Archive for December, 2009

Dec 23 2009

boomer

A miserable holiday season

Filed under Miscellaneous

Bad stuff always happens this time of year, but this one is shaping up as a particularly sad one for me. I’m personally fine and dandy, but a lot of friends have suddenly lost loved ones in the past few days- some of the deaths were expected, and some not. A real tragedy is a good friend’s loss of a son to suicide two days ago- I’ll be spending the 26th on the road, on the way to a funeral.

And it seems there are a lot of hard-hearted folks who want to pin blame on someone or other in the recent murder-suicide. I find that to be all the sadder, as if it wasn’t the ruination of everyone involved.

I hope we can all show some compassion now, and for all of next year. 2009 was a time when too many of us let our dark side take over (me, included). I hope we get it together more constructively in 2010!

3 responses so far

Dec 23 2009

Liz

The Dark Horse and the White Horse

Filed under Community Issues

Will Rex Rammell ever stop embarrassing the state of Idaho?  He’s decided to take his extremism (described by one author on this site as appealing to the lunatic fringe) to new heights.  He’ll get there by having a series of meetings, invitation-only, for Latter Day Saints (Mormon) men who hold the priesthood.  No women allowed. 

Basically, white male power.  Why would this be important?  Well, he thinks the Constitution is in danger from peoplenumbfuck-crazy who don’t subscribe to his personal political and religious beliefs (read, in danger from anyone who isn’t enamored of Glenn Beck).  And there is a fake prophecy that has existed for many many years, wherein the Mormon Church founder (Joseph Smith) supposedly said in the style of Nostradamus that in the future, the American Constitution would be in danger, and the Mormon priesthood holders would save it.  The priesthood constitute the White Horse, which will save the chosen world.  It’s been debunked over and over again, but it holds weak minds who crave power and glory spellbound with its promise of revolution to regain the good old days, when wimmin had no power and a man was still in charge of his household and his country.

It’s dark and dangerous times, for sure.  When crazy people like him abound (and they actually are the “mainstream” in eastern Idaho and in Utah) then the country is ripe for the same internal strife that other countries have endured and we have only watched from afar.  I keep thinking, Canada looks really really good, because I’m just too damned old and tired to go to war against my crazy neighbors.

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12 responses so far

Dec 22 2009

Liz

Bohemian Muppetry

Filed under This Gem's 4 U

You have to sit through it all, it lags initially but gets better.  Jim Henson was a freakin’ genius, and I worshipped Freddie Mercury (until he cut that gorgeous hair), so what a pairing!

 

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No responses yet

Dec 20 2009

darlene

Facebook Strikes Back

Filed under Miscellaneous

So I haven’t written in quite some time, or spent time on this forum.  I’ve spent my time on Facebook.  It’s an empire, it is.  You build a network of family and friends and it makes communication with them so much easier than conventional communication.

However, there becomes the conundrum of unknown or semi-known peoples, who friend you, and vice versa.  At first it seems harmless because other ideas are thrown out there, and that’s not a bad thing.  I don’t want an echo chamber of my own ideas, I do want to hear opposing opinions and other viewpoints, they help me either solidify my own thoughts or maybe take them down a different pathway.

But I have this thing, where I call it as I see it and that includes when some of my conservative “friends” go off the deep end.  And they in turn have this problem with being called on their dogma, being shown the racism inherent in their Tiger Woods jokes, and having their “news” sources being called into question.  Instead of ever admitting they might have been wrong, they instead employ a number of tricks that call into question their sincerity in being my friend at all.

unlikeI’ve been advised by Jim Sathe (I point to his advice time after time, so when do you think I’ll actually take it?) that it’s not worth tangling with these people, life is too precious and short and our time is better spent on those who are not closed minded, who are willing to meet in the middle at times even as they swing opposite at others.  In order to do that, I would need to unfriend a few people who are giving me fits.

That feels as if I’m telling them their opinion has no validity, that I don’t want to know their opinion, or at the very least, that I have no valid counterpoint to their opinion.  Ach!  What’s really happening is that I’m tired of trying to open their closed minds, and it’s one more attempt in a series of windmill jousts that I need to give up for Lent, or something like that.

So I’m thinking, it’s time to take the advice of Obi Wan Jim Sathe and dump them.  I have more important things to do than allow myself to continue to read and respond to their insidious poison.  I definitely UNLIKE them, and as soon as I find a nice way to express that, I’m going to reduce my list of friends by a few.

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6 responses so far

Dec 09 2009

kymberly

What are YOU looking at?

Filed under Miscellaneous

For those of you who have paid-subscription tv…here is a fun and EASY homework assignment that will exercise your cognitive reasoning skills while the tv is on.
 
Turn on one of the twenty-four/seven “news” shows and watch the commericals.  Yes, the commercials.  No forwarding through them, that will be cheating.
 
Here is what you’re looking for - Advertisements for Things You Can’t Directly Buy. 
 
Examples -
 
“Ask your doctor” medications.
Petro-products that have nothing to do with filling up your car.
“Clean” coal.
Heart-warming commercials from Big Companies like Monsanto.
 
Stuff like that.  Watch one solid hour.  Write down every ad.
 
Then ask yourself…
 
“Why is Corporation X spending a million dollars to feature their goods to an audience that cannot run out to the store and purchase said goods?” 
 
Can you think of an answer?  Come on, think hard…you did not just spend an hour exercising your critical thinking skills for nothing, did you?  Think.  Why did Exxon just show you how awesomely they love the polar bears and the baby seals and the spotted owls?  Is it because Exxon has magically materialized its cold-heart into a bleeding one?  Could it BE that simple?
 
Or could it be even simpler? 
 
Did you record the hour?  Good.  Now go back and re-watch the “news story” segments that were sandwiched in-between the ads.  Don’t just sit there and blithely absorb the “news story” like a sponge.  This is a bit like putting together a puzzle, or successfully achieving a finsihed crossword puzzle.  Look for connections.
 
For instance…following the segment about “terrorists”, did you happen to notice an ad for General Electric (or some other Giant Corporation that makes millions of dollars off tax-payer money that is allocated each month to catch terrorists).  And right before the segment about the evils of socialized medicine, did you notice the ad for “Medicare Advantage”?  Ah ha!  Medicare is evil and socialized, so there goes my theory, huh?  Nope, not one bit.  Medicare ADVANTAGE is not an evil socialized thing, it just sounds like one.  Medicare Advantage in fact is just as “government-run” as your favorite Big Bank.  Oops! - bad example.  Well, at any rate, Medicare Advantage is a PRIVATE interest, just like Blue Cross / Blue Shield.  Speaking of which, if you see a Cross / Shield ad, fathom the possibility that one of the coming “news” segments will feature some cool, new, spiffy technology doctors in Indonesia are using to treat cancer, and how we someday might get that same technology here, if only the FDA were not there to stop it.  But since it is, Blue Cross / Blue Shield will send you to Indonesia for treatment - iiiiiiiiif the price is right.  Purchase coverage wisely, my friends.  This is not your grand-daddy’s health insurance plan.
 
Your homework assignment (if you should choose to accept it) is to CAREFULLY observe what you are being shown and to ask yourself, “Why am I being shown this?”  If your critical thinking skills are even remotely intact, you might start to ponder the same thing about ads you find in magazines, hear on the radio, see during your favorite weekly tv dramas, and are exposed to in other “news” formats (local tv / radio).  If your critical thinking skills continue to become aroused, then it might not take too long before you must stop and ask yourself a very simple question…
 
“Do I REALLY want to take the red pill when the blue one will result in MUCH less thinking?”
 
I submit, if you’re brighter than a two watt light bulb, you will take the red pill and deal with the consequences - even if for one reason only.  And that reason is - the truth really DOES set you free.  Freedom is not some quantifiable concept that you can wave a flag at and feel “proud to be an American”.  Freedom is what comes from doing your damnest to hold yourself and your fellow citizens to account for the betterment of ALL our lives.
 
I know, that sounds so socialistic.  Well, guess what?  We ARE a social animal.  It’s time we start acting like it.

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3 responses so far

Dec 07 2009

Submissions Editor

PFLAG Holiday Party

Filed under Community Issues

pflag

Eastern Idaho Chapter of PFLAG

 

PO Box 52242

Idaho Falls, ID 83405-2242

e-mail: PFLAGinEID@aol.com

Voice Mail Phone 522-1057

 

SUNDAY DECEMBER 13, 2009

                                                                             

HOLIDAY PARTY 6:30 P.M.

                                            

Unitarian Church

555 E Street, Idaho Falls

                                                               

This month’s PFLAG event is our annual Holiday Party.  Note the party is on the second Sunday of December as the third Sunday is too close to Christmas.  We will not be having a PFLAG meeting on the third Sunday this month.

The annual Holiday Party/Finger Food Potluck is always a lot of fun and a good time to reconnect if you have not been able to make other PFLAG meetings!  Bring a friend or family members.  There will be door prizes, holiday music and good company.  The Recorder group from the Unitarian Church will be playing music for the party.

Please bring a finger food potluck dish to share if you are able; beverages will be provided.

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Dec 06 2009

kymberly

What is So Important?

Filed under Community Issues

One of the most important values I hold is a high regard for community.  That can mean different things in different situations.  I have a community of non-political friends, a community of VERY political friends,  I have a community of bookish friends, a community of outdoor-enthusiast friends.  I realized today that I have a new community - of soup kitchen friends.  There are other communities, too.  Work community, church community, family community, hobbyist community…the list goes on.  Some communities overlap each other.  For instance, I have a friend who is in my Pagan, political, and neighborhood communities (hi Jeff!).

 
How many communities are you in, and what do you do to honor those communities?
 
Now for something sort of scary -

 
“25 percent of Americans did not have a single confidant in 2004″
 
What color are your best friend’s eyes?  How many of your neighbors’ names do you know?  When was the last time you got together with friends and just hung out, with no goal or agenda?
 
“The primary societal role of U.S. citizens is no longer that of “citizen” but that of “consumer.”
 
You can consume all on your own, but how many active citizens participate by themselves?
 
“Television:… separates people from one another…creates sensory deprivation...redefines happiness and the meaning of life.”
 
How many people do you know who can name every celebrity in the news today but who cannot name their favorite teller at the bank?
 
Where is our focus, people?  Is it on “us” or is it on “me”?  While a certain amount of self-interest is healthy and necessary for a reasonable life, I submit that our culture has slowly chipped away at our ability to discern the need for community.  dugski and I live in a cute, post-WW2, cinderblock home.  It’s on a corner lot, with an alley in back, and with a three foot tall picket fence all around.  We know almost every one of our neighbors, and then some..  We know our mail carrier’s name (Dave).  The shirt I am wearing was gifted to me by my alley-neighbor.  The best salsa on earth I have ever tasted was brought to us by our neighbor across the street, who wanted to thank us for helping her with a chore at her house.  There is a Vietnam vet down the street who is missing a leg and who rides his bike everywhere, even in the icy winter.  Most of us leave any aluminum cans we have collected in small piles scattered through the alley.  He collects them and turns them in for money.  A woman and her daughter wheel around a cooler filled with spicy pork and chicken tamales that they sell in the neighborhood for six dollars a dozen.  Another neighbor grows the best tomatoes.  I grow the worst.  So she walks up and hand delivers the meatiest, juiciest red orbs right onto my doorstep.  and in return, I give her oprganic garlic.  I haven’t even introduced you yet to the 84 year old woman two doors down from us who still does her own home improvement repairs (except for garage door ones, now that she knows who lives two doors down from her).  Nor have I told you about our other community of neighbors, each one a character, each one an expression of “our community”.  Having neighbors and knowing each one’s story has taught me one very important thing during the time we have lived here. 

 
There is something to be said for depending upon each other.
 

I go for walks around the greenbelt and it dawned on me today that these days too much of my focus is on avoiding slip-n-fall disasters on the ice.  I don’t look at trees. I don’t look at other people.  Somebody says, “Hi kym!”, then I look up.  Otherwise, I look at the ground.  It’s because I don’t want another broken bone.  Put more correctly, it’s because I don’t want another broken bone BILL.  I feel afraid that if I look away from my own concerns too long, a bad thing might happen.
 
While I am not about to stop surveying the ground with obsessive care, I think it is about time I remember where my value lies.  It lies not in keeping the next bill from piling up at the expense of waving to the woman whose dog looks a little like my own.  My value lies in balancing my autonomy with my community.  After all, wasn’t it only last month that some of my most active community partners pulled out all the stops and helped me come up with a way to pay for a rather substantial part of that bill?  Who am I to deny a smile to the old man on the park bench who looks up long enough from his copy of “Moby Dick” (or “Going Rouge”, I don’t discern that closely) to offer me a smile?  Don’t I owe him a smile back? 
 
Why don’t we each take the next opportunity to look up and smile at the guy who is shoveling snow, the woman who is at the fuel pump next to us, the couple with the whining kid in the produce aisle?  Community begins from within.  One way to fight the fear, the darkness, the “who knows what will happen next?” is to embrace the kindness, the generosity, and the friendship of a community near you.

 
This rant was inspired by a (slightly nihilistic) link sent out by Arnie on FB -
 
 
kym

“The ultimate safeguard of limited government is the people. And in order for us to know if the federal government is overstepping its bounds, we obviously need to know what those bounds are.” - Chick Heileson

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4 responses so far