My first counseling session was today. It was essentially me going over what brought me here, presumably next week we will start to get into some of the issues I have been having.
There really isn't a whole lot for me to say today, as I'm rather tired. I wanted to be sure to get to the appointment on time, and thus went to work at 8. I probably stayed up later than I should have, so getting up was rather difficult. Hopefully tomorrow will be easier, as I am thinking of sleeping in til about 9, and getting out of Chicago after morning rush hour ends. I don't have to go downtown for my check because I got it today, I just can't cash it til tommorow, which I will do on the road.
I have been missing people lately. I called John today to wish him luck on his performance and to say hi to his parents for me. I really miss Susan, I haven't talked to her in a while either. But again, she has a whole other life in LA, so that's really not a big deal either. Hopefully I can talk to her soon.
There are certain songs that I have heard lately that just sort of cut deep. On the way to Schaumburg I heard a song I'm sure most of you are familiar with, "Cherish" by The Association. I have really been trying to listen to the words of songs lately, and I am usually struck by how much is there in songs from the 60's and 70's and the Motown era that aren't there on, oh , the Top 20 on 20 channel. That's not to say there aren't people today doing powerful work, but its not on the top 40. Of course, whenever I here a countdown on 60's on 6 and they're doing the top six songs on a given week and "Honey" or anything pre-British Invasion and done by white people other than the Beach Boys or Buddy Holly comes on at number 1, its pretty bad too. Back to my original point, there are just songs I have heard lately that bring out emotions I have been having, and saying them in a way I never could, "Cherish" for my personal life, "Load Out/Stay" by Jackson Browne for how it made me feel to perform, old Motown for just getting through the nights sometimes. Music really does help, its the one thing that can really effect me right now more than anything else.
Ok, sorry I didn't post anything more interesting, though I would like to suggest taking a look at an article in the Washington Post about a school in Russia where the history teacher and her students have some very interesting discussions about Communism and Capitalism and whether Democracy is right for Russia
Thursday, May 27, 2004
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Today has been uneventful, thankfully. No great emotional things to deal with, or bore you with.
My bank is extremely hard to deal with right now. My bank card was lost when I lost my wallet about a month ago, and my drivers license if waiting for me at home. I have my temporary license, which doesn't have a picture, and my work ID, which does, in terms of identification. I went to the TCF mini-branch at the Clark/Division Jewel in order to get my pin for my new card, so I can finally get the damn thing. They wouldn't let me, and then, wouldn't allow me to write a check to cash, so I can have some money to get gas with Friday on my way home. I will be headed down to the real branch at Madison and Wabash after work, they seem to be a bit more understanding about these things.
My propaganda class should be an interesting one. The six week format is actually closer to some of the classes I had at Albion, in terms of having two classes a week for 2 1/2 hours, and needing to keep up with the reading. The final project is longer than anything I've had at Roosevelt so far, but shorter than the usual Grossman 48 hour midterm is expected to be.
I checked out a Pro football preview magazine that I saw at Borders yesterday. I was shocked by the fact that it was there this early, obviously, but I was also surprised that they only had the lions finishing at 5-11, the same record as last year. Last year the team lost its only playmaking wide receiver, who had shown some flashes during those first few games, after week 5, and was essentially playing with a bunch of guys (Otis Smith and Doug Evans come to mind) who they signed off the street in the secondary. This year they will have a decent running game, no position, perhaps other than kicker, can be filled by a young player more effectively right away than running back. At wideout, where they will be young, they replaced Bill Schroeder with Roy Williams, about the most drastic upgrade I can imagine them making. The defense will be better as Dick Jauron simplifies it, and Bailey and Lehman give them speed at Linebacker. Bryant and Bly should be one of the better cornerback tandems in the league, if one of the shorter ones. Most importantly, and this comes from no less of an authority on the West Coast Offense than Bill Walsh, quarterbacks in the system make their biggest jump in year three. They become good, to very good, as they get used to the terminology and it becomes sort of second nature to them. Harrington, for the first time, will have explosive Wideouts on both sides, have Az Hakim in the slot, and a running game. I predicted 10-6 a while ago on John's site, I will temper that down to 9-7, but I really can't see them much worse than 7-9. They should be ahead of Chicago by the end of the season.
politically, the move John Kerry is considering, waiting an additional month after the convention in July to accept the nomination in order to continue fundraising seems to clever by half. The networks' only reason to cover conventions today is to see the acceptance speeches by the nominees, that's it. There is no intrigue any more. The question is whether John Kerry would lose out on the post-convention bump, usually about 14 points, that a candidate usually receives at the end of the four day pep rally. If the networks won't cover it, and they do cover the Republicans draping themselves with the flag and the World Trade Center in New York in September, Kerry loses the ability to negate Bush's bump with his own. Kerry has always been a strong closer, to use horse racing terminology, meaning he rises in the polls at the right time, the last few weeks before an election. He did it to beat William Weld for Senate in 1996, and obviously in Iowa, which propelled him from dead in the water to dead set nominee in a month. But he can't risk this. He really is only going to get something like $10-20 million in that month, the convention is worth twice that and its free. Accept the nomination, and you have to be content with what you, and your VP nominee, can raise in the next two months. But all you really need is to have enough to counter Bush, you don't need to raise the same, just enough. Just play it safe, get the bump, and go on from there. People will be too distracted by the NFL to notice the President anyway
My bank is extremely hard to deal with right now. My bank card was lost when I lost my wallet about a month ago, and my drivers license if waiting for me at home. I have my temporary license, which doesn't have a picture, and my work ID, which does, in terms of identification. I went to the TCF mini-branch at the Clark/Division Jewel in order to get my pin for my new card, so I can finally get the damn thing. They wouldn't let me, and then, wouldn't allow me to write a check to cash, so I can have some money to get gas with Friday on my way home. I will be headed down to the real branch at Madison and Wabash after work, they seem to be a bit more understanding about these things.
My propaganda class should be an interesting one. The six week format is actually closer to some of the classes I had at Albion, in terms of having two classes a week for 2 1/2 hours, and needing to keep up with the reading. The final project is longer than anything I've had at Roosevelt so far, but shorter than the usual Grossman 48 hour midterm is expected to be.
I checked out a Pro football preview magazine that I saw at Borders yesterday. I was shocked by the fact that it was there this early, obviously, but I was also surprised that they only had the lions finishing at 5-11, the same record as last year. Last year the team lost its only playmaking wide receiver, who had shown some flashes during those first few games, after week 5, and was essentially playing with a bunch of guys (Otis Smith and Doug Evans come to mind) who they signed off the street in the secondary. This year they will have a decent running game, no position, perhaps other than kicker, can be filled by a young player more effectively right away than running back. At wideout, where they will be young, they replaced Bill Schroeder with Roy Williams, about the most drastic upgrade I can imagine them making. The defense will be better as Dick Jauron simplifies it, and Bailey and Lehman give them speed at Linebacker. Bryant and Bly should be one of the better cornerback tandems in the league, if one of the shorter ones. Most importantly, and this comes from no less of an authority on the West Coast Offense than Bill Walsh, quarterbacks in the system make their biggest jump in year three. They become good, to very good, as they get used to the terminology and it becomes sort of second nature to them. Harrington, for the first time, will have explosive Wideouts on both sides, have Az Hakim in the slot, and a running game. I predicted 10-6 a while ago on John's site, I will temper that down to 9-7, but I really can't see them much worse than 7-9. They should be ahead of Chicago by the end of the season.
politically, the move John Kerry is considering, waiting an additional month after the convention in July to accept the nomination in order to continue fundraising seems to clever by half. The networks' only reason to cover conventions today is to see the acceptance speeches by the nominees, that's it. There is no intrigue any more. The question is whether John Kerry would lose out on the post-convention bump, usually about 14 points, that a candidate usually receives at the end of the four day pep rally. If the networks won't cover it, and they do cover the Republicans draping themselves with the flag and the World Trade Center in New York in September, Kerry loses the ability to negate Bush's bump with his own. Kerry has always been a strong closer, to use horse racing terminology, meaning he rises in the polls at the right time, the last few weeks before an election. He did it to beat William Weld for Senate in 1996, and obviously in Iowa, which propelled him from dead in the water to dead set nominee in a month. But he can't risk this. He really is only going to get something like $10-20 million in that month, the convention is worth twice that and its free. Accept the nomination, and you have to be content with what you, and your VP nominee, can raise in the next two months. But all you really need is to have enough to counter Bush, you don't need to raise the same, just enough. Just play it safe, get the bump, and go on from there. People will be too distracted by the NFL to notice the President anyway
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
My car is behaving oddly. A light I had never seen before came on during the surprisingly long trip out to Schaumburg, I left at 2:30 and didn't get here til 4, and the steering was a little off. I am not as concerned about Friday, the drive home for Memorial Day Weekend, as I am about coming out to Schaumburg again Thursday, as my class has its second meeting and I have my first counseling session. Speaking of that, I hope it goes well, I really feel like I need something right now, someone to talk to about what happened. If anyone sees Karen, please let her know that I am trying my best to get better, and that I hope I can talk to her, as a friend, by the time my birthday rolls around in mid-July.
The Pistons won last night in a thrilling fashion, though the game itself may not have been played in a thrilling fashion. Having seen replays of the block by Tayshaun Prince, the radio announcer doing the game on ESPN Radio on my XM didn't do a good job of articulating what happened and describing the play. He treated it as if it was a routine block, not the great athletic play that it was.
There is an old George Carlin routine, one that I remember well because it was on when I totaled the green Saab last summer, where he performs an entire newscast as different characters. This was recorded probably 40 years ago, because Carlin is still "straight" no beard, no ponytail, no embrace of the counter-culture as yet. When he gets to his sports report, he begins reeling of the NBA scores. The joke is that he's not giving any team names, but all the scores are in the 140-120 range, for both teams, the punchline comes when he says "And in an overtime duel, 98-97". The crowd laughs uproariously, because obviously the game had to have been unexciting, neither team hit 100. Today, we wouldn't bat an eyelash at such a score, and we have a three point line. Commentators often fault the Bad Boys Pistons for bringing the game down to the way it is today, removing the skill and making the defense incredibly physical. While the latter charge is of course true, the first is really misleading. Those Pistons teams averaged more than 100 points a game, and their defense, the best in the league, held teams JUST UNDER 100. Games like last night, and the game Sunday night show that skill has been lost, or that the game has changed over time because of the size of the players involved. There are few traditional centers left. The men who have changed the game are those guys, like Kevin Garnett, who are ridiculously long for their frame. If you look at old fims from the 50's and 60's, it looks like they are playing on a different court. There is so much more space for players to get open and shoot and to dribble. They dribble forever in the old films. Perhaps what they need to do is to take a cue from olympic hockey, widen the court. Anyone who watches Olympic Hockey, or Canadian Football, realizes that space creates more artistry and less physicality. The NBA, for the good of the sport, should at least attempt something like this. Try it in the NDBL for a year, the way the NHL does with the AHL whenever its trying something like removing the redline. Bring the artistry back. Or just pound it in to a center on every play. Either way works.
The Pistons won last night in a thrilling fashion, though the game itself may not have been played in a thrilling fashion. Having seen replays of the block by Tayshaun Prince, the radio announcer doing the game on ESPN Radio on my XM didn't do a good job of articulating what happened and describing the play. He treated it as if it was a routine block, not the great athletic play that it was.
There is an old George Carlin routine, one that I remember well because it was on when I totaled the green Saab last summer, where he performs an entire newscast as different characters. This was recorded probably 40 years ago, because Carlin is still "straight" no beard, no ponytail, no embrace of the counter-culture as yet. When he gets to his sports report, he begins reeling of the NBA scores. The joke is that he's not giving any team names, but all the scores are in the 140-120 range, for both teams, the punchline comes when he says "And in an overtime duel, 98-97". The crowd laughs uproariously, because obviously the game had to have been unexciting, neither team hit 100. Today, we wouldn't bat an eyelash at such a score, and we have a three point line. Commentators often fault the Bad Boys Pistons for bringing the game down to the way it is today, removing the skill and making the defense incredibly physical. While the latter charge is of course true, the first is really misleading. Those Pistons teams averaged more than 100 points a game, and their defense, the best in the league, held teams JUST UNDER 100. Games like last night, and the game Sunday night show that skill has been lost, or that the game has changed over time because of the size of the players involved. There are few traditional centers left. The men who have changed the game are those guys, like Kevin Garnett, who are ridiculously long for their frame. If you look at old fims from the 50's and 60's, it looks like they are playing on a different court. There is so much more space for players to get open and shoot and to dribble. They dribble forever in the old films. Perhaps what they need to do is to take a cue from olympic hockey, widen the court. Anyone who watches Olympic Hockey, or Canadian Football, realizes that space creates more artistry and less physicality. The NBA, for the good of the sport, should at least attempt something like this. Try it in the NDBL for a year, the way the NHL does with the AHL whenever its trying something like removing the redline. Bring the artistry back. Or just pound it in to a center on every play. Either way works.
Monday, May 24, 2004
I feel like I am coming apart right now. I am hoping for things to happen that almost certainly will not, but the thought of them happening makes me so happy, I don't know that I want to accept reality. Something happened yesterday. I tried to reconnect with someone from my past, and they literally could not hear me. But that incident, and a whole lot of thinking over the past week has made me realize just how unready I am, how much I am still mourning over what happened three months ago. Its like a viscious cycle.
Jonathon Alter appeared on Air America last week and talked about this column which I just find utterly fascinating. Any time you can bring up one of history's two great historian/traitors (Thucydides or Josephus) is a good one. But the general tenor or what Alter says about Bush, and about what the conservative dialogue in the country is saying is absolutely dead on.
What John Kerry needs to do is make George Bush look like Pat Hopple. Now I love Pat, but he could be extraordinarily hard headed, especially when it came to potentially admitting he was wrong. That is this president's problem. He is so obsessed with his own intellectual and philisophical consistency that he can't reverse, or even change course on issues. I learned in Washington that ideological consistency is great, and could be an admirable quality, for those never seeking higher office. Paul Wellstone liked Jesse Helms because he knew what he stood for. But a president needs to be more nuanced. He needs to be able consider all points of view, and if one course isn't working, to change it. This is the great fault of the administration. They cannot admit when they are wrong or have been wrong. This is seen as weakness. The one thing George W. Bush has not wanted to be is his father. His father lost, the logic goes, because the conservatives didn't see him as conservative enough. But what scared America more was Pat Buchanan at the convention, talking about a culture war, making the Republican Party the party of the intolerant. Bush will not be accused of not being hard enough. The problem is that he has an incredibly soft underbelly when it comes to eerything else, America doesn't seem to believe it is headed inthe right direction, even if it admires the President for being unflinching. Being uncompromising can be an admirable quality, but , to paraphrase Shelby Foote, our whole system of government is founded upon compromise. Uncompromising people shouldn't head the government.
Elect JFK 2
Jonathon Alter appeared on Air America last week and talked about this column which I just find utterly fascinating. Any time you can bring up one of history's two great historian/traitors (Thucydides or Josephus) is a good one. But the general tenor or what Alter says about Bush, and about what the conservative dialogue in the country is saying is absolutely dead on.
What John Kerry needs to do is make George Bush look like Pat Hopple. Now I love Pat, but he could be extraordinarily hard headed, especially when it came to potentially admitting he was wrong. That is this president's problem. He is so obsessed with his own intellectual and philisophical consistency that he can't reverse, or even change course on issues. I learned in Washington that ideological consistency is great, and could be an admirable quality, for those never seeking higher office. Paul Wellstone liked Jesse Helms because he knew what he stood for. But a president needs to be more nuanced. He needs to be able consider all points of view, and if one course isn't working, to change it. This is the great fault of the administration. They cannot admit when they are wrong or have been wrong. This is seen as weakness. The one thing George W. Bush has not wanted to be is his father. His father lost, the logic goes, because the conservatives didn't see him as conservative enough. But what scared America more was Pat Buchanan at the convention, talking about a culture war, making the Republican Party the party of the intolerant. Bush will not be accused of not being hard enough. The problem is that he has an incredibly soft underbelly when it comes to eerything else, America doesn't seem to believe it is headed inthe right direction, even if it admires the President for being unflinching. Being uncompromising can be an admirable quality, but , to paraphrase Shelby Foote, our whole system of government is founded upon compromise. Uncompromising people shouldn't head the government.
Elect JFK 2
Thursday, May 20, 2004
Ok, a few things things about this week that have been a little bit off or weird. This is my off week from classes at Roosevelt, and its been nice, but when I checked my grades Monday, figuring a couple would be in at least I saw that I had failed Media Criticism. This, suffice to say was pretty shocking and unexpected. And there is a reason for that. Because I didn't fail it. My prof made a mistake when he was putting the grades in and suddenly I had failed. This is being taken care of, hopefully, but the website still has me as having an F. On the bright side I did get an A in Magazine Production, which is something I am very proud of, because Im and a lot of other people worked really hard on it, especially our prof, who had to stay up very late for a few nights ecause some people did not have their shit together in time for production. I think, at least I should be able to get a good letter of recommendation ftom him, as I have to start looking for internships for the fall.
Speaking of that, I don't have to be here in the fall. I will only have one class which would require being in a classroom, and that meets on Mondays, my internship and project will be able to be done outside of school. I also confirmed that my lease runs out at the end of August, so I will soon be getting in gear to get an internship, hopefully somewhere in Indiana or the MI.
I am starting therapy soon. I had a preliminary meeting with a counseling student from Roosevelt who works during the walk in hours of the counseling center on Tuesday. I talked about everything that's gone on the past three months and how it has affected me. She said that on Tuesday, I would be getting a call about scheduling a more permanent time. Obviously I needed something, I just needed a push from someone really important to get me there.
I "earned" $75 yesterday for showing up on time for a focus group. They apparently over-recruit sometimes, but they gave me , and two other guys, "incentive pay", to do another focus group soon, because we didn't actually do one.
I really do not understand what the leadership of the Republican Party is thinking. Yesterday, the SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE made a joke about John McCain not really being a true Republican because he has voiced concerns oer Abu Gharib and other war issues. The worst kept secret in Washington is that McCain hates GW Bush. He hates him for the push polling (which the Bush campaign denies doing) that took place in South Carolina, that charged him with fathering a black child (he and his wife adopted a child, who I believe is Bangladeshi, a few years ago), and for what he saw as coopting his campaign themes when Bush didn't believe in them (Reformer with Results). I do not believe he would run with John Kerry on what would amount to be a war hero ticket. I don't even believe McCain is likely to switch parties. The danger is that the Republicans, by treating McCain , and by extension, his fellow maverick and veteran, Chuck Hagel so shabbily, they may risk creating their own Zell Miller. Zell is the "Democrat" who openly campaigns for Bush, shreds John Kerry to the media and talks about how the party leadership has lost its way. If the leadership continues to push McCain, though, I could see a situation where McCain not only does not campaign for Bush, but openly does so for Kerry and his VP nominee. By the way, the more Republicans that come out seeing problems with the Iraqi policy, I have seen Lindsey (former impeachment manager) Graham, Dick Lugar, and the only man in the Senate to have married Liz Taylor, John Warner, the more problems there are for Bill Frist in the Senate and by extension, the White house. The senate is in play, and I will guarantee that the Dems take a seat here in Illinois, where Barack Obama will probably crush Jack Ryan to fill Peter Fitzgerald's seat. The possibility of more problems in Iraq and an unpopular president certainly does not bode well for the Republicans in the upper chamber.
Be well
Speaking of that, I don't have to be here in the fall. I will only have one class which would require being in a classroom, and that meets on Mondays, my internship and project will be able to be done outside of school. I also confirmed that my lease runs out at the end of August, so I will soon be getting in gear to get an internship, hopefully somewhere in Indiana or the MI.
I am starting therapy soon. I had a preliminary meeting with a counseling student from Roosevelt who works during the walk in hours of the counseling center on Tuesday. I talked about everything that's gone on the past three months and how it has affected me. She said that on Tuesday, I would be getting a call about scheduling a more permanent time. Obviously I needed something, I just needed a push from someone really important to get me there.
I "earned" $75 yesterday for showing up on time for a focus group. They apparently over-recruit sometimes, but they gave me , and two other guys, "incentive pay", to do another focus group soon, because we didn't actually do one.
I really do not understand what the leadership of the Republican Party is thinking. Yesterday, the SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE made a joke about John McCain not really being a true Republican because he has voiced concerns oer Abu Gharib and other war issues. The worst kept secret in Washington is that McCain hates GW Bush. He hates him for the push polling (which the Bush campaign denies doing) that took place in South Carolina, that charged him with fathering a black child (he and his wife adopted a child, who I believe is Bangladeshi, a few years ago), and for what he saw as coopting his campaign themes when Bush didn't believe in them (Reformer with Results). I do not believe he would run with John Kerry on what would amount to be a war hero ticket. I don't even believe McCain is likely to switch parties. The danger is that the Republicans, by treating McCain , and by extension, his fellow maverick and veteran, Chuck Hagel so shabbily, they may risk creating their own Zell Miller. Zell is the "Democrat" who openly campaigns for Bush, shreds John Kerry to the media and talks about how the party leadership has lost its way. If the leadership continues to push McCain, though, I could see a situation where McCain not only does not campaign for Bush, but openly does so for Kerry and his VP nominee. By the way, the more Republicans that come out seeing problems with the Iraqi policy, I have seen Lindsey (former impeachment manager) Graham, Dick Lugar, and the only man in the Senate to have married Liz Taylor, John Warner, the more problems there are for Bill Frist in the Senate and by extension, the White house. The senate is in play, and I will guarantee that the Dems take a seat here in Illinois, where Barack Obama will probably crush Jack Ryan to fill Peter Fitzgerald's seat. The possibility of more problems in Iraq and an unpopular president certainly does not bode well for the Republicans in the upper chamber.
Be well
Friday, May 14, 2004
Just some thoughts on what has been a rather disappointing and hard day.
One, Last night's game made me sick. I, and every other red blooded American, hate the Lakers. Duncan's shot was so miraculous that it just seemed likeome preordained moment for this Spurs team to find their destiny. The one thing that really bothered me about it, however, and this has been an NBA rule for some time, so it wasn't just a one time thing, but why is it that teams get to take the ball out of bounds at half-court following a late time out? Shouldn't the team that just scored be rewarded by forcing the other team to go 94 feet to make a shot, rather than cutting that by almost 2/3?
Second,
John Sellers did a great job of articulating the moral outrage that I know a lot of people feel about the Abu Gharib prison story. Let me take a step back for a second, however. The administration , and that includes everyone from Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz to the lowliest neoconservative policy wonk at the Pentagon or at Foggy Bottom, has consistently been wrong about every single major assumption about post war Iraq. First, and most famously, the thought that we would be treated as liberators, like, as Paul Wolfowitz said, "Paris in 1944". We haven't been. We have ousted Saddam, true, but we then installed our own government of Iraqis (the Governing Council) that had no legitimacy or authority. L.Paul Bremer is the authority. Second, that Iraq's reconstruction would be self-financed. Obviously, this has been so wrong its silly. The oil plants in Iraq have done nothing to lower prices here, nor have they provided an iota of support for reconstruction efforts there. Third, that Ahmed Chalabi, the man the CIA, NSA and every neocon on earth had been using as their buttress against the claims made by Scott Ritter and Hans Blix about WMD's, and most sane intelligence analysis by our allies, would be seen as legitimate by the Iraqi people, and that we would be able to hand over the rule of the country over to him, and the Iraqi army and police force, soon after toppling Saddam. This has been a horrific failure, and Chalabi himself has been cizying up to the Shiites in recent weeks, not especially aiding the cause of builing a United Iraq. Fifth, that the war in Iraq and the war on terror were tied, so that defeating Saddam would cut off an important resource to Al Qaeda. This was an argument made by people in my IR class a year and a half ago, read Hopple and Sarah Priebe, and it is so stupid because it ignores all logic. Al Qaeda is a fundamentalist Islamisist organization. Saddam was a SECULAR head of a party that was Leninist in a lot of its beliefs. They were not tied together. And we have simply, thru the occupation and now the prison photos, created a new generation of terrorists who see us as imperialist and decadent, waiting to fall to a righteous wind of suicide and large scale terror attacks. I could list dozens more. It appears however that there are really only three options for a future Iraq, and by future I mean post US/Coalition occupation.
1. Iraq becomes a theocratic state like Iran, led by the Shiite majority. Obviously this is the last thing we want, especially with regard to the safety of Israel.
2. A Balkanized Iraq featuring three states divided by religion and ethnicity, the Kurds in the north, the Sunni's in the center, and the Shiites in the south. This isn't going to work either. Neither Turkey, a member of NATO, or Iran would want to see an independent Kurdish state that might be a security threat to them. The Saudi's would fear a Shiite presence on their Northern border, that might simply act as the puppet of Iran, their coreligous neighbor. And the Suuni's would be caught in the middle, and would not be happy about it.
3. The most likely scenario, and the one floating around now, creating a "united" Iraq, with each group listed above having basic autonomy to self govern. The Kurds have had this for a while, because of the no-fly-zone. However, keeping such a state legitimate, as well as guarding against Sunni or Shiite takeover may be difficult.
These are not perfect solutions, but we cannot go as we are now, and we cannot pull out now either. We are stuck for the long haul. Our best hope is that JFK gets elected and makes it a more multilateral, and Arab, coalition.
Good luck digesting all that.
John's performance is at 1130 AM Sunday, so that should be fun, and we'll probably go see Troy, otherwise known as the beautiful people movie, afterwards.
Have a good weekend all of you, be safe, and be good to yourselves
One, Last night's game made me sick. I, and every other red blooded American, hate the Lakers. Duncan's shot was so miraculous that it just seemed likeome preordained moment for this Spurs team to find their destiny. The one thing that really bothered me about it, however, and this has been an NBA rule for some time, so it wasn't just a one time thing, but why is it that teams get to take the ball out of bounds at half-court following a late time out? Shouldn't the team that just scored be rewarded by forcing the other team to go 94 feet to make a shot, rather than cutting that by almost 2/3?
Second,
John Sellers did a great job of articulating the moral outrage that I know a lot of people feel about the Abu Gharib prison story. Let me take a step back for a second, however. The administration , and that includes everyone from Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz to the lowliest neoconservative policy wonk at the Pentagon or at Foggy Bottom, has consistently been wrong about every single major assumption about post war Iraq. First, and most famously, the thought that we would be treated as liberators, like, as Paul Wolfowitz said, "Paris in 1944". We haven't been. We have ousted Saddam, true, but we then installed our own government of Iraqis (the Governing Council) that had no legitimacy or authority. L.Paul Bremer is the authority. Second, that Iraq's reconstruction would be self-financed. Obviously, this has been so wrong its silly. The oil plants in Iraq have done nothing to lower prices here, nor have they provided an iota of support for reconstruction efforts there. Third, that Ahmed Chalabi, the man the CIA, NSA and every neocon on earth had been using as their buttress against the claims made by Scott Ritter and Hans Blix about WMD's, and most sane intelligence analysis by our allies, would be seen as legitimate by the Iraqi people, and that we would be able to hand over the rule of the country over to him, and the Iraqi army and police force, soon after toppling Saddam. This has been a horrific failure, and Chalabi himself has been cizying up to the Shiites in recent weeks, not especially aiding the cause of builing a United Iraq. Fifth, that the war in Iraq and the war on terror were tied, so that defeating Saddam would cut off an important resource to Al Qaeda. This was an argument made by people in my IR class a year and a half ago, read Hopple and Sarah Priebe, and it is so stupid because it ignores all logic. Al Qaeda is a fundamentalist Islamisist organization. Saddam was a SECULAR head of a party that was Leninist in a lot of its beliefs. They were not tied together. And we have simply, thru the occupation and now the prison photos, created a new generation of terrorists who see us as imperialist and decadent, waiting to fall to a righteous wind of suicide and large scale terror attacks. I could list dozens more. It appears however that there are really only three options for a future Iraq, and by future I mean post US/Coalition occupation.
1. Iraq becomes a theocratic state like Iran, led by the Shiite majority. Obviously this is the last thing we want, especially with regard to the safety of Israel.
2. A Balkanized Iraq featuring three states divided by religion and ethnicity, the Kurds in the north, the Sunni's in the center, and the Shiites in the south. This isn't going to work either. Neither Turkey, a member of NATO, or Iran would want to see an independent Kurdish state that might be a security threat to them. The Saudi's would fear a Shiite presence on their Northern border, that might simply act as the puppet of Iran, their coreligous neighbor. And the Suuni's would be caught in the middle, and would not be happy about it.
3. The most likely scenario, and the one floating around now, creating a "united" Iraq, with each group listed above having basic autonomy to self govern. The Kurds have had this for a while, because of the no-fly-zone. However, keeping such a state legitimate, as well as guarding against Sunni or Shiite takeover may be difficult.
These are not perfect solutions, but we cannot go as we are now, and we cannot pull out now either. We are stuck for the long haul. Our best hope is that JFK gets elected and makes it a more multilateral, and Arab, coalition.
Good luck digesting all that.
John's performance is at 1130 AM Sunday, so that should be fun, and we'll probably go see Troy, otherwise known as the beautiful people movie, afterwards.
Have a good weekend all of you, be safe, and be good to yourselves
Monday, May 10, 2004
First things First - Congratulations to the Albion College Class of 2004. For Amy Lewis, Darcy Crain, Alexis Snyder, Julie Maxey, Sean Logan, Matthew Meunier and Kelsey Hulse, I wish you all much success and I am sure you all will achieve it. You are all wonderful people.
Congratulations to John on being cast in the Writing 5 show. Obviously the Second City mainstage has no idea what its in for, and rest assured I will be there with bells on ( What does that even mean?)in August.
My Grandfather died on Friday. I was on my way home anyway, to attend commencement, and as I approached Indiana while on I-94 my mother called and asked me where I was. I said that I was moving along, and then she told me that he had died. I said I was sorry, frankly because I didn't know what else to say. She told me to come home.
My grandfather, as I said before, suffered a heart attack last week. As I said then, and as I will reiterate now, my Grandfather did not take care of himself as well as one might today. But that doesn't make his life any less worthwhile. My grandfather could be hard to get along with sometimes, he could be argumentitive and extremely stubborn, but he could also be very loving.
When I tried to kill myself almost ten years ago, it was my grandfathers words of encouragement that helped me to understand that I still was worthwhile. Whenever I needed help he was there for me, and encouraging my gifts and talents. He supported me in everything I did, with encouraging words and hugs.
I know that last few months have been hard for me, and this doesn't help matters. But then I think of my grandmother and the sense of loss she must feel. She has lost the father of her children and the man with whom she shared her bed for the past 53 years. My family went to church with her yesterday. She has handled this very well, and she has probably been preparing herself for this for the past week. But still, twice during Church, when they announced his death during the intercessions, and then later when they announced the funeral time, I saw her break down for a second. And my heart broke. My grandmother is a saint, I've never heard her say a bad word about anyone and she has spent her life helping people. Now I just need to be there for her.
The last time my grandfather came to Chicago I knew something was wrong. The walk from his hotel to my apartment usually takes me two or three minutes, its about two and a half blocks. My grandfather needed to stop along the way because he got so tired. It took us about 10 minutes to make it. I didn't want to see him in such pain. Maybe this comes as a relief then, knowing he won't have to suffer anymore. But still I miss him, and I wiush I could have said something more to him the last time I saw him, a couple of weeks ago. To let him understand what a good man he was, and how his goodness helped make his children, his grandchildren, and everyone around him better.
I don't know what I believe about God, about whether there is any sort of plan for me. But right now I have to believe that there is a better place, and that my grandfather is there, watching over me, my grandmother, and his family. If you pray, please pray for my grandmother, my mother and her siblings. Thank you all.
Congratulations to John on being cast in the Writing 5 show. Obviously the Second City mainstage has no idea what its in for, and rest assured I will be there with bells on ( What does that even mean?)in August.
My Grandfather died on Friday. I was on my way home anyway, to attend commencement, and as I approached Indiana while on I-94 my mother called and asked me where I was. I said that I was moving along, and then she told me that he had died. I said I was sorry, frankly because I didn't know what else to say. She told me to come home.
My grandfather, as I said before, suffered a heart attack last week. As I said then, and as I will reiterate now, my Grandfather did not take care of himself as well as one might today. But that doesn't make his life any less worthwhile. My grandfather could be hard to get along with sometimes, he could be argumentitive and extremely stubborn, but he could also be very loving.
When I tried to kill myself almost ten years ago, it was my grandfathers words of encouragement that helped me to understand that I still was worthwhile. Whenever I needed help he was there for me, and encouraging my gifts and talents. He supported me in everything I did, with encouraging words and hugs.
I know that last few months have been hard for me, and this doesn't help matters. But then I think of my grandmother and the sense of loss she must feel. She has lost the father of her children and the man with whom she shared her bed for the past 53 years. My family went to church with her yesterday. She has handled this very well, and she has probably been preparing herself for this for the past week. But still, twice during Church, when they announced his death during the intercessions, and then later when they announced the funeral time, I saw her break down for a second. And my heart broke. My grandmother is a saint, I've never heard her say a bad word about anyone and she has spent her life helping people. Now I just need to be there for her.
The last time my grandfather came to Chicago I knew something was wrong. The walk from his hotel to my apartment usually takes me two or three minutes, its about two and a half blocks. My grandfather needed to stop along the way because he got so tired. It took us about 10 minutes to make it. I didn't want to see him in such pain. Maybe this comes as a relief then, knowing he won't have to suffer anymore. But still I miss him, and I wiush I could have said something more to him the last time I saw him, a couple of weeks ago. To let him understand what a good man he was, and how his goodness helped make his children, his grandchildren, and everyone around him better.
I don't know what I believe about God, about whether there is any sort of plan for me. But right now I have to believe that there is a better place, and that my grandfather is there, watching over me, my grandmother, and his family. If you pray, please pray for my grandmother, my mother and her siblings. Thank you all.
Wednesday, May 05, 2004
Not the best day today. Lots of things I need to deal with still and get through. I thought I had turned a corner, but maybe I'm just fooling myself.
A very interesting article on Salon today, "here" I do feel like there are a lot of people who are much too worried about the Kerry campaign right now. As a rule, campaigns generally start well after this, and the general public really doesn't start paying attention to the campaign until after the Olympics. I agree that I would rather see Kerry beating Bush by 20 points right now, especially given the bad month Bush had in April. The torture/abuse scandal will hurt, especially if the fighting in Fallujah and Najaf intensifies because of it. This scandal is about the worst thing that can happen in terms of the Arab "street". Homosexuality, or even a hint of it, is considered to be about the worst thing in Islam, and the pictures of naked men piled on top of each other like a beaten down human pyramid is not exactly the best thing in terms of the winning of hearts and minds. Kerry had, up until the questions about the medals/ribbons, stayed silent, letting the news from Iraq and the 9/11 commission do the work for him. This was ok up to a point. He has essentially been playing rope-a-dope the past few weeks, absorbing Bush's ad blitz while raising boatloads of money to respond. I have seen reports that up to $80 million dollars has been raised in the last month, while Bush has gone through almost a third of his campaign funds in trying to define Kerry as a weak wristerd Liberal in the battleground states. Kerry just bought $27,000,000 worth of ads in these staes, and the ads are apparently well done, especially in terms of reintroducing Kerry to the voters in these states. Good luck JFK 2
A very interesting article on Salon today, "here" I do feel like there are a lot of people who are much too worried about the Kerry campaign right now. As a rule, campaigns generally start well after this, and the general public really doesn't start paying attention to the campaign until after the Olympics. I agree that I would rather see Kerry beating Bush by 20 points right now, especially given the bad month Bush had in April. The torture/abuse scandal will hurt, especially if the fighting in Fallujah and Najaf intensifies because of it. This scandal is about the worst thing that can happen in terms of the Arab "street". Homosexuality, or even a hint of it, is considered to be about the worst thing in Islam, and the pictures of naked men piled on top of each other like a beaten down human pyramid is not exactly the best thing in terms of the winning of hearts and minds. Kerry had, up until the questions about the medals/ribbons, stayed silent, letting the news from Iraq and the 9/11 commission do the work for him. This was ok up to a point. He has essentially been playing rope-a-dope the past few weeks, absorbing Bush's ad blitz while raising boatloads of money to respond. I have seen reports that up to $80 million dollars has been raised in the last month, while Bush has gone through almost a third of his campaign funds in trying to define Kerry as a weak wristerd Liberal in the battleground states. Kerry just bought $27,000,000 worth of ads in these staes, and the ads are apparently well done, especially in terms of reintroducing Kerry to the voters in these states. Good luck JFK 2
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
Ok, sorry for the rather lengthy space between posts but things have been very hectic and weird this week.
First,
My grandfather had a heart attack, I believe on Friday night, and had to go to the hospital, where he still is. My Grampa Graham has not exactly taken care of himself his whole life, he ate a lot of foods that aren't all that good for you, drank beer at every non-breakfast meal, outside of Lent, and smoked foR a long time. All that being said, I don't want to lose him. He has been a very important person in my life and one of the people who shaped me. He's done a better job lately of taking care of himself so hopefully that will pay off. I have been very lucky. I am 22 and have never lost a grandparent. I know that what Laura has just gone through has hurt her, ˇˇ. I know that as time goes on I will lose them, but I would like to keep all four of them around for a while longer. Get Well Grandpa, especially for Notre Dame-Michigan.
Second,
I went down to John's Saturday night. I walked down there, an pretty quickly to, though I wasn't hurrying. Anyway, as I got up to leave around midnight, I couldn't find my wallet. It wasn't in my jacket, John's room or in his car. I tried calling Jewel, where I had gone while John went to Blockbuster, because I knew I had had it because I paid for a bag of Riesen with my check card. Anyway, they didn't have it. I checked back later that night, still nothing. John very graciously lent me some money to get home, but still nothing. I was able to cancel the card, but the problem is that my DL and my Social Security card were there as well. I had to call one of the credit reporting companies to make sure that no one takes out a line of credit in my name. I also lost my U-Pass, which added to my cost of living the last two weeks of school.
My mom met me in Indiana Monday with money and my birth certificate. I will be coming back into Michigan on Friday to get my license and to attend commencement. So if any of you are officers of the law in Illinois, Indian or Michigan, please do not pull me over.
I will check in with more entertaining thoughts tomorrow I promise. It may be a late night tomorrow because my Magazine Production class is having its deadline at the end of the night, and we need to put everything to bed.
Wish us luck.
First,
My grandfather had a heart attack, I believe on Friday night, and had to go to the hospital, where he still is. My Grampa Graham has not exactly taken care of himself his whole life, he ate a lot of foods that aren't all that good for you, drank beer at every non-breakfast meal, outside of Lent, and smoked foR a long time. All that being said, I don't want to lose him. He has been a very important person in my life and one of the people who shaped me. He's done a better job lately of taking care of himself so hopefully that will pay off. I have been very lucky. I am 22 and have never lost a grandparent. I know that what Laura has just gone through has hurt her, ˇˇ. I know that as time goes on I will lose them, but I would like to keep all four of them around for a while longer. Get Well Grandpa, especially for Notre Dame-Michigan.
Second,
I went down to John's Saturday night. I walked down there, an pretty quickly to, though I wasn't hurrying. Anyway, as I got up to leave around midnight, I couldn't find my wallet. It wasn't in my jacket, John's room or in his car. I tried calling Jewel, where I had gone while John went to Blockbuster, because I knew I had had it because I paid for a bag of Riesen with my check card. Anyway, they didn't have it. I checked back later that night, still nothing. John very graciously lent me some money to get home, but still nothing. I was able to cancel the card, but the problem is that my DL and my Social Security card were there as well. I had to call one of the credit reporting companies to make sure that no one takes out a line of credit in my name. I also lost my U-Pass, which added to my cost of living the last two weeks of school.
My mom met me in Indiana Monday with money and my birth certificate. I will be coming back into Michigan on Friday to get my license and to attend commencement. So if any of you are officers of the law in Illinois, Indian or Michigan, please do not pull me over.
I will check in with more entertaining thoughts tomorrow I promise. It may be a late night tomorrow because my Magazine Production class is having its deadline at the end of the night, and we need to put everything to bed.
Wish us luck.
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