Guess What... Obama is full of Crap.

To be fair, let's count this as flip-flop number 1.  I'm sure he's already done an about face on an issue or policy, but I'll give him a clean slate to start with.  But now, after pledging to campaign with publicly funded money, Obama has now decided instead to reject that money and rely on private funding instead.  

Why?  Because the public funding tops out at $85 million and he wants to be able to raise more money.  In fact, he's shooting for $500 million to campaign with.  He's already confident he can raise over $250 million based on his fund raising in the primaries, so what's another few hundred million dollars?  

All this coming to you straight from the Chicago Tribune, the same Chicago Tribune that has already printed its Obama inauguration edition.  

So libtards, take a guess where that $500 million is going to come from.  It's not coming from the average American worker that you so quaintly believe still represents some noble facet of American idealism.  Sure, a few thousand, maybe even a hundred thousand dollars, might come from the sheep who really believe they're helping to bring about change with their $50 donation on Obama's website.  But at the end of the day, the majority of that money is going to come from......... 

Survey says: Lobbyists and Corporations!  

That's right.... Obama is going to suckle up to the same evil and greedy sources that you claim are ruining this country.  Because, whether you can admit it, believe it, or even understand it, capitalism is still the way the world works.  You need money to do everything, and hope is cheap.  

Barack Obama - selling to the highest bidder.   

The State of Michigan

See, this post's title is a double entendre... it's about the current situation, or state, of Michigan, which is a state. 

 

Sorry....

Anyway, I read this and it made perfect sense to me.  I love Michigan, but I'm getting the hell out of here until someone can fix things.  If it doesn't make sense to you, I'd like to know why.  

MOVING MICHIGAN FORWARD

Are you as tired as I am of the continued partisan politics as usual in Lansing while our future, like our roads this spring, continues to crumble? Are you as saddened as I am to see a continued denial about the reality of the condition of our beautiful state? Are you ready to do something about it?

After having travelled to every corner, and I mean EVERY corner, of this state over the past few years, I have come to the conclusion that we have an amazing state with wonderful people... but maybe Lansing isn't the real problem. Maybe Lansing is a reflection of our current state culture... a culture that still wants to go back to the good old days at the risk of ignoring the reality of the world today.

It appears that over the past few years, many of us were drawn in by grand plans, empty promises and wishful thinking in the hope that we could avoid the harsh reality of change. I understand that feeling, and it isn't new for us either... how many years have we discussed at this conference grand plans to revitalize Downtown Detroit, empty promises to improve transportation and wishful thinking about regional cooperation... only to go home to the reality that nothing changes... so we discuss the same issues the next year in the same rooms, at the same hotel, on the same island.

By the way, the attitude is not limited to this conference. We saw years ago the steadfast denial that foreign car companies would ever make a dent in the US market, but now Toyota is on track to be #1. We heard regular denials that our Detroit Public Schools were failing our children, but today if you are a freshman student at DPS your chance of graduating hovers around 25%. We assured ourselves that high costs of doing business here in Michigan wouldn't drive employers out of our state, but apparently no one told Pfizer, Comerica, Ryan Homes, or Electrolux, so now we are leading the nation in unemployment and have been for 12 months and also now have 5 of the 10 worst American cities for business (according to Forbes magazine) right here in Michigan. We actually believed that Michigan workers had some special right to always enjoy great wages... but if present trends continue, even Alabama will have higher average wages than Michigan in only 3 more years.

So, I have a simple suggestion... DENIAL ENDS TODAY and REAL CHANGE BEGINS TOMORROW... and I have a few specific ideas to offer too:

-Our state government is a reflection of the way our state does business. The rest of the world has done a lot more with a lot less. State government needs to stop complaining and start setting the example.

-Local governments aren't islands any more. Consolidation or Cooperation are your only two options so get to work.

-Public education is too important to our future to trust to any one monopoly. No parent should EVER be forced to send their child to a bad school. It's time to empower parents with choices and students with a real education.

-Taxes do matter. People and businesses with money to invest hate high taxes and will go elsewhere. We may not like it, but that's reality...  so we better fix our tax system now to be attractive, not repulsive, to job creators.

-Fear and violence in our cities is simply unacceptable and having 2 of the 5 most dangerous cities in America right here in Michigan must change. Yes, we have too many non-violent prisoners in our prisons, but we have too many violent criminals on our streets... and it doesn't need to "get a little better"... it needs to end! Our citizens deserve it and if we want families to stay and others to come to Michigan, we simply MUST become a safe place.

-The UAW is a significant force in this state, but if you keep working against companies and not with them, you broadcast another damaging vision of Michigan, and more significantly you will continue to hurt the very members you claim to serve as jobs continue to leave.

-Business leaders need to view foreign countries as opportunities, not threats. So long as we treat them like threats, they WILL CONTINUE to threaten us. You can NEVER win when you only play defense.

-It's time for you to step aside, Kwame. You did some very good things for the city and we are grateful, but you are hurting us, not helping us now.

-No more excuses, just fix our roads. A manufacturing state needs to get its workers to the job and our products to market. This is a critical issue for all of us.

The only question remaining is if we have the courage to stand up straight and look reality in the eye. I believe we do. The people of the Michigan I grew up in had courage to spare, and I believe we have that same kind of courage today. Change is hard, but the results can be very, very good.

Let's envision a Michigan that is so attractive that our children want to stay and find their futures here... and the best and brightest from around the world want to join us. A Michigan where our schools are recognized as the best in the world and are celebrated because EVERY child has the opportunity to learn in a school that excites them to learn.

Let's imagine a Michigan where business men and women travel the world selling their products and telling everyone they meet what a great place Michigan is to start and grow a business. A Michigan that is growing, protecting its beautiful environment and is truly sustainable for future generations.

Michigan has come back before and so have other states. But it takes determination, leadership and an ability to work together. It won't be easy, but we cannot turn our back on our future. Let's find our courage and go for it. The results could amaze the entire world!!

I Should Have Been British... Then I'd be a Whovian

I've gone on about my love for the British before, but now I've got another reason to love them.  I was flipping through the channels one night a few weeks ago and couldn't find anything on, so when I came upon an episode of Doctor Who on PBS I figured I'd give it a shot.  Even as a sci-fi geek I knew nothing about Doctor Who save for a few random references in the context of other science fiction discussions.  

But ever since that episode I've been hooked.

The episode was "The Girl in the Fireplace".  Since then I have Tivo set to record episodes, and just yesterday there was a mini-marathon on Sci-Fi.  It is so quintessentially British, and I love it.  Watching other British TV shows and movies it is clear that Doctor Who is a mainstay of British pop culture, but unfortunately I know most Americans are completely oblivious to it.

Of course I myself am not a true, dedicated Whovian (Doctor Who fan - like Trekie).  The only episodes I've seen have been with the 10th Doctor, David Tennant, and so I don't know if I would be able to see any of the episodes of the previous 9 Doctors with the same affinity.  Britons who have grown up with Doctor Who may not even like David Tennant's portrayal compared to other Doctors of the past... I don't know.  

The real question, though, is between Rose Tyler and Martha Jones....

Here's Rose Tyler, The Doctor's companion in the first episode I saw.  When the BBC brought Doctor Who back in 2005, Rose was the Doctor's companion through the first and second series.  Like the 10th Doctor, she was the first companion I got to know, and so when I started seeing episodes from series 3 with a new companion I was initially comparing her to Rose.  I didn't like her at first, but after a while I started to like her.  The second companion was Martha Jones, who has since been replaced with Donna Noble in the 4th series.  Donna isn't even competition for Rose and Martha. 

And here's Martha Jones.  By the time I watched a few episodes and got to the one where Martha left and Donna came on board, I was sad to see Martha go.  And now that I've been watching episodes out of order as they've been on Sci Fi and PBS, I miss Martha when Rose is there and I miss Rose when Martha is there.

If anyone is looking for Birthday or Christmas gift ideas, series 1 - 3 are available on DVD....

My Birthday is in July... 

A Job I Don't Hate... How Novel

My contract technically ended on May 23rd, but I've still been working for the university.  The agreement is I work 10 hours a week and I get to stay in my apartment for the summer.  10 hours a week of work for free rent - can't beat that. 

My supervisor left for vacation last week, and so I am running the building in his stead.  I'm coordinating all the maintenance work and logistics that need to be done before a summer camp arrives this weekend, and even though those are the parts of my job I enjoy the least I am still enjoying it.  

In a little over a month I'll be in my new position in charge of a building of my own.  I like the position, I like the school, and I like all of my colleagues that I've met so far.  

Maybe all my work has finally paid off.  

Life Update

Firstly, I'm not dead.

I make no excuses for another 6 month absence from the blogosphere.  Last time this happened, I spent most of those 6 months lying on the couch in my living room hating my job, hating my location, and more or less hating my life in what I can only describe as the most depressed I've ever been.  For those keeping score, that was North Carolina.  This time around I wasn't depressed, I was just focused on everything but ye olde blogger.  A week without posting becomes a month, a month becomes a semester, and we end up here. 

So, in the intervening months since my last posting I have done a number of important things.  I wrote my master's thesis... Men's Identity Development in College: A Conceptual Model with Recommendations for Intervention.   I finished my master's degree and graduated from graduate school with a Master's of Education.  And, starting August 1, I will have a new job at Valparaiso University. 

That all sounds well and good, but it now way can explain how much work all of those things required.  First off let me say that grad school wasn't that hard... certainly no more difficult than most of my undergraduate coursework.  But this last semester was rough.  I basically wrote a chapter of my thesis each month, chapter 1 due at the end of January, chapter 2 in February, and chapter 3 in March.  The final finished thesis was due in mid-April, and I think I ended up with three drafts of each chapter through the editing and revisions process.  All the while I was applying for jobs and interviewing at 2 conferences - one in Wisconsin and one in Boston at the end of February and early March.  Not to mention still having to do my job and taking two other classes.  It wasn't hard, it was just time consuming.

All through this, my world became very small.  I've always been one to live in my own head at times, and being so focused on things this semester meant the rest of the world outside of my thesis and other grad school work kind of passed me by.  But, here I am, done now.  I'm moving out of my apartment next weekend, unfortunately to temporary storage and my parents' house for a few weeks until my apartment is ready in Valparaiso.  

I'm in the rather enviable position of graduating from college (again) without having to leave.  I'm just off to another university.