Quote of the Day:
Space bores me. It's up there, all right? Let's just keep it up there.
~K. Diehl
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Fake news trumps "real" news
A very good summary by AlterNet asks the disturbing question:
"All hilarity aside ... what does it mean that Jon Stewart is doing a better job holding CNBC accountable than anybody else?"
It's worth watching all the Daily Show clips here.
"All hilarity aside ... what does it mean that Jon Stewart is doing a better job holding CNBC accountable than anybody else?"
It's worth watching all the Daily Show clips here.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Interconnectedness....and, spend less than you earn
The other day I fixed dinner while listening to a story on NPR about the interconnectedness of one small town's economy and how it's being slammed in these hard times. One laid-off worker stops spending and impacts another business, which closes down and hurts others, and so on.
I had to turn it off halfway through. It was sounding this endless same single note of alarm - it's bad! it's getting worse! you're screwed and there's nothing you can do about it! - without any glimmer of hope of action people can take or intimation that someday it will get better.
This is all elementary economics that I feel I learned as a reporter in my 20s, never mind later Econ classes. You walk down your town's main street (if you still have one) and look and think and there it is. It's the Wal-Mart effect writ small.
It's also Thich Nhat Hanh's apple meditation, or thoughts on Interbeing or interconnectedness.
The apple meditation is, put simply, an exercise where you take an apple and, as you eat it, realize it could not exist without the water that fed the tree, the air that helped the plant, the soil that nourished the tree's roots - and that this air, soil, and water are all interconnected also with the air we breathe, the soil we garden in or walk on, the water we drink and swim in and pass. The whole world, including you, is in this apple, when you think about it.
It's not such a leap, I thought, as I clicked the radio pre-set to one of my daughter's pop stations, to see that the coffee shop on the corner is connected to the airplane manufacturer down the street...even connected to the Wal-Mart off the interstate.
It is a scary, scary time. Official unemployment in our cities now is 12%. Others have written that those of us who still have jobs have awful levels of stress that we will lose them. My own personal mantra now is: spend less than you earn. On a good month I do and can pay down my debts and squirrel a little a way. It's the only way I can feel a little safe and even then it's pretty tenuous.
People are also finally saying, though, that a real shift is occurring in the way we think, and I see that. People are conserving resources because they can't afford to waste. Good for the planet and ultimately good for us. An economist on Talk of the Nation today was saying that once again hard work is going to be valued and rewarded.
For years I have been angry at George W Bush for telling us to go shopping after 9/11 to show our patriotism. We would have saved string and planted victory gardens then had he asked us. We've lost time but now we are starting.
I had to turn it off halfway through. It was sounding this endless same single note of alarm - it's bad! it's getting worse! you're screwed and there's nothing you can do about it! - without any glimmer of hope of action people can take or intimation that someday it will get better.
This is all elementary economics that I feel I learned as a reporter in my 20s, never mind later Econ classes. You walk down your town's main street (if you still have one) and look and think and there it is. It's the Wal-Mart effect writ small.
It's also Thich Nhat Hanh's apple meditation, or thoughts on Interbeing or interconnectedness.
The apple meditation is, put simply, an exercise where you take an apple and, as you eat it, realize it could not exist without the water that fed the tree, the air that helped the plant, the soil that nourished the tree's roots - and that this air, soil, and water are all interconnected also with the air we breathe, the soil we garden in or walk on, the water we drink and swim in and pass. The whole world, including you, is in this apple, when you think about it.
It's not such a leap, I thought, as I clicked the radio pre-set to one of my daughter's pop stations, to see that the coffee shop on the corner is connected to the airplane manufacturer down the street...even connected to the Wal-Mart off the interstate.
It is a scary, scary time. Official unemployment in our cities now is 12%. Others have written that those of us who still have jobs have awful levels of stress that we will lose them. My own personal mantra now is: spend less than you earn. On a good month I do and can pay down my debts and squirrel a little a way. It's the only way I can feel a little safe and even then it's pretty tenuous.
People are also finally saying, though, that a real shift is occurring in the way we think, and I see that. People are conserving resources because they can't afford to waste. Good for the planet and ultimately good for us. An economist on Talk of the Nation today was saying that once again hard work is going to be valued and rewarded.
For years I have been angry at George W Bush for telling us to go shopping after 9/11 to show our patriotism. We would have saved string and planted victory gardens then had he asked us. We've lost time but now we are starting.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
A Two Quote Day
"North is my favorite direction."
~K. Diehl
"Hey, did you know peanuts explode in the microwave?"
~K. Diehl
~K. Diehl
"Hey, did you know peanuts explode in the microwave?"
~K. Diehl
Monday, February 23, 2009
New Feature: Quote of the Day
My daughter, Katie, has suggested a new feature for the blog: Quote of the Day.
While making dinner - tuna noodle! - she recounts this observation by her favorite teacher, Mr C, aka Mr. Coonce-Ewing:
"The fact that we are so happy that Obama is our first Black president just shows how caught up on race we still are."
She is in agreement.
(She did ask me how many people read my blog. I told her, none, I think.)
Get well soon, Mr. C!
Whaddya know, I'm a Protestant
Honestly, sometimes you just go through life doing the best you can and things just come your way.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Little Red Hen Syndrome
Being the sole working adult in a household of two middle-schoolers, I have identified, over the years, what I call the Little Red Hen Syndrome.
You may know the story: Little Red Hen asks all the other animals if they want to help plant the wheat. Not I, the horse, goat, cat, dog, etc. all reply in turn. Will you help me water the wheat?.... Cut it, mill it, make it into bread? No, no, no. But of course when it's time to EAT the bread they're all right there. Too bad, says the little red hen.
It plays out a little differently for me. As I stoop to pick up a sock, bring a dirty dish to the sink, return something to a shelf, the though will rise, unbidden: Am I the only one that knows how to do this? It's a bad thought to have; unchecked, it only inspires carping (why don't you ever...!) and self pity. I've finally developed a much healthier attitude about it, one that looks as much at my own reaction as the event that promoted it...and one that's a lot more strategic about, say, incorporating desired behavior into allowance payment plans.
Lately as I watch our economy implode and Obama's stimulus package wind its way through Congress I find another version of the Little Red Hen syndrome playing out in my head.
I've worked since I was 14 years old. I thankfully have a pretty good credit rating and live in a house I own. I've worked in human services for many years because I believe structural inequalities in our society need to be fixed. I know many of those now losing their homes were lied to about their mortgage terms, work at jobs with wages depressed by unfettered global capitalism and years of institutionalized crippling of labor's power.
And yet...there's a tiny, tiny Little Red Hen in my head when I see my puny 401K swirling in the middle stage of the toilet flush, when I watch my home value plummet and hear about mortgage assistance programs and government bailouts. My relative lack of debt and good credit rating come from not taking nice vacations, from living in a house filled with mismatched hand-me-downs, and until very recently driving a car with rust holes you could lob a golf ball through. Where's my reward? this voice asks. I've been working so hard. What do I get?
I'm not proud of this voice when it talks about mortgage assistance programs. I give it free reign and add extra outrage when it comes up around the financial services bailout.
Other parents nod their heads and smile knowingly when I tell them my Little Red Hen theory. Problem is, she lived and worked in a system that was ultimately fair, that rewarded work and had ample resources.
Don't think we do anymore.
You may know the story: Little Red Hen asks all the other animals if they want to help plant the wheat. Not I, the horse, goat, cat, dog, etc. all reply in turn. Will you help me water the wheat?.... Cut it, mill it, make it into bread? No, no, no. But of course when it's time to EAT the bread they're all right there. Too bad, says the little red hen.
It plays out a little differently for me. As I stoop to pick up a sock, bring a dirty dish to the sink, return something to a shelf, the though will rise, unbidden: Am I the only one that knows how to do this? It's a bad thought to have; unchecked, it only inspires carping (why don't you ever...!) and self pity. I've finally developed a much healthier attitude about it, one that looks as much at my own reaction as the event that promoted it...and one that's a lot more strategic about, say, incorporating desired behavior into allowance payment plans.
Lately as I watch our economy implode and Obama's stimulus package wind its way through Congress I find another version of the Little Red Hen syndrome playing out in my head.
I've worked since I was 14 years old. I thankfully have a pretty good credit rating and live in a house I own. I've worked in human services for many years because I believe structural inequalities in our society need to be fixed. I know many of those now losing their homes were lied to about their mortgage terms, work at jobs with wages depressed by unfettered global capitalism and years of institutionalized crippling of labor's power.
And yet...there's a tiny, tiny Little Red Hen in my head when I see my puny 401K swirling in the middle stage of the toilet flush, when I watch my home value plummet and hear about mortgage assistance programs and government bailouts. My relative lack of debt and good credit rating come from not taking nice vacations, from living in a house filled with mismatched hand-me-downs, and until very recently driving a car with rust holes you could lob a golf ball through. Where's my reward? this voice asks. I've been working so hard. What do I get?
I'm not proud of this voice when it talks about mortgage assistance programs. I give it free reign and add extra outrage when it comes up around the financial services bailout.
Other parents nod their heads and smile knowingly when I tell them my Little Red Hen theory. Problem is, she lived and worked in a system that was ultimately fair, that rewarded work and had ample resources.
Don't think we do anymore.
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