tonight Barack Obama will accept the Democratic nomination for president. he is about the become the first black official major party candidate. this comes 45 years to the day of the million man march and Dr King's famous "I have a dream" speech. i cant help but think that this is not a coincidence. but im okay with that. i think its good to look back at what Dr King and all the activists have achieved to make it possible for a black (closet Muslim) man to achieve.
ive grown up in a different time. i never knew the hatred of racism. ive know prejudices and biases, but never the hate that ive heard of. im glad for that. and im glad that in the space of half a century we have come so far. we have come from the hate endured in the 50's with forced integration and all the violence that resulted. from having my own grandfather disown his own daughter, my sweet old aunt, for dating then marrying a black man, to me having a thing for a black girl and not having to worry about anything more than a couple startled faces. i hope to see a time when my kids can date anyone of any color and not even have the thought cross their minds as to how their friends and family might react. i guess i have a dream too. that we can all be more like Stephen Colbert, and not see color.
yes we've come quite far, and in this day of terrorism, economic woes, climate change, and the energy crisis, its nice to think about something that we as a nation have finally gotten right. Dr Kings had a dream that we might judge a man by the content of his character rather than the color of his skin. as a society, i think we are past the tipping point. its a big step in the right direction.
the world will be a better place if we all could just take a page from Red Green's playbook. "keep you stick on the ice. I'm pulling for you, were all in this together."
Thursday, August 28, 2008
join the rally, keep your voice.
im getting a whipped up by all the speeches the democrats have been making. i feel all excited, because for once there seems to be a major party who is actually syncing up with my views. not all of them, but quite a few. and i need to keep the disparity in view. i see no sense in towing the party line. theres all sorts of cliches i could rattle off now, but what i want to convey is that no matter how much i agree with Obama and the dems on a lot of issues, i still have not heard anyone addressing health care in a way that i fully support, or for that matter, a full on plan on Iraq. but its early, and the campaigns rarely give you more that they need to, which means generalizations and sound bites. but even that beats out the republicans who want to let the health care status quo more or less be what it is and stay in Iraq until my grandkids are writing blogs about it.
what im getting at here is that you cant put all your eggs in one basket, diversify your investments. hopefully your understanding of the issues gives you a nuanced view of the world, and then you have to find the candidate that best matches that, and cast your vote, maybe even throw your full support behind him, but never lose sight of your individuality. dont get too caught up in the push to get the best candidate in office and forget what matters to you. make the best choice, but always push for more. push for the ideal and compromise when necessary, but stay true to your values. its up to us citizens to keep the politicians in line, and we must never forget that responsibility.
what im getting at here is that you cant put all your eggs in one basket, diversify your investments. hopefully your understanding of the issues gives you a nuanced view of the world, and then you have to find the candidate that best matches that, and cast your vote, maybe even throw your full support behind him, but never lose sight of your individuality. dont get too caught up in the push to get the best candidate in office and forget what matters to you. make the best choice, but always push for more. push for the ideal and compromise when necessary, but stay true to your values. its up to us citizens to keep the politicians in line, and we must never forget that responsibility.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
the hits just keep coming
my poor homeland has topped yet another list that no one wants to be on. that would be the list that ranks which big city is poorest. of US cities with at least 250,000 residents, Detroit is number one. not to be completely outdone by its flagship city, the state of Michigan's median income dropped while the rest of the nation's rose.
who to blame? ineffectual leadership? a struggling industrial economy? bad weather? proximity to Canada? so many options in the blame game. in my opinion there are 3 big reasons as to why Michigan is struggling. (but the reality is so nuanced that even fixing these things would leave quite a few holes. but we all love talking points, right?)
first is the decline in domestic manufacturing, especially our Big 3 cars and trucks. theyve been losing their market to the Asians and Europeans for decades and the 90's were dismal in that respect. the one market they had always lead in, trucks and SUV's, is rapidly eroding under the gas prices. as a result the new union deal cuts wages for incoming employees while others took cuts to keep their jobs. that alone can probably account for the drop in the mitten's median income.
that leads me to the second point: leadership. there is none to speak of. it seems like all the leaders in the state are just filling in. its like they arent there to make a difference, but to make sure that the wheels dont fall off until the boss is back. but there is no boss coming back to save the place and the wheels are falling off. they have been for a while. and as they do more people fall into poverty for lack of well paying jobs. folks who can afford college are having trouble getting jobs, because more and more well paying jobs require that silly piece of paper. and the jobs that are open to the uneducated and lesser educated are becoming fewer and lower paying leading to more poverty, which happens to be my next point.
the apple doesnt fall far from the tree. poverty breeds poverty. a poor uneducated mother will have poor uneducated children for the most part. she cant afford to live in a nice area with good public schools and she cant afford to send them to private school. and as soon as they are 18 the handouts to mom for uncle sam quit and the kid needs to make money to support himself, his mom, and his siblings, and possibly his kids. and as the economy erodes in the area more parents fall into this marginal poverty area, and their kids are jeopardized. the kids need a chance. wont someone think of the children!? i perscribe better education and support for poor kids.
i dont know how to solve all of the states problems, but leadership is where to begin. we need leaders who can bring new industry, besides a few films, to the state. permanent jobs are needed. whatever public money out there we have needs to be spent on kids and education. the best way to give a kid a chance is to give a kid an education and some ambition. if i kid sees that he can better his lot and his family's if he just completes a college education, and he has that chance, a lot of them will take it. success breeds success. the cycle of poverty needs to be broken and a cycle of success established. and always look out for the cycle of knives. that shit is scary.
Detroit and Michigan need a regime change. they need leaders who can bring jobs and investment and prosperity to an area that was once the arsenal of democracy, the envy of the world for its industry and prosperity. and that was within my father's life time. i hope to see it in my life time. a place that is famous for its prosperity, not its corruption, crime and poverty.
who to blame? ineffectual leadership? a struggling industrial economy? bad weather? proximity to Canada? so many options in the blame game. in my opinion there are 3 big reasons as to why Michigan is struggling. (but the reality is so nuanced that even fixing these things would leave quite a few holes. but we all love talking points, right?)
first is the decline in domestic manufacturing, especially our Big 3 cars and trucks. theyve been losing their market to the Asians and Europeans for decades and the 90's were dismal in that respect. the one market they had always lead in, trucks and SUV's, is rapidly eroding under the gas prices. as a result the new union deal cuts wages for incoming employees while others took cuts to keep their jobs. that alone can probably account for the drop in the mitten's median income.
that leads me to the second point: leadership. there is none to speak of. it seems like all the leaders in the state are just filling in. its like they arent there to make a difference, but to make sure that the wheels dont fall off until the boss is back. but there is no boss coming back to save the place and the wheels are falling off. they have been for a while. and as they do more people fall into poverty for lack of well paying jobs. folks who can afford college are having trouble getting jobs, because more and more well paying jobs require that silly piece of paper. and the jobs that are open to the uneducated and lesser educated are becoming fewer and lower paying leading to more poverty, which happens to be my next point.
the apple doesnt fall far from the tree. poverty breeds poverty. a poor uneducated mother will have poor uneducated children for the most part. she cant afford to live in a nice area with good public schools and she cant afford to send them to private school. and as soon as they are 18 the handouts to mom for uncle sam quit and the kid needs to make money to support himself, his mom, and his siblings, and possibly his kids. and as the economy erodes in the area more parents fall into this marginal poverty area, and their kids are jeopardized. the kids need a chance. wont someone think of the children!? i perscribe better education and support for poor kids.
i dont know how to solve all of the states problems, but leadership is where to begin. we need leaders who can bring new industry, besides a few films, to the state. permanent jobs are needed. whatever public money out there we have needs to be spent on kids and education. the best way to give a kid a chance is to give a kid an education and some ambition. if i kid sees that he can better his lot and his family's if he just completes a college education, and he has that chance, a lot of them will take it. success breeds success. the cycle of poverty needs to be broken and a cycle of success established. and always look out for the cycle of knives. that shit is scary.
Detroit and Michigan need a regime change. they need leaders who can bring jobs and investment and prosperity to an area that was once the arsenal of democracy, the envy of the world for its industry and prosperity. and that was within my father's life time. i hope to see it in my life time. a place that is famous for its prosperity, not its corruption, crime and poverty.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
shipload of worrms
i just opened it. i dont know what to do. im inundated, overwhelmed, engrossed, and completely unmotivated to do actual work at work. if you are also a news and information junkie as i have become over the last year or two, then be careful. there is a lot going on here.
global voices
basically they take the best that the underground web has to offer, translate it, assemble it in a logical fashion and present it to us, the readers. so they distill the worlds blogs, journals, indie magazines and newspapers and bring them to us in one source. im totally amazed and in love with this. theyve cut through all the stupid blogs that you dont want to read, and give the real deal. real reporting, logical opinions, local opinions, and world wide perspectives all together without mounds of bullshit to sift through to get to the story.
between this and failblog, its going to be tough to get any work done...
global voices
basically they take the best that the underground web has to offer, translate it, assemble it in a logical fashion and present it to us, the readers. so they distill the worlds blogs, journals, indie magazines and newspapers and bring them to us in one source. im totally amazed and in love with this. theyve cut through all the stupid blogs that you dont want to read, and give the real deal. real reporting, logical opinions, local opinions, and world wide perspectives all together without mounds of bullshit to sift through to get to the story.
between this and failblog, its going to be tough to get any work done...
Monday, August 25, 2008
so many links, too little content.
what to talk about. i feel like i should be writing here more, but i find myself uninspired of late. its not like theres nothing to talk about or no one to belittle. i mean the DNC is getting started, Obama tapped Biden for his VP, Russia withdraws from Georgia, China's Olympics were a controversial success, and McCain evidently doesnt know how many homes he owns. not to mention that Kwame Kilpatrick is still mayor of Detroit while wearing a court ordered tether and facing 8 felony charges and an investigation by the Governor. the world is pear shaped as usual and im feeling apathetic. no, its not that i dont care, because i do, i just dont feel motivated to form a semi-coherant rant on any of these subjects.
oh well. if your bored, read a paper, click the above links or read some web comics.
oh well. if your bored, read a paper, click the above links or read some web comics.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
read this
this whole Georgia thing is rather important. we must do something. exactly what, i dont know, but we need to stand up to Russia and behind Georgia.
Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia's president, has written this piece requesting the west's help. damn near begging for it. and we must. Russia is trying to throw its military weight around and absorb former soviet states that have become democratic and West-friendly. The West must stand behind our newly democratic friends.
i think we are all aware that i dont want war anywhere. i also dont want tyranny and oppression anywhere. Georgia is a free and democratic country and Russia is invading its sovereignty. sending Condoleeza Rice is a start and she must stand up and take a hard line with the Russians and demand European support. i dont know what to do, but we must do something. we must not let Moscow overrun the region.
Georgia is begging for our support. we must oblige.
Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia's president, has written this piece requesting the west's help. damn near begging for it. and we must. Russia is trying to throw its military weight around and absorb former soviet states that have become democratic and West-friendly. The West must stand behind our newly democratic friends.
i think we are all aware that i dont want war anywhere. i also dont want tyranny and oppression anywhere. Georgia is a free and democratic country and Russia is invading its sovereignty. sending Condoleeza Rice is a start and she must stand up and take a hard line with the Russians and demand European support. i dont know what to do, but we must do something. we must not let Moscow overrun the region.
Georgia is begging for our support. we must oblige.
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