We’re preparing for a typical Thanksgiving this year. Mom, Jen, Brian, Jim and Lily are coming over, and there may be an appearance by one or more of our wayward friends. The turkey is provided by Lily and Co., who got it free after having spent so much money at Shop’N’Save. We put it in this morning.
Jen has to work very early on Black Friday, and will be staying until she has to leave. Hopefully everyone will be able to play games until then, or at least manage to stay lively and conversational.
The Rockettes just opened the Macy’s parade. What a great tradition that has become. I can’t help worrying that in a few short years the sight of beautiful legs will suddenly make me hungry for turkey.
Just before the guests arrive: Our plans for Black Friday haven’t changed, except we’ll probably get to where we’re going a little later than everyone else. Some places are opening at midnight. They’re messing with a fine holiday and the evil must be stopped.
Right after we ate: Dinner was great, but I think I forgot to take pictures. Oh well… they all look the same anyway! Games start as soon as the dishes are done. I’ll just close my eyes for a quick second…
Everyone’s about to go home: Jen and I are going to Best Buy for $4 flash drives and a new peripheral hard drive. Hopefully they still have some, since Best Buy was open at 10:00pm *on Thanksgiving*!!! WTF?!
The next day: Well, all the sales items that I wanted at Best Buy were gone, but I managed to snag a relatively cheap hard disk with a 500GB capacity. Marieke and I are going to Ross Park Mall for black Friday since we haven’t been there in a while. We’re not really looking for anything in particular, but if we find it, we’ll get it!
Back home on Black Friday: There was a line at least 150 cars long to get out of Ross Park Mall. They organized certain sections of the massive parking lot into guaranteed parking for $10. Not a bad idea, but we parked about 4 spaces away from all that and walked. It’s ok… we’re fine. Teavana is a really awesome shop, but all the associates work on commission, so it was hard to look at something without having your leg humped. One associate with below average looks decided that she wanted to ‘play house’ with me and began setting up a whole tea set with indications of where she would sit and where I would sit. Marieke was standing right next to me. Of course I was oblivious to the whole thing and just thought the associate was being nice. I was told that we’re not going back into that store.
For at least the last year or so, Autumn has had an infection of some sort on her underside. We had been treating it with bandages, antibiotic creams, peroxide, etc. It would go away for a few weeks, then come back again, which would start the whole treatment cycle again. Without getting into too many gory details, she had to wear old t-shirts of mine to keep the areas where she would lay down clean. During these times, her temperature rose and she was very uncomfortable; made even more so during the summer by the lack of air conditioning in our bedroom.
When the area got so bad that our treatments stopped working, we sought a more permanent solution and considered surgery. The vet prescribed antibiotics which cleared the area up quite nicely in about a week. A biopsy ruled out cancer, so a routine surgery was scheduled.
The part of me that is a dog owner had a rough night knowing that Autumn was away from home in a strange place for the first time since we got her. At one point, I almost walked down to the vet’s office to see if the sitter would let me see her.
She was a bit groggy the next day and we had to keep her away from everyone else in the house so that she could recover in peace. After another week, the sutures were removed and she is just now starting to get up and walk around without too much difficulty.
FBG, age 20 of McKeesport, PA, formerly of the North Side: poster child, statistic. In these times of supposed racial equality, this man emerged by crawling, scrapping, clawing his way up from the obscurity that lingered in the dark depths of his upbringing. In the stead of his drunken, unfit parents, responsibility for feeding his two younger siblings fell to him. He fulfilled this responsibility the only way he knew how- by walking a path familiar to youth of his generation, the previous generation and generations stretching back for uncounted dozens of years. A path endemic of his racial identity, fulfilling a stereotype common in the inner city. He began dealing drugs.
The unfortunate location of a Port Authority Busway Station provided the backdrop to his arrest. Unfortunate because of ‘public safety laws’ enacted as a result of 9/11, involving public transit and criminal activity. He was caught selling three grams of marijuana by the Port Authority Police.
What followed can only be described as series of farcical appearances in the halls of what is laughingly referred to in the black community as justice. Judged guilty despite his young age, lack of previous record, presence of extenuating circumstances, inexperienced public council and expression of remorse by the accused.
Not that FBG didn’t deserve to be in front of a judge. There are better things he could have been doing on that day in order to feed his family. Like work at a gas station, collect cans, become an “Environmental Engineer” (aka garbage man)- all of these could have provided what he needed- albeit months after the fact- but still, he should have done this as opposed to what could have netted the most amount of money in the shortest amount of time, right? Never mind the fact that unemployment among those of his racial heritage is four to five times higher than any other racial group.
Perhaps the logic of the situation is lost on me. I can’t sit here and pretend that there is justice in sending this man to prison for what he did. Particularly when I am also sitting next door to a house full of drug dealers and meth cookers. There is a constant parade of buyers who enjoy parking in front of my house- half of them coming up my steps because they can’t find the house number of their dealer. Do these people deserve to be put in prison for what they’re doing? Hell yes they do. But why, then, aren’t they put in prison despite almost 5 years of fairly regular ‘anonymous tips’ to the Pittsburgh Drug Task Force? From what I can tell, the only difference between my wonderful neighbors and FBG is that FBG is black and my neighbors are white (and so is their customer base). So you tell me: is that justice?
Again, FBG should not have been an exception- he should have been made to answer for his actions. Did he deserve to be persecuted- I mean- prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law under his circumstances? Hell no he didn’t. Community service and a light probationary term would have been sufficient. His motives alone should have been enough for the judiciary to recognize that he was a good candidate for rehabilitation. This is the only time that ‘blind justice’ is accurate as a term.
Moving forward to a time after his incarceration ended, we find FBG gainfully employed by the city’s new casino. It isn’t the perfect job, it isn’t likely to get him noticed, or recognized. But it is a job. A good job with benefits and steady pay.
FBG is no longer a “statistic” at this point- well maybe that isn’t true. He has beaten the odds against him by not going back to that ‘life’.
His aunt works for a family support agency in Allegheny County, which is affiliated with a youth support program. This program is designed to steward young people who have been in ‘the system’ of either foster care, juvenile justice or both, into a life of independent, productive living. In order to encourage these youth to become self-sufficient, the program hires only those who have themselves been through ‘the system’.
These youth support staff provide the only hope for kids who have been a part of ‘the system’ to avoid a life of crime. They are some of the best people one could hope to meet. Their supervisors hold them to a very high standard- a metric which they have all risen to meet. Their character is impeccable, their determination unmatched. With one voice, they work in unison to make the world a better place- one at-risk youth at a time. And they have succeeded where others have, in the past, failed.
It was FBG’s aunt who first told him about the youth support program and their never-ending need for qualified staff. He applied and got an interview- during which he confided that this is the kind of job that he can do exceedingly well. His passion was working with kids and helping to prevent ‘at risk’ youth from descending into a life of petty crime. He got the job.
I met him in context of his new job and I considered him a friend. Some of his co-workers had known him prior to his employment, and those who didn’t, became very close to him very quickly because of his outgoing personality. Many admired his commitment to his job and the common cause they were all working toward. I admired his strength of character for beating the odds against him and was inspired by his desire to make a better life for himself and to help others along the way.
Just as his career in what he termed ‘my dream job’ was beginning, a particularity of his past life circumstances popped up in human resources. Despite the efforts of his supervisors and the program’s director, FBG was released just after two months of being offered the position. It was an oversight on the part of the human resources director that led to the situation.
FBG’s supervisors were working to find him other employment either within the same agency, or within the same field. Their efforts were not guaranteed to produce results and the future wasn’t assured. Yet, they were determined to help this man because of who he was and because he was deserving of their efforts.
Two weeks after the unfortunate departure from his job, FBG was at his cousin’s house in Duquesne. His cousin had been known to deal drugs and it was his drugs that FBG was running when he was arrested as a minor. Nobody wanted to believe the worst- that he had gone back to his cousin to get back into the ‘life’. He did, after all, just loose his job.
Only a week before, there had been a shooting not far from the cousin’s house. As fate would have it, and in what police describe as retaliation for the events of the previous week, FBG’s cousin’s house was the target of a drive-by while FBG was standing in front of the targeted house.
FBG was caught in the melee, and was shot.
He drove himself to a gas station where he called for help.
We found out later that FBG had been pleading with his cousin to leave the ‘life’ and walk a better path, since that is what he was trying to do.
In honor of the halfway mark and completing my 9th term at school, we took a day-trip to Erie, PA on Friday. It is a favorite retreat for us since it is close, easy to get to and has a beach and other fun stuff. We haven’t really had a chance to get away in quite a while, and I’m really not sure if it was the scenery, or the fact that it was just so different from my regular surroundings, but the trip resulted in some oddly inspiring output on my part.
Two videos, a number of panorama stitches and about a hundred or so pictures later, almost the entire trip is documented. This habit of mine is usually not well tolerated by Marieke, but she didn’t seem to mind during this trip.
Bicycle built for two
We rented a surrey bike, which is a side-by-side bicycle built for two. It was great fun to peddle the entire way to Perry’s Monument and back again.Afterward, we laid on the beach and went into the water a few times. Marieke had her Glamour magazine and I had my Kindle. With no school books to read, it was really very nice to have some leisure reading. I do remember falling asleep to the sound of waves crashing against the shore.
Victory lap!
Our snacks sustained us, so we were able to keep the cost of the trip to a minimum. Traffic to and from wasn’t bad at all and it helped that we went during the week- even though it was a Friday.
This was a good day and well deserved for both of us.
Manfred, Opie, Oskar and Autumn all have fleas. Even more terrible- it seems like the fleas have been here for a while before we realized what was happening. They’re even in the rugs on the porch, and that is how my legs have become bitten up. We tried a natural flea killer consisting of various oils because of Manfred’s sensitivity. It hasn’t done much yet, but Manfred smells very nice.
I have reason to believe that the fleas came on mice that have gnawed their way through several feet of fiberglass insulation in the basement. The cats have so far killed three this season. We had to put Manfred in his own room, with a box and food so that he wouldn’t get sick from everyone else’s flea treatments. It’s bad enough he had an adverse reaction to the all-natural flea killer that kills fleas on contact. His mouth became a little swollen and the slobber was epic. He spent the first night in the basement and scared us both silly that something much larger was the issue.
Poor Oskar has almost no hair left on his belly and can not seem to stop scratching. He is the easiest to treat because his fur is so coarse and not at all dense. When he started scratching, we knew we had a problem- he is always the last to get them.
One of the great mysteries in life is love. For some it is how to understand it that redeems a great curiosity. For others the mystery is in the pursuit. My life changed on 14 July 1999, when Marieke and I began a long and happy relationship together. I consider myself quite lucky that at such a young age, the love I discovered in that relationship has lasted so long, with no signs of weakening.
Since our official anniversary present will be the U2 concert in about a week, we decided to celebrate our anniversary with a delicious lunch at NOLA, the New Orleans themed restaurant in the newly renovated Market Square. The atmosphere is so nice and there is live Jazz and Blues every Wednesday and Friday.
This is also our two year anniversary of having quit smoking. Occasionally, I still have dreams where I am smoking. Hopefully, by the third year anniversary of this happy life style change, I will have lost the 35+ pounds I have gained since.
Cirque du Soleil. The words conjure an endless cacophony of wonderful nonsense. Their latest offering, Totem, is nothing less than a masterpiece. I’ll admit to being completely and utterly awestruck by the acrobatic stunts, the brilliant acts of balance, the costume, the characters, the creatures, the sets… everything.
Elements of several major native populations were present in the music and overall dynamic of the show, which traversed the ages of man. I found several deliberate references to the struggle between man and nature. On more than one occasion, the show highlighted the imbalance between resources and consumption.
The notable characters were the anthropologist, the Italian and, my favorite, the crystal-man/lead monkey. The central set piece was a turtle carapace, which was lifted high into the air, tilted on its side or laid on the stage. At one point, the structure of the carapace is used as a trapeze.
At the risk of endlessly describing every bit of the show, I’ll just say that at my age, it is a rare treat to be thrown into a state of amazement and wonderment. Once again, this troupe of performing artists have proven that expressing the creativity of the human soul, as only they can do, is truly the last remaining form of high art.
Long may the Grand Chapiteau stand as a monument to our inner child.
Despite my good friend and her family bailing on us at the very last minute, Marieke and I went ahead with plans to host a Memorial Day cookout. It was the first time we would see our friend from Canada, Jenny Jesty, since she came back to Pittsburgh. We also extended an invitation to Suzy, who made Marieke’s coin bracelet and Kara’s Irish coin necklace. Suzy has a friend, Anita, who is in the same field as Marieke and brought her along as well. My mother rounded out the guest list and I was noticeably the only guy present.
Our menu was, as usual, quite robust. Even though our good friend was supposed to bring the meats that we were then going to grill, forcing Marieke into the den of the grocery store the morning of the shindig- which we scheduled for Sunday before Memorial Day, it all turned out very nice. Perhaps even better than originally planned, since we treated ourselves and our guests to the finest in grillable meats. Our beverages included a gallon jug of iced tea and a case of Yeungling Bock Beer. Also, anything our guests bring to drink for themselves is also often shared. Suzy and Anita brought some Straub beer and Jenny brought ice.
Just before we came inside for dinner, there was a National Geographic moment brought to us by the lovely orange cat that gave me my wounds and his grey long-haired mistress. In the middle of the street. No doubt, breeding more kittens to become territorial over.
The dinner-time conversation was sporadic, which has become endemic of the exquisite fare our guests have become accustomed to at our house. So, most of the conversation took place afterward, on the porch, as we took part in Marieke’s Southern-Style Banana Pudding.
It was such a beautiful evening to spend outside and in the company of new and old friends and family. I didn’t want it to end. But soon enough, everyone departed for their own homes and we were left with not much cleanup at all, since we opted for disposable dishes and flatware.
We were expecting a much larger crowd, so we had so many leftovers and it was hard to fit it all back into our fridge. Luckily, we were smart and only made half as much of all the salads that we planned, even before we found out that our friends were bailing on us. On the menu were deviled eggs, macaroni salad, coleslaw, chips, baked beans, Mom’s tomato-onion-lemon salad, watermelon and an assortment of condiments. It was all very delicious.
The day before, we were invited to our across the street neighbor’s house for a cookout and live music. It’s always fun and the previous occupants of the house- whom we hadn’t seen in a while- were there as well, along with our new neighbor and a couple other people we knew from their large New Year’s bash.
At the point when my finals were nearing completion, I decided that Sunday would be a good day to take a break and relax for a bit. Things were going oh-so swimmingly, when suddenly, because of the guttural cat posturing, we realized that our feisty orange cat, Opie, was still on the porch. I ran to the door to see that our cat had jumped the gate and was now off the porch and in direct line of the un-neutered orange neighborhood cat, whose posturing he was responding to.
No sooner did I have my broom in hand to shoo away the intruder than there was a single ball of screaming, clawing, biting tangle of orange hair at the bottom of my porch steps. This went on for about a half minute, but seemed much, much longer, but when it was over, I could tell that my little bruiser of a kitty had kicked the snot out of the neighborhood ruffian.
I quickly took notice that the other cat had merely retreated and was likely planning a second assault. Not wanting to witness another exchange, I set aside the broom and reached for my cat. It was immediately clear that this was not the best idea. He reacted as if I was another enemy and quickly tore my right hand and arm to shreds- five deep puncture wounds and countless scratches.
Apparently aware that Opie was otherwise pre-occupied, the other one decided to commence with round two, while Opie’s teeth and claws were still in my hand and arm. His attack resulted in four puncture wounds and two particularly nasty scratches on my left hand and arm. The blood was horrific.
On my left hand was an especially gruesome injury consisting of a connecting puncture wound beginning in the webbing of my first and second fingers and extending downward, to just past my knuckles. When I went to initially clean them out, I made the teeth chattering, heebie geebie discovery that when I ran the water on the wound between my fingers, it ran through and out of the wound on the top of my my hand.
Luckily, Marieke managed to get Opie back in the house and was then able to render assistance to my bleeding appendages. Either from the heebidy geebidy nature of my injuries or from the loss of so much blood, I became an unconscious pile on my bathroom floor.
When I came to, I began to hyperventilate and had a slight panic attack. After recovering from that, I was finally able to dress my wounds, and to reduce my level of acute discomfort, I shaved my arm hair around the wounds so that the bandages would not Brazilian Hot Wax the hair off for me.
The most painful of my injuries is on the inside of my right first finger, below the first knuckle. It was just a bite, but I’m pretty sure Opie’s tooth was stopped only by my bone.
I used an entire bottle of alcohol and peroxide cleaning everything out, and have no less than 9 bandages on both hands. It is all really very sore.
With less than 48 hours until the beginning of the end, I find myself quite distracted from the final projects due for my classes. The irony is that if I rush to finish now, I’ll be completely done with this term and on break for the next two and a half weeks, but if I am to believe the end is coming within 48 hours, I will have wasted my last days doing school work. Rather than writing my final papers and enjoying my time off, I’m forced to contemplate life and the meaning thereof. Also, I am famous for procrastinating. This is as good a reason as any to do so.
For as long as a stream of people have been able to follow a single path, there has been someone at some random point along the way with warnings that ‘the end is near’. Starting in the early 90s, that path has included, to a large extent, the internet. Thus, we can readily find oration on all manner of complex, graphic descriptions of how the world will end, by all manner of someones at random points in cyberspace. The first widespread prediction of the end of civilization as we know it, within the context of this medium, was Y2K. Of course, the century changed with no measurable events that could be construed as civilization’s downfall.
And after that, the next major date we had to fear was the year 2036, when the asteroid 99942 Apophis was supposed to have crashed into the earth, triggering an extinction level event, whereby the sun would be blocked by dust and debris resulting from an impact, for several months. This was, for a time, the source of much consternation among the general public. Upon closer investigation, if 99942 Apophis does impact the earth, the most devastating result would be a tsunami, should it fall into either the Pacific or Atlantic ocean. Naturally, the closer to the impact site, the greater the effects, but hardly enough to have a sustained global environmental effect. The Tunguska event in 1908 released the equivalent of between 8 and 10 megatons of TNT. 99942 Apophis would be on the measure of between 150 and 200 megatons. By comparison, the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 produced about the equivalent of 250 megatons. Not that an impact would be easily dismissed, but it’s hardly worth attributing to it the label ‘harbinger of the end of days’.
Interestingly, the next most terrible end of days scenario involves the end of the Mayan Calendar on 21 December 2012… at 11:11 UTC. This date and time represents the end of the long count of the 5,125 year cycle that the Mayans crafted to keep track of the transiting sun and moon across the sky. Coincidentally, and perhaps only intended as a universal point of reference, the earth will align with the center of the galaxy, unobstructed, for the first time in about 29,000 years. One ramification of this alignment is a direct dose of gamma rays that are thrown out from the galactic core, which would have the unpleasant result of sterilizing the planet’s surface. Only the ocean’s floors and deep caverns inside mountains would escape the radiation. On the show Ancient Aliens on the History Channel (you see the irony in that, right?), a contributor posits that increasing global temperature is not confined to earth, but the phenomenon can be observed in the atmospheres of every planet in the solar system (even Pluto). The only reasonable explanation is that the closer toward a galactic core alignment the sun and planets get, the greater the effects of the gamma radiation on the entire solar system. Never mind the scores of satellites in orbit around the planet designed to detect event he slightest increase in gamma particles- a tell tale sign of a nuclear weapons detonation. So sensitive are these satellites, that when first launched, managed to detect gamma ray bursts in galaxies halfway across the universe. If this alignment is going to sterilize the surface of the earth, why did it not do so 29,000 years ago, thus dooming humanity, along with our primary food source- cows, to extinction.
As inheritors of the Mayan culture, Mexico has embraced the artistic value that the calendar represents; It was, for years, the central motif on the 1 Peso bill. Paradoxically, the ‘long count’ Mayan calendar is the one that ends in 2012- and it is linear. This is different than the ‘calendar round’ or ‘round count’ calendar that is still in use today in some parts of Guatemala and remote Mayan enclaves in Mexico. No real significance is attached, in the Mayan culture, to the end of the linear long count calendar. It is assumed that there were previous ‘ages’ and that merely another age would begin again, presumably at 11:12 UTC on 21 December 2012. Since the culture was exterminated upon Spanish conquest in the 1600s, a long count calendar indicating the fate of the world for the next age of 5,125 years, could hardly have been engraved on any stone face. Furthermore, the round count calendar seems to indicate that the day after the end of the long count calendar is a day of no major significance.
I mentioned that this particular end of days scenario is interesting… here’s why: predictions that asteroid 99942 Apophis will impact the earth on 13 April 2036, will come to fruition if the asteroid passes through a particular gravitational keyhole hundreds of thousands of miles from earth. The indication of this passage will occur exactly 7 years before supposed impact, on 13 April 2029 (a Friday!). As it happens, both of these dates are mentioned in inscriptions to dates beyond the end of the current 5,125 year cycle- one is the arrival of the god Bolon Yokte' K'uh, the other roughly corresponds to the investiture of Bolon Yokte' K'uh in the form of a completed temple. Loosely translated, this means that abut 17 after the end of the Mayan calendar this December, a Mayan god will appear and a temple will begin to be built in his honor. 7 years after that, it will be completed and the god will be honored with much human sacrifice and perhaps a game or two of ulama. Aside from the amusing correspondences of these dates, there is nothing that purports the end of civilization as we know it.
Were I to worry about the end of civilization (as I do on occasion), I would be far more concerned with the slow deterioration of the human immune system resulting from the over use of ‘anti-bacterial’ products such as hand sanitizer and other detergents. Only those with less than socially acceptable hygienic habits will inherit the earth following the imminent pandemic.
This coming Saturday, 21 May, is supposed to usher in a period of rapture, whereby the ‘good’ people are whisked away to heaven and the rest of us are left to writhe in hellish agony until the world is destroyed five months later on 21 October.
After this Saturday passes without incident, when all is well and good, come 22 December 2012, when Apophis is either blown to smithereens, or otherwise rendered innocuous by the ingenuity of humankind and, finally, when the smelly people inherit the earth just after the rest of us die of a cold, the next big thing to worry about will occur on 28 January 2044: the last day of the 79th cycle of the 60-year cyclical Chinese Lunar calendar. That’s when dumplings will rise against humans and take over Golden Dragon Buffets all over the world.
Yesterday, while at the library to return my movie assignment for class, I came across this movie, lying on a return cart. Ever the fan of Beethoven that I am, I picked it up.
There was some promise in the beginning, but it quickly faded when the central theme of the story became so difficult to pin down. Is it about a female trying to break into a man’s world? Is it about how Beethoven composed his Ninth Symphony, or maybe it’s about how his copyist wanted to become a composer. There were so many focuses, it was hard to determine exactly where the story was going or where it was coming from.
Within the first ten minutes, the intent of the movie becomes disappointingly obvious- it is meant to be an ‘Amadeus’, only with Beethoven. Only certain portions of Mozart’s life were exaggerated to accentuate the dramatic aspects in Amadeus. With Copying Beethoven, so many pointless plot devices were inserted, that the result is a portrait of a fictional man.
The acting left very, very much to be desired. Ed Harris played Beethoven like he was in a constant state of constipation; trying to force out the character, but failed miserably. Diane Kruger’s portrayal of a fictional copyist reflected the unrefined nature of her character.
So consumed with making Beethoven’s life into a movie as successful and critically acclaimed as Amadeus, it even recreates the image of an artist composing from his deathbed. It was based on conjecture in Amadeus, but it is based on nothing in Copying Beethoven.
Beethoven’s music is divine, an aspiration for humanity. His life is tragic, yet accomplished and romantic; anyone can find the agony and the ecstasy in his life by listening to his music.
The entirety of his work was a challenge for the classical age to put into music the human condition; a symphony of the soul. He was a heroic figure in his romantic compositions, but a tragic figure in his life.
The life of Beethoven is romantic enough and dramatic enough without inventing whole aspects of his life out of thin air. Almost every part of this film is a contradiction to the truth of Beethoven’s life. The film ultimately renders a disservice to the actual life of this great composer.
Déjà vu has been attributed to fatigue of the mind, whereby a synapse fire is perceived twice in rapid succession, leading to the formation of a memory. Accordingly, the event that initiated the synapse triggers the feeling that it has happened before in exactly the same order and under the exact circumstances. What is not considered is that this is not possible in the course of human existence, unless a TARDIS is involved. After a run-in with déjà vu, it might becomes easy to question one’s sanity. I’ve been told on many occasions that if one can question one’s own sanity, one isn’t insane.
SPOILER ALERT!!
This is always a relief to me, but imagine what it might be like to someone who really is insane. That is what Natalie Portman’s character, Nina, experiences as she prepares for the role she has dreamt about since childhood, the Swan Queen. At first, the insanity manifests itself in slight, explainable afflictions. But soon, the sanity takes on a life of its own. Nina is constantly trying to perfect the Black Swan role, one that she has no apparent personal background from which to draw.
Eventually, Nina’s situation devolves into a life that is, trapped, on one end, by an overbearing mother, on the other by the role that slowly begins to take over her every moment of her life. Even as she attempts to gain life-experiences that might lend some breadth into her Black Swan persona, her insanity becomes even more evident. As the role consumes Nina’s life, bit by bit, her situation becomes even more extreme and she is left to ponder the same fate as that of the central Swan Queen character that she is portraying.
Upon realizing that her understudy is the same person who Nina thinks is attempting to harm her in order to get the part, the last strands of sanity leave her. At the climax of the movie, Nina’s performance is halting at first, but becomes flawlessly perfect, by the end, culminating in her perfect performance of the Black Swan- much to the delight and excitement of the director.
The story of the White Swan revolves around a love triangle between the Prince that the Swan Queen falls in love with and the Black Swan who lures the prince into her graces. At the end of the story, unable to decide between the man she fell in love with and a life without him, she commits suicide, jumping from the top of a mountain.
The dancer in the role is, of course, saved from the fate of her character by an air cushion. As the audience becomes drawn into the insanity narrative, it is almost expected that the understudy will kill the star by removing the cushion.
In the end, it was Nina herself, who caused her assumed demise, having finally succumb to the madness of being trapped in a seemingly unrelenting world of unlikely perceptions and demanding emotional pressures.
I loved this movie for the psychological journey into madness that the character took. It was a creative way to tell the story of insanity. The visuals were strikingly similar to Nina’s voyage. At first the film is nothing but pink, prim and proper ballerina, whose dedication to her art is reflected in the structured life of discipline she leads. As her descent into madness begins, the images become more disturbing and creepy. Paintings of portraits by her mother, for example, would shift their gaze.
Some of the most disturbing images were also some of the most hebidyjebidy. Broken bones, peeling cuticles, feathers coming out of the skin, one wacked out moment involving a nail file and someone’s face, gave us goose flesh, if the expression can be excused.
It is recommended, and is best viewed in the dark, with all the lights turned off.
For my Humanities class, the assignment called for interviews of complete strangers in order to investigate how different people view happiness. So, I crafted a sign that read “Can I interview you about happiness for a school project,” taped it to a piece of cardboard, sat myself down at the Crazy Mocha in the main branch of the Carnegie Library and waited for potential subjects to submit to my questions.
We arrived nearly the minute the library opened, it was the Sunday of the Race for the Cure- just about a block away from the library- and it was Mother’s Day. The entire place was practically empty. This was just as well, since I had an APA style guide to get my hands on so that I knew how exactly to craft the transcripts. By the time I came back, about an hour had passed since I first put my sign out. I figured it was time to recruit some people. The first two fellows I asked to take part in the study declined. Just when I thought all was lost, a rather elderly woman was between me and my table at Crazy Mocha, so I decided to ask one more person before giving up completely. She said yes. Soon, I had a line at my table. I decided to pace my questions among the waiting throngs.
After about a half hour of interviews, I discovered that the APA Publication Manual does not contain directions on how to format a transcript. We ended up at the Pitt Law Library for a look at the Bluebook Guide for Uniform Citation, which, while primarily used for the formatting of legal documents, is the fallback for the APA style. Finally, I had what I needed and we left Oakland.
The weather was super nice, so I decided to begin work on the porch. I’ll probably be out there for the next couple of days, since my assignment calls for transcription as well as a 20 page analysis of what I found. Yay.
If, in the late evening on May 1, 2011, you were on the street, within earshot of someone else, watching television, attending a baseball game, you heard it at almost the same time as the rest of America: “We got him; Bin Laden is dead.”
Just about an hour or so later, President Obama addressed the nation, confirming that Bin Laden was killed and his body is in US custody.
The word was on the lips of spectators’ as the Phillies and Mets played in Philadelphia: “Bin Laden is dead,” and then the chants started: U-S-A, U-S-A. This was followed by an announcement of the news over the loudspeakers and was met with a roar from the crowd.
Inside of an hour, Lafayette Park, across from the White House became the focal point of a spontaneous celebration by students and Washington residents.
Times Square, Ground Zero became swollen with more crowds, more chants, flags, song, cheers, tears.
Most of the people in the crowds are young, maybe 18-22. Significantly, these are the young adults, who nearly 10 years ago, experienced, as children, a terrible nightmare. The sights, images, sounds of survivors, first responders, the terrible death and destruction of That Day seared into their young minds (and ours, too) forever. These celebrants were 8-12 when 9/11 happened. Bin Laden became the face of evil for them (and for us, too). He was the boogeyman, the monster under the bed, a personification of the scary, shadowy figure hiding in the corner.
And now, he is dead.
The manifestation of a profoundly impactful event such as this, is likely to result in a salient, tangible effect on everyday life. Particularly in terms of national unity. Nearly four hours after President Obama’s announcement, there remain thousands of people in Times Square, thousands around Ground Zero and thousands in Lafayette Park.
A succinct Facebook status read “Thank you... US and cooperating Intelligence agents, politicians who have supported the continued search, and all my brothers and sisters in the military serving in all places, foreign and domestic, whether ever deployed or not, as well as those who applied for the military and were not able to join, and all of you who support all of them. It took all of us to fight this evil.”
It is not unusual to now fear, or even expect, retribution by whatever is left of al-Qaeda. Having said that, Bin Laden’s death is a very significant blow to organized terrorism.
The most worrisome figures are possible ‘sleeper cells’ of domestic terrorists, either sympathetic to or directly connected with organized terror, could have a pre-existing plan in place in the event that Bin Laden is captured or killed. This sort of ‘mortality signal’ was used for the attacks on 9/11, when Ahmad Shah Massoud, leader of the ‘Northern Alliance’ in Afghanistan, was assassinated on September 9, 2001.
It’s worth mentioning that the second in command of al-Qaeda (now the de-facto senior leader), Ayman al-Zawahiri, is still alive. To my earlier point, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the ‘mastermind’ of the 9/11 attacks, has stated during his interrogations, that should Bin Laden be killed, a massive, dramatic attack on American soil would take place, involving non-conventional weapons.
I think ultimately, the point should be tempered celebration. The war on terror is not over; other leaders will take Bin Laden’s place. But for now, the boogeyman is dead and some of us can sleep better knowing that.
My experience in finding a good movie has been that if there is a story wherein my own story is relatable, my reaction will be strong. The story must speak to an event or a time period in my life and it must be based at least fractionally on reality. When those criteria are met, my reflex is to either completely embrace the story or completely reject the story (usually due to bad acting or bad story to begin with).
The King’s Speech relies on a well known aspect of Prince Albert, Duke of York (Bertie): his terrible, debilitating stammer and a slight impediment. By his own admission, an affliction that plagued him since age 5, and one which followed him, as King George VI, to the throne. The impediment seemed most evident when the letter ‘r’ was attempted. His stammer seemed to occur at the beginning of words, as is a typical presentation of a stammer.
For anyone unfortunate to have or have had a stammer, it is acquired through environmental factors as opposed to being born with one. As Rush states in the character of Logue, “I assure you that children do not begin speaking with a stammer.” For the King, his stammer began as a result of abuse, both physical and emotional that he suffered at the hands of his nanny. Born left-handed, his father, King George V, encouraged Bertie to use his right hand nonetheless and he had genu valgum, which required years of painful metal braces to correct.
After acquisition, the stammer reduces self-confidence of the afflicted, which, in turn, provides reinforcement of the stammer. Eventually, the stammer is learned along with nuances of native language one learns with age and practice. The stammer embeds itself into the mind, constantly eroding certainty in oneself. Only with devoted application, can a stammer be managed.
Despite his life of incredible privilege and station, King George VI lived in at least partial fear of speaking, even to his wife. With his stammer, he was underestimated, questioned, patronized even into the last days of his life.
In The King’s Speech, Lionel Logue provides the King with tools to overcome the worst part of his stammer, to the benefit of the entire British Empire in the opening hours of what would become World War II. At its heart, the story is an examination of a romantic hero dealing with and overcoming adversity with the love and support of a close friend and adoring wife. While dramatic license is taken in certain areas to accommodate the timeframe of a film, most of the story behind the movie is based on the journals and diaries of Lionel Logue himself, whose modesty reflects a typical British commoner in service to his Sovereign.
My stammer developed shortly after being thrust into a family that I didn’t know when the second husband of my mother became the only parent of his two children upon the death of their mother. At first, it was an interesting novelty to have an instant family in such short order. However, my new ‘sister’ had a talent of torturing me in ways that went far beyond the normal definition of sibling rivalry. My new ‘brother’ and I were forced to share my bedroom. He was cruel to me and held nothing in reserve whilst taking every opportunity to berate me as a person.
I felt betrayed by myself when I began to exhibit a stammer. At first it was only when confronted with verbal abuse by one or the other, or indeed, their father. It just felt like I wasn’t smart enough since they were 4 (her) and 9 (him) years older than me, and I couldn’t get the words out. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t have a problem with words that use the letter ‘r’. Even my name is difficult for me to articulate without using a technique that I was taught whereby a 27th letter exists, similar in sound to the letter ‘r’, but just different enough to allow me to use it in place of the evil ‘r’ in words such as my own name.
Before my stammer became manageable, it was the source of endless commentary by my step-siblings. Not even school bullies were as cruel as what I experienced at home. My classmates gave me the nickname ‘ribbit’, after I vehemently protested against a frog dissection slideshow; I was trying to say ‘right, but’ as the beginning part of my argument, but instead of moving forward with what I wanted to say, it just kept repeating. Eventually, some super-genius made a connection with the subject of the class and a nickname is born. The name became a term of endearment and I wore it proudly, for it was fairly innocuous compared to what I faced at home.
One of the first lessons I learned during my therapy in school, was that I wasn’t the only person who had a stammer, which is when I first became acquainted with the story of King George VI. I knew he shouted vowels out of an open window as part of his therapy. It became a part of my own therapy, along with learning violin. Eventually, the worst parts of it went away (right around the same time my step-siblings decided that I was too difficult to get along with and fled to their grandmother’s house to live). However, it’s still there and I get held up by it now and again.
The King’s Speech is very similar to my own. I’ll admit to being a sucker for a historical heroic drama. This movie was superbly masterful in its telling of the story of how King George VI overcame his stammer enough to provide leadership and morale to his country and empire in a fight for its life.
Do yourself a favor and apply the rental fee to the purchase price. It’s well worth it.
So, there’s this wedding in England, have you heard of it? Yes, Prince William and Catherine Middleton are tying the knot in London on 29 April 2011. It is true that a great many people died right around 235 years ago so that we Americans wouldn’t have to care about stuff like this, right? Then why are there more news media from the US in London right now, than from any other country?
I am one of those people who are enthralled by stuff like this. The ceremony, pomp and circumstance is not unlike the excitement surrounding a Presidential election. The difference of course, couldn’t be more starkly contrasted. We are, after all, precisely not a colony, commonwealth or territory. Yet there is still a certain allure to the monarchy in general. The idea that a country can be singularly united in the face of a national crisis- World War II, for example, is such a foreign concept for we who are male and female, white and black, red state and blue state, etc. For the British and other constitutional monarchies, the regent is part of their national identity, and thus exemplify a national unity.
Naturally, I have a reverence for the Dutch Queen Beatrix for obvious reasons. But there is also a certain attachment to Queen Elizabeth II. I’m sure it has to do with the language, and yet there is more. She is history, more than any other person alive in the world, she has been a central figure in historical events since her birth in 1926. Her father, King George VI (the King referred to in The King’s Speech), led Britain and its Empire (including Canada and Australia), through some of the darkest times in history. With his family, including the future Queen Elizabeth, he stayed in London during the bombing blitz. That small gesture had a profound effect- not just on Britain, but on the entire Allied movement. There was a very real threat that their Palace would be hit by a Nazi bomb and they could all loose their lives. The entire population lived under constant fear of occupation and invasion, yet the Royal Family stayed, along with their people, facing the same chances of survival as everyone else.
In fact, the British Royal Family hosted Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands when that country was occupied. She ran the Dutch government-in-exile and the resistance movement from Buckingham Palace and daily addressed her people from London.
To re-iterate a point made earlier, a national identity can depend on the continued existence of their monarchy. It is that sense of continuation that draws me very close to this wedding. William is going to be King of England one day, and beside him will sit Queen Catherine. To know that they got their start as a couple and as the future monarchs of their country on a damp Friday morning in April 2011, is somewhat comforting.
We live in very uncertain, very anxious times. It does everyone some good to focus on the future in the form of this wedding. The world will go on as the tradition endures and history goes marching surely into the future.
And so, with English Muffins and a spot of tea, I shall enjoy watching history unfold on the telly.
Race and Renaissance: African Americans in Pittsburgh since World War II by Joe Trotter and Jared Day
I’m only about halfway through this book, but it is so far an eye-opening read about the history of race relations in Pittsburgh. My interest in the subject came after reading “Making Their Own Way: Southern Blacks' Migration to Pittsburgh, 1916-30",” by Peter Gottlieb. I was interested in the origins of the black population in Pittsburgh, since the city has always been free.
This book is highly recommended to anyone interested in the state of ‘Black Pittsburgh’. More after I finish the book.
Over the past three days, I have been engaged in a debate with a couple other students about what constitutes a fact. It took place in the discussion board, over a question about how the civil rights movements would have been if lead by Malcom X instead of Martin Luther King. My point was that since Malcom X included violence in his strategies, his style of leadership had less of a chance to appeal to the masses.
One of my fellow students posted a response in which he referenced a page on a website that contained what amounts to an attack on King’s character. The central theme of the page was that King was abusive toward women and had other streaks of violence in his personality. The problem is that the author of the piece provided no proof to back up his claims. In fact, he is the owner of the website. Not only was the piece written in such a way that it presented his claims as fact, but it also made the claim that anyone who didn’t agree with him was only interested in preserving the public perception of King and that questioning his moral integrity is off limits. What’s more, he repeatedly states that his efforts to have his claims published in national media, like USA Today, or the Wall Street Journal were refused. He gives the reason for the refusal as ‘media’ not wanting to spoil the public perception of King.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. And everyone is entitled to be convinced that that opinion is the truth. However, nobody is entitled to use portions of that opinion as an argument in an academic environment. The opinion may be taken as a whole, and observed as an opinion, which can sustain a claim that someone out there has that particular opinion.
This process is called research. Anyone who is doing research on a topic needs an accurate source of information. Otherwise their argument is pointless and meaningless.
So, when the other student began to offer his criticism on my post to the discussion board, based on this website, I responded by asking him if he had an academic source which he could cite to support his argument. His reply was in the negative, but then offered that I am obviously “…among those that do not wish to tarnish the man's reputation”, even though I said nothing of the sort. But you see, I was questioning the validity of the source and according to the website owner, that puts me in a category of people who “…do not want to see the truth”.
Naturally, I responded with a clarification and a suggestion that my fellow classmate might want to consider familiarizing himself with the process of conducting research. In my response, I provided a couple of links to some research guidelines that Kaplan provides their students (in order to avoid situations like these!). The student’s response was somewhat puzzling, and to some extent, not really surprising. He explained that in the two years that he has been attending Kaplan, he has never had a problem with another student questioning his sources. Additionally, he had the professor’s permission to use the source in the discussion, and he does not have to answer to me at all about his references.
After then explaining that I was only speaking out in defense of academic integrity, he didn’t respond. But another student did. Her poorly constructed reply basically said that she was having a problem with not everything in the world being academically based. Which sounds like her solution would be to base everything on academia. She didn’t mean that, of course. She meant that not everything in the world is academically based. But whatever. She then went on to say that just because someone didn’t want to go through the bother of being peer reviewed and/or subjected to fact checking of any kind, doesn’t mean that it is invalid. She also said that she doesn’t see why I’m running away from considering that King may have had a personality flaw.
Just for the record, I never disagreed with the points of the argument. I disagreed with the source of the argument, which is nowhere near based in fact.
For my own peace of mind, I have requested office hours with my professor to find out what her take on it is. Hopefully, she takes my side in the argument. I’ll keep this post updated with the situation.
Notice that the website frames this under ‘news’. I have some news, too- and I hope a backward idiot at a university uses this statement as an academic reference: aliens have taken over Europe, the Earth is hallow, the Brooklyn Bridge is for sale, cows speak English and Hitler is alive and well and resides in a house in Buenos Aires.
"What we've been debating here in Washington for the last few weeks will affect your lives in ways that are potentially profound. This debate over budgets and deficits is about more than just numbers on a page, more than just cutting and spending. Its about the kind of future we want. It's about the kind of country we believe in. And that's what I want to talk about today.
"From our first days as a nation, we have put our faith in free markets and free enterprise as the engine of America's wealth and prosperity. More than citizens of any other country, we are rugged individualists, a self-reliant people with a healthy skepticism of too much government.
"But there has always been another thread running throughout our history – a belief that we are all connected; and that there are some things we can only do together, as a nation. We believe, in the words of our first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, that through government, we should do together what we cannot do as well for ourselves. And so we've built a strong military to keep us secure, and public schools and universities to educate our citizens. We've laid down railroads and highways to facilitate travel and commerce. We've supported the work of scientists and researchers whose discoveries have saved lives, unleashed repeated technological revolutions, and led to countless new jobs and entire industries. Each of us has benefitted from these investments, and we are a more prosperous country as a result.
"Part of this American belief that we are all connected also expresses itself in a conviction that each one of us deserves some basic measure of security. We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, hard times or bad luck, a crippling illness or a layoff, may strike any one of us. 'There but for the grace of God go I,' we say to ourselves, and so we contribute to programs like Medicare and Social Security, which guarantee us health care and a measure of basic income after a lifetime of hard work; unemployment insurance, which protects us against unexpected job loss; and Medicaid, which provides care for millions of seniors in nursing homes, poor children, and those with disabilities. We are a better country because of these commitments. I'll go further – we would not be a great country without those commitments.
"For much of the last century, our nation found a way to afford these investments and priorities with the taxes paid by its citizens. As a country that values fairness, wealthier individuals have traditionally born a greater share of this burden than the middle class or those less fortunate. This is not because we begrudge those who've done well – we rightly celebrate their success. Rather, it is a basic reflection of our belief that those who have benefitted most from our way of life can afford to give a bit more back. Moreover, this belief has not hindered the success of those at the top of the income scale, who continue to do better and better with each passing year.
"Now, at certain times – particularly during periods of war or recession – our nation has had to borrow money to pay for some of our priorities. And as most families understand, a little credit card debt isn't going to hurt if it's temporary.
"But as far back as the 1980s, America started amassing debt at more alarming levels, and our leaders began to realize that a larger challenge was on the horizon. They knew that eventually, the Baby Boom generation would retire, which meant a much bigger portion of our citizens would be relying on programs like Medicare, Social Security, and possibly Medicaid. Like parents with young children who know they have to start saving for the college years, America had to start borrowing less and saving more to prepare for the retirement of an entire generation.
"To meet this challenge, our leaders came together three times during the 1990s to reduce our nation's deficit. They forged historic agreements that required tough decisions made by the first President Bush and President Clinton; by Democratic Congresses and a Republican Congress. All three agreements asked for shared responsibility and shared sacrifice, but they largely protected the middle class, our commitments to seniors, and key investments in our future.
"As a result of these bipartisan efforts, America's finances were in great shape by the year 2000. We went from deficit to surplus. America was actually on track to becoming completely debt-free, and we were prepared for the retirement of the Baby Boomers.
"But after Democrats and Republicans committed to fiscal discipline during the 1990s, we lost our way in the decade that followed. We increased spending dramatically for two wars and an expensive prescription drug program – but we didn't pay for any of this new spending. Instead, we made the problem worse with trillions of dollars in unpaid-for tax cuts – tax cuts that went to every millionaire and billionaire in the country; tax cuts that will force us to borrow an average of $500 billion every year over the next decade.
"To give you an idea of how much damage this caused to our national checkbook, consider this: in the last decade, if we had simply found a way to pay for the tax cuts and the prescription drug benefit, our deficit would currently be at low historical levels in the coming years.
"Of course, that's not what happened. And so, by the time I took office, we once again found ourselves deeply in debt and unprepared for a Baby Boom retirement that is now starting to take place. When I took office, our projected deficit was more than $1 trillion. On top of that, we faced a terrible financial crisis and a recession that, like most recessions, led us to temporarily borrow even more. In this case, we took a series of emergency steps that saved millions of jobs, kept credit flowing, and provided working families extra money in their pockets. It was the right thing to do, but these steps were expensive, and added to our deficits in the short term.
"So that's how our fiscal challenge was created. This is how we got here. And now that our economic recovery is gaining strength, Democrats and Republicans must come together and restore the fiscal responsibility that served us so well in the 1990s. We have to live within our means, reduce our deficit, and get back on a path that will allow us to pay down our debt. And we have to do it in a way that protects the recovery, and protects the investments we need to grow, create jobs, and win the future.
"Now, before I get into how we can achieve this goal, some of you might be wondering, 'Why is this so important? Why does this matter to me?'
"Here's why. Even after our economy recovers, our government will still be on track to spend more money than it takes in throughout this decade and beyond. That means we'll have to keep borrowing more from countries like China. And that means more of your tax dollars will go toward paying off the interest on all the loans we keep taking out. By the end of this decade, the interest we owe on our debt could rise to nearly $1 trillion. Just the interest payments.
"Then, as the Baby Boomers start to retire and health care costs continue to rise, the situation will get even worse. By 2025, the amount of taxes we currently pay will only be enough to finance our health care programs, Social Security, and the interest we owe on our debt. That's it. Every other national priority – education, transportation, even national security – will have to be paid for with borrowed money.
"Ultimately, all this rising debt will cost us jobs and damage our economy. It will prevent us from making the investments we need to win the future. We won't be able to afford good schools, new research, or the repair of roads and bridges – all the things that will create new jobs and businesses here in America. Businesses will be less likely to invest and open up shop in a country that seems unwilling or unable to balance its books. And if our creditors start worrying that we may be unable to pay back our debts, it could drive up interest rates for everyone who borrows money – making it harder for businesses to expand and hire, or families to take out a mortgage.
"The good news is, this doesn't have to be our future. This doesn't have to be the country we leave to our children. We can solve this problem. We came together as Democrats and Republicans to meet this challenge before, and we can do it again.
"But that starts by being honest about what's causing our deficit. You see, most Americans tend to dislike government spending in the abstract, but they like the stuff it buys. Most of us, regardless of party affiliation, believe that we should have a strong military and a strong defense. Most Americans believe we should invest in education and medical research. Most Americans think we should protect commitments like Social Security and Medicare. And without even looking at a poll, my finely honed political skills tell me that almost no one believes they should be paying higher taxes.
"Because all this spending is popular with both Republicans and Democrats alike, and because nobody wants to pay higher taxes, politicians are often eager to feed the impression that solving the problem is just a matter of eliminating waste and abuse –that tackling the deficit issue won't require tough choices. Or they suggest that we can somehow close our entire deficit by eliminating things like foreign aid, even though foreign aid makes up about 1% of our entire budget.
"So here's the truth. Around two-thirds of our budget is spent on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and national security. Programs like unemployment insurance, student loans, veterans' benefits, and tax credits for working families take up another 20%. What's left, after interest on the debt, is just 12 percent for everything else. That's 12 percent for all of our other national priorities like education and clean energy; medical research and transportation; food safety and keeping our air and water clean.
"Up until now, the cuts proposed by a lot of folks in Washington have focused almost exclusively on that 12%. But cuts to that 12% alone won't solve the problem. So any serious plan to tackle our deficit will require us to put everything on the table, and take on excess spending wherever it exists in the budget. A serious plan doesn't require us to balance our budget overnight – in fact, economists think that with the economy just starting to grow again, we will need a phased-in approach – but it does require tough decisions and support from leaders in both parties. And above all, it will require us to choose a vision of the America we want to see five and ten and twenty years down the road.
"One vision has been championed by Republicans in the House of Representatives and embraced by several of their party's presidential candidates. It's a plan that aims to reduce our deficit by $4 trillion over the next ten years, and one that addresses the challenge of Medicare and Medicaid in the years after that.
"Those are both worthy goals for us to achieve. But the way this plan achieves those goals would lead to a fundamentally different America than the one we've known throughout most of our history.
"A 70% cut to clean energy. A 25% cut in education. A 30% cut in transportation. Cuts in college Pell Grants that will grow to more than $1,000 per year. That's what they're proposing. These aren't the kind of cuts you make when you're trying to get rid of some waste or find extra savings in the budget. These aren't the kind of cuts that Republicans and Democrats on the Fiscal Commission proposed. These are the kind of cuts that tell us we can't afford the America we believe in. And they paint a vision of our future that's deeply pessimistic.
"It's a vision that says if our roads crumble and our bridges collapse, we can't afford to fix them. If there are bright young Americans who have the drive and the will but not the money to go to college, we can't afford to send them. Go to China and you'll see businesses opening research labs and solar facilities. South Korean children are outpacing our kids in math and science. Brazil is investing billions in new infrastructure and can run half their cars not on high-priced gasoline, but biofuels. And yet, we are presented with a vision that says the United States of America – the greatest nation on Earth – can't afford any of this.
"It's a vision that says America can't afford to keep the promise we've made to care for our seniors. It says that ten years from now, if you're a 65 year old who's eligible for Medicare, you should have to pay nearly $6,400 more than you would today. It says instead of guaranteed health care, you will get a voucher. And if that voucher isn't worth enough to buy insurance, tough luck – you're on your own. Put simply, it ends Medicare as we know it.
"This is a vision that says up to 50 million Americans have to lose their health insurance in order for us to reduce the deficit. And who are those 50 million Americans? Many are someone's grandparents who wouldn't be able afford nursing home care without Medicaid. Many are poor children. Some are middle-class families who have children with autism or Down's syndrome. Some are kids with disabilities so severe that they require 24-hour care. These are the Americans we'd be telling to fend for themselves.
"Worst of all, this is a vision that says even though America can't afford to invest in education or clean energy; even though we can't afford to care for seniors and poor children, we can somehow afford more than $1 trillion in new tax breaks for the wealthy. Think about it. In the last decade, the average income of the bottom 90% of all working Americans actually declined. The top 1% saw their income rise by an average of more than a quarter of a million dollars each. And that's who needs to pay less taxes? They want to give people like me a two hundred thousand dollar tax cut that's paid for by asking thirty three seniors to each pay six thousand dollars more in health costs? That's not right, and it's not going to happen as long as I'm President.
"The fact is, their vision is less about reducing the deficit than it is about changing the basic social compact in America. As Ronald Reagan's own budget director said, there's nothing 'serious' or 'courageous' about this plan. There's nothing serious about a plan that claims to reduce the deficit by spending a trillion dollars on tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. There's nothing courageous about asking for sacrifice from those who can least afford it and don't have any clout on Capitol Hill. And this is not a vision of the America I know.
"The America I know is generous and compassionate; a land of opportunity and optimism. We take responsibility for ourselves and each other; for the country we want and the future we share. We are the nation that built a railroad across a continent and brought light to communities shrouded in darkness. We sent a generation to college on the GI bill and saved millions of seniors from poverty with Social Security and Medicare. We have led the world in scientific research and technological breakthroughs that have transformed millions of lives.
"This is who we are. This is the America I know. We don't have to choose between a future of spiraling debt and one where we forfeit investments in our people and our country. To meet our fiscal challenge, we will need to make reforms. We will all need to make sacrifices. But we do not have to sacrifice the America we believe in. And as long as I'm President, we won't.
"Today, I'm proposing a more balanced approach to achieve $4 trillion in deficit reduction over twelve years. It's an approach that borrows from the recommendations of the bipartisan Fiscal Commission I appointed last year, and builds on the roughly $1 trillion in deficit reduction I already proposed in my 2012 budget. It's an approach that puts every kind of spending on the table, but one that protects the middle-class, our promise to seniors, and our investments in the future.
"The first step in our approach is to keep annual domestic spending low by building on the savings that both parties agreed to last week – a step that will save us about $750 billion over twelve years. We will make the tough cuts necessary to achieve these savings, including in programs I care about, but I will not sacrifice the core investments we need to grow and create jobs. We'll invest in medical research and clean energy technology. We'll invest in new roads and airports and broadband access. We will invest in education and job training. We will do what we need to compete and we will win the future.
"The second step in our approach is to find additional savings in our defense budget. As Commander-in-Chief, I have no greater responsibility than protecting our national security, and I will never accept cuts that compromise our ability to defend our homeland or America's interests around the world. But as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mullen, has said, the greatest long-term threat to America's national security is America's debt.
"Just as we must find more savings in domestic programs, we must do the same in defense. Over the last two years, Secretary Gates has courageously taken on wasteful spending, saving $400 billion in current and future spending. I believe we can do that again. We need to not only eliminate waste and improve efficiency and effectiveness, but conduct a fundamental review of America's missions, capabilities, and our role in a changing world. I intend to work with Secretary Gates and the Joint Chiefs on this review, and I will make specific decisions about spending after it's complete.
"The third step in our approach is to further reduce health care spending in our budget. Here, the difference with the House Republican plan could not be clearer: their plan lowers the government's health care bills by asking seniors and poor families to pay them instead. Our approach lowers the government's health care bills by reducing the cost of health care itself.
"Already, the reforms we passed in the health care law will reduce our deficit by $1 trillion. My approach would build on these reforms. We will reduce wasteful subsidies and erroneous payments. We will cut spending on prescription drugs by using Medicare's purchasing power to drive greater efficiency and speed generic brands of medicine onto the market. We will work with governors of both parties to demand more efficiency and accountability from Medicaid. We will change the way we pay for health care – not by procedure or the number of days spent in a hospital, but with new incentives for doctors and hospitals to prevent injuries and improve results. And we will slow the growth of Medicare costs by strengthening an independent commission of doctors, nurses, medical experts and consumers who will look at all the evidence and recommend the best ways to reduce unnecessary spending while protecting access to the services seniors need.
"Now, we believe the reforms we've proposed to strengthen Medicare and Medicaid will enable us to keep these commitments to our citizens while saving us $500 billion by 2023, and an additional one trillion dollars in the decade after that. And if we're wrong, and Medicare costs rise faster than we expect, this approach will give the independent commission the authority to make additional savings by further improving Medicare.
"But let me be absolutely clear: I will preserve these health care programs as a promise we make to each other in this society. I will not allow Medicare to become a voucher program that leaves seniors at the mercy of the insurance industry, with a shrinking benefit to pay for rising costs. I will not tell families with children who have disabilities that they have to fend for themselves. We will reform these programs, but we will not abandon the fundamental commitment this country has kept for generations.
"That includes, by the way, our commitment to Social Security. While Social Security is not the cause of our deficit, it faces real long-term challenges in a country that is growing older. As I said in the State of the Union, both parties should work together now to strengthen Social Security for future generations. But we must do it without putting at risk current retirees, the most vulnerable, or people with disabilities; without slashing benefits for future generations; and without subjecting Americans' guaranteed retirement income to the whims of the stock market.
"The fourth step in our approach is to reduce spending in the tax code. In December, I agreed to extend the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans because it was the only way I could prevent a tax hike on middle-class Americans. But we cannot afford $1 trillion worth of tax cuts for every millionaire and billionaire in our society. And I refuse to renew them again.
"Beyond that, the tax code is also loaded up with spending on things like itemized deductions. And while I agree with the goals of many of these deductions, like homeownership or charitable giving, we cannot ignore the fact that they provide millionaires an average tax break of $75,000 while doing nothing for the typical middle-class family that doesn't itemize.
"My budget calls for limiting itemized deductions for the wealthiest 2% of Americans – a reform that would reduce the deficit by $320 billion over ten years. But to reduce the deficit, I believe we should go further. That's why I'm calling on Congress to reform our individual tax code so that it is fair and simple – so that the amount of taxes you pay isn't determined by what kind of accountant you can afford. I believe reform should protect the middle class, promote economic growth, and build on the Fiscal Commission's model of reducing tax expenditures so that there is enough savings to both lower rates and lower the deficit. And as I called for in the State of the Union, we should reform our corporate tax code as well, to make our businesses and our economy more competitive.
"This is my approach to reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over the next twelve years. It's an approach that achieves about $2 trillion in spending cuts across the budget. It will lower our interest payments on the debt by $1 trillion. It calls for tax reform to cut about $1 trillion in spending from the tax code. And it achieves these goals while protecting the middle class, our commitment to seniors, and our investments in the future.
"In the coming years, if the recovery speeds up and our economy grows faster than our current projections, we can make even greater progress than I have pledged here. But just to hold Washington – and me – accountable and make sure that the debt burden continues to decline, my plan includes a debt failsafe. If, by 2014, our debt is not projected to fall as a share of the economy – or if Congress has failed to act – my plan will require us to come together and make up the additional savings with more spending cuts and more spending reductions in the tax code. That should be an incentive for us to act boldly now, instead of kicking our problems further down the road.
"So this is our vision for America – a vision where we live within our means while still investing in our future; where everyone makes sacrifices but no one bears all the burden; where we provide a basic measure of security for our citizens and rising opportunity for our children.
"Of course, there will be those who disagree with my approach. Some will argue we shouldn't even consider raising taxes, even if only on the wealthiest Americans. It's just an article of faith for them. I say that at a time when the tax burden on the wealthy is at its lowest level in half a century, the most fortunate among us can afford to pay a little more. I don't need another tax cut. Warren Buffett doesn't need another tax cut. Not if we have to pay for it by making seniors pay more for Medicare. Or by cutting kids from Head Start. Or by taking away college scholarships that I wouldn't be here without. That some of you wouldn't be here without. And I believe that most wealthy Americans would agree with me. They want to give back to the country that's done so much for them. Washington just hasn't asked them to.
"Others will say that we shouldn't even talk about cutting spending until the economy is fully recovered. I'm sympathetic to this view, which is one of the reasons I supported the payroll tax cuts we passed in December. It's also why we have to use a scalpel and not a machete to reduce the deficit – so that we can keep making the investments that create jobs. But doing nothing on the deficit is just not an option. Our debt has grown so large that we could do real damage to the economy if we don't begin a process now to get our fiscal house in order.
"Finally, there are those who believe we shouldn't make any reforms to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security out of a fear that any talk of change to these programs will usher in the sort of radical steps that House Republicans have proposed. I understand these fears. But I guarantee that if we don't make any changes at all, we won't be able to keep our commitments to a retiring generation that will live longer and face higher health care costs than those who came before.
"Indeed, to those in my own party, I say that if we truly believe in a progressive vision of our society, we have the obligation to prove that we can afford our commitments. If we believe that government can make a difference in people's lives, we have the obligation to prove that it works – by making government smarter, leaner and more effective.
"Of course, there are those who will simply say that there's no way we can come together and agree on a solution to this challenge. They'll say the politics of this city are just too broken; that the choices are just too hard; that the parties are just too far apart. And after a few years in this job, I certainly have some sympathy for this view.
"But I also know that we've come together and met big challenges before. Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill came together to save Social Security for future generations. The first President Bush and a Democratic Congress came together to reduce the deficit. President Clinton and a Republican Congress battled each other ferociously and still found a way to balance the budget. In the last few months, both parties have come together to pass historic tax relief and spending cuts. And I know there are Republicans and Democrats in Congress who want to see a balanced approach to deficit reduction.
"I believe we can and must come together again. This morning, I met with Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress to discuss the approach I laid out today. And in early May, the Vice President will begin regular meetings with leaders in both parties with the aim of reaching a final agreement on a plan to reduce the deficit by the end of June.
"I don't expect the details in any final agreement to look exactly like the approach I laid out today. I'm eager to hear other ideas from all ends of the political spectrum. And though I'm sure the criticism of what I've said here today will be fierce in some quarters, and my critique of the House Republican approach has been strong, Americans deserve and will demand that we all bridge our differences, and find common ground.
"This larger debate we're having, about the size and role of government, has been with us since our founding days. And during moments of great challenge and change, like the one we're living through now, the debate gets sharper and more vigorous. That's a good thing. As a country that prizes both our individual freedom and our obligations to one another, this is one of the most important debates we can have.
"But no matter what we argue or where we stand, we've always held certain beliefs as Americans. We believe that in order to preserve our own freedoms and pursue our own happiness, we can't just think about ourselves. We have to think about the country that made those liberties possible. We have to think about our fellow citizens with whom we share a community. And we have to think about what's required to preserve the American Dream for future generations.
"This sense of responsibility – to each other and to our country – this isn't a partisan feeling. It isn't a Democratic or Republican idea. It's patriotism.
"The other day I received a letter from a man in Florida. He started off by telling me he didn't vote for me and he hasn't always agreed with me. But even though he's worried about our economy and the state of our politics, he said,
'I still believe. I believe in that great country that my grandfather told me about. I believe that somewhere lost in this quagmire of petty bickering on every news station, the "American Dream" is still alive. . .
'We need to use our dollars here rebuilding, refurbishing and restoring all that our ancestors struggled to create and maintain. . . We as a people must do this together, no matter the color of the state one comes from or the side of the aisle one might sit on.'
"I still believe as well. And I know that if we can come together, and uphold our responsibilities to one another and to this larger enterprise that is America, we will keep the dream of our founding alive in our time, and pass on to our children the country we believe in. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America."
Shortly after starting on my educational journey, I vowed to not let my personal feelings regarding the literary failings of my fellow students. One of the reasons for this decision was that I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, since my school blog is known to my peers. My frustration over the lack of writing ability that persists in my school is assiduous, nonetheless. Even at the higher level classes that I’m taking now, these people can not construct a sentence in any form conducive to basic understanding. Reading the newspaper, or a book, watching the news, placing an order for pizza- anything having to do with communication with other people should give some sort of clue to these people about how the English language is constructed. There should be some indication that they can’t write based on the readings we have for class. It should be blatantly obvious that something is seriously wrong with their communication skills.
There are those who make a concerted effort to construct an argument, only to fall short in coordination, punctuation or s-v agreement. I’m not talking about them. At least they are trying and even if they fail to make their point, at least they are writing coherently.
Not that there isn’t help for those who revert to severely informal street talk/MTV cadence. The school has a very helpful incredibly extensive writing support center for people who want to become better writers. If the state of the written word does not improve in the next couple weeks, I may be forced to act inappropriately.
Website, Work, School. Three ends of an impossibly long candle, all burning at the exact same time.
I’ve been working for most of the past week on my Chinese History website to ready it for display as part of the vanity portion of my professional portfolio. Ridding it of redundant links, fixing broken ones, etc. The splash page has been redesigned, which almost always seems to happen, despite having the simplest of goals, none of which having anything to do with the splash page. Since starting school, there has been so little time, if any at all, for it and I felt so neglectful when the Year of the Rabbit started without so much as a mention.
The last term of school hasn’t yet been archived and I’m so far behind in getting that information gathered, let alone the new term. The books for my classes arrived Monday evening with a bang, when the UPS guy decided to knock on the glass storm door, which caused all sorts of racket.
Since my work is contract based, and I’m kept on retainer, actual work is sporadic at best. That said, how do these people always know when I’m swamped with either school work or professional development activities? They only ask me to do something when it is the least convenient for me to do them. Also, there is a sixth sense about them because most of their requests come on the very first day of classes, while only silence is heard in the week long break between classes.
Now that my busy, busy calendar has been laid to bare, I suppose I should get started with it, rather than going on about it, no?
An Idiot Abroad began on the Science Channel about seven weeks ago. The premise is a fish out of water. In the case of this show, Karl Pilkington is the fish, the water is a cozy home in a safe, urban environment. The brainchild of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, colleagues of Pilkington, it thrusts an ‘idiot’ into the uncomfortable world of travel abroad without the benefit of desire for the traveler to go forth on the journeys. Pilkington is sent to the seven wonders of the ancient world: The Great Wall, Taj Mahal, Petra, Chichen Itza, Great Pyramids, Christ the Redeemer and Machu Picchu. Gervais and Merchant then immerse Pilkington into the local culture by sending him to local celebrations, religious ceremonies, carnival celebrations, wilderness outings, etc.
I’ve never been a fan of Gervais, so when he laughs at Pilkington’s first impressions, I am immediately annoyed and instinctually find the opposing view, which is, stop laughing at him. It makes Gervais appear petty.
Perhaps that’s too harsh an interpretation. Perhaps it’s that I feel a kind of comradery with Pilkington since he says the things that I sometimes feel in similarly unfamiliar, uncomfortable situations.
Pilkington grows on you as a loveable deadpan artist, whose observations are honest naïveté about almost everything he experiences. His desire to find a common communication and common threads in humanity is admirable. He has a single talent for finding the slightest familiar aspect in the people whose cultures he is experiencing and building a relationship based on that.
I’m not convinced that Gervais should have even been on camera. Certainly his ideas for comedic antics could have come from off screen. His laugh is irritating. In fact, I almost didn’t watch the show in the beginning because of Gervais’ involvement.
The best part of this show is Pilkington’s reaction to the seven wonders. He is almost unimpressed. And it’s funny.
For this year’s milestone birthday, I decided to have a three day extravaganza, topped off with a gift to myself. The gift was finally, at long last, my own website. richwertzonline.com is up and running. The time it took settling on a theme was a bit longer than anticipated, but in the end, it is a bamboo inspired design with some pretty impressive and cutting edge css style renderings. Of course, I had to make a statement along the lines that it looked and functioned better with either a Chrome or Firefox browser. I imagine some people might say that I am incapable of designing anything that is viewable in Internet Explorer. I say to them that IE hasn’t been able to match my level of creativity as yet. I’ve always been one to push the boundaries of web design. I remember spending so much time creating images for a table layout that mimicked public transportation with the content located where the adverts would be. It was a while before I could show it to anyone without Netscape or Mozilla. Just for kicks, I re-created the same concept using purely css constructs and it took about a tenth the amount of time.
So that’s how I spent the first half of my birthday week. Tweaking my new website and doing school work. The other half consisted of my birthday dinner (on the day of my birthday) at Hokkaido; Kara joined us and she gave me an iTunes gift card in a really awesome card. I managed to stuff an entire plate of crab legs into my gob, but half of the shells ended up on the floor when I tried to open a particularly difficult shell and slipped. The wait staff literally standing next to our table didn’t find my antics amusing at all. Afterward, we all went to Dave & Buster’s for some game time. Kara won me 1,000 tickets at the bass fishing thing- which was really awesome. I couldn’t get enough of the coin games. Jovanna met us there and had some fun, too. Some of the nearly 3,000 tickets we have on the card covered the purchase of a new mug.
Thursday was stamppot day. Kara, Jen and my mom were invited, but mom had to cancel because of her back. Everything was delicious- even the turkey sausage turned out better than I thought.
A few days after my birthday, we went to mom’s so that she could give both Marieke and I our birthday presents. She gave me a really neato existentialist book about chaos theory and the philosophy of physics. It’s kind of hard to read, only because certain sections need some devoted time to finish and I can only read it in smaller bits until class is over.
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25 November 2011
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