The Bravo Blog: Rantings

Rant of the week

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:32:55 GMT

Happy Easter for those who celebrated the Christian events of the past holy weekend, to all others, happy spring as this week also marked the beginning of spring in many northern hemisphere locations. Since my last rant there have been quite a few things going on in the world, let’s start from where we left off last time.

Over the past week the largest World News story on this end of the planet was the anniversary, and subsequent social unrest at the roof of the world. While I should not go too in-depth on this topic, for obvious reasons I will cover the most interesting and contradictory aspect of the whole affair. Xinhua, the official Chinese News agency, has been working overtime in the past week to spin the events of the civil unrest into Beijing’s favor. While it is nothing new, or unique, it does bring up one really good question, one I will pose in a few moments. While my old friend, Non-Stop Nancy Pelosi, made her way to Dharamshala India, the home of the Tibetan government in exile, Xinhua stated she was aligning with the rioters eventually calling her a looter, arsonists, and killer. They could have logically gotten away with this if they had stopped here, but they had to push it into the realm of contradiction when they stated, “Finding a leverage to tarnish China, 'human rights police' like Pelosi are habitually bad tempered and ungenerous when it comes to China, refusing to check their facts and find out the truth of the case”, in its weekend edition. Now for the question that this statement begs to ask, what are the facts and truth of the case?

If China wants ‘human right police’ to be good tempered and generous with China and its actions what must they do? Allow foreign reporters access to areas of civil unrest? Allow people with grievances against governmental actions to air their grievances in an open and civil forum with free, fair, and protected free speech about their situation and complaints? Not have military or police escorts accompany foreign reporters to ‘authorized’ citizens for interviews in the police presence? Have an open and transparent accounting for events up to and including the total number of deaths, causes, people responsible, hospitals autopsies were preformed in, burial places named, employees of said places available for interviews, and access to prisons where the accused were taken until their charges are to be filed? This is the expectation of an open and democratic state and society, neither of which China is, has, or wants to be. No, China would like the whole world to believe solely and totally in its own reports, accounts, and descriptions of the events as they see fit, spun in a mostly favorable light as possible, of course, wink wink, nod nod.

China is crying foul of world opinion because it can not control world views as it does its citizen’s views and opinions. While it is not as bad here as in North Korea, it is still a restrictive and oppressive regime as evidences by its handling of the whole affair and subsequent press issue handling. At first there was a reporting blackout (for almost a week), then only 10 Han people, the ethnic majority, were killed, no soldiers using any kind of weapons involved, then it was 13 killed, again Han people brutally attacked and savagely murdered, and this time the police had only self defensive weapons. As the unrest spread into other provinces the military was involved, in the papers, and then only shots were fired to disburse the crowds, then it was live ammunition was used but only after great restraint and in self protection. Well, being a fair and open minded person I can accept this if not for one glaring issue. The Tibetan government, in exile, is claiming, and has claimed since the first day, that 99 to just over 100 Tibetans were killed. Surely some were hurt and taken to hospital, maybe even killed in legitimate self defense by security forces, if so show the files and proof. If the world is not being fair because the facts are missing, and China has closed off all access to seek and validate the truth, then the burden of proof lays on the Chinese governments, and believing the words and reports solely provided by the government, who has a vested interest in looking good, is far from enough to meet international standards. By taking such a stance China is ever more looking like they are hiding something, something big, and playing right into the very stereotype they are crying foul over. China has a credibility issue on the world stage, and there is no amount of propaganda or public relations spin that can reverse this perception; only open and fair access to the evidence will satisfy those who you have a grievance with, this is the reality of life on the global stage, welcome to prime time.

All over the National News is the recent study stating that 1 in 4 American teen girls, between 13 and 19, have at least 1 STD, sexually transmitted disease. After reading the report, which states that the most common disease is Human Papilloma Virus, HPV (the virus responsible for cervical cancer), the rest with the usual suspects of premisocus behavior, gonorrhea, syphilis, and herpes. Overall 1 in 3 African American teen girls are infected by at least one of these and 1 in 5 of both Caucasian and Latino teen girls also. What are parents doing in America now? I know what they aren’t doing, parenting. In the 1980’s when AIDS was just starting out, teen pregnancies became all the rage, so STD's and teen sex is not a new topic. Our culture of sexualization of our kids, mostly teen girls, and lack of strict and private disciplining of our children, is leading to a national epidemic. In the Navy part of every port brief included the list of off limits areas and STD rates of the general population. In Africa the AIDS rate was 90% in the 1990’s, and I can tell you this really sticks in your brain. What will the port breifs be on America by visiting sailors?

Why is it we are allowing so many teen girls to have sex? Last time I checked, having sex with girls under 18 was statutory rape, in many states it does not matter how old the male is. While we all know this does happen, how has it gotten to such a disastrous level? Dating is about learning how to tell someone you like them and work out your feelings, not about learning about sex and sexual acts first hand, that is what college is for. My first girl friend’s mother told me that we were lucky to go out on dates, her husband and her were not allowed to do more then look at each other and talk before their wedding. Now this is extreme but how did we get from the dating ideals of the 1950’s to an overall 25% STD rate we have now and have it happen so casually and with little to no public outrage? In 50 years, just over 2 generations, we have swung the pendulum from one extreme to the other. Unfortunately if parents try to discipline their kids now days it is classified as abuse and child services gets involved and we all end up like Britney Spears. For 25% of teen girls in America to have a minimum of 1 STD then we have to have a minimum of 50% of American parents of daughters who do not know where their daughters are, what they are doing, or who they are doing it with! This can not be blame shifted to the schools for lack of good sex ed classes, or the media for desensitizing us to images of teen sex and lust or sexually charges advertising seen in teen targeted media outlets, this is a parenting problem one that is damaging our future and national health. Parents, get your heads out of the sand and sit your kids down and begin parenting before it gets worse, because as it is going now, it will get much worse by staying on the same course.

All the Political News rage was Barack Obama’s race speech in response to his former reverend’s pulpit speeches on race and America, former because Jeremiah White is now retired and Obama still lists him as an influence and mentor. I watched the speech, I read the speech, it was a very good speech but… I have stated before that Barack Obama gives very high rhetoric with very little substance, cotton candy if you like. This is not to denounce any of his points, policies, or stances, quite to the contrary I believe in many of them up to a point, and that point is, they are inclusive on the highest level. Obama does not flesh out anything, just gives glazing overviews of this issue or that topic. We hear it and it makes sense, it sounds good, but we never get the plan for getting there. Life is a journey. Like any journey you need key elements to accomplish it. I have stated this time and time again, you need an origin, where we are now, a destination, where we want to be or achieve, and a plan to get there, the tools we will use to accomplish our goals. I believe in all the things Obama outlines in his speech, but I want to know how we are getting there. Are we taking a car, bus, train, plane, walking, horse, jumping in the air and letting the Earth rotate below us, how?

Race is an issue in America, sure we all know this, how are you going to fix it? Everyone, except maybe Florida voters, can tell you race problems exist and need to be fixed, what we are looking for is real leadership to fix it. Tell us the plan, don’t point to the 500 pound gorilla in the corner and tell me he is there, tell me what and how we are going to deal with him. Poverty is an issue in America, yes we all know this as well, doin’t tell us it exists and how bad it is, tell us how you intend to fix it. Education is becoming an embarrassment for our children in public schools, gosh we all knew this since the late 1970’s, how are YOU going to lead us to fixing it? Healthcare is America has been broken and caught in HMO hell since the insurance industry took it over, again we all know this and have personally been affected by it but what we really want to know if HOW CAN WE FIX IT. Get my point?

I too am a mixed race person. Yes, I too associate more with one race that makes me up but I never state I am more then what I am, a Native American with German blood. I might have issues seeing things in the same way my European ancestors did, but I do not discredit or abandon them at all. I know I am, at most, ½ Native American and I did not grow up on a reservation, talking to or with other Native Americans (until college). How can I then relate to them or their plights? Why am I saying this, because I have not heard Obama state this clearly. He states he is a black man, not a mixed man. At most he is no more then ½ African American, rightfully so as his father is Kenyan. His mother and her parents raised him in Hawaii. His story is inspiring and uplifting, but he is not a full representative of one world or the other. The point is, despite this I know how I would fix the issues we face, I would love to share my plans and convince people to back them, why isn’t Obama being as passionate and forceful with his ideas on fixing our nation? Why is he, at this stage, not outlining his platform beyond the national inclusion phase of saying things nearly everyone can agree? At least I know where Clinton stands on many issues, she has history we all can see, Obama has to over come this by telling us more. You addressed you race issue, now follow up with some meat and potatoes on the issues you outlined other then race. Fixing our racial and ethnic divides are far harder then just stating the obvious and that we need to work on them. The speech was good, but it reminded me of a magic show, look at this hand while I dazzle you with the other. I am still waiting to be sold, show me the plan.

Onto the Economy, I need to shift everything into big oil, all my investments. Gas has hit $3.26 a gallon nationally and diesel $4.06! This is only good for investors not living in the US as diesel is the major hinge for all consumer goods. Ships, trains, and trucks run off of diesel. Everything we consume arrives on our store's shelves thanks to diesel. Food, electronics, clothing, books, batteries, greeting cards, dental floss, even our mail and entire service industry runs off of diesel. When these prices go up, the items go up… this is called inflation. Supply and demand dictates the rates and values of items, fuel is special as it impacts every other one. The developing nations are hungry, making alliances we refuse or are unable to do, and therefore are competing with us for the rate commodity that is our fuel. Venezuela it turns out is the largest exporter of an oil that can only be refined as diesel, but then we are only 1 or 2 places on the planet capable of refining it because of its bad quality and high sulfur content. This means we are having to use oil originally destined for gas, jet fuel, or heating oil into diesel. Those selling oil are in a sellers market, the rest of us are just along for the ride now, and it seems we are footing the bill more then ever.

On a positive note, and I wish we had more of these to discuss, the space shuttle Endeavour is heading back to Earth soon, completing its historic number of space walks and additions onto the ISS. Soon this large lab in the sky will be done, then we get to ask the obvious question, now what? The next president needs to recapture our imaginations and keep the march into the stars going. Who knows what we can learn or find from these small steps back towards the stars, hopefully answers to our most immediate concerns, sustainable habitat. While focusing on the small and selfish is good for the short term, we will eventually need to go other places to sustain on the long term.

In a recap of last week, Michigan seems to be following Florida’s lead and abandoning a re-vote attempt. Now that the screaming, arm and leg furling, and crying has stopped maybe we can see the DNC act rationally, fairly, and stop the air of suspicion and conspiracy I have seen of late. Super-delegates and back room deals will not solve this riddle. Clinton called for the abandon of the Electoral College back in 2000 when Gore had the popular vote but not the College vote, now she is saying she is ahead in College votes therefore making her the logical choice, man how I love 180 degree policy changes. In my opinion they need to seat half the delegates, in the percentages of their electorate and let the uncommitted decide where they want to go, as well as Edwards, and let the chips fall where they may. There will be a contested convention I am sure, but the party has to plan for this and how they will resolve it, and hopefully this time they have learned from recent events and can prevent further trauma to their cause or our nations self image.

DNC Nomination mess and Do-over anxiety issues

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 06:54:40 GMT

The events leading up to and around the Florida and Michigan delegate debacle have proved just how disorganized, dysfunctional, and fractured the Democratic National Party is. Often people are amazed to learn I am a conservative. Born in San Francisco, Native American, long hair, well read and educated at a liberal college but despite all this I can not agree with a vast majority of the things I see and hear coming out of the DNC and the party faithful mouth’s.

Last summer there was speculation and talk of states challenging Iowa’s symbolic stance of kicking off the presidential campaign run by holding primaries ahead of the Feb 5, 2008 date set by the DNC by-laws and rules committee. Only the traditional and historically early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada were authorized to have primaries/caucuses before February 5^th, Michigan’s Democratic party defied the rules and pushed for and got a Jan 15^th primary, Florida’s Democratic Party did not offer strong opposition or resistance to the Republican held state legislature from holding a Jan 29 vote that the primaries would be attached to. Both states were warned in advance, both agreed, and all Democratic candidates signed pledges to not attend political rallies, air commercials, or campaign in either state, they could hold and attend fund raisers and non public appearance events. In Michigan only 4 names were on the ballot, Hillary Clinton being the only real nationally recognized one. Barak Obama ran a commercial in Florida on CNN during prime time but the ad was not targeted specifically to Florida residence.

I have read the DNC rules, article 20, section C and it clearly states the consequences for holding an early voting process. Please see the rules here, Page 24/27. How is it the Republicans were able to work out a deal, seating ½ their delegates and taking care of the issues before the election was held and the Democrats still have not fully resolved this? Leadership, or the lack thereof. Howard Dean, the DNC chairman, is leading a party after his failed presidential campaign fell apart due to money mismanagement, public meltdowns, and speculation on who was running the show and now he is telling everyone else what to do? Where there is smoke there is usually fire. Despite violating the rules, agreeing to the consequences, and holding the vote anyway Florida is again looking like a fool on the national stage. Michigan is quietly working things through and making deals to get as many delegates to count as they can despite the lopsided ticket people voted on.

Here is my problem. Florida is crying foul and disenfranchisement. You can’t have it both ways. I have read people saying they did not know the Florida vote would not count. Were you living under a rock on the moon? I live in China, where my access to information is limited at best and I knew since December! I have read people crying disenfranchisement because their votes will not count and this is America and how can this be? Simple, you have no clue what you are talking about. Primaries are not elections, they are nominations, which are run by private organizations (political parties), and your voting rites are observed under federal law for elections and elections only, thus your selection for a Democratic nominee is not governed by the federal government but by the organization who is sponsoring, running, and using the process. You can only blame your state party officials for not serving your best interests, end of story.

Putting all this aside we are left with a huge rift that threatens to fracture the Democratic party to the point of fertile ground for a third party to be born. There is talk on the bulletin boards and blogs of people stating they will vote Republican in the general election out of protest and disgust. I see this as a mediocre threat used to just get the DNC to renege on its ruling and let the spoiled brat get dessert after not eating dinner. As much animosity as the GOP has generated over the past 8 years I see it impossible enough liberals will defect to elect McCain in November, however there is a lot of in-fighting going on and getting worse within the part as well.

Due to the nearly impossible momentum needed to edge one candidate out over the other, barring a Garry Heart or Mike Dukakis type media firestorm, this is going to go down to the wire. I am talking about math. For those outside of Florida, who are not living under rocks on the moon, you know the magic number to be nominated by the DNC is 2,025. This number is MINUS Florida’s 210 and Michigan’s 156 delegates. I was unsure of this at first so I will be a little forgiving of those who did not know. Obama has the lead with 1,400, Clinton has 1,251, and Edwards is holding onto his 26. This is a 149 margin. In Michigan Clinton got 55% of the vote, 40% were uncommitted due to lack of names on the ballots and the rest got 5% combined. In Florida Clinton got 50%, Obama 33%, and Edwards 14%, if all Edwards voters went to Obama then he would have 47%, only 4 names on the ballot here. With 1 large primary in April, Pennsylvania and then 7 in May and the final 2 in June before the Convention in Denver in August there is a real likelihood this could draw out even longer. Math wise Obama just needs to keep on keeping on to take it to the wire, we all know Clinton will not concede until the fat lady has sung her final encore. For Clinton to overtake Obama she needs to win by a margin of 60% or more, consistently past Pennsylvania. With just under a 150 margin gap, even introducing FL and MI back into the mix, it really does not change the landscape enough to matter much.

Now for the hypocrisy angle. If Florida and Michigan were allowed to re-vote, it would be a travesty and mockery of our selection process. Do-over’s, and I have written about this syndrome before, are never fair or good. Looking at the numbers, if Michigan did a re-vote, Clinton is not guaranteed her 55% margin as all the states surrounding Michigan split their votes and margins were in the ranges of less then 10%. Since the January 15^th vote people have been given new information, had their views changed, modified, or altered by the events of the past 3 months. In Florida, who would Edwards supports vote for? Could Clinton wrap up the Latino vote like she did in Texas? If they were allowed to campaign people’s views would change and the outcome would be too different to predict, in both states. No, a revote is not necessary. You voted in your private organization vote process, your re-vote comes in November. Your state party officials caused your nomination votes to not count so cry to them and Howard, the screamer, Dean over your spilt milk and hanging chads. The nomination process was to narrow the field down to 2 so the rest of the nation could chose, that is what happened. If you get to revote then all early states get to revote again as well, to be fair. From the point where just Clinton and Obama were left, let all these states re-vote as well so their voices can be heard. Your state party broke the rules, knowing the consequences and went ahead anyway and this is the result. Let’s leave the magic number at 2025 not 2381. Its still an odd number, there are still plenty of states left, and hopefully the America people will quite trying to vote in a clone of the bad old days of Clinton scandals, lawsuits, economic shut downs, terrorists passes, and foreign policies that have resulted in a greater destabilized geopolitical landscape (Please remember, it takes years, usually 8 to see effects of foreign policy unfold and mature to a point where it can be measured, GW Bush only inherited a world WJ Clinton set up and grew).

This process is beginning to get so out of hand its embarrassing for conservative Americans too. Instead of fighting over who counts and who doesn’t, that was settled back in December, let’s focus on who’s policies and platforms matter. Why can’t we see Hillary’s tax returns, Obama’s foreign trade policy draft, Clinton’s tax proposal, Obama’s hope translated into foreign and domestic outlines of milestones and accomplishments to be reached in 1, 2, and 4 years time? If I were to vote for a liberal in the general election, they must impress me in leadership and sound policies I could stomach and be willing to pay for with my tax dollars. Leaders stand out in time of crisis, and so far all I see is a sea of kids fighting over who shot who first and who died first on the playground. I might have issues with McCain, but I know what his policies are, what his ideals are, and what his vision of America is. The way the GOP nomination was conducted and settled was refreshing and impressive, especially when Huckabee conceded and McCain accepted, that was something the Democrats should learn from. Stop your in-fighting and look ahead, looking behind is not a way to lead, it's a way of staying where you are and I don’t want my country to stay like it is now for the next 4 to 8 years.

Rant of the week

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:22:58 GMT

It pains me to realize my submissions have becoming more and more infrequent and sporadic since January. The monthly newsletter I used to write to friends and old co-workers has fallen off completely. While excuses are never a good reason for such failures to find time to write I do have to give a few in defense. Weekends have become complete down times for my wife and I as we are both getting very busy at work and have to log many hours of overtime (neither of us get paid for the extra time either) and spending quality time and relaxing has taken precedence over nearly all our free time. This being said I have found a few minutes to recap some important items in the news and in general.

I will start with sports, Bret Farve, whom I have written about here before, has retired. He did so after one of his best seasons in 5 years and capped of a long career with setting records in every stat a quarterback in the NFL has (including interceptions). I would like to share my insight into what I believe is the most important stat in Mr. Farve’s record setting career. Of the 17 year career, 1 with the Atlanta Falcons who drafted Brett, 16 were with the Green Bay Packers, and this is the most impressive professional accomplishment in my opinion.

Since free agency very few players will stay with one team longer then 8 years. Brett could have gotten more money someplace else if he really tried, but he stayed in Green Bay. He WAS the franchise Green Bay player and unlike Joe Montana going from the SF 49ers to the Arizona Cardinals, he stayed put until the end. Sure Brett was no where close to being a finesse QB, but football is not about finesse, its about rugged play and he exemplified this. He went out with a good season which is hard to do, and many pro athletes don’t when they should. Brett will be one of those players in years not many will remember, except for all the records he holds, but those who do will remember him fondly.

In the realm of politics McCain won the GOP nomination, received an endorsement from the President and has toned down his independent nature, a shame as this is the only way he can keep the race interesting. On the DNC side Hillary stopped the bleeding but only for a few weeks. Obama is still chugging ahead, with another state win thanks to Wyoming. Now the ever persistent problem of Michigan and Florida have reared their ugly heads. Howard Dean will have to renege on his word of those states not counting and now they will actually count and not only that, they will get a do-over! This is wrong on so many levels and the liberal media will not call them out on the blatant hypocrisy of the spectacle.

For Florida and Michigan to hold elections again it will: A) cost a lot of money and time, B) be totally unfair to the other Democratic candidates who did not get a chance to really run or campaign in these states thereby shaping the primaries, C) show how the DNC has no spine, conviction, or ability to deal with the real problem at hand… a completely fractured party that is split down the center, and lastly D) if the costs come from the campaigns, donors, etc isn’t this money tainted with prejudice and influence? How can the election be fair in these 2 states? They were told they could not contribute and now they are bending over backwards, bending rules, making things up as they go along, all to have a vote in places they said it would not count. Why can’t the other states have a run off now just between Clinton and Obama? As for this talk of a joint ticket, who will decide who is president? Howard Dean? Superdelegates? Michigan and Florida? Funny how the press is not looking at this angle.

China has been in the news over it ingredients for the blood thinner Heparin, foiled terrorist plots for the Olympics, progress in Dufar after a very public spat over the Olympics, and the whole Tibetan issues from the Dalai Lama to Bjork and now talk of the relaxing of the ‘one child policy’. As my wife and I passionately discuss, China is having mixed emotions about being on the world public stage. For the last 60 years America has been railed against on the world stage for unfair foreign policies, imperialistic alliances, double standards, this and that sort of negative issues. In America we have become used to such criticism of our country, we are still the most immigrated to country on the planet so many more people like us then hate us, even if they are unwilling to state this publicly. China has to get used to this. Each and every policy China has will become public domain and every crackpot in the world with a microphone and video camera will state their opinion on this and the Chinese can do nothing about it. People will criticize every facet of your society, human rights, finance policy, judicial system, environmental protection policies, trade, state run companies, arts and entertainment sensors, free press restrictions, and much much more will become open debate forums on the world stage and the degree of control China has over its state run media will be gone as they can not control the global media. This is inevitable so I hope China is ready for it, hosting the Olympics is not going to be a 100% positive PR campaign, it will have a dark side and this is just a taste of it.

The media has been ‘blessed’ with a number of highly profiled shootings over the past month. From the reports it seems everyone is getting shot, kids, families, young successful college girls, its all over everywhere. I say this because the press has been railing against the second amendment for decades now. Truth is there are less gun owners, legal gun owners, in the US now then almost anytime in history. Gun crime is only slightly going up in trends seeing the past 5 years gun violence at the near historic lows of the 1970’s. Perception is being shaped by the press who is showcasing tragedies of families being murdered by career criminals out of jail for murder and then committing murder on their own family in less then a month, or kids at a buss stop being shot at by gang members, or a high-school football star shot on his way home, or the two Georgia college students shot over petty cash by people who don’t value anything but money and self image. Trust me when I say this, I have done the research many time, 90% of guns used in crimes are obtained ILLEGALLY! No gun control law will prevent this statistic. Guns are bought on the black market for a fraction of the price every day, gun laws work when enforced which 95% are not, ask your DA about this. As for the shocking opening statement, I stated this for a very specific reason. In 2004, the latest Department of Justice reports available, stated of the 16,137 homicides in America just over half, 10,650 or 66%, involved firearm and yet we only hear about gang land shootings, with no followups on the important facts, or grossly celebrated cases like the 2 college students in the news this week. The liberal media is cherry picking the gun violence to scare the public into thinking we need to forfiet our second ammendment right. In 2005 the statistics are clear, of all the violent crimes in America a gun was used, or brandished only 10% of the time, 4.7 million violent crimes is more disturbing to me then 15,000 gun deaths out of 470,000 crimes involving a gun (around 3%). While letting out millions of crack offenders from jail will lessen the burden on the jail system, what will become of these people when they can’t get employment, housing, medical care, or a decent standard of living? It seems fear mongering is the what they like to use to shape the reality of the vision they think is best for us all. Lets fix the problem, create security, jobs, futures and hope in these communities, not add gun laws, purge criminals into the neighborhoods, and turn a blind eye on the facts until a pretty white college kid is shot for her ATM card and car keys.

The American people love oil companies. I have given up on outlining the sheer and utter robbery the oil companies perform each week in my country. People just shrug and say “I don’t like it but I have to pay it.” This is such a winning attitude. Sure we don’t have public transportation in place to solve the problem, we used to rule the world in public transportation until the 1950’s, because we can’t inconvenience ourselves to use anything public. I say let it continue, let gas go up to $5, $6, $7 a gallon, Americans will pay. I have started shifting all my IRA funds into big oil and why not, after 5 years of record breaking profits quarter after quarter I can get a really nice nest egg off people just sitting back and paying the man for the luxury of driving a car. Not to mention as China ramps up its middle class and they buy cars, guess what… Chinese love big gas guzzling cars too, the law of supply and demand will only multiply the current prices by large numbers! We sit back and take it with a frown but never get off our arses to try and protest it at all.

This week there was an important Islamic conference in the UK where 75% of participants voted that Islamic community was failing its people to combat extremism. I watched the 3 hour debates and vote on BBC and was impressed by the debaters, the audience questions and answers given by the keynote speakers, and mostly the outcome. The Muslim leaders there, while not mullahs, were brilliant in their positions, for and against, and I feel the community is beginning to take the right steps to get rid of the ideology of hatred that has hijacked their great religion and culture. One of the best points I heard (paraphrased): Question, How can we, as Muslims, not take great offence and act to outrages like the Danish cartoon of the Prophet. Answer, While this is a large insult and slight, one we have to educate the west about, why is it we have such fervor and distain over this injustice of prejudice and not speak out equally over the hundreds of racial and prejudice cartoons against the Jews, Americans, Europeans in our own newspapers every day? We have to equally condemn prejudice and hatred wherever it is, whether it be by our brother and sisters next door or the Jews in Jerusalem. We have to fix our own house before we can expect other to respect our words of condemnation for their acts, we have to be fair and righteous equally to all. Good advice we all need to heed, observe, and practice daily. This is such a groundbreaking event as it demonstrated the Muslim community is acknowledging a problem and clears the way for them to begin fixing it.

Why does the grass seem greener on the other side?

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 05:23:15 GMT

No matter where we turn in today’s world it seems personal satisfaction is absent. Just as the famous Rolling Stones song goes, “…I can’t go no, satisfaction” we all try and try and yet we still seem to never find our satisfaction. Why is this? There are a few iterations of this proverb, why did the chicken cross the road, to get to the other side; why did the cow jump the fence to get into the neighbors field, because the grass was greener. From celebrities melting down because they want to lead ‘normal’ lives to middle class people spending themselves into life long debt to chase a dream ideal which is unrealistic to governments trying to shape ‘perfect’ societies and even sports stars lack of satisfaction with their current state in their chosen profession and lives. What is the driving force behind this desire to be someplace else, someone else, on the other side of the fence? Is the grass really greener? If it is why are so many people who get there constantly brought back by misery and humiliation? Why can we not be satisfied by where and who we currently are?

Growing up on a farm I was constantly dealing with animals getting on the other side of the fence. Did they achieve the magical goal they were seeking, well for the mean time yes, but they are animals and the one thing most animals do not have is a sense of consequences for their actions, this requires arbitrary thought and a sense of self and others and the relationships between them all. Of all the animals on this planet we humans have one distinct attribute, lack of instincts. This has been a large debate for many generations. I will not get into it too much here but I will state that instincts, or our lack of them, is what is leading us into this seemingly insane behavior of always trying to get to the other side of the fence.

I have discussed, in some length, in the past about human nature and our basic behaviors. Humans have a total of 8 needs broken into 2 areas, physiological and psychological. The famous humanist psychologists Abraham Maslow published the original list of 5 in the late 1940’s and in the 1960’s the addition of 2 more needs was included and Maslow himself acknowledged their existence and relevance in relation to the human experience. In the 1990’s a new need was added which brings us to our current list. We have to meet the primary needs in order to ascend to the next level, you can’t skip a level. The 8 needs are, in order of importance, most to least; Physiological (air, food, shelter, sleep, etc), Safety (security, order, stability), Connection to Others (belonging, love, relationships), Esteem (self worth, status, achievement), Cognitive (knowledge, understanding, meaning), Aesthetic (beauty, balance, form), Self-Actualization (growth, self fulfillment), and finally Transcendence (helping others achieve Self-Actualization). So what does this have to do with not being satisfied with where we are and jumping the fence for greener pastures? Everything.

Our instincts are replaced by needs. Animals have instincts that drive their behaviors, we have needs. Often the behaviors I am describing are in the lower, or base, levels of needs. The first is greed. Greed is basically the selfish desire and pursuit of money, wealth, power, food, or other possessions, with the intent to deny the same goods to others. The grass on the other side of the fence is greener because there are no other cows grazing there. We, as humans, want more. More equals security. We have our basic need met so we move up to the next, safety. Our motivation is to accumulate as many valuable resources as we can so we can feel safe and secure because we no longer have a need or want for anything. Unfortunately we can see that there is never enough. Billionaires are always trying to earn more money, despite the fact they have more then enough to last the rest of their life and provide their next 2 or 3 generations sloth like existence they still pursue more wealth. True, they are seeking the final need, Transcendence, I would feel they are actually seeking some form of retribution or legal way to keep more then they are sharing the wealth. If so they would move much more cash to charities and work to elevate people well above charity balls and dinners. Build a factory, buy more medicine and doctors to distribute it, open an upscale restaurant that gives away free meals once a week to people in need. Greed is a very powerful motivator, on of the most and this is why it is also included in the list of 7 deadly sins. Money itself is not evil, like guns don’t kill people. The pursuit of money is what is evil, the obsession with it and gaining more of it, just as loaded guns are only dangerous when people touch them, and the false sense of power they give those holding them.

Next up is esteem, defined as; the regard in which one is held, usually high, this need is the one we see celebrities and athletes destroy themselves over trying to gain. We all desire to be special, to have that one thing that separates us form all others and makes people want to be us or like us. We want to jump the fence because by being in the greener pasture we are unique, special, and with worthy of envy. It is no coincidence this is close to the meaning of envy. We desire to have others envy us, which it so happens is another of the 7 deadly sins. The masses desire wealthy and celebrity, evident by our lifestyles and reactions to current affairs surrounding our society. We all want to be millionaires, live posh and lavish lifestyles, and be admired by our peers. Those who will not admit they would enjoy such a life are not being truly honest. How many janitors do you know who dreamed of being a janitor as a child, how about garbage collectors, truck drivers, accountants, etc. All modest careers very vital to society, but way out of the glamour lime light. Those who try to jump the scale, drug dealers, scam-artists, identity thieves, celebrities etc, all sacrifice safety and security to gain this envy. We all know what happens when the bill comes due to these individuals. Their demise is always just around the corner. Those who only dream of becoming famous will only achieve it by traveling down the very well worn and always fatefully wrong path.

The first two reasons for jumping our fence to get to the greener grass have been the historical reasons, today is a new age, and this means we have new reasons. The recent phenomenon of modern society something I call the shiny syndrome. Crows and ravens as well as chimpanzees are susceptible to this more then we are. If it is new, shiny, and improved, it has to be better then what we currently have and we just have to have it. While this may seem similar to the last item of esteem/envy it is different enough it deserves its own category. The modern person is only truly happy with new items. This need is tapped into and exploited by marketers so successfully, while we are aware of it, we can not resist the lure of it. New is better, from cell phones to cars to clothes and mixed drinks, we have all become slaves to fashion. We look down on people using last years gear or fashion and we all want to be the first to have the next item. Being different has become the latest phase of this craze. Personalization is sheik and we have to have customized/personalized wines, tennis shoes, cell phones, car exteriors and interiors, etc. We want to be the only cow in the pasture, and personalization is the false prophet who can get us there. The last point in my shiny syndrome is the belief that the bleeding edge is the only place to be. When I was growing up people expected the life cycle of items to last for at least a decade. Today people replace cell phones annually, computers every 2 years, cars every 3 years, televisions every 4 years, and many more items with such frequency our society is discarding technology faster then it takes to migrate into developing countries.

Satisfaction with anything is all perception. Does this new shiny thing make us happy and feel complete, well unfortunately yes but only for a short amount of time. My favorite computer TV commercial is where a guy goes to the PC store, gets a new, top of the line PC from the display and while on the way home is deflated by the billboard showing the next model PC coming out next month making his new PC obsolete. He was completely satisfied until he saw the add, and unfortunately we keep chasing the same ideal, unsuccessfully. The cow jumping the fence believes the grass is sweater, more delicious, better then the grass they left, if only to justify their choice to take the action they did to get where they were. There is always another fence. As more cows become envious we are pushed to find new greener pastures we have to get to. This vicious cycle is perpetuated by the lack of satisfaction we have in our self-esteem. We are not secure enough in our environment to accept it as sufficient enough to sustain our current level of satisfaction. Just as a dog chases its tail, we have not idea what we would do if we could capture this sense of peace and stillness from any material object. This cycle is so intoxicating we fall to its seduction without realizing what has happened. Our feelings are validated by our marketing and observations that others are doing the same, always seeking out the new, shiny, and most advanced whatever to make us feel complete, our ideals and material items now own us.

Next up for our discussion is the learning curve. Gaining knowledge is one of our original 5 needs, the last of the original 5 to be more accurate. We love to learn new things. Remember our last point in the shiny syndrome, new is better, well part of the this is that we have to learn something new. When we learn something new, a new skill for example, we feel great and we feel that we are ahead of the game now, we can do something others can’t. We are stimulus junkies, not adrenaline but stimulus junkies. New places, new things, new sights, sounds, smells, anything new has a learning curve, and when we master it we feel superior, until we get board. Sound familiar, well it is very close to the last point on the shiny syndrome above, the intoxication of something new. This is why we try new foods, restaurants, experiences. We have a need to prove we are the masters of our domains and we have what it takes to excel and succeed. Part of this is ego, the view of the self and how others view us, and part of this is self-validation. We have to prove we are the self image we have in our heads, while we can fool our friends and family it is almost impossible to fool ourselves. By learning something new we prove we still have what it takes. Jumping the fence to the greener pasture proves to ourselves, and others, that we are capable and able to do what we want.

There are 4 primary motivators in our world; need, faith, and fear/pain. While our cow is jumping fences because it is afraid of what will happen if it doesn’t, we as humans do. We allow fear to rule so much of our lives it controls nearly all aspects of it. If not fear of something happening the fear of something not happening is one of the main forces driving our modern world. We work because we are afraid of what will happen if we can’t pay our bills or feed ourselves. We have police because we fear ourselves, we have medicine because we fear death, and we have religion because we fear we are alone. We seek greener pastures because we fear we will be left behind, we fear we will miss out, we fear others will reap the benefits and we will get nothing. One of my most popular expressions is that the only constant in the universe is change. We fear stagnation, sitting still and doing the same thing again and again. Boredom is so bad we have adages suggesting we never get board, idle hands are the devils playpen. Sometimes we are afraid of who we are and we want to change for the sake of changing. I am not talking about people who lose half their body weight, that kind of change is very positive, I am talking about people shaving their heads, trying drugs, joining a gang because their current state of stagnation has scared them into doing something radically different. Another fear is that of being left behind, as suggested at the beginning of this passage. In high-school we hear our mothers ask ‘if everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you?’ and surprisingly enough we do more often then heeding her wisdom. I remember feeling I was the only person in high-school who was not drinking or smoking, so I was doing both by the time I was a junior. This sort of fear we call peer pressure and it does not go away after graduation. From the office to sibyl rivalry to the family across the street, we have to match or one up those around us because we are scared of being left behind. This may stem from an old survival need but we are in modern times and we should outgrow these ancient patterns.

Now up to bat, my favorite reason for this cow jumping over the fence thing. Actually this is closer to the chicken crossing the road analogy. We are doing all this jumping because we can. Old chickens know better then to cross the road, and old cows know the grass really isn’t any greener or sweeter on the other side of the fence. This is due to maturity. Maturity is the shedding of youthful abandon for wisdom, patience, and knowledge of how things are and work. In American we have taken maturity and tossed it out on the side of the road on our golden paved road to ruin. Don’t believe me, well ask the ancient Romans, they did the same thing and it caused the dark ages.

Everywhere you look in American society we seen an emphasis on youth based culture. I know everyone has seen the commercial where the old woman is cooking dinner, there is heavy metal music playing in the background, she taps on the ceiling with the broom, the music stops, and down walks her old husband wearing the clothes of a teenager, complete with piercing and hair style. Its bad enough we have reality TV and people in their 50’s wearing teen fashions, now we have to tell our seniors that acting like teens is the only way to conform. I know that is not the intent of the commercial however, there are worse signs that point to just this. We see stereotypical behavior all around us. From the immature escapades of a certain female singer imploding her life being front page news above world affairs to ad campaigns stating the only way to be happy is to be young and hip. In most hunter-gather societies the elders are revered for their knowledge, wisdom, and advice. Today we look to the younger and younger for inspiration and energy. That Winehouse vs Moss feud is so yesterday, now it Hanna Montana having a body double and Jamie Lynn’s parenting plans. While the world is falling into ideological hell and war we seem obsessed with these juveniles and their escapades.

Hindsight is always 20/20. Looking back at the wave of insanity known as political correctness it is clear to me that the legacy of such lunacy is the evaporation of responsibility for everyone’s lives. From the woman, who sued McDonalds for serving their coffee too hot and not taking responsibility for drinking coffee while driving her car to hardened criminals getting reduced sentences and counseling instead of the hard time they deserve. No one is responsible for their actions anymore and this is tragic because our judicial system is based on personal responsibility/culpability. This youth-based obsession in our culture is wrought with pitfalls. Don’t believe me? 32% of Americans are obese, medically beyond the weight to continue a healthy lifestyle indicative to a long life; that's 2 out of 3 adults and 19% of children according to the US CDC in Atlanta. Do we blame ourselves for eating too much? No, we blame our genes, our ancestors for passing down bad genes to us, we blame food companies for making their foods too fat and delicious for us to resist, and we blame restaurants for serving us too much food. It a social problem according to newly released research, diet books, and talking head sound bites on TV, yes its someone else’s fault and not our own. How can we not be in control of our most fundamental and basic need, food? If not us then who is playing Pavlov?

Our culture is eroding faster then northern California cliffs in this year’s rain storms. If we don’t look out the cow jumping the fence will look down on us with pity. We blame shift the responsibilities for our most basic needs right out into the rest of the world. Food, it's the people who make it and serve it, not us who pay for it and decide on eating a donut instead of an apple. Safety, bah, it's the militant cops causing fear by beating up all the kids, not the fault of the parents not committing to raising children and disciplining them and enforcing rules on every aspect of their lives. Its our hectic hyper-speed lifestyle disconnecting us from society, not us relaying on text messaging, cell phones, blackberries, email, instead of going out to meet people the old fashioned way. And all of this… well if you look at it is seems pretty childish and immature, right… r-i-g-h-t. Our culture is obsessed with immateriality. We all dress, talk, act, and respond to our environment like teenagers. We have slowly replaced old age and wisdom with youthful exuberance as our ideal for perfection. Plastic surgery, botox, ED pills, reality TV, i-Pods, anything new, shiny, cool, and so not old people. Our values have been in the toilet for a long time now, and it seems we just threw in a cherry-bomb and flushed it all down.

What values are we to learn about the cow jumping the fence and the chicken crossing the road? Remember stories like these are there to teach us a lesson, give us a small tid-bit of wisdom wrapped up in an easily understood story that small children can comprehend. Leaving a place where you are safe, secure, and know how it works for something new is not just a risk, without sound reason or purpose its disastrous. The cow is not able to analyze the grass on the other side, the chicken not able to realize the road is busy only at certain times of the day. Only immature teens would jump the fence because their lack of responsibility fogs their immature judgment to take into consideration all the obvious risks involved. What if the grass is painted green, was sprayed with pesticides or anti-fungals that are toxic to us, etc. Of course we can’t prevent ourselves from taking risks based on what-ifs, but rational and logical people will make the move when most advantageous to their self interest. Everywhere we look it seems people have lost their way. We all know something is wrong, yet we seem like we are peering into the fog when it comes to finding solutions.

The reality of the situation is that over the past 20 years we, as a society, have sat back and done nothing to slow the tide of insanity in our culture. No wonder the rest of the world mocks and is threatened by us. Only the most notorious and sensationalized top 10% of our society get reported outside our borders. People in other countries believe school shootings are a weekly occurrence and everyone in the US carries a gun, when in reality we have the least amount of gun owners in the US in our history (they just own more guns then before). We have shifted from a rural society to an urban society in 2002, with more then 50% of the population living in towns, cities, municipalities, and metropolises. Our old homespun country way of life values won’t cut it in an urban setting anymore. Instead of being serious about shifting our values we have tossed them out with our farmer knowledge as being obsolete. We have disconnected with our environment and bought into the lie that we can live without interaction with it, see global warming, whacked out environment, etc for more info.

Now I would be a typical complainer unless I offered some kind of a resolution, either you are part of the solution or part of the problem. The only way to get things done on a wide scale is to tell as many people as possible, inject passion and excitement so that others will engage, debate, discuss with their friends and family and hopefully begin to implement what makes sense to them. One person can not change the world without having a way of getting their message out to the world. I am not so arrogant to believe I am on such a mission, rather I am hoping I can reach the right person for this job. This does not mean I do not have solutions of my own, and I will share these. By telling you, I am hoping to inspire a positive reaction to begin sweeping the ocean off of our beach, with enough people helping we can regain some and hopefully a majority of the beach we lost along the way.

I believe that analogies are useful in almost every aspect of our daily lives, much like the cow over the fence. So many things in life are equal to a journey, and a journey is easy to plan but harder to implement. When planning a journey you must have 3 basic things. A starting point, which we have. A destination, which is where we ultimately as a society, where we want to be. Finally we have to map a route between the two that offers the most advantageous route in minimal time, resources, and effort to make. I have stated we have problems, and the place we are is wallowing in an immature cess pool of cultural atrophy beyond any past culture.

Our first step is to deal with the realities around us. I applaud Bill Cosby for his high profile tours in discussing the issues or the African American community in the urban areas. He is doing something about a plight he can no longer stand and is using his celebrity to spread his message. The problems he is citing are not specific to this one community, but to all of us and the same lessons apply as well. When you are in a situation it does not really matter how you got there, by then its too late, you have to accept what has happened, deal with the consequences, and go the next phase. We are ultimately responsible for our own actions and the consequences for those actions, period, end of sentence. Stop blaming your absent father on your problems with trust and commitment and move on, only people who are truly comfortable in a situation use this excuse. Britney loves the place she is in, otherwise she would make serious changes, not shaving her head, getting drunk, and sleeping with paparazzi. Suck it up, accept your situation, and face the music.

Next we have to try, try really hard not to fall back into our old patterns. It takes a mighty effort to get a ship underway. The engines have to provide so much force, transmitted via the ship’s screws, to overcome the friction and gravity that is holding the ship in its current position. The issue is, when a ship is doing so it creates a churning pool of water behind it, this pool swirls so much it creates a vacuum that actually begins to suck the ship backwards requiring more effort from the engines to keep what little progress it has sustained. The same lesson applies in our social lives as well. We become planted into our current patterns and rituals it takes massive effort to uproot ourselves and make the changes necessary. At the same time we have to keep vigilant to prevent the vacuum of our actions from sucking us back to where we started, the New Year resolution syndrome. We have to take back control, don’t listen to slick merchandising ad campaigns, decide for yourself who you are and what you like and what will make you happy, not some slick 3 piece suit who is sending his kids to ivy league colleges off the campaign he sold to some conglomerate.

Lastly we have to do the hardest part. Grow the F up and act like adults. In the 1950’s we had the best school system in the world. We had prosperity, growth, respect, and achievements that the whole world looked up to. In less then 20 years we lost all of that. Why, well, it seems the whole hippie culture inspired the themselves and each new generation of kids who did what? You guessed it, are in charge of the whole sha-bang today. We had our problems in the 1950’s but our nuclear families were the foundation of our society then and what do we have today? Families today have more steps then in front of Capital Hill. I am not saying step parents and siblings are bad, but when approached in the wrong way it can lead to disaster. The worst part is the message it leaves to our kids. Now before I get rants on how divorce helped people, it does have its place and some situations are best served by permanent separation, but on a whole when we have a divorce rate over 52% and have since the 1980’s it is beyond a case-by-case basis but an epidemic. We need to teach our children by our actions. Show them commitment, sacrifice, selflessness, charity, integrity, honesty, and character. If you are going to tell them, you have to show them, eat your own dog food. Being an adult goes beyond your age and possessions. Dress, act, speak, react, interact, and think like an adult. Our largest problem is many of us never saw this in our youth and we don’t know how to do it. Well, we have to improvise, adapt, and overcome this little snag. It is great if we can be friends with our kids, when they are in their 20’s and 30’s. Before this time we have to be their parents. They have friends to play video games with them, spend time, hang out, etc. Parents set rules, show examples, discipline, and teach the children, period, end of story. With gangs (organized and unorganized) of kids running around there is no wonder places like Milwaukee are plagued with kids skipping school to beat, rape, murder, rob, and run amuck like the monkey in Jumengi.

In conclusion, our own worst enemy is ourselves. We have posed the question, why are we not satisfied with our current lives and always trying to find another place that is more in-tune with our ideal of where we think we should be. We have identified our 8 basic needs, according to Maslow, and seen how we have lost control of them by giving others control over all but the most basic of the basic. We have seen how greed, and more accurately the pursuit of it, not just in the realm or money but material items as well have caused so many problems. We have also looked at our shifting values from old to new and from wisdom of the elders to the reliving of the care-free youth lifestyle and the shirking of responsibilities from ourselves to those around us have lead to a society of immature teens running around acting the part to a T. We have to learn how to master our impulses, shoulder the responsibilities of our actions and deeds and hold others accountable for theirs, and we have to regain our sense of family, commitment, and integrity. If a person has operable cancer you do not give them pain killers and a band aid, you operate. We need to swallow our shallow prides and become the living examples for our children. We already have filled all the negative examples, well beyond their quote and unfortunately we seem to hold these up as the ideals and pinnacle of our society. We need to cast them back into the negative light for which they belong and replace them with the seemingly boring and prudent model of old. It will not be easy, for when we try to change the effort will be matched by the desire to remain the same, only through sheer will and determination can we change, and I know we can still achieve this goal. We can’t continue to keep looking for inspiration, we have to become the inspiration and we all have the ability to do this. We must show the young calves the error of the ways and consequence of jumping the fence to find greener grass. We all can’t be mavericks or cool, but we all can happy if only we stop looking for happiness around us when it is only within us.

Holiday Seasons

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 16:26:42 GMT

This weekend I am at home alone, for Saturday. Coco went down to Guangzhou to pick up Sophia and bring her up for Christmas. We have the tree, decorated and with lights, presents under it and even candy canes. I haven't found a nativity scene yet, that can wait until next year. I still have to baby-proof most of the rooms. We were able to convert the crib into a baby bed, we got a play pen, and fortunately we still have some of her toys around.

While Christmas holds a special place in my heart, and most of my best childhood memories, I have written about it losing its shine over the years. I hope I can make the holiday as special for my daughter as it was for me. Growing up in Detroit a white Christmas was guaranteed. Here, well... snow is about as rare as a miracle. In Alabama we only had snow 3 times I can remember, once I did get some pictures of it and I even have them here in Shanghai. I have some video, but it is not the same. It is cold out, no sun for 6 days now, but no chance of snow. I have found gingerbread, but not my mom's special home made German Christmas cookies and cakes.

Last week the wife and I went to WuYi, a place about 3 to 4 hours south of Shanghai, mountainous and lots of bamboo. There is a hotel there famous for its 'hot spring', well actually its a few swimming pools that are heated. I did get some good pictures with the Nikon and the new Canon PowerShot A720IS, well Coco got many more pictures with the Canon then I did. Posting those this next week. The trip was quite something, we saw really old villages, mountain monasteries, great scenery, and even a rat in our room trying to steal the noodles from the food bar. The rat failed in that mission. I was entered into the photo contest, but the main judge's USB card reader does not read SD HC MMC cards so we will never know how I faired against the group. We did get a consolation prize of free movie tickets for next week, hopefully the movie has English subtitles.

I finally found some free software on the internet for ripping DVDs and then converting the file into AVI format that will load onto my Creative Zen Vision. After a year I finally found a free solution that works and works well. Now my flights to the US will be much more tolerable, and I can take most of my DVD collection with me. I hope to get some articles out before the end of the year, and my much neglected and now 3 months overdue newsletter out. The work load has eased just a tad, but as with most things there are other aspects of life that are stepping in to fill that space.

Signs Our Society is Eating Itself: New low in childhood crime reported

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 16:30:57 GMT

Acworth Georgia, a small southern community 30 miles (48 Km) northwest of Atlanta, population 17,000, just had the worst example reflecting our receding social values and free fall to date. In a shocking and utterly unbelievable report an 11 year old girl has accused 3 boys, one aged 8 and two 9, of kidnapping, false imprisonment, sexual assault and worst of all rape. This isn't like the other stories to hit the wires where some kids are curious and get caught playing doctor, but actual brutal, real, rape. The events took place last Thursday, November 15th, in the woods behind their two story apartment complex, was reported to the girl's parents Saturday, November 17th, and the boys were picked up by the police Sunday night, November 18th, after charges were filed with local police department. There was a doctor's exam, evidence collected, and now charges filed by the Cobb County DA for delinquent acts on all 3 boys, the arraignment was Monday, November 19th. These offenses are the most sever under the letter of the law for the ages of the boys and the maximum sentence is 5 years in juvenile hall. These are the facts of the case as reported in all the print media outlets.

Where do I even start, what do I say? We all have an internal voice that quickly fires back answers to the things we observe in our lives. Which is worse, an 11 year old girl being raped, or 3 boys under age 10 committing such a heinous act, the act itself, or the building media firestorm we all know is coming that will plaster the ugly truths of this case in places we can't but help notice and see? The first thing that comes to mind is hoping the girl was mistaken in knowing what was actually going on, but a doctor's examination appears to dispel this. The fear was real, as reports of one boy threatening the girl with a rock making the girl fear for her life. One of the boy's fathers was reported in some resources as stating that what transpired was completely consensual sex and the girl was crying rape now just to get out of trouble, he therefore just publicly admitted the act was made and that they will not contend something else transpired, at least for the time being. All the families involved live in the same apartment complex, just a few yards/meters apart, so ongoing resentment, fear, and intimidation are likely to transpire for years to come between parties and families involved.

Our children learn all their behaviors by us, society. They observe what is going on around them and mimic it. Getting into trouble helps them feel out the boundaries of socially acceptable behavior. Children are not born with knowledge of such complex social interactions as sexual behaviors. Most teenagers find this awkward until age 15 or 16, at least when I was growing up 20 years ago. We have heard reports in the health news outlets of girls maturing sexually much earlier, but age 11 is not the age where any girl is capable of understanding the act, consequences, or feelings associated with sex, much less able to say whether or not she wants to do such things with anyone. I know boys are adventurous, curious, and brash, but these events go so past that line that parental neglect on many differant levels is the only explanation I can come up with to make all this madness make sense.

The obvious culprits are the parents who are not supervising their children and knowing where they are or what they are doing or worst off, who and what they are playing, all families failed in this respect. The next are the media outlets, Grand Theft Auto 3 (a M rated graphic video game popular with boys), MTV sexually charged rap videos (considered soft core porn by some groups), cable TV premium channels, or the ever more realistic and graphic prime time shows, and we can't forget the internet that gives access of everything to anyone. Related to the above two are the friends of all 4 involved. Did these children have older friends, tweens or young teens who gain entertainment and joy at manipulating younger children to see what the reactions to their actions are, we all know this kind of thing has been going on for many generations. My bet is on our society as a whole, yes the whole enchilada. Our children hold the reflections of our society. All our selfishness and self centered values are now beginning to flow over the edge of the toilet and onto the floor. This is not an isolated case outlining this. This week we also saw reports of a girl who committed suicide over an online relathinship with a fake boy, created and maintained by a social rival and her FAMILY, turned sour and mean in response to treatment of the one girl to the other girl, both former friends. There are no laws covering what happened and the families are poised to fight the battle in civil courts.

Middle class parents have to work 2 or more jobs to afford their lifestyles and measuring sticks to validate their success to their inner images. Our morale compass is seriously broken, the canary in the cage is dead, warning signs are now the most neon bright color we can imagine. Unsupervised kids who have raised themselves off of TV, movies, and video games are running around imitating what they see without adults close by to stop them and correct them when they approach a line, so they are running over the line and placing it in areas our minds can not fully understand. Aa a parent our job scope is easy, raise and protect our kids as well as you can until they are able to stand on their own, it is the application to meet this scope that is complex and hard. We have no time, need more money, need more sucess for out kids, want to have a better and richer childhood experience then they had. All this leaves one huge gap, quality time with the kids themselves. We, as a society, don't spend enough time with our kids actually teaching them. We supervise them, feed them, taxi them from activity to activity but we no longer teach through play, discuss events kids see or hear about, help them explore their feelings and instruct them on what is right and wrong. We are so caught up in our own lives and providing a myriad of experiences for them we forget the most important part. Parents are not friends for their kids, we are the ones to tell them what to do and what not to do. We can be friends with our kids after college, up until them we have to provide guidance and dicipline until they can do so on theri own.

Despite the events leading up and surrounding it, now we have to deal with the fall out, and this is the most sticky part. We have an 11 year old victim who is scarred for her life and will have many issues coloring the rest of her life. We have 3 defendants 9 and younger who fall into such a gray area legally there may be new laws written about this case. Because all the people are under the age of 13, the youngest age someone can have adult charges brought against them in the state of Georgia, then technically the laws that we know and follow do not apply. According to the law no rape occurred, despite the physical evidence and shattered life of a little girl. How can we deal with 3 boys who not only did not fully understand the acts they were committing, the consequences revolving around them, much less how to punish them. As adults we have a specific understnading of what is right and wrong, what is legal and illegal, kids only have a vague morale compass and their understanding of right and wrong is very immature and obscure. They possible knew what they were doing was wrong, using threats to make someone do something against their will, but beyond that who knows. Kids understanding of cause and effect as well as acts and punishment are murky at best. This case needs to open the cold hard dialogue of what is going on in our society were we see somthing like this happen.

We all can agree that punishment has to be made. A serious physical act occurred and we have to send a message to the offenders, the victim, and society that this is wrong, will not be tolerated, and the consequences will be harsh enough to prevent future crimes, the whole reason we have our current judicial and punishment systems. The problems are, kids don't comprehend or understand this system, so deterrence is not a major factor. Parents can get the message, but from past examples they will not change their habits or correct their children's behaviors because of it. 5 years sounds like an adequate sentence, but for an 8 year old? In at 8, out at 13, a newly institutionalized system kid who blames his parents and resists authority for his troubled life. He will barely even remember what happened, only his colored fuzzy memories interjected with councilor and others perceptions and interpretations of what happened.

I have read some blogs that want to charge and punish the parents, others that want to hold intensive theory with everyone involved. I have no idea how to approach this. This is the problem of our unraveling social fabric. It isn't bad enough we are isolating ourselves for our fellow humans via instant messaging, text messaging, avatars, virtual worlds and games we pretend to have real relationships in, now we no longer know how to interact or deal with our fellow humans. Our social abilities are so far gone now we have kids recreating crimes and acts that people 10 years older don't consider. There is a father taking up for his son, trying to protect him yet where was he when he should have been teaching his kid the difference between right and wrong and to get adult guidance when he seeing something wrong going on.

Our society breaks down when our children are left to raise themselves. I was a latch key kid, watched cartoons before school and in the afternoon until my grandparents and mom came home. My entertainment choices were much less but, the at the same time my mom could come home, read to me, play with me a bit, and the whole family would do this or that. We had pizza night, family time on weekends, and most importantly they would let me know when I was acting inappropriately which was often. I never contemplated doing such a thing at that age, and would bet no one I know did either. At 8 and 9 girls were still icky and teased, nothing more, nothing less. Older kids were not played with because they were too busy doing other things. How then in 20 years did we get from that to this? This is a serious question this case will make us long hard look at our society, or at least should.

We have to change, we must change, or the fate of other societies will befall us as well. For a long time I have been talking about how our ways have been eating away at what was and should be in our society. How our current pop culture and fascination with instant results have lack of personal responsibility. Every facet of our society has eroded nearly to our most animalistic sense. We can't let pride or indifference stand in the way any longer. We must humble ourselves and accept the ills of our way and begin the long and hard road to fixing the situation. We have to seriously look at what we were doing when our society worked and what we are doing today and stop the insanity that is leading to these types of acts from occurring and reoccurring, which will happen once the media gets a hold of this and begins to plaster it everywhere. Desensitizing ourselves to this will be the last straw in destroying our society. If this does not wake us up and call us all into action then it is truly too late for us.

Running with blinders on

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 18:50:18 GMT

In my trolling of news sites I came upon an interesting side article about the trouble defining the middle class in the United States. While the article goes on about the Democrats creating a special committee to define and map out the middle class, and they failed stating there was no definition because it was all too subjective, the message board was all lit up on illegal immigration. Now I may have been out of the US for 2 years now but it seems things have went from bad to 'oh my God' worse. My friend Bobbi, who lives in New Mexico, has written some interesting articles about this showing how living in a border state colors your perception on the issue. I am not going to get into this debate here as it is a different topic from my intended one, but it is related.

The posting in question asked a simple question... "Where will American's be in 10 years?" and answers it with a doom and gloom outlook on jobs, unions, housing, the economy, and yes even immigration. I had to post something on there, which was not too well received by the anti-immigration crowd, but it does bring up one fascinating point to such a simple question. In stead of reinventing the wheel, so to speak, I will just repost what I originally did on the Gut Check bulletin board. Now the last 15% of my post was cut off, so I will finish what the website cut off here, because it is that important.

Ten years from now it will be 2017, almost 2018! My kid will be in junior high, I will have 20 years before retirement at 67, some idiot will be my congressman, senator, and president. That is all I can say with any degree of finality, unless I am hit by a bus or worse. Where will America be in 10 years?
Where were we 10 years ago? 1997 I was still in the Navy, doing a Med cruise working with Russian marines! The economy was still climbing like a rocket, unemployment was below 3%, getting into unemployable part of the population. Dial-up was the norm, dot coms were all the rage, internet cafes were new, the internet was small and mostly a toy, a $100,000 house was a really big and nice house, a $20,000 car was luxurious, and cell phones were just becoming practical. Global warming was just a whisper, the dollar was strong and the AFC just started winning super bowls.
Life is like the ocean, there are waves, cycles, ebbs and flows. We had doom sayers when we shifted from an agriculture society to a manufacturing society, from a manufacturing society to a commercial society, and now... we have to switch gears into being a global component of a globally tied together society. We depend on cheap manufacturing to enjoy cheap cell phones, computers, car parts, televisions, satellite TV's, MP3 players, clothes, shoes, etc. If we blame this on NAFTA and war spending we are not looking past our own noses into the mirror.
We are a spending society, we are a selfish society, we are a careless society. From out of control spending (from personal to political arenas) to out of touch communities we have lost our sense of community long ago and that is what has caused this creeping doom feeling. We can't stop the waves flowing onto our shores. We are adrift and along for the ride of this globally tied together economy so we have to learn how to surf the wave, or at least swim in it. Why cry over lost manufacturing jobs? You want to buy American made goods? Do you really? Are you willing to pay a company to employee tens of thousands of factory floor workers to work for $30 to $50 an hour to make electronics, clothing, cars, appliances when the rest of the world will pay 80% less because of Asia, Latin America, Africa. The old way is dead, all things come to a pass, we either adapt or die. The world has changed, stop whining and change with the world.
We have no clue where we, as Americans, will be in 10 years. I live and work in China, but the US is my home. My child is bi-racial, will learn at least 2 languages fluently, maybe 3, and we live comfortably on local wages in a foreign land. I could not imagine this life 10 years ago manning a gun mount off the coast of Greece. I could not imagine 90% of the medical, technological, or economic advances we have today back then. In ten years we may have robotic surgeons, nano-technology that strips plaque from our arteries and stops strokes. My life expectancy my improve from 81 to 91. My daughter may go to college and then have a career on a moon base helping people explore Mars in 20 years! The terrorists may get a nuc and vaporize Washington DC and our capital is Los Angeles. The UN might take over the world and we all pay global income taxes. The IRS may be extinct. Point is who knows for any degree of confidence what will happen in 5, 10, 20, 25 years time?
Weathermen are right only 30% of the time on average and we don't call them savants or wizards. All is not doom and gloom because the future has not happened yet, it is still too far off, it is not set. We can alter the course of our direction, while we are bobbing up and down in the ocean we can begin to swim in one direction or the other. Change is the only constant in the universe, not doing anything will yield the results outlined in the beginning of this thread. So what if the Mexicans invade the US? Let them be garbage men, work at McDonald's, wash cars, mow lawns. Let them spend money in Wal-Mart buying cheap Chinese made goods. Let them do this and let us do other things we do not care to do. Janitors, bus boys, hotel maids, these are all jobs we as average Americans will look down on and not take seriously. They are trying to better their lives in a land of opportunity worth the risk of crossing the border and living in fear for. Its all a sense of perspective. It is up to us as Americans to better ourselves. Work hard to gain the skills necessary to get into a better career, notice I did not say job. Let the immigrants have our minimum wage jobs and buy the cheap goods shipped in on container ships. Foster and grow careers that allow for opportunities beyond 10 years.
Being Native American I am a survivor. I am the one of the children of a long line of people who survived from the last ice age through the turmoil of populating the Great Plains of America right up through the colonization and creation of the United States. From trespassing tribes relocated into the Indian Territories, my ancestral hunting grounds, to US Cavalry punitive raids, to relocation, to starvation and disease and termination policies, I was the end product. My people had a new world and way of life trust upon them and had to adapt or die. My grandparents chose to ride the wave and swim lateral to the currents. If they had fought the current I would not be here, my daughter would not be here. Every generation has to deal with a paradigm shift, that is what creates a generation gap. To survive in 10 years you have to catch a wave and do your best to stay on top of it and not get caught under it. We have no clue what is around the corner or how we will turn out because of it in 10 years time. Chances are we will be better off, on a high wave, and looking back and laughing at some of the silliness of the past decade.

So that is it. My complete answer to the simple question. Granted I did not follow the status quo and go anti-immigrant and doom and gloom, but instead stated the obvious... there is no crystal ball and while today has context for tomorrow, it does not predict 10 years from now with any degree of accuracy. This kind of question is one started by the late great Ronald Regan. "Are you better off then you were 4 years ago?" meaning that the last 4 years predicts the next 4 years of a presidency. To this interpretation it is true, people do not change their policies however, the events of the times shape the policies.

The future is impossible to predict. What seems common sense today was inconceivable just a few years ago. All we have to remember is that things go up and things go down. Things always change, those who change with it make out ok, those who refuse to get left behind. This is why we have problems in America and we see doom and gloom everywhere. Change is constantly happening around us yet we are so stubborn in our nostalgia for the past we refuse to go along with it. We are on the top of the most prosperous time in world history, yet we fear it will all fall apart because of same things our parents and grand parents feared. For immigration, look at the Irish and Polish, did they ruin America in the 1800's? What about the Eastern Europeans of the 1900's? We have stricter and more comprehensive immigration then any generation before us, yet we still harbor the same fears.

Our middle class lives better then the rich upper class in most countries! 2 or more cars, 3 or more TV's, 2 or more computers, land with a house, steady income, access to health care, freedoms many die trying to emulate. We talk of it all falling apart with no foundation for such prophesy. Sure the economy is weaker, its fluctuating. We have spent our way into a recession trying to 'keep up with the Jonse's' Our companies are shinning examples of efficiency (that is why they are being gobbled up by foreign investors). So what if the US dollar is less then the Canadian dollar for the first time in 30 years, gold is $800 and ounce, families making $100k+ a year are living paycheck to paycheck? We are still the largest nation of investors, have the highest standard of living, and our dept problems are mostly our own, due to greed and competition with some silly ideal. We have, do, and are capable of doing more then anyone else on the planet yet we complain about it, why? Because we are afraid of changing. Sticking to the old ways is running through the woods with blinders on. We are limiting our vision and therefore our opportunities. We are so scared of the future we just might miss it when it comes by. 10 years is a long time away, its time to open our eyes to new possibilities and catch the next wave of prosperity.

And the Hat Trick over Turkey

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 10:38:34 GMT

While checking stocks and the market I noticed oil is spiking now because of tentions with Turkey and the possible violance in now stable Northern Iraq. Thank you Nancy Pelosi, your principles have not only hurt our image, our military, our alleys in the region and one of the few Muslium alleys we have, you are now causing oil prices to go up at the same time refineries are about to switch to winter blends making gas prices go up which will impact consumers in not only their prices at the pump but also increasing pressures on shippers, farmers, airliners, plastic factory suppliers, everyone where the price of crude is crucial in our day to day lives. The ripples of these actions are now hurting the middle class and lower class Americans much more then before. While Turkey should be scolded over its past deeds a century ago and no time since 2002 has seemed the right time, why is now... this paticular instant so special? I believe I know the reasons and I have made them know all this week.

The politics in-fighting in this country is getting to be too much. When the battles begin to hurt the common man more then help the overall interest of the nation then it is time to stop the madness and correct the polorized mockery of our former political system. A nation lead by a divided government is not lead as much as it is paralized by the petty battles and power struggles of those who are fighting only for them selves and not the betterment of the nation or the world. We need inspiration, we need togetherness, we need healing, we need a leader who is commanding and uniting. We need mature responsible adults in our government, those with vision and the guts to take us as a nation to that vision. When will the insanity stop. When will we declair ourselves Americans first, leaders second, and party members last? Why does the public keep acting in the same predictable fasion of electing immature lyers again and again and expect a different outcome each time?