Ineresting Day

I found out today that my daughter plans to get me a golden retriever puppy for my birthday/christmas present (they're one week apart). One of her dogs will go with her husband when their divorce is final and that will leave one dog in the house. She really wants another dog, but also wants to do without the responsibility so she will give me the puppy I would enjoy and I get to see that it is trained, feed it, brush it, etc. Heck, I'm here all the time anyway so why not.

I am reading up on puppy training and all of that right now. We will go through formal obedience classes as soon as the dog is old enough. I won't have an untrained pita dog. I'll have to learn to trim claws, etc. It might be interesting. I understand this breed is very intelligent, obedient, and mild tempered. I intend to get a female since I like to scratch their tummies and you can't do that with a male.

Yesterday I found out that Susan can sign. Not universal sign but rather finger spelling. She said hello to a new neighbor's child and he signed at her. She spelled out that she could only do alphabet and asked his name. He was really thrilled. I was amazed watching her. She's really fast at it and the kid understood her right off. I think she may take a course in universal signing. I've always wanted to learn that. Don't know why but I have.

Susan has split up with her girlfriend again. This is the fifth or sixth time. It will be interesting to see how long it lasts this time. And then Susan's wallet disappeared. She thinks the girlfriend took it, but I don't. Susan was so roaring drunk that she could have dropped or put it virtually anywhere. I won't be a bit surprised if it just turns up in a laundry basket or something.

I swear I live in such interesting times. The Chinese curse sort of interesting times.

Words

I have noticed that people tend to stuff people into conveniently labeled little boxes, and become uncomfortable when someone doesn't fit or refuses to be categorized. For instance, I personally disapprove of George Bush's handling of the war, the economy, the budget, domestic issues and virtually everything else. When I say this, I am accused of "hating" Bush. When did we get to the point of equating political differences with hatred?

This has nothing to do with party lines. Many of my political views are also shared by mainstream Republicans. Many are shared by mainstream Democrats. I pride myself on being a person who decides issues based on facts not on what a particular party line dictates. I believe in a balanced budget and zero based budgeting, smaller government, cutting waste, etc. Those are largely Republican stands. I also believe in universal access to affordable health care, giving people a hand up when they fall on hard times, and in some regulation and/or oversight of big business since many in big business have proven themselves incapable of honesty without it. These are largely Democratic stands.

Yet people keep trying so very hard to push me into one of these stupid little boxes that says Republican or Democrat (I am neither), conservative or liberal (again, I am neither or both depending on the issue). Why is it we cannot accept that there are people who actually think for themselves? I approach each issue as a separate one and decide my stand when I view pros and cos, look at what others write, and then ultimately think about it and decide.

Even more alarming to the box police is the idea that you can actually change your mind and your views on a subject when the situation changes, more evidence is presented, or times change. In other words, some of us refuse to be locked into a position for life when the environment surrounding that position changes or we get more information. I consider it block-headed to cling to an outdated idea because you don't want to be seen as changing your mind. Why wouldn't you change it if new proof shows your old position was based on insufficient information and was, therefore, inaccurate? What is so wrong with saying, I learned more about it, so I changed my position based on the newer, more accurate information?

I see this as a part of the the general political hostility and incivility that reins today. People are so divided and so polarized that they cannot even hear what "the other side" says, much less accept that they are accurate. Recently I had a friend, who disapproves of nearly everything Bush does, but who also identifies himself as a Republican become insensed because I stated I didn't agree with things Bush is doing. Now mind you he doesn't approve of those same things either, but he actually said it was disrespecting the office of the presidency to disagree with what the president does/says. Since when?

Monday Evening Ramblings

This has been a pretty busy day considering that I got nothing of consequence done. I did get the house fairly clean, the laundry done, the garbage out, and the dogs fed. But I didn't write or do much reading. I didn't work on my new beading stuff. I should.

I have this feeling that I am sitting here spinning my wheels while life passes me by. I'm getting a bit more disciplined and am getting a few small things done, but I want to do more. Like find a time to write every day that I cannot sluff off. I would like to do some serious reading.

I was reading the CNN webpage today and I saw that things are a bit better in Iraq because things are more under control in Baghdad. I guess an extra 15,000 or so troops has put a crimp in the terrorists. Attack-related deaths are down by nearly 50%. Of course last month was the bloodiest in terms of civilian deaths of the war.

I see that guy who confessed to the Ramsey killing was lying. What would make someone confess to the rape and murder of a child, I wonder? He's still not out of the woods as they are going to prosecute him in California for child pornography. So he's a sick puppy by anyone's estimation other than his own.

The weather here is about to change toward autumn they say. We have one more pretty warm day on tap. After that they say it will get cooler and cloudy. That's ok. Maybe we'll get some rain and it will save me having to go out and water the garden every day. Every grey cloud has a silver lining with the right attitude.

It's getting late and I admit I'm tired. I didn't get nearly as good a night's sleep last night as I might have wished. That's two in a row and no naps either. Tonight promises to be a bit better as it's cooled off considerably already. I think I'll see what I can do with writing in the morning while I'm having coffee. The game will be down and I can concentrate on getting that done. Maybe early morning with fresh coffee is my particular writing time.

An Interesting Viewpoint

I was watching Fox News this morning and they had Juan Williams on. He was talking about Bill Cosby's controversial comments regarding black youngsters and the black community in general. He sided with Cosby against the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Jackson and Sharpton's political futures rest firmly on maintaining the oppressed victim mentality in the black community.
What Cosby said essentially was that it's time for people to get off their dead butts and to stop blaming exterior conditions for their own bad choices. For instance, it may be a fact that a particular school with a predominantly black student body is a bad school. It is equally true that people either choose to go to school regularly and learn, study, do their homework and really try to make the best of what they have, or they don't. Those who choose not to learn are responsible for those choices.

Cosby pointed out (and Williams agrees) that this victim mentality and really stupid attitudes among black youth are ruining any chances blacks have to continue moving into the middle class and out of poverty. It's not "cool" to be smart and work, for instance. But it is "cool" to hang out on a street corner, insult women, sell and/or take drugs, and belong to gangs. Stealing is cool. Holding down a job isn't. Gang violence is cool. Respecting the law isn't.

Such attituded and the breakdown of what used to be a strong black community in the US has really taken its toll on blacks in general, but it's not whites they need to blame for their problems. Whites don't make black men father out of wedlock children then abandon both the child and the mother. Whites don't make blacks commit crimes, drop out of school, or not even look for work. Again that's a factor of attitude within people themselves.

I'm not even trying to argue that many poor blacks don't have it bad. Of course they do; their chances for getting out are smaller because they have less to work with in terms of education, job skills, the results of their own poor choices, etc. in the first place. But they can get out. More and more blacks join the ranks of the middle class every year, or at least they did until this current administration.

I am encouraged when I hear people like Williams and Cosby stand up and tell it like it is, thus attempting to thwart the attempts of so-called black leaders to foster a permanent sense of victimization, hopelessness, and entitlement in the black community. Sharpton, Jackson, and their ilk are not doing blacks a favor by encouraging blacks to feel as if there is no way out and that they are owed a living.

I strongly believe that good solid job training programs should be available to everyone who needs them, free of charge. I support mentoring and tutoring programs, including SAT tutoring classes for kids in poor schools. I even believe that college admissions standards should contain exceptions for kids strong high academic backgrounds who had to work or tend family rather than do the usually expected extracurricular activities. I do not believe the academic standards should budge a shred based on race.

In the end the black community will fight to reestablish itself as a real, effective community. I see signs of that already and am encouraged. In the end though I would much rather hear news about black academic and workplace advancement than about the number of unwed births or the numbers of young men who choose to waste their lives in prison.

The weekend

Well, the weekend is approaching. I'll be alone here at the house with the dogs as usual. That's really not a problem. I am just not sure what I want to do. There are tons of things I "should" do, but not much I want to do.

My sleep is improving slightly. I am getting to sleep a bit faster, and getting back to sleep when I wake up faster. I think, though I have no way of quantifying it, that I am waking up at night a bit less. Sill six to eight times, but that's an improvement. The biggest improvement is that for the past three nights I have been able to go back to bed in the morning and sleep an extra two hours or so. This is major. I feel much better during the day and have a lot more energy.

Perhaps this weekend I'll try to get my habit of writing back. I know what I want to write. I have just finished a book about writing....the gist of it was to write. I know that sounds obvious, but what it means is write even if the stuff you're writing is bad and will have to be dumped at a later date. Just get the story down on paper so that it's real and out there. Writers tend to want their stuff to be excellent the first time out so they write and rewrite, or worse block up, rather than pushing through even if it's crap so that it gets done. Once done, then you can go back and polish, rewrite, dump the garbage, and refine the good stuff.

Anyway there is a warm weekend coming. I wish I didn't consider it a waste of time to go out by myself and do things. But a meal alone always leaves me thinking about how much better I could do and that it would have cost less too. I don't want to go shopping and there are no movies I want to see. It's almost 10:00 here, so I suppose I'll just sleep on it and decide in the morning. I think I shall make biscuits for breakfast for a change.

Social Security

I am now officially retired. I had intended to wait until my 65th birthday because of the difference in benefits, but today the Social Security office called and explained that the monthly difference will be under $30/mos if I retire now and if I wait until the end of December. The amount is insignificant considering my waiting for five additional months, so I made the decision to go for it now. Everything is settled and I'm officially retired. I get my first check next month.

It will still be the first of December before I get Medicare coverage, but I have picked a good program that will allow me to have a lot of coverage. It's not cheap, but I have checked out half a dozen or more programs and this is the best coverage for the money I can get here. I sign up for the supplemental insurance in November and am fully covered in December.

I am not sure how I really feel about this. It feels sort of sad in a way that I simply cannot find work. I am still working at trying to write and putting together a book proposal (non-fiction). I'll try to find other things. I still want to do a grant proposal for an idea I have, but cannot go through the Gates foundation as I intended as they don't take individual requests. Maybe I can go through the Everett Senior Center. It will be something I can investigate.

So as of today I'm officially old. *sigh*

Advice to Democrats

If I believed for a moment that the DNC would listen to me, I would offer them the following advice:

It’s November 2006 and Democrats have just won back control of both the House and Senate. Victory is sweet. You’ve worked hard and you’ve won. Once that initial blush of victory begins to fade you will face the greatest opportunity of this generation to either secure the Democratic position for a long time to come, or to blow it entirely. It’s up to you, and there are no re-dos. My bet, unfortunately, is that you are going to blow it, given you past record. So I’m offering the following ten suggestions to help you make this victory a march toward the Presidency in two years.

Please understand that I am nobody. I’m not a political pundit. I’m not a party worker. I’m an outsider who follows politics closely and who is smart enough to see where Democrats and Republicans screw up. None of these suggestions cost anything to do other than the expenditure of common sense, something you and the Republicans should have an abundance of considering how little it’s used these days.

1. Each person who will speak to the press on behalf of the Democratic party will repeat ten times before breakfast each morning: “I work for the welfare of the American people and the Republicans are not the enemy.” This will mean muzzling such people as Howard Dean until he learns some moderation.

What we the people absolutely do not want is a continuation of the partisan bickering that has been going on for so many years. This is the single most important rule you must learn. If you follow this one, you will get support from the American people on a level you will be shocked to see. We’re sick of the fighting.

2. Choose one or at most two major domestic issues on which to work. I would suggest Immigration/Border Security as number one as it ranks high among we the voters. The second place I would go would be a move toward fiscal responsibility. The war is a separate issue. I’ll get to that in a few minutes. Announce very publicly what these issues are and why they were chosen as a focus. Now comes the hard part; also announce that you are going to work with Republicans to come up with bills that work for both sides.

Make a public deal about how Democrats are the party of inclusion and that includes not shutting out Republicans from the decision making process as they also represent the American people. This is can be a very good public relations coup. Most important, do it. I don’t mean compromising where none is possible, but rather including as many good suggestions from Republicans as you possibly can. Remember the President’s position here with amnesty, etc. is extremely unpopular with voters. Play to that. Don’t attack the illegals except at the border. Dry up the sources of jobs until a viable guest worker program can be expanded to include them and let them self-deport. Start by enforcing the laws we already have, etc. Make this all as bipartisan as you can and make sure you stress how hard you are trying to work with Republicans.

Announce that the Democratic party is going to cut the pork out of the Federal budget then do it very publicly. Make sure that all parties involved know that they can put these bills up as stand-alones, they just cannot hide them in appropriation and other bills any more. Call upon Republicans to stand with you to make this happen.

3. This one is hard because it goes against every political instinct you have: do not get caught up in the expected endless round of political finger pointing and hearings, etc. Squelch any calls for impeachment. Your approach should be that Democrats are here to end this vicious cycle that has caused such congressional gridlock and that has Americans at one another’s throats politically. This doesn’t mean that if a scandal emerges you don’t investigate. It does mean you don’t go digging trying to make Republicans look bad. They look bad already. Let them stew. Just don’t push it. If you make them look persecuted they become the underdog. Everyone always pulls for the underdog. Let them continue to be the Party for the rich and for big business. They’ll sink their own ship. They don’t need your help.
4. Make a list of all the things that Republicans did to Democrats that really irritated, then publicly announce the list and state that unlike Republicans, Democrats don’t act that way and include them. Some cannot be expected to cooperate, but there are sufficient moderate Republicans who are dying for an opportunity to make some progress on national issues, give it to them. Make sure the press knows of this new direction.
5. Make a list of long-term, pressing national issues and announce that you are working on finding bipartisan solutions to them. Then do it. Not endless hearings and panels, but honest work toward incremental solutions. This includes the Medicare drug benefit, fixing Social Security, the problems with the infrastructure, resizing government, and whatever else your experts tell you resonates with the public. The key is to shift the focus off of endless foreign involvements and bring it back to the U.S. so that there is something every week or so to report on that concerns domestic issues. The American people want work on domestic issues.
6. Stop attacking Bush. I know that’s a big one, but he makes himself look bad enough without your help. Definitely point out where things that are his responsibility go wrong, such as poor choices for offices, failed or disastrous decisions, etc. but for the most part stick to the positive about what you are doing and accomplishing. There are sufficient scandals out there involving Bush and the Republicans that have yet to surface. It doesn’t require your help and it makes you look bad.
7. Refuse to accept Bush’s designation of the Democratic party as the party of “cut and run.” This is designed to appeal to the darkest fears of the American public regarding terrorism. This war is going bad enough for Bush to look bad without harping about it. That being said, however, you need a definite and united approach to the war.

The one place where you have the most opportunity to score legitimate points is to take the “strategy” that is currently posted on the White House webpage and demand specifics. It’s long on generalities, and devoid of parameters upon which progress toward the goals can be measured. “We will stand down as Iraq stands up” is a political slogan not a strategy without measurable parameters for progress. It’s sort of like “Mission Accomplished.”

Even better would be if you had a specific plan yourselves, but given that we’re there and are not just going to withdraw any time soon, you’re on thin ice there. Second guessing the military commanders is a bad idea as well. You need some military experts with political sense to give you a sound direction for this one.

Quietly and without fanfare begin investigating war profiteering and the no-bid contracts for Iraq handed out by the Bush administration. You should go public with this only if something significant and provable can be produced.

8. Begin a serious, bipartisan effort to revise the U.S. tax code. Include the public so you can hear their concerns and wishes. You might even wish to invite written ideas from them. Perhaps publish a website to keep people informed about what you are discussing. Let people know from the beginning this isn’t going to be a political rush job to score points for the next election or win a spot on the evening news, but a legitimate bipartisan attempt to fix a badly broken system.
9. This one is going to be hard, but except for critical spending such as the war, or already allocated programs, require that new legislation identify where the funding is going to come from. What will be cut to make the new program possible? Never lose sight of the idea that Democrats are first and foremost for fiscal responsibility, a balanced budget, and reduction of the debt.
10. Finally, stop thinking and acting like underdogs, and stop letting the opposition define you. One of the biggest hurdles the Democratic party faces at this juncture is the urge to let the extreme left wing of the party take over and dictate policy. This will fail as much as has the Republican strategy of pandering to the extreme conservatives and religious right. The further you get from the center, the closer you get to your opposition’s extremes. Negotiation, moderation, and cooperation are not dirty words. In this instance, they could possibly save your party and set you up for taking the presidency in 2008.

Believe it or not, we average citizens out here are not as dumb as most politicians think we are. I think that is going to become apparent at the ballot box this November. It’s up to you how much further it goes beyond that. Remember, we out here are ripe for leaders who will put an end to the partisan bickering and nastiness. And the party who figures that out first is going to score big with us. We want progress, not obstruction. We want domestic concerns addressed. The average American is sick to death of watching Iraqis given services and assistance by our government that we as citizens cannot hope to ever have.

I wish you the best of luck. Given your previous track record, you’re going to need it.

Partisan Politics

With a couple of Democratic upsets in the primaries and poll numbers showing a groundswell of voter dissatisfaction with the current administration's policies and with their handling of the war, the Democratic party stands at a crossroads. It's entirely possible they will take back one or both houses of congress in November. This will present them with an historical opportunity which I am convinced that they will choose to blow.

When the new congressional session opens in January, the Democrats have two paths before them. The first one leads to a clear-cut domestic and diplomatic program, a plan to end and either win or get out of the war in Iraq, and a mountain of problems that need to be solved to begin moving the country forward. Peripherally there will also be the need to undo some of the worst offenses committed by the Repubicans.

The second path will be the politics of get even, investigations, hearings, proposed impeachment, and finger pointing. This is the path I believe they will choose as it's an easy path and doesn't require any committment or any real work. I hope it is not the one they decide to take.

Even if they don't have the votes to pass the bills that are needed, they need to put them up anyway. Choose a few very important issues and concentrate on those. It took years for things to get into this abysmal mess. It will take years to get out as well. Start by picking a popular issue such as border security/illegal immigration. This has a great deal of bipartisan support so it will be possible to reach across the aisle to Republicans and start building bridges and coalitions that can only result in good for the American people.

If the Democrats can remember that the other party is not the enemy and that they are all there for the betterment of the American people and this country, rather than to line their own pockets, ensure their next reelection, or pander to special interests, then they can start making progress. One party or the other will eventually have to suck it up and stop this ever downward spiral of animosity and hatred. It can be the Democrats if they have any brains.

I don't mean that the Republicans will cooperate, but a few might. The more Democrats can fight the impulse to get even and concentrate on getting things done, the better it will be for them and for us. The question remains whether they have the brains to do it or the will. The river of hate and acrimony runs deep and wide. Someone has to bridge this chasm. The one who does will win the undying gratitude of the voters.

Oh, as an aside, and as a starting point, I would suggest that the party spring for muzzles and put them on Howard Dean, Jessie Jackson, and Al Sharpton when it comes to speaking officially for the party on anything. All three of these men are a damned embarassment.

Sleep

Well, I am trying a new program I am currently reading about that holds some promise to at least improve my ability to go to bed and sleep. It's been well over 20 years since I have actually gone to bed and slept entirely through the night. They call it chronic insomnia, but have no cure.

While in the bookstore the other day I found a book by a doctor at the Harvard Medical School who specializes in treating chronic insomnia through behavior modification as opposed to the use of drugs. Given that drugs stop working after a few weeks anyway this sounds promising. It's a 6-week program. He claims that 70 percent of his patients begin sleeping normally by the end of the program. The other 30 percent show significant improvement. I could live with significant improvement.

I am on the base week now. This is when all you do is record your sleep information. Right now under the question about "how many times do you wake up at night" I am putting "too many to count" because I lose track after the first six times or so. On a bad night I am probably waking up every 45 minutes or so.

When I get to the first official week next week, I will begin working on my negative thinking regarding sleep. After that apparently it gets harder. For a couple of weeks I will actually spend less time in bed because of this. Fortunately I am not working at present so staying up later is going to be easier than it would otherwise. The one saving grace of this is that he encourages short naps midday. Short means like 45 minutes, which is about the length of time I sleep when I take a nap anyway. I think that I will have to actually lie down in my bed rather than doze off in my chair as I do now.

I don't know if this program will work, but I have nothing whatever to lose by trying it and a great deal to gain by following the program as closely as I possibly can. I'll begin doing things like drinking my morning coffee on the back deck in the sun. That won't be all that hard actually *grin* The sunshine has something to do with circadian rhythms or some such. We'll see. I refuse to get my hopes up too high, but I also won't be pessimistic about it. I'll do what has to be done and will see the program completely through to the end.