Masked Troop

I overheard Angie talking to the moms of the girls in my troop. She was saying that I am very organized and because of this the troop will always be organized. The funny thing is that I agree with her right up to the point when the girls start to arrive. Then - all bets are off.

Actually, we had a GREAT second Girl Scout troop meeting last night - if I don't say so myself. This was Angie's first as she had an appointment for our meeting two weeks ago and she said that it went really well. I think the girls had fun.

The girls came in and worked on their name plates...we used them for our Kaper chart, which shows which jobs that each girl will do for the meeting. When we completed our pre-activity, we opened our meeting in the friendship circle. We worked on the Girl Scout sign, the quiet sign, the Girl Scout handshake, the Promise, the "Make New Friends" song, and the Pledge of Allegiance.

Once the circle was done, we went back to the table to do our activity. We made Harlequin masks. I had previously cut out the mask shape and eyes, so the girls decorated with feathers, paint, sparkles, jewels, etc. They did a great job with Angie's help (I did some paperwork with the moms while Angie took over). By the way, the idea to do masks was not mine. I talk to Cassie's kindergarten teacher every week and try to get ideas of things to do. During the activity, some of the girls tested on the Girl Scout Promise. Two girls succeeded (including Cassie) and one was very close - I felt so bad that I couldn't give her credit as she left some of it out. Angie was great, though. She complimented the girl and made her feel really good for trying. The girls that memorized the Promise get their Promise Center patch for their uniform.

After we cleaned up, we did snacks. After snacks, we closed our meeting in our friendship circle and I gave the girls their awards (the girls earned their first activity patch for attending their first troop meeting).

We'll have another meeting in two weeks and will be working on our invitations to their pinning ceremony.

SL

Cultural Differences

This morning, Angie and I attended the funeral service for our next door neighbor, Billy Tyler, who passed away after a fight with cancer. His step-daughter is a friend of Marissa's, so we interacted with the family often. I didn't know Billy real well, but knew that he was the hardest worker I have ever known. He was out working in his yard all of the time, even after his diagnosis. You knew he was getting seriously ill when that stopped. He still has the greenest lawn and the most perfect landscaping on the block.

I'd like to think that I don't have racist tendencies and that I judge people based on what they do (mostly - I've blogged in the past about my judgement of those based on appearance, but appearance to me does not include race). We've known Billy and his family since they moved in about three years ago and liked them. It didn't, and doesn't matter, to Angie and I that they are an African-American family. In fact, the only reason I mention that is because I'd like to focus on the cultural differences that I observed at the service - difference that find there source in racial differences.

Billy's service was at the Mt Hebron Missionary Baptist Church in Rowlett. Angie and I were probably 2 of 10 white people there. There were seven pastors officiating the service, some from Billy's hometown in Tennessee and some from Dallas and Rowlett. Billy's direction to them was to have a "normal church service" which apparently includes a sermon, singing and lots of praise for Jesus. Much of it coming in the form of audience feedback as, "Amen", "Hallelujah", and "That's Right!". It was wonderful, if not a little strange for us. People who were speaking would spontaneously break out in song and then spontaneously start talking again. Like the sit/stand and response routine of a Catholic mass, unless you knew what to do and when, you just kind of sat there and took it all in. One thing we noticed is that the singing was awesome. Someone from Billy's family sang an a capella version of Amazing Grace that was...well, amazing. The sermon was like something you would see on TV or in the movies - of a very animated black pastor speaking his mind and explaining scripture.

Angie and I have been pondering the culteral differences, but are also pleased by several of the many things we have in common. One - love of family. Clearly, Billy loved his and they loved him. Second, the love and comfort that God provides for us through Jesus. We may celebrate that differently, but the message is the same.

Rest in peace, Billy.

Billy Lee Tyler
1954 - 2007

SL

Opinion Piece VI

Who Killed Tom Hanks, Mel Gibson, Ted Danson and Alexandra Paul?
(a review of “Who Killed the Electric Car?” by Scott Lessard)

Occam’s Razor states that all things being equal, the simplest solution to a problem is typically the correct one. In my experience, this idea tends to be correct more often than not. This explains why I am not a huge fan of conspiracy theories. To me, most “conspiritists” are paranoid, misguided, or just plain insane. That is not to say that there isn’t something going on behind the scenes every now and again, but I don’t believe the Federal government was behind 9/11, that NASA staged the moon missions, or that the Holy Grail is the surviving bloodline of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdelene. The complexity of these events being conspiracies are just so incredible, the easiest and more logical answer is that these conspiracy theories are all false. The same is with the supposition placed by the makers of “Who Killed the Electric Car?” that the automakers, the oil companies, and government conspired to kill an incredible technological advancement and kept us dependent on foreign oil far beyond what that dependency should be.

In fact, I am more inclined to believe Dan Neil when he states in the movie that, “GM would sell you a car that ran on pig shit if it would sell.” Why? Because GM is a large corporation out to sell cars and make money. That’s the simple fact of our market society – the market has a demand for a product. If there is demand, but not enough product, the price goes up. Producers, seeing the price rise, realize they could make money if they had more product, step up production. This increased supply lowers the price so more people want to buy the product. The cycle repeats until people no longer want the product. This didn’t happen in the case of the electronic car (named the EV1). We have to ask ourselves why…The movie clearly states that this was because GM wouldn’t create enough of them and that they did this because they were in collusion with the oil makers, who are the ones that really had a great deal to lose. To distill it down, it was a conspiracy – that big corporations pressured the government to eliminate stringent requirements that the auto industry sell more alternative vehicles, thus removing the requirement for them to make more vehicles.

My question – and one that the movie does not address – is why would the auto industry do that? Why would they care if they are selling electronic cars or gasoline-powered cars, or both? I can’t imagine any reason for this. They want to make profit and can do so by meeting the needs of the consumer. If the consumer really wanted a car that went only 60 miles between charges they would have bought it. If the consumer really wanted a car with questionable battery technology, they would have bought it. If the customer really wanted to pay more for these problems, they would have bought it. The problem is that GM wants to sell hundreds of thousands of automobiles, not tens of thousands – the consumer demand just wasn’t there. If it had been, at the scope at which the marginal benefit of selling this car was greater than the marginal cost of building it, GM would have built them. This HAS to be the case. General Motors is a public company with many thousands of owners in the form of shareholders. To not take advantage of a new and profitable product would have been career suicide for the board and for its management. However, this never occurred, even with all of the publicity and the celebrity hype surrounding the car. This isn’t to say that GM couldn’t have marketed the car better, or provided better technology into the vehicle – they probably could have. What is evident, however, is that they had one real reason not to put the car into mass production – it wouldn’t have been profitable to a company whose number one responsibility is to grow value for the owners.

I find it interesting that demand wasn’t created by the fact that Ed Begley Jr. had one or that Tom Hanks said he was “saving America” by driving one. Further proof that the EV1 was either not ready for sale or that the American consumer was not ready to purchase.

SL

I'm No Hallow-weenie!

Last night the kids scored some mega-candy. I've been picking at it since. Angie, Cassie (cheerleader) and I (hunter) trick or treated with Cassie's friend Grant (spiderman) yesterday. We went about halfway through the neighborhood up one side and down the other. Unfortunately, we ran out of time (Cassie's bed time is 8:00PM) so we had to quit and inspect her candy. Contrary to popular belief, I do not keep all the pieces that I like.

Dylan (70's cool dude) stayed back to hand out candy until the lure of free sugar got to him and he went out with Marissa (90's cool dude) and some friends. They went around the entire neighborhood and scored a ton of candy. At that point Angie stayed back and handed out tootsie rolls, Sweet Tarts, etc. When the kids got back, I inspected their candy, as well. I ended up throwing out a lot this year - most of it opened or looking like it had been opened.

After Cassie went to bed, we popped in Poltergeist. It was great to see a fun movie from years ago - even if it scared the wits out of Marissa. She slept on the couch last night.

It's cool that our neighborhood makes a big deal about the night for the kids. Several houses are very decorated, and a couple are even like haunted houses. The kids love it and it's good, clean fun. Here are some pictures of that fun...




SL

Opinion Piece V

Below is another mediation essay - one of the three major assignments in my writing course.

Human Genetics Research – Cautious Approach Needed
(Mediation between Francis Fukuyama and Gregory Stock)

… After days and nights of incredible labour and fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life; nay, more I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter.…I doubted at first whether I should attempt the creation of a being like myself, or one of simpler organization; but my imagination was too much exalted by my first success to permit me to doubt of my ability to give life to an animal as complex and wonderful as man.… No one can conceive the variety of feelings which bore me onwards, like a hurricane, in the first enthusiasm of success.

- M. Shelly, “Frankenstein”

I can imagine a scientist today feeling the same way at his discovery…an enthusiasm at being the first to accomplish a task or discovering a truth about the environment that surrounds us. Add to this possible event that the discovery is within the field of genetics however, and the picture becomes a bit more sinister. It is inevitable that gene therapy, altered genes in foods, human cloning and a myriad of other research areas that fall under genetics conjure up images of Frankenstein’s monster and mad scientists. This is a future that Francis Fukuyama, a professor at John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, portrays in his essay, “In Defense of Nature, Human and Non-Human”

His argument is compelling and deals with a common sense approach that calls for the strictest of regulation overseeing genetic research. His premise is that the human genome (and the genetic make-up of higher animals) is too complex for effective gene therapies to ever be developed and that altering these genetic structures that are not fully understood could have dire consequences. He continues to argue that when it comes to complex systems, human beings have a long history of suffering negative consequences when we attempt to alter an ecosystem in which our understanding is lacking. He argues,

If there is one thing that the environmental movement has taught us in the past couple of generations, it is that nature is a complex whole. The different parts of an ecosystem are mutually interdependent in ways that we often fail to understand; human efforts to manipulate certain parts of it will produce a host of unintended consequences that will come back to haunt us. (2)

He continues his argument by sharing statistics that there are fewer genes than originally thought and because of this fact, many human capabilities or behaviors must be attributed to gene interactions, not specific genes. (4) It is because of this fact, that we cannot understand the effects of altering a gene. Yes, we may obtain the positive result that we expected by changing a single gene, but it is likely that we will also suffer the unintended and unknown effects of changing that gene, as well. He states, “the victim of a failed experiment…a human child whose parents, seeking to give her greater intelligence, will saddle her with a greater propensity for cancer, of prolonged debility in old age, or some other completely unexpected side effect that may emerge only after the experimenters have passed from the scene.” (5)

Fukuyama then proceeds to argue that it is our very human nature that is at stake. It is our genes that have given us unique abilities and that we cannot begin to understand the make-up of this genetic ecosystem. Furthermore, he argues that because it is our human genetic make-up that makes us uniquely “human” and that this needs to be protected – to protect our very essence. He proposes, “A biotechnology that seeks to manipulate human nature not only risks unforeseen consequences, but can undermine the very basis of equal democratic rights as well.” (7)

Fukuyama finishes his essay by calling on the strictest of governmental oversight over biotechnology. He uses European countries as examples of the types of agencies and regulation that the United States to create. He goes so far as to advocate the creation of international legislation by the United Nations. (9)

On the extreme opposite side of this argument is Gregory Stock, director of the Program on Medicine, Technology, and Society at the University of California at Los Angeles. He argues that biotechnologies will advance regardless of the legislation in place to control and that legislation will likely hinder our progress in “improving the future health and well-being of our descendents.” (1) He continues to argue that genetic manipulation is already occurring in animals and that improved approaches will be safe and have the potential for enormous gains in medicine and ultimately in the human condition. He envisions improvements in avoiding cancer, in anti-aging therapies, and in any improvements that are “best for our children”. (12)

Stock continues, stating that current limits on research and cloning are “premature, futile, extremely misguided, and just plain wrong” (19) in that “[a ban] would not significantly delay the arrival of reproductive cloning, which in my view is almost certain to occur within this decade somewhere in the world.” (19) Furthermore, illogical bans have eroded the leadership position of the United States in biotechnology and has delayed the discoveries of therapies that could have improved the human condition. Stock proposes that the fears of Frankenstein’s monster are caused by the “strangeness” (21) of the possibilities and that this fear is a poor reason for restrictive legislation.

Finally, in direct opposition to Fukuyama, Stock proposes that advances in genetic research will be “democratizing” (24) because we will be able to use these advancements to the benefit of the masses – namely, they will level the playing field. He argues that it will be much easier to raise the IQ of a person with a 70 to a 100, than it will be to raise the IQ of someone from 150 to 160. (24) He continues to rebut against Fukuyama in arguing that we would not lose our humanity, rather we would maintain it, even if what that meant changes. He uses the example of life spans doubling…this wouldn’t make us less human, rather it would change what it meant to be human, something that occurs with regularity today. (27)

Although both Stock and Fukuyama put forth compelling arguments, they both seem to miss the point. In their extreme positions, they have argued themselves into a corner which forces us to reject their hypotheses. I cannot back Fukuyama as he seems to deny the amazing advances that biotechnology could provide. Stock, on the other hand, must also be rejected, as he fails to acknowledge to awesome potential for mistakes, or worse, misuse from which biotechnology could suffer.

I completely agree that we could never fully understand the human genome and how multiple genes interact to create our personalities, abilities, etc. This, however, is not a good enough reason not to try. Yes, humanity has a long history of making a mess of those things we do not completely understand (look at the environment for a readymade example). However, Fukuyama seems to deny that there could be enormous benefits to biotechnology and that dire consequences of research in this area is not a given. Would Fukuyama deny that practical applications of gene altering in agriculture have not produced crops that are better capable of feeding the masses? His argument would say that even this technology is so potentially damaging that we should abandon it. Although the possibility of damaging the food chain seems remote, Fukuyama would seem to imply that because the possibility exists, we should abandon the research. What about genes that cause cancer? Should be not try to alter them and make them benign? This seems to be of too great a potential benefit to humanity to abandon. Even with my objections to his argument, I do agree that we should carefully legislate controls into what we can do. In contrast to Stocks argument, it is obvious given the enormous propensity to cause suffering; the government must create the appropriate controls.

Stock’s argument fares no better. Does he truly believe that we should try to control something that we cannot succeed in controlling? This argument would be similar to the argument that speed limits should be abolished because no one heeds them anyway. His argument is that if the United States restricts biotechnology, then other countries will allow it and take leadership positions. Again, he misses the point. Would he argue that we shouldn’t restrict something we know is wrong because it is allowed somewhere else? I would postulate that the United States should take a leadership position in the forming of international rules that clearly define the parameters in which research and application can be done. Lastly, his argument that current restrictions may have delayed the discovery of treatments for some of humanities worst maladies. Again, however, I question his logic. Should we proceed with medical tests on convicts or invalids? According to an extension of Stock’s argument, it would be acceptable to do so if the benefits to doing so are reached. Again, a preposterous statement, and one that I believe Stock would be forced to deny.

Clearly, Fukuyama and Stock paint themselves into a corner in which their arguments have no defensible position. It is because of this, that I believe it is fairly obvious that a middle of the road position in required. The benefits of gene therapies and treatment advancement are just too great…even though the possible abuses and consequences are great, as well. But this fact makes some intuitive sense – the greater the risks, the greater the rewards. It is for this very reason that very close monitoring through peer-review, governmental oversight, and international standards are required. The United States could, in fact should, take a leadership position in helping form international standards that closely governs biotechnology research. Additionally, ethics panels should be created that help frame ongoing oversight requirements and sanctions. These panels should include leading scientists, philosophers, legislators and futurists. By engaging the international community, we can hope to gain consensus as to what the parameters are, as well as develop strong international condemnation for those that do not participate within these parameters. The essence of the human race is at stake and clearly calls for all of humanity’s involvement.

Works Cited
Fukuyama, Francis. “In Defense of Nature, Human and Non-Human.” World Watch July-August 2002. Rpt. in The Aims of Argument. Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn E. Channell. McGraw Hill, 2006. 668-670.
Stock, Gregory. “Choosing Our Genes.” The Futurist. July-August 2002. Rpt. in The Aims of Argument. Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn E. Channell. McGraw Hill, 2006. 672-677.

SL

We Made It

We joined Angie last night for the closing ceremonies for the 3-day walk that her and her friends just completed. It was very inspiring as over 2400 women completed the walk. In fact, the organization has raised almost $1B for breast cancer research since it has started. Angie's team all completed the walk, and have raised over $22K so far. Angie was understandably very proud of her accomplishment, and she should be. She walked more than 53 miles over the three days. Although she hasn't walked 53 steps today, she is actually doing pretty well - taking full advantage of her jet tub, her foot massager and her hubby. No worries there - she deserves it.

As for me...we had a great weekend with the kids. The highlight - playing mousetrap and trouble on the kitchen table on Saturday afternoon. Just shows you that spending time with the kids can be simple, cheap AND fun. We'll all do it again soon - without the monster walk.

SL

Three Days - Can I Make It?

Angie begun her 3-Day Walk for Cancer Research today. In fact, I just got off the phone with her. They are at their pit stop (about halfway point for the day) and she has walked over 8 miles already today. She's doing well, but was appreciative of the couple of team members who are walking slow purposefully to stay with her.

I think I'd rather be walking 60 miles than doing her job this weekend. I am just not wired to sit in line picking up kids from school. Don't get me wrong, I love when I have to kids to myself. We spend some real quality time together that I don't always get to have with them and we do things that I don't do with the regularly. In fact, even though my day started at 4:30 today when Angie got up, my day REALLY starts at 2:00 after my last conference call today.

After I hang up from that call, I go to Cassie's school to volunteer in her classroom. I stuff the Friday folders and then help her teacher with the remaining class. At 3:00, Cassie gets out and we leave together. We will then get Marissa and Dylan at 3:50. We'll have Snack-Attack Friday, where we'll go somewhere and get a snack. The kids love that. Then Marissa has pictures and a Volleyball game, and then she's off to a Halloween party. Me, Dylan and Cassie will hangout until Marissa gets home at 10:30. We'll end our day with popcorn and a movie.

Saturday will be errands, seeing mom and a spectator section of her walk, a birthday party (hopefully) and a ball game. We'll end our day the same way - a movie and snacks.

Sunday - church, lunch, cleaning and picking up mom.

I can't wait till she's home - already

SL

Bored Sick

I was in Raleigh yesterday for an important operational review. In fact, since my interviews back in January, I've had two very important meetings with my boss and his boss (among others). The first was my recommendation for vendor selection (one of the reasons I was hired). The second (yesterday) was to review how that vendor has been doing.

As before every important meeting, I get nervous. Besides preparation, the other way I get ready for these meetings is to pray - I pray to God to help me say the right things and to represent Him properly. I also ask those close to me to pray for the same. So, when I called Angie before the meeting to ask her to pray for me, she informed me that Cassie was sick with a cold and wasn't going to school today (her first missed day). I know how well she is doing in school, so I wasn't overly concerned.

We had our meeting, which went very long due to the great discussion (yes, it went very well) and at my first opportunity I called home to inform Angie. When I got no answer, I became a little concerned - perhaps Cassie got worse and they went to the doctor. I couldn't imagine them doing anything else if Cassie was ill. I tried Angie on her cell phone.

When she answered, I could tell she was out. I asked where, and she informed me she was picking up some items for her three day walk this weekend. I asked how Cassie was, and she informed me that she was at school....

"At school", I inquired.

"Yes, at school. She was bored and asked me to take her to school. She went about 9:30AM."

I couldn't believe my ears. All of the kids know that if they stay home from school, the have to stay in bed or on the couch and that they cannot do anything else for the day. I guess watching Disney Channel all day was worse than sitting in class, so off to school she went.

Does anyone else find that amazing?

SL

D-Troop Redux

Our First Meeting

Last night we had our first meeting of Daisy Girl Scout Troop 8459. The girls arrived and we decorated name tags. Cassie had made me one earlier in the day, so the girls worked on theirs, coloring and drawing pictures on index cards that had their name printed on front and the promise on the back. We laminated them, and put some yarn on them (as a lanyard) and we were good to go. The room was real quiet.

The next activity was out meeting opening. We practiced the Girl Scout Promise and the Girl Scout Sign in our friendship circle. I introduced the girls to scouting, the circle and what we would be working on. I introduced the girls to the quiet sign, but it was unnecessary as the girls still haven't spoken.

Next, the girls traced each other on large craft paper and then finished their self portraits by adding eyes, hair, noses and mouths, and whatever else they wanted. The girls started to open up a little bit.

We then had snack - yummy rice krispy treats and punch. The girls helped me clean up and then we ended the meeting with a friendship circle. It was quiet, but the girls were eating.

We had 6 girls participate and all seemed to have a great time. It was fun, and we are looking forward to our next meeting in a couple of weeks. I just hope the girls make some noise next time. I want to have to use my quiet sign.

SL

Separated At Birth...

...Peter Frampton and my great Uncle Tony.

I should have known by the age of the crowd...I should have known by the fact that my sister was in love with him (in the 70's)...I should have known, but I didn't expect this. Peter Frampton (the guy with the crazy fro on his album cover) has gotten old. And I mean old. When he came out on stage at I was struck how much he reminded me of my uncle Tony. I made jokes about him not being able to play guitar because of arthritis, or that I was afraid he was going to stroke out on stage, or perhaps even break a hip. He even joked at one point that he and his bassist have been playing together since 1847.

Truth be told, the guy can rock. He is one amazing guitar player. When he covered Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun, I knew I liked this guy.

Angie had received tickets to see him at Billy Bob's (the World's Largest Honky Tonk) in Forth Worth. We made an evening of it and spent the night there, had a great Mexican food dinner at Mercado Juarez (perhaps the best Mexican we've ever had - better than the Goose, even) and enjoyed some time with each other - some much needed time as I've been in school for the last three weekends and she has her three day walk coming up.

Ultimately, we had a fantastic time at the concert. I think I'm going to have to bring her to more, because she leaned over to me during the show and said to me, "I want to go to more concerts!" I've been asking her to be more clear about what she wants, and she definitely did.

Anyone know the number for ticketmaster?

SL

Garbage Sale

That's right...not GARAGE sale, but garbage sale.

It is amazing to see the constant flow of people stop at our driveway to rummage through our garbage. Angie is having a garage sale today and Saturday to get rid of some of our clutter, junk, not used items, etc. The proceeds are going to buy her some of her remaining equipment for the three day walk.

When I look at the stuff on the driveway, I see garbage. Old shoes, clothes, furniture, house items, and toys. I guess others see a deal. The first lady who stopped (she arrived at the house even before I had the signs up in the neighborhood) bought $35 worth of Angie's old clothes. A pile of maybe 30 pair of shoes is already half gone, and she's been out there less than an hour. It is amazing. I haven't seen anyone walk away empty handed.

This is on top of the garage sale that her 3-day team had several weeks ago and made more than $1000. I guess there is a market for other peoples garbage. If you are local, come on by...there is still a mirror, a bottle of bubbles or some coffee mugs still available. But you better hurry, another car just pulled up.

SL

D-Troop

Girl Scout Daisy Troop 8459 had our first official meeting last night, as parents of five of the girls met at our house for some information sharing. We have a total of 8 girls signed up, but two couldn't make it and I've been unable to reach one. We discussed the structure of the troop, service unit and council, as well as, the goals and probable activities that we can do during this next year.

I am very confident that we have the makings of a good troop. All of the parents were motivated and all were willing to help.

Our focus this year will be on:
1) The Girl Scout Promise and Girl Scout Law
2) Earning Daisy Petals
3) The Program Goals for Girl Scouts, and
4) HAVING FUN!

Cassie and one of the other girls played while we met - apparently Cassie told her that she is her new best friend...that was quick, but I hope it points to the fact that she is excited and will enjoy being a scout.

Too bad Daisies can't sell cookies. That's what I am going to enjoy.

SL

Thank God For Friends

Response to April. See her comment to my last post and her post on her blog, Another Place to Think...

It's nice to know that I have good friends...friends that care about me to tell me when I'm doing good, and more importantly, when I'm not doing so good. April's post is an example of what I'm talking about.

The truth of the matter is that I have an eating problem...call it a disorder, call it weakness, call it whatever you want - just don't call me late to dinner!!! All kidding aside, I know that I shouldn't be eating certain foods and certain amounts of different foods, but in many instances, I just can't help it - and yes, I despise that within myself. I am such a control freak, and make efforts to control so much about my environment, that I see the inability to do this as an significant weakness - in myself and others.

I've blogged about my judgmental thoughts of others, and this area is no different. I project the despair I have onto others, and judge them for my sin...

Thinking about it, though - maybe being aware of these facts and keeping April's post in perspective are part of the battle. If I acknowledge my inability in this area (and allow others to have that same freedom), I would be defeating the judgment and would be on my way to recovery. I don't know, but in other areas of my life that the good Lord has provided healing, it's happened in a similar way.

It will be an interesting journey, one that I will post about often.

Thanks, April. As I learn to love my neighbors more, perhaps I'll learn a little more about loving myself.

SL

It's Monday, Where's The Update?

When I look back at previous entries, I see a trail of posts about getting in shape and quitting smoking. They are hard to read, mostly because they represent an area of my life which is just an incredibly difficult struggle. It's not all bad news (As of Oct 5, it's been five months since I smoked a cigarette), but when it comes to my weight it's been starts and stops. This time is no different - the busy-ness of life (and my own lack of discipline and laziness) seem to have gotten me off track again.

I haven't been to the gym in over a week, and my diet has died. As school has ramped, as work has gotten busier and as the kids have gotten involved in activities, it seems as though I just jump from one thing to the other, and taking care of myself is lost in the wake. It's hard to eat right when you have five minutes before you have to leave for something. It's hard to eat right when you spend all weekend in a fast-track class (I started a third class this semester that lasts three weeks as we meet on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for five hours per day). It's hard to get up to go work out when you are so tired to begin with.

I've felt good about the progress I made in the few short weeks, especially in the gym. I'm going to make an extra effort to continue that - even if it means that I go early in the morning and not with Angie at 8:15. Please pray for my success, and let me know if you've been successful in this area - and how you've done it.

SL

Opinion Piece IV

The following is a mediation piece that I wrote for my writing course. A mediation is an essay that attempts to propose a compromise solution to two polar opposites. The difficult part of this type of writing assignment is that you may not actually agree with the position you are advocating.

American Imperialism…Extremes Don’t Work
(A mediation of Ivo H. Daalder’s and James M. Lindsay’s, “The Bush Revolution”)

Should I stay or should I go now? Should I stay or should I go now?
If I go there will be trouble. And if I stay it will be double.

So come on and let me know.

-The Clash

There have been two camps historically within the American foreign policy debate, those that believe the United States should look inwardly and not get involved in international affairs (“isolationists”) and those that believe that American hegemony is the only effective method of supporting our interests (“imperialists”). This debate has been going on nearly as long as there has been a United States, as George Washington was presented a difficult decision when France went to war with England a mere four years after the Constitution was signed (Daalder). Isolationism ruled American politics for many years until the end of the Spanish American war (Daalder) as it was believed that a new nation like the United States would be unable to defend itself (both militarily and culturally). Once it was proven that the US could defend herself, the imperialists took over. With Woodrow Wilson, American foreign policy began to justify getting involved internationally through a moral imperative (Daalder). In fact, when he declared war on Germany kicking off America’s involvement in World War I, he did so be claiming that the “world must be made safe for democracy”.

This imperialistic frame of thought took us through the World Wars, Korea, Vietnam and the rest of the cold war. However, with the end of the cold war, and for all intensive purposes the defeat of the Soviet Union, the United States no longer had a great enemy. In fact, the U.S. no longer had any institution or world power in which could control its actions. Basically, the imperialists lost their controls and foreign policy took on a new spirit – that the United States had “freedom of action” (Daalder). The Bush Administration took full advantage of this arrangement. According to Daalder and Lindsay, this set up the Bush presidency for three claims to his foreign policy:

1) Constraints on actions were shed.
2) An unbound America should use its strength to change the status quo.
3) We should use our power to force regime change in rogue states.

The problem with uncontrolled power is that it has a tendency to be used inappropriately. In this case the old saying rings true, absolute power corrupts absolutely. In this case, our unbound ability to do whatever we wanted resulted in a global perception change of America that adversely affects all Americans. Instead of the moral imperative that we should be defending, we are seen as bullies trying to inflict our culture on the rest of the world. Worse yet, much of the rest of the world sees us as only interested in defending our economic interests elsewhere, even at the cost of human lives.

It is clear to see that both an uncontrolled isolationism and an unbound imperialism neither works nor is sustainable. Ask yourself, is the United States more secure now than before September 11? Although we have not been directly attacked since then, it is obvious that more people in this world hate us than ever before. I would argue that this is due to the uncontrolled imperialism of the last several years and that to repair the damage done, we must return to a spirit of moderation, justified by the moral imperative, within our foreign policy.

SL

Bad News Travels Fast

From This: To This:
I've been on suicide watch since yesterday. Angie has taken away my shoelaces, belt and anything else that I might try to hurt myself with...

You see, the Mets season as again ended in despair. If you remember last year, I blogged about their lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Championship Series. This year, it is much more devastating. In fact, the Mets are now the owners of the biggest/fastest collapse in baseball history, and truth be told, the last couple of weeks have been very difficult to watch. The Mets lost 12 of their last 17 games to give up a 7 game lead to the Phillies. These are the same Phillies who have on their team Jimmy Rollins who predicted in January that the Phillies were the team to beat, not the Mets.

It's interesting to see the national sports coverage of the New York media today. The headlines from the rags in New York (Daily News, Post) are really funny. A friend sent me the picture of a drunken Mr. Met with a tagline that's a play on the Met's motto, "You Gotta Believe".

I am "bereaving", but I am given solace with another popular Met slogan - "There's always next year!"

SL

Opinion Piece III

If you follow the news then you know that the toys in your house may contain a great deal of lead paint and that the pet food you serve to your dog or cat may have harmful chemicals in it. What you may not know is why this is the case or what we can do about it. The following essay is a "Visual Rhetoric" essay which attempts to explain this current leading news story. A "visual rhetoric" essay is one in which we were to use images as part of our story telling. Images can be a very important part of our communication.

CHINA: WILLING AND ABLE TO MAKE SAFE PRODUCTS?

More often than not, when you look at a product to see where it was made you’ll see “Made In China” on the label. It is a fact of our global economy that China has a massive manufacturing infrastructure and has dominated that segment of the global economy for several decades. The Chinese, with an artificially devalued yen, cheap labor, and a robust manufacturing infrastructure, supply much of the products we use every day and enjoy a massive trade surplus with the United States. Many of these products wouldn’t surprise us, like small plastic toys and low-end electronics. What may be surprising is to learn that China supplies many high end products, and even food products. China is a leading exporter of: rice, wheat, potatoes, corn, peanuts, tea, millet, and barley…apples, oilseeds, pork and fish (U.S. Dept. of State).

Because of the recent press around the safety of Chinese products, this issue has come to the forefront for both the American consumer, and the US government, whose many responsibilities include the protection of the consumer. Toys with lead paint are being recalled (MSNBC.com). Tainted pet food products are killing dogs and cats (Barboza). A high-level Chinese official was executed for drug safety testing fraud (Schwartz) These and other occurrences (e.g., toothpaste, tires, mattresses, etc.) have made it clear that China does not have the legislative and enforcement infrastructure required to ensure that the products they ship are safe and meet minimum safety standards. In fact, it may be entirely possible that China does not want to have these safeguards in place, as it will raise the costs of goods exported from China and may erode their competitive advantage in the market place.

Recent figures place the trade surplus China enjoys with the United States at $24.97 billion in August 2007, the second-highest monthly level on record. (NY Times.com) It is these enormous amounts of money that China necessarily wants to protect, and any change to the status quo would be viewed as potentially damaging to the Chinese economy.

In fact, the tainted pet food scare of several months ago potentially cost Chinese industry millions of dollars. Many brands of pet food products were found to have industrial chemicals in them and several dogs and cats were killed as a result. This, in itself, would be a terrifying prospect. However, the reality may be much worse. Many believe that these products were PURPOSEFULLY contaminated to bring them up to nutritional requirements.

Now, regulators with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are examining the possibility that melamine was intentionally mixed into the wheat gluten in China as a way to bolster the apparent protein content and to meet pet food requirements, according to a person briefed on the investigation (Barboza).

However, the cost to China is negligible when compared to the possible impact of the current Mattel recall. Potentially, billions of dollars worth of Mattel toys may contain high levels of lead paint, even though the use of lead-based paint has been outlawed for several years. In fact, since June 6, 2007 Mattel has recalled over $430 million – this compared to $130 million in recalls for ALL of 2006 (Ng). The total of all products withdrawn from American shelves so far this year is over $1 billion (Ng). What these figures don’t speak to is the dramatic health effects that these toys may have on American children. Lead is known to cause learning disabilities and birth defects – enough to where lead in paint was outlawed.

There are many different health effects associated with elevated blood lead levels. Young children under the age of six are especially vulnerable to lead's harmful health effects, because their brains and central nervous system are still being formed. For them, even very low levels of exposure can result in reduced IQ, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, behavioral problems, stunted growth, impaired hearing, and kidney damage. At high levels of exposure, a child may become mentally retarded, fall into a coma, and even die from lead poisoning (National Safety Council).

Although the Chinese government has taken several steps of late, many argue that these steps are just window-dressing – or an effort of damage control to the reputation of Chinese products. What is especially troublesome is that China does not acknowledge that there is a widespread problem.

China, while conceding that regulation needs to be improved, has insisted that most of its products are safe. The government takes seriously media reports questioning the safety of Chinese goods and has "begun enforcing a very strict examination and inspection procedure,'' President Hu Jintao said at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Sydney on Sept. 6. Hu said 99 percent of China's exports meet international quality standards (Ng).

Yet, 1% of potentially $300 billion in merchandise is still $3 billion in merchandise. Clearly, the Chinese are diminishing the magnitude of their problem. I would argue that China is neither motivated to enact significant changes, nor are they capable. China, although a massive and growing economic power, is still behind the rest of the industrial powers in many ways. They appear to be ill equipped to handle many of these regulatory pressures that countries like the US, England, Japan, etc. are able to enact with respect to consumer protection. In fact, it is becoming increasingly evident that the US government is no longer sure that the Chinese can regulate their products properly and some congressmen are starting to say we should do it for them. Rep. Mike Ferguson, R-N.J., reiterated that companies that manufacture their products in China will need to ensure they meet federal safety regulations. He adds, “If they don’t, I believe Congress must give federal regulators the authority to ensure that our kids’ toys won’t actually harm them” (MSNBC.com).

This regulation, whether done in China, or at home, will have the ultimate effect of forcing the American consumer to pay higher prices to get the products they crave. However, a silver lining of this may be a return to “Made in USA” purchasing. It is entirely conceivable that clever marketers will spin this current environment to something akin to: “Buy American, Buy Safe”. In fact, according to the Anholt Nation Brands Index, “China dropped to 37 out of 38 nations, ahead of Indonesia, in the second quarter in a ranking of how favorably consumers view a product based on its origin” (Ng). Will this lead to people buying less from China? Will this lead to more companies going to other manufacturing locations for their products? Ultimately, the consumer will have the final say as they always do.

SL

Man Among Girls

I was a big deal last night - a really big deal. It seems as though the Girl Scouts really like it when men get involved and volunteer and as I received my troop leader pin last night, I was the only man up on stage. You see, I told Cassie if she wanted to join I would get involved too. I am a big fan of scouting and the ideals that it teaches, so I would do anything if she would join.

So it seems, I may have sold my soul....or at least, my free time.

I am now the troop leader for Troop 8459 Daisy Scouts. Cassie and 4 other girls (currently) are in my troop. I've taken their online overview training and hope to get more training soon, because I have no clue what's going on. I do know, however, that the principles of Girl Scouting are the same principles that I want Cassie and the rest of the kids to have, so I am completely on board. We are going to have some fun, as the learn the Girl Scout Law and Girl Scout Promise and while we do activities that attempt to reach one of the 4 goals of girl scouting:

*** Develop to their full potential.
*** Relate to others with increasing understanding, skill, and respect.
*** Develop a meaningful set of values to guide their actions and to provide for sound decision-making.
*** Contribute to the improvement of society.

Aren't those goals that we all have for our girls?

SL

Opinion Piece II

The following essay was written for class as a review of the movie, "The Ad and The Ego". I don't recommend the movie, and you'll understand why if you read my essay.

The Ad and the Ego: Unconscious Mumbo Jumbo

I knew this movie was doomed when a commentator used the word unconscious when he meant subconscious – as in “advertising affects the unconscious mind”. The creators of “The Ad and The Ego” would have us believe that all of the world’s ills are caused by advertising and knowing this will remove the power that ads have over us. This is clearly an unfinished hypothesis and the authors do nothing to complete it. In fact, they offer no solutions, at all, other than espousing an unoriginal argument that power holders utilize advertising to bend us to their will and ultimately support their powerbase.

Unfortunately, the authors defend their position with sociologists that seem to be unable to communicate anything other than the rhetoric expected of those sitting on the “left” side of the spectrum. In fact, I would not be surprised if their argument would be silenced should an administration be in office that more aligned with their political ideology.

The above notwithstanding, there are aspects of a society that is constantly bombarded with sounds bites that last anywhere from fifteen to thirty seconds that we should look to address. Our “MVT-ized” culture seems to be unable to pay attention to anything for more than short periods. If something challenges us to think, we seem to be overpowered by it and quickly turn to something else. Our news is delivered without substance. We are told what to think without challenging it. We are numb to the constant barrage that we are under. However, the problem isn’t with “advertising” per se, rather a culture that demands immediate gratification and is largely unwilling to work for the things that we want. Any media delivered in a way that is counter to the “I want it with no effort” criteria is rejected. Advertisings fault? I don’t think so.

In fact, advertising takes advantage of knowing what we want and delivering it in a way that we’ll accept. It is SUPPOSED to generate a need response and cannot do this without making us first feel that we are missing something. Companies are SUPPOSED to sell products, creating markets for their products when needed. People in power are SUPPOSED to want to remain in power. However, this doesn’t mean that we need to be automatons, powerless to the onslaught of advertising as the creators of the movie seem to think we are. In fact, should more people come to the realization that we are powerful and that we do have the ability to filter what we see, control what we think, and determine what stimuli we allow into our bodies, our culture would grow by leaps and bounds.

Until we exercise this ability, and our bodies which are accustomed to sitting in front of the television, we’ll continue to respond to the emptiness that is delivered in short sound- and video-bites.

SL

A Day Late And A Pound Short

Because I wanted to blog about Angie's birthday party yesterday, I did not blog my weekly fitness update. I thought I would do that today particularly because it was a tough weekend. Not only was the Goose very hard to turn down on Sunday, we had two birthday cakes this weekend, and one trip to Ruby Tuesday's for Angie's birthday on Friday. Lastly, since I needed to use my "time" at the gym on Saturday for clandestine shopping, I only worked out three times. My goal is to get to the gym a minimum of three times a week, but that fourth session of Saturday is important because I can stay a long time a get a killer workout in.

All told, however, I am mostly pleased with the week. Yes, I was out of range for my nutrition this past weekend, but I was really good during the week and didn't gain a pound. I didn't lose any weight, either, but given the week - I'll take it.

I worked out this morning and ate right yesterday, so I'm right back on track.

SL