2-2-10 (Groundhog Day)

It is Tuesday morning February 2nd and it is Groundhog day!! Weeeeeeee! I am not sure if the Groundhog saw his shadow or not this morning. All I am interested in is seeing the bottom of my coffee cup. I can smell the coffee brewing this morning and it smells so good to me. But moving on from my unnatural relationship with coffee.

Today is also the day that the Academy announced the Oscar nominations so without further time wasting I give you the nominees. These are courtesy of the www.oscar.go.com You can for there for a full list. I will see you at the bottom of the list.

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
- NOMINATIONS BY CATEGORY - 82ND AWARDS -
Performance by an actor in a leading role

* Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart" (Fox Searchlight)
* George Clooney in "Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
* Colin Firth in "A Single Man" (The Weinstein Company)
* Morgan Freeman in "Invictus" (Warner Bros.)
* Jeremy Renner in "The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

* Matt Damon in "Invictus" (Warner Bros.)
* Woody Harrelson in "The Messenger" (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
* Christopher Plummer in "The Last Station" (Sony Pictures Classics)
* Stanley Tucci in "The Lovely Bones" (DreamWorks in association with Film4, Distributed by Paramount)
* Christoph Waltz in "Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company)

Performance by an actress in a leading role

* Sandra Bullock in "The Blind Side" (Warner Bros.)
* Helen Mirren in "The Last Station" (Sony Pictures Classics)
* Carey Mulligan in "An Education" (Sony Pictures Classics)
* Gabourey Sidibe in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate)
* Meryl Streep in "Julie & Julia" (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

* Penélope Cruz in "Nine" (The Weinstein Company)
* Vera Farmiga in "Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
* Maggie Gyllenhaal in "Crazy Heart" (Fox Searchlight)
* Anna Kendrick in "Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
* Mo'Nique in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate)

Best animated feature film of the year

*
"Coraline" (Focus Features) Henry Selick
*
"Fantastic Mr. Fox" (20th Century Fox) Wes Anderson
*
"The Princess and the Frog" (Walt Disney) John Musker and Ron Clements
*
"The Secret of Kells" (GKIDS) Tomm Moore
*
"Up" (Walt Disney) Pete Docter

Best motion picture of the year

*
"Avatar" (20th Century Fox)
A Lightstorm Entertainment Production James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
*
"The Blind Side" (Warner Bros.)
An Alcon Entertainment Production Nominees to be determined
*
"District 9" (Sony Pictures Releasing)
A Block/Hanson Production Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
*
"An Education" (Sony Pictures Classics)
A Finola Dwyer/Wildgaze Films Production Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
*
"The Hurt Locker" (Summit Entertainment)
A Voltage Pictures Production Nominees to be determined
*
"Inglourious Basterds" (The Weinstein Company)
A Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures/A Band Apart/Zehnte Babelsberg Production Lawrence Bender, Producer
*
"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" (Lionsgate)
A Lee Daniels Entertainment/Smokewood Entertainment Production Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
*
"A Serious Man" (Focus Features)
A Working Title Films Production Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
*
"Up" (Walt Disney)
A Pixar Production Jonas Rivera, Producer
*
"Up in the Air" (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
A Montecito Picture Company Production Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers


So, what did you think? I think there were some pretty interesting films this year. I was not on board with the "Inglourious Basterds" I thought it was far to talky and sequences just drug on and on and on. Particularly the opening sequence it was horrible. But much like with most films I am in the minority. In fact when I do Oscar pools I never pick what I think are the winning films. I always pick what I think the Academy will pick and I do pretty well. It is easy I just remove my brain and sit there slack jawed and drooling for awhile and then I am as smart as any celebrity. That being said I think I will post my picks in a few days and maybe we can have a little Oscar party right here on "One For The Ages" so give it some thought people and we will see what happens.

2-1-10 (Monday)

Well here we are Monday morning Feb 1st. I hope you all had a good weekend. While mine was by and large uneventful I would say that the most eventful thing I did was to finally stop working at the church. Now, those of you who read this blog and know me in meat space are all well aware of how long I have worked at the church on and off over the last I would say nearly 20 years. I was not a pastor or any kind of officiate there. I used to call myself a church sexton But I was really just a custodian. I grew up going to that church. My parents had been missionaries in Indonesia coming out of there and I went with them. In fact I lived in Indonesia for basically the first three years of my life and when we returned to the states I spoke better Indonesian then I did English.

I grew up going to the church and being involved and once I got out of high school and after spending some time working in a few different movie theaters I ended up working at the church. I enjoyed it there but it also was a place that allowed me to be lazy and to not move forward or to pursue things that I might have had I not had that safety net to fall back into. It isn't the church's fault it was my own doing. Basically a mix of fear and a desire to be comfortable kind of locked me into place. Well! I have already written more about this then I intended to. I guess it was more of a big deal then I thought it was or wanted to admit. I guess that is what happens when I write without the filters in place. I hope people didn't mind a little bit of the old autobiographical this morning.

On to the politics....................I read an interesting quote by Gore Vidal this morning,

"“It makes no difference who you vote for — the two parties are really one party representing four percent of the people.”

I am not sure when he said it but it really rings true for me today the Monday after President Obamas state of the union address. Because we have a two-party system, the only choice people have if they 
don’t like what’s happening is to vote for the other guy,
 even if the other guy is largely responsible for what’s happening, and the 
guy that’s in there now is in there because of the other guy’s mistakes.

People are angry at deficits, largely run up by the irresponsibility of the 
Bush administration, and topped off by Obama.
 They’re angry that the bankers who got us in this mess are making millions
. Thanks mainly to deregulation
 promoted primarily by Republicans (but signed off on by Clinton). They’re 
angry about jobs, but there would be a lot more of them if the 
stimulus package had been larger, which would have increased the deficit, 
which they are angry about. They are angry that Washington 
seems totally controlled by special interests, so they’re going to vote for the
 party that loves special interests at least as much as the 
party in power now. They’re angry at the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which 
were started by the party they just voted out a year ago.
 They are angry that President Obama has accomplished so little of his agenda, so 
they’re going to vote for the party that has unanimously opposed
 every single aspect of it.

I have said it before and I will say it again. The two party system is a failure in America. There is no real difference. The agenda they both seem to have is to look for themselves and not for the good of the American people. The Democrats in Congress have proven that with their actions over the last few years. It was interesting to see the populace rise up in anger and shake their collective fist at the Republicans a few years ago and pretty much sweep them out of Congress. Oh the Democrats cheered. "It is a mandate from the people." they said. What is was was a mandate for these guys stink and we have no other option. Sure the Democrats said they would be different...they haven't been. So few years have passed and nothing has changed and surprise, surprise, surprise people are angry. Throw those bums out they are yelling. We will replace them with the same kind of bums we threw out before and then we will act surprised when they screw us.

WAKE UP PEOPLE!! The system is broken and the Tea Party pipe dream is not going to fix it. Keith Olberman and his Olbermaniacs are not going to fix it. Glenn Beck is not going to fix it. There needs to be! There must be viable third party candidates that are willing to listen to the needs of the populace and not the needs of the business as usual crowd. I hope one day true change will come in America but I am not holding my breath.

1-29-10 (Friday)

Yesterday the big news on the Internet was that Howard Zinn died and J D Salinger. I have not read Zinns work but he seems to have been quite the polarizing figure. I personally know people who are progressives that love him and I know a few conservatives who feel that he was worthless. It makes me want to track down his writings to see what all the hubbub is about.

Now as far as Salinger goes I have read 'The Catcher in the Rye' it was several years ago. Actually over a decade and I am unable to remember if I thought it was good on not. That isn't a good sign for me. If I really like something I am going to remember it and I can point to 'The Hobbit' or 'Fight Club' as books that have carried a real weight for me. Yesterday as I was looking around and seeing different things about Salinger I came across a clip from the film 'Dead Poets Society'. The clip I linked is from the end of the movie after they have SPOILER ALERT.......fired the teacher and he is returning to the class room to collect his personals.

Now when this movie was released I was working at a movie theater in Salem and going to Chemeketa Community College and had a pipe dream of working someday as a film director. I took film classes at school and really lived and breathed the movies. I was a projectionist at the theater and would often watch the movies from the booth as they ran. It wasn't a great viewing experience. The machines would clank and squeal and I would have to make sure the change over happened just right or I would have a real mess on my hands. But every now and then a film would come along that as I watched it from my perch in the booth. Viewing it through a grimy little window, a film would transcend its surroundings and take me away. 'Dead Poets Society' was such a film for me. I would stand in the booth and weep. I want you to watch that clip above and if you have seen the film before just enjoy the power of it. Watch it and think back to when you were younger and things seemed so important. When it felt like no one was listening to you and all that you had was your books or art or movies or music or whatever it was that made you a special person.

When you knew deep down in your heart that 'The Man' existed solely to stop you from achieving your greatness. Then take a look around you and realize that somehow with out you realizing it you have become 'The Man'. I would watch movies like 'Dead Poets Society' and get so mad. I would weep with frustration at the actions of the parents in the films and shake my fists at the screen. "How can they not understand?" I remember yelling out in the middle of 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure' as one of them was going to be sent to military school. "Just punch him!!'. Well people around me laughed and that was all well and good but I was not trying to be funny. I was legitimately angry.I miss the passion that movies used to generate in me. I still love film and I think I have a pretty nice and intelligent DVD collection of some classics as well as some more of the modern films. But the passion I used to feel is not there.

I think that is partially the fault of modern cinema but that is a story for another day. All that being said I want to know your top 5 most emotionally impactful films.

1. Dead Poets Society
2. Fight Club
3. Gatteca
4. Requiem For a Dream
5. Charlie or Flowers For Algernon

1-28-2010 (Thursday)

Good morning folks. It is Thursday and I am back on the train. I just decided that I did not want to drive today so I pulled into Wilsonville and here I am. I enjoy the driving but I was not feeling it today.

Pretty big things going on in my corner of the world. The Presidents state of the union address was last night. I didn't think that he said anything extreme or really thought provoking. If anything I think he has chickened out on his ideas of change and has begun to act just like any other politician and that is sad to me. But, I guess I should have realized that when he asked Joe Biden to be his VP. If anything said "Hey, I am going to say change but really it will be the same old, same old." The presence of Biden should have clued me in. Now granted I did not want the kind of change that McCain was pushing with Palin but I wanted something more then we have gotten from Mr Obama. I hope the next two years may allow for some of that.

In Oregon, the fallout from Measures 66 & 67 is building. It really felt like someone had died yesterday. Because everywhere I turned on Facebook there was someone expressing sadness at the bills passing. Now I realize that there were some pretty heated things being sad and statistics being thrown back and forth about job loss and such. But, the sad reality is that it really did not matter if these bills passed or not. Because in Oregon right now there would be, will be job loss. I think the biggest thing that the bills did was to decided from where that job loss was going to happen either the public or the private sector. The other big thing these bills did was to highlight the differences in what the people of Oregon think is good politics and isn't. When I looked at the county listings of the vote outcome it was pretty obvious that along the I-5 corridor and through the Willamette Valley these counties voted yes. But east of them and south it was a no vote. What this means is that the population centers of the state are controlling the future of the state. While I realize that this is frustrating for people I think that is Democracy and when the populace has a vote well sometimes you have to eat a crap sandwich.

I have also heard a few people mention, one on the radio, that they wonder about voter fraud. I hope that isn't the case. I like the vote by mail system in Oregon and I do not want it to change. I do not think there was voter fraud and until I hear actual evidence of such a thing I am going to continue thinking it was a fair vote that played out along party and population lines.

All of that being said. I think Oregon will get through this. The wheel keeps turning and life moves forward. Big business will stay and return to Oregon. We will get out of this recession and the jobs will come. I am confident of that. I do not think our state is going to go the route of California or Arizona. So hang in there Oregonians there is always sunshine after the rain but we all know that sometimes the rain lasts for several years.

1-27-10 (Wednesday)

Well...in what I think is a surprising result Oregon voters decided to pass measures 66 and 67. This is the first time in 70 years that Oregon has voted in a tax increase. In fact 9 times in the past Oregon has said no to a sales tax. So I think there are more then a few of the so called experts that are shaking their heads over this one. Now as I mentioned yesterday, only time will tell if this is going to be a net gain or loss for Oregon. While the supporters of the measures feel that this is going to be a gain because of the tax revenue it is going to generate that anti people feel that the amount of private industry jobs that Oregon is going to lose because of this will make this a net loss. I have no idea and I am not even going to attempt to make a prediction on it.

Tonight President Obama gives his State of the Union address. I am not overly excited by this. I think the primary reason for me is that because Mr Obama has been out speaking so much I am not feeling a need to listen. With other Presidents it was rare to hear them speak so I would sometimes view it just because I wanted to see how they spoke publicly. But with Mr Obama that is not anything I haven't seen before. As a matter of fact, along those same lines of public speaking I saw a clip of President Obama last night speaking to a class of 6Th graders, somewhere in America I am not sure where, the clip was on the daily show. What was interesting to me and what Jon Stewart mentioned was that the President was in a 6Th grade classroom with the presidential podium set up and two 'TELEPROMPTERS' set up!! One to his right and one two his left!! I mean come on! You are in a grade school class room!! Do you really need to have teleprompters? I am beginning to feel more and more just like the old Who song says "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss" I know people will disagree with me and it isn't that Obama is the same as Bush. It is that he is becoming the same business as usual politician that infects this country. The conservatives are excited right now about Scott Browns victory in Massachusetts. I would argue that given a year or maybe as little as six months he will be sucked into the machine will be spat out the same politician as the rest of them.

It doesn't matter what party they are from. The lobbyists for the corporations and the corporations run things in Washington D.C.. I am beginning to feel more and more that the only real safe haven for people is what can happen for them at the state level. Maybe what we need is a return to federalism and a step back from the large umbrella of national government. I do feel that I am in favor of the new spending freeze idea. I just hope it works.

1-26-10 (Tuesday)

Well I took a side trip last night on my way home from Beaverton and stopped into the Comcast office to pick up my new HD/DVR box for the new television. That was an eye opener. I had decided to pick up my box under the mistaken assumption that it would be faster...it was not. It was much like going to the DMV. I walked in the office at about 4:45 or so and there was a line of people along every open wall space as well as every chair except one being full. After that initial shock I noticed that I needed to take a number from the number machine. But it wasn't that simple. I had to choose what I was there for since it seems each of the six windows were for a different function. I choose equipment pickup/drop off and it was time to take a seat.

It was at that point that I noticed my number was T405 and the numbers on the board were T495. I begin to get nervous. Had I taken the wrong number? All of these people couldn't be here for equipment could they? How embarrassing was this going to be for me? But at the T499 mark the numbers flipped over to T400 and I breathed a sigh of relief. It had been all I could do to not go get another number. That kind of momentary panic is pretty common for me as is the follow up worry about am I going to look foolish or be embarrassed in front of people who do not know who I am.

It is funny to me that I worry about that. Because anyone who knows me can tell you that if I am around a group of people who do know me I am not afraid to look foolish if I can make people laugh. It isn't like I am some sort of smooth James Bondian fellow anyway. I can be clumsy. I have fallen over in public several time and usually because I stepped on uneven sidewalk. But I survived the experience and now have HD at home and let me tell you. I realize I am a little late coming to the HD party but wow! I am even more looking forward to the Olympics and the Super Bowl then I was before.

That is all for today. I hope you voted if you live in Oregon. You still have time to get out there and drop it off. Tomorrow should be interesting as the results begin to come in.

1-25-10 (Monday)

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a good weekend. Mine wasn't anything special although I did purchase a new television and my good friend Joel came over and helped me get it set up. It wasn't all that complicated but it was easier to do with two people that is for sure. Now if things go well today I should be up and running on HD for both the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics. I am looking forward to watching both of those particular sporting events. But, to be honest with out the Pittsburgh Steelers this years Super Bowl does not hold a lot of interest for me. I will be loosely rooting for the Colts to win but only because I think Peyton Manning is the best quarterback in the NFL today. He plays with such consistency and poise that it seems almost effortless for him. As far as the people who will say that Brett Favre is the best QB, I have to disagree on the grounds that he throws too many interceptions. He forces passes and it hurts his team as proven by the game yesterday. He threw one too many passes and I think it cost his team the game.

The close of voting is Tuesday night at 8pm for Oregons big tax bills. It is going to be interesting to see the end result of this. If they pass then taxes will go up on corporations from $10 a year to $150 and individuals making over $250,000 a year. If they do not pass then the state legislature will have to meet and decide where and how to cut some things and make the budget balance. That is going to be an interesting process. I think it is all going to come down to which pro or con groups had the best propaganda because right now you can't turn on the radio or the TV without hearing a commercial. I am personally torn on this one because I realize that we need taxes to pay for the services that we get from the state government it is also true that Oregon government is seriously bloated. This really seems like a lose, lose situation for both sides because I think either result is going to result in job loss for the state in one form or another. I hope I am wrong about that.

With that I leave you good folks, I hope you all have a good day and I will see you tomorrow.

1-22-23 (Friday)

Good morning America. Say hello to our new corporate masters!! Yesterday in a 5 to 4 vote the United Stats Supreme Court ruled that there are now no spending limits on how much money a corporation can spend on or for a political campaign or candidate. To put this in different terms. If a company like Nike wanted George H. W. Obama III to be in office they could, in the past, give him a limited amount of money or open a PAC (Political Action Committee) that they could use to raise money and to funnel money through. Now with the new Supreme Court ruling Nike could spend say a billion dollars to run commercials or buy blocks of advertising. Really with no limits to the shape it could take. While it is true that they can't give the money directly to the candidate this still concerns me.

The reason it concerns me is that humans are lame. We are not pleasant people, sure some of us are but allow me the generalization, at our core humans tend to look out for number one. I am already in low opinion of most politicians to begin with. What this ruling means that the pressure a politician may already feel to rule in favor of a financial supporter may be magnified ten or even one hundred fold. In my personal life if someone gives me money for something even if it is a gift for a holiday I tend to feel like I need to give them the benefit of a listen if they have a suggestion as to how I might spend it.

So how is politician supposed to not listen and even do what a corporation asks or tells him to do when they say 'hey pal, we spend x millions of dollars to get you elected. If you do not we will spend it on your opponent in the next cycle.' I just do not see a good outcome for this. I think it will make the public more cynical of the whole process and make politicians more corrupt if that is even possible.

Maybe I am wrong and if a reader can explain to me why. Then by all means please do so. I would love to hear it.

1-21-10 (Thursday)

Good morning folks. I trust you are all well today. The week seems to be moving along nicely over here on the west coast of America. I noticed when I was looking at who visits my blog that last week I had received a visit from someone in Hong Kong and from someone in Brazil. I think that is pretty cool. I do not have even a medium sized reading audience and that is fine with me. So to me it is even more amazing when people from other countries find their way here. I have a pretty regular visitor near as I can tell from England and I have had a visit in the past from Venezuela.

To me, and I may have mentioned this before, the greatest strength of the internet is that people from all over the world are able to communicate with each other. But I do not come to praise the internet. I do not think that it needs me to. I just think it is great that I can talk to people in basically real time from all over. I think it is great even if we disagree because at least there is some communication and then it helps me to realize that despite our disagreements that person is a human being. Well all except for Van, I am pretty sure he is a soulless robot. :) I kid, I kid!

I think the reason that these thoughts popped into my head today is that as I was listening to the radio on the way to work today they were talking about yesterdays midterm elections in Massachusetts and how that election was a sign of the will of the voters in America. Well my first thought was. What? I am not a part of Massachusetts and I do want there to be some kind of health care reform. So how can that vote be about anything other then what the voters in Massachusetts want. My second thought was besides "Why, should I care in Oregon what anybody does over there? They do not seem to care about me." So it is interesting to me because on a person to person level I love to hear what people think and I love to read blogs and stuff. But on the statewide voting level. I really could not care less how Massachusetts as a state votes. I do not like the Boston Redsox, Bruins, Celtics or any other team of Boston origin. As far as I am concerned it will be a good day when global warming causes the bay to rise and floods Boston.

You folks have a good day! ... I said Goood Day!!

1-20-10 (Wednesday)

Well, well, well and interesting turn of events in Massachusetts last night. The Internet is a buzz this morning as was Facebook last night with all of the usual suspects taking their usual sides and being all excited about something that they think is going to change everything.

I say phooey! I say nothing is going to change and that in the end this whole thing is just going to be business as usual for the people that really run this country. Oh sure the right is all fired up. The Tea pot is boiling over!! We have turned back Obama they yell. It is the death knell for universal health care others proclaim. I would argue that if you actually thought that universal health care had a chance of passing in this country you were deluding yourself.

The only way it will pass here is if it would in some way benefit the pharmaceutical companies and the insurance companies. This will never happen. The big drug companies depend on the amount of money they take in from there medicines and insurance depends on the premiums that they take in. These two groups alone will never give up their stranglehold on health care. I would argue that this is also another reason that marijuana will never be legalized nationwide in America. It may get legalized on a state by state level which it appears to be on the path toward just that. But I do not see the drug industry getting out of the way of and allowing the legalization of a pain killing substance that people are able to grow in their back yard or basement.

But that is a side issue and I didn't intend to talk about that today though it relates to lots of things. I think most if not all of what goes on in Washington D.C. is done at the behest of the large corporations and special interest groups. I remember when President Obama was elected a large amount of Americans started buying up guns and ammunition and reloading materials to the extent that it became hard to find them in the stores. Several of my friends were convinced that Obama was going to move to ban guns. My response was this. "What do you think the NRA is doing in Washington? The NRA (National Rifle Association) gets millions of dollars a year from people in America who love guns. They know that if guns were to be banned this money tree would dry up. It is only reasonable that they do all they can to ensure that the new president does not ban guns." So has there been any movement to ban guns from the White House? Not that I have seen so far. I think the only way there ever will be such a thing in this country is if a large lobbying firm came in with billions of dollars and went head to head against the NRA in a battle of who had the deepest pockets. Then we would truly see how much greed runs things in this country.

Because in the end this is what truly runs America. The almighty dollar and the desire to get more and keep more for yourself even if that means climbing over the backs of others to do so. I think this is true of the ruling class in this country regardless of their claiming to be right or to be left. It just doesn't matter! With that being said I leave you with this lovely picture of Massachusetts newest Senator Scott Brown. He does appear to be ready to lead.

1-19-10 (Tuesday)

Good morning again folks, I hope today finds you well. I guess I should take it as a good thing because I am not feeling really fired up about anything today. I realize there are probably plenty of things in the world that I could get worked up about but I just do not feel the need to poke at them this morning.

I think one reason might be that I am just drained from hearing about Haiti every morning on the radio. It just seems like the reports are getting worse and worse and I wonder when things are going to get better. I also wonder in what form the rebuilding is going to take in Port-au-Prince. It is going to be interesting to see because while this is truly a tragedy it also is an opportunity to rebuild a city and that is a rare thing. A lot of issues will be with cost and safety but with the Haitian government being pretty much nonexistent at this time I wonder what is going to happen.

My dead, cynical, acorn sized, coal made, heart says 'Not Much!!'. But I am hoping that for once he is wrong and that something good will come out of this for the people of Haiti.

That is about it for today. I realize that the posts have been short the last couple of days but I have been trying to get the schedule adjusted since moving into the new place. I think things are going to settle down here pretty soon and hopefully I will be back to my usual tricks. That may not be something that all of you like but oh well.

Jan 18, 2010 (MLK Jr Day)

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Good Morning folks, I hope you are all well today and had a nice weekend. I posted the quote above since today is MLK day and I am hoping to do something on the blog each day there is some sort of honoring of some one in America or maybe the world I am not sure. So most of the time I imagine it taking the shape of me posting a quote and then maybe a few thoughts about that quote but sometimes it may just be the quote. I am not fully committed either way yet.

That being said I do find today's quote pretty interesting to me on a purely personal level. I have been struggling with what faith means for a long time. I really feel that any thinking person has to struggle with this issue now and then. Even more so if you are at all religious in nature. The amount of mystery that goes with believing in a higher power makes faith a huge issue. At least I think it does. I would love to have the sheer confidence of the true believer or the sheer confidence of the hard core atheist.

I instead fall somewhere in the middle of the two camps and shift back and forth depending on the books I have read or where my emotions are, are any given time. I do not think this is a good thing or makes me better in some way or another then any body else it just is. Sometimes even when I can see the whole staircase I have a hard time believing it is real. So I am not sure what that actually means.

I am also not actually sure where I was going with this today. So I think I will stop there. Perhaps I will expand on this theme at a later date I am not sure. Anyway I hope you all have a good day and I hope to hear from you soon.

Tuesday, 1/12/10

Hey everybody, here we are on day number two of the work week. I hope things are progressing nicely for everyone. I am doing okay on my end. I had to drive today because I am doing some courier work this afternoon and let me tell you I did not enjoy it. I realize that I have outlined on here before my love for the train. Some people probably wish that I would stop talking about it. But, on the days when I have to drive in I realize how much better it is for me to be able to relax a little bit and not be worried about what the obviously insane person in the car next to me is doing. "Hey! Hey! Stay in your lane! Knucklehead!"

I came to the conclusion today that a lot of my frustration in the car comes from the fact that I do not know where the other drivers are going. When I am on the freeway I tend to drive looking ahead to where my exit is going to be and I do what I can to get over into that exit lane with out forcing my way in or making others slam on their brakes. So I am always amazed when someone comes flying up beside and and forces their way in. Did they not realize this was where the exit is? Or, do they just not care? It is at times likes this that I wish for a megaphone so that I can ask them these questions in what I hope is the most polite manner possible.

We are gearing up for the 'Castle Doctrine' referendum at work. The simplest way to explain it is that going back to medieval times and some would argue that back to the Torah that a mans home is his castle and he has the right to defend it from trespassers. Some states have a clause that before a person can defend themselves or others in their home there must be no chance of retreat. Other states, Texas for one, allow you to pretty much shoot someone if they enter your home. You do not even have to be sure that your life is at risk. They broke in and you shot them simple end of story. The Oregon law will not go that far and it also cleans up some ambiguity in the way the present law is written. The one thing it does that I am the most interested in is that it will stop a land owner from being sued if someone gets hurt trespassing on their property.

I feel like I am okay with that. Having been a landowner I was always a little fearful that if someone climbed into our hot tub and drowned I would be negligent even if I hadn't given them permission and they were in effect breaking into the tub. So I will be watching the debate on this one with some interest. I believe that it will get on the ballot without to much trouble.

I also have been watching with some interest the debate on the two tax measures in Oregon. One raises the minimum tax on business and the other raises the income tax on people making over $100,000 and then $250,000 a year. The debate on this issue has been very heated with pro tax people saying that Oregon will be bankrupt if these do not pass and the anti-tax people saying that these taxes will drive business out of Oregon. I think the end result of this either way it shakes out is going to make things interesting.

Jan 11, 2010, Monday

Happy Monday everyone!! Whenever I say that it reminds me of the film 'Office Space'. That is a film I enjoy quite a bit. But I didn't come here today to talk about films or politics or even theology. I came here to address something that occurred to me yesterday.

I moved yesterday into yet another new place. This is a better place, newer and actual insulation in the walls and air conditioning. But, the process of moving was a hard one for me. I can already tell that I am going to be more comfortable in the new place. I am living with a good friend of mine and he and I seem to get along, we have lived together before and that worked out pretty good if you discount the chicken grease on the remote control incident, as well as the steak left in the oven incident. I shall speak no more of these.

But I wanted to touch on friends and there existence in all of our worlds. My life has been really in an upheaval lately as several of you know. Well I realized yesterday as my friend Chad made several trips with me back and forth to the new place. This is the easily the third or forth time that he has helped me move as well as helped me just in my daily life of living. I have known him since grade school and he has been with me through thick and thin. I owe him so much that it is hard for me to add them up.

The other guy I wanted to say by name is my friend Travis. I have known Travis since high school and have worked with him and for him in several different capacities. I have always found him to be both fair and understanding in the work environment yet still be able to just be friends outside of the office. He is whom I am working for now and I really enjoy what I do. What I realized this weekend as I looked at the boxes of books and DVD s and other assorted detritus that my ex-wife dropped off for me. I realized that if it were not for Travis and this job that he reached out to me with I would not have survived this whole mess. I do not say this to be melodramatic or to ask for people to explain to me the value of my life. I understand all of that.

But, the simple reality is that what this job and my friendships with others has done is allow me to land on my feet. It has allowed me to continue moving forward and to do something that I find interesting and sometimes exciting. If I had not been working I am not sure what would have become of me. That is the truth. There would not have been a reason to get up each day. A reason to keep moving forward and to keep looking into the future. My life changed and it changed in a dramatic way that I did not want it to. It is still changing and each day brings new challenges and new things to adjust to. But I realize that I can do those things with the help of my friends.

There are a myriad of other friends who will feel left out if I do not mention them. Nick, and Joel and Dean and Christopher come to mind as well as my friend Anthony who reached out to me and helped me move forward. I do not have time to address all that these have done for me. But, Joel I am sorry I left my water bed in your basement. I am not sure what I was thinking.

I just remembered that there are several woman in my life who have helped me along the way and I meant to include them in this overall tribute. I am by no means a woman hater despite the divorce. That is a side issue that is as much my fault or all of my fault then hers. Woman are not the root of all that is evil. I find that they smell nice and are easier to look then men. But, lately the most consistent woman in my life has been Chads wife Cassy. I know she has put up with a lot from me over the years and I really am thankful for her and her presence in my life.

But all of this is to say to people please remember your friends. Because even if they do not always tell you or show you that your presence in their lives changes things it really does. So call them, send them a note, text them, or email but make contact and say thank you.

Tuesday, 1-5-2010

Good morning folks. I hope the day is treating you well so far. I heard something interesting on the radio this morning about the Democratic party here in Oregon. It was a piece they did about a meeting that the Democrats had concerning delegates and the so called super delegates.

The basic idea is that the National Democratic party wants to strip the Super Delegates power. They would prefer that the delegates vote how the people in the party voted. I myself have no problem with that. I think if we as a country are going to give, at least, lip service to the idea that everyone has a vote then the elections need to be decided by popular vote and not by the choice a political insider makes. Sure, there may be times when the majority of the populace make a bad decision. But, since we have a system in place that ensures multiple elections as well as limits to the time spent in office things tend to even themselves out.

The head of the Oregon Democratic party mentioned that rather then take the powers of the Super Delegate away why not have the primaries for each state take place during the same month. I like that idea and in fact I would further argue that it should all take place in the same day. The way things stand now with the different primaries taking place months and months apart and this frenzy of television shows detailing the race for President does not benefit any of us.

Well, it benefits the networks as far as ratings and selling ad time but the normal person it does not help. I would go so far as to say that it also affects how people vote because as they see if their particular candidate of choice is slipping in the race they may switch their vote to the best opponent or who they think may be the ultimate winner so they do not feel like their vote is for naught.

I also think that having the elections on the same day would also clean up the advertising that is all over the airwaves as well. I get so tired of seeing and hearing the same commercials over and over again.

I know we are a long way away from the next round of elections but since I write whatever comes to mind this is what you guys get. So deal with it.

Happy New Year!!

Well, well, well. Here we are folks Jan 4th 2010. I think I am going to pronounce it "twenty-ten". I just like the way that sounds.

Lets see what is new for me this year or for this upcoming year. On the social and emotional level I will still be recovering from the divorce and hopefully that will involve copious amounts of controlled substances as well as strippers. I turned 40 so I figure why not go out in a blaze of drugs and alcohol and physical abuse.

I also purchased a blue tooth ear thing yesterday. I drive at minimum an hour or more a day and longer if I drive all the way to the office. I have held off from purchasing such a device for a while because I do not get that many phone calls in the car. But with the new law in Oregon making it illegal to talk or text while driving I figured I better get one just in case I do get a call. The fine is $174.00 which does not seem to excessive to me. The danger that talking and driving causes is, I believe, akin to that of the drunk driver. Now they put some exceptions in the law for those who use the their phone for work like tow truck drivers and delivery drivers but I am not sure why they did. Those folks can use a hands free device just like everyone else does and it is not hard to do.

All that aside I think this is going to be an interesting year. I think the paranoia will rise concerning 2012 and if that will mean the end of time. I think that the Conservatives will continue to follow Beck and Palin and their actions will make the political world an interesting one as we build toward the next Presidential election. I in fact am going to go ahead and put this out there. I do not think that President Obama is going to be elected to a second term. I think that the damage that the economy is in as well was what some people feel is his failure to follow through on his plans for 'change' because lets face it. It is still business as usual in Washington. So we will see but I would be surprised if he gets a second term.

So what about you fellers? Any thoughts for the new year?

'New Rainbow Rockford Files'

I have just discovered the plot line for the new 'Rockford Files'. By discover I mean that I just came up with the amazing idea.

So this is the whole deal. It seems that in the future, due to California's liberal definition of marriage, Jim and Angel are finally able to bring their relationship out of the shadows. After the two hour very special wedding episode the happy couple adopt three young boys. These young boys form the nucleus for the 'New Rainbow Rockford Files' you see one is Asian, the other Hispanic and the other African American. It is a can't miss and I think I see an Emmy in the future.

Monday, Dec 28, 2009

Good morning everybody, I hope you all had a good Christmas weekend and that the rest of the week is a good one. I know people are not done traveling around for the year so I hope the roads stay clear and everyone is safe for the rest of the time.

I normally do not address entertainment news on this blog. I have another one that I do not write on anymore where I tried to cover stuff like that back when I was unemployed. Needless to say now that I am working full time it is hard for me to be active on this one everyday though I try my hardest to keep it up. But, back to the matter at hand, I heard this morning on the radio that Hollywood is planning on remaking 'The Rockford Files' and I just do not know what to think. Well I know what my first reaction is and that is "How dare they?" In fact I was a little surprised at the intensity of my response.

In this particular case if I am understanding what I heard correctly they are remaking this as another television show. I think I would almost prefer a movie better. I enjoyed the film versions of both 'Starsky and Hutch' as well as 'The Brady Bunch'. But those were both played pretty heavy for the ironical comedy value and I do not see 'Rockford Files' making that work. Though my friends who also grew up with and love the show can get each other laughing pretty good talking about the show and bringing up things we remember about it. For me, one of the things I remember the most is an particular episode where some kind of tough guy was chasing Jim down and he ran into a bathroom. Now it was pretty common for Rockford to get knocked out or beaten up. That seemed to be a running joke on the show. But, in this case, Jim had a trick up his sleeve. He spread some liquid soap on the floor and then took roll of coins out of his pocket. Well the hoodlum came in and as he slipped on the soap Jim just cold-cocked him. The roll of coins blew up and Jim took off. I remember laughing and I still laugh thinking about it.

I think a main reason why the idea of a remake bothers me is that other then John Wayne there is not another actor that I enjoy watching like James Garner. I love him in the old 'Mavrick' series as well as his work in 'Support Your Local Sheriff'. I almost forgot to mention 'The Great Escape'. I think it is because as a child every time I turned on the television it felt like he was there. He is one of the last remaining old time actors and I think in some way George Clooney reminds me of him. I think they are different kinds of actors but they both have a certain likability.

Well my post took a strange turn today but that happens sometimes. I hope you all enjoyed a little trip down memory lane. If you get a chance this week watch a film or television show with James Garner. You will not regret it. Do not watch 'Tank' you will regret that but watch a different one.

Tuesday, Dec 15th, 2009

I am writing from the office this morning. I drove in which was probably a mistake but I made the choice to drive in my car and deal with the headache of traffic as opposed to taking the train and walking two blocks in the rain. I probably should have walked in the rain. It isn't like I do not have a rain coat or anything. Also having grown up in Oregon I am very aware that rain does not make you melt. So I think I opted for the mental stress of driving in the rain as opposed to the minor physical stress of walking in the rain. I think that is pretty lame on my part. I am going to have to try to get back on track. (hee,hee) Excuse me for a moment I believe my tasty, tasty coffee from Stumptown has finished brewing.

Ahhh. There we go. I know I have told you before about how much I love coffee so I will not bore you with the details. But just know that as I type it is coursing through my body and filling me its power!!! Though today the power does not mean a whole lot. I have lots of bits and pieces popping around in my brain but nothing that I can get focused on enough to write anything coherently about.

One thing I read about last night was about Mormons running for political office and the article talked both about Mitt Romney and Glenn Beck. I found it pretty interesting as it addressed also the amount of Mormons that work for the federal government in foreign service positions. It seems that the CIA recruits regularly at Brigham Young University (BYU) because their graduates fill a couple of different criteria. One being that they speak a foreign language and the other a college degree. This happens so regularly in fact that some countries have expressed concern about people returning to the country in foreign service positions after first being there as missionaries. So I found that a little bit fascinating but I try to not mix religion and politics. Though it is often hard to not.

What else? Oh yes... it seems that Glenn Beck has once again opened his mouth and inserted his foot. He compared his skepticism about climate-change to Galileo's struggle “to enlighten mankind that the earth wasn’t flat.” I have a couple of problems with this. The first being that Glenn Beck is in no way like Galileo. I am not even sure why he thinks he can justify thinking of himself this way. The other is that during Galileo's time everyone already knew the earth was round. To put it as simply as possible Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. Galileo lived in 1564-1642 so I just have to wonder does he even write anything beforehand or is it all off the cuff. Because it isn't like this is the first time he has gotten basic history wrong. Just one example is his often misquoting of President Theodore Roosevelt and his famous line "speak softly, and carry a big stick" when Beck repeats it he says "Walk softly and carry a big stick".

Now I realize everybody makes mistakes. I do it often and I often will use a word incorrectly in a sentence hoping for a laugh or because I just was not taking the time to think before I spoke. The difference between myself and Mr Beck is that I do not have millions and I think it is millions of listeners an watchers and readers hanging on my every word. I do not have people repeating what I say like it is the gospel. I would like to think that if I was ever in that position I would have a team of researchers as well as some editors to help me make sure everything that I was saying on the air and writing in a speech or in a book was correct. Otherwise why would I do it?

I would hope that if his dog and pony show continues that he would spend some time on fact checking and getting things correct. Because as far as I am concerned he just seems like another entertainment personality and will most likely end up hosting Family Feud in another 20 years or so. But I could be wrong. Perhaps it is going to be Palin-Beck in 2012 or Beck-Palin. If so the world should be an interesting place.

Monday, Dec 14th, 2009

Monday morning and the world is rolling along. The Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi got hit in the face over the weekend with a thrown statue. It seems that initially people thought he had been punched and I know there have been incidences of people being hit in the face with pies in Europe but I think this is the first time anyone has been statued.

I am not poking fun by any means at this because the Prime Minister broke his nose and was pretty shaken up by the attack. But it makes we wonder if I had ever been so upset to strike out at a political leader. I have been in a few fist fights over the years. I do not think I have had more fights then what is normal for boys growing up. So I can understand getting upset and squaring off against someone but this seems to be completely different then that. The obvious difference that the PM and the statue thrower did not square off and raise fists in the approved Louis L'amour style. Also the statue thrower was mentally ill so it is probably wrong of me to try to find a rational reason for the attack. But that does raise an interesting point. If someone strikes out at a leader are they by definition mentally ill? If you opinion is that they are then how do you account for differing political rebels over the years who have struck back against standing governments?

I know for a fact that in the case of the American revolution they built basically a legal case against the King of England that would allow them to begin the fight. So I would think it would be hard to make a case calling them mentally ill. Though I am sure there were people who did not believe in the cause and would have argued passionately that they were insane to even attempt such a thing. I sometimes wonder how upset I would have to be to take up arms against the big G Government. I know there are people very upset right now about the Obama administration just like there were people on the other side very upset about the Bush administration. There are also people very upset about the nature of Government in America and feel that the two parties are just different sides of the same coin.

I wonder what that would do to the world or America in general if there were to be another revolution in this country. I think that one of our strengths in America is that we have an election every four years and that helps us to not build to so much anger and frustration that violence is the result. It is going to be interesting to see what happens in the future as we move forward politically.

The Ringing Silence of the Crickets!

*chirp, chirp* Can you hear that folks? It is the sound of nothing. That is right no response at all. I did not think I asked that hard of a question. I thought it was a pretty simple one actually. But, I understand people are busy and have a lot going on with the holidays and their daily lives. So I will forgive them this one time. But, if I am transgressed upon just one more time then the forgiveness will not be forthcoming. Now, as for Joel and Sherry, or Sherry and Joel because we all know ladies come first, I give them each a gold star and move them to the front of the class. I hope the rest of you realize what an honor this is for both of them and will strive to achieve the same. As for the others well "Your revolution is over! Condolences. The bums lost."

But back to the 2% tax idea. It is interesting to me to note that Sherry doesn't like the idea because she thinks:

"it's reasonable to ask those that make more to pay a higher percentage"

She also raised a good question about the absence of deductions and what that would mean for people with children as well as would it apply to corporations or just the workers. Both of these are valuable questions and ones that I do not have the answer to. I am in agreement with her on it being reasonable to ask people who make more to pay more. But, I think that the way the tax code is and the presence of deductions makes it so those that make more can often afford the lawyers they need to use the deductions to pay less then those who make less. One benefit I see of the flat-tax model is that with out deductions the wiggle room gets taken out. 2% is 2% and no amount of dancing is going to change that. So while it might be hard for some to pay that amount. I would think that for others we might actually be collecting more then they currently pay.

Now Joel coming at this from a more conservative position then Sherry states that:

"I would only support a flat tax if it replaced the system already in place. I cannot support more taxation, I can support a different type of tax, just not more."

That is a valid point Joel makes. He does not have a problem with taxes in general, he has a problem with the poor use or in some cases criminal use of these funds. I am in agreement with Joel on this, I feel that there are provisions in the Constitution that allow for the support of the populace and that the way this happens is by taxation. The differences for most of us come in to play when we start talking about the specific things that the money goes for.

When I think about the way we are taxed in the great state of Oregon I feel that if we were to drop the personal income tax and replace it with some form of a VAT or a Sales Tax we might just be better off in the long term. Now, that is just a hunch and I have not done extensive research on the issue but I would be willing to be educated so please feel free to let me know how I wrong I am please do so.

That is it for today. I hope everyone where ever you are has a good day and please feel free to join the conversation.

A little more time.

I just wanted to thank Joel and Sherry for sharing their thoughts yesterday on the topic of the 2% flat tax. I am hoping that a few more people will throw their hat in the ring so I am going to hold off today on addressing my thoughts as they compare to theirs. So please folks if you are jumping in and reading please feel free to address yesterdays topic either on this blog post or the other but I would love to hear from you.

I think both Joel and Sherry raised some interesting points and were a fine example of the difference in thinking between a conservative and a liberal to use two really broad sweeping general words that do not really address who they are as people. But I am steering this train so I get to to use any words I want to. So get over it!!

Seriously though. Please add in let me know what you think and lets talk about it.

Glenn Beck and his 2% Flat Tax Plan

So on Dec 4th Glenn Beck was on the O'Reilly show and he floated the idea of a 2% Flat Tax tied to a balanced budget amendment that would go directly to the deficit for nor more then 10 years and would be a Constitutional Amendment. It was interesting watching these two, I will just use the word personalities, talk to each other. The exact words were that if we guarantee no more spending we need a tax to fix the deficit.

The first thing that I found surprising was that these two conservative personalities would put the idea of a flat tax out there. Now on the surface this sounds like a pretty good idea. But, I am not so sure. After I thought about it for awhile and read some things and talked to a few people I wonder how good it actually is. Putting aside the idea that it is odd that two leading conservative television hosts would advocate for more taxes. I found it odd that the amount infrastructure that would be needed to administer a flat tax is enormous. I was talking to my friend Steve about this idea and he raised an interesting point.

Steve said that regardless of whether or not you liked the idea of more taxes for what ever higher purpose. That the need for states and communities to have to develop a system to collect the flat tax revenue makes the idea a poor one. He countered with "why not, since the system is already in place nationwide to collect Federal Income Tax, why not just add 2% tax to that and earmark it strictly to go to the deficit." Steve thinks that the core base viewer for Beck and O'Reilly would not like them advocating for more taxes.

The more I think about it I think he is correct. Even if it is just on the logic side of things as how do you put together the infrastructure to collect that VAT. In some areas you would just be creating more government and we all know that the Beck style Conservative does not want to create more government.

There are lots of problems in America and one of the major ones is the deficit and how do we get out from under it. So, while it is interesting to hear figures throw out new ideas this one is not a workable one in my opinion. I also would like to hear from my readers. Do you think this is workable? What would work better? Why do you think we are in this position? Are we going to ever be able to actually get out of this hole? Please let me know your thoughts.

Monday, Dec 7, 2009

Good Morning folks, just wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know that I will not be writing today. I have to take care of some things this morning so I will be driving into work. But tomorrow I want to talk about something that Glenn Beck and Bill O'reilly (sp?) both floated last week and that is the idea of a 2% nationwide VAT earmarked in Becks case or tied to a balanced budget amendment and with a deadline of I believe 10 years. So I wanted to talk a little bit more about that and hopefully hear a little but about peoples thought on a VAT or Value Added Tax. So I will talk to you tomorrow.

Tuesday, Dec 1st, 2009

Good morning, I hope everyone is well today. I am doing pretty good the morning after my birthday. I did not do much in the way of celebrating. I went to dinner with some good friends and that was nice. But overall this was not how I expected to be spending my 40th birthday week. I had envisioned a trip to the Oregon Coast and staying in a nice beach house or something along those lines but that did not happen.

I am going to do my best to not dwell on my family problems or keep going back to what is going on in my life but I ask you to bear with me because there are going to be times when that kind of thing just happens. It may happen more over this month with the holidays and everything going on. I just hope that I do not bore you with my complaining.

I heard an incredibly sad story this morning on the radio it was about the 15 year old girl in Richmond California who was gang raped outside of her homecoming dance earlier this year. The NPR show talked about the town itself and had a reporter who had grown up there go back to Richmond and talk to a few people including a couple of the students from the school itself. One of the students said "We do not want this to define us." My first thought was I can understand that but when a girl gets attacked for two hours and no one calls the police or even tries to intervene it is hard to not blame the whole school and the town for what went on.

The talked to a school councilor who said that in places that are poor or hard scrabble that it is easy to pick someone as an other and that they lose their humanity. That this often happens where men gather. She used that phrase twice. "Where men gather." I am not sure what she meant by that. Are all men to blame for the actions of a few young men? Anywhere there is injustice or crime in the world rape happens. That does not excuse it nor does it make all men culpable for the actions of a few men. Are all men just a few steps away from being a rapist if the opportunity strikes? I hope not. I certainly do not think that I would be capable of such an act. In fact I am unable to imagine myself being so out of control that this would happen.

So who is to blame? Do we blame society? Do we blame the families of the boys? Do we blame the girl for how she was dressed? Or MTV? Do we get philosophical and blame the fallen nature of man? Maybe the boys are just bad apples and regardless of their upbringing would have been rapists at some point. We all know that rape is not a crime committed solely by the poor. But what drives a person to cross that line?

These are the thoughts in my head today as I ride along on the train. These are not fun thoughts but they are my thoughts. It makes me sad that people are victimized all over the world for all kinds of reasons and I know that the only one whose behavior I can be sure of controlling is myself. I just hope I can be a member of society that gives back and does not take away. I hope we all can be that person and we all can look out for others who are being preyed upon and hurt. If we can all do these things then maybe just maybe we can make the world a little better for those around us.

Happy Birthday To Me?

Well. Well. Well. Look who is turning 40? That is correct my loyal readers. I am turning 40 years old tomorrow or today for those of you who are reading this tomorrow morning or this morning but I am writing this on Sunday night which is the 29th. My birthday is on the 30th. Now that we have that all cleared up.

So where do I begin? This has been quite the year. I graduated from Western Oregon University in June with a B of S in Political Science and a minor in Philosophy. I was super happy to get that done. I really enjoyed being in school and I liked the process of both doing research and writing papers about my research. I got involved with Model United Nations and school and eventually was the President of the club. I also really enjoyed that. I enjoyed going to conferences and speaking in public about what ever topic was at hand. So in the long run school was a really really good thing for me. What has not been so good is the amount of money I now owe in school loans. I went to a state school so my loans are even less then some. I hope I can pay mine off someday.

Let us see... Oh I also was married at this time last year. I never expected to be divorced. I never expected to be divorced at 40 years old and living alone. Well not totally alone I have two ferrets and a hamster. Maybe I shouldn't tell people that? But anyway, I am 40 years old and newly divorced and really at a crossroads in life. I am not sure what to do with myself. I like my job I find it interesting to be able to put things on the ballot and to let voters have a say in the democratic process. I like to think that I am helping the common man. I am also hoping that my work can help to make Oregon a better place in the long run. I hope that is the case down the road.

But as far as life outside of work? I am not sure what the future holds for me. I enjoy the blogging. I do not know if what I say or write down has any worth to other people but I enjoy doing it. Who knows maybe I am inspiring the youth. But all that to say. I am going to continue to blog and I am not really sure what form it will take. The political blogging bores me after awhile and I am not sure if me throwing my random thoughts out there is actually of any interest to people. But I am going to continue doing that I write with out a plan and I am crazy like that.

So look out readers!! I am not sure what to look out for but LOOK OUT!!

Hot off the Press: Sizemore running for Gov.

I am surprised today. I just learned that Bill Sizemore is running for Gov of Oregon again. Some of you may recall that he ran in 1998 against Kitzhaber and was creamed.

Please read below

Bill Sizemore

I am just wondering what he is thinking. I am frankly amazed by this.

Monday (I'm Back)

Good Morning everybody, it is Monday and I am back on the train. I had an interesting week because I had a sick ferret and I was supposed to be giving him medicine in the form of an eye drop every six hours. Because of the nature of that schedule I felt like I needed to take him to work with me. So we drove in. Overall it was not horrible though one day there was a car fire in Lake Oswego/Tigard area and that really gummed up the works. So while it was nice to drive and have the ability to get home a little bit earlier then the usual. I do not think that the trade off was worth it. I much prefer the relaxation of the train and the ability to blog as we travel.

The debate is starting in the House on the Health Care bill so I think it is going to be interesting to see what comes out of this. I personally do not think that the democrats have enough votes to make this pass. I also think that the insurance companies are to entrenched and have to much at stake to allow this to pass. That is all my personal politics aside. I just think that the amount of money that is at stake will make it a little hard or the bill to get through. I had a friend tell me this weekend "that 97% of bills that make it to debate pass." But as usual with this friend who gets the majority of his news from Fox television and mainly Glenn Beck he was unable to tell me where that particular quote came from. He also just assumed it was valid. It may will be. But I always find it funny that he will throw out numbers but then is not able to tell me where they come from or who said them.

Speaking of Glenn Beck. He unveiled his "100 Year Plan" this weekend and I am going to be writing some about that as the week goes on. I found some of his ideas pretty interesting so I hope I can dig a little deeper into that and unpack it so we can see what it means and what he thinks its effects will be.

I am also looking forward to Thanksgiving even though this will be the first one in the last 8 years without Nicole. I imagine it will be at times both sad and happy. I will have a good chunk of my rather large extended family there and that is always a good thing. I hope she is able to have fun however she decides to spend it. In fact this whole holiday season is going to be an odd one and a substantial change from last years when everything seemed to be going so well. But I guess you never can tell what people or thinking or planning even if you think they are being honest with you about the future.

All that being said I hope we all have a good short week and I am looking forward to writing and to discussing some things with all of you.

Sick Ferret

Hey folks. I just wanted to give a quick heads up to my few loyal readers. I have a sick ferret that will be riding to work with me because I have medicine that I have to give him every six hours. So my posts are going to be pretty spotty for the next week or so. I will check in now and then but do not expect daily updates.

Wednesday, Nov 11 2009, (Veterans Day)

I want to say thank you. I want to say thank you to the men and women who are serving and have served in Americas military. I have both family and friends that have served and are serving in different areas of all the branches and all personal politics aside these people are doing an extremely hard job. It is a job that frankly many of us do not want to do. But I feel that with the world being what the world is there is always going to be a need for some form of military or defense force or what ever term we want to use for armed people to protect us from the possibility of invasion. That being said I am putting a video below it is by Terry Kelly and it is about the Canadian Military but I think it is honoring to the military men and women all over this country. Please take a moment and view it.

Tuesday Afternoon

Well I am sorry you are sick Joel. I hope you feel better soon so that we can discuss the whole Dairy bailout issue. I think it is an interesting one and one that has some more validity given the way the fed has been throwing bailout money around.

I saw a poster on the MAX today for United Way and it said "Advancing the Common Good" , I thought that was a very interesting phrase. Now I know the idea of a Common Good is often used with a socialist position behind it. But I think that the whole idea of living in a society means that when the common good is advanced then we are all better off in the long run. I think for a lot of people the problem comes in when they feel like they are being forced to make that choice for the common good as opposed to choosing out of their own free will.

I just like the way that the phrase sounds "Advancing the Common Good". I hope that I can do just that with my life.

Tea for Tuesday.

I am shocked not one response yesterday. I guess people do not like dairy. I love a nice glass of milk or some Tillamook extra sharp cheddar cheese. But, I guess I am in the minority. I am not surprised by that. When you think at the extremely high level that I do you become used to being ahead of the masses.

Oh sure people get upset with me but that is because they do not understand the intricate nature of my thought process. The failing lies with them not with me.

Nothing much of interest with me today the radio seemed preoccupied with the Fort Hood memorial services and the motivations of the shooter. That is not a bad thing at all. I just did not find it really interesting to write about and I do not think I could add anything to the conversation. I will say this I think the US military may have to rethink some of their actions concerning Muslims serving in the military. At some point enough of these attacks and some of these actions start to constitute a pattern.

I am not wanting to debate the rights and wrongs I am just saying that when things began to happen on a regular basis then some sort of pattern starts to develop.

I think today is one of those days where I take a little nappy nap on the morning train. So I bid you good by.

Monday Afternoon

I am starting a little experiment. I am going to try to blog in the afternoons on the way home as opposed to just reading my book. I hope to respond to any comments or questions that have come in about the mornings post. But, if no one has made a comment or asked a question I may just free write or address something that I heard at work or on a topic that I am finding I was not able to really dig into in the morning session.

Today the main topic of conversation at work was the season finale of Mad Men. I will not go into specifics since I know that I have readers who are not caught up on it. But I felt like it wrapped the season up very nicely. It answered some questions I had as well as setting things up nicely for next year. I am really looking forward to it. In fact I think I may go home and start at season 1 and work my way through it until the beginning of season 4. Though I am sure I will finish all of the DVDs before the beginning of the next season.

The House passed the health care bill this weekend and one of my friends posted this response on his face book:

"YES! The House passed the Healthcare Bill the other day....One step closer to the Republican dream....outright taxation of the poor because of their poverty..."

I found this to be an interesting response. While I am well aware that he has his tongue firmly planted in cheek I know that he is a Republican and is firmly opposed to any form of governmental health care. So I am not sure if he is seeing an end result from this that I am not getting or what.

Other then that today was pretty light at work. The circulaters turned in their sheets and we verified some signatures. Oh today was also the day that the Berlin Wall fell 20 years ago. To put that into some kind of perspective for the younger readers of which I believe there are precisely none. The Internet was not a must have house hold item then and the wall fell primarily due to the grass roots efforts of the people in East and West Germany literally risking their live to actively tear down the wall. It was a pretty amazing event in my lifetime.

Well that is all for today. I hope I can continue this process and that the end result will be one I can be proud of.

Monday

It is Monday morning and we are back on the rails again. There were some very interesting stories on the radio this morning. The most interesting thing for me has to be the economic issues of Oregon Dairy Farmers.

According to oregonbusiness.com the dairy industry in Oregon has been struggling since the financial crisis drove down dairy prices last fall. The article notes :

"The average price paid to Oregon dairy farmers in 2008 was $20.11 per hundred pounds of milk; the average for 2009 to date is $10.94. Most farmers need prices in the $15 range in order to break even."

Those are some pretty amazing numbers to me. That is a 50% drop in price in the space on one year. The article goes on to note that when dairy was selling for $20.11 many farmers bought more cows and increased operations but the substantial drop in price is forcing many of them out of business. A farmer in Rickreall is quoted as saying that he is losing between $6,000 and $8,000 a day, totaling $1.2 million so far in 2009.

What I find most interesting about this is that this farmer and some others across the country are calling for more price regulation to stop the cycle of boom and bust. I know that I have readers on both sides of this issue. I have one reader in particular who works within the dairy industry and I want to hear peoples thoughts on this issue. The way things stand right now there is what the article called a modest bailout coming for the industry from the federal government of $290 million in direct payments and $60 million to buy cheese.

That does not seem modest to me at all. I guess the question for me is since the precedent has apparently been set for bailouts is this not even something to worry about. Or are bailouts for agriculture a completely different issue and one that should be encouraged since it is a food and health issue? I am not sure what to think. I realize that the basic issue behind the price drop is that when prices went up farmers increased productivity and caused a glut in the market and that glut caused a price drop which is now forcing farmers out of business because they are still paying off loans they received while trying to capitalize on the price hikes.

So can we expect a new price hike once this glut goes away? Are we better off forcing a static price of say, $18, or is it better for the market and the country as a whole to ride the waves of boom and bust?

Freaky Friday

Boy oh boy, I had an unpleasant drive this morning. A storm came roaring in from the coast and while it was moving east at a good clip it felt like I drove through the center of it on the way to the train station. I had the wipers on full blast and just sheets of water on the road and flying off of my and the other drivers tires. I am glad to be sitting on the train. It looks like it is letting up now I just hope it will be a little less stormy on my drive home.

Sad news yesterday about the shootings at Fort Hood. I am not going to say anything about the supposed motivation of the shooter. I do not know and we may never truly know why this happened. This is not the first time something like this has happened and it will not be the last time. The one thing that it does for me is make me realize that while my problems may seem pretty huge and emotionally debilitating to me. I am still alive, I am still relatively healthy and I have the majority of my family around me. I hurt for the families of the slain. I hurt for the family of the shooter. The questions going through every ones mind with no answer must be truly maddening.

To go through life is hard enough without people hurting each other. There is so much pain on a daily basis and this incident just serves to highlight that we need each other. That we need to surround each other and prop each other up through times of unrest and violence. We are all humans and deserve the same dignity that we want to be treated with.

I realize that I am rambling here. There is a lot going on inside my head today. I hope everyone has a good day and a better weekend and I to see you all here on Monday.

Thirsty Thursday

Good morning folks, I am sorry I was unable to write yesterday we are in the process of moving offices at work and I needed to drive in.

That being said on to the topic at hand. Which is? I read an interesting article on another blog that I read now and then called Blue Oregon. Now Blue Oregon is a very liberal blog and centers primarily around issues within Oregon though they do address some national issues as well. There was an article last week about how Portland needs to be more diverse.

I found this interesting because it generated a large amount of comments about how bad Portland is and how there needs to be more diversity amongst its population. But I think people are missing the point completely here. The article was focused on African American diversity and the amount of African Americans in Portland is about 6% of the total population. It does not take into account the large number of Asians, Hispanics, and Europeans that live in Portland. That in and of itself is a problem for me in the article.

But I think the biggest problem for me is the idea that the diversity of a city can some how be artificially controlled by the people who live there. My first thought was how are the residents of Portland supposed to attract people. Even more how are they supposed to attract the right kind of people for the diversity that the author obviously wants? This is the article.

I do not think you can manufacture diversity and Portland and the Pacific Northwest in general is not an area that has ever attracted a large African American population. In fact I believe that the majority of people who have moved here came during WWII and were working in the shipyards. That as a matter of fact is how my family came to be here from North Dakota.

What are we going to do, start busing people in so that we can raise the diversity level to a healthy 15%? Or is that not high enough. Would it be even better if we could attract an African American educator who wants to start an African American University here? It just seems to me that only in a city like Portland would there be a discussion about how not diverse enough they are and how can we manufacture something artificially that really should not be manufactured.

Tee-rific Tuesday

Lets jump right in. I heard on the radio this morning that Warren Buffett purchased Burlington-Northern Railroad for 44 Billion dollars. I found that pretty interesting news. The announcer said that Buffett has always been interested in companies that produce things people need. He owns Dairy Queen and companies that produce underwear and sell diamonds and steel. When it is put in those terms it is pretty obvious to me how he has made so much money. I am sure there are lots of intangibles when it comes to making money but he sure seems like he has a good handle on what makes money and what doesn't. When asked about the purchase Buffett said, "It's an all in wager on the economic future of the United States."....."I love these bets."

Another thing of interest this morning was that the announce said that the trains have always been a early warning system for the state of the economy. He said that three years ago the freight business started to fall off right before the recession hit and now it is starting to grow back. It is going slowly but it is going. So that was good news. But what I found most interesting was the fact the President Obama has said that he wants to pursue a high speed rail system here in America.

As all of my regular readers know, I am a huge fan of the rail. I think America made a huge mistake in the years following World War II in not building a rail system that moves passengers at a high speed, the naysayers will tell you that it is not cost effective and that it moves to slow. But I would argue that while that can be said and is true of todays rail system, that building a system that moves people up and down the I-5 corridor would in the long run help out the state of Oregon and probably help out the USA as well. I think ultimately traffic would ease up and traffic easing up on I-5 would benefit all of us. But for the train to work it is going to have to be a generational thing and could take several years for people to get into the habit of train riding. But once they do there weould be a steady flow of riders coming from Salem and beyond into Portland to work and be entertained.

It is going to be interesting to see what happens in the future with transit and population and the cost of gasoline. If the cost of fuel continues to rise then I am sure that we see more credence given to the idea of a high speed train system. I for one certainly hope that is the case.

Mundane Monday

Good Morning Oregon and the world!! I hope everyone is well this Monday after Halloween. I had an absolutely great drive this morning. While it was partly foggy there were areas where the sun was breaking through and those areas were very nice looking. Traffic was light and seemed to be flowing along nicely and overall it is shaping up to be one of those nice November days that are cold and clear. These are the kind of days that makes it nice to be an Oregonian. All of you who are not from here I would recommend that you come visit. But, please do not move here. It is hard enough trying to get the Californians out of here.

I mean really, I understand that California sucks but pick a different state. Maybe Arizona the weather is more your speed and it is so warm the the ladies wear much less clothing then they do here. It also gets dark and rainy here for a good 9 months out of the year. Oh it is horrible the people who were born here are all pale and hairy with a winter mane. Why just last week I saw a gentleman with a rain coat on and shorts underneath it. Now I ask you what person would want to live in a state like this. There are brewpubs on nearly every corner and the only thing that there appears to be more of then the brewpubs is the coffee houses. I do not mean the dreaded corporate dragon Starbucks either there are actually genuine locally owned coffee houses. I am pretty sure that Starbucks is like Kentucky Fried Chicken, I think they put a substance in their coffee to make you crave it fortnightly.

I have managed to avoid their evil by growing and refining my addiction to the beans of Java. The beans that give me life and intellect. Why just the smell of that freshly brewed cup of coffee is enough to begin to clear the fog from my mind. Then as the coffee crosses my lips and flows over my tongue and down into my gullet its true power is released. The transfer of energy begins and the coffee gives me its gift.

"Thank you Lord of Coffee, thank you for the power that you have given me today." Wait, what's that you say? I will need more coffee tomorrow and probably the day after that? Stronger doses? What does that mean? Soon I will be drinking black coffee like some kind of longshoreman. I highly doubt that. What would the point be if I am unable to add sugar and some cream to it? It does not even taste that good. That will not matter to me. I really doubt it. Oh, my head will hurt so much that I will dump the coffee into a glass and pour hot water over it so that I can get it into my body faster. Why, that doesn't make any sense. I would stop enjoying it. Oh, but I will not stop drinking it because my life will have no pleasure if coffee is not in it.

"It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the Beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion." (stolen from unknown source with apologies to Frank Herbert)

They sell coffee at the train station. I will get a cup there. Just to keep my hands warm of course. Just to keep my hands warm.

Thursday

Hello again, hello. I am coming to you today from the chair in the living room. I am driving to work today so I thought I would get something out rather then skipping it entirely.

I tried to watch the Daily Show last night. I noticed it was on and thought I usually enjoy that so I will watch it again. But I am not sure what happened. There were parts that I found humorous but overall it really seemed to be lacking for me. There was a section of the show where Jon Stewart was talking about the first speaking engagement of our last President Bush. Now I am well aware of the idea that President Bush as a public speaker does lend itself to some humor but in this case the Daily Show seemed almost mean about it. I think what bothered me is that I like things to be a little clever. I am not above mocking someone or something and I often find that kind of humor pretty funny. But, this seemed pretty mean spirited. Which, while they are a comedy show, seemed out of line from a show that has largely risen above the pettiness that seems to have infested the other political shows like Olbermann and Beck.

The new just showed President Obama at Dover Air force Base he was there to honor some of the latest soldiers that were killed in Afghanistan I believe. It was interesting to me because they showed him saluting as a coffin was carried past. Now I believe that in the years prior to Vietnam they used to show the coffins of dead military personal on the news as sort of a tribute to there efforts on behalf of the country. But, I think, correct me if I am wrong that the amount of military killed and the anger the Vietnam was generating caused the presidential administration at the time to move to stop the practice. I wonder if we should go back to showing the service men and woman come home. I think that it is to easy to forget that we have people dying on foreign soil and in a America whose military is composed of volunteers it really seems easy to forget that the people who are being killed are more then just statistics.

They just mentioned on the news that the United Nations General Assembly voted against the U. S. embargo of Cuba. This is not a surprise the vote was 187-3 with only Israel and Palau supporting the U. S., I find this interesting because this is the 18th year in a row that they have condemned it. My problem with the embargo is that if we were being consistent about how we were treating communist countries we would be embargoing China instead of Cuba. I submit that China by far is a bigger threat to us. I will grant you that Castro is not a nice man and he is not deserving of our friendship but it just makes no logical sense for us to treat China differently then Cuba. Wait let me note that it makes economic sense because Cuba does not have millions of dollars of our debt and American companies doing business there.

That's all I got folks, have a good day.

Journalistic Integrity?

Good morning friends, I have mentioned before that I have been listening to three types of radio on my way to work and coming home each day. These are basically conservative, moderate, and liberal though to be fair NPR does lean more to the liberal but I like that there stories tend to be a little deeper and thoughtful and not so full of the propaganda that either side likes to throw around.

That being said the lady on the liberal station that is on after work was going on and on last night about Rush Limbaugh and several passages that he had read from what he thought was President Obamas thesis from Columbia. Here is the passage,

" ... the Constitution allows for many things, but what it does not allow is the most revealing. The so-called Founders did not allow for economic freedom. While political freedom is supposedly a cornerstone of the document, the distribution of wealth is not even mentioned. While many believed that the new Constitution gave them liberty, it instead fitted them with the shackles of hypocrisy."

Now Limbaugh read this passage on the air and then went on a rant about Obama and the damage that he is doing to America. It was not that his rant was any different then other rants but word soon came down that the quote was actually not real. That it in fact was completely made up. It was taken from a blog called Jumping in Pools.

Well it seems that this is a blog that does mainly satire. I looked it over and really was unimpressed with the level of humor or even cleverness in it. But that is a story for another day. But, why I bring this up is because this whole so called thesis was completely made up by them. Once Limbaugh found out this was his response

"So, I can say, "I don't care if these quotes are made up," "I know Obama thinks it."

Now, while it may very well be true that this is what Obama thinks. I think the bigger issue here is integrity. Should not a news show actually do research and verify what they put on the air. I know there are people who feel that what is on liberal radio or conservative radio is all truth all the time. So I wonder should he not apologize rather then just attack. I understand being embarrassed when egg hits your face. It has happened to me before. But I do not claim to be a journalist. I am not held to any kind of standard. I can write and often have about whatever garbage I want to write about. But even then if I knowingly say something that I am wrong about I will do all I can to correct it.

It seems to me that Mr Limbaugh is doing just the opposite of this. I could be mistaken and if I am please let me know. But do it gently please. I am very sensitive. I promise to print a full retraction if that is the case.

Terrific Tuesday!!!

I got nothing today. Last night was one of those nights were you feel like you never really fell asleep. I woke up at 4:30 and my first thought was what is going on. I should still be asleep. So I rolled over and then the alarm went off and now I am sitting on the train but havinb a hard time keeping the old peepers open.

I was going to write about the French going after Scientology but I am just to tired for that. I will see you tomorrow.

Monday

It is Monday morning and I wasted a good part of my morning writing time trying to come up with a clever title for today. As you can see. I was unable to come up with one. I like to write and I am well aware that some days I do better then others. But it kills me sometimes to try to come up with a title each day. I tried initially to title each post related to riding on the train but I eventually gave up on that. I just had to hard of a time coming up with something new so I am now just throwing up the days of the week. I know it is pretty clever.

I had a nice weekend at the coast. It was basically just one night but it was nice to get away and the people I was with are super good people. I have known them all for years and I usually have a great time with them and this weekend was no different. I played some craps at the casino and basically broke exactly even. So that was fun as well. I would have liked to win some money but I am willing to break even that is better then losing.

I just realized that next Sunday is Daylight Savings Time. I believe that it is Fall Back. So we lose an hour. I have a question for people in that regard. What is the point anymore of Daylight Savings? I understood that we needed it to some degree in the days of old when it came to farmers and people wanting to get their work done during the daylight hours. But, what is the point now? We have electric light bulbs and we are able to work when it is dark. Stores are open later and it seems to me tat we do not need it. Why not just leave the time the way it is? Does anyone have an answer for me?

I wanted to thank those of you who answered my time travel question last week. I thought all of you answers were very interesting. It seems like a fair amount of the fiction I read involves time travel of some sort. I wonder why people find the idea so fascinating? I like the idea of people going back in time and bringing their modern ideas and equipment with them. To me that is more interesting then people coming forward in time and being unprepared for what the future has for them. I also like the idea of being able to go back in time and change what is happening in the future with a new idea or new political plans. Not that things are going to always be better but that things would change and I wonder if some of the newer political ideas would work or if things would be pretty much just the same.

In political news it seems that some people are concerned about something coming up in Stockholm and that President Obama may be giving away America. That at least is what Lord Brockton is saying. He appears to be popping up all over the internets. I have not done deep research into it but it seems like people are making a mountain out of a molehill to me. I just do not think that, as I have mentioned before, in a 4 to 8 year span President Obama is going to really be able to fundamentally change America. The latest whispers I have heard is that this is a first step to a one world government. I really hope people are mistaken but then my cynical side kicks in and I think well we already have a one world government it is one controlled by the corporations, I would like to be wrong about that as well. But I feel like that is closer to the truth then anything else is.

On that happy note I will leave you as we are going to be pulling into the station. So I ask you please, explain the point or need of Daylight Savings Time in modern day and your thoughts on what is going on in Stockholm. (One paragraph Van) :) I will talk you you later.