In Conclusion, For the Sake of Posterity

This will be the sixth and concluding post for the series (one two three four five six-today) I have written on the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  By now you are probably sick of navigating to this blog and reading about it.  Some of the writing has been rather long winded, violating the unwritten rule of 250 words or less for a readable post.  You probably think it is time to stop focusing on this and get back to living our lives.

It is precisely this reason that prompted me to write so extensively on the topic.  Posterity must comprehend present reality.  We lived these events, but those who have not lived them need to read and understand accounts of these events to insure history does not repeat its self.  This is our responsibility today.

Irresponsibility is exemplified in the words of Tom Engelhardt's Al Jazeera English editorial calling us to forget 9/11 and Paul Krugman’s New York Times editorial suggesting "it has become an occasion for shame". As demonstrated over the past few posts, serendipity permitted me to capture the events of 9/11 in my own words in real time ten years ago.  Left unchecked, irresponsibility will erase the weight of those words.

The six posts I have written will be printed and sealed in dated envelopes and tucked away in a safe place.  When the time is right and my children are mature enough to understand the significance, they will receive the envelopes. Mr. Engelhardt and Mr. Krugman, so long as there exist people like me, your wish will never come to fruition.  I hope it never does.

A Decade of Challenging Assumptions

This is a continuation of my series of posts discussing the 10th anniversary of 9/11, today I discuss some of the ways the events effected me in the years to come.

The events of 9/11/01 were not over when the sun went down that Tuesday evening.  We all know it took months to clean up the site of Ground Zero and years until plans were officially put into place for how it would be rebuilt.  September 11 was just a day where the initial event took place.  It was a single point in time that served as a pivot point for everything occurring afterward.  The effect these events had on me personally came in the months and years after.

I am the type of inquisitive person who wants to know how everything works.  I'll take things apart, break things into their components and learn as much as I can along the way.  Here is an account of how I had to break apart my Faith, Knowledge and Patriotism in the past decade and challenge my assumptions.

Faith.

Like many Americans, on the day after 9/11, I went to a church.  Nazareth College has a chapel in the Shults center where they set up an altar with candles to be lit in remembrance.  I kneeled in those pews and prayed.  I prayed for the victims and prayed for answers.  The main question on my mind, "Why?"

At that point in time I was a confirmed Catholic and was relatively comfortable with my faith.  My worldview held the position that there were many different religions and paths in which people experienced generally the same God.  We as a people had to learn to accept and tolerate this, hence my perception of how religious tolerance worked.

As we learned more about al Qaeda and Islamic extremism, it did not make sense to me. How can a group of people believe in killing thousands in the name of their God?  How can that God also be my God?  If God has a plan for this world how could it involve flying planes into buildings and killing thousands?  If that's the case, count me out... I want nothing to do with this "plan"!

I was angry with God.  For at least six months after 9/11, I wanted nothing to do with organized religion.  I loathed having to go to church with the family when I returned home from college on my breaks.  I just went through the motions, present in body and not in spirit.

On the first anniversary of 9/11, the local public broadcasting network (WXXI) aired a special on 9/11 and faith.  I watched the special in the Shults center, adjacent to the same chapel I prayed in a year earlier.  A man told a story of going to a peaceful solitary beach after September 11 where he frequently went previously to be in the presence of God.  He had it out with God. He screamed and yelled at the top of his lungs.  He was angry at God too.  I sat and watched holding back tears because I learned I was not alone in feeling this way.

It was not until 2 or 3 years later until I became comfortable going to church again.  But I returned asking questions.  I returned questioning my assumptions.  I was searching for understanding and continue to do so to this day.

Knowledge.

The answers to my questions never came.  Instead of giving up my quest for answers it only prompted me to dig even deeper.  It just so happens, I was in a perfect position to do so.  I was a freshman at a Liberal Arts college campus, the world was my oyster.

For the next four years I crammed every possible history, philosophy, religious studies and political science class that I could fit into my schedule around the required courses for my Biochemistry degree.  I wanted to know everything I could about how this world worked.

I juggled my schedule to attend lectures and seminars on philosophy, ethics and religion every chance I could get.  I studied the foundations of Buddhism and meditated regularly.  I made it a point to follow and understand the news and read about it as much as I could.

I read books with titles I would no doubt have passed over prior to 9/11.  A few years later while visiting my brother in college for Family Weekend we visited the book store.  On a shelf I saw copies of the government's "9/11 Report" and a copy of the "Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran".  I bought both.  When I set them down at the register, the cashier looked at me and said, "Trying to figure out this world we live in?" "Yes, I am." I answered with cold unwavering determination.

I resolved to myself that even if it takes my entire life to do so, I will work towards understanding how this world works the way it does.

Patriotism.

Understanding our nation following 9/11 was tougher than I thought.  I began to look differently at the Pledge of Allegiance, National anthem, freedoms, liberties and what it meant to sacrifice your life as a member of the armed forces.  I gained a whole new respect for all of this. At the same time it felt as if our attitude regarding our freedoms and liberties got us in trouble to begin with.  We were America... we could do whatever we wanted in the world!  We enjoyed an economic boom through the 90's and we took it for granted.  We got complacent and took our security for granted.  It was only a matter of time before someone came along and slapped us down to size. Right?

Immediately after 9/11 I resisted the urge to become one of those people who immediately put the flag decal in the window of their cars and wear a flag pin everywhere at all times.  Excessive patriotism is what made us arrogant enough to get into this mess to begin with, right?  Anything in extremes, be it religion or patriotism turned me off.

It took me extensive studies of our history, particularly our founding, before I accepted American exceptionalism again. It took me years to challenge my assumptions. We truly are a nation that is blessed in its resources, freedoms and ability to persevere and rise to the most formidable of challenges.

Yesterday dug a flag pin given to me by my grandfather out of my dresser drawer and wore it... proudly.

My Recollection

In a continuation of my series of posts on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, The following is a more detailed account of the events of September 11, 2001 as I remember them today.

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The Tuesday morning of September 11 was a beautiful, clear cloudless day on the Nazareth campus.  In the early morning it was slightly crisp as one would expect on an early fall day.  The light chill was just enough to require a jacket, but I hurried off to my 8:00AM Freshmen English class without it.

My class was an 80 minute Tuesday/Thursday class held in Carrol hall.  Technically it was in a trailer in the parking lot adjacent to Carol hall containing two temporary classrooms.  Upon arriving at Nazareth a few weeks earlier, I was astonished I had to take a class in a trailer after all the money I was spending in tuition!  Much like most Americans that morning, I followed my normal routine and paid attention in class unknowing of the events that were unfolding in the skies above my head.

 

At 9:20 AM after class was dismissed, I chatted briefly with Drew after class.  He was coming to a second section of the same English class as I was leaving so we typically chatted a bit each morning.  Drew asked me if I had heard about the events in New York City.  By this point, both WTC towers had been struck by planes but I don’t think Drew had herd about the second plane (I could be wrong).  All I could think was “How could a pilot accidentally hit such a big building?  What a tragic mistake.”  Drew suggested terrorists, but that just didn’t make sense to me.  People who hijack airplanes ask for a million dollars ransom, not crash into New York City, right?

I wandered through the narrow section of grass behind Carrol hall towards the second floor of Smyth Hall for Dr. Hallahan’s Freshmen Biology lab at 9:30AM.  Some seemed somber and concerned while others knew nothing.  Everyone had differing levels of knowledge of the events.  I promptly began carrying out the assigned experiments for that day’s class.  Seven minutes into class, Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon and 5 minutes later the FAA grounded all flights.

At some point just before 10:00AM, before the collapse of the South tower, Dr. Temple (one of my favorite biology professors at Nazareth) came in and was quietly discussing the events with Dr. Hallahan.  While I was practicing my pipetting technique, Dr. Temple addressed the class telling them that two hijacked planes had crashed into the World Trade Center towers with a third crashing into the Pentagon.  All flights had been grounded but there were unconfirmed reports of more hijacked planes.  In the skies above us, the fight for Flight 93 was unfolding at 9:57AM.  Afternoon and evening classes had been canceled.  We were free to complete our work and head back to our dorm rooms to contact our loved ones.

Several people left.  Some were actually excited because they didn’t want to be stuck in a boring Biology Lab any more.  Not comprehending the full weight of the situation, I wrapped up my experiments (South Tower collapses at 9:59AM), packed up and casually left class sometime around 10:20AM (Pentagon collapsed 5 minutes prior).  Walking back to my dorm room I thought “How bad could this really be?  A few hundred people probably died on each flight.  They will put out the fires.  We will fix up the Towers and Pentagon and things will be as good as new.” The North Tower collapses about the time this thought is running through my mind.

I return to my hot, uncomfortable corner room on the fourth floor of O’Connor 2.  My roommate Brian was not there.  Of course I wanted to know what was going on, so I turned on the TV.  Having just moved in a few weeks prior, I could not remember what channel CNN was located on.  I actually had to search around for the channel listing we were provided when we moved in!  Then I could not find the remote!  Standing no more than 2 feet from the TV I manually flipped to CNN.

There have been very few instances of this happening to me in life, but my jaw actually dropped when I reached CNN.  I gasped.  I physically took two steps back in shock.  On one half of the screen I watched looped footage of the towers falling, on the other, live footage of a permanently changed skyline of New York City with a monstrous dark grey cloud over it… no Twin Towers.

Suddenly… this was serious.

Then began the phone calls.  Dad… no answer at work.  “It’s ok, he’s a machinist working at a secure facility, he will be fine.”, I thought.  Mom… got ahold of her. As a secretary at Lake Shore High School where I had just graduated, she was doing her best to keep the kids calm.  I learn dad’s company went on lockdown.  I learn that my younger brother… witnessed the second plane hit the South Tower on live TV.

My thoughts then begin to turn to others who I may know in New York City.  Heather… a classmate from Lake Shore who is attending New York University.  My Nazareth classmate Andy’s friend Josie… also attending NYU.  Sarah, a new friend we made at Nazareth… whose mother worked at the WTC.  Her mother was 15 minutes late for work that day.  She survived because of this.  As the day continued, the web continued to grow.  Everyone somehow knew someone who was there.

As the number of firefighters and first responders killed in these attacks became apparent, my thoughts turned to several of my friends from High School who were very active in the local EMT and fire departments.  In the days following I remember calling my friend Megan and telling her that I did not want her to be an EMT any longer for fear of losing her in an event like this.

As the afternoon of September 11 wore on, most of us stayed inside huddled together in front of the TV news channels, occasionally stepping out to make or answer phone calls.  Learning the true depth of the events that happened that morning was too much.  We sought release from this cruel world we woke up to that morning.

We learned that the MTV studios located in Times Square had shut down broadcasting.  The silver lining to this was that the channel began to live up to its name and broadcast non-stop music videos.  Normally they broadcast crappy shows that no one had any interest in but now we could enjoy some of our favorite music videos that we had not seen much of in years.

In the evening, we had rented some movies.  They were comedies, though I can’t remember exact titles.  “The Mask” sticks in my head as one of the movies we watched part of.  Either way, there was not much laughing going on.  I don’t recall seeing the president address the nation at 8:20PM that night.  We had enough by that point.

As the night drew to a close, I remember trying to fall asleep concerned for what attacks tomorrow would potentially bring.  Questions raced through my mind. No answers. I had no idea that this one day would put me on the path it has in the years to come.

My Lost 10 Year old 9/11 Commentary

This is the third installment of posts focusing on the ten year anniversary of 9/11. Much of these posts are excerpts from a now inactive personal website I kept and wrote to at the time these events unfolded.

From the shambles of virtual pages that made up my old personal website there is a commentary piece written there titled "Something Has Been Taken From Us" dated 10/7/01.  Here is what I wrote. There is some editing of grammar and emphasis added by me today.

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Something has been taken from us.

It hurts me deeply to know that the day I walk the streets of New York City, I will not be able to gaze upward and see the enormous twin towers looming over me. I will not see this magnificent sight which so many others before me have seen. My children will not be able to see this sight. Only in pictures and movies will this site continue to live on. I and those who come after me will see nothing but the blue sky. For this great and awe inspiring sight has been taken from us. It has been taken by a group of people who had a point to prove. They decided it would be proper to prove it by destroying a landmark of one of America’s greatest cities.

People have been taken. Over five thousand* 2,996 people can no longer walk, live and work among the streets of New York City. These people were mothers and daughters, fathers and sons. They were grandparents, uncles, aunts, and nieces and nephews to someone out there. They were friends, family and coworkers alike. These people were only carrying out their day to day activities, yet the lives of these people were taken because someone decided to take them in order to show the hate they feel.

Our security has been taken. We can no longer progress leisurely through airports. We are under the constant watch of FBI, police, U.S. Martials and customs Agents. We are no longer allowed the conveniences of curbside check in and so forth. We are now forced to go through two-hour lines at airports, sporting events and even Disney land, as we must allow security to inspect every bag to ensure that everyone is safe. Our children have been shaken and now they sleep each night in a state of worry. All this is because someone took our security to scare us into respecting his or her beliefs.

Jobs have been taken. Thousands of jobs have been lost. Billions of dollars of money has been lost in income. Businesses have been destroyed. [Over] Two hundred stories and 10,000,000 [square] feet of office space between both towers have been decimated. Other buildings around the World Trade Center towers have also been destroyed along with their businesses. Our economy has been shaken as deeply as the foundations of the World Trade Center its self. This was done just because a group of people in this world wanted us to notice them.

What has not been taken from us is our freedom. It has been set forth in our Declaration of Independence that we have unalienable rights, which [among them] are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Though lives were lost, our foundations of liberty shaken and happiness shattered they are unalienable rights and are stronger than ever. What has not been taken from us is of far greater value than all that has been taken. It is not something to take for granted but it is not something to overly brag about. All we need to do is look at the flag in honor and respect and remember what we have gone through to gain those rights we continue to retain. Indeed, we have had something taken from us, but think about what has not been taken.

~~Glen~~
10/7/01

*At the time this original commentary was published, the estimated death tolls were much higher than they actually turned out to be.

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Note the line in the last paragraph regarding our unalienable rights, "It is not something to take for granted but it is not something to overly brag about."  This foreshadows some of the attitudes I carried over the longer term towards 9/11.  I'll explain further in some of my next posts.

10 years ago... from Monday, 9/12/01

Yesterday was the first post in a multi-post series on the 10th anniversary of September 11.  I shared what I wrote as a college freshmen to the journal section of my own personal website (which is now thoroughly defunct).  Just innocent typical concerns of a young college student in a quiet world.

Here is what I wrote on September 12, 2011.  The Wednesday after the September 11 attacks. Again, no editing, just the words I wrote that day.

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Wednesday, September 12, 2001

    In response to yesterday's events I hope that everyone back home is ok and good and calm. Classes were canceled here in the afternoon and evening and most of us just hung out and watched the news reports. After a while a bunch of us needed something to get our minds off the tragedy so we rented some good funny movies.

    It is a lot different experiencing something like this in college rather than in our little town of Derby/Angola. It seems that everyone here knew someone or has family there in New York. I am friends with a girl who has a mother and father who live in New York. Her mother worked in the World Trade Center and if she were 15 minutes earlier for work... she would have been dead. She is ok though. Her daughter was a wreck but she's doing well too. I thought about Heather, because if you don't already know, she is attending NYU. She too is ok. Just so everyone knows.

    My grandmother even called me yesterday afternoon and mentioned how this resembles Pearl Harbor in her time. I can see the parallel here. For our generation this is the closest thing to Pearl Harbor we have lived through. We have witnessed the Oklahoma City Bombing, the World Trade Center Bombing and several Embassy bombings. These were cowardly acts of terrorism which were done for no better reason than to scare us. This tragedy though is much more. It is a coordinated effort in which targets were systematically determined. An economic center like the World Trade Center, a strategic military center like the Pentagon and possibly other targets which we don't yet know about. These targets were hit multiple times in the case of the WTC. Although our own transportation system was used against us and no conventional weapons of war were used, this attack was not merely a terrorist attack, but an act of war.

    In the following weeks and months we will be finding those responsible for this act of war and I am confident that we will make them pay. As the land of liberty and freedom, we well certainly make sure that those responsible will not be capable of such an act again. If this requires a war... then we must face the future. It is too soon to tell yet. So, I pray for everyone at home, the victims, the relatives of victims and everyone in this nation to be strong and come together so we can face this. I urge you to do the same thing too and keep a positive attitude as we continue on from here.

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In  a second entry dated September 21, 2001 when it became more apparent who perpetrated this attack against us, this is what I wrote.

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Friday, September 21, 2001

    Hi everyone. Well, it looks as if the United States is kind of going to war, I guess? It is a terrible thing that has to be done but we just have to come together as a nation and face this. There is no need to worry your selves about this. We are the world military super power. We will prevail over the evil that is responsible for this. Once again I want to urge everyone to say a prayer (or just think a minute if your are not religious) for the soldiers who will be shipped out and the victims and their families. Then maybe we will finally take those words in the pledge of allegiance more seriously than taking them for granted like we have for the past 12 years of reciting them in school.

    I for one will never listen to the words of the Pledge or National anthem and feel the same way again.

...

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I find it an astonishing coincidence that I just so happened to be writing a personal journal on a personal website at this point in history.  It is amazing to me that I inadvertently captured the somber feeling of those days in writing.

10 Years ago... yesterday - 9/8/01

I'm going to write a short series of posts this weekend reflecting on the 10th anniversary of September 11.  I know, my self diagnosed ADD is taking me all over the place in terms of topics these days, but I feel compelled to write as the ideas come.  After all, the events of 9/11 affected me pretty deeply and had a pretty significant effect on shaping me in the past decade.  It deserves some pause and exploration.

Ten years ago yesterday was 9/8/01.  It was a Saturday.  It was only my third weekend away from home attending college at Nazareth.  It was a time before blogging became as popular as it is today.  Facebook was still a figment of Mark Zuckerberg's imagination and the internet was still somewhat of a new technolgy present in day to day life.  I was into toying around with the internet in high school, so I built my own web page (Titled "Take a Seat Next to Me")and taught my self how to code simple HTML.  I was much more of a nerd then than I was now.  (Who am I kidding... I'm still a nerd.  Probably more so!)

Here is what I wrote to the jouirnal page on Saturday, September 8, 2001.  Ten years ago from yesterday. No editing, just the words I wrote that day.

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Saturday, September 8, 2001

    Well after another very busy week of college I am enjoying the weekend. It's so fricken hot in our room! If anyone back home just happens to have an extra air conditioner lying around, please send it to O'Connor 2 Rm. 417. Thank you!

    Well, I am starting my job next week. I have the best job. I am getting paid for doing nothing right now because our training session ended at 12 but was scheduled to go until 3 so we get paid till 3. I am working in the computer service department so I get paid to watch the computer labs, help people out and do my homework. It's an awesome job! Now with my schedule getting filled up my goals for next week include mastering time management. We will see how that goes!

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I find it funny that I mention mastering time management.  That's something I have yet to do a decade later!  This is just typical activities and concerns in the quiet world of an average college freshmen.

Why the WI teacher union complaints don't add up... It's in the math.

It seems that every time I travel to my homestead of Buffalo to visit my parents, I must invariably come armed for a debate on current politics and/or labor unions because the conversation inevitably turns down that road. My parents are vigorously pro-union and that is fine if that is what you believe in. Since I have moved out, I have done my own homework and have come to my own conclusions on unions (which are a little less favorable).

It is important to note that though I may have problems with unions, I do not have problems with the individuals who are in them. My parents both work very hard and are very good at what they do. I admire that. I however cannot admire some of the things that labor unions as a whole stand for and advocate.

During my last trip home I performed a thought experiment that I found very provocative. The scenario involves the case of teachers unions that urge cuts to administrator’s salaries as a means of closing budget gaps. Sounds good right? It’s similar to Gov. Cuomo’s recent proposal to cap superintendent salaries (which I actually agree with).

Well, let’s analyze this idea. Just to be fair, I am going to apply this analysis to the Brighton Central School district of which I currently reside in and I will use real numbers where ever possible (referencing and describing assumptions where possible). I am doing this to demonstrate my argument not with political rhetoric but with simple mathematics… a language in which it is far more difficult to lie because we all know how to add, subtract, multiply and divide. Right?

The Brighton Central School district (as of 2010-11) with a budget of $62 million, teaches 3,512 students in 1 high school (gr. 9-12), 1 middle school (gr. 6-8), 1 grade school (gr. 3-5) and 1 elementary school (gr. K-2). The Brighton District has a reputation for being one of the better schools around the Greater Rochester Region (feel free to look at the stats on the school yourself).

Now let’s say Brighton is facing a budget crisis (which they may very well be… I am not sure if they are) and they need to make some cuts. There are 356 professional staff (which I assume means teachers) making a median salary of $59,871. For simplicity, let’s round that to $60,000 and not include additional compensation like bonuses, retirement, health and vacation benefits. (For additional info on average teacher salaries and benefits in various states.)

Let’s count one superintendent, one assistant superintendent (2 total) and one principal and assistant principal for each of four schools (8 total for the district) for a total of 10 administrators. The average salary for a superintendent in NY is $163,000. Let’s just round that up to $170,000 for simplicity and to capture some of the bonuses and added benefits. And assume both chief and assistant super’s make the same salary. Let’s assume our 8 principals (assistant and chief) make $100,000, which is rounded up slightly from the $93,000 figure I found (again, to incorporate bonuses, benefits, etc). I believe these are all fair assumptions. Feel free to point out where they are not.

Now here’s where it gets a little nasty: the district says “We need to cut teacher compensation by 5% to close our budget gap.” The Teacher Union says, “Screw you! Cut the compensation of those rich S.O.B. administrators instead! They are making all the money.” This inevitably leads to name calling, strikes, picket lines, yelling protests and potentially 15 state Senators hiding from their jobs across state lines in say... Illinois. But we’re smarter than that, so let’s put all that aside and look at the numbers, shall we?

On average, a 5% teacher pay cut looks like this:

Each teacher would loose (on average) $3,000 in pay per year while it would save the district just over a million dollars a year, or about 1.7% of the overall district budget. But teachers are middle class working folk, the administrators are rich snobs and make nearly double what the teachers make! Sock those S.O.B’s!

Here’s what a cut to their salary looks like. And we’re going to wring those rich bastards really good… with a 10% pay cut!

Awesome! We slapped those rich administrators with deep cuts of ten and seventeen thousand dollars saving the district a total of… a measly $114,000 a year (or 0.2% of the budget)!

Taking a closer look at the numbers shows that you would have to completely eliminate the salaries of the 10 administrators all together in order to have the same effect as cutting teacher pay a modest 5%..

Why is this? Well, teacher compensation accounts for a far greater percentage of the budget than administrator compensation.Take home message: In a business hierarchy, the people at the bottom are much more of a budgetary expense than the people at the top because there are far more of them. This same analysis could potentially apply to any corporation or business.

I am not advocating that we excessively cut teacher pay. It is a difficult and important job and if you cut it too much, no one will want to be a teacher. Same goes for working as a school administrator. I think in reality, cuts at all levels are going to have to be realized in order to close budget gaps.

There you have it. I probably pissed off a lot of people by pointing this out… but please let me know how the numbers are lying to us.

By the way, I would like to thank my math teachers for teaching me how to think this way. :-)

Yay for “tax cuts” or “tax status quo”

Big news this week. Hell must have frozen over because there was finally something that both congressional Democrats and Republicans could agree to, a bill extending the tax cuts put into place by former President Bush. The very same ones he vowed to repeal on the campaign trail (don’t have a link for that one yet). The bill also included maintaining the tax rates for those evil evil top 1% of earners. I know… how dare they work hard to be successful and not share with the rest of us lazy people who don’t want to work hard, right?

I’m not going to advocate the need for increasing taxes in these difficult economic times. I think that would probably make things a lot worse. People would have a lot less money to spend and the economy would probably start to slow down again. However this bill simply does not make ANY sense. First off, the bill that was just signed is not a tax cut. No one’s taxes are going down, they are just staying at the rates established by President Bush. It should be more appropriately named the “Tax Status Quo Bill”. The main reason why I have difficulty with this bill is because of the 13 month extension of unemployment benefits. Again, being in a position where you are on unemployment must be very difficult and (like tax increases) I am not advocating an elimination of extensions of benefits. It too would probably make things worse. But these two things coupled together simply makes no sense to me!

It costs money for the government to pay people who are temporarily out of work. The government gets its money from taxation. So we are going to continue to pay more of our money to people who are out of work but not increase the revenue stream that we are using to pay them? WTF? In what universe does this add up? This is like me quitting my job on Monday morning then going out to buy a 50 inch plasma screen television that afternoon. I would be bankrupt by Friday with that kind of logic.

The only way I can see this working is if the unchanged tax rates spur further economic growth thus prompting more tax revenue to be taken in by the government via Art Laffer’s supply side economic theory (nerd alert, nerd alert… I apologize). Don’t look now, but if this works, you “tax and spend democrats” have just endorsed supply side economics and turned your backs on your “soak the rich” ways. You may have some explainin’ to do!

I however remain skeptical as President Bush’s tax rates have not really spurred much growth over the past couple of years and they have left my paycheck and wallet feeling kind of light.

What ever happened to the phrase "In bad taste"?

Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach center in Gainesville, Florida is planning on burning copies of the Quran (the holy book of the religion of Islam) on September 11. How that is any sort of rational outreach to the rest of the world is beyond me. It's going to put our troops overseas in harms way. He should be prevented from doing this, right?

Well, this is where that annoying libertarian voice in me starts to speak.

People are free in this country to burn the United States Flag in protest, don white robes and burn crucifixes, burn copies of the Quran/Bible, etc., write and air satirical cartoons depicting Jesus and or the Prophet Muhammad, make art works depicting the Virgin Mary out of elephant dung... hell, even an Imam can build a Mosque adjacent to Ground Zero!

What's common between these things? For starters, they are all things that have actually happened (or may happen in the case of Terry Jones' plans)... read the list again, surprising to consider all of this as reality!

One may suggest that these actions are all done "In bad taste". Have we forgotten what this means? There are various things that we are free to do, but choose not to do them because they are simply in bad taste. It is these things that usually are not very helpful at fostering outreach and building bridges to begin with. How much outreach and "bridge-building" is Quran burning (or Mosque building at Ground Zero for that matter) really going to foster? However, the concept of "bad taste" does not seem to matter any more.

Since this is [unfortunately] the case, we are put in a position where we have to civilly disagree. By that I mean we can choose not watch the satirical cartoon and view the piece of artwork we find offensive. We can chose no longer to attend the Dove World Outreach center. Civility is key though because if you wish to disagree by physically harming those who offend you (like those over seas might do towards our troops), that too is "in bad taste" and it just continues the cycle over and over.

Quite possibly the most amazing scaled image I have ever seen!

I recently stumbled across this the other day from the following website. It is a graphic that is drawn to scale showing the features of the planet from the highest point on Mount Everest down to the lowest point of the Oceans. It is meant to depict how deep the Deep Water Horizon drilling rig was actually drilling for oil before its accident. That in its self is pretty incredible, but this graphic also has lots of facts and bits of information about the rest of the planet. I think it’s fascinating.

TIP: Try saving the image, opening it up in a separate window, zoom out on the image and view it all at once. That really puts the incredible extremes of our planet into perspective!

I think this also sets a personal record for me… physically the LONGEST blog post EVER!

Episode #1: STFU already!

This is the first edition of something new I am going to try. You know how sometimes there are just certain voices in the world that just keep spouting off to the point where all you want to do is shout "STFU already!!!"? (That's STFU = shut the fu#@ up, for those of you not down with the abbreviations.) Well, here's a column (with hopefully many episodes to come) dedicated to those special people

1. Helen Thomas

Telling the Jews to "Get the hell out of Palestine." Oh my! Could you think of anything more controversial, racial or antisemitic to say? Now I know you are like 320 years old and probably pretty senile, but with all that experience being in the press corps, shouldn't you be better at being an unbiased reporter of the news? Though your stellar record indicates otherwise. So please...

STFU already!!!

2. Paul McCartney

Recently won an award from the Library of Congress (The Gershwin Prize) and upon accepting the award stated how after the past 8 years "...it's great to have a president who knows what a library is." HA HA HA... HA HA HA... oh, look at the celebrity make fun of President Bush's intelligence. So edgy and fresh. We've never seen that before. Except isn't Bush's wife Laura a librarian and a teacher... and didn't President Bush graduate from Yale, which I am pretty sure you need to know how to read in order to be accepted. Come to think of it, Paul, you never even went to college! You're no comedian Paul, so stick to writing songs (though thouse kind of suck anyway).

STFU already!!!

3. Arianna Huffington

According to you the Gulf oil spill was "...a thousand percent Bush-Cheny's fault." OMFG! Thousands of people blaming Haliburton and Bush/Cheny for the spill... really does nothing to solve the problem now does it? How far are people going to push this passing of the blame concept? Gulf oil spill... Bush/Cheny's fault, We're stuck in Iraq... Bush/Cheny's fault, I failed my math test... Bush/Cheny's fault, I have a paper cut on my finger... Bush Cheny's fault.

STFU already!!!

4. Barack Obama (Honorable Mention)

Not too long ago I herd a sound bite where President Obama gave a warning to the Jonas brothers about making a pass on his daughters. "I have 2 words for you... Predator Drones." OK, I am going to have to give the President props here. I withhold my STFU already! and instead deliver a Pretty damn funny! You know there are other fathers worried about their daughters out there who would love to have some Predator Drones at their disposal. he he he.

I can't believe I am compelled to write commentary about a spelling bee.

Neetu Chandak, 14 year old Seneca Falls student was recently eliminated from the Scripps National Spelling Bee when she spelled the word paravane incorrectly (incorrectly spelled p-e-r-o-v-a-n-e, for those of you keeping score at home). Incorrect, very sorry, good job, try again next year, end of story... right? Not exactly.

Mom stepped in and protested that her daughter was "mislead" when the judges told her that the word was of Greek origin. O.K., I suppose I understand since the Merriam-Webster dictionary has the etymology of the word placed in French and English origins, but one could argue that if she knew how to spell the word properly to begin with, the judge's actions would not be an issue. Does the average 14 year old even know how to spell this word let alone know if it is Greek, French or Swahili in origin?

I want to give the competitor the benefit of the doubt but this strikes me as a manifestation of society of coddling, entitlement and general protection from failure that some children are raised under. It's not just children doing this though. How many baseball fans this week bitched and moaned because Bud Selig would not (at the time of this post) overturn a botched call that would have given Detroit Tigers pitcher a perfect game?

Also buried in this article is this line:

"The audience gasped, shoulders slumped, and speller after speller was escorted offstage to the comfort room as the 48 semifinalists were whittled down..."

Comfort room?

I've played my share of competitive sports (mainly baseball for 9 years, didn't really get into the competitive spelling scene). I was on teams that had losing seasons (losing every single game) and winning seasons (winning every single game). There was no "comfort room" to retreat to when you lost. You just learned how to shake it off, dust your self off, learn from mistakes made and try harder again next game. Loosing was tough, but it made the winning moments so much more coveted and appreciated.

What are these kids going to do when they get into the real world where there is no "comfort room" to retreat to when bad things happen? There's no comfort room for when you lose your job or your business fails. There's no comfort room to retreat to when you are a surgeon who loses a patient on the operating table due to a mistake. And no amount of protesting from mommy is going to fix life's inevitable bumps and failures. You just need to learn from it and figure out how to move forward.

Maybe I am being too harsh, but perhaps learning from failure is a passing concept.

Our Generation’s 3-Mile Island.

This morning I was reading about the tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. You would have to be living under a rock in order to miss this story in the news as it has been going on for the past month. Most recently, BP’s '”top kill” method has unfortunately failed to seal the leak and stop the flow of oil.

As I read the story I realized that we are living our generation’s equivalent of the Three Mile Island disaster. For those of you who are not familiar, the Three Mile Island disaster involved a nuclear power plant located near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania that in 1979, released a significant amount of radiation into the environment. Since this accident, there has not been a single approval or construction of a new nuclear power plant in the United States. During the same time period, other countries have turned to nuclear power as their major source of clean energy production (like France – 78% of electricity from nuclear).

I am willing to believe that history will repeat its self here in the aftermath of the Deep Water Horizon accident and spill. We will likely be very reluctant to grant any more licenses to drill new oil wells within the United States, and more cumbersome regulation will occur for those wells that already exist. From here on it may also be the turning point where some other countries will begin to lead the way in safe extraction and utilization of oil as a resource while we sit on the resources beneath our feet leaving them and unused.

Though the spill in the Gulf is a terrible tragedy, I do not believe that our course should involve quitting the extraction of oil in the same cold-turkey fashion as use of nuclear power. I can imagine that eons ago, the caveman who first discovered fire probably burned him self, maybe his friends/family… perhaps even burned down his house, neighborhood or forest! But did not stop man from working with fire. If we stopped, we could still be living in caves today. We figured it out despite the risks and occasional accidents involved. We were better off for it.

What is the price of our rights and political representation?

Governor Patterson is resisting the urge to hold a special election to replace the disgraced congressman Eric Massa in the 29th district (my own district). His reasoning... the state of New York can not afford to hold a special election because of their budget problems.

Whether this is really for budgetary reasons or political reasons, essentially the Governor of New York State has placed a price on the voting rights and representation of every voting resident of the 29th district. How does that feel?

Normally, I am all for fiscal conservatism. I think that budgets, both state and federal have ballooned beyond sustainable levels and must be brought within control. There are however certain things that budgets MUST account for... police and fire departments, military for security and defense, education (keeping expenditures here reasonable), running the court system and maintaining the process of our representative government.

That means that special elections, despite them being an unexpected cost burden, must be held in a timely manner. Anything less is a reckless disregard for the voting and representation rights of the electorate in the particular district in question.

The consequences? Well... just think, throughout the final votes on the health care reconciliation bill, I had absolutely no elected official to contact and cast a vote on behalf of my district.

So I say to you Governor Patterson... I hope that our rights are worth for all those savings you will accumulate in your state budget. I would love to know how much money you saved for denying me of my vote and representation.

The pen is mightier than the sword.

It does not surprise me that a violent backlash against democratic congressional supporters of the HCR bill are now receiving threats and getting bricks thrown through offices. Despite the obvious public disapproval of the HCR bill, these actions are simply not proper behavior.

One thing is important to note here, the violence is something that should not be politicized as both conservatives and liberals are or have demonstrated violent behavior. (Examples of violence from liberal sources here - and here)

It simply makes no sense to politicise this behavior because it reduces us to the level of children bickering and finger-pointing on a playground. Violence will do nothing more than marginalize the views of those committing the violent acts. Consirvitive voices will be ignored because Tea Party members are considered violent gun toting bigots. Liberal voices will be ignored because they are considered tree hugging hippies. Neither of these generalizations are true.

Over the past year or so I have urged family and friends to make a difference not by picking up a brick, but by picking up their pen/phone/computer and writing a letter, e-mail or making a phone call. This is what our founders did as they penned the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. I hope and pray that our country is not entering into a period of revolution that turned violent as it did during the 1960's. If we follow that road, we will end up with a revolution like that of France where heads were rolling in the streets.

Rug pulled from under my feet...

There have been a few times in my life where something happens and it feels as if the rug has just been violently ripped out from under my feet. Something so great as to shake the very core of my being and force me to rethink the way I approach the world around me. Recently, I have had several personal experiences that have met those criteria.

The death of a young man named Peter Cannon was a major story in the news around the greater Rochester region over the past month or so. Peter was 18 years old and lost his life in a car accident while on his way to go cross country skiing (one of his favorite activities). Peter is Emily’s brother… he would have been my brother-in-law. This tragedy has cast a dark dark cloud over the family in the past month or so.

The outpouring of sympathy and support for Emily and her family has been unlike anything I have seen. The experience of seeing Emily’s parents stand by their 18 year old son’s bedside to the very last minute of his life is a heartbreaking that I wish no one should ever have to witness or live through.

So what happens next? How do you rationalize this? I lost my Grandfather in the middle of last summer, but that had a completely different feel to it. It was tragic, but deep down; we all know that we will eventually lose our grandparents (we just don’t like to think about it). But you are not supposed to lose the younger members of your family. Right? This experience is one big slap in the face for me to wake up and cherish the times with the people that you never expect to lose.

Peter was very active with volunteering in the community and helping others out. Perhaps this can be rationalized by noting that now there will be a scholarship set up in his honor that will help many students pay for college. Some of Peter’s organs were also donated allowing for the lives of others to be saved. Maybe it is like a Mitch Abom - “5 People You Meet in Heaven” story where one day we’ll learn that one of those people that was saved went on to cure cancer or something. It is a warm fuzzy thought, but a painfully difficult story to live.

So I am left with the “rug pulled from under me” feeling. No answers or rational explanation. No clear idea of what to do next. Anger and confusion dominate. No scientist like me likes to be in a situation without answers and a rational understanding. I fear I will never have these answers despite a lifetime of searching.

No one should ever have to experience these things.

PBO - SOTU Address - 2010

Being the "arm chair" politician that I am, I of course watched the State of the Union address last night. I was pretty wiped out after playing volleyball, so I only watched until 10PM.

Three remarks I must make.

1. Not once in the time that I watched the speech did the President look directly into the camera and into the eyes of the American people viewing at home. He looked left... into his teleprompter. He looked right... into his teleprompter. It looked like he was watching the pendulum of a grandfather clock swinging... left, right, left, right. Mr. President, I beg of you... TALK TO US. Don't speak to us like a an anchor reading us the nightly news.

2. A noteworthy funny moment that I picked up on while watching. While describing the deficits built up over the past decade, the poor economic growth and getting into two wars without proper funding he never once said "I inherited this mess from President Bush/previous administration". He didn't use any of those words explicitly placing blame on Bush (but the message was clear without much subtlety). This was evident when immediately as the Pres said this, the camera showed Sen. McCain turning to his right and saying "Blame it on Bush". You could not hear him but you could clearly read his lips. It was the comical event of the night and made me laugh out loud. Mr. President, I beg of you... quit blaming the last guy in charge before you arrived. Not because I am a "Bush lover" but you knew what was going on before you took office (I recall you being a Senator, and I think they work in D.C. as well). You applied for the job of President, you knew the problems facing the office of the Presidency, you got the job... TAKE RESPONSIBILITY!

3. I went to sleep before seeing this one but... you called out the Supreme court!? WTF? As I recall from my grade school social studies class, the Judicial Branch (Supreme Court) is one of three branches of government that are co-equal in power. You can't tell them what to do. It is their job to interpret the laws passed by the legislative branch and how they are enforced by the executive branch. Why call them out on a ruling they made? Mr. President, I beg of you... go READ A COPY OF THE CONSTITUTION you took an oath to uphold.

Obama... Nobel... WTF?

Can someone please explain to me what this president has done to deserve being bestowed the Nobel Peace prize!?

Here's a quote from the AP:

"President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in a stunning decision designed to build momentum behind his initiatives..." (emphasis added)

So let me get this straight, Obama was awarded the Nobel prize as a means to building momentum in achieving his initiatives. Has he actually achieved any of his initiatives? I think Saturday Night Live answered that question last week.

So basically the Nobel Peace Prize has now become one giant "A for Effort" award. It's like giving the Buffalo Bills the Vince Lombardi trophy in the hopes that it will put momentum behind the team towards winning the Super Bowl!

On a related note, I have been doing some thinking... I am officially announcing that I am planning on curing cancer in all forms all over the world over the next year. For this lofty well intentioned initiative, I humbly accept the 2010 Nobel Prize in Medicine.
HA!

Why wouldn't you get the H1N1 vaccine? No really... why?

Everyone has probably herd about this H1N1 (A.K.A. Swine flue) and the vaccine that has recently come out for it. Great, right? Dole out those vaccinations and get everyone cured ASAP!

Well, that's not exactly the sentiment among the masses these days. Especially in New York where health care workers are being mandated to receive the vaccine (drawing protests). In a recent Consumer Reports poll, 21% of those polled said they would definitely not get the vaccine. Some mothers are freaking out about the prospect of the government forcing the vaccination of their children.

But of course those people refusing the vaccination are aluminum-foil hat wearing conspiracy theory nutcases, right? I mean there were mandated vaccinations for me to go into college, like meningitis. Now that disease can lead to loss of entire limbs... so by all means, vaccinate the hell out of me for that one! But I can kind of see where those aluminum-foil hat wearing conspiracy theory nutcases are coming from.

Let's take a look back:

• Bill Clinton said "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." ... He did.
• George Bush said Iraq possessed Weapons of Mass destruction... they did not.
• Barrack Obama said we must pass the stimulus package to keep unemployment from going above 8%... we're currently sitting at 9.8%
• Then there's of course the various Senators, Congressman and Cabinet members with their own slew of tax problems and legal issues.
• And... let's not forget the issues behind Viox, Zycam and numerous other medications the pharmaceutical companies claimed were safe.
  

Now these same people in the government are telling us we should get the H1N1 Flue vaccine. Hmmm...

It seems to me that the real issue here is not people's fear of the vaccine, but rather a lack of trust in who is urging us to take it. It's a modern day real life story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf".

Now I am not saying you should refuse the vaccine if recommended! You need to do your own homework for coming to that personal decision. But I can understand why some might be apprehensive.

I mean really... we're only talking about trusting the government here. And they have been spot-on with EVERYTHING over the past 15 years, am I right? :-p
Trust your own instincts.

“Please sir, may I have some Moore?”

So Brad and I saw the most recent Michael Moore movie on Friday night. I saw this movie of my own free will, which I think warrants a pat on my back for open mindedness on my part! As with most Michael Moor movies, I am confident that it will be widely accepted as dogmatic truth without anyone doing their homework and looking into the claims he is making. That's not how I roll though. Severe fact checking will follow on my part.

What I liked (yes, there were things I liked!):

1. He pointed out how many high ranking members (including Tim Geithner) of the U.S. Dept. of Treasury in the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations were high ranking executives at many of the banks that failed and/or were bailed out. Hmm… Work for a huge bank, run it into the ground, get hired by the U.S. Treasury then make policy to prop up the bank you ran like crap… can you say "conflict of interest"?
   
2. Moore brings attention to the "Friends of Angelo", people who received special rates on mortgages from Angelo Mozilo (CEO – Countrywide), among them, Sen. Christopher Dodd and Sen. Kent Conrad. Moore calls for the Dept. of Justice investigation of people "… in BOTH the Clinton and Bush administration who benefited from this." (Emphasis added) His lack of partisanship in looking at some of these issues in the movie is actually quite refreshing!
   
3. He interviewed Democrat representatives who complained about how the very first bailout package from Sec. Paulson was was so forcefully rushed through the voting process. There was much more apprehension and opposition from the Democratic party towards this bailout than I thought.
   

What I didn't like:

1. Moore's use of the Flight 3407 Plane crash that occurred near Buffalo as an example of Capitalism gone wrong. Flight tapes indicate that among other things, the pilots were discussing how they were not paid much and had to work second jobs. Moore's claim, if the pilots were better paid they would not be so tired from working second jobs and would not have lost control of the plane. Exploiting the loss of innocent life in an accident to promote one's anti-capitalist agenda disgusted me almost to the point where I left the theater.
   
2. Throughout the movie, Moore shows footage of people being evicted from their foreclosed homes, sometimes by law enforcement. Though it is sad and somewhat disturbing to watch, there is no explanation as to how those people got to that point. Did they have emergency savings accounts? Were they living beyond their means? Were they greedy/irresponsible with credit card debt, borrowing against the equity of their home or sub-prime mortgages they could not pay back? Believe it or not banks don't just decide to take your house for shits and giggles… you have to give them a good reason for them to do so!
   
3. His use of the "promote the general welfare" clause of the Constitution to call for such things as universal housing, healthcare, etc. This meaning is COMPLETELY contrary to what The Father of the Constitution James Madison has stated. Think of how this Madison quote fits in today! Chilling huh?
   
4. Moore closes the movie by suggesting that the solution to the problem is to replace capitalism with democracy. What? This makes no sense. The last time I checked, democracy is a system of government while capitalism is an economic system. Categorically, two completely different (though not totally unrelated) things.
   

What I need to learn more about:

1. The Carter and Regan administrations. I was not alive for Carter and I was 6 when Regan left office… forgive me if my history of that era is a little blurred!
   
2. "Dead peasant" life insurance policies taken out by companies to cover the death of their employees.