tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15800746943521099962024-03-05T17:39:31.379-08:00Bren's Left CoastA transplanted small town Hoosier's reflections on stuff, including but not limited to politics, my car, gay rights, sports, religion and growing up a small town HoosierBren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.comBlogger144125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-89887261000721787302020-06-18T00:21:00.001-07:002020-06-18T00:21:21.980-07:00GOP Hypocricy - Again <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
In the tidal wave of news this week you might have missed this nugget: <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/06/17/coin-shortage-economy-fed/" target="_blank">The Pandemic has created a coin shortage</a>. Even though fewer <a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-03-12/cash-coronavirus" target="_blank">Americans are using cash</a> -- for lots of reasons that predate Covid-19 -- somehow there aren't enough coins in circulation.<br />
<br />
Why do I possibly care about this? Because in the depths of that article in the Washington Post alerting us to the issue is this: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div>
<div class="font--body font-copy gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md ">
Rep. John
Rose (R-Tenn.), however, said he has been hearing concerns from banks in
his district that are receiving only a fraction of their weekly coin
orders.</div>
</div>
<div>
<div class="font--body font-copy gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md ">
Rose
mentioned one particular bank that may run out of coins by the end of
this week or weekend and asked if the issue was on Powell’s radar.</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
I had never heard of John Rose (though it's too bad it's not Johnny Rose from Schitt's Creek) but I knew - I just KNEW, before I even looked - that Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn) was an implacable small government asshole because, well, he's a Republican and he's from Tennessee. And I was right.<br />
<br />
What surprised me was just how implacable and how much of an asshole he is. <br />
<br />
John Rose (R-Tenn) was<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>One of TWELVE people in the US House to vote against <a href="https://newstalk941.com/rose-speaks-out-after-voting-against-9-11-victims-fund/" target="_blank">extending the 9/11 victims compensation fund</a> - it passed 402-12 and President Trump signed it into law. His reasoning? Cost too much. </li>
<li>One of 22 House members to vote <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/116-2019/h44" target="_blank">against the NATO support act</a> -- giving Trump a free hand to pull the US out of NATO if he wanted to (remember when that was on the President's radar? Thankfully he has the attention span of an over-sugared 7th grader). </li>
<li>One of 22 House members to vote against the Ocean Acidification Innovation Act of 2019, which authorized "...Federal agencies to establish prize
competitions for innovation or adaptation management development relating to
ocean acidification." </li>
<li>One of, well, one to block a <a href="https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2019/05/30/disaster-bill-highlights-inconsistency-in-voting-records" target="_blank">disaster relief bill fast-track</a> -- not because it wouldn't ultimately pass (the disasters had hit Republican states and GOP congress members' principled stand against relief funds, which they so firmly believed after Sandy, vanished) but just to make some kind of cranky point about how members votes should be on record. (And, since we're keeping score, wrote a letter to President Trump asking for tornado relief funds <a href="https://johnrose.house.gov/media/press-releases/rose-advocates-tornado-relief-president-trump" target="_blank">"as soon as possible."</a>)</li>
<li>
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<![endif]--> And the <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/john_rose/412818/report-card/2019" target="_blank">least effective member</a> of the Tennessee US House delegation, passing 0 bills out of committee for House consideration and co-sponsoring the fewest bills. </li>
</ul>
But hey, if you run a bank and need (literal) change, call your boy. He'll answer. A radical small government, less regulation guy, yes, unless a literal banker needs literal government intervention because they're literally running low on coins. Then John Rose (R-Tenn) believes in govt.<br />
<br />
What an asshole. What a hypocrite. What a 2020 Republican. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-78185503007852628742019-12-12T13:30:00.000-08:002021-05-10T19:23:17.351-07:00#MeToo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I haven't been able to work much this past week. I've awakened three
different nights in a sweat, heart racing and palpably afraid until I
figured out where, and when, I was. I haven't been able to return phone
calls, or even, on two separate days, to check voice mails. I've been
ashamed of my lack of productivity, ashamed of my weakness, ashamed of
my inability to get my shit together and get my work done. I've broken
promises and missed deadlines and left obligations unfilled. I've
started silently crying a few times, shoulders shaking as I lie in bed
after my fiance has drifted off; and sometimes I've cried audibly and
visibly, on his shoulder when I just had to let it go.</div><div><br />
I don't remember how old I was. It must have been 1981 or '82, though,
for we'd moved into town, so I must have been 12 or 13. I don't remember
the season -- summer, on at least one occasion, as the air conditioner
was on and it wasn't often used. I don't remember how many times it
happened.<br />
I do remember someone who I trusted and to whom I was related grooming
me and stalking me -- literally stalking me, following me, chasing me at
times -- and sexually abusing me. I remember the tile floor of the
bathroom -- the only room in the house that had a door that locked -- leaving a pattern on
my skinny teenage arm after hours lying motionless on it. I remember
moving the fuzzy bathroom shower mat away from the tub trying to get
comfortable enough to sleep. I remember how long those nights lasted as I
laid there, on the floor, tracing with my eyes over and over the
patterns of the bathroom linoleum. I don't know that those nights have ever really ended, even
now. I remember once my mother turning on the lights in our living room
just as my sexual stalker had gotten off the couch and laid down next
to me, in a sleeping bag on the floor under the window AC, and how he
had scurried back onto the couch, like a cockroach, trying not to be
seen. I remember that we all pretended it didn't happen, that no one
talked about why my mother was standing in the living room with her hand
on the light switch in the middle of the night, watching. I remember
not telling anyone for years and years and years. </div><div> </div><div>I remember. It
happened. </div><div><br />
Who was I going to tell? My mother knew, and it didn't stop. Who was going to believe me? <br />
And you know what else? On cross examination, I abetted it, too. I'd
accept his gifts. In later years I'd take the keys to his new car and go
joy riding with my friends. I'd even go camping with him and others,
but still, hoping that this time it wouldn't happen. I could have said
no - even though he asked in front of the rest of my family to make it
difficult to say no, I could have said no. I could have told our
family's priest (who was a decent man to his core and never once made me
feel uncomfortable in any way). I could have told a teacher at school,
maybe.<br /> </div><div>But I didn't. Not when it happened. Not for years later. If someone was
telling me this story I would say, strenuously and with complete
conviction that they were not cowards. But when I tell myself that I'm
not a coward, I don't believe it. Sex was shameful, in any form, how was
I to talk about this? And relive it all, when the wound was still being
reopened? </div><div><br />
I turn 50 this fall. I've been carrying this shit for over three and
half decades. And you know what? He hasn't. He's gotten away with it. He
has faced no
consequences for his abuse of me. Don't talk to me about karma, or what
comes around
goes around - it's simply not true. Don't talk to me about justice - it
is unevenly meted, and very, very difficult to wrest, and in this case
there has been none.</div><div> <br />
At times I'll be lulled into thinking I've healed - the money spent on
therapy and the love of those close to me and the hard work I've done
have enabled many good days, months, years, when I don't think
of it. I get complacent. I maybe even "declare victory and go
home." At other times, when I've seen some self-destructive behavior or some
self-sabotage on the horizon, I could catch myself and say, "Don't. Just
don't. You know what's driving this impulse -- don't give him and what
he did to you any more power." And sometimes I know I do things because
I'm an abuse survivor -- I read transcripts of debates because watching a
debate live is too confrontational and too painful for me. I'm unhinged
by unfairness, and the ape part of my brain reacts viscerally to it.<br /> </div><div>And I hate to face it, again, and to have to face it, again, for it
gives him power all over again. It makes me feel like I felt when I was
13, all over again. I'm right back in that space, that moment when I had
to sneak down the hall to the bathroom at bedtime, and lock the door,
and try to find a way to get comfortable on that fuzzy rug while the
interminable night hours pass, all over again.<br /> </div><div>And watching Dr. Blasey Ford's testimony brought it all up again. <br /> </div><div>That's
not fair or precise: watching the Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin live
tweet about the hearings brought it all up again. And seeing pictures
of that Irish Catholic "good boy's" face contorted with rage when called
on his shit, and knowing that he's very, very likely to get away with
it, with all of it, brought it all up again. It just floored me. <br /> </div><div>To be clear, I'm proud of Dr. Blasey Ford -- I think she's an American
hero and one to whom we are indebted, and her bravery and poise made me
emotional just getting it third hand via Twitter. But this week has put
me on the mat.<br /> </div><div>I have done all the things survivors learn to do -- I've tried to be kind
to myself, to acknowledge that there is no way to expect that my
adolescent self had the tools to protect himself from the attack nor to
name his abuser as or after it happened. That subsequent interactions with
that abuser through the decades make perfect sense given the context.
That like (and undoubtedly related to) the depression from which I
occasionally suffer I will never fully recover from this -- not fully --
that it's a chronic condition the relapse of which was triggered this
past week by these external conditions, and I just need to keep moving
forward. </div><div> </div><div>But this past week, these strategies and self-care and self-talk hasn't
helped. <br /> </div><div>So I'm hoping that by writing about it in this candid way, for the first
time, I'll expiate some shame, decant some guilt; that I'll not be as
floored the next time, maybe. That I'll heal a little more quickly. And
honestly, I'm hoping too that by writing this I can clear some mental
space to get through this coming week meeting my obligations and doing
my damn job without needing to call in sick from sleepless nights and an
inability to concentrate and a debilitating depression. And, who knows,
maybe it will be provide someone else some succor. <br /> </div><div>I'm tired. I don't want to give him any more power. I don't want to be
defined or controlled by what was done to me and taken from me when I
just learning who I was. I don't want this to be the first line of my
obituary, or the subtext behind any lines of my obituary. I don't want
it to control me, but some times -- like this past week -- that's damn
hard. <br /> </div><div>I'm done looking at the Supreme Court nominee. I'm done reading Twitter
for a while. I have work to do. And as long as people like my abuser and
the like the Supreme Court nominee move through their lives carelessly
destroying others and lying to themselves and the world with no
consequences of their actions, I guess we all have work to do.<br /> </div><div>Let's all try to do it. <br />
<blockquote class="gmail-tr_bq">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="gmail-st" style="line-height: 1.4; overflow-wrap: break-word;">“They were <i style="font-style: normal;">careless</i> people, <i style="font-style: normal;">Tom and Daisy</i>- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast <i style="font-style: normal;">carelessness</i> or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”</span></span></span></blockquote>
</div>
</div>
Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-6859118148578274442018-04-10T12:21:00.002-07:002018-04-10T12:22:25.130-07:00Going Deep - Reflections of a Gay Football Fan <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve always loved sports.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I grew up in a rural town in Indiana, and sports were one of the things
that boys talked about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sucked at
talking about some of the others – most obviously girls – but I could talk
sports.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While technically I played
sports in middle school - football (cornerback, where I watched a lot of guys
run by me), baseball (where I spent a lot of time in deep center and right),
and tennis (where I’d swing for the fences every time the ball came at me far
more effectively than I ever had in baseball) - my love of sports was from
watching them, almost any of them. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I loved watching high school sports – and nine older
siblings gave me lots of opportunities to do that – and then college and pros
as I got older.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In high school in the
80s I had a job selling soda in Purdue’s Ross Ade Stadium (capacity, 69,000;
average attendance, 17,000) and I loved it, even when I’d get heckled by
disappointed, wet, cold fans who would tell me to go find the hot chocolate guy
as the home team lost, yet again, in the 35°F-grey-and-sleet of late
November.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When we moved to a town closer to Indianapolis and I could
catch Colts games on the radio, that’s when I really fell in love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would listen to every down of every game if
my parents let me, sometimes in the car parked in the driveway because that’s
the only radio that could get reception.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Despite the 3-13 seasons and the freezing temps of three hours sitting
in the car, I knew the roster, I knew the schedule, I knew the verbal tics of
the announcers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And I really loved it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I would read everything about the team I could get my hands on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t sleep on Saturday nights before
big games, I’d be too excited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
consumed so much football knowledge that years later, sitting in my regular
sports bar with other transplanted Colts fans, I’d be the one they’d ask about
a decade-old game score or the players involved in that three way trade with
Minnesota and Cincy that went bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
really loved it, and still do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some of my friends, my gay friends, don’t get it - certainly
some boyfriends haven’t - and sometimes they’ve been super judge-y about
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t get that, at all. Not at
first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it’s not your thing, fair
enough, but why is it a problem that it’s a thing for me?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why, for some queer folk, is it okay to know
every Academy Award nominee, but knowing the tie-breaker rules for how teams
get into the NFL playoffs is off-putting?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In 2013, I watched the Super Bowl at a (straight) couple’s
house; they have a lot of gay friends and there were a lot of people over.
During halftime Beyoncé performed - and I cleaned, restocked beer, and
freshened drinks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wasn’t that
interested in (2013) Beyoncé - though I did learn that she had been in
Destiny’s Child, whom I’d heard of, and that she was married to Jay-Z, whom I'd
also heard of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- I was far more
interested in the game. After the power outage got resolved in the second half
(the lights went out in the Louisiana Superdome for 35 minutes, leading to a
suspension of play) I was excited when the teams finally re-took the field so
we could unmute the TV and, you know, watch the game. One of my gay friends,
who is usually lovely, said: “Like there isn’t enough football. They’ll be
hours of it to go, we don’t need to hear this part.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I looked around the room – a room full of
guests at a Super Bowl party – and realized that at this moment most of the
people in the room were gay, and in assent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thankfully there was another TV in the house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If this were the only time I’d heard something like this I
would have chalked it up to circumstance or a lapse in manners. But queer
friends have told me “you’re not really busy” when I say I can’t go to a movie
at the same time my team is playing – in the playoffs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That I’m wasting my time on a Sunday “sitting
in a dark bar, watching football” when I've begged off going to brunch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, most annoyingly, some - including some
who I have just met, have given that look and said that acid, arch,
reductionist, tired “Oh, that’s so butch,” when I’m off to the bar to watch
sports. As if it were an affectation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Why the disapproval?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As I’ve thought about it, I’ve realized that in at least
some cases the dismissal and disapproval that I’ve felt from gay friends
weren’t from bafflement as much as from discomfort or even intimidation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve come to learn that some gay men would
feel very uncomfortable walking into a sports bar on a Sunday filled with
football fans; it’s not that they’d be bored – though there’s that, too – it’s
that they’d feel they didn’t belong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A few years ago if you’d asked me to walk into a crowded gay
Oscar party I’d’ve had a few drinks before I got there for sure – I’d’ve felt
very out of place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d’ve been keenly
aware that I lacked a shared experience and thus things to talk about; that
opening my mouth would reveal my ignorance; that I wouldn’t know the cultural
markers – sartorial, conversational, behavioral – to fit in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I get it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For some queers, though, athletic contexts hold even deeper
challenges: they are fraught.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They bring
back a moment in junior high when a conversation came up about sports that they
didn’t follow, or when a dad or an older brother told them to try out for a
team with an implication that this was a chance to show they were a man, and
they were terrified.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I get that,
too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was not and am not a graceful
athlete, and athletic prowess is one key way in which males are evaluated in
adolescence (and later). Some of that – feelings of evaluation and judgment –
can linger, and can affect how we see ourselves as men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And my love of sports perhaps puts me on the
other side of the divide from other gay men. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not all, of course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’ve dated ex-college athletes (hoops and soccer), I’ve had gay
football-watching buds, particularly in the Midwest, I had an ex once look at
me across the table in a sports bar in New York City during a playoff game
surrounded by other fans of my (and now his) team and say, “Thanks for giving
me this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had no idea it could be so
fun.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So how did unathletic me develop this love of sports – all
sports, but especially football, that most macho of American sports? I can't
help but wonder if I love football so much, a love that really took root in
early adolescence, as a reaction - using the internalized stereotype to counter
my inability to deal with my own queerness. I had inklings that I was gay; in
my narrow, rural world view most gay guys don’t like football; I love football;
therefore I must not be gay. I don't think that's the case, but it's certainly
possible. I've read enough queer biography and hooked up with enough Marines to
know that there is a type of gay male who on some level tries not to be gay by
doing the most stereotypically un-gay thing he can think of. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Was that what I was doing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Did my eleven-year-old self let heteronormative stereotypes define him,
even in a counter-typical way? We all have normed expectations that we marinate
in from birth, so what do we do as burgeoning queer children when we begin to
understand that we don't fit – fundamentally can't fit – our mandated
roles?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is that why I love sports, and in
particular why I freakin’ love football?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Is that why this particular entertainment interest of mine is
discomfiting to some queer folk?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I don’t know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Maybe?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there really isn’t and
can’t be an answer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve learned to be a
little patient with gay people who are inadvertently ignorant or rude about my
particular way of being entertained by baseball on summer afternoons at Chavez
Ravine and McCovey Cove or any of the 26 MLB parks I’ve been too; by basketball
as I tweet incessantly about the Pacers and my college team; and by football on
Sundays in the fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s a big part of who I am, and I love what my love of
sports has given me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like talking to
group of four ladies of a certain age from Cleveland in big hats, sharing their
brandy with me on the Amtrak bound for Milwaukee where they were going to watch
their team play the Brewers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or going to
the same sports bar with the same gear for 16 Sundays in a row and becoming
part of a community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or walking into a
bar in a Pacers hat when I’m in whatever city and immediately getting included
in a conversation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or sitting bleary
eyed in Guam, watching a playoff game at the one open bar on the island at some
ungodly hour. It’s comfortable for me in a way that an Oscar party will never
be, and it’s easy, and fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s my church,
and despite what my team might be preachin’, I’m faithful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And if you have a gay friend who’s sports-addled, well,
first, it’s just what he’s into.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s
not judging you for not being into it or drawing any conclusions about you, but
it’s a hobby, however ridiculous (and he may well admit that it’s ridiculous),
and we like what we like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second, he’s
got superstitions to maintain and a schedule to plan around upcoming games, and
that shit ain’t easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If his team wins
on a week when we doesn’t have his cell phone, then he’ll never again bring his
cellphone to the bar to watch a game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s just the way it works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
finally, maybe ask to watch a game with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not a big game, maybe, not a playoff game his team is in, but a
game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe you can tell him about
Destiny’s Child during timeouts while he tells you a little about what’s going
on during the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe you’ll both be
a little more comfortable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-90706790368339307982016-02-17T21:36:00.002-08:002016-02-17T21:36:55.953-08:00Senate shenanigans<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) is on record as saying that the next President of the United States - the one we'll elect in November - should nominate the next Supreme Court Justice to replace Justice Scalia after his sudden death last weekend. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's the quote, from <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/mitch-mcconnell-antonin-scalia-supreme-court-nomination-219248#ixzz40UV50Bc3" target="_blank">Politico</a>: </span><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A couple of things here. First, the job of the President, as explicitly outlined in the US Constitution, is to nominate a Supreme Court justice. The Senate's job, as explicitly outlined in the US Constitution, is to vote on them. (I mention the explicit thing because the deceased Justice Scalia loved nothing more than to say that the US Constitution was a dead document that should be taken at face value and not interpreted for current exigencies.) </span></span><br />
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Senator McConnell made this statement an hour after the justice's death was confirmed - when people like Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Bernie Sanders (D-VT) were offering condolences to the family of the recently departed - which is a dick move, but that's besides the point. </span></span><br />
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The point is that the American people do have a voice now. Senator McConnell might not like it, but we - the American people - voted for the current president. Twice. And he still has over ten months left in office. </span></span><br />
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And another way that Americans - FAR more Americans, as it turns out - have a voice, is by for whom they voted in the last election. And overwhelmingly, more of us - the voice-ful American people - voted for Democratic members of the US Senate than for Republican members of the US Senate. And when I say "overwhelmingly" that's not hyperbole: it's over 24 million more votes. </span></span><br />
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's about the entire population of Ghana, or Australia, o</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">r to put it in terms perhaps more comfortable to the GOP Senate, that's more than the </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">entire </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">populations of: Tennessee, South Carolina, Arkansas, Louisiana and Alabama </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">combined. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Not voting age populations of those particular traitor states, but their entire total population. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">That's staggering. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">24 million more Americans voted for current Democratic Senators than Republicans. </span><br />
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And I can hear some people saying, "Well, that's California and New York, so what do you expect?" Like California and New York don't count, but whatever, okay - delete California and New York vote totals and it's still FOUR MILLION MORE. That's more than Oklahoma! </span></span><br />
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So who the hell are these "American people" that Senator McConnell wants to hear from? And is he sure? I don't know, but Senator, you might want to be careful what you wish for. </span></span><br />
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Raw data below the jump.)</span></span><br />
<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
Data aggregated from: Ballotpedia<br />
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<col style="mso-width-alt: 3108; mso-width-source: userset; width: 64pt;" width="85"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl66" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 75pt;" width="100">S<span style="font-size: x-small;">tate</span></td>
<td class="xl67" style="border-left: none; width: 68pt;" width="91"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Name</span></td>
<td class="xl67" style="border-left: none; width: 20pt;" width="27"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></td>
<td class="xl68" style="border-left: none; width: 64pt;" width="85"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Vote Total</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Wisconsin</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Baldwin</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,544,274</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Colorado</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Bennett</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">851,590</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Connecticut</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Blumenthal</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">435,029</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">New Jersey</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Booker</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,043,866</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">California</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Boxer</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">5,218,441</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ohio</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Brown</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">2,762,690</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Washington</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cantwell</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl73" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,855,493</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Maryland</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cardin</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,474,028</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Delaware</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Carper</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">252,892</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Pennsylvania</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Casey</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">3,021,364</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Delaware</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Coons</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">130,655</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Indiana</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Donnelly</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl73" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,281,181</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Illinois</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Durban</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,929,637</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">California</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Feinstein</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">7,864,624</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Minnesota</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Franken</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,053,205</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">New York</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Gillibrand</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">4,808,878</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">New Mexico</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Heinrich</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl73" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">395,717</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">North Dakota</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Heitkamp</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">161,337</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hawai'i</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hirono</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">269,489</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Virginia</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Kaine</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">2,010,067</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Minnesota</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Klobuchar</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,854,595</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Vermont</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Leahy</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl73" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">151,281</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">West Virginia</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Manchin</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">391,669</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Massachusetts</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Markey</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl73" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,289,944</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Missouri</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">McCaskill</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,494,125</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">New Jersey</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Menendez</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,987,680</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Oregon</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Merkley</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">814,537</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Maryland</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Mikulski</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl74" style="border-left: none; border-top: none; width: 64pt;" width="85"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,140,531</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Connecticut</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Murphy</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">830,221</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Washington</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Murray</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,314,930</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Florida</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Nelson</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">4,523,451</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Michigan </span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Peters</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl73" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,704,936</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Rhode Island</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Reed</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">223,675</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Nevada</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Reid</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">362,785</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hawai'i</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Schatz</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">246,770</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">New York</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Schumer</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">3,047,880</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">New Hampshire</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Shaheen</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">251,184</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Michigan</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Stabenow</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">2,735,826</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Montana</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Tester</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl73" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">236,123</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Pennsylvania</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Toomey</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">2,028,945</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">New Mexico</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Udall</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">286,409</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Virginia</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Warner</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl73" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,073,667</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Massachusetts</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Warren</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,696,346</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl70" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Rhode Island</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Whitehouse</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">271,034</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 15.75pt; page-break-before: always;">
<td class="xl75" height="21" style="border-top: none; height: 15.75pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Oregon</span></td>
<td class="xl76" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Wyden</span></td>
<td class="xl76" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">D</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl77" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">825,507</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 15.75pt;">
<td class="xl78" colspan="2" height="21" style="height: 15.75pt; mso-ignore: colspan;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">total
for all Democrats: </span></td>
<td class="xl79"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl80"><span style="font-size: x-small;">69,148,508</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl69" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;"></td>
<td class="xl69"></td>
<td class="xl69"></td>
<td class="xl81"></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl69" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;"></td>
<td class="xl69"></td>
<td class="xl69"></td>
<td class="xl81"></td>
</tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 15.75pt;">
<td class="xl82" height="21" style="height: 15.75pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></td>
<td class="xl82"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></td>
<td class="xl82"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></td>
<td class="xl83"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 15.75pt;">
<td class="xl84" height="21" style="border-top: none; height: 15.75pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Maine</span></td>
<td class="xl85" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">King</span></td>
<td class="xl85" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl86" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">370,580</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 15.75pt;">
<td class="xl87" height="21" style="border-top: none; height: 15.75pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Vermont</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sanders</span></td>
<td class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl88" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">207,848</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 15.75pt;">
<td class="xl89" height="21" style="border-top: none; height: 15.75pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">total for all
Independents: </span></td>
<td class="xl90" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></td>
<td class="xl90" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl91" style="border-left: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">578,428</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="22" style="height: 16.5pt;">
<td class="xl92" height="22" style="border-top: none; height: 16.5pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 277px;">
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 3474; mso-width-source: userset; width: 71pt;" width="95"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 2962; mso-width-source: userset; width: 61pt;" width="81"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 1097; mso-width-source: userset; width: 23pt;" width="30"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 2596; mso-width-source: userset; width: 53pt;" width="71"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="20" style="height: 15.0pt; width: 71pt;" width="95"><span style="font-size: x-small;">State</span></td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; width: 61pt;" width="81"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Name</span></td>
<td class="xl66" style="border-left: none; width: 23pt;" width="30"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></td>
<td class="xl67" style="border-left: none; width: 53pt;" width="71"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Vote Total</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Tennessee</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Alexander</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">849,629</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">New Hampshire</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ayotte</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">273,218</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Wyoming</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Barasso</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">185,250</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Missouri</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Blunt</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,054,160</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Arkansas</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Boozman</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">451,618</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">North Carolina</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Burr</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none; width: 53pt;" width="71"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,458,046</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Louisiana </span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cassidy</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">712,379</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Indiana</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Coats</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">952,116</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Mississippi</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cochran</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">378,481</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Maine</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Collins</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">413,505</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Tennessee</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Corker</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,506,443</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Texas</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cornyn</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">2,860,678</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Arkansas</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cotton</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">478,819</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Idaho</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Crapo</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">319,953</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Texas</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cruz</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">4,440,137</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Montana</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Daines</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">213,709</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Wyoming</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Enzi</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">121,554</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Iowa</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ernst</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">588,575</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Nebraska</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Fisher</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">455,593</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Arizona</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Flake</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,104,457</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Colorado</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Gardner</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">983,891</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">South Carolina</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Graham</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">672,941</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Iowa</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Grassley</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">718,215</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Utah</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hatch</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">657,608</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Nevada</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Heller</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">457,656</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">North Dakota</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hoeven</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">181,689</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Oklahoma</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Imhofe</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">558,166</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Georgia</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Isakson</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,489,904</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Illinois</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Kirk</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,778,698</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Oklahoma</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Lankford</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">557,002</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Utah</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Lee</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">360,403</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Arizona</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">McCain</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,005,615</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Kentucky</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">McConnell</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">806,787</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">West Virginia</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Moore Capito</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">280,400</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Kansas </span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Moran</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">587,175</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Alaska</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Murkowski</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">101,091</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Kentucky</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Paul</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">755,706</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Georgia</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Perdue</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,358,088</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ohio</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Portman</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">2,168,742</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Idaho</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Risch</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">285,596</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Kansas </span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Roberts</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">460,350</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">South Dakota</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Rounds</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">140,741</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Florida</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Rubio</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">2,645,743</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Nebraska</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sasse</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">347,636</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 15.75pt; page-break-before: always;">
<td class="xl68" height="21" style="border-top: none; height: 15.75pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">South
Carolina</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Scott</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">757,215</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 15.75pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="21" style="border-top: none; height: 15.75pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Alabama</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sessions</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">795,606</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Alabama</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Shelby</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">968,181</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="20" style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="20" style="border-top: none; height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Alaska</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sullivan</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">135,445</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 15.75pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="21" style="border-top: none; height: 15.75pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">South Dakota</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Thune</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl70" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">227,947</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 15.75pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="21" style="border-top: none; height: 15.75pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">North
Carolina</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Tillis</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl72" style="border-left: none; border-top: none; width: 53pt;" width="71"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,423,259</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 15.75pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="21" style="border-top: none; height: 15.75pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Louisiana </span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Vitter</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">715,415</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 15.75pt;">
<td class="xl68" height="21" style="border-top: none; height: 15.75pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Mississippi</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Wicker</span></td>
<td class="xl69" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl71" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">709,626</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="22" style="height: 16.5pt;">
<td class="xl73" height="22" style="border-top: none; height: 16.5pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Wisconsin</span></td>
<td class="xl74" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Johnson</span></td>
<td class="xl74" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">R</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl75" style="border-left: none; border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1,125,999</span></td>
</tr>
<tr height="21" style="height: 15.75pt;">
<td class="xl76" height="21" style="height: 15.75pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">total for all Republicans:</span></td>
<td class="xl77"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></td>
<td class="xl77"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl78"><span style="font-size: x-small;">45,036,856</span></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</td>
<td class="xl92" style="border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></td>
<td class="xl92" style="border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></td>
<td class="xl93" style="border-top: none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-30094740800363774912014-11-24T11:38:00.000-08:002014-11-25T02:58:50.236-08:00Observations from KSA - II<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I don’t know who flipped the
switch, but the weather suddenly got gorgeous – cooler, sunny, low humidity,
cool nights. It was broiling hot, and then we had a dust storm. The
students said it was mild, about a 3 on a 1-10 scale with 10 being the most
severe, but it was, without doubt, the single least pleasant meteorological
experience I’ve ever had – and I lived in Chicago the year </span><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/chi-chicagodays-1995heat-story-story.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">all those people died</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> from the heat. We were buffeted
by high, hot wind gusts, sandblasted (literally), and effectively breathing
grit. The visibility dropped, and honestly it felt like walking through a
blast furnace and it was hard to breathe - just oppressive. And the next day was clear and sunny and about 10'F cooler, and since then it’s been really nice. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The ratio of Tagalog to Arabic I hear daily is roughly 1:1. The Filipinos I talked to that work in the Saadeddin pastry shop said that working on camp is much better than working off – "people are friendlier" they said. They only get one day off a week. The one guy has been here 17 years. The bus driver – not on camp, but on the Saudi public bus – was Filipino who’s been here 16 years. My Pinoy taxi driver the other day has been here 20 years but says he’s going home at the end of this contract now that his kids are out of school. He's been with his family two months a year for the last 20 years. I’ll never work as hard as they do.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://store.saadeddin.com/?___store=default" target="_blank">Saadeddin Pastry Shop</a> makes the best goddam cheesecake I've ever eaten. It's light and fluffy and heaven. There are a surprising number of chubby-to-obese people here. Don't know if it's the loose clothing, the fact that nothing is legal here EXCEPT sugar and tobacco, or that they have an American lifestyle (no mass transit, drive everywhere) but there are a surprising number of overweight people. Maybe it's the Saadeddin cheesecake. That wouldn't surprise me, actually. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">Arabic text is read right to left but numbers are read left to right. So in a block of text with a number, they read the number as a whole word, just backwards. Good luck if you've got dyslexia - no idea how you'd manage. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/EgyptphoneKeypad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/EgyptphoneKeypad.jpg" height="300" style="max-height: 507px; max-width: 1285px;" width="300" /></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">We use Arabic numbers, right? Not Roman, not Chinese, but Arabic? I'd always thought so. Except we don't. Or, well, they don't. Or something. A dot is zero; a zero is 5; what looks like it could be a seven is a six - well, here they are <---- .="" font="" nbsp=""></----></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What this means is that I flail at the register, every time, and that I pay with a lot of purple 50s and thus have a passel of 10s floating around my wallet. </span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;"></span>I was a few steps behind a woman
in an abaya and full face veil and head scarf walking out of the commissary at
breakfast on Saturday. The foyer was a little darkened and the electronic
eye didn’t “see” her. She had to take a couple of steps back and then side to
side to get the door to open. That seems to me to be an apt
metaphor.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There is a debate raging at Dammam University about women whose abayas are not all black. They should be, evidently. The police have urged the school to clamp down, and they've gone to abaya sellers encouraging them to sell black, all black, and only black. Sinners. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I don't know if the TV I've seen on camp and in the hotels here is the same that Saudis get, but there's a lot of violence - a LOT of violence, most of it crap US films - broadcast here, and a surprising amount of sex. For a country with a "Nudity not allowed in the locker room" policy, I sure have seen some on TV. Filipino soap operas and sports are on half the channels; stern looking Imams are on a few (I think they're imams - maybe they are sternly discussing cricket?), and stations out of Dubai show lots of HBO, and unedited movies like "Wolf of Wall Street" and German dramas. Odd. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Bahrain is a separate island nation 30 miles, 3 hours by bus, and a world away, but it’s a world that Saudis flock to every weekend (along with Dubai and Abu Dhabi, according to two of the drillers in one of my classes, or more correctly, according to <i>one</i> driller who said of Dubai “I go every weekend – and I see THIS guy there too” pointing at another driller) for a drink, for bacon, for vanilla, for a drink, for a flirt, for a drink… On the 13th floor of my hotel in Manama, Bahrain's capital, I could still hear the “mm-ch-mm-ch-mm-ch” from the club on the ground floor down the block.)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I didn’t expect Saudi Arabia to be multiethnic, but according to my students there are a lot of distinct cultural variations around the Kingdom: Jeddah and Mecca are more cosmopolitan and open, and far more diverse, while Riyadh is more traditional. The two black students I’ve had were both from families from Jeddah, on the west coast, and looking at a map it makes sense: that’s the port where people come through for the hajj, and the Red Sea isn’t that wide; Sudan is *<b>right</b>* there. (I'm in Ad Dammam, in the northeast on the Gulf, and the city nearest Bahrain.) </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<a href="http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/cia14/saudi_arabia_sm_2014.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/cia14/saudi_arabia_sm_2014.gif" height="353" width="331" /></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">One Sudanese guy I met here was born in KSA of Sudanese parents and he doesn’t have a Saudi passport – only a Sudanese one, though he's only been to Sudan once. He can’t get Saudi citizenship, either, unless he marries a Saudi woman like his brother, and even that isn’t easy - both parties have to be over 35, which is considered ancient here. He has to renew his residence visa every year, and the cost has recently gone up from about $500 USD to about $1500. If he gets convicted of any crime beyond traffic violations, tests positive for HIV, or any number of other things, he’ll be deported. I didn’t ask my black students, obviously, if they were Saudi passport holders. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are plumeria (frangiapani in the UK and the empire) everywhere around the camp, making it redolent of Hawai'i. It's surprising given how much water they need. And I've just learned that Vanilla
is a haram – or forbidden – as liquor is used to make it. Tobacco use is
fine. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There are shuttle busses from camp
into town – to both malls, the Mall of Dhahran, a sprawling affair with some
shuttered store fronts that’s seen better days but that has an Outback
Steakhouse and Paul’s, a French (?) chain with amazing bread; and Al Rashid
Mall, the more exclusive of the two with a bookstore and a GNC. The
shuttles will also drop you off at Ikea or in the downtown shopping district,
if you’re so inclined. The malls are malls. Well, except that they
shut down at the call to prayer, a call which most of the shoppers gleefully
ignore as they mill around the locked doors and security grates waiting for the
all clear. And it’s not just us and the Filipinos who are milling around
(though, true, some of the Pinoy are Muslim too) – you’ll see Saudi women in
full Abaya, head covering and even face veils, and Saudi men in the traditional
</span><a href="http://www.saudiembassy.or.jp/DiscoverSA/TC.htm#Mens_Costumes" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">thawb</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> and head covering (shumagh – usually red and white in
this part of the kingdom), milling around too. Few people seem to pay the
call much heed. My
favorite sight from the mall has to be the early 20s Saudi guy, traditional thawb, and
Texas Tech baseball hat. On backwards. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Morty Seinfeld has NOTHING on me. The other night I was milling
around the commissary at 3:50 PM waiting for them to open at 4 PM so I could
eat. Our day starts at just past
7, we break for lunch at 11:30 – and the whole company does, which is, frankly,
annoying, as there is a resulting scrum in the lunch lines and outlandish din
in the caf, but prayer time is at 12:30 so there we go – and we wrap up at 3:30.
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And as I’ve been telling my colleagues, since we go to bed, wiped, at 8 PM, we just need to think about the schedule being 2 hours later and then it makes sense: we work from <s>7:00</s> 9:00 to <s>3:30</s> 5:30 so dinner at 4 PM is really 6 PM and it’s less crazy. (Saudis are horrified – they eat late, like 9, but by that point I’d likely be dead.) <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s important to be on time at the end of the day as the female students
who don’t live on the camp need to know what time to tell their drivers to pick
them up. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Nearly every car I've seen still has the plastic over the seat covers. It gets over 110'F routinely here, and often hits 120'F with high humidity. KSA has one of the <a href="http://www.greenprophet.com/2010/03/saudi-arabia-death-toll-driving/" target="_blank">highest rates of road fatalities</a> in the world. Maybe it's just from <strike>people</strike> men trying to scooch around on the plastic over the car seats in a billion degree car interiors? </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Me pretending that I know anything about Saudi Arabia after four weeks here would be like someone new to the US going to Mountain View, living on a Google housing complex, eating in the Google cafeteria, and taking a bus to San Jose 3 or 4 times and pretending they knew what the US was like. <o:p></o:p></span> </div>
</div>
Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-27181627077318548932014-11-22T07:00:00.001-08:002021-05-10T19:15:16.854-07:00The Best We Could<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-2cc1cb67-c6e1-279b-5227-267169acacd8" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It's hard to write about my dad.</span></b></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;">
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It would have been his 84th birthday today, and I've thought about him and our relationship a lot since he died last year. I've kept coming up short when I try to write about him, though, which is as apt as a metaphor for our relationship as any: he and I, despite our efforts, kept coming up short. But upon reflection I've come to realize a couple of other things, too, despite it all: we both kept trying, and we both did the best we could.</span><br />
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And since writing was </span></b><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">how we kept in touch over the last two plus decades, writing seems apt as the best way for me to remember him. </span><br />
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I'd try, sometimes, to be in touch in other ways. We had sports (if not many teams) in common, but even then it could be tricky. Baseball players had unions against which he would fulminate, and there were other, unlooked for challenges. One perfect NorCal afternoon, buoyed by the weather on my walk to the bar to watch Indy play a Monday Night game, I called Dad with what I had presumed to be some safe topics lined up. I started with the past weekend's Notre Dame game, but I got "I don't follow them now since they invited that baby killer Obama to campus." Deflated, I quickly wrapped up the call.</span><br />
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">He'd try sometimes, too. He'd call and I'd see the caller ID as I sat freezing in the UH library, or while reading or doing laundry or smoking on my tiny back porch in Honolulu or on my roof in San Francisco, and I'd let it go to voicemail. The time difference and our respective travel and work schedules gave us a fig leaf to cover our mutual wariness.</span><br />
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Letters were safer. Writing multiple drafts gave me a chance to see and excise some of my anger and self-righteousness. (Some, though not all, I'm embarrassed to say - some of what I'd written in the letters I found when cleaning out his house made me cringe.) I'm not sure if he wrote multiple drafts or not, but his letters were angry, paternalistic, deliberately hurtful, and often oscillated between the forced-friendly and the furious. </span><br />
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But he read my letters, or at least some of them -- I knew this because I'd hear from those people we had in common that Dad was pleased about a promotion I'd received or a recognition I'd earned. And I read his -- or at least some of them. I learned that a quick analysis of the envelope could reveal something of the tone of its contents. GOP elephant on the return address label and a President Nixon stamp? Likely bombastic, confrontational, and political, with the added bonus of quotes from Rush Limbaugh. A Knights of Columbus or Right to Life return label? Milder but still hectoring, and likely to include quotes from <a href="https://www.osv.com/Magazines/TheCatholicAnswer.aspx" target="_blank">The Catholic Answer</a> or the Pope. A collection of stamps in different denominations (i.e., a 23 cent, an 11 cent, a five cent, etc.)? Likely playful and familial, without anything about the baby killers or how my sinful lifestyle was going to result in my terminal sickness and early death.</span><br />
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">He also made copies of his outgoing correspondence. Each of the ten of us had a file, we found, and in mine, in addition to a number of my letters to him, were copies of at least some of his to me. And other things. My folder held funding appeals from organizations like Focus on the Family talking about how "homosexuals" - always "homosexual", never "gay", a convention he followed - were imperiling the moral fabric of America; how crimes committed by these homosexuals were never reported in the press, how homosexuals were pushing their - well, to be clear, "our" - agenda through the godless courts and via the godless Democrat (sic) party. These were all things I'd heard before. They land differently when you hear them from your dad, though. </span><br />
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I came out to my mom when she was already dying from cancer in 1991. She cried, and we had some difficult conversations about it, but she said that she loved me -- and she also said, "Don't tell your father." I waited a decade, in part with my mom's words in mind, in part because I believed that coming out -- especially to a parent -- should be an act of kindness and not of anger. It took me a while to get there with Dad. And I was nervous about how it would go. I finally decided, when living with my then-boyfriend, to give my dad "the opportunity to do the right thing" as I'd put it to myself and my friends. Wanting us to have a more honest relationship, if nothing else, I came out to him. In a letter.</span><br />
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It didn't go well. </span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></b>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal;">First the questions: was I gay because he had </span><span style="font-size: 15px;">traveled</span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal;"> so much for work and was an absent father when I was growing up? Was I gay because my mom had a strong personality? And my favorite: was being gay why I was no longer a Notre Dame fan? </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal;">And then the statements: your sinful lifestyle will result in your early death, due to HIV/AIDS. You shouldn't work in education because you'll molest kids and infect them with your sinful lifestyle. Don't come home unless you come alone, and only then if you have pre-approval from siblings so they can keep their kids away from you if they choose to. And then, after about a year of this, another letter with this question: did I become gay because I'd been molested by a priest? Dad wrote that he had been: a Catholic Brother molested him when he was 13, and "...let's face it, at that age, pretty much any sexual contact is pleasurable." I was deeply shocked, even though it's all too common a story. I just ached for him -- it broke my heart, and pulled back a curtain to reveal so much. I'd never known that, and I doubt if he'd told anyone else. Ever.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15;">What effect had that trauma had? Survivors of untreated sexual abuse often suffer long term effects -- what had he suffered because of this? What had this introduced into his personality? How had this warped what was there? Had he ever talked about it? He never mentioned it again and never answered any questions when I asked about it. I'll never know. </span><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;">
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We never have a complete understanding of someone else -- we can't, it’s always imperfect -- and I'd aver that most of us don’t have a complete understanding of ourselves. I hope that this knowledge about my dad's journey made me less angry, more patient, gentler. I like to think it did, when I brought it to mind, and for a couple of years I thought of it often. </span><br />
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Despite his towering temper, after I was nine or so he never hit me, and I remember the spankings I got as a kid being forewarned and a result of my actions. We never went hungry - none of the 12 of us - when we were under his roof. He worked impossibly hard - long days, many nights, many business trips to El Dorado, Arkansas, of all places - to make that happen. He never drank, ever: I saw him have one beer, once, before I graduated from high school. He never swore, ever: I heard him swear only once, after a storm destroyed the roof, the siding, and every pane of glass on two sides of our house in Fowler, and then it was a simple, exhausted, "damn."</span><br />
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But it wasn't easy. Through his illness and death I've been surprised by others' recollections of my dad: a cousin mentioning in passing how he was intimidated and nervous around him; a brother I'd always thought of as a favorite of his recounting Dad’s petty and mean-spirited bullying; forgotten letters from my mom telling me not to take his anger to heart. I took comfort in these recollections. It wasn't just me. From the available data, it was just dad.</span><br />
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And I'm sorry to say that I didn't help matters as much as I could have. I knew how to push his buttons, and I did - certainly in some of my letters to him, but also in person. Some small part of that might have been healthy since so many people tiptoed around him, a learned response to his bullying, and after all, what did I have to lose? I was never going to meet his expectations unless I signed up to be a priest; since I was gay I was beyond the pale, I had tremendous freedom from his opprobrium. In one letter, asking after his recovery from a car accident, I didn't stop myself from asking if he was getting his pain med prescription filled by sending his housekeeper (which he didn't have) to a parking lot with a cigar box (which he didn’t smoke) full of cash like his buddy Rush Limbaugh had. Like many of his generation he was notoriously tight -- even though one of his sons was a builder and submitted a bid to build his retirement home, he went with the guy who submitted the lowest bid. When I went to the house -- before I came out to him and was thus effectively banned -- I’d eyeball a wall and asked if he’d paid extra for its pronounced warp. When he was showing a group of us the blueprints for this house before its construction, he pointed out where the pool table would go in the basement. I looked at the drawings and said "I'm no expert but it looks like something's missing - where's the change machine?" </span><br />
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I remember many instances of his support when I was a child. He drove me and a friend down to Tennessee one weekend when we were doing research on Confederate POWs who were captured at the Battle of Fort Donelson who were housed -- and died -- in Lafayette during the Civil War. He encouraged me in Scouting and came to a troop meeting to show the other kids how to carve leather work, and even though I had no real skill at it, he encouraged my interest in his hobby as well. He helped me anytime I needed it with homework whenever he was home, no matter how tired he must have been, without a word or gesture of complaint that I remember.</span><br />
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In fact I never heard him complain - about work, or his hours, or anything. (The Cubs, sure, but that's like distant cicadas buzzing on a summer night - part of life for many in the Midwest.) He put his head down and worked hard, very hard, as a matter of pride, and expected that we all would, too. At many points in my life I've stopped and thought, "When Dad was my age he had to provide for </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">x</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> children." It was never a small number, and it was always nearly viscerally daunting. </span><br />
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">When I was a kid on Sunday mornings he'd get me up at 5:30 to do the paper route around Fowler, which we'd finish in time for the 7 o'clock mass, then come home after church and make waffles from scratch and play hours-long military strategy games, just he and I, until everyone else got home from church. When I was in the 5th grade he took the day off - something he almost never did - and we rode a bus up to Chicago to see Pope John Paul II say a mass in Grant Park, just he and I. (Well, and about 7 million others.) </span><br />
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I don't know when or why we began to drift apart. I hit adolescence and began to rebel, though it was nothing like what he'd been through with my brothers: I didn't smoke, flout rules, or show any signs of being counter-cultural. I served daily 7 AM mass intermittently through high school and was a devout Catholic - to the point that I fought with a church youth group leader to make sure we could attend mass on a weekend camping trip - but still, Dad and I drifted apart. </span><br />
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">By the time I got my ear pierced my junior year in college we weren't on great terms. I'd timed the piercing so that I could take it out before I came home for Christmas, but mom was sick with a vague but worrying malady so I came home for Thanksgiving with a fake gold stud in the hole so it wouldn't close, though I knew that hell would likely break loose. It did. That was it. He didn’t speak to me for a few months. I stayed in Milwaukee and worked over Christmas break; in February I only learned Mom had been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer when I called a brother to bitch about my course load and he asked me how I was doing with mom's news. And after mom died that November, quite understandably, grief subsumed him.</span><br />
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">He had a car accident and broke his back two years ago, and each of us ten kids took turns going to spend time with him to help his convalescence. I was nervous about my week there, but honestly it was good. He was still mostly lucid, and I asked him about family stories, about his siblings and childhood, about my mom. We didn't talk much about me, and we certainly didn’t talk about anything in my life after I turned 22 - he didn't ask and I didn't offer - but we had time to be together, and I got to thank him for all of his effort and hard work.</span><br />
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Before that week I looked back and thought about my father's life, and I tried to understand the stress he must have felt about money, the shame he may have felt at taking charity the years we qualified for government support and the kindness of neighbors, the never-ending fatigue that he must have had so often so deeply in his bones. I thought about how the abuse that he experienced from a member of the Church might have contributed to his extreme rigidity, or his temper, or his emotional paralysis. </span><br />
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And I realized, painfully, that I could have done better. I could have been more mature, more thoughtful, and kinder in my letters; I most assuredly could have connected more often. I could have more often let sleeping dogs lie and not comment on something in a vain and futile attempt to make or score a point.</span><br />
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But there was a context for these actions and reactions, for both of us. If we were petty and churlish, easily offended or bullying -- and we were, both of us, all of those things -- well, we're human. In the end, we didn't act from malice. And, in the end, critically, we made the space -- and took advantage of circumstances -- to arrive at something like d</span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">étente </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">before he died. And in the end, that's enough; it has to be, but it is.</span><br />
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And at the end, here’s what matters: we did the best we could.</span><br />.</b></div>
Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-70112005307490092982014-11-19T22:14:00.003-08:002014-11-25T02:47:38.505-08:00Observations from KSA - I<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here in Saudi Arabia for five weeks. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And it’s a desert. Like the desert that Bugs Bunny would
get lost in when he took the wrong turn at Albuquerque kinda desert. Unsurprising, but still, it overwhelms. On
the way in from the airport, looking around from any small rise in elevation (and there aren’t many), it’s sand for miles and miles and miles.
Every bit of land that isn’t irrigated is sand. Every car is covered in
dust unless it’s been freshly washed. And it’s hot. Midday heat is
oppressive, the kind of sun and heat that feels like it’s pushing you into
the (slowly melting) asphalt kinda hot. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Wonder how Chrysler is still in business? Come to
Dhahran. Every third sedan is a Chrysler 300, and every fourth one is a
Dodge Charger. There is, no question, a greater market share for US
automakers here than in LA, and maybe even Chicago. Every SUV is a
Suburban or an Escalade or a Tahoe. And my dad woulda felt right at home
among all the huge Ford Crown Vics and Chevy Caprice Classics. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I am living on a wholly self-contained and secured compound that a co-worker
speculated pre-departure – entirely correctly – would have the look, feel,
and charm of a Navy base. (She could have added “cuisine”.) Our digs are
clean and safe and well air-conditioned if not well ventilated, and there is
daily housekeeping service. It could be worse. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">All
service workers are non-Saudi, and there is a pretty strict hierarchy: menial work is done by south Asians, front-of-house service
positions and domestics are nearly all Filipino, and while
India, Bangladesh and the Philippines all have compulsory English education, and
while certainly their English is better than my Hindi/ Bangla/ Tagalog, there
are opportunities for misunderstanding. I asked for directions to the gym
(there are three on the compound) and I got them, only to discover when I got there that I had
received directions to the women’s gym. Even though I asked standing there in t-shirt and shorts. Not super helpful. At the post office I
asked about postage rates to the US, and was assured that it was 2 SR for an
airmail letter. I got out of
line, posted a 2 riyal stamp on the letter, and went back to ask if it was
correct. No, no, you need two 2 – 2 riyal stamps. Just glad I know just
enough to be polite to a point in Bangla and Tagalog (though not yet Arabic) –
especially since the IT guys - and the guys with all the keys - are
Filipino. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">On the compound women can be absolutely scandalous – drive,
show an ankle, leave their heads uncovered. It’s illegal for women to
drive elsewhere in the kingdom, but in these few acres they can. It’s
still oppressive – the compound I mean – as there are many Saudi women and men
working on the compound, of course, and many of the women are in the full
burka. I feel self-conscious going for a run in shorts so I wait until
nightfall (though see above re: the heat, so it’s not a hardship); there are
signs in the men’s locker room of the men’s gym (that I eventually found) that you are not allowed to change in the general area, you need to go into a stall for that. There are signs in the large
commissary building that you are to be modestly dressed to enter. It’s still,
despite the topography, not Arizona. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My colleague has said that she’s ruined for life on feta and
hummus. I’m not a feta guy but I can say that the hummus is stoopid
good. I’m missing leafy green veggies, but the fresh fruit is great
(though I feel vaguely guilty about it as I know how much water it takes) and
the rice dishes that I’ve tried, and I have no idea what they are, I just point,
have all been really good, too. Chicken "sausage" and beef "bacon", however… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If a Saudi is keen to show his gratitude (and I use the
masculine 3<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup> person pronoun specifically here), he’ll say thanks
and then touch his open right hand to his heart with a slight bow. Some of the
students have done this, and I find it to be incredibly charming, each time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Uh, California? Desalination is NOT
the answer. The water out of the tap is potable, yes, but it tastes like
seawater without salt – because it <i>is</i> seawater without salt. It’s
not like Bangladesh where if you forget and brush your teeth with it you’ll
be sick for a week, but it does take a lot to get that taste out of your
mouth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Universally, people on cell phones walking and texting are a
hazard. Universally, some service sector workers are just surly. Universally some guys in the gym are just douchy, and when it's an all guys gym? Even douchier. Finish your set, asshole - you're not going to see any improvement in your abs from the set before. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thumbs up for “good” is fine here – it starts to get
offensive a little east of here in Iran and Pakistan, according to one
student. My usual go-to gesture at home for “that’s enough, no mas” –
making a slicing motion across my neck with an open hand – seems in very poor
taste here. I’m casting about for a new one. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And again I’m reminded, as I have been in other parts of the
world – the crowning glory of American civilization? The bottomless
cup of coffee. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
</div>
Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-4426408347208176972014-08-02T10:00:00.000-07:002014-08-02T11:58:49.091-07:00In the garden - in the weeds<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
Trying to feed ten kids, even in Fowler, Indiana, even in 1970, couldn't have been easy. Why did my parents have so many kids? When I was little, I didn't really think about it - it's just what was. As I got a little older, though, I thought I'd figured out the real reason they had so many of us: they needed us to work the garden.</div>
<br />
We lived on the <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=100+south+adeway,+fowler,+indiana&sll=40.613724,-87.323413&sspn=0.004137,0.006877&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=S+Adeway,+Fowler,+Benton,+Indiana+47944&ll=40.613904,-87.323306&spn=0.004137,0.006877&t=h&z=17">edge of town</a>, on a lot that was quoted alternately at one and a quarter, one and a half, one and three quarters, or a full two acres, depending on who you asked and what they needed to do with it. What didn't seem to change was that a full third of it was garden. Our lot was bisected by a gravel driveway to the south of the house, which came straight back to shed and wrapped around the buckeye tree like a fishook with the point coming to the back door that everybody used. On the other side of the driveway, across the lower, southern half of the lot, was the garden. <br />
<br />
It was a romantic place, in the winter, with its very Hoosier-esque vista of corn stalks sticking up out of the frozen ground, if there wasn't much snow, and with its rabbit hutch set among some dwarf fruit trees. The garden was bounded by a hedge row of evergreen bushes on its western side that acted as a snow fence so that during every blizzard, or even every passing front with reasonably good accumulation, the prevailing westerly winds would shape the driven snow into fantastic drifts that had a sclera of crust thick enough to support my scrawny frame if I was careful. I would tunnel through the drifts and build forts and name countries and reenact the Renaissance-era European wars I'd read about in our encyclopedias and reference books as Ginger, our German Shepherd-mutt mix, would run through the tunnels and over the top until she fell through, laughing, if you believe that dogs can laugh. We'd play out there for hours.<br />
<br />
The garden in the winter was fun, but beginning in March, the dirty snow would start to melt (and it was dirty - in addition to the snow there were almost always ridges of Benton County topsoil on top of the drifts. It would make my mom angry, actually - "these farmers want to save time in the spring so they disk up their fields in the fall, but what do they think happens? The wind blows all winter and it gives their good soil to Ohio, is what happens! The best topsoil in the world and they treat it like dirt. Wait and plow twice in the spring!" and then she'd trail off, shaking her head. She had strong opinions about it. When I first heard the expression "pure as the driven snow" in high school, I honestly didn't get it - in my experience, the snow that was the most driven was the dirtiest). And when the snow would recede until there was just dirty, icy patches left in an archipelago in front of the hedgerow, I knew what was coming. <br />
<div>
<br />
It began on a day in late March or early April when my dad would come home from the chemical plant where he worked with a lot of plastic sheeting and a barrel of some sort of poison. We kids would spread out the plastic, weigh it down with rocks and soil around its perimeter so no air could escape, and my dad would pump the poison under the plastic into our garden. This was to "keep the weeds down." And whatever it was, it worked. We'd leave the plastic for a few days, peel it back, rototiller up that beautiful, deep, black, Benton County topsoil, and there wouldn't be a weed to be seen. Of course we'd be eating radishes and turnips and potatoes grown in that soil with whatever toxin my dad had pumped in there, but it made that first month of weeding easier. Not exactly organic, but it was local, at least - and c'mon, it was the 70s, we were hardier then. </div>
<br />
And really, anything - <em>anything</em> - that made weeding easier was a good thing. That rich, beautiful, Benton County soil was so fertile it would grow anything. We had volunteer (i.e., not planted) everything, everywhere. Blackberry bushes on fence rows that would sprout up from one year to the next; pumpkin plants would sprout up in the yard from the seeds we'd spit out the previous autumn that would keep coming back no matter how many times we'd mow over them; weeds that would sprout up every damn place - in the gravel driveway between the wheel ruts, between the slabs of our pitching front sidewalk, in the tiny space around the marigold plants that we'd planted in front of the statue of Our Blessed Virgin Mother (a/k/a "BVM") in the front yard, in the gravel underneath the fire pit in the driveway where we'd have the occasional cook out - every damn place. Hence the need for herbicide for the garden. And, to my mind, hence the need for ten kids - eight to weed, eight to harvest. <br />
<br />
The plastic would be rolled up and hauled to the dump, the soil would be tilled, the seeds would go in, and the very next morning, it seemed like, the plants would be up. And once it hit June and you had some nice summer thunderstorms followed by 90'F days of bright sunshine, well, buckle up - the garden was clearly in the driver's seat and we were all just along for the ride. <br />
<br />
On a summer morning the last thing you wanted to hear - the thing that would make your stomach drop and your heart fill with dread - was: "[first name, middle name], go weed the garden." There went your morning, or sometimes, your day. The garden was big, and as you stepped out of the back door in your gardening clothes (your oldest hand me down t-shirt, cutoffs, no shoes) and turned south to face it, it got bigger. The closer you got to it as you walked from the back door, past the beckoning tire swing, across the sharp gravel of the driveway and through the gate, the more it grew. To a five year old, by the time I'd reach it, it felt the size of Center Township. <br />
<br />
There was some strategy involved. If it had been dry recently, well, you could get a hoe and work the dirt between the rows, cutting down the weeds at the soil line. In one way, hoeing wasn't too bad - you could see where you were going and where you had been, and you had the satisfaction of a clean row behind you as you moved - but that satisfaction was incomplete. It was tempered by knowing with a certainty that you were only delaying the inevitable. It might look good from afar - from mom's usual vantage point at the kitchen window over the sink, for example, or from the road - but those roots were still there, waiting for the next rain. Or the next bit of dew. Or for you to turn your back. Really, that's all it seemed to take before they'd sprout again. <br />
<br />
Hoeing wasn't a solution, it was a stop gap. If we were having company and it'd been dry, then hoeing would do for the short term, but that was it. Once Father Froehlich or Monsignor Klein or some company from town left, we knew we'd have to get back out there and <em>really </em>weed. <br />
<br />
It was best to weed the garden after a good, long, soaking rain, when the soil was maybe a little looser and the weed might come out with at least some of the root, but if it was dry you still had to get out there and do what you could. And what you could was usually grabbing the plant as low as possible, as close to the soil line as you could, gently rocking it back and forth at first, and applying gentle pressure, pulling. Usually one of two things happened: the plant would start to give way, giving you hope, until you heard that distinct "pop" and you knew the root had held on to torment you another day, or your hand would slip up the weed, stripping off all of the leaves on the way up, leaving a naked and forlorn-looking but resolutely standing stem. It would look ridiculous, and early in the spring a little forlorn, but you learned. By June and July, you knew that stem would probably weather the summer if you left it, so you wrapped it once around your palm and you pulled, and then you'd hear the root "pop". And you knew it would be back. Oh, yeah, it would be back. <br />
<br />
If we were weeding vs. hoeing we'd throw the weeds into a bucket and dump them on the compost pile, where they'd sprout but harmlessly, until they seeded. Once a weed seeded, it was like a four alarm fire - mom would point out that those seeds would get blown somewhere and take root somewhere and we had to cut them down. Or burn them (my favorite, as that required gasoline since the leaves were green and wouldn't burn without it and since I was a budding pyro). <br />
<br />
I liked the way the garden looked after we'd weeded it, and that was the point, really. We harvested everything by hand so it wasn't as though weeds were going to hold down our yield by gumming up machines - they weren't. It wasn't so dry in Benton County or the soil so leached that the weeds were robbing nutrients from the vegetables - they weren't. It was just that, well, it just looked bad. We lived on the main blacktop- the only point of entry - into Fowler from the south. People we went to church with lived down the road from us, and the county highway department and the town dump was there, so people would drive by and see it. And there was no way, never, that our garden would be allowed to look like it wasn't well loved. In Benton County there was no culture around the yard looking particularly nice - I don't even remember watering the yard during those rare dry summers - but the garden was expected to be at an entirely different level of presentability. It was house pride, I guess, just manifested differently: in a rural community people gossip about others' gardens. And perhaps particularly because things were tight for us, it was never, ever permissible for things to look at all unkempt. <br />
<br />
Even then I liked things tidy, and I liked the way a row looked when you got to the end and glanced up to see where you'd been. With weeding, at least, you had that sense of accomplishment. You could tell where you'd been. You could stand back at the end of a row and think, "Nice. I did that." <br />
<br />
As opposed to, say, when you stood at the end of a row of riotous green after having been told to "Go pick the beans." No sense of accomplishment there, just a sense of futility. Endless, Escherian, futility. If ancient Greek culture had flourished on the prairie just northwest of the Wabash River, Sisyphus would not have been pushing a rock up a mountainside - he'd've been working an interminable row of beans. <br />
.</div>
Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-22727757155906244372014-07-28T19:34:00.000-07:002014-07-30T00:44:37.551-07:00A little good news in the news<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Good news in the news.<br />
<br />
Wow, was this week just crappy. Ebola, again. Russia. Again. Gaza. <i>Again</i>. Even "<a href="http://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/335334048/wait-wait-dont-tell-me-for-july-26-2014" target="_blank">Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me</a>" couldn't take it so they brought in a drag queen and asked questions about happy topics. Felt like a good time to revive the BLC (semi-)regular feature of missed items in the news with an eye for something good. <br />
<br />
1. As reported in the NY Times and elsewhere, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/24/us/us-religious-leaders-embrace-cause-of-immigrant-children.html?mabReward=RI%3A10&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&region=CColumn&module=Recommendation&src=rechp&WT.nav=RecEngine" target="_blank">some religious leaders and churchgoers</a> are working to take care of the young migrant children who have come to the US to escape the <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2014/06/map-unaccompanied-child-migrants-central-america-honduras" target="_blank">poverty (Guatemalan) and violence of their (Salvadoran and Nicaraguan) homelands</a> in Central America. And one thing that is interesting here is that two groups who tend to lean to the political right in this country - Catholic bishops and Baptists - are in the mix along with Quakers, progressive Jewish leaders, and Unitarian Universalists, among others. Sure, you could be cynical and say that Catholic bishops are looking around at the hands that feed them, are seeing fewer (and fewer that are white), and are deciding to play the long game in enlightened self interest. No matter. Anyone who is stepping up and saying "These are children. We are Americans. They absolutely deserve compassion and love and support and we should know better and do better," is doing the right thing. (Want to help? Consider giving to these non-profits: <a href="http://theyoungcenter.org/" target="_blank">Young Center for Immigrant's Children's Rights</a>; <a href="http://www.supportkind.org/en/" target="_blank">Kids in Need of Defense</a>. Want to learn more about what's going behind the immigration? Mother Jones has a good piece <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/06/child-migrants-surge-unaccompanied-central-america" target="_blank">here</a>.)<br />
<br />
2. Yeah, we're not doing a lot about global climate change - but how does one coal plant taking the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/22/science/corralling-carbon-before-it-belches-from-stack.html?ref=science" target="_blank">equivalent of 250,000 cars off the road</a> sound? The <a href="http://www.saskpowerccs.com/ccs-projects/boundary-dam-carbon-capture-project/carbon-capture-project/" target="_blank">Boundary Dam</a> power station in Saskatchewan is going to do just that, through its carbon capture retrofit. And so is a <a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/news/527036/two-carbon-trapping-plants-offer-hope-of-cleaner-coal/" target="_blank">plant in Mississippi</a>, of all places. Should we still be strip mining coal? Of course not. But until we get renewables to the point where they can even think about replacing fossil fuels, these are great next steps. <br />
<br />
3. Speaking of climate change, there were some big wins for transit recently. The Washington DC Metro began service on the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/all-aboard-metros-new-silver-line-rolls-down-the-tracks-for-the-first-time/2014/07/26/238aaa68-14cc-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed_story.html" target="_blank">Silver Line</a> to Northern Virginia. Yes the 15-mile long track took nearly $3 billion and 6 years, but it's up and running, and will extend out to Dulles by 2018. And in north Texas, the DART rail system has been extended <a href="http://www.dart.org/riding/stations/dfwairportstation.asp" target="_blank">to DFW Airport</a> - the world's third busiest - with service beginning next month. <br />
<br />
4. And another athlete has come out as an ally for queer folk - in an awesome way. As reported in Outsports, for his weigh-in at his last fight MMA competitor Kyle Kingsbury stripped down to reveal <a href="http://www.outsports.com/2014/7/28/5945431/ufc-fighter-kyle-kingsbury-gay-marriage" target="_blank">pink undies with a pro-marriage-equality message</a>. I know nothing about the guy, but c'mon, that's kinda bad ass in its own way.<br />
<br />
And that's all I got. Really, I tried. I checked online sources from Japan, Australia, Singapore, Canada, France, and South Africa to find some good news, and that's all I could find. Hunker down, and here's hoping next week is better.<br />
.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-90322522141854362772013-05-14T12:10:00.002-07:002013-05-14T12:10:59.025-07:00Pre-gay memories <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve been thinking about the time before I came out,
when I was still in denial about who I was despite ample evidence to the
contrary. How did I not know? I mean, there was evidence there. In fact, here are
five "tells" that shoulda (but didn’t) let me know that I was queer before I
“knew”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.wearysloth.com/Gallery/ActorsI/8549.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.wearysloth.com/Gallery/ActorsI/8549.gif" /></a>#5 – Sam. We didn’t
have TV for a lot of years growing up, but when we did, Quincy, ME, was one of
my ma’s favorite shows and one of the few we got to watch. Sam Fujiyama, Quincy’s medical assistant,
played by Canadian Robert Ito (right), was a very handsome man who brought an unlikely
bit of color into our very white corner of 1970s America. He was my first Asian crush. Got me thinking. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
#4 – Mark Hammill.
Yes, I was a Luke Skywalker guy, not a Han Solo guy. I liked blondes. Well, blondes and Robert Ito. I remember thinking that I liked him so much
because he was a farm kid living in the ass-end of the universe and he got
tapped for a mission to save the galaxy.
Maybe. Maybe I just liked him
because he was blond and I thought he was hot.
Got me thinking some more. (I saw
Star Wars over 15 times.) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
#3 – Tim and Kelly.
No, not a couple, Tim and Kelly were two lifeguards at the town pool
where I grew up. There must have been
female lifeguards – in fact I’m sure there were, because my brother was trying
to impress one of them by seeing how big of a splash he could make from the
high dive when he misjudged and landed partially on the concrete breaking three
bones – but I don’t remember any of them.
Tim and Kelly, them I remember.
They were impossibly beautiful. I
couldn’t understand my fascination with them as I’d tread water under their
chairs for as long as I could, looking up at them as they sat there in their
red Speedos, twirling their whistles and trying not to be bored. I realize now that they were 16 and 17, but
since I was 8 they were fully grown men – beautiful, long limbed, unblemished, sunkissed,
men – well, gods, really. Both were over
6’3”, both had the 8% body fat that you’d expect from teenage lifeguards who
were members of the swim team. Both were
nice to me whenever they saw me around the pool or at church or in town, and they’d
say hi – Kelly, in spite of his stutter.
I was often dumbstruck in reply. Tim
now lives in San Diego with his partner, and Kelly moved back to Fowler after a
few years in SoCal trying to make an entertainment career for himself. How did I not know? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
# 2 – Is #44, actually.
That’s the number worn by Doug G-- , a blond, bow-legged hunk of a
post-player (3-spot) on the high school basketball team. He was in my sister’s class, four years older
than me, and I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
He was a solid player on a good team, but he wasn’t the best player on
the court, ever (probably 8 pts, 7 rebounds, 2 assists kinda guy), but I still
would watch him every trip down the floor.
I think I told myself something like “I’m watching him to see what offense
we’re running” but since we always ran the UCLA offense, I don’t think that was
it – and I don’t think I believed it at the time. He was dreamy, with his
floppy hair and his taciturn demeanor.
I’m sure if I’d ever met him I would have had a dork attack and been
unable to speak. (His teammate, Tige
Smith, could also be on this list. He
was a guard, wore #10. His name was
“Tige”, so what was an admiring 7<sup>th</sup> grader to do <i>but</i> have a crush on him? But Tige seemed super urban with his
feathered hair and his suede boots; Doug was all guy.) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://images.sodahead.com/polls/000877479/wham_wideweb__470x3890_answer_8_xlarge.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><o:p> </o:p></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.sodahead.com/polls/000877479/wham_wideweb__470x3890_answer_8_xlarge.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://images.sodahead.com/polls/000877479/wham_wideweb__470x3890_answer_8_xlarge.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">George Michael (top?) and Andrew Ridgely, circa 1983. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
#1 – George Michael.
Yes, the first album I ever bought was “Vacation” by the Go-Go’s, and maybe
that was its own tell if you buy the “queer culture” theory, but it was Wham!’s
“Make it Big” that I went apeshit for.
I’d play the LP over and over and over, and then when I’d go over to a
friend’s house who had cable and they’d play the “Wake Me Up (Before you
Go-Go)” video I’d, literally, curl my toes as George crossed his hands and beckoned
playfully – and let’s just say it, <i>gay</i>-ly
– into the camera. I had a little
routine worked out to dance to it. I am
sure – 100% sure – that I was 100% fey when I took the dance floor to that song
at the high school dances (which I never missed). Why did no one tell me? C’mon, that’s surely a tell. I told myself that he was singing to women,
so therefore I could love the song (and the whole album. To round out the
catalog I backed up and bought “Music from the Edge of Heaven” and the extended
cassette single of “Everything She Wants” and, and, and…) and it was fine. It <b>was</b>
fine, of course. It just wasn’t
particularly heterosexual. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For a recent birthday my friends presented me with beer
cozies that have my name and birthday on one side, and “Mo Established” on the
other side with the year I came out. I
love them! But maybe if I’d been a little more self-aware the dates wouldn’a
been so far apart. Oh, well. It makes for great memories, too. </div>
</div>
Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-82686550683265318062013-02-03T22:01:00.000-08:002013-02-03T22:01:25.367-08:00Valentine to a Friend<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>Note: this post originally appeared in a shorter form in the February, 2013 Valentine's issue of <a href="http://kraven.squarespace.com/">Kraven</a> magazine. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I can’t make it tmrw night.
Haven’t said anything to ppl but have some health stuff and have tests
at hosp tmrw. Rain check?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That was the text on November 13. I was in Seattle for business, hoping to grab
a quick drink with my friend Cheryl, a woman I’d known since undergrad. I texted her back that I wished her well, was
sorry that I wouldn’t get to see her, and totally understood. I was concerned, of course, but I didn’t push
it. I’d been planning to come back up
and see her for a longer visit at some point over winter break, or if not then for
sure in early January. She had
occasional work in SoCal, too. I’d see
her again soon. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In his book “Illusions” Richard Bach wrote: “Your friends
will know you better in the first minute you meet than your acquaintances will
know you in a thousand years.” Cheryl,
unquestionably, was a friend. I don’t
remember exactly when or how we met, we’ve always just “known each other
better.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Despite that, despite the way we knew we’d be – or that we’d
hoped we’d be – lifelong friends, it takes effort to sustain a friendship over
the years and the miles. One night at
the Gym Bar in Milwaukee, Cheryl turned away from the pool table, cue in hand,
looked right at me, and sang along with the Damn Yankees on the jukebox: “Don’t
say goodbye / Say you’re gonna stay forever…”
I had just accepted a job in Denver.
I don’t know if I really want to go, to take that job, but that’s what I
had been taught that people did – they left and went and made their way in the
world. I left. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I came back to Chicago two years later and reconnected with
Cheryl and our group of friends, and she helped me move, twice; drove me back
and forth between friends’ and families’ places for weekend barbecues and
parties; and played Yahtzee at Hooligan’s bar on football Sundays, her with one
eye on the Bears, me with one eye on the Colts.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Finally we both ended up in the Bay Area – she first, so I
called her to talk about San Francisco and where I should look for apartments
when I learned I’d be transferred. She
immediately said, “I have a two bedroom – stay with me.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If anyone else had offered, would I have said yes? I’m not sure. I was a little reluctant, but I
decided to take her up on it. In part, I
accepted because she had always been a strong proponent of "clear and
direct communication" and I knew she wouldn't have offered if she hadn't
meant it. In part, I accepted because I
missed her and it would be great to get time together like we hadn’t had in
years. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I ended up staying with her for two months. She showed me the City, taught me lessons
about driving around in it (“Never get behind a Zip Car, they always have
terrible drivers” and “Valencia.
Always. Nothing good ever happens
from Mission.”), taught me from which bar and which bartender to get a good Bloody
Mary, taught me where to go to watch the games.
She took me to the Pilsener, which she correctly predicted was “your
kind of gay bar.” She took me to museums
on her passes and to movies with her friends. She introduced me to her San
Francisco circle, who figured if I was a friend of Cheryl’s then they were
going to take me in despite my professed love of LA and a lack of fashion
sense. We stayed up watching the Food
Network and then woke up the next morning hours earlier than planned, starving,
on a hunt for pancakes. We went to Twin
Peaks, both the bar and the scenic point.
We watched the fog roll into the Bay from her Noe apartment until the ports
were covered, until the lights at AT&T park were occluded, until Oakland
seemed a world away. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Her hospitality and friendship meant the world to me. I deeply resented that transfer; I felt like
I was hitting my stride in San Diego, like I could have put down some roots,
and I didn’t want to live in cold, expensive, pretentious San Francisco. But without that transfer I wouldn’t have had
that time with Cheryl. I wouldn’t have learned
about the City, or have grown to love it.
I wouldn’t have found the Valley Tavern, where she and I, even after I
moved out, would sit for hours every Sunday, watching football at the end of
the bar in front of our “lucky” TVs, passing parts of the <i>Chronicle</i> back and forth, talking about our boyfriends, our jobs,
our families, our mutual and separate friends.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We wouldn’t have renewed our friendship to the point that,
on New Year’s Day a few years back as we sat around her apartment in recovery
mode, contemplating and discussing the time behind us and in front of us, she was
moved to say, “I’m really glad we reconnected while both of us were here in the
Bay Area. It’s one of my favorite things from this past year.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Cheryl was never demonstrative – this was as effusive as she
got. I concurred, even as I was surprised
that I choked up by how it caught me. It
was one of my favorite things, too. It
had given us momentum and reminded us of why we were friends, of how we “knew
each other better.” I got to learn again
about her loyalty to me and to everyone important to her. About her generosity as she took me in and as
she always over-tipped. About her sense
of justice, as she would start to fume when reading the paper about someone who
had been wronged, or as she fumed about the Prop 8 case. <span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">One Sunday at the
Valley, sitting there, talking about the things we’d like to do together that
we’d talked about before, I felt the need to plan. I grabbed a bar receipt, turned it over, and
made a list that I am looking at now on my bulletin board. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikHHSNk2lrtSy9IBBKZILSap_WDMgyDOQIYScpkYHgRuE9qHRx-aYAFEs88Ca_70FUfDL7tyEryouCevid6-7kbTo8BsrsXj36AaDl4v76Wzvhmcd0-KL94ReC8_O0rY5o6F0cYhPiNDY/s1600/Things+to+do.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikHHSNk2lrtSy9IBBKZILSap_WDMgyDOQIYScpkYHgRuE9qHRx-aYAFEs88Ca_70FUfDL7tyEryouCevid6-7kbTo8BsrsXj36AaDl4v76Wzvhmcd0-KL94ReC8_O0rY5o6F0cYhPiNDY/s320/Things+to+do.jpg" width="278" /></a><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We thought then that we had all the time in the world to cross
off its items. Wh</span>y wouldn’t we? A weekend here, a weekend there, we could
knock out the list in 18 months, tops. It
wasn’t particularly ambitious – no international travel, for one thing – so
we’d have time to accomplish them. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But I guess that’s the paradox. All each of us have is time, but we don’t
know how much time we have. We trade our
time for money, for pleasure, for company, but we don’t know its cost when we
spend it, because we don’t know its scarcity.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That time I had with Cheryl – those two months I lived with her
and the two years we overlapped in the Bay Area before she pursued a great new
gig in Seattle – that was time that I hadn’t been looking for and that I hadn’t expressly wanted. I didn’t want the transfer, <a href="http://brensleftcoast.blogspot.com/2009/07/reflections-on-moving-again.html">Ididn’t want to leave SoCal</a>, I didn’t want any of it. But I got them, and I made the most of them –
not through any Herculean effort, not because I knew that time was passing, but
because I was with a “friend who knew me better,” and who knew how to make
everything fun. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Maybe some of that lesson, about how to spend time, inspired
me to take a last minute trip to Seattle this New Year’s Day. I wasn’t scheduled to go until the 11<sup>th</sup>
to see Cheryl in the hospital, but something told me to go up earlier, and on
December 30<sup>th</sup> I bought a ticket.
I landed on the 1<sup>st</sup>, checked in to my hotel, and went to see her. Cheryl looked rough but she was awake; she looked
at me, recognized me, and made a face that was funny and knowing and all her. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The next night, the 2<sup>nd</sup>, while her brother ran to
the airport to get incoming relatives, it was just me, her sister Diane, and Cheryl.
As Diane slept on the cot in the hospital room – the cot on which she’d been
sleeping for weeks – I talked to Cheryl, and told her goodbye. I thanked her for all of the lessons she had
taught me – “Clear and direct communication, Brennan,” and how to be a good
advocate and how to be a loyal friend and a good many others. Some of those in our circle of friends who couldn’t
make it had called me and asked me to kiss her goodbye for them, so I did. I told her stories, unsure if she could hear
me through the sedation and the pain, but I told them anyway – of how much she
had meant to me, of how she had made me laugh, of all of the great
conversations we’d had. I told her that I would work on our list, and that I’d
think of her when I did. I told her I’d
miss her like hell. And I softly sang her
a line from the Damn Yankees song that she had sung to me twenty years earlier:
“Don’t say goodbye / say you’re gonna stay forever…” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The next morning, the 3<sup>rd</sup>, she died. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It had been six weeks since the night she texted me that she
wasn’t going to make it to drinks. Turns
out she had a very rare, aggressive form of cancer, and that six weeks was all
she had. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As I try to reorient my life without her, and face how
precious the time is that I have to spend, I think about that. Six weeks.
I think about the people in my life and how I now want to go live with
each one of them for two months, to renew my friendships and loves with
them. I think about everything I want to say to them, how I love them, what I’ve learned from them, how I miss them
when they aren’t around. I think about
what I remembered with Cheryl, and what made it special, and it was time – and
I want to spend my time with the people in my life who I love. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Time is all we have, and we don’t know how much we
have. It’s incredibly precious. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Cheryl spent her time well, there’s no doubt. She was incredibly talented, and smart and
funny. She lived well. As one of her family members hugged me
goodbye after the funeral dinner, and held on, he talked about how much Cheryl
had taught him about life, but especially about people – how people come in all
kinds, and how you take them where they are, and how you love them no matter
what. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I can’t think of a better way to spend what precious time we
have than to try to teach and to try to live that lesson. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So this month, this year, this day, I’m going to try and
channel my inner Cheryl. Clear and
direct communication. Defend what and who needs defending. Use time well. Remind myself that people come in all kinds
and that I will still love them no matter what.
And I’m still gonna miss her like hell.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And to my loved ones reading this, if I try to move in with
some of you, well, don’t be alarmed. If
it’s not a good time for a visit, clear and direct communication. If it is a good time, then just have some
vodka in the freezer door. We’ll toast to
my friend Cheryl. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk7zeAZlMLSluI4IUU4sbwh-cIe916g6dA98gnque3hDNv7iNSAEC0g3IS4yLuTZghY27ghtxgpebOr9J6Qc2UXc-ARGYsXlDDfJrxVt3pXcm51Aa1i_oIxPEdqfSPHSsJdLS-j42GUIM/s1600/Cheryl+high+res.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk7zeAZlMLSluI4IUU4sbwh-cIe916g6dA98gnque3hDNv7iNSAEC0g3IS4yLuTZghY27ghtxgpebOr9J6Qc2UXc-ARGYsXlDDfJrxVt3pXcm51Aa1i_oIxPEdqfSPHSsJdLS-j42GUIM/s320/Cheryl+high+res.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<i>Postscript: Cheryl
Jakubik was an organ donor. Her family received notice that her corneas have
been successfully transplanted, so now there are two more people with sight! Please
consider being an organ donor – if you’re in the US, sign up today at </i><a href="http://www.organdonor.gov/"><i>www.organdonor.gov</i></a><i>. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
</div>
</div>
Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-23775082325013098742012-12-06T18:15:00.002-08:002012-12-07T12:35:33.872-08:00Things I've learned with a broken foot<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv6zwUt6NLJdwSIut0UJ1Sqj45t0ZaiLb2hCOs-nXfy4WTyJs60VqDUaUlLhL2uVhs0zRQeOyj1PPiHajMAf8Cbug08lwmfz7SdgUKdq8RQns4IwCNT-F35V4RXzDviecmpG7D3Xzcscc/s1600/xray+crop.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv6zwUt6NLJdwSIut0UJ1Sqj45t0ZaiLb2hCOs-nXfy4WTyJs60VqDUaUlLhL2uVhs0zRQeOyj1PPiHajMAf8Cbug08lwmfz7SdgUKdq8RQns4IwCNT-F35V4RXzDviecmpG7D3Xzcscc/s400/xray+crop.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click to enlarge. And if you're qualified to read it, diagnose away! My doc is "busy"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I broke my foot while on O'ahu a few weeks back, and as I've been hobbling around my house and trying to drive and staring longingly up flights of stairs, I've had a few realizations. <br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Crutches suck. The technology involved, if you can believe every production of a Christmas Carol ever, has not evolved since Dickens' time. You need a lateral piece of something onto which you can put your hand so you can support your upper body, and you need a lateral piece of something to jam into your armpit when your tris and delts give out from hauling your gimpy ass around. Your tris and delts get sore. You give in and drop onto the armpit body-weight-supporting bit. Then your arm pit gets sore. So you hoist yourself back up off the armpit bit and your arms and delts get sore. And so it goes. </li>
<li>Crutches suck, 2: You need a lot of lateral space to crutch with any efficiency at all. Plant the crutches, bring your good leg as far forward as you dare, allow injured limb to hang loosely in the air because "you're not supposed to put any weight on it," swing the crutches in a half circle out and forward, and repeat. You'll want to make sure the crutches move the same distance forward, or you'll be crutching yourself around in a circle before long. </li>
<li>Crutches suck, 3: How do you carry anything? You can't - well, not in your hands, you can't. Not the morning paper. Not a CD of the Xrays of the injured limb. Not a bottle of vicodin. Nothing. So wear cargo shorts. </li>
<li>Despite 1, 2 and 3, getting around on crutches is almost always preferable to hopping unless it's over a very short distance. Hopping... it's as efficient as it is elegant, which means: "in-". You can get a decent head of steam, but if you're on hardwood floors, how do you stop? You carom into walls, furniture, people, and doors is how. You can't carry, well, anything, really. Theoretically you have both hands free, but go ahead, try to hop - on one leg! - and move forward doing it, and see what your hands do. And if you have something in both hands, how are you going to balance yourself when you arrive? There are any number of engineering problems involved here. So again, I assert that you can't carry anything. Certainly not a beverage in a container that isn't sealed, for sure. (I don't recommend trying this - take my word for it.) Hopping does keep the muscles of the non-injured leg from atrophying, sure, but there are significant risks of new injury through collision, re-injury through missteps and panic, or both through humiliation. Stick with the crutches unless it's a very short distance. And there is no one at home with you. </li>
<li>Doorknobs are not load bearing. Just... don't. When you're sick of using your crutches and you're hopping around the house, resist the urge to fling yourself toward the nearest door to use the doorknob as some sort of cane. They aren't designed for it. Best case? You realize this in the half second you feel the doorknob sag southward and you pull up and put your hand on the door to steady yourself instead. Though in this case the door bangs backwards into the door stop (or the wall, in all probability, since the doorstop may not have been engineered to support the weight of a gimpy adult biped in addition to the door), makes a racket, and inspires your friends and family to holler in from the next room to see if you're okay. (You can holler back "Yup! Fine!" or "...ow..." or the always popular "I was never IN aisle 7!") And yes, that's the best case. The worst case is when the damn doorknob snaps off in your hand, suddenly and unexpectedly, as your mind and your weight is still counting on something on that side of your body to support you, and you suddenly lurch forward and downward anyway, scraping your arm on the metal entrails of the doorknob's axle as you careen into the door, slamming it against the door stop (or, again, the wall), and you crumple to the ground, whimpering. Why whimpering? Well, the indignity of it, for one, but more for the now-bloody gash on your arm, the new bump on your head, and the fact that in all of the flail-age you've re-injured the limb you were trying to protect by hopping around in the first place because in your inglorious descent you put weight on it. A lot of weight on it. In roughly the same motion as how you broke it. Again, see item 2, above: when you are crutching around, you don't need doorknobs. (And see item 4 - make sure no one else is home if you're going to insist on hopping.) </li>
<li>Stairs. Bloody stairs. Just... just don't. Okay, you're going to want to try to do it. If there is no one around, then maybe. As you face the stair, do some geometry. Put the foot of the crutch in the MIDDLE of the step, y axis, making sure you're away from both edges, x axis; put both crutches down at the same time; and slowly and consciously put your tris into it. (If it helps, pretend it's the tri dip machine at the gym.) And repeat, for the 17 times or so you need to get up the stairs. If there are people around, forget about it. Even if there are only three stairs, don't do it. Let them go first. Pretend you left something in the car and turn around. Suddenly grab your cell phone in your cargo shorts and stand and have a conversation. Inevitably, people will try to help, you will want to encourage them in their well meaningness, and there will be flail-age. Take the lift. Or, come back in 6-8 weeks. </li>
<li>Backpacks are your friends. Put everything in there - your chargers, your laptop, your checkbook, your Cup o Ramen, your flask, everything. You don't want to have to hop back into the kitchen to retrieve something once you sit down. You will learn that you really don't need anything in your life that you can't fit into your backpack. </li>
<li>Drive thru's, misspelled though they are, are also your friends. You don't have to get out of the car! Oh my god, that's been a revelation. Of course when you get wherever you're going you need to eat whatever it is you've just purchased, because, let's face it, you don't want the odor of that "food" in your backpack forever, and that 24 oz Diet Coke you just bought is not in a sealed container so you can't hop with it. And it won't all fit in the bag that they served you in; and even it will, and you fold the top of the bag over so it will go over the crutch hand part, crutching is not a smooth action - the grease and / or the condensation from your 24 ounces of Diet Coke will, pretty rapidly, with the herky-jerky motion of your forward movement, destroy the structural integrity of the Arby's bag. And then you'll have curly fries, Diet Coke and skin graft (a/k/a Arby's Roast Beef) sandwich all over the parking lot. And you can't move quickly enough to flee or pretend that it's someone else's mess. So just sit in the car and "dine." It ain't worth it. </li>
<li>You are going to get fat. You just are. You are going to hate getting up for anything once you're ensconced wherever you settle; you wait til the last possible minute to go take a leak, for feck's sake, you sure as hell aren't doing cardio and burning up the calories. And you're hungry because you're sitting around all the time watching TV with your foot elevated on a pillow on your coffee table and your backpack of snacks. How are you supposed to burn off those calories? You could crutch around the block, I guess. But nah, not really. See item 1. </li>
<li>That rotator cuff tear that's been bugging you since April? Yeah. You probably should have had that looked at before you needed to crutch around everywhere. Because it's clearing right up now. </li>
<li>Make up a cover story. It's a great conversation starter, a bandaged foot and crutches, and people who have passed you in the hallway for months will stop and ask what happened. Make up a story, because "Hungover, walking down stairs, rushing, carrying too much stuff, friends' dog, missed step..." kinda sucks as a story. "Hiking on lava" is credible, short, tells people you were just in Hawai'i, and will move the conversation forward. Especially if it's the guy at the end of the hall who always wears scent and fitted shirts and doesn't seem to do anything but a trap-and-lat workout - he doesn't need to know about the stairs. </li>
</ol>
<br />
I'm sure I've learned more. Like about two footed driving, for example. And how jealous you can get of people who walk around without any seeming trouble, they just walk! And how picking up a package at the Post Office turns into a 23 minute nightmare (thank god the meters go 24 minutes on a quarter). But that's it for now. I've waited to the last possible minute again... <br />
. <br />
<br />
</div>
Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-68803183368150127272012-09-24T17:33:00.002-07:002012-09-24T19:01:39.879-07:00Belichick upset refs misapplied the rules? Too bad...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As reported in the<a href="http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-patriots-bill-belichick-20120924,0,3298682.story"> LA Times</a> and elsewhere, Bill Belichick, coach of the New England Patriots, grabbed a referee by the arm after the game to yell at him about what he felt was poor officiating - though he has now said it was to get "a clarification" which likely no one west of Amherst believes. After the game, Belichick was quoted as saying "You saw the game. What did we have, 30 penalties called in that game?” Actually there were 24 penalties called, Bill, and more penalties for more yards were called on the opposing Baltimore Ravens (14 for 133 yards) than on your Patriots (10 for 83 yards). The <a href="http://media.photobucket.com/image/recent/judyb54/sore_loser.jpg">whining</a> <a href="http://drkronner.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/bill_belichick1.jpg">sore</a> <a href="http://pintsinthepaint.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/belichick.jpg">loser</a> inflated the total penalties called on him by three times (coincidentally roughly the ratio his talent is inflated by most of the media), and was so outraged that he felt the need to grab a ref - which is strictly verboten in the NFL, though of course Belichick plays by different rules that everyone else. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://larrybrownsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/bill-belichick-grabs-referee-530x336.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="202" src="http://larrybrownsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/bill-belichick-grabs-referee-530x336.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From LarryBrownSports.com </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And that's the point: Belichick wants to have it both ways. He can't. He can't like rules when they work in his favor and blatantly disregard them when they don't. You can't cheat - and get caught cheating, and get fined $500,000 for cheating in what was a gross display of contempt for the rules - and then complain when the rules are applied in a way that you feel is arbitrary.<br />
<br />
First, the history. <br />
<br />
Bill Belichick got caught cheating - in front of God (a/k/a the Commish, Roger Goodell) and everybody - and got away with it. There are no asterisks on their "wins". No coming clean. No reckoning to the rest of the league just what all they did despite a senior US Senator getting involved. Just a surrendering of six tapes that were immediately destroyed by the league, and a cool $500,000 fine on the Nixonian coach. But unlike Nixon he's still coaching, and he's still complaining about the rules being applied unfairly. Sorry, Bill, you don't get to do that. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZPUyVD57q5tDdGBrWIugC08dCH5hQm6frsAcWPX7pk4v9lbHmJl8P8k4OMYHd5wUlAaMcwPqoTx2oYJkIQqUxPyVsMo5x7cDYchZPTTy90bGjBluSniu6JNl3197T_A9iNvfX0amHpQ/s1600/new_england_cheatriots-crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZPUyVD57q5tDdGBrWIugC08dCH5hQm6frsAcWPX7pk4v9lbHmJl8P8k4OMYHd5wUlAaMcwPqoTx2oYJkIQqUxPyVsMo5x7cDYchZPTTy90bGjBluSniu6JNl3197T_A9iNvfX0amHpQ/s1600/new_england_cheatriots-crop.jpg" /></a>In the first game of the season in 2007, the Belichick-coached New England Patriots were caught filming the play calls of the opposing sideline. What's the big deal? Well, for one, this is explicitly prohibited by the NFL, and the Cheatriots KNEW it. How do I know they knew it? Because they had been caught doing it before, in <a href="http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8084899e&template=with-video&confirm=true">Green Bay against the Packers</a>, in 2006. They were warned about doing it. They did it again. They did it <em>AGAIN</em>! <br />
<br />
Apologists will scoff and say things like "So what? It didn't really help." Despite the fact that such an attitude shows tremendous disregard for the game, it's patently untrue. Yes, it did. It's common sense: why would they continue to do it if after getting caught doing it when they didn't think there was advantage to be gained by doing it? It does give you an advantage. If you know what the opposing coaches are calling, what formations the opposing players will be in, and where the ball is going to go, all in real time, then you can respond - in real time. It's a tremendous advantage. <br />
<br />
Apologists for the franchise and for the coach bleat things like, "Well, everyone does it." Well, everyone doesn't do it. No other team has been caught filming. Ever. Except one: the Denver Broncos. Their coach at the time? Josh McDaniels. And where had he been before coming to Denver? Go on, guess. If you said "New England under Belichick" then you win. And again, why do it if it didn't give you an advantage? The answer is, you don't. It does give you an advantage. Just like Belichick's cheating on use of the Injured Reserve, explained by a former Patriot player <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3408450">here</a>. The salient quote? "Belichick will do anything he can to get an advantage." Anything he can, and rules be damned. <br />
<br />
To quote Jayson Braddock in his excellent and exhaustive post "New England Patriots Can't Seem to Win a Super Bowl Without Cheating," worth reading in its entirety, <a href="http://www.opposingviews.com/i/sports/nfl/new-england-patriots-cant-seem-win-super-bowl-without-cheating">here</a>: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Like I said, I think he (Belichick)’s a great coach but we can’t look past his flaws. His most effective decision was to video tape the defensive signals. It provided him with three Super Bowl wins and has people asking if he’s the best coach ever. If he knew he could cheat, get caught, and still be held in high opinion, why wouldn’t he cheat? He also knew that if he understood the divisional team’s signals, that he could take that path to the playoffs yearly. It was brilliant… cheating, but obviously no one cares, so it was brilliant. </blockquote>
When did the Cheatriots win* their Super Bowls? In 2002, against the heavily favored Rams. In 2004 against the Carolina Panthers. And in 2005 against the Philadelphia Eagles. <br />
<br />
When were they filming opposing sidelines? 2000 to 2007, according to an ESPN report (<a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3392047">timeline here</a> - see Feb 13, 2008) <br />
<br />
When the cheating scandal went down, Bob Ryan, a sports writer for the Boston Globe, the hometown paper, wrote in his column titled "<a href="http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2008/05/18/with_belichick_the_cover_up_is_most_revealing/">With Belichick, the coverup is most revealing</a>":<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Here is what Bill Belichick has done: He has placed Patriots fans on the defensive for the rest of their lives... In fifty years... (the Patriots) will be, in the eyes of many, the reverse Black Sox. They will be the team that broke the rules. Their three Super Bowls will be regarded as ill-gotten gain.</blockquote>
Right there with you, Mr. Ryan. Except your fans have no shame. Like much of the rest of Americans, their side won so who cares? So what? No big deal. <br />
<br />
Since 2007, how have the Patriots done? Very, very well, over all - in the regular season. But they play in a weak division. And they haven't won a Super Bowl. They've lost twice, to the Giants both times, who were underdogs both times. The NFL is built for parity, and every advantage - no matter how small - is significant.<br />
<br />
I am not going to pretend I'm unbiased here. Football <a href="http://brensleftcoast.blogspot.com/2009/01/copy-of-email-after-colts-playoff-loss.html">unhinges me</a> in ways that nothing else, not even politics, seems to do. And I hate the Patriots*. But the facts are there: Belichick is a cheater, consistently (IR lists, taping). And once you cheat - systematically, deliberately, to give yourself an unfair advantage outside of the rules against the other team and to do something that no one else in the league is doing - then you no longer get to whine like a three year old coming up out of nap time when the calls go against you. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lacelesteblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/dungy-belichick-shake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.lacelesteblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/dungy-belichick-shake.jpg" /></a>There is no active coach or franchise who has so disrespected the game, the rules and the league like Belichick and the Patriots*. They are very, very good again this year. Despite the two losses they may well still end up in the Super Bowl again this year thanks to a very soft schedule and unquestionable talent. <br />
<br />
But they cheat. In the past, they cheated consistently for a significant advantage. They won* razor thin football games in the playoffs and in the Super Bowls, so every advantage helped. <br />
And once you cheat, Coach Belichick, it would be a good rule of thumb not to complain when the refs blow a call and one doesn't go your way. Be a man. Learn how to take defeat. Learn to respect the game. <br />
<br />
And until that time, I guess you'll just have to keep trying to cheat to win. <br />
.<br />
</div>
Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-45740084230327944692012-09-22T13:15:00.000-07:002012-09-23T21:21:00.984-07:00Home stretch?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Look, I'm a sports fan. Ain't nothing over til it's over. You don't do things like buy a plane ticket to Indy for Super Bowl weekend and get a hotel on the Circle so you can celebrate with your people when your team wins because your team might not win. (Yes, that game - and Reggie Wayne phoning it in on that awful, awful pick late in the 4th, and that inexplicable drop by Garcon in the 1st half - that's all on me.) <br />
<br />
Ain't no one at BLC sayin' anything is over. There are the debates. There are many, many millionaires out there who have become millionaires by having deregulated industries, dirty air, and no tax burden to speak of who are giddily taking advantage of the Citizen's United Supreme Court decision and who are spending whatever the heck they want to drive down the President's numbers. There is the Middle East. <br />
<br />
But trends are heading in the right direction. Despite the deeply racist nature of the American electorate (more on that later), a sluggish economy and foreign policy being, uh, interesting, trends are headed in the right direction. Mr. Romney seems to be short on cash (say it with me "Awwww..."), Mr. Obama seems to be doing okay in that regard, and it's looking like, with the modelling I've seen and played with and done myself (and in my context "modelling" means playing with interactive election maps, just to be clear), if - IF - the election were held today, then the President would win from 247 Electoral Votes if <em>everything</em> breaks against him to 347 Electoral Votes if <em>everything </em>breaks his way. (You don't really need me to tell you the battleground states. Early on election night look for how quickly they call Indiana, and how big the margin is in New Hampshire. But I'm getting ahead of myself.)<br />
<br />
Whether we do or we don't re-elect the black guy (and again, I'm not saying we will, I'm just saying that things are trending in the right direction), here are some other races and issues to watch. <br />
<br />
1. The queers are here, finally? In 2004, GOP'ers put gay marriage on a number of state ballots in swing states to help deliver the vote to President Bush, the thinking being that anti-gay animus would get those most likely to be the President's supporters (Evangelical Christian white voters) off their couches and into the polling booths. Well... this time, it's looking like, in three of the four states with gay marriage on the ballot statewide - Maryland, Maine, and Washington, but not Minnesota - that the gay marriage issue is driving Democratic and younger turnout. Let's be clear - there might still be some <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_effect">Bradley effect</a> going on with voters telling pollsters what they think is the socially acceptable response and thinking that they will get in the voting booth and prevent the damn queers from getting their nuptials - but the numbers look good. To this point in our history on state wide ballots, gay marriage is a 1993-Colts-esque 0-32 loser. No statewide electorate has ever chosen to affirm that separate isn't equal in favor of their gay and lesbian neighbors. So it ain't over by any stretch. But - in a <strong><em>great, </em></strong>thoughtful, analytical piece (like the kind you read and think "wish I could do that" and then you think "hold on, wish I could get paid to do that") by Harry Enten in the Guardian, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/19/same-sex-marriage-ballot-measures-2012?newsfeed=true">here</a> - things are looking good. <br />
<br />
2. The Senate just might stay blue - for this Congress, anyway. Six months ago it was looking grim for the home team, but thanks to, well, incompetence, Romney's hoof-in-mouth disease, Missouri's challenger showing that he was from <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/frame_game/2012/08/todd_akin_s_legitimate_rape_gaffe_shows_how_abortion_can_be_a_crime_issue_.html">the 17th Century</a> (though that race is distressingly competitive right now), and generally good economic news, it's looking like the Democrats will hold on to their majority, which is surprising considering that 23 of the 33 seats being contested are currently Democratic (we'll worry about 2014 later...). The seven Senate races that are going to be most competitive are Massachusetts and Nevada (GOP held by incumbents Scott Brown and Dean Heller, respectively), and those held by Democratic incumbents in Missouri (Claire McCaskill), Montana (Jon Tester), Florida (Bill Nelson), Virginia (for the retiring Jim Webb), Wisconsin (for the retiring Herb Kohl) - and let's add Connecticut (surprisingly competitive, for the retiring Joe Lieberman). According to Richard Dunham in the Houston Chronicle blog <a href="http://blog.chron.com/txpotomac/2012/09/the-ten-most-competitive-senate-races-of-2012/">here</a>, Romney's drop in Virginia is helping Tim Kaine, the Democratic former governor, pull ahead. Best case scenario for the Democrats? The wheels really fall off the Romney Range Rover and candidates in striking distance but stuck behind in the polls in Nebraska and Indiana eke out a win. For the Republicans, pickups that seemed safe in the summer - North Dakota, Nebraska, Montana - come through and they win control of the Senate.<br />
<br />
3. Despite Rep. Pelosi's <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-pelosi-medicare-democratic-majority-20120916,0,935900.story">assertions to the contrary</a>, the Dems <a href="http://www.rollcall.com/issues/58_15/House-Unlikely-to-See-Another-Wave-Cycle-216628-1.html">do not win </a>control of the House this election. <a href="http://www.rollcall.com/politics/2012_race_rating_map.html">Roll Call lists 27</a> competitive races - <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/New_Hampshire's_2nd_congressional_district_elections,_2012">watch NH-2</a> to see if the Democratic challenger, Ann McLane Custer, can unseat GOP incumbent Charlie Bass, and that will come in relatively early in the night. Also, Indiana 2, where departing Democrat Joe Donnelly is running for Senate, is "Likely Republican" at this point but polls close early in Indiana and we if this one is tight that may be a good sign for Democrats nationally. (If West Point alumnus Brendan Mullen gets the upset here over former Indiana House member Jackie Walorski, it could be a long night for the GOP.) Of the 27 contested seats, 10 are in the Eastern Time Zone, so we'll know a lot pretty early this year. <br />
<br />
4. If you wanted to make a donation to an election beyond that of our president, may I recommend a few (click on the link to be taken to the campaign page): <br />
<ol>
<li><a href="http://www.tammybaldwin.com/splash/">Tammy Baldwin for Senate</a> in Wisconsin vs former Governor Tommy Thompson. Tammy is an out and proud lesbian from Madison who is the hardest working woman in Washington and who will finally give Wisconsin the representation they deserve after Herb Kohl (D-WI)'s lackluster years of service. </li>
<li><a href="http://www.mazieforhawaii.com/splash">Mazie Hirono for Senate</a> in Hawai`i vs. former GOP Governor Linda Lingle. I gotta be honest, I don't love me some Mazie. She's not a great candidate, she's not an intellectual power, but she's steady and reliable and she's likely to be a good Democratic vote for the next 20 years in the US Senate. Voters in Hawai`i do not throw out incumbents. She will be Hawai`i's Herb Kohl, but better that than voting in Hawai`i's Olympia Snowe and giving the GOP another Senate vote. </li>
<li><a href="http://clairemccaskill.com/">Claire McCaskill for Senate</a> vs. GOP State Representative Todd Akin. Because no one should serve in the US Senate who uses the term "Legitimate Rape." </li>
<li><a href="http://mnunited.org/">Minnesotans for all Families</a>, the group leading the way against the proposed ban of same sex marriage in that state and who are running ads like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6SRCRxYa_k&feature=BFa&list=UUbGo6b04IPtnA3zPLVtS2mw">this</a> featuring former Governor Jesse "the Body" Ventura and like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYR_E-fYfRo&list=UUbGo6b04IPtnA3zPLVtS2mw&index=2&feature=plcp">this </a>featuring "John and Kim. Catholics. Republicans." And because this is looking like the closest of the gay marriage votes. And because Vikings Punter <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-kluwe/an-open-letter-to-emmett-burns_b_1866216.html">Chris Kluwe</a> is freakin' awesome. </li>
<li>Feel like a longshot? Take a flier on unseating Jon Kyl (R-AZ) by donating to <a href="http://www.carmonaforarizona.com/">Richard Carmona's campaign</a>; or keep another another <a href="http://kokomoperspective.com/news/tea-partier-richard-mourdock-renews-call-to-gut-billion-from/article_26571b6c-d75e-11e1-a1c1-0019bb2963f4.html">Tea Party nutbar</a> out of the Senate (because if Rand Paul isn't the worst thing to happen to that August body since they approved Clarence Thomas to the Court than I'll move to OH-8 and run against Boehner next time) and give a little to <a href="http://www.joeforindiana.com/">Joe Donnelly's campaign</a> for Senate in his race against Mourdock. (And I've never linked to the Kokomo newspaper before - red letter day for BLC.) </li>
</ol>
All for now. Lots could change. Six weeks until the election - register if you haven't and vote like you mean it!<br />
.<br />
</div>
Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-49864112328592607762012-09-21T14:58:00.001-07:002012-09-21T15:20:31.525-07:00One of "those people"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
First, two quotes:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
All right, there are 47 percent who are with (the President), who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. ... My job is is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.<br />
<em>Governor Mitt Romney, GOP Candidate for President of the United States</em></blockquote>
And in response: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
When you express an attitude that half the country considers itself victims, that somehow they want to be dependent on government, my thinking is, maybe you haven’t gotten around a lot.<br />
<em>President Obama</em></blockquote>
<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/dynamic-images/blog/Eric_B/BarackObama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://www.amoeba.com/dynamic-images/blog/Eric_B/BarackObama.jpg" width="320" /></a>I have to agree with the President's assessment here. This week I did get around a lot, on the train in Los Angeles. I saw a lot of people on the Blue Line and Green Line in LA and Long Beach and Compton and Willowbrook, including some LA County communities where likely (<a href="http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/10_5YR/DP03/1600000US0615044">based on US Census data</a>) more than "47%" do not pay Federal Income tax and certainly far more than 47% are "with the President" (as evidenced by the mural on Compton City Hall, right, found <a href="http://www.amoeba.com/blog/2011/02/eric-s-blog/compton-los-angeles-county-s-hub-city-.html">here</a>). And I saw a lot of people who sure looked like they were taking great personal responsibility and care for their lives. <br />
<br />
Including, from when I boarded at 5:50 AM: <br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>African American male, mid twenties, bright orange vest, back weight belt open at the front, work gloves</li>
<li>African American female, pharmacy tech student, holder of two part time jobs (I know this because we talked a little. She told me how to save 50 cents on the bus/ train fare combination)</li>
<li>Latino male, 50's; wheeled his bike into the corner and promptly fell asleep with his head on his cooler</li>
<li>Asian American male, over 60, sitting across from me, poring over a textbook </li>
<li>Cambodian woman (I recognized the script in the flyer in her hands that she started to read), mid 70's, walking with a pronounced roll to her gait</li>
<li><em>(It's now just after 6 AM) </em>Outside the train, three 20-something Latino males squatting in a semi-circle near the carwash, waiting for it to open so they could go to work </li>
<li>The 50'ish African American woman walking in her maid uniform into the Long Beach Best Western on Long Beach Boulevard</li>
<li>Outside the train, the young Latino man with a tool box standing near a locked metal gate just north of the Iglesia Evangelica Rosa de Sharona (spelling? The Blue Line moves fast and they're not on the web)</li>
<li>The junior high and high school students of every shade in their uniforms, carrying their art projects, with their creatively gelled and coiffed hair </li>
<li>The parents walking with their children on the way to school</li>
</ol>
Unlike my usual head-down-headphones-in approach to mass transit, I really observed my fellow passengers yesterday and today. I cannot know what's going on in their lives without asking them, of course, and I didn't conduct rolling interviews during the morning commute. But the demographics of the neighborhoods we rolled through are knowable. And what I saw were many, many people who struck me as incredibly hard working - people who work harder than I have ever worked my whole life with very brief exceptions. I would posit that they have worked a hell of a lot harder than Mr. Romney over the last twelve years, though that's not provable. I would argue that they are taking great "personal responsibility and care" for their lives, though that is not provable. <br />
<br />
What is provable is that many, many working folks - including, inevitably, some of those around me - pay MORE in taxes than Mr. Romney. <br />
<br />
Ezra Klein in the Washington Post <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/09/17/romneys-theory-of-the-taker-class-and-why-it-matters/">does the math</a>. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Among the Americans who<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/09/17/romney-my-job-is-not-to-worry-about-those-people/">
paid no federal income taxes in 2011</a>, 61 percent paid payroll taxes — which
means they have jobs and, when you account for both sides of the payroll tax,
they paid 15.3 percent of their income in taxes, which is higher than the 13.9
percent that Romney paid. </blockquote>
It's outrageous that Mr. Romney riffs off of the odious (but <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/gov-rick-perrys-anti-gay-christianity/2011/12/07/gIQAdYGgiO_blog.html">"Christian"</a>) Governor Perry (R-TX) who talks of a <a href="http://politicalirony.com/2012/09/19/the-taker-class/">making class and a taking class</a> when Romney himself is contributing less to the common good through his taxes than someone in that train car with me whom he is vilifying for "not paying Federal Income Tax." <br />
<br />
And what's more, if you look at who the "takers" are and how they vote, Mr. Romney will carry the "taker states." As pointed out by Dylan Matthews in the Washington Post, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/09/18/mitt-romney-will-probably-get-95-electoral-votes-from-moocher-states-obama-will-probably-get-5/">here</a>, "All told, Obama gets 50 electoral votes from the 'maker' states to Romney’s 9 —
17 are tossups — while Romney gets 96 electoral votes from the 'taker' states to
Obama’s 5, with 29 as tossups."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://funny-about-money.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/big_E-Pluribus-Unum01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="http://funny-about-money.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/big_E-Pluribus-Unum01.jpg" width="200" /></a>Mr. Romney told a group of millionaires that he'll never be able to convince the 61% of the working poor, among others, that "They should take personal responsibility for their lives." I'm sure they'd love to hear about it - maybe just after they get up in the 4:00's to get their kids ready for a before-school program and before they go work two jobs, they'd love to hear Mr. Romney talk about personal responsibility. Even though he pays less in taxes than they do, I'm sure they'd love to hear how they are "takers". <br />
<br />
Except Mr. Romney told the same group of millionaires that "my job is not to worry about those people." <br />
<br />
Perhaps Mr. Romney would like to read some of what's written on all of that money he's squirreled away in the Caymans - you know, the part where it reads "E Pluribus Unum." <br />
<br />
How dare he? How can he get away with such dismissive, corrosive posturing? How can he so brazenly lie about who contributes to the wealth in this country? <br />
<br />
I have some ideas, but that's for another post.<br />
.<br />
</div>
Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-55447801572653946882012-09-19T15:00:00.003-07:002012-09-19T15:04:39.557-07:00The phone's ringing - for all of us<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
In Fowler we had two phones in the house, one upstairs and one
downstairs. Since the one upstairs was in my parents’ room – a room which I
really only entered twice in 13 years – really we had one phone. For ten kids. And
that one phone sat at the far end of the kitchen table against the wall, and if
you wanted a private conversation the cord was long enough that you could take
it into the family room, sit on the top step, shut the door behind you, and no
one in the kitchen would hear. </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
It wasn’t a comfortable perch there on the top step, but it
was worth it for the relative quiet. The family room used to be a garage that my
dad and brothers converted into living space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It wasn’t hooked onto the furnace so it didn’t have heat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not that the rest of that house was balmy, given
the cost of heating oil and the shape of the house (my bedroom window would
often have ice on the pane in the morning), but the living room was especially
cold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We used it for cold storage in the
winter months, putting things there that didn’t need freezing, necessarily, but
it was at least as cold as the fridge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
never thought anything about it as a kid – you could bundle up in a few
sweaters, stretch the phone cord and go out there for a personal
conversation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Fowler only had one phone exchange, 884, so all you had to
do to memorize your friends’ phone numbers was remember the last four
digits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still remember my friends’
numbers – Susan and Doug and Alan and Eugene and Bill – all these years later I
could dial them all. Indiana only had three area codes then and we were in the
one with Lafayette and Indianapolis, but the dentist and some of my friends
were in the 219 area code which started in Earl Park just north of us, and
calling them was strictly verboten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
other towns in the county all had one exchange as well - Boswell was 869, Oxford
was 385, Otterbein was 583.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were
all local calls, and they were all free and unlimited, and I was on the phone a
lot. Hours and hours. And there was no call waiting, it was just busy until
someone hung up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>Sharing anything ten ways isn’t easy, and while at any given
time it was more likely to be 8 or 7 since Ray was in the Army and Dave was in
Illinois and Therese was down in Texas, it still presented logistical
challenges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got to be on the phone a
lot, and most of my friends were local calls since I was from Benton County, so
I never got yelled at for the duration of my calls. There were some
conversations about polite phone conversation (didn’t matter if your friend’s
parents told you to call them Gene and Myrtle, you didn’t over the phone) and
some boundaries (never call anyone after 9 PM, no calls during dinner), but
pretty much I had free reign. My older siblings resented some of the latitude
that I got, and I can understand it – in this I was unquestionably spoiled –
but what was I supposed to do, tell ma to kick me off the phone?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not likely. Looking back I’m most surprised
by the indulgence of my two sisters, four and five years older. Why did they
put up with it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t remember them
yelling at me for I, but then they were great to me all the time growing up. My
older brothers were rough, but my sisters were really amazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<br />
At the end of 6<sup>th</sup> grade we moved from that
sprawling two story farm house in the country to what was to my eyes a very
modern one story ranch house with a basement in the city. We had a phone in the
kitchen, a dark brown slimline model that had a truly amazing cord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because the base of the phone was mounted to
the wall, the only way to have a private conversation was to stretch the cord
long enough to get to the basement stairs five feet away – and then down to the
third one so you could swing the door shut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In warmer months you could take it other direction, through the living
room six feet to the front door where you could sit on the porch and have some
privacy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know what that cord was
made of but it was remarkable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It never
broke despite the stretching, despite the flipping and twirling as it was
subjected structurally to some of the teenaged angst that it was carrying
internally, despite the crushing by closed doors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
We did it so we could have some privacy. We wanted someplace
we could talk without our conversations being overheard by our parents and
siblings. (Overheard and remarked upon, which I remember as being particularly
infuriating to one sister, perhaps because it destroyed the fiction that conversations
held in common areas were to some extent private?) For me it was important to
have a space where I could stretch mentally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t remember any specific content from those conversations, just a
general sense of talking about friends’ breakups, history fair projects, and plans
for Friday nights, but I remember sitting on the step – in the cold living room
in Fowler, in the gaudy yellow stairwell in town – treasuring my privacy. </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
I think of this sometimes when I sit next to someone on the
train sharing the most intimate details of a relationship’s end, or when I,
unwillingly, listen to a drama playing out for a coffee shop neighbor who is on
the phone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wonder – did people change
because of the technology?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is that why
there doesn’t seem to be a line between public and private lives?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since we no longer need to be tethered to the
wall through a cord to a phone that, as Lewis Black as has said, “Was so big,
if a puma was charging at me I could hit it over the head and kill it!” – since
we can connect with anyone from anywhere and since our private conversations
can now happen in public, has that been the impetus for this erosion?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or does privacy mean something different
now?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe it’s simply that I am
extrapolating too broadly from my own experience?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>At the risk of being the guy that yells at those damn kids
to get out of his yard, I miss privacy, mine and others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe I just need to get them all a stretchy
phone cord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
</div>
Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-82753177806812232862012-09-14T11:51:00.003-07:002012-09-14T11:51:48.701-07:00Missed stories of the week <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It was a tough news week and most of the reading is grim, but there was more happening than events in North Africa and inside Governor Romney's coterie might lead you to believe. <br />
<br />
1. Stories datelined in Somalia aren't often good news, but this week there were real signs of progress. This war ravaged nation elected a new president on Monday, the first "fair and free elections in 40 years." From the Guardian: "<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/10/somalia-chooses-new-president-elections?INTCMP=SRCH">Somalia chooses new leader in Presidential elections</a>." Why care? Because it's good news for the people there, if nothing else. They have endured a LOT. And their newly elected President <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/12/somali-president-escapes-hotel-bombing?INTCMP=SRCH">survived a suicide bombing</a> attempt on his life after just two days in office by al-Shabaab, the Islamic military extremists in his country, probably because he was clear and direct in his assessment of them: "Al-Shabaab targets everybody who is doing something against them– a woman in civil society, a traditional elder, a businessman, a religious leader." And now himself as well. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/maps_and_graphs/2012/4/19/1334834445317/Map---SenkakuDiaoyu-islan-001.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/maps_and_graphs/2012/4/19/1334834445317/Map---SenkakuDiaoyu-islan-001.png" /></a>2. The nations with the 2nd, 4th and 19th largest economies in the world are playing a dangerous game of chicken in the South China Sea. There are some islands southwest of Okinawa called the Senkakus in Japanese, the Diaoyu Islands in Mainland China, and the Tiaoyutai Islands in Taiwan (map right, <a href="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/maps_and_graphs/2012/4/19/1334834445317/Map---SenkakuDiaoyu-islan-001.png">from the Guardian</a>) that are the subject of a territorial dispute. China didn't really care about them until 1968 when there were suggestions that there might be oil beneath them. Since then, they've started to care. A lot. A private Japanese landowner this week sold them to the National Government of Japan, and China doesn't like it. The Chinese government media organs have orchestrated <a href="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/maps_and_graphs/2012/4/19/1334834445317/Map---SenkakuDiaoyu-islan-001.png">street protests</a> against the Japanese and then tried to tamp them down; the Japanese national government is being goaded by the nutbar nationalist mayor of Tokyo, the nutbar nationalist mayor of Osaka has formed a new political party and is suggesting that Japan should exercise its <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120914a5.html">military right of engagement</a>, and China is sending naval vessels to patrol the waters in the area. <br />
<br />
A war could break out if the navies and coast guards of all three nations make even a small mistake given how high nerves are on either side of this dispute. Cultural events around Japan were being cancelled - a cartoon show in Aichi, a cruise ship welcoming in Kobe, and pop stars are cancelling concerts in each others' countries. We have military assets in Okinawa, Guam and South Korea that are all within shouting distance. This is unlikely to end well. <br />
<br />
3. Honestly, Uganda, methinks thou dost protest too much. It's like you are that homophobic bully in high school that sees and talks about queers everywhere, perhaps in the hopes of finding one yourself? You may remember Uganda as the place where - with the help of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/04/world/africa/04uganda.html">US "Christian" missionaries</a> - they proposed a bill that would criminalise homosexuality and make certain practices punishable by death. Because, you know, that would stop homosexuality. Most recently they've <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19595265">jailed a British producer,</a> David Cecil, for staging a play in two theatres in the capital about queerness in the country. If convicted, he faces two years in prison. Brave man. <br />
<br />
4. As reported in La Presse, <a href="http://www.lapresse.ca/international/asie-oceanie/201209/14/01-4573978-le-japon-dit-adieu-au-nucleaire.php">here</a> (in French) (more prominently than in <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120914x1.html">the Japan Times</a>, where I had to go look for it after reading it in La Presse) Japan will follow Germany and Switzerland and has made it a policy goal to be nuclear free by 2030. Honestly, I don't know how they are going to do it - they rely on nuclear energy for 30% of their electricity consumption, and eighteen years is not very long to bring online that much additional non-nuclear capacity. If anyone can do it the Japanese can, but I'm sceptical. Still, given their complex and traumatic history with nuclear power one can understand the impulse. <br />
<br />
5. And because this week was especially brutal I wanted to find a good news story to close on. The Bangkok Post reported <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/312354/kiribati-fisherman-survives-106-days-adrift">here</a> that a fisherman from the Pacific Island nation of Kiribati survived adrift in the Pacific for 106 days. He was in a 15m boat with a friend and colleague when they had engine trouble. His friend didn't make it, but Toakai Teitoi survived on rain water and fish. His first request? A smoke. <br />
<br />
Have a good weekend, all! </div>
Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-32922753013678174872012-09-13T18:02:00.002-07:002012-09-13T20:00:59.247-07:00Cairo, Benghazi, lies and disgrace<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
In addition to the tragic loss of our ambassador in Libya, J. Christopher Stevens - who <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/john-christopher-stevens-us-ambassador-to-libya-dies-at-52/2012/09/12/b1c00cee-fcd0-11e1-8adc-499661afe377_story.html">has been remembered</a> as a good man and a great representative of the United States to the Libyan people and one who led a life of service to his country - and three other Americans who served with him in Benghazi, there was another tragic loss this week: the truth. <br />
<br />
That has seemed to happen a lot in this presidential campaign cycle. It happens in every cycle, but they seem particularly egregious in this one, with Representative Ryan leading the way. <br />
<br />
Surrounding the events in the Mideast this week there were some shocking missteps and some decidedly un-presidential statements. Here are the facts, as I understand them - and as inconvenient as they are. <br />
<br />
1. Someone made a very amateurish (think high school - fake beards and all) film that bashes Islam. We don't yet know who made it, but the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-libya-filmmaker-20120913,0,3754075.story">LA Times is leading the investigation</a>. From their article in this morning's print edition: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A man who identified himself as an Israeli American filmmaker claimed in
telephone calls to news outlets Tuesday that he made the movie with backing from
wealthy Jewish donors, but there were indications Wednesday that the name and
story he gave were false and that the movie was tied to a group of Middle
Eastern Christians who live in the U.S. and hold extreme anti-Islamic views.</blockquote>
Okay, a couple of things. If true, that is disturbing - a Christian person or group posing as Jews to provoke and inflame Muslim sentiment even more than if they acted on their own behalf (though Christians blaming Jews for things for which they aren't responsible isn't exactly new [remember the <a href="http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/1348-jewsblackdeath.asp">Bubonic Plague</a>?]). Also, actors and crew members involved in making the movie were lied to - <a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-antiislam-movie-misled-20120912,0,594149.story">they were told it was a film called "Desert Warrior,"</a> and after a week of shooting was wrapped whole stretches of it were re-dubbed to give it its inflammatory narrative. <br />
<em>*Update - 13-Sep-2012, 19:45 PT: " </em><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-filmmaker-20120914,0,6397127.story"><em>Christian Charity, ex-convict linked to fil</em></a><em>m ". </em><br />
<br />
2. Eventually a fourteen minute trailer was made of this dreck, translated into Arabic and uploaded onto YouTube. <br />
<br />
3. The trailer slowly gets disseminated, word spreads, tensions rise. In what he surely must have known was a vain attempt to diffuse the tension that was growing on the streets of Cairo, Senior Public Affairs Officer Larry Schwartz in the US Embassy drafted a statement, got local approval from a supervisor in Cairo to release it and then sent it to DC for final approval. That approval was explicitly <em>denied</em>. Schwartz "...ignored explicit State Department instructions not to issue the statement," according to Josh Rogan in <a href="http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/09/12/inside_the_public_relations_disaster_at_the_cairo_embassy">a must read article on this affair in Foreign Policy,</a> and yet Schwartz released it anyway early Tuesday (06:16 ET / 12:18 Cairo local time). It read in part: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims – as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions." </blockquote>
Officials in the US State Department in DC immediately - and Secretary Clinton and President Obama subsequently - strenuously disavowed the statement for, among other things, not carrying a full throated defense of freedom of speech and denunciation of violence. <br />
<br />
4. As the day passed, people in Cairo and the rest of the Arab world grew more agitated by this "film" and its offensive stereotyping of their religion and its founding prophet. Many were inspired to - or used this as cover to - riot in the streets and burn American flags. (To be clear, I am a free speech absolutist, and have written about this before on <a href="http://brensleftcoast.blogspot.com/2010/09/burning-questions.html">BLC, here</a>. Religious extremism is always disgusting, and violence incited by "blasphemy" is simply baffling. Never excusable or warranted.) <br />
<br />
5. Throughout the afternoon the Cairo embassy re-releases part of its statement on its Twitter feed. <br />
<br />
6. Late in the evening the US Embassy in Benghazi is attacked, and overnight and into the early morning four people are killed. <br />
<br />
7. <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-leadership/post/behind-mitt-romneys-libya-statement/2012/09/13/b642160a-fdd8-11e1-b153-218509a954e1_blog.html">It's now 20:00 ET</a> / 02:00 Cairo local time, and Governor Romney's camp learns about the attach in Benghazi and about the first casualties in Libya. There is no word yet as to who the casualties are, or what exactly has happened as the situation is still unfolding. At that moment, <em>the US Embassy in Benghazi was still under attack</em>. Governor Romney's advisers press him to make a statement - <em>while the US Embassy in Benghazi was still under attack</em>. Top Policy Advisor Mr. Lanhee Chen released a statement - <em>while the US Embassy was still under attack</em> - saying "It's disgraceful that the Obama Administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks" in response to the Cairo embassy statement. <br />
<br />
You know what's disgraceful? It's disgraceful that while people who have dedicated their lives in service to our nation were under attack Governor Romney elected to politicize it. <br />
<br />
If you've been paying attention here, you'll note that a.) the statement issued by the Cairo embassy PRECEDED the attack on both the embassy in Benghazi that resulted in American casualties and the attack on the Cairo embassy itself, so calling it "the Obama Administration's first response is factually wrong, and b.) that the Cairo statement was NOT approved of by the administration and was in fact denied approval by supervisors in Washington, so again, factually wrong. <br />
<br />
Or again from Foreign Affairs: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Romney has said, wrongly, that the statement was the administration's first response to the protests, but the official said that the demonstrations did not begin until 4 p.m. Cairo time and protesters breached the wall about 2 hours later. </blockquote>
How did this happen? According Greg Sargent in a Washington Post piece, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/top-romney-adviser-apology-statement-fit-our-narrative-so-we-ran-with-it/2012/09/13/9e11293c-fdb9-11e1-b153-218509a954e1_blog.html">here</a>, Mr Romney's senior advisor, Mr. Chen, said: "We've had this consistent critique and narrative on Obama's foreign policy, and we felt this was a situation that met our critique."<br />
<br />
Never mind that our sovereignty was under attack or that Americans were being killed, this fits our narrative and therefore we should make political hay. Never mind that we don't know all the facts. Never mind that the "consistent critique and narrative" of <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2011/02/obamas_apology_tour.html">President Obama as an apologist</a> gets "Four Pinnochios" for being factually incorrect to start with - the Romney campaign will do anything to score political points regardless of the dictates of the national interest, regardless of facts, regardless of common human decency. <br />
<br />
When the facts became apparent later, what did Mr. Romney do? Did he walk back his statement, or apologize? No. He repeated the statement and lied some more. <br />
<br />
That a presidential challenger should inject himself into an unfolding international crisis in which Americans are underfire is unprecedented. As pointed out in an article in the <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/09/romneys-embassy-attack-response-in-2012-a-far-cry-from-reagan-in-1980/262298/">Atlantic online</a>, Ronald Reagan showed sober restraint in 1980 when the mission directed by President Carter to free our hostages in Iran failed, saying: "This is the time for us as a nation and a people to stand united." Compare that to: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I also believe the administration was wrong to stand by a statement
sympathizing with those who had breached our embassy in Egypt, instead of
condemning their actions. It’s never too early for the United States government
to condemn attacks on Americans and to defend our values.</blockquote>
(Full statement <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/decision2012/mitt-romneys-statement-on-the-libya-ambassador-attack/2012/09/12/3d314562-fceb-11e1-b153-218509a954e1_story.html">here</a>.) That is Mr Romney speaking the morning AFTER, when the facts of the timeline outlined above was more or less known. He repeated the lie, and went further.<br />
<br />
Disgusting. Deceitful. Designed to reinforce the "Big Lie" - President Obama apologizes for America - and repeat it over and over and over, so that people who want to believe it will believe it.<br />
It's also un-American to use a national loss to try and score political points.<br />
<br />
Mr. Chen asserted that Mr. Obama has had a "feckless" foreign policy. Mr. Romney's campaign released a false statement saying that Mr. Obama's "first response" was "disgraceful". <br />
<br />
There are disgraceful acts and words in this episode, but they are not Mr. Obama's. <br />
. </div>
Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-30560167431940277772012-09-12T13:51:00.003-07:002016-03-04T13:42:24.329-08:00Home at home? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A few years ago when living in Honolulu, my ex Arnold would come out to stay with me from time to time. At first we'd do the tourist things but after a while his visits became less about seeing stuff and more about experiencing O'ahu like the locals - going to my favorite haunts, hanging out with some grad school friends, hitting the beach, going <a href="http://www.e-hawaii.com/pidgin/holoholo">holoholo</a> in town. <br />
<br />
Arnold is Filipino, and one night out at the club a real lokal bruddah comes up and starts talking to us. Well, to him. In pretty full-on <a href="http://www.eyeofhawaii.com/Pidgin/pidgin.htm">pidgin</a>. Arnold had no idea what bruddah was saying, so he looked at me. I translated and responded, looking at bruddah. Bruddah looked at me, confused, faced Arnold, and asked another question. Arnold, confused, looked at me. I translated and responded looking back at bruddah. Bruddah, confused, nodded and turned <em>again</em> to Arnold and said something else. It just didn't compute that me, one ha`ole, was in this context the "local" and was the one who could understand a little pidgin; or that Arnold, by now very tan and local <em>looking</em>, couldn't speak or understand a word. <br />
<br />
As that visit was winding down I asked Arnold how it had gone and how he was liking Honolulu. He loved it, of course - most people do - but then he added something that I've thought of often over the intervening years: "I've never felt so comfortable in my own skin." <br />
<br />
He had shared with me some stories of being bussed growing up, from his very diverse West Long Beach neighborhood to very white Wilson HS on the east side. He had told me about being called "Cambo" at school, meant pejoratively and as a reference to the thousands of Cambodians who had settled in <a href="http://www.cambodiatown.org/">Long Beach</a> after the "boat people" exodus from Indochina of the mid 70's. He never said these things with any particular rancor or bitterness but it had been part of his experience, and now when he told me that being in Hawai`i was comfortable in a way that he'd never experienced before, I remembered them. <br />
<br />
The following year I spent a summer in Thailand for work with a couple of professors from UH. We were in Chiang Mai and I was taking full advantage of being there - we worked in a hermetically sealed, over-air-conditioned conference room every day from 8 to 5 (or 7 to 7 by the end of the workshop), but we had weekends off and I some time to go exploring. I fell in love with the food, the pace of life, the people, the steamy climate, pretty much everything, and I contemplated arranging my life so I could live in Asia - feasible? Worth pursuing? As I was idly thinking about it out loud over dinner one night, one of my professors counseled against it. She was of Indonesian descent, and said that she always loved coming back home to Hawai`i, to the familiar, to a place where she didn't stand out and where she could really be at home. She asked if I wouldn't get fatigued always being the outsider in places where my appearance meant I wasn't a local and never could be. I made a comment about how it didn't bother me the two years that I lived in Japan, but how I'd never really thought about it like that. <br />
<br />
I thought about it after she asked me, though, and I thought about not having needed to have thought about it before. When Arnold first told me about being a bussed-in minority kid in high school I was sympathetic but I didn't get it; when he told me that he felt comfortable in his own skin in Hawai`i I thought smugly, for a split second, that I was above that feeling or awareness of race. <br />
<br />
I shouldn't have, because I'm not. At all. I'd been aware of race in Japan - I wasn't being totally honest when I said that "it didn't bother me" when I lived there. I was a guest in a foreign country on a contract for a finite amount of time, so of course it was very different to what Arnold may have felt as a 9th grader on a school bus being driven across town, but I felt it. Like the time on the train, exhausted and stinky after 14 hours of travel back home to Nagoya from Thailand, when a Japanese business man in a suit sat across from me in the carriage and made no pretense of not openly staring at me. I watched him watch me for a few minutes and then I made a big show of taking out a borrowed old school 35mm camera and squeezing off a couple of shots. <br />
<br />
I'd been aware of race in Hawai'i, knowing that no matter how long I stayed or how much language or culture I learned I would never be as local as Arnold would be just by stepping off the plane; that bruddah would speak pidgin to Arnold even though he didn't understand and even though I was standing right next to him, replying. <br />
<br />
And then I thought about white privilege: I'd never had to feel or been made to feel a sense of displacement in my hometown like Arnold had, but more than that, growing up white in Benton County, Indiana, meant that I got to think about race differently than my friends of color, of whatever color. How that meant that I didn't have to think about race at all. I remembered watching my ex Gabriel be stalked around a store in the mall in downtown Columbus and think "Holy shit, that really happens!" How I would hear a jackass in a bar tell my Wisconsin-born Asian friend that his English is really good and think, "Holy shit, people really say that!" How my ex- Joe, after asking about a restaurant shortly after moving to Georgia, was told by a black neighbor that, "No, 'we' don't go there," as she rubbed an index finger over the skin of her arm. <br />
<br />
So I don't get to be smug - or to be <i>anything</i> - about how someone else feels in his or her own skin, and I'm embarrassed that I was. <br />
<br />
But I've thought of Arnold's comment in another way since I've moved from the Bay Area back to SoCal. I hadn't realized that I'd never felt as comfortable in my own skin as when I lived in San Francisco until I'd left it. I was queer in a place where queerness was unremarkable and nothing that needed be commented on - queerness just <em>was</em>. Perhaps like being Asian just <em>was</em> for Arnold in Hawai`i. Like being white in Benton County just was, or being Japanese in Nagoya. I hated the weather in San Francisco, and the prices, and the insufferable smugness that techies can mount. (Yes, we get it, you're really, really special.) I hated walking over that goddamn cliff every night to go to the gym. I hated running my furnace every night in June, July and August. (And careful BLC readers may remember how I hated <a href="http://brensleftcoast.blogspot.com/2009/10/why-palo-alto-is-awful.html">Palo Alto</a>.) <br />
<br />
But even though I only lived in The City for a year, I grew accustomed to a baseline of queerness. I didn't have to do the work that needs to be done in other places; I didn't need to do the daily coming out, educating and revealing straight privilege that other places may require. I got very comfortable. Not everywhere in The City - I have queer friends who won't go to the Marina, and I was gay bashed by two guys in SoMa and had the bruised ribs to show for it, so I am not saying it's perfect, by any stretch. But in my daily life I was surrounded by queerness and I was the beneficiary of the consciousness-raising of all of the brave queer folk who came before me, and of the commitment to real equality by innumerable allies. I grew to love San Francisco as a special place that felt queerly homey that I didn't fully appreciate until I'd left. <br />
<br />
So I'm sorry that it took me a while, Arnold, but all these years later I'm finally starting to get it - what that feeling of being at home in your skin feels like. And I'll look forward to getting it back. <br />
.<br />
</div>
Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-28179365669016284452012-09-11T00:01:00.001-07:002012-09-13T20:00:48.050-07:00So Who's Next?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's election and campaign season (though season isn't really accurate, anymore, is it, for a Bataan Death March-like two years of campaigning) and I've said nothing about the race. I've been thinking about it, though, and I read something today that got me thinking even more: "Clinton's 1992 victory in Illinois [was] the first time that a Democratic Presidential nominee had won the state since 1964." <br />
<br />
W<span style="font-family: inherit;">ait, was that possible? Could it really be that reliably blue Illinois was once reliably (or at least regularly) red? I read it in the New Yorker, one of the most rigorously fact-checked publications going today, so I knew it was true, and my own curiosity was sated at </span><a href="http://www.270towin.com./"><span style="font-family: inherit;">www.270towin.com.</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Bush (<span style="color: black;">père) - '88; Reagan - '80 and '84; Ford - '76; Nixon - '68 and '72. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Since President Clinton won the Land of Lincoln in 1992, no Democratic nominee has failed to carry it: Clinton again in 1996; Gore - 2000; Kerry - 2004; President Obama in 2008. I remember as a kid that "Big Jim" Thompson was the unassailably popular Republican governor of Illinois for four terms and Illinois still occasionally sends GOPers to the Senate (though, really, Mark Kirk should thank Rod Blagojevich for so badly bungling the appointment to President Obama's seat that he was able to win it in 2010. My money is on him either retiring or being defeated in 2016), but Illinois is a reliably Democratic haul of 20 Electoral Votes.</span> <br />
<br />
Which all got me thinking. Who's next? Which state, if any, went Republican in six or more consecutive presidential elections that is likely to become reliably Democratic? <br />
<br />
After the devastating Supreme Court <a href="http://www.270towin.com/2000_Election/index.html">election of 2000</a>, when Vice President Gore "lost" to President Bush (fils), I stared at the electoral results and realized that Democrats had to change the map. They could not rely on the west coast, upper midwest, and northeast and hope to get one other state to cobble together 270 - if they tried that, they would be outspent by the GOP in their base states as the Republicans would need to peel off only one - Iowa, Ohio, Wisconsin, New Mexico - to win. If the Democrats had to spend money to defend Minnesota's 10 Electoral Votes, for example, there would be no way for them to win a general election. They had to put other states in play so that the Republicans had to play defense somewhere else - anywhere else! - so the Republicans did not bank on winning all but 15 or so states. Republicans looked at the Traitor States - really they looked at everything between DC and California, including all of the Great Plains and Mountain states, and they knew they didn't have to spend money in ANY of it except Florida. <br />
<br />
How do you change that? <br />
<br />
It reminds me of Peyton Manning talking about coming to the Colts, and saying that "players look at the schedule at the start of the season, and players on other teams would see Indy on there and think 'Well, that's a win.' We had to change that culture and be competitive." That's what the Dems had to do, and what Howard Dean recognized that when he implemented his "<a href="http://articles.cnn.com/2008-10-28/politics/martin.election_1_50-state-strategy-howard-dean-democratic-party?_s=PM:POLITICS">50 State Strategy</a>" - the much maligned but foresighted plan to make the Democrats competitive again. <br />
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My argument for voting for then Senator Obama over then Senator Clinton was that Obama could change the map - he could bring states into play that Senator Clinton was, in my estimation, too polarizing to win. I thought Obama was a transformative candidate; at the time I was thinking particularly of Missouri (which President Obama lost by 0.4%), Colorado, Nevada, Florida, Virginia and if things went right, Georgia. <br />
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I was dead wrong about Georgia - even with the growth of the Hispanic vote there, it's difficult to see it flipping to a Democratic candidate in the near future. <br />
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I have since argued in this space that <a href="http://brensleftcoast.blogspot.com/2010/04/gracias-arizona.html">Arizona was a likely candidate</a> even though it has only gone Democratic <em>once </em>since 1948 - when Clinton carried it in 1996 (thank you H Ross Perot) - but that is probably one election away from being really competitive and Governor Romney can count on those 11 Electoral Votes. (I still think in 2016 it will be interesting, especially if the GOP continues its immigrant bashing.) <br />
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For a state that could make the kind of permanent flip from the GOP to the Democrats similar to Illinois, I think the best candidate is Virginia. Before President Obama carried it in 2008, Virginia had voted Republican in the previous <em>ten</em> elections, even resisting the charms of Democratic fellow southerners President Clinton and President Carter. Virginia had last voted for a Democrat in President Johnson's landslide in 1964 until they chose the black guy in 2008. <br />
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So what's changed? Take a look at the <a href="http://www.270towin.com/states/Virginia">Census Data</a>: the counties that have population loss are in the most Republican in the state, and those experiencing growth are the most Democratic. What's intersting is who is moving to those growing counties, and it's not old, high school educated white folks, the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/09/us-most-racially-polarised-election-white">GOPs most reliable demographic</a>. It's college educated white folks, who together with a more diverse electorate that includes 630,000 Hispanics and a million and half blacks who are reliably Democratic (even more so for President Obama, of course - in this election, Governor Romney is polling at 0% among African American likely voters. <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/nbc-news-wsj-poll-romney-is-not-in-the-black--literally/2012/08/22/6ab57bf4-ec63-11e1-aca7-272630dfd152_blog.html">Really</a>.), well, Virginia is looking like it could be in play for a while, and perhaps even premanently break the GOPs hold on the former Traitor States that Nixon created with his racist Southern Strategy - at last. <br />
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If that happens, that could be a huge legacy that Obama leaves to his party (not the only one, of course, but we're talking electoral politics here). If the GOP can no longer assume that they have those 13 electoral votes then, worst case scenario, they have to spend some of the Koch brothers' money there; best case, Democrats are far more likely to be able to build a combination that gets them to 270. <br />
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Virginia isn't the only one. I'm keeping an eye on Colorado and Montana, too. <br />
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</div>
Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-90429387750026944592012-03-12T22:32:00.004-07:002012-04-08T14:00:05.461-07:00ExpansionWhen I finished college I kicked around a few temp jobs in Milwaukee, and then I got lucky - I got a job in admissions at Regis College in Denver, Colorado in May, 1992. I loaded up my meager possessions into the Caprice Classic (thanks, Dad!) and drove west.<br /><br />I didn't know anyone in the whole timezone, and didn't know much about those huge, square states between the Midwest and California. They weren't interesting geographically, so I hadn’t taken the time to learn much about them. On my mental map, the space between Lincoln, Nebraska (in my world, decidedly Midwest) and Sacramento (West) was blank.<br /><br />I was confronted by my own ignorance, and was surprised in waves at what I found "out there" - mountains, yes, but space. So much space. I drove 18 hours to cover the 1100 miles from Milwaukee to Denver, which made some sense to me because Denver was in the West. California was in the West. What shocked me was that after all that driving I was not quite halfway to San Francisco. In my mind's geography, the rest of Colorado, Utah and Nevada simply weren't that big, and Denver was, oh, a seven or eight hour's drive from the west coast. (It’s 19 or so.) It's not quite as bad in degree as the error that Christopher Columbus made when he got to the Caribbean and thought he was in the South China Sea, but it was bad. This was precisely the type of thing I was supposed to know. How did I not realize this, I wondered?<br /><br />As I lived in Denver, I learned a lot about the West - what mountains do to weather and roads and accessibility and culture; how water, a resource that is so bountiful in the Midwest as to be wholly ignored, was scarce and precious; what urban sprawl does, irrevocably, to natural beauty.<br /><br />As I sat in Denver, broke, I'd think about weekend roadtrips to Cheyenne and the Rocky Mountain National Park and, yeah, on occasion, Milwaukee, and that required logistics and planning and thought while looking at maps. I'd then drive the roads that I saw on the map and I learned their beauty or desolation or both. I'd find a restaurant with taciturn locals and improbably good steaks for ridiculously low prices. I'd find a replica Statue of Liberty in Kansas, moonscapes along I-76, and good fry bread in Native American land. I got to know it. From Denver I explored to the Four Corners and over to Vegas (for Christmas one year for a Marquette-UNLV game), down to Albuquerque, up to Boise and Pullman, WA, and laterally from San Francisco and SoCal to Milwaukee and Chicago and St Louis at different times. I filled in the spaces in my mental map of "the west" with data.<br /><br />As I looked out my 8th story window in Denver to the mountains and thought about and planned and tried to impose some sense of all of that space, all of that space was imposing a sense on me.<br /><br />The same thing happened as I looked out my 8th story window in Dhaka. Before my trip to Bangladesh, when asked if I'd been there or to that part of the world before, my standard response was "No - nothing between Singapore and Venice." I knew what countries were there, just like I knew that Utah and Nevada were between Denver and the Pacific, but that's very slim knowledge on which to - well, on which to base anything.<br /><br />Being in Dhaka filled in my mental map of a region that had been <em>tabula rasa</em>. What I learned from being there gave me insight into a whole region of billions of people. Not that I know what life is like there, but I can conceptualize it in a way that was impossible for me in January.<br /><br />It's an imperfect analogy, but what I'm most reminded of is when a felt tip pen has extended contact with a cloth surface: the ink spreads out from one point to fill a growing space, and the longer the contact the broader the circle. Usually, that ink is indelible.<br /><br />When I moved back to Chicago from Denver, my perspective had changed, indelibly, and I had a new lens through which to see things that were familiar. I loved - LOVED - Lake Michigan and treasured it in a way I hadn't - couldn't have – done before I realized what an amazing and beautiful natural resource it was. I loved the fact that I could get on a train in Chicago and in ninety minutes be in a whole other city, unlike Denver's isolation that required a 500 mile drive to be in Omaha (Omaha!) or a 600 mile drive to be in Kansas City. I loved the trees in the Midwest that I'd never really noticed before, and that deep green that fields and grass get in the summer that you don't get west of the Missouri River. <br /><br />I was in Denver about 28 months; I was only in Dhaka about 28 days. I don't want to overstate the case.<br /><br />I do know, however, that even though the tip of the pen might not have been left on the cloth that long, an indelible mark was made. I won't forget what I saw. I only wonder how it will shape what I see in the future.<br />.Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-52037423367463963092012-02-22T04:23:00.000-08:002012-07-10T23:13:29.030-07:00Photos from Dhaka<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Here are some photos from my month in Bangladesh. All photos were taken in February 2012, and are the author's unless otherwise noted. All can be clicked to enlarge.<br />
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Below: Unintended irony. For the building next door or for the wiring, I wonder?<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8NoWtxocQ9dvZQrmbN6ft-AIJt8cpPsZjenpVSIyIDZ0k8zwZ-uBod8VOySHrCUUCAEE581zXDGTQYNRGlMZ6HiOBrntnIFqV2g2UXuZAJupqiwYuoV5dbiX1HLrgjCF0mqpbQuxNKd4/s1600/irony.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712342995551896690" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8NoWtxocQ9dvZQrmbN6ft-AIJt8cpPsZjenpVSIyIDZ0k8zwZ-uBod8VOySHrCUUCAEE581zXDGTQYNRGlMZ6HiOBrntnIFqV2g2UXuZAJupqiwYuoV5dbiX1HLrgjCF0mqpbQuxNKd4/s320/irony.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 254px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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Below: Typical street view, from what I saw.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw3BthLjGMMOGQl6gUglOjtoRi0axcKG3vRUGtECa64JDLY9oelcbAH1_y-x9pp6Dp_Uuv7_bkdqaRBJwvs8mRBy_I1f-5wI1gLT3yHNIM29e1LH_0dQE5K1F1JSvvqmx5UsI5aXb7Ep8/s1600/Green+Road+looking+south.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712342970079498898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw3BthLjGMMOGQl6gUglOjtoRi0axcKG3vRUGtECa64JDLY9oelcbAH1_y-x9pp6Dp_Uuv7_bkdqaRBJwvs8mRBy_I1f-5wI1gLT3yHNIM29e1LH_0dQE5K1F1JSvvqmx5UsI5aXb7Ep8/s320/Green+Road+looking+south.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 245px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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Below: spot I passed everyday. Note the wires. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPzLQVnRenxxvZreSlOx4mzz-a9GIFdEfACreS1N40arMBg-iSx8q998hZc5Ge28it-pQuZvLasPrZ1-kdLKNScAGg5Po-ST0PSQgZIFR_hBhv_pW_8nCBH6qffj9ibSzGHyYIwcmIRGY/s1600/footpath+2.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712342961588968898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPzLQVnRenxxvZreSlOx4mzz-a9GIFdEfACreS1N40arMBg-iSx8q998hZc5Ge28it-pQuZvLasPrZ1-kdLKNScAGg5Po-ST0PSQgZIFR_hBhv_pW_8nCBH6qffj9ibSzGHyYIwcmIRGY/s320/footpath+2.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 307px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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Below: typical side street. Right behind me is where the child was breaking bricks.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFVVyChg3lFKtNJaaVQoBC12_xCFY5wOqyCe89jTyekkQ0ZTy3SweUFDXUKoZgRf86cc50PG0kxYHwxDhsJI3u9JQHDVVpVSTiGA3RBvC2gwRVjthc7eznRVAYDYYMa6YRXNTs1S4sB9g/s1600/Side+street.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712343005663880050" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFVVyChg3lFKtNJaaVQoBC12_xCFY5wOqyCe89jTyekkQ0ZTy3SweUFDXUKoZgRf86cc50PG0kxYHwxDhsJI3u9JQHDVVpVSTiGA3RBvC2gwRVjthc7eznRVAYDYYMa6YRXNTs1S4sB9g/s320/Side+street.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 230px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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Below: Building a highway overpass by hand.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgtoacBTdQseKKhfZ54E74K8kKVsJyys0tReJKDEeXlui5z0xM2o9-lhyphenhyphen82JjbOJzrmGh97tdR7kgGmmyNnEOO2iwq7rTnbruv_6pNFVOahqMezHTpG7r2XHgkqv3qQSAYrCXcwDTJBis/s1600/Freeway+by+hand.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712340116140562994" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgtoacBTdQseKKhfZ54E74K8kKVsJyys0tReJKDEeXlui5z0xM2o9-lhyphenhyphen82JjbOJzrmGh97tdR7kgGmmyNnEOO2iwq7rTnbruv_6pNFVOahqMezHTpG7r2XHgkqv3qQSAYrCXcwDTJBis/s320/Freeway+by+hand.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 272px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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Below: another street view.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjooeV6efFLqLVYNjnB7DHhxIx__ht1HDTLg5ITMGUCuAoNqgcaBhuu-LE2PAVaugSDRg-XZJk_Tu0UbnrD6CCz5pAEoOwK4KQaxdyryplvtnhFH3UsWo0wGoewaZt3QAP1CUPYfJdA610/s1600/Footpath.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712340080247562738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjooeV6efFLqLVYNjnB7DHhxIx__ht1HDTLg5ITMGUCuAoNqgcaBhuu-LE2PAVaugSDRg-XZJk_Tu0UbnrD6CCz5pAEoOwK4KQaxdyryplvtnhFH3UsWo0wGoewaZt3QAP1CUPYfJdA610/s320/Footpath.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 313px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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Below - trying to give a sense of the density of the place. It just goes on, and on, and on...<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGAeohfWXHZLAVYTjjo7_JwekkeZn5D_yiwZEESX-wSkqPCoGm5-Sse1JCBpsK2hrQmbW9_08n0O9oDXyuXzsliu9Hq0o1VQz5UZqjtoW6gWvEPK1M4CkPJJCsJzTUiLZW_GDreggcjnI/s1600/buildings+on+and+on.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711567314587276962" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGAeohfWXHZLAVYTjjo7_JwekkeZn5D_yiwZEESX-wSkqPCoGm5-Sse1JCBpsK2hrQmbW9_08n0O9oDXyuXzsliu9Hq0o1VQz5UZqjtoW6gWvEPK1M4CkPJJCsJzTUiLZW_GDreggcjnI/s320/buildings+on+and+on.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 240px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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Below - a loaded rickshaw van. I couldn't help but wonder every time I saw one: how much does that load weigh? And next, how many calories does this driver need a day to be able to peddle that load around town?<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSPvMqMSL36wEElNhMDuUT3qRYrwcYYiJ1Epfvfz0E2sL14qNDOlxJ2PmxApDVLhpbYEyKibmavftkhUAuyhl036UBej177IJH5cvkeLv_F1QAlebPG7_5VIddcW0DBI8TRKTym93nkLY/s1600/rickshaw+van.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711567975084042402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSPvMqMSL36wEElNhMDuUT3qRYrwcYYiJ1Epfvfz0E2sL14qNDOlxJ2PmxApDVLhpbYEyKibmavftkhUAuyhl036UBej177IJH5cvkeLv_F1QAlebPG7_5VIddcW0DBI8TRKTym93nkLY/s320/rickshaw+van.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 240px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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Below: Pollution made for dramatic sunsets - didn't really capture it here.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ZIa7CFdqFBlK-u5UJCvM0dFuAFYXedwLlGO-MlrGRRKflaQqpx0P3DRwh7ngERUjSImzoM5C0caZQmaMGSqt56M0lRbJf8eQcZBXSUYY011a6hHMBqW6x309xWiRFkzc5Tn71K0VXXU/s1600/pollution+sunset.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712340129673700498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ZIa7CFdqFBlK-u5UJCvM0dFuAFYXedwLlGO-MlrGRRKflaQqpx0P3DRwh7ngERUjSImzoM5C0caZQmaMGSqt56M0lRbJf8eQcZBXSUYY011a6hHMBqW6x309xWiRFkzc5Tn71K0VXXU/s320/pollution+sunset.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 309px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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Below, Newmarket - one of the shopping centers in Dhaka.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNBYEcGoLGOBFivPNvS5dqvE3yqGqrMm_CTrALf19p1DLeOipLLr6xaRVmfQOFGSwflMq9z4pNQ7kH6DcnU17NQYTLXmHJTNWfJ8GGYOSZIafPXeHemJxFh_Ij8aaxOKN3PsU5fYowzYI/s1600/at+the+mall+2.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711569164773613330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNBYEcGoLGOBFivPNvS5dqvE3yqGqrMm_CTrALf19p1DLeOipLLr6xaRVmfQOFGSwflMq9z4pNQ7kH6DcnU17NQYTLXmHJTNWfJ8GGYOSZIafPXeHemJxFh_Ij8aaxOKN3PsU5fYowzYI/s320/at+the+mall+2.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 240px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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Below, city bus on Airport Road.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzD6Q4hv-1286goI05j5_iAowqb5Dy9PbSUGeeJhMu9XuqCtz9eF8x3si8jW0H43iEejVojzX2wh4ejQP8ITEMnWj6Db8lJlHGk2PrZ_W-lIpkvzQ24hLwwBWao43W8D_641aPzTPOmN0/s1600/City+bus.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712339121200841378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzD6Q4hv-1286goI05j5_iAowqb5Dy9PbSUGeeJhMu9XuqCtz9eF8x3si8jW0H43iEejVojzX2wh4ejQP8ITEMnWj6Db8lJlHGk2PrZ_W-lIpkvzQ24hLwwBWao43W8D_641aPzTPOmN0/s320/City+bus.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 217px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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Dhaka Int'l Airport on the way out of town. Honestly, it felt like a clear day. I was a little surprised when I saw the photo...<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRGMIARolJQJv8cXFly9HeOMK3lvDFl3PbCn11nf0QLBkrV1pvDZeuEeFl6g4qC1VdixOtoNNQ4JKNm7ZgLl6j9sHn1QazL9IVdvaZMwAFl2mCU4I7XxUin4GefcVaznxAin2vModGzMI/s1600/Dhaka+Airport.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712342935440219298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRGMIARolJQJv8cXFly9HeOMK3lvDFl3PbCn11nf0QLBkrV1pvDZeuEeFl6g4qC1VdixOtoNNQ4JKNm7ZgLl6j9sHn1QazL9IVdvaZMwAFl2mCU4I7XxUin4GefcVaznxAin2vModGzMI/s320/Dhaka+Airport.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 167px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
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Sayonara, Dhaka!</div>Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-88211213875204072282012-02-21T03:00:00.002-08:002012-07-10T23:12:28.430-07:00Week 4 - What I've learned<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Last week in Bangladesh. Great month, and was consistently humbled by the generosity and kindness of people - but Bangladeshis were among the first to admit that it's not the easiest place to travel. Last installment of what I've learned.<br />
<ol>
<li>Green grapes are not seedless. Careful readers will already know not to try to get the seeds out of your mouth with your left hand.</li>
<li>Internal flights in Bangladesh - wait, let me back up. Bangladesh is roughly Wisconsin. We were flying from, say, Oshkosh to Madison, so we wouldn't have a seven hour drive on crappy roads (no bridges, and the ferries are less than reliable in terms of schedule). And then we were driving the geographic equivalent of Madison to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Beloit</span>, which is 121 km/ 75 miles, which takes three hours. (See above re: roads.) To get from roughly Oshkosh to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Beloit</span> takes a flight and a three hour drive. That should tell you all you need to know about the infrastructure here.</li>
<li>For internal flights in Bangladesh you do NOT need to be there two hours before departure. Take on all the liquids you want. And if you're white, evidently, and you set off the metal detector on your way through, no worries - just carry on, they won't stop you. And if you stop yourself because you're obviously the cause of some beeping, they'll keep waving you through.</li>
<li>Planes can make u-turns. On the ground. At least in <a href="http://www.maplandia.com/bangladesh/airports/jessore-airport/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Jessore</span></a> they can. And it's fair enough, why take up more land for another runway? I was surprised by the proximity of farmers - not farms, but farmers - to the runway, but again, land is at a premium here.</li>
<li>Despite all of the challenges of road travel, going by bus or by road in general still takes LESS time than going by train. Trains here are slow, uncomfortable, and expensive. Which means that the British left Bangladesh with mind numbing bureaucracy (and tea breaks and cricket) but NOT with a functioning train system. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Wha</span>...? Why get colonized by the British if you're not going to get rail out of the deal? (Don't get colonised, of course, but if you do, the British are awful but not the worst. Bangladesh may as well have been colonised<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVTR21e5_en0hZ4wWEeGCmjpj03W8Mi-aOtqjwJotJbNOvLNnfOQuF7yokKBcLV_0_QdFY_9y3aMT8YnEbj2LRQFTBO_fYYw7rGY61XiZjkG6UZg3IfcvUjRHoX3gt-jFZBGyaN9Ti5Sw/s1600/Sunset+paddy+field.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711549030845226210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVTR21e5_en0hZ4wWEeGCmjpj03W8Mi-aOtqjwJotJbNOvLNnfOQuF7yokKBcLV_0_QdFY_9y3aMT8YnEbj2LRQFTBO_fYYw7rGY61XiZjkG6UZg3IfcvUjRHoX3gt-jFZBGyaN9Ti5Sw/s320/Sunset+paddy+field.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 240px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 320px;" /></a> by the French so <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">they'd've</span> gotten some interesting fusion food, at least.) (But still, never, ever, get colonised by the Spanish. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Oof</span>. World's first concentration camps? In Guam, thanks to his "Most Christian Majesty" Philip II [at least according to Pope Paul IV] in the 1570s... Okay, I'm getting far afield.)</li>
<li>If you don't take seconds you will offend your hosts. Taking a little something, however small, is a compliment to the chef. Never mind that you're the slowest eater at the table, take some more.</li>
<li>Sunrise or sunset on a paddy field is stunningly beautiful. (above right- click to enlarge.)</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turmeric">Turmeric </a>and eggplant are saline resistant. Remember the old tale that Rome salted the fields of Carthage so that the Carthagians would never again be able to rise to challenge them? Well, <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWVVneUIJ16LO1c6tKfPuH7R_2OcVkno-2mcCXSeUzt0ixB6AFCkXrQzxtwQZcOLYhJgp8OLpP0eo1C0ZEImKacJRgRA4mUhTnoxnNN1sUGywzIqRApmNm0gWl5tP6Y9Zlk2cHtWjbEdw/s1600/DSC01836.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711550966566941490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWVVneUIJ16LO1c6tKfPuH7R_2OcVkno-2mcCXSeUzt0ixB6AFCkXrQzxtwQZcOLYhJgp8OLpP0eo1C0ZEImKacJRgRA4mUhTnoxnNN1sUGywzIqRApmNm0gWl5tP6Y9Zlk2cHtWjbEdw/s320/DSC01836.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 240px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px;" /></a>people in southern Bangladesh are trying to find some work-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">arounds</span>. They have to. Cyclone Aila and its concomitant storm surge salted fields across southern Bangladesh. (Left - click to enlarge, though even from this view you can see the salt rime between the stubble of the rice plants.) What do you do? You hope for rain, as that will eventually wash the salt back into the sea. That takes time. In the interim, you try to figure what crops are saline resistant. Across the road from this salted field, the gentleman below was growing eggplant, and doing it well. (Photo courtesy of Bryan <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Bushley</span>; click to enlarge.) Turmeric is also saline resistant, but <a href="http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=98367&date=2012-02-13">the price of turmeric</a> has fallen through the floor in the last few months. Not sure what these <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOM8eRygJPqLQzDAfJ9oSD6J4putRq8g-fKqhrCpKzhQ-DX-L0JMfx2zmUpLsr8oSvgfXvzZwnR4QvaDNaxS01hr_hDZ2l0YnryvePUmuc5IzvTfUuhqW4G8P_GwYdJBUOqG_raNVGtNM/s1600/farmer+eggplant.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711552896550953938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOM8eRygJPqLQzDAfJ9oSD6J4putRq8g-fKqhrCpKzhQ-DX-L0JMfx2zmUpLsr8oSvgfXvzZwnR4QvaDNaxS01hr_hDZ2l0YnryvePUmuc5IzvTfUuhqW4G8P_GwYdJBUOqG_raNVGtNM/s320/farmer+eggplant.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 320px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 240px;" /></a>farmers are going to do, though some <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">NGO</span> have stepped in to provide storage facilities in the hopes that they can ride out the bust and hopefully sell when prices have rebounded a little bit. What do they do for revenue in the meantime? These are subsistence farmers. It's going to be tough.</li>
<li>Bangladesh is 90% Muslim, but it's still the third most populous Hindu nation in the world just by virtue of its colossal population base. There are many Hindu villages all over the country, but particularly in the southwest, where we were doing site visits. Besides the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bindi_%28decoration%29"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">bindi</span></a>, you will see an absence of gender separation in these villages and while there are still gender roles, of course, they seem to be less rigid. One village meeting I attended in a Hindi village had all the men to the left of the speaker and all of the women to the right, but the women and men both spoke, the women were not veiled or covered, and they were part of the decision making process of the village in terms of planting strategies for crops and investments.</li>
<li>Indigenous people in Bangladesh, unfortunately like indigenous people nearly the world over, are lower in nearly every <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">socioeconomic</span> indicator than Bangladeshis.</li>
<li>Mutton is not sheep. It's goat. And not unlike the chickens, the goats in Bangladesh are not particularly well fed. I defy you to eat it with only your right hand without making a complete mess. If you have the option, go with the fish.</li>
<li>Nearly every car in Dhaka has a DVD player - below left, that's not a rearview mirror, <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim9TONOTL1hHqN8nswNb-plyKiDNrb9gh7nntYarP6XlYPqjy57AE48gKbSbSFi1lLbdvOIFlwwxlhfM_rfYd0XRmFiHp-gEd6JAB5igHSBAjuxqMnzF_aOKTm4hwc6_FRDsESqIfeP8s/s1600/car+DVD.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5711564635693607298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim9TONOTL1hHqN8nswNb-plyKiDNrb9gh7nntYarP6XlYPqjy57AE48gKbSbSFi1lLbdvOIFlwwxlhfM_rfYd0XRmFiHp-gEd6JAB5igHSBAjuxqMnzF_aOKTm4hwc6_FRDsESqIfeP8s/s320/car+DVD.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 216px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px;" /></a>that's a DVD player (playing, in this case, a Bangla movie from the early 60's). Given the time you sit in traffic, honestly it seems fair enough. </li>
</ol>
Off to Thailand and home soon. What a month!<br />
I'll continue to think about it for a while. More pics and posts to come.<br />
<br /></div>Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-2895432867832986852012-02-20T17:31:00.003-08:002012-07-10T23:09:24.076-07:00The other elephant in the room<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Writing about life here and not writing about poverty is dishonest.<br /><span id="formatbar_Buttons" style="display: block;"><span id="formatbar_CreateLink" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" style="display: block;" title="Link"><img alt="Link" border="0" class="gl_link" src="http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif" /></span></span><br />People here are poor, and many, many people here are very, very poor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can’t really wrap your head around the numbers. To define what we’re talking about, the poverty line is set at 80 taka / person/ day, or about a dollar a day, and 49% of Bangladeshis are at or below the poverty line.<span style="font-size: 0px;"> That's 71,000,000 people, or slightly more than the entire populations of Argentina <span style="font-style: italic;">and</span> Peru, in an area smaller than the state of Illinois, living on less than a dollar a day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 0px;">And yes, of course, the cost of living here is much cheaper. Eighty taka can buy you some rice. It won't buy you rice and oil to cook it with, but maybe you can get some water to boil it. But it won't buy you rice and a heating source. Eighty taka is not enough.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 0px;">About 20% of rural households (which equals almost 23 million people, since Bangladesh is 85% rural and has a population of about 142,000,000 - so we are talking about more people than in all of Australia, or about 2.5 times the number of people living in Haiti) live in what's called "<a href="http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/web/guest/country/home/tags/bangladesh">extreme poverty</a>" which means, a.) that they suffer from food insecurity (they go to bed hungry frequently, much of their days are spent trying to acquire food, they often do not know from where their next meal will come, or of what it will consist); b.) that they have no access to land; c.) that they have no access to means of production or assets (like a bicycle powered rickshaw, say, or a goat). Many fishers are in this category, which another reason why the depletion of freshwater aquatic resources is so critical, and so alarming. Within this country slightly larger than Iowa you've got the equivalent of Australia's entire population in extreme poverty.<br /><br />Alongside them, in the same physical space, there are another 33,000,000 people, w</span><span style="font-size: 0px;">h</span><span style="font-size: 0px;">ich roughly equals the entire population of Canada (the whole country), who are considered "moderately poor" meaning that a.) they may own or be able to lease a small plot of land, or some livestock, and that for most months of the year they have enough to eat, but their diet lacks the necessary protein (see above re: declining fish stocks) and variety to be considered healthy. In other words, they are one setback away from disaster. And this is a country with 80% of its land at 10m above sea level or lower; you can see population density by elevation <a href="http://www.preventionweb.net/files/7513_Bangladesh10mLECZandpopulationdensity1.pdf">here</a>. Dhaka and its 15 million people (or the equivalent of the entire population of Guatemala, that is relatively poorer than Guatemala, in one city) has an average elevation of 4 meters. So one setback could be a typhoon. Or another few years of global change. Not that those are discrete categories.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 0px;">So you've got the population equivalent of Australia plus Canada who are the rural poor or the rural very poor, PLUS another 81,000,000 people, or roughly between the entire population of Germany (82,000,000) in a country smaller than Iowa.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 0px;">As I said, it is hard to wrap your head around the situation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 0px;">The poor are not hidden or segregated, simply because they can't be. There are too many of them.</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDkI0lyDuXgaGT68HDuLtEAl-NEkcDAn8ppDE4WB0Xtdsf8FatYuBQvxIqspQblugL9PVWQHnKIIwGmq-tqnrsCa2xdqvlyD6r0BVUPk3Cb8ApFgY15C4z1xb9kmQyidD7pxTnyMH8Fio/s1600/Shushilan+villager+1.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708465515408183458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDkI0lyDuXgaGT68HDuLtEAl-NEkcDAn8ppDE4WB0Xtdsf8FatYuBQvxIqspQblugL9PVWQHnKIIwGmq-tqnrsCa2xdqvlyD6r0BVUPk3Cb8ApFgY15C4z1xb9kmQyidD7pxTnyMH8Fio/s320/Shushilan+villager+1.JPG" style="float: right; height: 199px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 320px;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0px;"><br />Last weekend, I visited three rural villages. This (right - click to enlarge) is one of the best homes that I saw, provided in part through an NGO to this villager who is now a shrimp farmer. You can tell it's one of the nicest homes because it has both a cement foundation and a tin roof - both of which are rare, but to have the combination in the same home is a local signifier of wealth. According to the community surveys that were conducted by the workshop participants, these two factors put this household in the wealthiest 7% of residents of his village. He's doing well. (Another view, below.) He has a steady source of income from the shrimp farm, a few chickens (which were in the house, so I kn</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij1KoGcGKDZrJpTKcjTnR76Mx3hmN3qsL3a8ixnc6y8FKEW88PnW89kSTbGxUHcVGsQXgBtytzvjSfs_F7uMOtgX-BlhOzUWa2tYwaZjCClellrXyGbJGcfCg-RYsbCb22O9UmLjWt7NQ/s1600/Shushilan+villager+2.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708482860602970706" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij1KoGcGKDZrJpTKcjTnR76Mx3hmN3qsL3a8ixnc6y8FKEW88PnW89kSTbGxUHcVGsQXgBtytzvjSfs_F7uMOtgX-BlhOzUWa2tYwaZjCClellrXyGbJGcfCg-RYsbCb22O9UmLjWt7NQ/s320/Shushilan+villager+2.JPG" style="float: right; height: 224px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 320px;" /></a><span style="font-size: 0px;">ew they were his), a water catchment tank (to the right of the house in the picture above, provided, like thousands of others in this district, by USAID) for "sweetwater", and relative protection from storm surges based on the home's elevation.</span></div>
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Many, many people are doing far less well. They spend hours a day trying to get water, to start, and then hours more trying to get food. If they have a goat, they may have to walk miles to find a bit of pasture land. If they don't have a goat or a cow, maybe they can try fishing but fish stocks have plummeted dramatically due to overfishing, destruction of habitats (dams, bridges, canals), and due to pollution - toxic water run off - from <a href="http://www.csrtextile.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10670%3Abangladesh-cracks-down-on-polluting-factories&catid=9%3Atextile-and-garment-production&Itemid=2">garment manufacturers</a>. (One of the workshop participants found that in Baikka Beel, one of the most productive and critical of Bangladesh's freshwater wetlands, there was up to a 50% loss in fish production due to effluent. When you buy clothes made in Bangladesh, that low price might be due to the manufacturer skirting pollution laws. Or paying its employees nearly nothing. Or both.)</div>
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Do you catch brood fish - i.e., fish that are about to spawn - knowing that doing so will affect the long term health of the small lake that you were born next to? Well, if you are hungry and your family is hungry, you probably would.</div>
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The poor are not limited to rural areas. Many in Dhaka and other major cities - Chittagong (3 million), Khulna (2 million), Sylhet (1 million) - are extremely poor as well. Walking home from dinner the other night I tried a short cut through one of the narrow alleys that are webbed through Dhaka, and I saw, at ten at night, a boy who couldn't have been more than five, impossibly skinny, breaking bricks. He was literally breaking bricks. To what purpose I don't really know, but when I walked down the same alley a few days later, during the day, an emaciated women and two girls were in the same spot doing the same thing. I had my camera both times but I didn't take their pictures - I couldn't.</div>
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People in the rural areas know that the standard of living is higher in the cities, of course, and there is a lot of internal migration. Millions of people move from land that is exhausted, or polluted, or unprofitable, or salted by storm surge, or which has been divided up among family members until it is too small to farm, and move to the city - where they are homeless, where they can't get clean water or access to education for their children. There was a photo in the paper recently describing as "lucky" a kid growing up on the sidewalk around the corner from my dorm because his mom - an internal migrant from the country - was insisting he learned how to read and write. (Photo and caption <a href="http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=221168">here</a>.)</div>
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The beggars can be quite persistent, which I understand. There are children, men and women - with emaciated or deformed limbs - legs the size of sticks, literally no more than six inches around from foot to hip - eye sockets permanently blinded and shut with scarification, and thousands and hundreds of thousands of homeless. It's a beautiful country, but it's also a country of dire poverty and what can only be described as ugliness. And the juxtaposition can be shocking.</div>
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Bangladeshis are to some extent inured to this. It's their normal, part of their experience. Many of them give to beggars, and undoubtedly this support keeps recipients alive. The state - moribund, weak, hopelessly corrupt, and destitute itself - is incapable of the structural changes necessary to break the structural poverty and to redress this on any significant scale.</div>
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The shocking thing is that much progress has been made on poverty in this country. The rate had dropped from 69% two decades ago to today's 49%. In part that is due to remittances (over a <a href="http://www.developing8.org/2009/09/25/remittance-boost-bangladesh-economy/">billion dollars a year</a> and climbing); in part it's due to international aid (<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8092901.stm">two billion a year</a>); in part, yes, it's due to exports, led by the garment industry.</div>
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I can't imagine it a third worse than it is right now, like it was in 1990, but then I can barely imagine it now. And the projections are for a lot more people to join those already there by 2050. Bangladesh is one of the south Asian countries with its population under control, but there are still going to be 80,000,000 more people in 2050 than there are now, which would bring the total to 233,000,000 or so. Which is over two thirds of the current U.S. population.</div>
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Which is adding the current population of Germany (or Spain AND Peru AND Taiwan) to who is already there.</div>
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In a country slightly larger than Wisconsin.</div>
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As I said before - <a href="http://brensleftcoast.blogspot.com/2009/04/its-getting-crowded.html">it's getting crowded</a>. I wish them luck.</div>
</div>Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1580074694352109996.post-22168104748292974952012-02-09T19:45:00.000-08:002012-07-10T23:06:42.965-07:00Week 3 - What I've learned<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Can't believe it's already been three weeks.<br />
<ol>
<li>After close observation, Dhakans flail when walking down the street, just like I do. They bob and weave and get stuck behind a porter carrying what looks like two 50 pound bags of cement mix on his head, just like I do.They get trapped between two rickshaws, just like I do. They get marooned on the islands in between the seas of vehicular traffic, just like I do. They step out into the street to avoid the human scrum on the sidewalk only to have a pick set by a <a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2351/2447268402_15ed4ba7b2.jpg">CNG</a>, pulling them up short and forcing a retreat back to the sidewalk, just like I do. This makes me happier than I’d like to admit.</li>
<li>A “decimal” is a unit of area which, despite sounding metric, is actually 1/100<sup>th</sup> of an acre. It’s obsolete everywhere except in some parts of <a href="http://www.banglapedia.org/httpdocs/Atlas/sherpur_district.htm">rural Bangladesh</a> and some parts of Annam in India, where it’s still used to measure household plots. Farmers use it around the Teknaf and Chunati forest reserves. Good luck converting that to hectares.</li>
<li>It can take <a href="http://freshclick.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/untitled2.jpg?w=720">three hours to go 45 kilometers</a>, or <a href="http://www.thedailystar.net/photo/2009/11/24/2009-11-24__back01.jpg">two hours to go 15 km</a>. Traffic is gridlocked around the capital for much of the time. Red lights mean nothing. Horns are used all the time, though for what I’m not sure since no one heeds them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(And when I say “all the time” – that is only slight hyperbole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On a three hour drive last weekend from <a href="http://www.banglapedia.org/httpdocs/HT/J_0093.HTM">Jessore</a> to the end of the road in SW Bangladesh, the longest the driver went without using his horn while I was awake was 45 seconds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I fell asleep in self defense.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On side streets, sometimes a horn from behind can tell your rickshaw driver to make way, but many times, where’s he gonna go?</li>
<li>If you are so inclined to give to beggars on the street, keep your small money handy, like in your shirt pocket vs. your pants pocket, so it’s less awkward and so you don’t have to pull your wallet out. If you give while stuck in traffic, either pedestrian or vehicular, your action will attract many, many others – especially as a foreigner. Proceed as you wish.</li>
<li>Bangladesh has a bag ban! No "poly" (i.e., plastic) bags. And it's mostly observed. Bags in stores will be made of jute (locally grown) or instead of a bag you'll get a net made from jute or hemp.</li>
<li>Carrots are in season, and are delicious. You can buy them nearly anywhere, including sitting in traffic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though again, if you buy anything – carrots, popcorn, BAUs (sour apples the size of an egg, so-called because they were developed at Bangladesh Agricultural University), a laminated guide to the fresh water fish of Bangladesh (on offer, improbably) – while stuck in traffic, you will most certainly be approached by many, many more vendors.</li>
<li>I defy you to find a green vegetable in Dhaka - and I mean a leafy green vegetable, not a pepper or a cucumber. I went out for a fancy meal the other night, for a change of pace, and the menu said "House salad: mixed greens and tomato." I got a bed of peppers and a cherry tomato. Tasty, but... not quite what I was thinking I'd get.</li>
<li>Next time I'm bringing packets of instant oatmeal.</li>
<li>Lots of garments are made here, and lots of irregulars stay here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a guy with a “Wrenesto Che Guevera” shirt. The pink shirt that looked like it’d lost a fight with a bedazzler I saw tonight on a 30 year old I sure hope was an irregular.</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal">
Hoodies are a surprisingly common sartorial choice here. Saw a guy, mid twenties, full beard, skull cap, Islamic dress, wearing an “Old Navy” hoodie tonight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You see them on males everywhere: your 30 year old rickshaw driver, the 20 something passing you in the street, the 65 year old shopkeeper.</div>
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<li>Many people walk around with English slogans on their clothes that don't always mean what <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2y8Sx4B2Sk">they think it means</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The guy at the mall yesterday with the “boy crazy” shirt may have been, but my money is on something getting lost in translation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The shirt worn by our van driver to the </span>National Park yesterday read “My heart beats all day,” in big block letters. That is surely accurate, as far as it goes. </li>
<li>Bangladesh is conservative country in terms of dress. Even for a field trip to a National Park the expectation was absolutely for a collared shirt (as we were there for official business), and the preference was for a button down shirt and dress slacks. They don’t have to match or to be new, but that’s the protocol. I’ve not seen anyone in shorts outside of the gym, and even there I’ve taken to wearing my sweats. </li>
<li>Gender.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m still observing and trying to understand gender here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s complex and nuanced and I haven’t figured it out. There are women in very public roles here, including both the current and previous prime minister, and you see many women in the street, on buses, driving - this isn’t (our ally) Saudi Arabia. Most women in Dhaka wear a sari, and most of them have something on their heads, though not a full covering – usually the back third.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are scarf-like, brightly colored, and draw further attention it seems. And the women here certainly are attractive. You will see some women in full burkas on the street in Dhaka, and a higher percentage out in the country side. This ain't California, either. Women are presented as "other" in a way I’m not used to considering. This should be its own post.</li>
<li>Global English is different than what native speakers use with each other, of course – it’s a lingua franca that is leached of its beauty, often, but there are charming turns of phrase that pop up every once in a while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> (</span>When's the last time you used "bestowed"?) “Available” is used as a catch all for “there is”or "there are" - in the <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/798">Sundarbans</a> last weekend we were told that “Bengal tigers are available in the forest” and “monkeys are available also.” I didn’t ask to see a menu.</li>
<li>Many sounds in Bangla are very similar to Japanese. I swear I've heard "Nandaka" every day, but when I look there is not a Japanese-looking person available. (Except for earlier this week at breakfast, when there was.) </li>
<li>The <a href="http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/presentperfect.html">present perfect</a> as a tense isn’t well understood in spoken English here, even by people with pretty advanced skills. In writing it shows up all the time for the simple past, but in speaking it's pretty consistently going to throw someone for a loop. You can see them replaying the question in their minds and looking for the verb, particularly with irregular English verbs. Instead of asking "Have you been there before?" you'll get further ahead by asking "First time (place/ experience)?" and point at them. The <a href="http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/presentcontinuous.html">present progressive</a> is, however, available. For simple present. Or for simple future. All the time. </li>
<li>On the street in Dhaka, the penetration and quality of English is very high, the highest I've seen in Asia outside of Singapore. Better than Hong Kong, from what I remember. It's just that I am editing for eight hours a day. </li>
<li>The English language TV options are pretty limited (so I turn it on sometimes. So?), but where has <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460681/">Supernatural</a> been all my life? </li>
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</div>Bren in SoCalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13746198050445304371noreply@blogger.com2