Grandstanding

West Coast version:

versus

East Coast version:

West Coast version: lunch at the local tasty burger joint. I counted 6 workers there at least this afternoon. The black outfits and big badges announcing their purpose were easy to spot.

East Coast version: Buffet lunch for most and the President takes a couple of questions from reporters as he walks home to eat.

West: A celebration of cinematic drama

East: drama, drama, drama!!

More rainbows

Another southern California storm and another late-day great big rainbow over the Boulevard.

There have been a few stories that borrow from the principal of the rainbow -- the very picture of the beginnings of light shining through a dark and stormy scene.

First, Lt. Dan Choi, who has put a face on the fight to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy within our military, was able to drill with his unit (no laughing, please) recently. While it's not the bright, shimmering rainbow one would hope for, I'll take anything that leads toward a repeal of this absurd policy.

Another survivor was pulled from the rubble yesterday in Port-au-Prince and the man is still recovering. That would make him having survived, somehow, for 27 days. And, life goes on in that nation. If it only took sheer willpower and spirit to recover from last month's earthquake, Haitians would have already rebuilt their country and thrown a city-wide party this past weekend. Still, their needs will change in the coming weeks and months, so I'll keep the Red Cross link posted at the top. If you've been fortunate to find extra money or you're being blessed with a tax refund, a few extra dollars donated to the Red Cross or any of the other organizations who are trying to help will still go a long way.

The slowly growing rays of sunshine seem to be piercing even the darkest clouds in our nation's capitol. The President chatted with the press earlier today about his meeting with Legislators from both major parties to see what sorts of bills could be crafted to provide more help to those in need of a job and businesses who may want to hire but think they cannot afford to do so. I'm a little hazy on when, if at all, President GW Bush had done the same sort of thing in the last couple of years of his presidency. So, even if only a couple of things are worked out this week creating even the smallest movement forward toward recovery, it won't be due to a lack of effort to get both sides to work together by the President.

For liberals like me and, I'm sure, a health number of conservatives, the changes aren't coming often and fast enough. As much as I'd like to think one post written on one blog would be all that's needed to make everything come together, I'm a bit more realistic about those chances.

Then again, to get the strongest looking rainbow, you need a hard rain, dark cloudy skies on one side and bright sunlight on the other.

Aren't Fridays supposed to be slow news days?

So much to chew over. Let me start by giving a couple of sentences to another unique way where folks can help people in need in Haiti.

I've had a link off to the left to the Grameen Foundation for a while. Grameen has a presence in Haiti through a group called Fonkoze. In a post on their website today, there was

a grant recently made to Fonkoze to operate a "mobile bank branch" which will meet bank members wherever they are in Haiti. Fonkoze, like Grameen and other microfinance group, is a bank. Loans are given to the poor based on a skill they have to manufacture and sell something and/or provide a service to others. Borrowers are charged interest and are given a plan to pay back the loan with interest as long as they are willing to work with other borrowers in a peer-support system. They keep the profit they make and are invited to open savings accounts with Fonkoze, etc.

As long as people are thirsty, hungry and in need of medical care and shelter, donations to organizations that provide this service will be needed. The long-term challenge is to support the work done by groups like Fonkoze who, instead of fostering dependence on aid, are raising the poor up from desperate poverty and giving them and their children to rebuild their nation bit by bit. While grants may be needed for one-time programs and to grow new branches, the branches support themselves after just a couple of years.

*******************************

I'm writing and watching MSNBC's "President's Question Time" special with President Obama answering questions asked from Republican legislators. What's nice about it is that the question and answer is about 95% unedited so that one can watch this event, unique to the U.S, in bite-sized pieces. The "no teleprompter for the President" aspect is just wonderful! It was nice to see him speak off the cuff and I'm looking forward to more of that. I don't know if what happened in Baltimore today is the start of something we'll see every couple of months, but what a fresh way to approach the whole "politics versus the facts" thing that MSNBC and Fox News spend hours a day, Monday-Friday, chewing over and pontificating.

********************************

Finally, a few folks in California moved one step closer to doing something that will, no doubt, start a snowball of controversy. Nearly 700,000 signatures were collected and around 143,000 of those delivered to the Los Angeles County Registrar's office in Norwalk to add a proposition to the November 2010 ballot to legalize personal possession of up to one ounce of marijuana by those age 21 and older, permit those 21 and older to grow enough marijuana for personal use and "..would also allow cities and counties to permit marijuana to be grown and sold, and to impose taxes on (sales of marijuana)".

This isn't just a few thousand stoners in a state with 36 million residents trying to get their habit legitimized. While the amount of money raised to campaign for this proposition so far isn't jaw dropping, it's not just as much money those same stoners found under the sofa cushions. While the case for medicinal use of marijuana has been made by those with something to gain, the city of L.A. has been trying to reign in the proliferation of cannabis clubs recently. Delivery of these signatures is a bit out there in contrast to the relatively modest moves in the state to carry out medicinal use of cannabis. On the other hand, I can take a quick stroll at lunchtime and pass two such clubs within a couple of blocks of each other (see the photo above for a sign for one such club -- the green cross with caduceus). These clubs aren't just in the funkier neighborhoods in LA County, either.

I don't use marijuana. Yes, there is a fairly liberal gay person in California that doesn't use the stuff. On the first smell I took of the smoke I was turned off and haven't found a reason to be turned on to it since. That said, if marijuana is regulated, used privately and penalties for impaired driving, use while at work, etc., are as strong as drunk driving, being drunk at work, etc., then any health concerns just go out the window for me.

What makes this proposition likely to succeed? If the backers have enough sense about this, it'll become about money. Money to be made by growers, retailers and, as tax collector on every sale of the weed, the state government. For all three groups, the promise of legitimate profits/revenue to be made may prove too irresistible to vote down.

Never gonna give in

Feels good to be writing this.

This Wednesday will be President Obama's first State of the Union address. For a politics geek like me, it's like a championship game or an awards show night. While there is still a lack of fashion critique and entry to the big auditorium softball interviewing, there are plenty of experts on both teams with all sorts of predictions about the final outcome of Wednesday's address.

Though, as of this writing, I haven't found any posting of opinion just yet. So, I'll take a crack at it.

• Saying that the phrase "The state of our union is strong" will be uttered is a bit like saying "the stars are out" at the latest Hollywood love-fest or at my house while I'm watching the "arrivals" part of the awards show.
• Yeah, even I see the 60 degree head swivel the President usually does when he's giving a speech. It's like noticing when someone drops the phrase "you know" into their everyday speech and you've finally discerned it and now "you know" sounds like nails on a chalkboard. If I had my choice of speechgiving off the top of one's head or reading a speech from a Teleprompter in a clear, melodic tone of voice, I'll take the Teleprompter reading. Still, the best sort of speech is the one that comes from the head with bits of improv dropped in so it sounds organized and just a bit personal. I've given improv'd and read aloud speeches and usually feel like I'm only giving half the effort. This address is a big one -- even I would be pacing, memorizing and rehearsing this one as often as humanly possible weeks ahead of time.
• These addresses are usually by the book. In recent years, it's a bit difficult to tell the difference between them and getting an OMG moment out of them is highly unlikely. Same can be said of award shows and championship games. Even the notion of turning the SOTU into a drinking game is getting a bit cliche. Still, even one such game suggested for Wednesday's address might be worth a try. For us 12-steppers, perhaps substituting jalapeño poppers and a sip of milk for each drink will lead all to the same, dreadful conclusion.

I would have been stunned if Obama was able to have pulled off a total recovery of the economy and have ended both wars by now. However, I'm quite worn out by the light touch he has exercised over Congress this past year. While I love a good work relationship with colleagues, he's been apart from his former Senate colleagues long enough that he can now start to be the goal-setter, take more responsibility for setting the legislative tone and navigate progressives/liberals toward having a truly progressive/liberal government.

For now, a healthy amount of skepticism is required to get some kind of grasp of what's going on in D.C. these days. A little music helps, too. I heard this version of the song earlier today on "Feel The Spin" as I was driving home from church. Yeah, there are club versions of this song out there, but it was nice to hear real drums and guitar backing a talented girl singer. I know she's singing about a guy, but I couldn't help hearing the lyric and thinking about how it relates to the upcoming week's world of U.S. politics.

The mark of good art is that it means something different to everyone who experiences it. Enjoy!

What the hail?

Ooh, I've been waiting so long to say that!

It's not rock salt or my personal stash of diamonds cubic zirconia strewn on the ground and photographed at night for maximum visual effect. I "got lucky" being in LaHabra for a haircut earlier this evening when a teeny, tiny yet strong cell of heavy rain/lightning/thunder passed by and created a small hailstorm. I'm having so much fun documenting the wacky state of weather in Southern California, I'm almost forgetting all about the state of politics in the Supreme Court, the Congress and the White House.

Almost.

So much in political news these days, and yet

I just don't have a unique perspective on any of it. Not the mixed message of the President accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo and giving a speech justifying the continuation of war in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.

It was just odd. Perhaps the Nobel folks, going forward, will offer an "opt out" to their winners, should the winner not feel deserving of the medal, prize money, honor, etc.? I can't even find a matching set of circumstances in my own life so that I can at least say something like "I understand, to some degree, why things happened the way they did".

I cannot even find words to talk about the legislative situation in Uganda. Besides, Rachel Maddow tied it all up nicely earlier this week by having on her show a man who, indirectly, led to what looks like legislation through proselytising. And, this guy looks like he's getting all the validation he was seeking through all of this.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Laws written to jail people who don't tell the Ugandan government that someone they know may or may not be gay. Never mind what the law proposes to do with the alleged "gays" themselves.

I can't find the words. But, if it comes to it, I'll do what I can to find room to harbor as many refugees as this law will create. And, barring something miraculous happening, the law is all but assured to pass. If I am able to do what I've just written, then I couldn't say a word to anyone about what I'm doing. I wish I was being hyperbolic.

Then, there's the whole Sarah Palin, Al Gore, iceberg headed for Australia, global warming scientist e-mail disaster. The best I can come up with?

Palin in 2012!

Perhaps then I'll have something to say. Daily.

"We don't need no water let the m***erf**ker burn . ."

(the post's title comes from the chorus of the song "Fire Water Burn" by Bloodhound Gang)

The latest photo from my little corner of SoCal of the Station Fire. The website for our local "The CW" station is reporting the Station Fire is over 70% contained (basically, 70% of the fire cannot burn any further in any direction without dying out). Part of the containment efforts today was setting backfires to the east of Mt. Wilson (the large hill on the left in the background) and you can see the smoke still rising from the backfires on the far right of the photo.

While we're talking about backfires, I'm with Rep. Frank on the "You lie!" cat-call from the right side of the Chamber. Here's what he had to say on the Rachel Maddow show last night about Rep. Wilson's little outburst:

I don‘t think it‘s a big deal. Look, I think free speech—you know, heckling is a tradition, obviously, in the British parliament. They even have mikes that come down to hear the heckles.

I think what we should take it as—it is unusual—it‘s a sign of how effective the president was. These guys just couldn‘t handle it. I looked at John Boehner and he looked about as glum and as dour as—as possibly he could be.

So what Joe Wilson did was just scream out in frustration because the president was nailing it. So we‘ve got to be very clear, Wilson lied when he said the president lied. And he talked about illegal immigrants. It‘s clearly excluded from the bill.

My guess is that those who are participating in fanning the flames of nastiness in last month's Town Hall meetings across the country realized the truth was being spoken at the front center of the room last night and the "You lie!" was a feeble last gasp at trying to draw attention away from the President and the message of the evening.

If you believe the polls taken after the President's speech, it makes it even more clear that the demonstrations being put on by the far-right conservatives and health insurance industry lobby are much like the Station Fire has become around here in SoCal.

Something easier to defeat with every passing day by starving the fire of its fuel. Let the fires from the far-right. No water necessary -- let the (metaphorical) fire burn so everyone sees what the "argument" from the far-right is fast becoming:

Lots of wispy, white smoke - the last gasp of fire soon extinguished on its own.

Beer diplomacy

Perhaps the alcoholic in me should examine my level of enthusiasm over an upcoming meeting at the White House.  I just think it's fantastic that three guys are meeting over a glass/pint/bottle/mug of brew at the White House.

Now, even someone like me knows full well nothing much more will get resolved over this meeting than apologies all around (some more heartfelt than others) and, perhaps, whether two men from Red Sox territory can talk a die-hard White Sox fan into who-knows-what.  I've been around enough men and enough beer to know that all bets may be off if enough beer is served.

Well, again, I'm well aware that, if all three of them are lucky, they'll only get a few sips in to wet their whistle so as to continue the conversation.  Even if the Sergeant is a tough-nut conservative, who wouldn't enjoy a conversation with the President of the United States AND a Harvard Professor?  Even yours truly could well have sat down with President George W Bush and, say, Professor Harvey Mansfield (though I would have switched us over to chamomile tea -- just so the conversation has a chance of remaining intelligent).

I have been pondering what else we might be able to resolve if we could get folks from two sides of a political argument to sit together and sip one down.  If it meant both sides getting into the same room and having a meaningful conversation, I'd even settle for early afternoon with glasses of chardonnay or milk & cookies late at night.

Hard to argue with a mouthful of dairy and sugar.

Tires, Shopping and Relish

I did something today I had not done in nearly nine months - had my car serviced.  As you might imagine, the car needed much more than an oil and filter change.  No, it does not mean that the car was running poorly; it was just overdue for maintenance and the dealership successfully found other things to fix, including removing air from the tires and replacing it with nitrogen.

Upon a few minutes of searching the 'net, it appears that nitrogen filled car tires makes a marginal difference in gas mileage but my guess is that it was of bigger benefit to the dealership.  So as to not sulk about my lack of all things automotive, I'll reclassify this experience as an opportunity to help an ailing industry and, more importantly, make at least a partial investment in America (or, at least, to Penske Automotive Group).

Out of a gloomy couple of weeks of bizarre weather, it seems the mall at which I wound up wandering as the car was getting serviced is, at least, holding its own.  At a time when our nation's economy is in some state of transition, it's all too easy to find going out of business sales, struggling industries and hesitancy in starting new businesses.  I found a department store that is, as well, investing in America (see the photo above), even if it is only building a new store to replace its existing store at the same mall.  The construction site still looked active -- no permanent work stoppage here.

I even stopped by a new-to-the-area burger joint that is familiar to recent followers of all things political.  If it is good enough for our President, it's good enough for me.  The vote on the burgers was mixed, though, in our household -- I could not tell what all of the fuss was about.  However, the place was busy this afternoon and the crew behind the counter working at lightening speed.

Yes, sometimes it's important to just celebrate the small victories.  Even if it's just with a double patty burger.

Afghanistan: If I can gather this much in 30 minutes. . .

 . . . then, well, I can just imagine how much our country's government must know about Afghanistan and they've had a lot of years and a whole building full of people dedicated to these sorts of things.  Unlike yours truly, who is still rooting around for more Metallica karaoke.

I'll start with an e-mail I got from a friend of mine directing me to Brave New Foundation's rethinkafghanistan.com website featuring a series of interviews (yay! all captioned!!) with professors from outside Afghanistan and representatives from the country itself talking about the futility of continuing our military engagement in Afghanistan.  

Now, I'm more of a lover than a fighter and, having lived for 3 years as a child outside of the U.S., I know first hand what is like to be a guest in someone's country and what sort of role an outsider should play in the host country's affairs.  Though this was 30 years ago, it seems most practical to engage in partnership to resolve problems rather than steamroll through someone else's countryside.

I noticed, though, a lack of military professionals in Part One of the videos (I will get to part two sometime soon).  So, using the search engine of this blog's kind host, I did a couple of simple searches.  Here was what I found:

• A bullet-point "how to conduct yourself as a foreigner wanting to do business" in Afghanistan.  It doesn't cover all aspects of life and culture there, but it's a good, quick primer.
  
• An article from the Montreal Gazette featuring insight from Brigadier-General Denis Thompson, former commander of Canadian and NATO forces in Kandahar.  The gist? The troops should be training local law enforcement to root out and arrest insurgents, thus letting troops exit the country.
  
• Another article featuring comments from General McKiernan, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, talking about the need for 17,000 additional troops.  This fits in with what the President is expected to announce on Friday regarding our future plans in Afghanistan.
  

Hmm.  Come to think of it, while I now have a thumbnail sketch of Afghan culture and two points of view on the military presence there, I only feel marginally smarter about any of this.

A couple of cliches come to mind as ways of coming to some sort of conclusion over our future plans there:

• Those who fail to read/study history are doomed to repeat it.  Perhaps an overview of previous foreign intervention into Afghanistan/Pakistan and/or that region of Asia would shed more light.
  
• Follow the money.  Who stands to benefit profit-wise from continuing the same course of action in Afghanistan?  Or, who stands to be sunk into unending debt?
  

Good thing others are working hard on this.  It's just about my bedtime here, anyway.

I am one of 13,000,000 !

I attended one of the Democratic National Committee / President Obama organized community meetings earlier today (there are, apparently, over three thousand of them going on between yesterday and tomorrow night).

Rather than ramble on and on here, this article from MSNBC gives you a good idea, more or less, what happened at the meeting I went to this morning.

Just a few differences:

• The person who was supposed to bring the video of Governor Tim Kaine's response to Recovery Act questions did not show, so we did not have the video to view to kick off the meeting.  I'll check out that video on line later today (it can be viewed by clicking on the hypertext above).
  
• No single-payer universal health care PowerPoint presentation at our meeting - ours was only loosely organized conversation over Obama's first few weeks in office and what we, as a group, would be able to do to support needed changes at the city/community level.
  
• No chicken nuggets and beer here - I helped brew the coffee, the leader brought pastries and someone went on a run for disposable cups.  We'll all have to bring mugs next time - keeping things green and all . . .
  
• I said very little after introducing myself to the group.  I really wanted to listen to what everyone there had to say.  There was one woman there with her teenage son who shared both she and her husband were also unemployed.  Some there were Union members (as am I), though the description of our group is a good match to the group written about in the MSNBC I referenced above. 
  

We'll be attending our next city council's meeting as a group to voice our agenda and have the next meeting scheduled for later this month.  This is, it seems, where real change begins.

I'll make up your mind for you

Groucho Marx performing "I'm Against It" from the movie "Horse Feathers" (click here for lyrics)

Perhaps it's been the utter lack of a formidable opponent in the top spot in U.S Government in recent years, but it seems lately the conservative radio talk-show hosts have been fired up like they've not been since 2006 (my bet, without hard evidence to back me, is the downturn in conservative talk-show punditry began with the switch in majority in Congress from Republicans to Democrats).

I'll let you search for Limbaugh, Hannity and whomever you adore in conservative talk-radio to read/watch/hear what they have to say about Obama, his recent issues with Administration appointments and the language used to describe the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009"

(hmm...I'm missing the words "stimulus", "spending" or, I don't know, "peanuts" in the title of this bill.  In the body of the Senate's version of the bill, the word "stimulus" appears 4 times, "spending" appears 17 times.  The word "invest" appears over 100 times, though.  Maybe "invest" just doesn't have that certain "zing")

There are a couple of things the Administration is doing to counter the spin.  First is the editorial included in today's Washington Post written by President Obama (you can connect to the editorial here).  Yes, the current President of the United States had an editorial published today.  I tried all kinds of searches to see if any other sitting president had an editorial published and came up empty, so perhaps President Obama is making history once again.

I am also attending a meeting late Saturday morning which promises participants will ". . . discuss President Obama's  (Economic Recovery) plan . . " and ". . . watch a video of Governor Tim Kaine (answering our) questions about the plan".  My first thought is that this will be an opportunity to solidify talking points on the plan and find ways to bullet point the content of the bill for use in our community.

I'll most definitely post what my experience was at the upcoming Saturday meeting and whether or not the exercise was worth the effort put into organizing these meetings.

Interviews

I made it through a second job interview this morning.  The interview was short -- 30 minutes -- and the business had fewer than 15 people working.  

I found this job opening by first going through a temp agency.  I have yet to meet the temp agency that has impressed me with their professionalism, follow through and support of the individuals it represents. While the woman who called me about the permanent hire position for which I interviewed was quite professional, the rest of the staff at the temp agency left something to be desired.

I find myself willing to accept up to a 25% cut in my pay.  This unemployment thing has ceased to be delightful.  As long as I have enough coming in, I guess we'll be OK.

On a sort of related topic, President-Elect Obama named four individuals to his economic team.  Even with this annoucement and the confident, positive tone of Obama's speech along with the thoughtful way he answered the press' questions.  Click here then scroll down for the transcript of his comments from earlier today: