I’m Well-Rounded!

Geeze… I got up this morning, checked my e-mail and bathed as is my usual routine. I grabbed a pair of blue jeans fresh out of the dryer. I got ’em about halfway up and realized that there simply was no way I was going to fit into this pair. Chagrined, I trotted of to the bedroom to grab another pair. After a few minutes of wheezing and wiggling (which highly amused my cat) I admitted defeat. Looking at the label, I realized that this particular pair of britches happened to be several years old. Hmmm…

I reached for my “fat pants” – the pair my wife bought me by accident that’s a size or two too big. I scrambled around and found my belt (under the bed) and put the jeans on. They fit perfectly. Uh-oh. I shrugged into my favorite T-shirt – it barely covered my belly. Hmmm… I put on my denim work-shirt. It, too, seemed to be riding rather high. No belt for me today.

How did I outgrow ALL my clothes overnight? Can that happen? Sheesh! I’m gonna go on a soup diet or something… Even my boots feel tight.

A Little-Known Fact…

Due to an odd combination of circumstances, it seems that 82-year-old republican Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska (famed for being named after the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport) is third in line to the presidency now. So, if United States President George Walker Bush and Vice President Richard Bruce “Dick” Cheney were both incapacitated, Mr. Stevens would be President.

This scares me. Though a decorated World War II veteran, Mr. Stevens has done several questionable things in the Senate as of late.

He and Alaska Congressman Don Young managed to get several hundred million dollars earmarked to build two bridges in Alaska (one of which was to be named “Don Young Way”). One of the bridges in question would link an island to the mainland – an island with a population of less than 50 people. The other bridge would cross a bay, making access to a little-used airport more convenient. The consensus is that these bridges are NOT worth the hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars they’d cost. When asked if he’d be willing to use the money to help with hurricane relief instead, Mr. Stevens actually barked “NO!” and threatened to quit the Senate “if the Senate decides to discriminate against our state…” As I’ve mentioned before, Alaska receives $1.89 in government money for every $1 in taxes they pay. Discrimination? Hmmm… Mr. Stevens has since seen the money for the bridges get removed from that particular bill, though, from what I understand, an equal amount of money is going to Alaska under a different name. Seems that Mr. Stevens is very good at getting money for Alaska (being, until recently, the head of the appropriations committee), unfortunately it’s at the detriment of the nation as a whole. I wonder how long Alaska would survive as an independent nation if the United States went broke…?

The next questionable thing Mr. Stevens did was to rudely forbid the Senate from swearing oil executives to tell the truth during some hearings. So of course people now believe the oil executives did indeed lie about certain points of their testimony. Now some members of Senate wants to recall the executives and have the hearings all over again, at taxpayer expense. source

Mr. Stevens is now involved in chairing Senate hearings regarding indecency and violence on cable television. While I certainly understand why people are concerned about such issues (there’s precious little on television these days that I don’t find offensive, to be honest) I do NOT want people of Mr. Stevens’ ilk mandating what we can and cannot see on television. While I do think stricter guidelines may be in order, I don’t trust Mr. Stevens to be in charge of such things. Why is Mr. Stevens interested in this, anyway? It could be that he has been lampooned mercilessly by The Daily Show (on the Comedy Channel) for months now. (As a side note – if you’ve not seen The Daily Show, check it out. It’s the most intelligent show on television these days. And it’s unfortunately on one of the worst channels, in my opinion.)

All in all, I encourage everyone to do a little research on Mr. Ted Stevens. In my opinion he’s at best dangerously misguided, and at worst a threat to our nation.

Pet Peeves Number 473, 474 & 475

Sioux City has a law that says a person will be fined if their sidewalk isn’t shoveled within ten hours of the end of a snowfall. Fine – I have no problem with that. The law is there so that the mailman (or in our case the mailma’am) will be able to do their appointed rounds without hassle. Fine – I have no problem with that. But if I have to, by law, shovel my sidewalk for the mailman, shouldn’t the mailman, by law, have to walk on my sidewalk? Why does ours always tromp through the middle of our yard, leaving an unsightly path through the snow? Dagmar and I aren’t the kind of people who go tromping through other people’s yards; in fact, we both feel it’s common courtesy to stay on the sidewalk or path or walkway until invited otherwise. It’s not our property, you see. We have our own house, and our own yard to walk in if we want. That’s our property…

I feel it’s an invasion of my privacy every time I see those big footsteps through the snow. Someone was walking on MY yard. I paid good money for that yard. It’s not a very big yard, but it’s the only yard I have, and I like it.

Last winter I wrote four or five e-mails to the United States Postal Service (USPS) trying to get them to tell our local guy to quit walking through my yard. I left notes in my mailbox saying, “Thank you for using the sidewalk instead of walking through my yard.” Nothing worked. Eventually, last February or March the daily footprints ceased. I gloated a little… “I guess my letters to the USPS have finally worked,” I said. My wife asked what I was burbling about, so I explained my dilemma, and that I’d written to the USPS… “You’re going to make de nice mail guy valk all de vay around in de cold? Dat’s not nice…” Then I felt guitly. I felt guilty all spring, and all summer. I felt guilty about it all fall. Then when it snowed, there were the footsteps again, and I STILL don’t like them.

I don’t like footsteps through my yard, and I don’t like my neighbors parking in my driveway. Call my silly, but I think they should park in their own driveway. They have one, you know, they just haven’t shoveled it yet. Not once in the past five winters has anyone shoveled that driveway. Yet the neighbors persist in parking in MY driveway, and have even cursed at Dagmar when she asked them to move their van in a rainstorm so Dagmar could park in our garage.

I don’t like footsteps through my yard, I don’t like my neighbors parking in my driveway, and I don’t like eighteen-year-old clerks I’ve never met before calling me by my first name. When I was young, almost everyone I met had one of two first names – “Mister” and “Missus.” Oddly enough, most people older than I still have those two first names, as far as I’m concerned. (Friends and relatives excepted.) I always kind of expected to be called “Mr. Radloff” at least once or twice by the time I got to this age. We never said, “yeah sure,” it was always “yes sir.”

Guess I’m getting old. Oh well.

Double-Think

Ever had a decision to make and waffled back and forth so long that you started feeling silly? That happens to me a lot… But I’ve been trying to make a certain decision for nigh on two weeks now, and I’m just now coming to the end stages of my internal struggle. I have completely and utterly made my mind up (for the third time). Now all I have to do is ask my vunderful Viennese vife what her opinion is… I shall be certain to post my decision here once it’s finalized. Again.

Things to Think About…

It’s been five years. Why hasn’t our government found Osama bin Laden yet?

The Bush administration has spent billions of dollars on national security. Why, then, aren’t we secure? The 9/11 Commission has recently (in the past few weeks) given our government a failing grade on this sort of thing. (As if we needed to be told, after watching our government’s ineffectiveness during Katrina.)

Why is Haliburton still making money off the Iraq war?

Why is our vice-president still advocating torture? The United States of America is NOT supposed to be the first to abandon the Geneva Conventions. We are NOT that sort of nation.

Why are our children still being left behind? (I read in Readers’ Digest this month that the United States is ranked 24th out of 28 nations in math. In science our 15-year-olds are tied with Latvia at number 24. Wonderful – Latvia has an education system as good as ours. We used to be able to be proud of our educational system.

Why do we have secret prisons in Europe? What are we hiding from ourselves?

Why are there still “detainees” at Guantanamo Bay? Why haven’t they been processed yet? Why are we holding them in Cuba? Boy, I’d hate it if a bunch of, say, brainy Latvian soldiers invaded Iowa and took me off to a prison camp in Cuba and left me there for five years. Thank God we have the Geneva Conventions, and common decency. Oh, wait… (I know, I know. The people being held at Guantanamo Bay are accused of nasty crimes and terrorism. I have no problem picking them up and detaining them. But for FIVE YEARS? In Cuba? That’s not good, folks. We’re supposed to be Christians.)

Does anyone remember back in 2004 when United States President George Walker Bush was running for re-election? Remember all those rallies he had, with cheering people waving flags? Did you know that if the Bush people thought you may disagree with Mr. Bush, they banned you from attending the public meeting. Why haven’t we heard more about that? There are lawsuits pending…

Remember Mr. Rumsfeld? Whatever happened to him. He’s being awfully quiet. Someone had better go see what he’s doing…

What happened to Tom DeLay, former republican bigwig? Last I heard he was in Texas… He was going to go to trial for conspiracy and money laundering, then he got the judge removed because the judge had contributed a couple hundred dollars to liberal causes and got a hand-picked conservative judge on the trial. Mr. DeLay is still going to trial. United States Vice President Richard Bruce “Dick” Cheney heard about this and promptly went to Texas and raised a bunch of money for Mr. DeLay’s defense. (I don’t know why Mr. Cheney had to get involved. Mr. DeLay probably could have tapped into his own funds. Or possibly had his friends help out. After all, Enron donated $28,000 to Mr. DeLay earlier in his career, and has given “DeLay-friendly” causes $133,000. What could be more DeLay-friendly than keeping him out of jail? source)

When did the government throw free speech out the window? Did you know that both the Bush administration and the armed forces have paid journalists and publications to write stories that are good for their cause? That’s fine and dandy, IF you make sure everyone knows it’s advertising. If you write advertising and let people think it’s news, you’re a fink in my opinion.

It’s Going Around, I Tell You…

So, last Tuesday I started having a fever. I gamely went to work Wednesday, and to rehearsal Wednesday night. I did stay home sick from work last Thursday, though. So did my beloved Viennese bride Dagmar. She’d gone to see the nice doctor lady, who told Dagmar that she had a sinus infection and a bronchial infection, and that the bronchial infection triggered an asthma attack. “But I don’t have asthma,” said Dagmar. “You do now,” said the doctor. “Here, have an inhaler…” So Dagmar came home with loads of antibiotics and two different inhalers. She took her pills, huffed her inhaler and went to bed, only to have an allergic reaction to the inhaler.

Friday, both of us went to work. After work, I loaded up my basses in the car and off we went to the Chesterfield Friday Afternoon Social Club, where my happy band was playing. On our way there, the doctor called Dagmar. “I need you to come in again,” said Mrs. Doctor Lady. So Dagmar dropped me off in parking lot of the club and made her way across town to the doctor’s office.

About the time I had my amp, speakers and guitars all set up in a corner, Dagmar called. “I haf de influenza type ‘A’,” she wailed. “Now I haf to take MORE antibiotics…”

The gig went well last night, even though our keyboardist had prior engagements and couldn’t make it, and both our guitarists were feeling ill. But I was happy to get home again.

Today I was going to go in to work to make up the lost day last week. However, it’s now 6:26 p.m., and I’ve probably been awake for less than two hours all day. I just can’t keep awake… My chest is feeling tight, I’m coughing more than I have since I quit smoking four-plus months ago, my muscles hurt… But I don’t particularly fill ill, oddly enough. But my wife is taking something like two-and-a-half pounds of antibiotics a day. We’re lucky the cat knows how to cook…

I feel completely and totally worthless. I needed to be at work today. I certainly hope tomorrow’s better! If I can put in a good eight or ten hours at work I should be caught up, for the most part. (Thankfully the Packers are having a lousy season, so I know I won’t miss much as far as football goes. I mean, really… They lost to the Vikings, for gosh sakes.)

Winter, With a vengeance

Well, a few days ago, winter struck. There was no sneaking around this time. One week I’m riding my motorcycle, the next I’m shoveling snow. The last few days we’ve got quite a bit of snow, and a considerable amount of wind to contend with, too. Last night, though, was one of those pretty snows – big fluffy flakes falling straight down. We usually get the little itty-bitty stinging flakes that hit your face at thirty miles per hour… I thought big fluffly flakes only existed in the movies.

Decisions to Make

Last week I was approached by another Sioux City band who needs a bassist. “We know you already play with the Smokin’ Clams,” they said, “but do you think you’d be interested in playing with us when the Clams aren’t playing?” That’s a no-brainer… Of course I’d like to play with that particular band; they’re one of the best in Sioux City, and they’ve long been my favorite band to watch myself. The problem is simple – would my schedule with the Clams allow me to be in two bands? Hmmm… (Quitting the Clams is, was, and never shall be an option – they’ve earned my trust and faith. The only way they’re getting rid of me is to vote me off the island.) The Clams haven’t played in quite a while, and there’s nothing much on the schedule, and my billfold is nearly empty. Gosh, it’d be great to get out and play some more!

Off to the Clams rehearsal I go last night. I’d e-mailed everyone in the band already and told them what I was thinking, so it was no surprise to them when I said, “Hey, by the way, what’s our schedule like? How often do we want to play? Everyone seems to be awfully busy with other things…” Turns out that almost everyone else in the band was wanting to play more often, too. So the Clams schedule is expanding rapidly, which makes me happy.

It’s unfortunate that I can’t play with the other band, as they’re great people and play great music, but it just wouldn’t be fair to join a second band only to tell them I could only play once a month. So tonight I get to call them and politely decline.

I feel very blessed and humbled to be in one of the most popular bands in the area, and have another top-notch band show interest in me! That’s quite a compliment, and I’m humbled.

Sick Day

We went out for Dagmar’s birthday a few days ago, and I came home with a 100+ degree temperature and a chill I haven’t been able to shake. (So if my writing today is more incoherent than usual you can blame it on my fever…) “You’re not going to get any better unless you stay home and sleep,” said Dagmar this morning. “Your head is too hot and you keep shivering.” So I’ve been in bed all morning, and will shortly be back snoozing again. It sucks to take a sick day (unpaid of course, my bosses don’t believe in paying sick days) when you’re really sick.

Sadly, I have yet another six inches of snow to deal with when I get out and about.

So far it’s been a great Thanksgiving weekend, though it started out pretty lousy.

Last Wednesday I awoke in the usual manner. Consciousness slowly ebbed through my body as I gradually became aware of my surroundings… I was warm and happy – snuggled and cuddled in a warm comfy soft bed with my warm comfy soft wife and my warm comfy soft kitty-cat. I lay there for a few moments, savoring the peace. Then I remembered that I had to go to work that day.

Once the echoes of the daily anguished “I-have-to-go-to-work-again” screaming and crying and wailing and gnashing of teeth (some of which were mine) died down, I was calm enough to take a shower. Off to work I went, whimpering slightly. By the time I’d walked halfway to work, the tic in my left eye had subsided… All I had to do was put up with one more day staring vacantly at a computer screen and then a nice four-day holiday!

As I came around the corner and made my way through the company rubble-pit they call a parking lot I saw a rather largish dog (I think it was a black lab) wandering down the middle of West 7th Street towards Record Printing. The poor pooch was weaving a little. He reminded me of some of my friends at closing time, especially when the doggie paused to pee on my co-worker’s truck tire.

“Hey,” I said to my co-worker as I punched the dehumanizingly corporate time clock. “A dog just peed on your truck.” He poked his head out the door to look.

“Oh,” said my co-worker. “Well, that’s one dog that won’t be peeing on my truck any more. Somebody just hit him.”

We held a short conference on what to do when you see a dog get hit by a car. I asked the secretary to call someone. “Who do I call?” she asked. “It’s a bit late to call the Humane Society…” We went out to see if the dog was still there. He was. A man in a SUV (I think it was a Ford Valdez) was on his cell phone, calling the authorities.

As I made my way to my desk I pondered on the events of the morning. I woke up, showered, and saw a doggie die. Not an auspicious beginning. Throughout the course of the day, I had two conference calls with unsatisfied customers (who were none too polite), dealt with a recurring computer glitch (someone designed a flyer on a PC and wanted me to alter it on my Macintosh – that always, always leads to problems), and had a laser printer go whacky on me. The good part of the day, I guess, is that the upset customer was actually rather happy with what I’d designed – they were upset about something a different department was supposed to have handled. And my boss knew it.

So, by the time I got home Wednesday afternoon I found myself in a somewhat pensive mood, if not downright depressed. But the thought of a four-day weekend made me happy!

About six o’clock Wednesday night we made our way to our friends’ new night club, The Chesterfield Friday Night Social Club. Rick and Brent did a fantastic job remodeling the existing club in that location! Being a drummer in the Smokin’ Clams, Rick knew exactly how to design the stage. It’s a work of art! The speakers are all hidden, the majority of all the cords are hidden, the stage is the perfect size, it’s visible from almost everywhere in the club, and all the equipment is top-notch. We had a VERY good time there, watching Wavelength play (see picture to the right – you can click on it to see a larger version). Good band, good people! Dagmar and I were there talking with friends and watching the band until nearly two in the morning. We’re hoping to go back to watch The Instigators tomorrow night if we can. I’m excited about having a “music-friendly” club in town!

Thursday morning, however, came a little too early. I woke up a little when my beloved bride got out of bed. Then I woke up again a little later, realizing that it was too quiet in the house. I got up and wandered out, only to find her snoring gently on the couch. I tucked the blankies around her a little tighter and wandered off to tend to my morning ablution. Once properly bathed and deemed acceptable in public, I tried to wake my Viennese bride. I wiggled her little foot. I talked gently at her. I dropped the cat on her tummy. No reaction at all… So I went in the kitchen and started making popcorn. Within seconds she was up…

“Mmmmm…” she said. “Smells like popcorn for breakfast!” I pointed to the clock. “It’s afternoon,” I said. “You’ve been sleeping hard!”

“Well,” she said, heading towards the water closet, “I took an allergy pill last night. They always knock me out.” With that she closed the door to the bathroom and proceeded to do whatever women do behind closed bathroom doors.

I finished making the popcorn, made myself some chocolate milk and padded into the living room. After a little while I realized it was a bit too quiet in the house again. I tippie-toed up to the restroom door and politely tapped. “Snookums, are you okay?” Silence. I tried again… “Honey, are you all right?” Nothing. I put my ear closer to the door. She was snoring. She fell asleep sitting there. I had to laugh…

Eventually we all managed to get up and dressed and out the door to attend the family fest. We started by picking up Dagmar’s mother, Kriemhild (a.k.a. “Mama K”) and heading out to the family farm. The first thing I noticed when we got to the farm was the kitty hut. Pops had taken leftover pieces of his new garage/dining room addition and built an insulated house for the cats, complete with in-floor radiant heat. (This is especially funny when you realize that Pops has always claimed he hates cats. But any time you see him around the farm, you’ll see three or four cats trailing along behind him…) We took a tour of the new dining room and garage, then headed into LeMars to hook up with my brother’s family.

At my brother’s house, we had Thanksgiving, at least one birthday, and Christmas all at the same time. (My sister-in-law’s relatives were there, some from out of town, so they were taking advantage of the opportunity.) Needless to say, there were a lot of chocolate-covered children running amok throughout the house on a sugar high playing with their new toys, such as adorable god-daughter Maddie there on the right. It was quite the sight! We had fun watching the kids having fun.

Once home, happily stuffed with turkey, Dagmar and I took sleepy pills and have been pleasantly groggy ever since. (Though I did have a strange dream about space aliens.)

Why, Oh Why?

“Vhat are you doing?” asked my beloved Austrian bride. “Aren’t you going to eat anything for supper? Dry up and blow away, you vill.”

I ceased my aimless wandering about, realizing I was in the kitchen. “What? Oh, no, I’ll eat later,” I said. “I’m saving it for the game.”

“Oh yes,” she said, rummaging around in the refrigerator for her daily dose of fresh vegetables and fruits and other icky things. “Da Packers und de Minnesoda Wikings. Big game. Should be good. Now vhat are you doing?”

“I’m waiting,” I said. “I have to wait for the game. The game will be on at eight. I have to wait until then. I want to see the game. It’s going to be a good game.” I don’t normally drink coffee, and I try to limit myself to one can of diet cola a day as caffeine tends to make me pee a lot. And it keeps me awake. And it makes me talk fast. But, knowing that I wanted to stay up past my normal 7:48 p.m. bedtime, I indulged in a second soda. “It’s the Packers and the Vikings at Lambeau Field, the Frozen Tundra. It’s the biggest game of the year,” I blurted.

“I know,” replied my Viennese bride, reaching for the olive oil (extra virgin). “It’s de biggest game of de year, except for the last time they played each udder three veeks ago.” Seeing me gearing up for an indignant sputter, she quickly continued. “But dat vas different, I know. Dat vas in Minnesoda. Dis is in Lambeau. You go play on your computer or something. De game doesn’t start for three hours, you know. Now go do something.”

I made half-hearted attempts to practice my bass. Usually that distracts me, but not today. I turned it up loud enough to bother the neighbors, figuring it was a pre-emptive strike – they don’t usually turn their stereo up until 7:49 p.m. I was still distracted. The big game. My mighty Green Bay Packers were taking their mighty two-and-seven record against the pathetic Vikings and their wimpy four-and-five record. Only two more hours until kickoff! I set my bass down and padded to the computer.

“Is de game on yet?” asked my beloved from the other room. “Vhat channel is it on? Do you think Brett Favre will have a good game?”

“I hope so,” said I. “The game doesn’t start until eight. It’s on channel ten. The pregame is on channel twenty-four, but I can’t bear to watch it. They might say something bad about the Packers.”

“Okay,” replied my bride. “I’ll vatch it for you.” I heard the noises of channels being changed in the other room. “Ah, there it is! They’re talking about the Eagles. Vhen did McNabb get hurt? Vill he be able to play next week?”

“He got whapped right in the hernia last week,” I answered. I edged closer to the bedroom, hoping for a peek at the television, but not wanting to see anything. “What are they saying about the Packers?” I hopped up and down a little on one foot. That made me feel better.

“Nothink. They aren’t saying anythink about de Packers. Just about Donovan McNabb and that Teeyo guy. Didn’t dey fire him for beink stupid?”

I sat back down at the computer. “Yep, the poor Eagles are in trouble. McNabb’s out and T.O. is out…” I resigned myself to waiting once more.

Finally… FINALLY my bloodshot eyes beheld the numbers on the VCR click from 7:55 to 7:56. Time to throw the last piece of pizza in the microwave and make a nice glass of chocolate milk. Wham, slam, beep beep stir grab the crackers too run to the living room where’s the remote push the button “ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL” forgot the fork don’t need it anyway found another adjust the coffee table got the food got the milk got the remote got a fork I’M READY! My eyes venture upward to the TV set to behold Al Michaels and John Madden. Beautiful!

As the kickoff happened and the teams were making their fast-forward chess moves preparing for the return my fork quiveringly made it’s first touch of pizza. WHAM the guy catches the ball. THUNK goes my fork through the pizza. Timing is everything, you know… Rituals must be observed.

I sat, enthralled, through the first quarter of the game. Neither team seemed to be able to get much done, though both defenses seemed to be playing well. Finished with my pizza, I fluffed up my pillow and leaned back on the couch. The second quarter started.

Eyes half open, my brain vaguely registered the halftime score. I rolled over and grabbed the blanket. It’s so comfy here on the couch…

“Did I just hear you snorink?”

“Wha? What? Huh?” I tried hard not to sputter as I sat up. “No, I was just breathing deep. It’s good for you.” My wife was standing in front of the TV.

“You were snorink,” she said with a smile. “It’s tied, seventeen to seventeen. I thought you’d like to see dis.” With that she trotted back into the bedroom. I love that woman!

Seventeen to seventeen. Packers and Vikings, fourth quarter, Lambeau field, a tummy full of pizza… It just doesn’t get any better! Life is good! Wait… The Vikings have the ball, and there’s only a minute and a half left in the game. Not good. Oh, but they’re way out of position – they’d have to get at least twenty yards on this next play to get into field goal position. Their receivers haven’t been too good tonight, nothing to worry about…

ACK! Who was supposed to cover THAT guy? Oh, geeze… The Vikings just got a good twenty yards and are in field goal position. Oh, no… They’re gonna try for three points…

Life is miserable when you lose by three points with two seconds left on the clock.

Feeling fat and bloated from all the pizza I ate, I tried to get back to sleep. No dice. I snuck back into the bedroom and tried to curl up with my beloved, only to find a cat snoozing on my pillow. Life is miserable. Terrible. Back to the couch I go. It’s gonna be a long season… But, it’s better to have been a fan and lost than never to have been a fan at all.

Things I Think Up When I Can’t Sleep

If you start to get bored with life, if you start to wonder if there really is a God, behold the magic in popcorn. Popcorn couldn’t have happened by accident, could it? Is popcorn God’s little joke?

Did civilization really start because our ancestors discovered beer? A theory holds that we went from a nomadic hunter-gatherer society to settling down and growing grain simply so we could brew beer. Interesting…

Apologies…

Sorry I’ve not blogged lately. I’ve been too angry. Every time I’d start writing something, it ended up sounding like an uneducated, angry rant. Which, basically, is what it was. So I’m starting over. I’m gonna start with local stuff first, then move on to the stuff that raises my blood pressure. I was hoping to add a few “Pictures of the Day,” but I’m having woes indeed trying to get photos to upload today. That makes me sad.

Snow Snoozing

I’m so proud of my beloved bride Dagmar! Friday night she slept out in the cold, raising money for homeless. Dagmar raised $130 by herself; the grand total raised was over $20,000! I’m proud, not only of my wife, but of Sioux City in general and all the people who donated in particular. The money will be split among three different agencies to help the homeless, and planners are hoping to make this an annual event. (I’ve been trying to upload a picture of a few tents leaning gamely into the wind with several damp, cold-looking people wandering about in a field, but the photo doesn’t want to cooperate today for some reason.)

This generosity is especially needed now that the Republicans have forced their budget through the House of Representatives… Homelessness will be on the rise in our fair city thanks to our shortsighted elected officials in Washington. But more on that later.

Surprise of the Day

I watched the Chicago Bears play football today, and I saw something refreshing. Wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad ran down the field all tangled up with a defender. Muhammed missed the pass. Instead of jumping up and down in front of an official demanding a penalty against the defender, Muhammed simply shrugged his shoulders, as if to say “Shoot, I missed that one,” and trotted back to the huddle.

On another play, a Bear running back (I didn’t see his name) scampered through traffic for a rather impressive first down. I was expecting him to jump up and do the mandatory “NFL Happy Dance,” looking like a fool, spiking the ball and pointing at himself like he’s Superman. Instead, the back simply tossed the ball to the nearest official and made his way back to the huddle.

Well done! It was nice to see some class in the NFL. I hope it spreads!

On the other end of the spectrum, a Houston Texan ran a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. He was understandably excited and jumped into the stands (which didn’t bother me in itself – 99-yard touchdowns are rare, and the poor Texans are having a tough year so far). Right beside the player was a fan, dropping his beer and fumbling for his homemade sign, hoping to wave it in front of the cameras. It read “Acme Meat Market, Pasedena, Texas.” That upset me. It was obvious that the guy couldn’t care less about the game, he just wanted to get free advertising. Thankfully the camera turned quickly away. (It wasn’t really “Acme Meat Market,” I’m not gonna tell you exactly which meat market it was. That would defeat the purpose, you see.)

Bushleague

As Mark Twain once wrote, “Patriotism is supporting your country all the time… And your government when they deserve it.” source

Several more people have proven themselves (to me at least) to be untrustworthy “loose cannons” in the past few weeks, and have lost my support. The list grows… It used to consist simply of the Bush administration (who have persistently and consistently lied to us about the war in Iraq, weapons of mass destruction, al-Quaeda, the ties between Saddam Hussein and al-Quaeda, and myriad other rather important items). The notables in that list include:

President G. Walker Bush. He took us to war under false pretenses.

Vice President Richard Bruce “Dick” Cheney. He advocates torture. Nice guy.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. He can’t seem to find truth anywhere.

Dr. Condoleeza Rice. I had hope for Dr. Rice, but she followed in Colin Powell’s footsteps, unfortunately, in blindly following Mr. Rumsfeld’s lead. Mr. Powell did, eventually, resign.

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, indicted for money laundering, etc. etc.

There are too many more to list, quite frankly. Scooter Libby, that other guy who was caught making illegal trades, the people who are lying about the Valerie Plame case…

The new list includes:

Representative Steve King from Kiron, Iowa. According to Richard Doak of the Des Moines Register, Mr. King “suggested building a razor-wire-topped fence along the Mexican border.” The Des Moines Register Editorial Board said King “…later used borderline racist code words about the need for ‘cultural continuity’ in America,” and said his fence idea is “barely disguised bigotry cloaked in phony pieties.” Mr. King also recently voted in lockstep with the Republican line to cut social welfare while at the same time granting $70 billion in tax cuts to the rich. But more on that later… In my eyes, Mr. King is an embarrassment to Iowa.

Iowa’s Tom Latham voted yes on the budget. (I’ll get to that in a minute.)

Iowa’s Jim Nussle (Republican candidate for governor). He also voted to cut gramma’s Medicare in order to fund tax breaks for the richest in America.

Alaska’s Senator Ted Stevens. Mr. Stevens has had several meltdowns lately. One of the more notable tantrums involved Mr. Stevens refusing to relinquish some $453 million earmarked for building bridges in Alaska. I saw the clip on TV – I think he actually barked. Many people thought that the money could be better used for hurricane relief efforts, but Mr. Stevens disagreed. According to the Washington Post, one of the bridges to be built would link 50 people to the mainland. The money not used for that bridge would be a down payment for a billion-dollar bridge to a nearly abandoned port near Anchorage. Mr. Stevens claimed people were discriminating against Alaska when they asked for some of that money to help homeless people. It turns out that Alaska receives $1.89 in federal money for every $1 they pay in taxes. Kudos to Mr. Stevens for working hard for his state and his electorate; it’s a pity that he’s willing to sacrifice his country. source Mr. Stevens was also in charge of the hearings regarding the big oil companies’ record profits at a time when Americans are scrambling to find money to pay their rising gas and heating bills. The very first thing Mr. Stevens did in the hearings was to rule that there was no reason to swear the oil companies’ CEO’s to tell the truth, thus invalidating the entire hearings. At stake? Drilling rights in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

Ohio Republican Representative Jean Schmidt has embarrassed herself and her political party by making statements on the Floor that Representative John P. Murtha was a coward for saying it’s time to start thinking of bringing troops home from Iraq. Evidently, Ms. Schmidt didn’t know that Mr. Murtha spent 37 years in the Marine Corps, served in combat in Vietnam, is very highly decorated, and is in fact considered “one of the most respected military authorities in the House.” The House of Representatives exploded, outraged Democrats hollering at Ms. Schmidt. When the debate resumed, Ms. Schmidt retracted her comments, and asked that her words be withdrawn from the Congressional Record. source It’s nice to know she sticks by what she says…

The Budget, Finally

You know, I’m still too mad to talk intelligently about this. The United States House of Representatives voted recently to slash the budget by some $50 billion by cutting Medicaid, food stamps, student loans and myriad other social programs (including $15 million for Iowa’s “deadbeat dad finder” program, according to the Des Moines Register). At the same time, they are giving some $70 billion in tax breaks to America’s richest people. The budget passed by two votes. All Democrats voted against the budget, as did some Republicans. It’s a bad deal. Seriously bad. There are solid figures here if you’re interested.

Besides cutting social programs, the budget will take money away from farm subsidies, which will impact Iowa’s economy in a number of ways. As a double-whammy to farmers, the budget also strips money away from alternate energy development, namely soy and corn based fuels.

Fortunately, the budget still has to pass the Senate. Please, let your Senator know how you feel about this. Do some research; don’t take my word for it. Please, please form your own opinion and LET THOSE IN POWER KNOW WHAT IT IS.

I’m off my soapbox now. Thanks for listening!

Snoozing in the Snow for Charity

I don’t know if you heard, but my beloved Austrian bride is gonna be sleeping in the park this Friday as part of a fund raising effort to raise funds for Siouxland’s homeless. If you’d like to make a pledge, that’d be cool – just e-mail me. Either way, please spread the word if you can – it’s for a good cause.

Public Service Announcement:

I just received this e-mail from my father:

If’n You Don’t Like the Weather, Just Wait…

Last week I was riding my motorcycle, enjoying the sunshine, watching the birds twitter and chirp. This week I’m shoveling the walk, hunched against the wind, watching the birds twitch and shiver. Things got nasty in a hurry! It’s not good on a body.

The past few years have been odd, to say the least. The summer of 2004 never really happened. It was gray, chilly and damp most of the summer. Last winter never really happened, either. It was gray, chilly and damp, but it never really snowed, nor did we get our traditional bitter, bone-snapping January freeze. This summer actually started a bit early, and was mostly sunny and warm all summer. And all fall. In fact, it was in the 70’s just a few days ago. Now it’s snowing.

We’ve only had a few storms, and most of them were out of season. When’s the last time you remember tornadoes in November? Say what you want about global warming, but the weather patterns are changing. I remember as a child being snowed in at the farm for weeks at a time. I remember jumping off the roof of the house into the snow for fun. That surely didn’t happen last year – I think I only had to scoop my walk three times, and I don’t remember there being more than an inch or two of snow on the ground at any given time.

What kind of world are we leaving behind? It scares me…

Poll Vaulting

Here’s an interesting fact for you from CNN: “In the poll, 56 percent of registered voters said they would be likely to vote against a local candidate supported by Bush, while 34 percent said the opposite. Only 9 percent said their first choice in next year’s elections would be a Republican who supports Bush on almost every major issue.” source (The italics are mine.)

That ties in well with this particular gem from the New Jersey Star-Ledger…

“Doug Forrester, in his first postelection interview, laid the blame for his loss in the governor’s race last week directly at the feet of President Bush. He said the public’s growing disaffection with Bush, especially after Hurricane Katrina, made it impossible for his campaign to overcome the built-in advantage Democrats have in a blue state like New Jersey.”

I thought it was interesting.

Huh? Can you do that?

U.S. President G. Walker Bush made what many believe may be the worst speech of his career last Friday. On Veterans’ Day, Mr. Bush gave a 50+ minute speech, during which he said: “While it’s perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began.” As Jon Stewart pointed out on The Daily Show, that’s when the President started rewriting history. Just about everything he said after that was either an outright lie or was just plain incorrect. But he mentioned nine-eleven, so if you disagree with him you’re unpatriotic.

It makes me sad. But it’s dinner time, so I’ll quit being sad now and go eat. That always makes me happy…

How Embarrassing…

I was poking about BBC’s news web site this afternoon. I ran across a section called “Have Your Say,” where people from all nations can leave comments on a topic chosen by BBC. The topic that interested me was “Is President Bush the leader you expected?” While I didn’t read all 910 comments that were available, those that I did read (more or less by random) seemed to have a common thread.

“George Bush has been an unmitigated disaster, not just for the US, but also for the rest of the world. Under his ‘leadership,’ the US has become to be widely regarded as interfering in other countries’ matters without justification, breaking international law, ignoring the damages to the environment caused by industrialisation and commerce and running down the social security provisions in the US. So, yes, he is precisely the kind of leader I expected him to be.”

Rustam Roy, London, United Kingdom

“It is a reflection on the ineffectiveness of the US electoral system that people like Bush can get elected in the first place. Never has such an ignorant person been elected to such a powerful position. And I pray they never will be again. It is embarrassing to listen to him speaking in the company of orators like Tony Blair or Kofi Annan. Surely the Americans can do better than this!”

CC Park, London, United Kingdom

“Bush is, sadly, exactly the president I expected him to be. Anyone who is surprised by his actions and the repercussions of his policies has had their heads in the sand.”

wendy, auckland, NZ

In other words, people who are NOT from the United States seem to realize that U.S. President George Walker Bush is not doing his job well. The comments from Americans fell into three major categories (again, I did not read all the comments, I merely nibbled). The first category is the “You’re all idiots, Bush is a genius” category. The second is “I’m embarrassed to be an American” (this seems to be the largest category of the three). The last category consists of incoherent ranting. (I did notice that the more incoherent a comment was, the more likely it was to be pro-Bush. There were exceptions to that, but they were rare.)

Some comments were just plain scary:

“Voted for Bush twice. Could you imagine the mess we’d be in if Gore was the presidnt or Kerry. I shudder to think how worse off we would be with them in office. High taxes, slow growth, our civilians being bombed at will by Islamic terrorists. Oh but the rest of the world would respect us, yeah while they walked all over us.”

Robert Harris, usa

“Mr. Bush is only going to bring the United States of America down at a faster rate. That is why I voted for him and he has not disappointed me.”

Alejandro, Washington, DC

It’s my personal belief that if Mr. Al Gore had been elected in 2000 (one of my favorite bumper stickers reads: “Re-Elect Gore in 2004”) we’d all be working on solar-powered Macintosh computers and riding around on Segways, smiling and waving at all the happy people. However, Mr. Gore did not make it to office, and we’re left to pick up the pieces. The trick now is to figure out the best way to do so.

It’s obvious that people in other countries see that we have a problem, even if some of us Americans don’t yet realize it. My wife’s relatives were to come to the U.S. recently for a family reunion. We ended up holding the reunion in Canada, though, because many of the Europeans didn’t want to come to the U.S. while Mr. Bush was in office. Some were fearful of being detained, others were afraid of being mobbed or attacked on the street. That makes me sad.

It seems to me that one of the first pieces we need to fix in our peculiar puzzle should be international relations. The term “Global Village” isn’t an empty phrase, it’s turning into reality. All nations need to work together if we’re going to sustain economic growth and achieve any kind of peace. Since the elections in 2000, our reputation in the eyes of the world has been shot. How do we fix it? Well, how do you regain any kind of lost trust? The first thing we need to do is to adopt a more confident stance, not in aggression, but showing an internal strength. Then we need to quietly go, hat in hand, and apologize to those nations that we’ve crossed. After that, we need to keep our mouth firmly shut. Offer help where it’s needed. Diplomatically keep our nose out of others’ affairs.

What we cannot do is charge through the world without consideration to others. If we feel the need to censure North Korea, we need to gain the support of the global community first. Cooperation and diplomacy are NOT signs of weakness or lack of leadership.

Gas Me Up, Sparky!

Another piece to be fixed is the economy. I’m certainly no economist (as can be seen by a quick glance at my personal finances; or rather the lack thereof), but it seems obvious to me that we need to do something about our dependence on oil, both foreign and domestic. Simple legislation could fix many of our woes – pass a law that all government vehicles (military excluded) be gradually replaced with hybrid or electric vehicles. Cut the $2.6 billion (not million, billion) tax credits we’re giving to the U.S. oil industry at a time they’re making record profits. Slap a luxury tax on those huge gas-guzzling pick-em-up trucks and SUV’s that are prowling the streets (there is NO reason for anyone living in a city to own a Hummer). If you’re a farmer or own a construction company, fine – have a truck. If you feel you need that four-wheel drive to get you ten blocks across town in the winter, pay the tax. While we’re at it, perhaps a one or two dollar tax on every gallon of gas would shake things up a bit. At least it’d get us thinking seriously about the problem!

I’m about half serious about those ideas. I’m very serious when I say we need to stir things up in regards to the oil industry! It’s gonna be a tough one to figure out…

(Short side-comment: Did you know that Dr. Condoleeza Rice is the poorest of Mr. Bush’s posse? Did you know that, being the poorest member of his advisors, she has an oil tanker named after her?)

The Grassroots of the Matter

But what, you may ask, can we do here and now? Lots, but some of it ain’t easy.

We need to send a strong message to those currently in power that we’re aware of what they’re trying to do (as in Vice President Richard Bruce “Dick” Cheney circumventing the Geneva Conventions in regard to torture) and that we won’t put up with it. We need to tell them that we really kind of like the environment. We need to tell them to protect our weak and poor and elderly. We need to tell them that education and health care are important to us. Call your Senator, e-mail your Congressman, write letters to the editor. But the very first thing we need to do is to sit down and figure out exactly what it is we want and what our priorities are. Read up on local politics. Participate. Start a dialogue, or join one. This is the time; we need to start hashing some of this stuff out amongst ourselves now so we can show a united front at election time.

We must get our local leaders to pay attention, too. Electing Mr. Jim Rixner to the City Council is a good start! Now we need to support him – let him know we’re here, what our views are… We need to find ways to help him with his agenda.