Fortunately, no one seems to be reading your blog because it's really sad that you, like so many, are unaware of the many African-American men who have dedicated their lives to being good fathers and role models. While people like Will Smith and Forest Whittaker are celebrity examples of wonderful fathers, and yet not really celebrated for this in the media, there have been many equally excellent fathers throughout history, despite the many challenges that African-Americans have faced as families were split apart first by slavery and then by poverty and all that comes with that. Behind many successful African-American men and women are good fathers like Charles Drew himself who had four children or his father, Richard Drew(who stressed the value of education to his children, or Lorraine Hansberry's father, Carl Hansberry (active in the black community in Chicago, including in social change work.) Neither of these fathers were absent or abusive but, on the contrary, were supportive of their children and positive role models inside the home and out. I assure you that they are not alone and if they were more celebrated in popular culture then young men now would have these men to look up to, like they can now look up to Obama as a role model. If you want to attack Obama then stick to the issues, attacking his personal life is not only low but will get you nowhere. Meanwhile, I would recommend you visit the site, fatherdad.com to read about yet another good African-American father...and a current day one at that.

Why Spain Isn't On My List of Places to Visit

2008-08-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

I can't go another day without mentioning this on my blog...the Spanish have continued a long history of being unapologetically racist and both their men's and women's basketball team have taken pictures of themselves making the "slit-eyed gestures" so often used to mock people of Asian heritage. As The New York Times writes,

No one involved in the advert appears to have considered it inappropriate nor contemplated the manner in which it could be interpreted in China and elsewhere.

In fact, while some members later apologized, others members of the Spanish men's basketball team have simply stated that they thought their Chinese hosts would consider it a harmless joke or even an honor.

Meanwhile, this reminded me and many others of some of the very offensive, racist, and hateful epithets screamed by Spanish soccer fans at players during games. Clearly, they have a problem and brushing this off as just a little joke gone wrong is not going to fix anything.

Eating Happy and Healthy

2008-08-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

In the summer, everyone around me seems to be dragging out the ice cream, frozen yogurt, and other calorie-laden cold desserts. Fortunately, I'm one of those people who really doesn't crave ice cream and such to any degree. However, I do like candy and popsicles and the calories in all such food (even 100% fruit juice pops) really adds up. Some ways around this problem is making popsicles from diluted fruit juice or, if like me you really like sour stuff, then make popsicles from lemonade with extra lemon juice. According to the bottle, the organic lemon juice I purchase from Whole Foods has 0 calories so I can drink as much as I like. I used to drink a lot of lemonade but now I'm training myself to drink my water and lemon juice without sugar. I still like it. Another way to satisfy a craving for something cold and sweet is to suck on frozen fruit. Frozen cherries are a great choice. The little one (7 years old now) loves frozen blueberries. And then there are frozen strawberries, peaches, rasberries, and oodles of other choices. Check them out and enjoy the rest of your summer...I'm going to go pour a glass of cold water.

Vegetarians are Sexier

2008-08-15T06:59:00.000-07:00

"I am Alicia Silverstone and I am a Vegetarian."

No Fish and Chips for this Brit.

I've met Forest Whitaker. He's not only an amazing actor but a really nice person and a good father...

How Bush Killed Harry Potter: An Exposé

2008-08-15T04:28:00.000-07:00

Warner Bros' film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was originally scheduled to be released this November. The film was shot and edited and the studio released a couple of trailers, one a 15-second teaser trailer preceding The Dark Knight in theatres and just a few weeks ago, they released another teaser trailer, this time much more substantial and just under a minute and a half long. This second trailer depicted a movie that, many would argue, really does the book justice in a way that the first couple of Harry Potter movies (directed by Christopher Columbus) did not.
This one is no Disney movie but a very dark story of madness, murder, and magic. It is just these sorts of themes that some parents would rather their children not read about or watch in the movie theatre, particularly that last one. In fact, several fundamentalist Christians have denounced Harry Potter and even called for the banning of the popular series in libraries and schools because they "promote witchcraft" among children. Apparently, this discomfort among Bush's fundamentalist base translated contributed to a decision by the rating board in Los Angeles to give the finished 6th film a rating of R, attempting to limit the number of children who would see this film or at least censor the content of the film. In order to avoid retaining this R rating, Warner Bros is forced to return to the set, reediting what had been the final product and even refilming particular scenes. Because the studio is trying to play this off as the fault of the writer's strike (how dare they want to get paid for their work) which ended six months ago and isn't admitting to the ratings scare, we can only hope one day the original cut of this film will be released. This is one case where the director's cut of a film is of real interest.

Now, you might agree that some of the dark material of Harry Potter is of questionable value for young children or any children for that matter. I too think that Harry Potter is a very violent story that includes a great deal of murder and death that children might have difficulty dealing with. The question however is not so much whether this latest Harry Potter film deserved an R rating but whether the MPA is rating films in an equitable fashion. Many of us could give examples of films with very violent content or even sexual references and bawdy humor that received a very kind rating of PG or PG-13. So, my question is: Is it possible that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is more violent and dangerous for our children to see than that latest very violent James Bond film, Casino Royale or The Dark Knight, both of which received a PG-13 rating?

Federer stunned by Blake in singles

2008-08-14T08:14:00.000-07:00

I know, "two sports posts in one day?" But I yelped when I heard this on the radio today. JAMES BLAKE finally beat Federer! Blake is now in the running to earn an Olympic medal and Federer is left to lick his wounds before he cedes his #1 ranking to Nadal on Monday. I'm so excited for Blake. I had to search some to find a picture of Blake during or after this match. Even though many news sources covered the story, most pictures were of Federer. The one posted here is from ESPN and was preceded by a photo of Federer (and a Hooters ad). Usually the triumph of an American would be very much celebrated but...Maybe I haven't mentioned this on my blog before, however there is still a heck of a lot of racism in tennis (and golf and soccer and certain other sports). A network commentator during Wimbledon said that Venus' forehand reminded him of a favorite horse of his. Later he said that, like their mother, he wasn't sure which of the Williams sisters to root for and..."I'm not anywhere near related to them." So, what's the difference between not being related to someone and not being anywhere near related to them? If Venus' forehand reminded him of a horse, he reminded me of a used diaper.

Keep Swimming!

2008-08-14T06:20:00.000-07:00

Have you guys heard of this kid...

That's Cullen Jones, olympic swimmer. Traditionally there definitely hasn't been much diversity in swimming so it's nice to see him there and doing so well. This is also especially refreshing (swimming pun intended) because many african-american children are in the same danger that he was in when he was little. When he was 5, he didn't know how to swim and nearly drowned at a water park. The statistics reveal that minorities are three times more susceptible to drowning. Now Jones is teaching little kids how to swim. There are a number of blog posts and articles online about Jones, including from major newspapers like the New York Times.

Wifeswapping: Pants and Politics

2008-08-13T13:55:00.000-07:00

"So," you say, "What a cute photo. That must be Cindy and John McCain, right?" John McCain, yes. Cindy, no. Meet Carol, his first wife. He was married to Carol, the swimwear model, until she got too old and ugly for his taste. Don't believe me? Listen to Ross Perot: "After he came home, Carol walked with a limp. So he threw her over for a poster girl with big money from Arizona and the rest is history." Countering those who might chalk it all up to the difficulties of returning home after being a POW in Vietnam, Carol herself said in regard to the failure of their marriage and his infidelity, "I attribute it more to John turning 40 and wanting to be 25 again than I do to anything else." And John agrees, "My marriage's collapse was attributable to my own selfishness and immaturity more than it was to Vietnam." I admire the honesty. I don't admire the history of infidelity and I don't admire the mainstream media for making infidelity a huge issue for others but not when they talk about McCain. Most people I have spoken too don't even know that he was married before, not to mention that he cheated on wife #1 multiple times and then finally dumped her for the filthy rich 25 year-old Cindy.

By the way, I wondered what his first wife looked like and googling her (I've got to stop using that damn search engine of the Machine) lead me to the site Constructive Anarchy. This site is pretty humorous and reminded me of a few additional things about the lovely McCain like that he actively opposed and voted against creating a national Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Apparently, with the exception of some photos posted by the Washington Post chronicling McCain's life, there are surprisingly few pictures of Carol McCain online. The thing is though, she was a professional swimsuit/underwear model before this. A gazillion people must have pictures of her in magazines, on calendars, pin-up posters, etc., in their attics. But, even with McCain being a public figure for years now and despite the fact that this is his second try for the White House, none are online? Can we say weird?! Moreover, none of McCain's philandering past has received mention on any of the mainstream networks that I know of. I asked people about this after I read it and they said that they had no idea he had a history of infidelity, that he was still married to Carol when he was running around with Cindy, or that Cindy had a drug problem and stole drugs from a charity organization. These kinds of things are apparently not as newsworthy as Edwards' inability to keep his pants or whether Michelle Obama is proud of everything this country does or not.

I would argue that basically none of these boys can keep their pants on, so I don't really care who the latest person to have had an affair is...I just want some equitable coverage when it comes to the candidates. Even better, let's just talk about the issues and stop the character attacks, warranted or not. So Edwards was sleeping around...does that suddenly mean that the issue he has put so much energy into, that of eliminating the poverty that affects so many in this country, isn't actually an issue at all? McCain's filandering ways are also much less important to me than whether he would, as president, continue the unchecked and inhumane military actions of the Bush administration.

Every Now and Then She Speaks

2008-08-11T15:25:00.000-07:00

That's me...the every-now-and-then-online girl. Anyway, I recently came across a very interesting online magazine called Truthout. I'm sure many of you have already seen this but it was new to me so I decided to post a link here. The Web is really the only place to find real news these days. Most everything else is just blather from the corporate machine.

Why I Love the Olympics (smell the sarcasm)

2008-08-11T08:35:00.000-07:00

The Guardian published this article in July of last year and, of course, things have only gotten worst since then...Olympics blamed for forcible removal of 2m over 20 years.

If you didn't know already...

2008-07-06T20:08:00.000-07:00

I like World Cup Soccer and even Speed Skating but Tennis is definitely my Favorite Sport so let me share my enthusiasm for the moment...

Venus and Serena rock! They are outstanding tennis players and I love to see them play.

And then there was that very long very exciting (read: close) Federer/Nadal final today. Wimbledon does not disappoint!

Victoria's Big Secret is Slave Labor

2008-02-24T11:15:00.000-08:00

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/69022/

What are We Doing?!

2008-02-02T09:17:00.000-08:00

Not only are we sending young people over to murder innocent people abroad but after they have done their "duty for their country" we treat them like shit. There was a story on the network news last night about medical malpractice within the military and the inability of soldiers to sue for malpractice. There is a law barring them from doing so. The reporters had come to interview an officer who was not told that he had skin cancer and so went eight years untreated. When the reporters arrived though, he was shrunken and all but withered away, bearing no resemblance to the loyal and robust officer in his late twenties that he had been. He died just minutes after they arrived. His son will receive only 55% of his benefits because he was forced into retirement by the condition that army doctors neglected to tell him he had, though the doctor made note of the melanoma in his records. This kind of medical malpractice is only part of the negligence the armed forces are guilty of with regard to their "employees". It is also clear that they show callous disregard (or worse) when it comes to mental health issues. Senator Barbara Boxer recently send this message to Army Chief of Staff George Casey about the sharp increase recently in suicides and suicide attempts among the armed forces:

I was alarmed to read in The Washington Post that 121 soldiers committed suicide and another 2,100 soldiers attempted suicide in 2007, the latter being a six-fold increase from 2002. Though I appreciate the efforts the Army has made to improve mental health care and services for our soldiers, I fear that the strain placed on our forces by frequent and lengthy deployments is simply becoming untenable for service members and their families. These tragic suicides and attempted suicides may be a terrible consequence of that strain.
I would also like an overview of what steps the Army is taking to address the increasing trend in suicides and suicide attempts. In particular, I would like to know:

· What action is the Army taking to reduce the stigma associated with soldiers suffering from mental health issues?

· How many mental health providers are deployed in support of our soldiers, and what impact has this had on the availability of mental health providers for our soldiers and their families in the United States?

· How many soldiers who have attempted or committed suicide have been under the care of a mental health professional?

· Does the Army need additional resources from Congress to assist in curbing the increasing trend in suicides?

Unfortunately, these terrible tragedies remind us of the grave consequences of sending our men and women into harm's way. But they also remind us that we can and should be doing more. As always, I remain committed to ensuring that our military has the best possible mental health resources and services in place to care for our men and women in uniform. I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Barbara Boxer

United States Senator

Returning Soon

2008-01-21T02:36:00.000-08:00

Stay tune for the updated Alien Citizen...

New Orientalism, Feminists, and Presidential Candidates

2008-01-17T03:11:00.000-08:00

A friend and I recently got into a discussion about Persepolis, Kiterunner, and the new orientalism. Well, really there is nothing very new about new orientalism. The orientalism today is simply a continuation of a long history of orientalism that goes back literally centuries. From Professor Fatemeh Keshavarz,

"Orientalism is a way of thinking about the world and the cultures that inhabit it. It acquires global significance by defining and presenting these cultures in ways that endorse, even reinforce, the political and economic supremacy of the West. Edward Said, the thinker who coined the term Orientalism, pointed out that the Orient was almost a European invention since antiquity as a place of “romance, exotic beings, haunting memories and landscapes.” In another sense, the Orient helped Europe to define itself, or the West, as its contrasting image in terms of people, ideas, experiences, etc."

My friend thinks that Persepolis is awesome reading and great feminist literature to boot. I don't necessary completely disagree but there was something about this sudden recent interest in literature like Satrapi's Persepolis and Husseini's Kiterunner that really bothered me. Here is what I wrote to said friend.

Dear Daniel,

Persepolis does have feminist sensibilities but it really stood out to me that the success of this book, like Kiterunner and other of Khaled Housseini's works, has been largely due to a predominant orientalist view of that part of the world. If we set the same story in the united states about a girl growing up worshiping rock and roll singers with a backdrop of, say, the fundamentalist Christian conservative politics of this country, then I wonder if it would have seen the same success. So, yes she seems to give a view of the Iranian as something other than the exotic but then her picture of the oppressed woman fits right into the orientalist narrative. Case and point: Gloria Steinem's glowing praise of Persepolis. Steinem is someone who makes her own extremely reductionist assumptions about the world, positing for example that sexism somehow wins out over racism as a "most restricting force in America". I agree with the author of the blog, Reappropriate, quoted below in her response to Steinem's most recent statements on the presidential race.

"We’ve heard many argue that it’s time for an African American president, and many more argue it’s time for a female president. But, nowhere in the race vs. gender frenzy that has swept the nation has anyone challenged the very validity of the question. How can one compare racism to sexism – and if one tries, where do those of us who are disadvantaged both by our race and by our gender fit in?"

Let me know what you think...

As Beautiful, As Soothing, As Kind, As Fleeting.

2007-09-06T10:58:00.000-07:00

For a large part of my growing up, I dreamed of being an opera singer. I sang all the time, listened voraciously to classical music, watched what opera I could catch on Public Television, and tried composing my own music for the keyboard. I've tended to, recently, keep my love of the Opera under wraps...afterall, I've long since come to the realization that one does not become an opera singer without training since a wee age and afterall, I do not like all opera. The difference in quality between one opera singer and another can be so profound that to me their work sounds, at best, like two wholy different genres. But to listen to those who truly love what they do and who are not masters of the music but synonymous with it...The transformative quality of Pavarotti, Caruso, and Jose van Dam's voices have been called ethereal. However, I appreciate them more for their ability to ground me...to make me feel at peace with the earth. On a warm autumn day, I like to come back from the library, clean from top to bottom (okay, mostly just the bottom), fling open the windows so my mix and match lace white curtains billow in the breeze, put on a recording of Nessun Dorma and sit out on the front steps with a book. While we still have his recordings...I'll miss Pavarotti's presence in this shared universe of ours. He was an amazingly beautiful person, transforming the world (and not just the privileged) with his golden voice.

Why Bush should be the new Miss South Carolina

2007-09-02T11:33:00.000-07:00

I'm going to assume everyone has seen Miss Teen South Carolina attempt to answer a question about why Americans can't find their own country on a map. She gave a really really really excellent answer in my opinion. They always say to teachers, "show, don't tell." Well, she was just demonstrating to the audience how Americans think or...don't think. Americans, she informed us, are just dumb.

Anyway, here is why I think Bush should be crowned the new Miss South Carolina...

That's right. He's got just the right amount of intelligence for the job. But how does he look in a swimsuit? *shudder*

On Senator Craig

2007-09-02T10:40:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to put out there what the media isn't bothering to say: It doesn't matter whether he is gay or not. While the nightly news, newspapers, the Senator himself, and others are sounding more homophobic than ever in pursuing the question of whether he is or not, I don't give a hoot. It is completely irrelevant to whether he was propositioning people in a public bathroom or participating in any other lewd behavior in the same location. Being gay is not a federal offense, nor is it lewd and had he done the same thing in a women's bathroom to a female officer then we would not be discussing his heterosexuality, as if this was the problem.

Adult ADHD

2007-08-19T23:26:00.000-07:00

If you like me, have ADHD then you'll appreciate how much harder it is to get information about this than getting information about childhood ADHD. There is a great deal more information now than ever before, books and such, but it was nice nevertheless to find this dated video on the subject.

Posted Feb 19, 2007

ADHD in adults and other important information

FedEx Sucks

2007-08-18T11:55:00.001-07:00

This is just the second time that I've ordered something that was supposed to come via FedEx. The first time, I changed the address I wanted it delivered too shortly after placing the order and while the computer said that they had this information and it would be delivered by the end of the week to that location, the driver instead tried delivering it to the old address and then took two more days to figure out what the correct address was...the address I had given them a week before and which they had in their computers.

This second time, I was impressed that they deliver on Saturday since UPS doesn't and was happily awaiting my package at home. About 2pm and still no package so I decide to track it online. It says it was delivered to my front door not 15 minutes before (signature service not requested)! Now, there are several people here and none of us saw FedEx even drive by. I check the front door, no package. I consider asking the neighbors if they got it but going out and taking a walk up and down the street I see no package at anyone else's front door. So, I call FedEx and tell the lady who says yeah the driver said he delivered it to your address. So My 200 dollar package is AWOL but like before they say they will tell my local FedEx facility (who I was told customers I not allowed to call themselves) and they will talk to the driver and eventually, days later I should get my package. FedEx sucks.

Wise Words

2007-08-13T18:56:00.001-07:00

I was watching the inspirational speaker, Dr. Wayne Dyer, tonight. A quote from him: "It makes just about as much sense to me to have a smoking section in a restaurant as it does to have a peeing section in a swimming pool."

And from someone he quoted: "Wisdom is knowing I am nothing. Love is knowing I am everything. And in between the two, my life moves."

The Pinker the Better

2007-08-11T21:59:00.000-07:00

That last video was Pink. So is this one. An artist who sees the world with open eyes...

Dear Mr. President,

2007-08-10T22:03:00.001-07:00

TwoCrows posted this on her blog and I love it so much that I'm posting it here.

iReading

2007-08-10T21:42:00.000-07:00

I have something over 200 books in one small space...they always surround me but I like it that way. I've always dreamed of having a proper library or of living in a library, getting locked in a library, etc., etc. Anyway, these hundreds of books were more numerous in the past and I had to (painfully) pack some away because of allergies, etc. Books do unfortunately hold a great deal of dust and other allergens (incl. mold if there is enough humidity in the air) because they are made from organic material. Luckily, we live in a digital age and many of those books that I might have bought in a used bookstore, along with all the requisite nostalgia causing mustiness, I now own in electronic form. With a large enough screen and good backlighting, I have found reading text in electronic form to be quite rewarding. Recently, Sony came out with a nice reader just for this purpose. This may be a little reminiscent of those flat pads the crew used to read from on Star Trek: TNG but, even without being a fan of new technology, anything that allows me to carry around an entire library of books in my pocket is a winner with me. Note: I carry about 180 titles on my PDA and have had no difficulty reading from it, even in dimly lit environments.

2007-08-06T17:50:00.000-07:00

I can't remember if I recommended it already or not but the Korean movie, Kim Ki-duk's film "Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, and Spring", is a very good (Buddhist) tale. I think of it often. Was thinking of it while listening to an episode of Chinesepod today about monks (the movie is about a monk and his son/disciple and so is the children's story in the ChinesePod episode). I also highly recommend Chinesepod (did this already on my other blog, Yinyangwriter, last year.

Taking a Writing Break...

2007-08-06T11:21:00.000-07:00

...that is, a break to do some writing. So, I'm back to blogging here every now and then (rather than daily) and will focus my blogging energies on Yinyangwriter as a complement to the actual writing of the novel. At Yinyang, you can even track my progress on the novel with the wordmeter. Hopefully, I truly do have something to say and I'm not just wasting my time ...writer's anxiety, writer's anxiety. I don't care so much that this particular book is published/successful. I think I just need to get it out of my system so that I can finally write something more commercial. I've learned a lot about writing already that I didn't know when I started, so this is certainly a learning experience. As everyone says...the only way to become a writer is to write. I'm considering simultaneously outlining something commercial...I have some ideas when it comes to the structure (and the symbolism to use, etc.) but not the plot itself so much. Or rather I seem to be drawn to ideas that require fairly extensive research and I don't want to go down that path with the next book either. Researching rather than writing is sometimes just plain annoying.

Addicted to Colbert: An Autobiography Part II

2007-07-30T20:36:00.000-07:00

This one had me in stitches.

Addicted to Colbert: An Autobiography

2007-07-30T20:27:00.000-07:00

We're All Busy People :-)

2007-07-30T20:00:00.000-07:00

Irrelevant Nonsense

2007-07-28T10:09:00.000-07:00

I am so busy again...writing my novel and typing in another for revision and potential publication. Here's something amusing a fellow writer had on his blog. Apparently, I had the word "kill" on my blog 3 times too many and 1 "dead", thus the rating. Oooooooo...

Happy Harry Potter Day, Muggles, Witches, and Warlocks!

2007-07-20T21:44:00.000-07:00

Word of Caution: I make some very controversial and somewhat uneducated guesses about what will happen in book 7 at the end of this post. I have not read, not to mention laid eyes on, a single copy of book 7.

Well, not sure what to call today but Harry Potter is apparently more important even than one's own birthday. "That's a minor event. Harry Potter is a major event, " Little One tells me. So, we're waiting for the package to arrive...maybe by apparition, maybe by that magical bus that they send for wizards and witches in need, and maybe by UPS...but I'm hoping that the story strand about eliminating slavery was not eliminated itself but was in fact further developed and is crucial to the plot in this final volume of the series. Hermione seemed to lose interest or steam or else was working completely behind the scenes in Book 6 whereas in Book 5 her campaign was in full throttle. I say Free the House Elves and all similarly employed adult and child muggles in sweatshops around the world now or risk finding that you are complicit in something more evil than he-who-must-not-be-named!

My Prophecy (aka silly guess as to what happens):
Snape saves Harry, in an unexpected and crucial moment coming in to save the day and clearly choosing good over evil...and then Snape himself is killed (perhaps he had to sacrifice himself to save Harry) and then we all go for Kleenex. And I would hypothesize also that Snape or Voldemort is Harry's real father but this has already been debunked by Lady Rowling so I won't go there. Afterall, it's a children's book aaaand that plotline is a bit played out already since Star Wars, etc. :-) Have fun reading everyone!

Hook a Canuck: Courtesy of Michael Moore

2007-07-17T20:20:00.000-07:00

I just saw Sicko (finally)! I want to leave this country so bad. Or let us all lead mass demonstrations in the street for healthcare. Else, what's the point? A lot of the time, it seems you tell Americans they are getting screwed and they nod and go back to work. Did everyone else already visit hook-a-canuck.com? Here's the video from the website.

Ducttape Your Windows: An Atmosphere of Fear

2007-07-17T07:23:00.000-07:00

Don't Judge a Woman by Her Cover?

2007-07-16T21:23:00.000-07:00

Haha, this video made me laugh...and that's a good thing.

"We Think a Brother did This."

2007-07-16T08:09:00.000-07:00

I believe it was 60 minutes that I was watching last night where they had a story on how crime often runs in families and were making the claim that this was a genetic connection between relatives. Unfortunately, this was just one more case where the writers/producers of a story failed to work through an argument logically. Their argument is that because the children of convicted criminals often become criminals themselves, the family carries some sort of criminal DNA. Of course since many of the people we have convicted and imprisoned are african-american, this was really the old story claiming that black people are genetically criminal. Wow, how we have progressed as a society! Not. But, what is wrong with this argument? Surely, I can't disagree that there is some connection, given the statistics...afterall, I'm a mathematician. It is not, however, the statistics that I am questioning. It's the logic of the argument, the conclusions they are drawing from that data. Given the same information, it is very easy to make a completely different and not unreasonable argument about why some criminals have "criminal families." First, consider who most convicted criminals are, where they come from. Never was white-collar crime discussed in the story. We weren't apparently talking about Martha Stewart or Scooter Libby. And most prisoners in our society do come from disadvantaged, low-income communities with terrible school systems (which I have taught in). If you live in Crenshaw, CA or Camden, NJ, drug use and violence are familiar parts of your life. Okay, so here is where the crime is coming from and it didn't require any nascent criminal tendencies. When people have very little to look forward to in their lives and few positive role models in their community, it's easy to get pulled in by the bad crowd. Just go talk to any group of teenagers if you doubt that.

But then, once imprisoned, surely we cannot expect their children to be attending ivy league schools and starting fortune 500 companies or otherwise being well on the way to completing their American dream? By looking at the children or even the siblings of convicted criminals, we are immediately narrowing our focus to those people who are also living in an environment that has demonstrated itself to be conducive to criminal behavior. If your father is in prison, then you are growing up in a single-parent household and thus your mother is working her butt off to support you all the time and therefore likely not around, as much as she might like, to keep you from giving in to the temptations of the neighborhood. It's a well documented fact of psychology that people often unconsciously copy the behavior of "lost" parents, no matter how abusive. These kids are disadvantaged and abandoned because their parents are in jail. What's to stop them from following in daddy or mommy's footsteps? I think the producers of that story are focusing entirely on nature and neglecting to look at how "nuture" or environment plays a role in the opportunities that people have in life. And the truth is, it's not always a 'bruther' that did it.

Furthermore, where was the positive side of this? Knowing that relatives are more likely to commit offenses, why don't we use this to enact preventative programs...why not focus all the more on educating those children of our most lost members of society. Believe me, the children aren't lost. They are not doomed by DNA. On the contrary, they need us more than anyone.