One Fine Day

Ladies and Gentlemen, the first black president of the United States of America. 

As wonderful as this sounds, I like this version better...

Ladies and Gentlemen, the 44th President of the United States of America. 

I think it's a wonderful thing that we have come so far in so few years. I also think it's quite apropos that it was Martin Luther King Jr. day yesterday. And were he alive I'm sure he would be beaming. To think only fifty-some years ago racial segregation existed, and some hundred years before that slavery. And now today, the most powerful office in the world is held by the son of an immigrant from Africa. Today I am very proud to call myself American. This is change. This is progress. This is the future. 

Yet while I am elated for this change I look forward to the day when we no longer are celebrating a racial first. The first Asian to record a Billboard top ten. The first Native American to become a CEO. The first Latino to become a Coach in the Super Bowl. While these are all minuscule parts of the bigger picture of change, to me true change will come when we look past race and sex as a defining features. In the Benediction by Reverend Lowery he recited some very stirring words.

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around. When yellow will be mellow. When the red man can get ahead, man. And when white will embrace what is right.

I hope for that day. And I hope we're all working for that day. But more importantly I hope for the day when we don't need to rhyme race and rationale. The day when we're not white, yellow, red, or black; nor male or female. When we are all just human beings who will morally treat each other as complete equals. Or as the man himself once said, "Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective.” That will be a fine day indeed.

"I've always depended on the kindness of strangers..."

Here is a post I wrote over break, but never quite posted. Now as I pack for Philly and have no time to do a real update, I thought I would share this story...

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Driving on my way back from New Hampshire today I felt a feeling I don't often feel. It was one of those things you've never experienced before, yet the instant it occurs you know exactly what it is. 

Driving West on the Mass-turnpike my foot pushed through the pedal as the speedometer slowly sputtered towards zero. I had noticed that my gas gauge was low during my drive. But it was not until just then that I realized my father had put black tape over the gas light (why, I have no idea). So I turned on my hazards, lowered my speed to 40mph, and coasted between neutral and drive, hoping to find a gas station nearby. Sadly I was out of luck. No ramps seemed to be in sight. But lucky I did spot a frozen lake with some houses nearby. And if living in upstate New York has taught me anything, it's that eighty-percent of people who live on frozen lakes own snow-mobiles. And snow-mobiles mean gas. 

So I pulled over to the side of the road, and began to walk through the snow towards the houses. I found my way around an empty house, and headed towards a more occupied looking hotel/lodge. Luckily there was an occupant, and he was happy to give me a small amount of gas. So I trekked back to my car, and filled it with about a gallon of gas. 

On my way back I thought how nice it was that a complete stranger was willing to help me out. And I was thinking about how many places on earth this type of neighborliness could still be found. In a book I've recently finished there was a line claiming something along the lines of, "... as soon as m'am and sir go out the door the world's in a whole lotta trouble." Which I do believe in. I think it starts with kindness, and it starts with manners. People should treat people as equals, and with the same compassion they would want to be treated with as well. And it worries me that the type of warmth that was shown to me by the young boy by the lake is getting harder and harder to find these days. 

Maybe it's all just me getting older. But something else tells me it's just me getting wiser. 

"To err is human and to forgive is divine" or "Ignorance is bliss"?

Driving home from work today I was listening to an interview of the director Stephen Daldry of the film The Reader, based on the book by Bernhard Schlink (which coincidentally sounds like an excellent film, wining a golden globe for Kate Winslet). In the interview Stephen said something very interesting. He claims that as humans, "... it's impossible for us to forgive." I thought this was a very interesting argument, and reminded me of an article I read last year. 

In the article, Mary Seery ran a study that viewed how victims of traumatic incidents coped with the events, and how that affected them. The study showed that those who did not talk about the incident actually faired better in the long run. This runs parallel with another article that surveys how the brains of the elderly. The study shows that in old age people tend to be older, and for a particular reason. In the study photographs were shown to various people ages 20-70 while they were hooked up to monitors which studied brain activity. The study shows that younger people were able to recall negative pictures better than the older cases. The test runners hypothesize that the elderly "dilute the emotional punch" so that they can live out the last few years in a happier state. 

But this brings me back to the original question, can we forgive? Can we truly forgive? It seems biologically we are better suited to forget the incident altogether than to try to rationalize the situation. Perhaps this is a semantical argument. In the strictest sense forgiveness implies the cessation of feeling angry or resentful for an action or event. And in a way this implies that we accept the action or event to be ok. But how can we ever accept the killing of another or the infidelity of a loved one to be ok? It seems like the core of forgiveness implies forgetting. Moving on the from the incident, and taking only the good from it. Instead of scorning the terrorists of 9/11 we forget them, for there is no greater punishment then to be wiped from the history books. Instead of obsessing over a unfaithful significant other we look past their mistakes and instead embrace the love that we feel towards them.

Perhaps Coldplay had it right when Chris Martin sings:

Oh, what good is it to live with nothing left to give
Forget but not forgive, not loving all you see

Back from Vacation

Or I was. It certainly seems that way at least from the lack of activity in my blog. Sorry. Not that anyone is reading this, but sorry. I'm back. 

Yes, back from vacation. I have a few entries I want to throw in from my holiday times, but I'm going to put a bit more thought into those. One problem I seem to have blogging is that I sometimes work on pieces off-site, or save them as drafts. I then worry too much about them being well thought out, or well written. But that's not really the point of a blog is it? Blogs are "push-button-publishing". They're supposed to be that stream of thought you pour out in a single sitting. I suppose something to work on. I'll still have my long thought out posts, but I should make more effort to put ink on the page so to speak. But I digress...

So I'm back from the holidays. I had a wonderful time back home. I spent a lot of time with my family. Spent time with my friends, and saw a whole bunch of old alumni (which was very interesting, and maybe a topic for another post). But now I am back. And I actually feel pretty good about it. It's a new year. And I'm hoping to make it a good one. It's certainly started on a good note, cause I came back directly to working for my old boss and old company, and I couldn't be happier. 

It's always nice working for someone you enjoy working for again. This time around we're gearing up for a concert in Philadelphia for the Academy of Music. It'll be nice to travel, and see a bit more of a historic city I hardly know. On that note I'm off to bed. It's been a long week... what? It's only Wednesday?

No Country For Old Men

One nice thing about traveling is that I have much more time to read. It's a habit I need to get more into, because it has always brought me happiness and inspiration. 

Anyhow, I finished a book by one of my favorite authors Cormac McCarthy, and I highly recommend it. I actually had a wonderful chat about him with a house guest/friend recently. He pointed out that Cormac very rarely gives any physical description of his characters or surroundings. His stories instead are fleshed out through dialogue and basic narration. The reader very rarely gets access to the inner workings of his characters thoughts or feelings. What this does is universalizes his stories. The concepts we relate to as a reader aren't ones of race, culture, or geographic proximity. Instead we relate to the characters through fundamentally human similarities. Through their suffering, through their loneliness, through their desire, and as my friend pointed out, through starvation. 

One thing that was interesting to me was that as I read No Country For Old Men I couldn't help but picture the film preview in my head. Even though I have not seen the film yet, I couldn't help but put Javier Bardem in Chigurh's shoes. I love film, and I love literature. But I think the two are completely different mediums of expression. Apples and oranges. And if you ever need an example consider Cormac's books to the filmic adaptations. Completely different. 

Bottom line: Great book. Highly recommend it. 

2008

Happy New Years (eve)! Well I’m not sure about you, but I’m sure ready for a new year. But before moving ahead I wanted to look back. Here’s my take on 2008.

Man of the Year: Barack Obama
He broke the color barrier of the presidency, and galvanized a despondent nation. By restructuring the methodology of grass roots campaigning and capitalizing on new technology, he revolutionized the way in which campaigns will be run in the future. His legacy has just started, but I see a lot of good things for the new leader of the land of the free.

Woman of the Year: Hilary Clinton
Despite her husbands shadowed reputation. Despite her questionable stance as a New York senator, she broke the glass ceiling towards the presidency. While she will more likely be known in trivial pursuit circuits fifteen years from now, I will never forget the great change she brought upon politics in terms of gender equalization.

Scumbag of the Year: Bernie Madoff
I don’t know where to begin with this guy. He more or less epitomizes the greed and corruption that brought this awful recession upon us. Through his actions alone he bankrupted numerous charitable foundations, and created who-knows what stress upon the economy at large. Awful, awful man. I hope they put him away for a long time. 

Country of the Year: China
Spectacular Olympics. Emerging economic powerhouse. Overcoming a heart-wrenching natural disaster. Contaminated dog food. China just couldn’t stay out of the news headlines this year, and with good reason. They are the largest population on the planet, have the largest standing army in the world, and thousands of year of history and culture. They are an incredible people, and an emerging face of global politics. However they’re not without their down-points. A chasm still stands between the upper and lower classes, and the quality of life throughout much of main-land China needs to be developed. Not to mention more freedom of speech and press across the coast.

Athlete of the Year: Michael Phelps
Do I even need to describe this one? 14 career gold medals. Eight gold medals in the 2008 summer Olympics. The boy is nasty. 

Team of the Year: The New York Football Giants

What was the probably the best Superbowl I'll see in my life, the Giants stopped the Patriots run at perfection. That scramble by Eli to that incredible catch by David Tyree is a high-light that will be seen for a long time. Not to mention their play-off run to get there. Great season. Hopefully they'll do it again in 2009. 

Scientist of the Year: Daniel Burd

For a high-school science fair this 16 year-old found that if you combine water, yeast and a plastic bag special bacteria develop that eat up the plastic bag in 3 months. The by-products? water, and a bit of carbon dioxide. Big discover for a little man. 

Artist of the Year: Madonna

I kind of hate to do this, but I have to. She's fifty years old, and she's still pumping out music, still producing, still making headlines, still dancing like a star, and still, dare I say it, sexy. Not to mention she's turning herself to the modern day Madonna by dating A-Rod. She's a bright shining star, you can't deny it.

Ok, now I'm off to ring in the New Year. Happy New Years! And here's to a good 2009. 

Merry Christmas!

I absolutely love this time of year. I love the snow. I love the smell fire smoke and Christmas trees. I love seeing family and old friends coming together. Putting a jigsaw puzzle together with my Grandmother. Showing my Dad how to check stocks online. Helping my Mom cook dinner. Watching football with my brother. I also love the sense of magic in the air, that mythical tale-spun magic that’s ingrained in all of our heads ever since we were little- even if we’re ages away from believing in Santa Claus. But more than anything else I love the feeling of Christmas spirit in the air.

But what is Christmas spirit? It’s not the ghost of Christmas past or even Christmas present. And it’s not the brandy in your eggnog. Christmas spirit is about thinking and caring for others, for no other reason than that auspicious day. And I love that. I love that there is a holiday centered around giving and thinking of others. 

One of my all-time favorite Christmas stories is that of the “Gift of the Magi”. Roughly it’s a tale of two lovers who are living in New York during the holiday season. The man has a priceless heirloom watch that’s his most prized possession, and the woman has a long beautiful head of hair that she treasures like her own child. They’re both down on their luck, and fairly poor. So when Christmas time comes along the man sells his watch in order to buy his wife a beautiful set of silver brushes. Meanwhile, on the other side of town the woman is cutting her hair in order to purchased the man a golden watch chain for his prized possession.

That is the Christmas spirit. It’s not how much money you spend on gifts, or that big bonus you receive. It’s a call to that friend you don’t talk to very often to let them know you love them, and that your life is richer for their presence even if you don’t talk much anymore. It’s helping a strangers by holding doors open, or helping carry their bags. It’s letting the single mother with her three children cut in front of you in a line. It’s that extra dollar you tip just because. It’s about thinking of others and being compassionate for compassion sake. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful world if we could one day stop calling this the Christmas spirit and call it the human spirit? I suppose one time out of the year is a good start.

More Economical Talk

When I was flying out to New Mexico I had a sobering chat with my taxi drive about the recession in America. He had told me that he held very little hope in the "American Dream" ever since he's had to resort to driving cabs in order to make money for his family. According to him he once owned a large construction company working out in La Canada, it was soon shut down after 9/11 when a lot of housing projects stopped. He then opened a sowing company with forty-five workers. With jobs getting exported to Mexico, he couldn't afford to keep up his operation and had to close shop. His story isn't the only sob story of recent years. I know plenty of my own friends getting laid off, and with the increase in living costs and the lack of jobs I too am feeling the pinch. But regardless the dim light he shed I kept my head up, and spoke only positively. I said that hopefully with Obama in office things will change.

Things need to change. And I only hope the momentum that Obama has built from campaigning carry over to his first term. It's no doubt that the biggest and most daunting task for Obama will be to fix the slumping US economy. Now, I'm no economical genius, and I've never even taken a class in economics (something I'll change someday); but I do consider myself a bright cookie with some ideas. If Obama asked me for some ideas this is what I would say:

• Create an FDR "Alphabet Soup" type of public works project. Our country's infrastructure sure could use the help, and plus it would create thousands of jobs. Popular Mechanic's had a great article on just a handful of ideas. I know Obama is planning on starting a gigantic “green energy” project for our country’s infrastructure, and no doubt these programs will help.

• Create tax breaks for those who hire within the United States, increase taxes on those who hire abroad. Hiring outside of the country hurts the United States by siphoning potential US jobs out of the country, and for the negative effect of taking advantage of cheap labor in other countries. A tax on those companies that hire outside would simply help cushion the blow that these companies are causing on our economy, and encourage creating more jobs within the US.

• Make stronger penalties to companies hiring illegal immigrants. Illegal immigration and cheap labor exploitation are unfortunate truths about the society we live in. It's a very complicated situation with no easy answer, but no answer should include having the brunt of the punishments placed upon the less fortunate. Punish the companies, not the workers.

• Give illegal immigrants an opportunity to become citizens of the USA. This may be a broad stroke, but it’s a big problem, and I think this will ultimately be a good thing. All these people want to do is become contributing members of a society. By giving them all the opportunity to become a citizens, you would be adding more tax money into the system, and eliminate illicit activity involved in the conspiracy of illegal immigrants.

• Increase "sin" tax. Certainly with all of the financial woes going on plenty of people will be hitting the bottle. This indulgence doesn't exactly help our situation I'd imagine. Neither does smoking, or eating fattening foods. We're having enough troubles with our healthcare system, and I personally see nothing wrong with adding additional tax to sources that are known to add health problems within the population (e.g. alcohol, cigarettes, fattening foods, gambling, etc...). This tax would encourage better health, and alleviate medical costs.

• Cut farming subsidiaries, or at least change the system. This one may be a bit over my head (for I don't know the full spectrum of this topic), but hear me out. Firstly, farm subsidies only support large scale commercial farming and not the family farmers. It blows my mind we're so opposed to the big box shops (i.e. Walmart), yet we're turning a blind eye and allowing commercial farming to put local farmers out of business. Second, subsidies encourage quantity over ethical and moral farming. Every farmer is paid the same regardless if they're using synthetic fertilizers and chemical pesticides, regardless if they're exporting and undercutting local farmers in third world countries (see Life and Debt, it'll open your eyes). Third, subsidies allow farmers to create cheap food and live-stock, enabling them to undercut farmers in other parts of the world. An example of this is milk farmers in Jamaica who need to dump their milk stocks because people buy cheaper powdered milk from the states. Lastly, cutting subsidies will prevent farmers from trying to feed and entire nation, creating an overabundance of food that is never used. Large scale commercial farming hurts local farming in the long run. We need to change current method subsidy program which encourages only commercial farming. (Two other resources I've used: Gristmill and The Heritage Foundation).

• Reestablish Skilled Labor classes in High-schools. With college becoming more and more expensive I think it's important that we provide the nations youth with feasible career paths outside of a higher education. While I cherish both my degrees, I don’t believe college is the right choice for everyone. I think there are plenty of options outside the higher education path, and by supplying younger people with multiple options you will help encourage those paths, and create more employment opportunities for high school graduates.

• Invest money into developing a cross-continental railway system.
This could be tagged onto the above idea of a large-scale public works project. First, I’m a huge mass transportation fan (especially the railway). Adding a more effective railway system would cut-down on car emissions by creating an affordable alternative to high gas prices. Better transportation to major cities would also cut on urban sprawl, as more people from out-lying towns would be able to work within the larger metropolitan areas. Second, a large public works project would create lots of much-needed jobs (no-brainer). And lastly, a cross-continental railway would create a worldly tourist destination in the states. We are currently seeing a boom in the tourism industry in America due to our weakened dollar, but why not create the infrastructure to keep this tourism strong? This country has so much diversity, and I think a cross-continental railway would be a great way to show it off. Plus it would add much needed income to towns all across the United States.

• Down-size the military, and transfer funds towards special-ops. I think (hope) that the time of large-scale army against large-scale army is over. Terrorism is our number-one enemy, and we need more intelligence than brute strength in this new world.

• Curb financial institutions from taking advantage of the public. The entire reason we're in this mess is the greed and corruption of banks and credit card companies. They had their chance, and they blew it. I think tougher regulations and a policing of their policies is needed for the good of the people. I know there are talks right now to make credit card companies have a fixed interest rate, and this is a good start. Too bad it won't go into effect until 2010. 

Running a country is no easy task, and I certainly don’t envy the uphill battle Obama has in store. And while it’s much easier to come up with ideas than to effectively apply them, I think these ideas are good points to at least consider. So what do you say Mr. Obama?