Petition This!

It seems everybody wants me to sign a petition. I've certainly signed my share of petitions in this lifetime, so many, in fact, that if the FBI doesn't have a file on me by now I will have to consider mine a life not well lived. Petitions are perfect for arm chair activists such as myself: they allow me to have a say without really committing myself to anything.

The problem is, petitions don't wield near the power they once did. The Web has made them a dime a dozen, saturated the market, so to speak. If it's an online petition, almost anyone can sign it, there are no age or residency requirements, and it can often be signed more than once by the same person by simply using a different email address. Any self-respecting government official, religious leader, or company CEO that is the target of a petition campaign knows that a web-based petition carries very little weight.

I'm constantly sending emails to congressional representatives, government agency heads, and corporate presidents; I have a growing list of companies and industries that I boycott; and I routinely make financial donations to select causes and organizations. I almost never sign petitions. I wonder which of Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue's staffers is the poor soul that gets to respond to my emails. Should get a raise.

Anyway, I recently came across Avaaz.org and was particularly struck (annoyed) by the urgent plea to sign a petition against Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe. Now, I've followed the actions of Mugabe for years, and he truly is a bad man, one that should have come to a timely end years ago. But as so often happens in Africa, the US, South Africa, and most of the "free world" simply looked the other way. I'm all for making the man's existence as hard as possible, but, come on, a petition?! Do you really think a dictator like Mugabe is going to be stopped by a petition signed by a bunch of nosey foreigners? Will countries supporting the Kimberley Process really be persuaded by a petition signed by some American in Atlanta, GA, whose wife doesn't list the diamond as one of her best friends? Perhaps if 200,000 people in the diamond industry signed the petition, there might be some hope, but a petition "signed" by 200,000 well-meaning global nobodies will fall on deaf ears. I mean, hurrah! for Avaaz for trying, for believing that we can make a difference, but the approach is truly a lost cause.

The petition as a force of global change is dead. It still has local and regional power, but nationally, it's power has waned, too. We weren't all made to be waging whale wars or breaking Starbuck's windows during G8 summits or going vegan or even walking from door to door gathering signatures - trust me, I'm not made of that material - so if all you can or want to do is sign an online petition, then by all means do. But know it will do very little to help the people of Zimbabwe or harp seals near Canada or indiginous tribes in South America or women in Saudi Arabia.

I recently sent an email to the president of the University of Nevada at Reno asking him to halt the practice of purchasing cats and dogs from Class B dealers for animal experiments. President Glick replied back from his own email account letting me know in no uncertain terms that his institution no longer uses cats and dogs in animal experiments. Now, about those rats and mice UNR is using...

A Library Closes

I heard it said that when a person dies a library dies with them. Our family recently lost an immense library when my uncle died unexpectedly. His library of thoughts, experiences, knowledge, feelings, and ideas will be missed just as much as his physical person. We all learned from and enjoyed his library, whether it was sitting around the Thanksgiving table, walking along the beach, watching a Broncos game or huddled together in a tiny mountain cabin. He loaned to us freely: no use restrictions, no due dates, no copyright laws. His life was a library we visited many times, one that I myself spent 40 years in. It was a good library.

We are all libraries. Our lives are books of non-fiction that read like novels. We are collections of short stories; anthologies of poetry; tales of mystery and romance; dramas, comedies and tragedies; scientific texts; philosophical treatise; and spiritual meditations. The depth and nature of our collection is up to us; as long as we keep on living life, our collection keeps on growing.

My uncle's library is closed now, but he left us priceless works that we will continue to reflect upon and enjoy until that time when our own libraries close.

Hating the Yankees

I have an unyielding belief in the importance of being a good sport. I expect it of winners and losers, players and coaches, owners and fans. If you can't handle winning or losing gracefully, then you are nothing short of a bad sport. It has nothing to do with being "competitive" but it has everything to do with showing some class.

When the Yankees won the World Series last night, I was hoping that the self-described Yankee Haters out there would display some measure of good sportsmanship. Apparently that was too much for them, and they simply continue to voice their hate. No acknowledgement of it having been a good series; no recognition of Matsui's (yes, there are other players on the team) play; no appreciation for beating a solid Phillies team. No, all that Yankee Haters can apparently do is fume, boil, stew, and spew.

I don't know the hate they harbor. Certainly if the Yankees caused them some personal harm (it's not their fault you bet the house on the losing team) then I would hear them out, but the sad thing is they all give the same reasons for their hatred. First, they don't like that the Yankee players shave and actually cut their hair. One Yankee Hater told me the clean-cut look reminded him of corporate America. Now, really, if you're that frickin' superficial, then, please, just get away from me. To hate a baseball team because their organization requires that the players maintain a certain level of grooming is idiotic and subsequently means you should hate every person of every organization that has a dress code, including me.

Second, Yankee Haters like to hate the Steinbrenners. Yet another superficial reason to hate an entire team, but one that I can somewhat relate to. See, I won't eat Domino's Pizza because the company supports pro-life groups. It's not that the pizza is especially bad or I got bad service once or that I hated the Noid. No, the only reason I don't buy their pizza is because I don't agree with their politics. The difference between me and the Yankee Haters is that I don't hate the pizza, I just don't buy it. Yankee Haters hate the Steinbrenners so much they end up hating the team. I think they call that transference in the psychiatric circles. Grow up or seek counseling.

The third and biggest reason Yankee Haters like to hate the Yankees is that they complain that the organization "buys" championships by paying enormous amounts of money to get the best players in baseball. There's no doubt the Yankees have money to spend and they spend it. And why not? What's wrong with trying to get the best players to help your organization win the World Series? Do Yankee Haters really believe that the Red Sox or Cubs or Rockies or Astros or any team in MLB wouldn't do the same if they had the means? Of course they would! The Red Sox outbid even the Yankees to get Daisuke Matsuzaka (over $51 million), so don't try and tell me it's only the Yankees throwing money around to get the best. And what do Yankee Haters have to say about the fact that only three Yankee players are among the top 10 highest paid players in MLB? The Yankees do have more money than other teams and they spend it, but I'm willing to bet there isn't a team (and it's fans) out there that wouldn't trade banking accounts with them in a heartbeat.

I would understand if Yankee Haters hated the team because they won all the time (and they don't) or out of grudging respect. I "hate" Tom Brady because he is the best quarterback playing, and I know that you never count him out. The man is ice. If your team beats the Patriots, you have to breathe a sigh of relief because you just beat the NFL's best QB. My hate of Brady is really fear of his prowess and respect for what he has, can and will do, and I'm willing to admit that. Yankee Haters won't admit that the team that won last night was the better team; they won't admit that Mariano Rivera is the most feared closer in MLB history; they won't admit that Pettitte closed down the Phillies; they won't even admit that A-Rod and Jeter are actually great baseball players.

Yankee Haters are simply poor sports.

This is Quality Health Care?

Critics of health care reform often cite the potential for a loss in the quality of health care as a reason (or scare tactic) for not pursuing reform. If the quality of health care is so good now then explain to me how waiting 30-40 minutes to see a doctor for five minutes is a quality visit. Now, I've had really good health care coverage for the past ten years, and yet, I can think of only one instance, just one, where I didn't wait an inordinate amount of time to see the doctor and then was unable to get a word in edgewise as the doctor spent five, sometimes ten minutes telling me what is or is not wrong, stood up, shook my hand, and left the room. When I do get a chance to ask a question, I'm brushed off as ignorant and disrespectful, and it's clear to me the doctor thinks I'm wasting his/her time. I'm really not exaggerating here. From the point of view of someone fortunate enough to have health insurance, I think the quality of health care NOW is awful. I can only imagine how bad it is for those without coverage.

Sure, I get cheap prescriptions, unlimited visits to the cognitive therapist, a choice of doctors, Flexible Spending Plan, and so on, but what's the point if the doctor doesn't listen? Where's the quality in a five-ten minute visit that I waited 30-40 minutes for and took half a day off of work to make? Maybe the health care bill being passed around will make it worse, I don't know. But to criticize changes to the system on the basis of "quality" tells me those critics haven't spent much time in a waiting room lately. They clearly can afford the quality of care they expect, while I would just like to find a doctor now that isn't holding the folder of his next patient when he finally finds time for me.

Ode to the Mosquito

I see thee, tiny Mosquito,
Buzzing up on high
Diving down to puncture my thigh
To drain the blood within
And leave me scratchin'
Again and again.

What is thy worldly purpose?
How is it you came to be?
Did God not know the misery
You would bring
When from Earth you did spring
To fly, buzz and sting?

I loathe thee, little pest!
You who will not let me lie
In a hammock and gaze at the sky.
You show no mercy, no fear
Relentlessly buzzing, always drawing near
To pierce a foot, elbow or molest an ear.

I shake my fist at thee,
Tiny devil spawn.
Rising in early dawn
To search for skin left bare
Whether human, canine, elk or hare.
Indiscriminate, dogged, ruthlessly fair.

There is no relief
From your predations, no respite
Other than to take flight
Behind doors locked and windows sealed.
Waiting, waiting for an icy shield
To blanket lake, swamp, puddle and field.

The spider is an artist
Stout laborers are the ant and bee
You, my friend, are an enemy
To those that walk, graze and soar.
I will fight thee from shore to shore
Quothe me, forever more.

Made in China

I believe in free trade. Free trade is a major tenet of capitalism, the very system that makes the "American way of life" possible, and though I have plenty of issues with that way of life (and capitalism), I've clearly benefited from it. I oppose protectionist measures such as the tariffs the Obama administration has levied on tires from China, and I'm even more opposed to industry subsidies, such as those we dole out to the agricultural industry. Why do we pay farmers to grow corn that we then buy from them at the store? Why pay them twice?! If your industry is competitive, it shouldn't need government subsidies or tariffs to succeed. If it can't compete against China or Ethiopia or France and is in peril of going under and putting thousands of Americans out of work, well, that's capitalism at its finest. I don't mean to be heartless, but if you want to reap the benefits of a capitalistic society, then you have to accept that failure is a possibility, too.

It probably won't surprise you then to learn that I am also a proponent of globalization. It has its drawbacks, namely environmental degradation and human rights abuses, such as the sweat shops that Nike and Wal-Mart like to think don't exist; still, overall, globalization has the ability to increase the quality of life of millions of people worldwide. Many Americans don't like the offshoring (otherwise, but incorrectly, known as "outsourcing") of jobs that has been a result of globalization, but it doesn't bother me too much. I mean, if I owned a business and some American union demanded that I pay my employees twice what I would have to pay employees in Mexico, I'd just have to tell that union "adios." Capitalism. It's the American way.

I am, however, bothered by the fact that I can't find "Americana" that isn't made in China. Once in Monterey, CA, I went looking for a gift that was representative of the area, and I quickly learned two lessons: 1) if I wanted an affordable gift, it would have to be something made in China; and 2) the only gifts I could find that were made locally were in pricey galleries. I settled on a hand-crafted, wooden sea otter that was made in Mexico, which, I reasoned with myself, was OK since Mexico is closer to Monterey than China. My biggest beef is with holiday ornaments. Those really are products that should be made in the U.S. A few years back, I came across some nice Pilgrim figurines in a local shop, but to my chagrin they had been made in China. Pilgrims made in China? That ain't right. Every Christmas season, I go on a quest to find ornaments or decorations not made in China. I might as well be searching for the Holy Grail! I wonder what the Chinese think about Santa and Frosty and Rudolph. Next Fourth of July, I encourge you to take a look at the American flags and patriotic paper- and plasticwares that you buy at Wal-Mart to see where they were made. Bet you it won't be Dayton. Alas, that's capitalism.

It's our fault, of course. When we shop at places like Wal-Mart, we increase the demand for cheap products from China and other countries. Our lust for low prices encourages U.S.-based companies to take their plants and products overseas, and then we have the gall to get all upset about offshoring. American-made products are generally more expensive and of inferior quality than their imported counterparts, and truly free trade would force American producers and manufacturers to get with it or go under. It's sad that many U.S. industries are afraid to compete fairly in the open market. But it's also sad that I can't seem to find a manger scene that's not made in China.

Afghanistan

Apparently support for the war in Afghanistan is ebbing. I, however, support the war in Afghanistan. I didn't support us going there in the first place, but now that we're there, I think it's incumbent upon us not to run away.

How quickly the American public forgets its country's own follies. The U.S. invaded Afghanistan as we sought revenge against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Once we ousted the Taliban and sent Al Qaeda to live pretty much untouched with our ally, Pakistan, there was a time, albeit short, when the U.S. could have made progress in Afghanistan. Success got to the heads of our leaders, though, and they got greedy and went after Iraq, effectively leaving Afghanistan to fester and stew under the ineffective leadership of Hamid Karzai, our puppet president-cum-dictator. Our very neglect of the situation in Afghanistan led to the resurgence of the Taliban (that's who we're fighting now in Afghanistan, by the way, not bin Laden or Al Qaeda). Our almost remorseless killing of thousands of civilians by errant and purposeful bombs and bullets all in the name of the "War on Terror" did nothing but instill terror in the hearts and minds of the Afghan population. Rightfully so, they don't see us as the saviors we like to think we are.

If we leave Afghanistan like we did when the Russians pulled out in 1990 (I think it was 1990 - someone check Wikipedia for me!), then we just set the entire country and the region up for more radicalism and civil war. Perhaps you remember what that led to? We can't just go into a country and wreck havoc for our own purposes and then when satisfied or losing (as the case is now) decide it's not worth it and leave. Just because we're the United States doesn't mean we can have our cake and eat it, too. We're not THAT exceptional. I'm not a foreign policy expert, so I can't tell you the strategic implications for staying in Afghanistan, but I'm smart enough and informed enough (for beginners, read this article and join me in reading this book) to believe with a degree of confidence that if we don't stay, we, the U.S., will pay a much heavier price for it in the end.

The U.S. has a moral obligation to those who have died in Afghanistan, soldier and civilian alike, to not cut and run. We have a moral obligation to the Afghan people to leave them a better place than that Hell which we helped to create. And the American public needs to look-up the definition of "commitment."