Big Brother is alive and well

A fun Doonesbury from last Sunday. And it rings especially true after this weekend.

It appears Big Brother is watching us all, and he's using 9/11 as an excuse.

Perhaps you've heard: the president has been illegally spying on Americans since 2002. It came out before the weekend in the New York Times, and people are talking.

The Bush folks are claiming the Congress's approval of the use of force against terrorists cancels all applicable laws that made this spying illegal. They also say we should trust them with the powers we have given them.

I don't know about you, but I've read my history books. And this just seems like a big mistake.

My biggest contention is that this spying, along with the we'll-find-out-what-books-you're-reading provisions of the "Patriot" Act, smakes of a bully government. Sure, they could be looking for terrorists. But they could also use these powers to spy on groups and individuals it doesn't like.

Think Nixon (one of the reasons why spy-prevention measures were put into law in the first place).

And hey, if people in government would just do their jobs, most terrorist could be thwarted. You don't need extra powers to fight these maniacs. Look at the Millenium Bombing in L.A. Someone at a border check noticed something suspicious, and the whole terrorist plot was capsized. Too often someone falls asleep at the switch, and *boom* we have a disaster.

We have more to fear from the disease of ineptitude than any bird flu pandemic.

Most of the spying Bush wanted to do could've been made legal by a quick warrant and a handshake anyway. But, as is often the case with this administration, laws are sidestepped when they're deemed a nuisance. King George does what he wants. And this is a guy who supposedly supports the rule of law.

How it's supposed to happen: you don't like a law? Change it.

How it really happens: you don't like a law? Ignore it, and hope that no one finds out.

Thank goodness for the New York Times. They've shown the value of an independent and free press, one who is really a watchdog against governmental extremes and abuses. In all of this, the Times coverage is the only example of how the system is supposed to work. No wonder Jefferson said he'd rather have a free press than government.

And there's no need for a slippery-slope argument here (one contending that, if Bush could ignore a law against spying, he could possibly ignore laws against torture, murder, or even reading his neighbor's mail). The argument against this type of activity can be abbreviated to one name:

Stalin.

I don't trust this administration - or any administration - to use extra wartime powers responsibly. Power does funny things to people's sense of fairness and justice, and especially right and wrong.

And we're watching it happen every day.

*Click here to empty recycling bin*

This weekend, I strengthened my resolve to never let anything go to waste.

I was working at the Recycling Jackson drop-off site, a little cubby-hole of land where Jacksonites can drop off cans, bottles, newsprint, etc. to be recycled.

As a board member of Recycling Jackson, we're asked to volunteer a weekend or two a month to help out. No problem there - a little hard work never hurt anyone (but I learned that 16 and 17-year-olds hate volunteering their time, however - at least the ones I met).

Our organization is also starting an e-waste program, where folks can drop off old TVs, microwaves, and computers to be recycled or disposed of. Electronics tend to be stuffed with harmful gases and materials that can do some real damage to the environment, so the idea is we'll take care of it harm-free.

One lady pulls up in her van and drops off some computer equipment. I look in the back of her van and there glows, turquois-green, one of the original iMacs that Mr. Steve Jobs and company released unto the world in the late '90s.

"Does that thing still work?" I asked the lady.

"Yeah, our daughter used it, and we decided to upgrade," she said. "There's nothing wrong with it. It works fine."

Yoink.

I'm glad that there's a program to dispose of e-waste properly. I'm also glad that this lady didn't just chuck her Mac into the dumpster, smashing the screen and releasing who-knows-what into the atmosphere.

And I'm glad I got a free iMac. You betcha.

But then I thought, "Good Lord, is that what we've come to? A $1,000 piece of equipment is tossed in place of an updated version just a couple of years later?"

In other words, I have an issue with waste. Always have. I remember using the same waterbottle (an Aquafina 20 oz. model, I believe) through two years of my college career. When it got empty, I refilled it in the drinking fountain. It worked just fine.

I hate Styrafoam. I hate paper plates. And I really hate those new Swiffer dry mop thingies, where you use them and then toss the little static pad. What a waste.

Renner used to make fun of me for it. "We have a new czar of recycling," he used to tell me. "Don't you know some people say recycling uses more energy than it saves?"

This coming from the man who would make 200 copies of a three-page article for a 20-student class, and never went double-sided.

The idea that we can use something, throw it away after one use, and never look back disgusts me. But there is an opposite extreme. Take my gramma. She will use a hammer, lose it, and buy another one. Then she finds the old one. Now she's got a dozen hammers in her garage. She'll never run out as long as she's alive (unless she loses all of them - which is very possible).

So the system most of the world has in place - planned obsolescence, I believe it's called - just drives me crazy. I know that the iBook I just bought will be obsolete in a couple of years. And what can I do about it? Well, I can spend a butt-load to upgrade it, knowing that at some point all hardware reaches a ceiling. There's no durability. Not any more. All because companies want you to re-buy what they sell.

Take a lightbulb. There are lightbulbs out there that will last years and save you money over their lifetime. But most folks don't want to pay what they see as a higher price initially. It's madness! And some of the practices are downright sinister. Even Apple does it (here too)

Luckily there's a group of people out there who have found inventive ways to re-use electronics. Like making your iMac an aquarium.

So should my new seafoam beauty crash without the hope of recovery, I know I can make it into a great piece of urban art, like a Bauhausian kitty litter box. But it will not go to waste.

My car isn't the most stylish, or the fastest. But it sure gets me where I need to go. My clothes aren't that fashionable, and I often shop at Goodwill - and when I lose interest in an item, or it doesn't fit, I donate it back to Goodwill. It's a cycle.

There comes a time when a product's effectiveness and viability become absolutely terminal, and at that point I may replace it. But it better have lasted me a long time.

Give me something with a lifespan, damn it.

Or give me an iMac - and I'll put it to good use. I promise.

'Twas the fight before Christmas

Christmas, my friends, is under attack.

That's according to some in the media, like Bill O'Reilly, who've been taking the counter-fight to the ACLU and city councils all over America. According to these folks, there's a vast conspiracy (see: the left-wing media or homosexual agendas) to neuter Christmas.

Even in my local paper, one Jackson resident, Chris Markiewicz, said, "I think there is a movement afoot by a very small minority of people to totally secularize every aspect of the United States." He goes on to say there is a "real attack on Christian values in this country."

The thing is, this "fight" isn't a new one. Wackos have been battling the secular heathens for generations now. And do you know what? Christmas is still around.

To me, the killer is how people are trying to "preserve the sanctity" of Christmas (much like those who are trying to preserve marriage, right?), as if the rules governing our holidays were written in stone.

See if you agree: holidays are a means to escape from the everyday, the normal, the usual, and are a way to celebrate the things in life that really matter. Family, food, and iPods, right?

So why, in Santa's name, do we have to bring our partisan differences into the discussion about the holidays. Good will and peace toward men and women? Not this December.

Speaking of Santa. Do you know where the legend of Santa Claus came from? Most scholarship shows our treatment comes from Greek, Turkish, Dutch, and German (with some Russian thrown in) influences. There used to be no Santa Claus, Virginia, not until we made one up.

Clement C. Moore's "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" gave us the bearded jolly elf we all know and love today. The point is, Santa has changed. Quite a bit.

The same can be said for Christmas. Do some of your own research, just briefly, on the topic and you'll learn quite a bit. Holidays evolve, change, improve, whatever. Halloween wasn't always Halloween, for instance. So why are some so gung-ho to keep Christmas from evolving?

(Maybe my use of language gives some indication...)

Today, people have become aware that not everyone celebrates Christmas in the traditional Christian way. Jews, Muslims, and African Americans have their own take on the winter months. How do you get around the difficulty of wishing someone a good season without offending their religious leanings? Try this:

Happy Holidays! Seasons Greetings!

Man, that was tough. To some, you'd think I punched baby Jesus in the face by uttering those words.

But I didn't. I simply wished you a good December, however you celebrate it. And hey, I didn't say "Go fuck yourself." A "Happy Holidays" is much better than that, right?

Not to some.

Some businesses and towns take the whole thing a bit too far, I'll admit. Recently a man was chastised by his neighborhood association for putting up a nativity scene in his yard. That's silly. It's his property, he can display a bleeding pig heart on the cross for all I care.

One local businesswoman, working for Sears, was scared to show a reporter a memo from the corporate office saying employees couldn't say "Merry Christmas."

There are two ways to look at this:

1.) This is America. The employee can say whatever they damn well please.

2.) If you work for a company, you're bound by their regulations as an employee. If a company says you can't unionize, you can't unionize. If a company says you can't say "Merry Christmas," you can't say "Merry Christmas."

What's funny is the same folks who fight for corporate rights and the "free market" system are the same ones lambasting these companies for policies regarding holiday greetings. There's some inconsistency in the arguments.

My view? This is America. Say what you want. Just don't get pissed when I say "Happy Holidays" because (a) I'm not a Christian and (b) you feel I'm trying to "undermine Christian values."

Celebrate what you want. Just don't impose your own celebrations on others.

It's downright un-American. And it's not very Santa-like.

Happy Holidays, everyone.

When Black Friday comes

Did you celebrate Buy Nothing Day?

I kind of did. And I feel all the better for it, especially after hearing the horror stories my boss shared this morning.

Black Friday - the Friday after Thanksgiving, and the "kick-off" to the shopping season- had its winners and losers. But some of us didn't even play the game.

Hurray for us.

People stealing items out of each others' carts? A little old lady getting trampled on her way into the fray? This is how we celebrate the holidays?

A lot has already been said about the crass-ness of the commercial holiday season, and how its all superficial and empty nowadays.

But I wonder: what if people put that same energy and passion into something that really mattered? Instead of getting all worked up over a stolen parking spot (as my boss saw that morning in the mall parking lot), why not devote your energy into something worthwhile?

I did the Black Friday thing once, in high school. Never again. Ignorance is bliss, I guess; I'd rather not know what happens on that day. It makes me feel better about being an American.

So since then, I've celebrated Adbusters' "Buy Nothing Day" campaign. When everyone else is out spending money, I sit my ass home (or, in the case of this year, in a movie theatre with gramma). The money you save just isn't worth the hassle, to me.

Besides, a trip to Meijer when I grocery shop is a battle enough. They ought to outfit those shopping carts with spikes and shields.

Have any horror stories?

What are you thankful for?

"Blessed are the Poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." -- Matthew 5:3

- - - - -

What are you thankful for?

I'm thankful that a recent canned/non-perishable food drive we sponsored here at work was such a success.

Some background: One day, when I was a kid, my grandpa filled up a grocery bag full of food and stopped by Jackson's Interfaith Shelter for the homeless. He grabbed the bag from the back seat, told me to sit tight, and headed to the backdoor of the shelter where he handed a man the grocery bag.

I don't quite remember what he said when he got back to the car, but the point was made: do what you can, when you can, and all that you can, for those who can't do for themselves. It's an image that has lasted with me to this day, and speaks more to the giving spirit than any Bible quote.

I recently learned in my Rotary meetings that the shelter was having a tough time collecting food because everyone was giving to the hurricane relief effort. When big, national disasters happen, local charities tend to suffer.

So when my boss and I brainstormed small events we could do at our new Vandercook Branch, I thought we could sponsor a canned food drive to help fill Interfaith's winter stock. We made up flyers and attached them to a local grocer's paper bags, telling our members to fill the bags with non-perishables and return them to the branch, so we could fill our American 1 van up with food.

The van wasn't entirely filled, like I had hoped, but we did collect quite a bit from members and employees.



Our CEO also gave us $200 to go shopping with. I pitched in enough to get two giant coffee cans (hey - no one should go without) and a palette full of baby food. Above is what the van looked like after we filled it.

When we dropped all the goods off last Friday, the folks at the shelter were helpful, friendly, and appreciative. They even helped us unload the food. One old guy even had a "bad ticker," but he climped the two flights of stairs to the pantry just like the rest of us.

I don't mind getting mushy. When we pulled out of the shelter's driveway, I couldn't help feeling proud and thankful that we had the means and the wherewithal to help the homeless in Jackson. It's just a small token - lord knows all of us could afford to help more - but it's something.


Lisa, Kristi, and I outside the Interfaith Shelter.

Mother Theresa said "Never turn your back to the poor. For in turning your back to the poor you are turning it to Jesus Christ." So I think instead of being so concerned with giving gifts to everyone this Christmas, I'm going to concentrate on giving to those who don't have anything ("Where your treasure is, so is your heart," Jesus said).

I've got enough crap. I don't want for anything. So please - any thoughts of exchanging presents this year, just make a donation to your local homeless shelter. Instead of giving your family members a gift certificate in their stockings, give a donation to a deserving cause and let your family member know you made it in their name.

And don't keep your generosity limited to December - keep it going all year.

Even a bag of groceries, maybe every month of so, would help out so much. It's what I learned so many years ago, and it's what I'm thankful for this holiday weekend.

Mac daddy.

I made love to my new iBook on Tuesday night.

That was our first night together - a magical time, filled with lust and exploration.


...okay, so no love-making. But I'm thoroughly impressed.

I went ahead, last Thursday, and bought the iBook G4. I didn't get the PowerBook, like I had originally planned, because it was a bit too expensive and I didn't really need all that computing power.

Right now I'm surfing speedily along on the internet via a wireless connection at the Thunderbird Coffee House. It was so easy, and the connection is so fast. You can't get this kind of service at home. Plus the coffee is good.

What I ordered: iBook G4, wireless mouse, Microsoft Office.

The funny thing is all this stuff came seperately. I got the mouse first, then the Mac (it was like Christmas when I saw the box sitting on my coffee table), then the Office. But whatever, it came.

It's been a bit of an adjustment, with this OS X "Tiger" stuff. For instance - I miss the litte bar at the bottom of Windows that you can just click to bring the window up. On a Mac, they're all stacked on top of each other, or on the dock (the little menu at the bottom). And so many things I take for granted on a PC - alt+ctrl+delete say - I'm having to re-learn here.

But it's a beauty. My iBook has this cool thing called Dashboard. You click it, and up pops a bunch of mini programs. The time, a sticky-note pad, a system resources monitor - all right up front. Plus I downloaded such nifty "Widgets" as an English/German translator, a cocktail recipe program (just type in "Cosmopolitan" and it gives you in the ingredients), a window that notifies my when I receive my Gmail, and a little version of Pac-Man.

There's also the standards: iTunes, iDVD, the web browser Safari, and Garage Band, a program that lets you write and play your own music. I haven't experimented with that just yet.

The machine itself is gorgeous. Slick whites and greys with the little glowing apple on the back - plus the trackpad has scrolling capabilities when you use two fingers. And finally - finally! - I can burn my own damn CDs.

Yes, life is good. I've been playing with my iBook all week (including a super-late night on Tuesday; I was up until 1:30 a.m.) and am learning new things every day. Eventually I'll pick up some sort of "how-to" instructions, but for now I just want to play.

And the Mac lets me.

Know some tricks? Be sure and let me know, because there's so much I don't know.

Oh, and thanks to everyone who provided feedback. It really was a tough choice. But now I've got everything (the Office software, especially) to be productive and do what I want, and at about the same price as the PCs I was looking at.

Now if I can just find Illustrator or PhotoShop dirty cheap somewhere...

Bake it and they will come

When less than half of the American people actively participate (read: vote) in the politics of their country, it is often imperitive to provide an incentive for involvement.

My solution? Cookies.

I've found that a tasty incentive for citizens to take interest in all things civic are merely a hot oven away.

During my tenure as Adrian College's Student Government Association, oh so many years ago, I was faced with dwindling student interest in the organization that represents student interests. Say what you will about the effectiveness or even relevance of the organization - SGA was still the only student-run organization that had the budget and the responsibility to Get Things Done. Faced with disinterest and apathy on campus, I thought, "What would draw me to a meeting?"

My answer was treats. If you can't involve students in their own governance on ideals alone, you can entice them into participation by the governing will of their collective sweet tooth.

Bake it and they will come.

And come they did. Our student attendence in SGA meetings from 2001 to 2002 rose steadily, and I think it was because of the cookies (and punch and, often, cider) we provided. An A-frame sign on the mall, announcing when and where meeting were held, was also effective, but it lacked the romance and allure of chocolate chips and sprinkles. I was lucky to have an executive board with the foresight (and creativity) to make it all happen. And frankly, they liked cookies, too.

I can hear the arguments already. "But Dave," you may be asking, "shouldn't participation in governing bodies be an incentive enough? Didn't Plato warn that one's apathy toward government runs the risk of being governed by one's inferiors? Should cookies be a last resort?"

My answer is yes. But my counter-question would be: what do you know that works better than cookies?

Also: what could contribute more to the enjoyment and warm glow of budget items and bylaw debates than snacks? I would also ask, if a governing body can afford and provide a simple alternative to coersion, why not?

(The cookies I brought to last night's ATO meeting were a hit. They even won an award - the first inanimate objects, I believe, to win - and earned a parking spot in the house's driveway. Too bad there were none left by meeting's end.)

I read one writer propose that our Election Day should be a national holiday. Give everyone the day off of work (like Thanksgiving or Labor Day) and they will more likely get out and vote.

I would add cookies to that equation. When I went to vote this past Tuesday, the volunteers were friendly and the voting center was sheltered from the wind and cold, sure, but where were the treats? Where was the steaming coffee and the cinnamon-and-sugared donuts? I would more gladly perform my patriotic duty with a full belly and a caffeine buzz. What would it cost? A few dollars, maybe?

The rewards would be far greater than gustational happiness, I think.