zwaaa.org

I’ve been thinking about this prior to posting – something a good many people on twitter obviously did not do as they try desperately to get in the most wry quip, the best photo shopped picture of Obama or Bin Laden, or the most lachrymose attempt to “out-patriotic” the next person.

At the risk of sounding maudlin myself: I remember 9/11 vividly, as many of us do. I work in DC. It was traumatic for most of us, but if you lived in DC, PA, or NY and saw the fighter jets circling the area it was a bit more. Not trying to belittle people that live in Montana, but we looked at the 747s holding for Dulles and Reagan with a touch of fear and sadness for more than a few weeks (years) after that day.

I also remember that many people were obviously traumatized. Many of us knew people that worked at the Pentagon / WTC or had family members that did. I think we all dealt with it in our own way.

…I also remember that many of our leaders were a source of strength at this time, but also many politicos worked hard to spin this event to their advantage on both sides.

…I also remember that because of the previous two elements, there was this phenomenon that bothered me and I struggled to put it into words for a long time. In the weeks after that there were genuine feelings of American nationalism that were good, healthy expressions of patriotism and love of country. Alongside that was the fact that for many it suddenly became trendy to be “ultra patriotic”.

It was these last two things that bothered me. I suppose it was (is) a bit presumptuous to sit in judgment of the sincerity of others but at some point it started to seem contrived. It had become a fad with no real end other than itself. Much of this was simply people trying to deal with the situation, but much of it just seemed false and made me uncomfortable. One thing is for sure, Lee Greenwood sold a lot of CDs. I remember coming to work one day to discover that the decision had been made to play “God Bless the USA” at high volume over the office system over and over again. It was at that point that I started to get a bad taste in my mouth. It’s a great song. Good message. But maybe it was also presumptuous to force it onto everyone’s ears (and mind) like that.

Maybe.

Now, to be clear (because the predictable response here is also the incorrect response if you know me) patriotism is not a bad thing, and this is a great country in which I feel privileged to live in. Maybe it’s a fault in me, I don’t know. Maybe I am just subconsciously bitter that I dealt with those days and those issues in a very introverted, personal way and I was jealous that I was unable to parade down the street in a pair of American flag jeans and not feel like I was trying too hard. Maybe I was mad in that I felt my patriotism was questioned because I chose to deal with things internally.

All I know is that I had insomnia last night and at 3 AM when I finished watching a boring movie in an attempt to relax my mind, I decided to log onto facebook.

And that’s when I saw it, an unending flood of photo shops, quick quips, and a rapid fire game of patriotic “The Dozens” in twitter.

“yo’ mama so patriotic when she loves this country she really LOVES this country”

Well, you get the idea.

All I could think was “oh no, here we go again”

So on this day when Americans fight to be on the news clips of “spontaneous celebrations” to assure their 15 minutes of fame and politicos and pundits position themselves to take best advantage of this situation these are my feelings.

I feel that my family will be safer now, and that the world is a safer place. I feel that my son will grow up in a safer world until the next unbalanced zealot comes along.

I feel that there was a necessity to do this, and I feel relieved that it is done.

I am grateful for the closure that this has brought to the country and to the families of victims. I am grateful to all of those that worked so hard to do it, both Republican and Democrat – Military and civilian. Thank you.

Having said that, I find it difficult to be happy at the death of any human, irrespective of how evil and deadly they were, and I have a bit of a problem with the escalating shows of bravado that many are casually throwing out.

Tremendous amounts of man hours, money, and lives were not expended simply so that people that confuse patriotism with brutality can stand around trying to “out defile” the body of our enemy.

I realize that this will not play well with many reading this, many of them good friends. Although I see war, conflict, and death as necessary and often crucial to our security as a nation as a species, I do not see any reason to revel in it. Not in this way.

As the child of a WWII combat veteran I have only the highest regard and gratitude to anyone that will place themselves in harm’s way to defend my ability to post my opinions on this forum. I see this as a time to express gratitude and empathy to those who have risked, sacrificed, and lost so much at the hands of terrorism. To paraphrase a friend on Facebook: I see irony in the shouts of “we did it” from people who did nothing more than sit on their couch for the past 10 years in a sugar coma watching TV while the richest 10% of Americans complained that the locker room at their golf club smelled of Lilac instead of musk.

I suppose my attitude is based on a very jaded, Gen –x ‘r view. I just find myself personally uncomfortable with the tone of the victory celebration and the direction it seems to be going. Maybe before we kill every person that threatens us and put their head on posts along Pennsylvania Ave. as trophies we should stop and think why we are doing it, and what it says about us.

What is a Christian Response to Bin Laden’s Death?

Pax

First some background. Lustmord is the name for a project formed around the creation of what I suppose is “musique concrète” of very specific intent. The project is singly composed of engineer/musician Brian Williams. The album “Heresy” is said to be the best example of the dark ambient genre and he is often credited along with Brian Eno with creating it.

This album may or may not be considered music depending on your definition, but it definitely evokes an emotional response especially if you are as sensitive to sonority, texture and timbre in music. The album is composed of recorded sounds from areas such as tombs, caves, a slaughter house, and battlefields where many people have died. These sounds are manipulated with computers to create a sound canvas.

The end result is a set of compositions that can genuinely make every hair on your body stand on end (listen to Heresy part III alone at night). I listened to this album for the first time on my good system in my man cave and I cannot remember many times when I have felt that degree of foreboding.  A feeling that something unseen yet highly evil is in the room with you. A feeling that you must run outside and look at the sky, because you fear you might see dark, oily, vacillating clouds forming as some preternatural evil force comes to consume humanity. That feeling that there is no where to run.

No, really.

This is definitely a mood work, and yes there are times when I am in the mood for that sort of thing. Use sparingly.

Lustmord: Heresy

IT has been a while since I have posted. I initially made a promise that I would cease political posting on this blog but I did not realize how therapeutic the writing process can be, particularly in keeping moral outrage in check. So…onward and upward, brave friends!

On one of his recent pod-casts, Dan Carlin discussed a book by Bob Woodward titled “The Agenda” that was written at the end of Clinton’s first presidency. One of the themes Woodward addressed in this book was the propensity of politicians to promise change and “sweeping reforms”. When they get into office they are hit with the complete lack of maneuvering room on pretty much every issue and the lack of power a president of any party has to truly create change while they are hemmed in by career politicians in both parties, special interests, misinformation from partisan media outlets, and the overall scant awareness of the issues by most Americans.

When I voted for Obama I suppose I knew on some level that he would not be able to accomplish all that his campaign promised, but change was needed, even if it was a change of party. I find the quickness of many conservatives to nip at Obama’s heels for the lack of immediate progress on issues that were (for the most part) the result of the G.W. Bush presidency to be hypocritical at best, and deliberately obtuse at worst. It is both depressing and does awaken anger to a degree. The anger is not necessarily directed at either party, but at the unworkable political situation we are in where we lie to ourselves about the fact that we are no longer in a functional system with representative democracy.

I have heard a good deal of theories about this. One of the better ones is that we are in a situation similar to Rome when they transitioned from a republic to an oligarchy, but kept the senate, patricians, and plebeians to play lip service to the concept of representation. Is it OK that politicians have become followers of fads rather than a means to govern. Have there always been things like Social Security lock boxes and town hall meetings where ill-informed citizenry scream things like “Keep your government hands off my medicare”. The instant I saw the second example on TV was the instant I knew in my heart that we would not have any meaningful change on the health care issue. To paraphrase Spock, Our passions became our undoing. Political fads of the moment cater and inflame those passions. The spectacle of the town hall meetings would seem to be the logical outcome of this.

You hear people angry about health care reform and bank bonuses, global warming fraud and even Obama using a teleprompter at a school photo-op. You hear nothing about the Supreme Court repealing 30 years of campaign finance reform this week. Nothing. Nada! No angry speeches on the senate floor and no targeted news stories on Fox or MSNBC. It is almost a non issue, which is frightening because we can all expect a flood of corporate money going into every politician’s coffers. Dan Carlin wisely points out that (paraphrasing) we mock countries like Somalia where you have to grease corrupt palms to get anything done, but (in that regard) are we any different? Have we merely legitimized it? Do we justify it simply by disclosing it? Do we depend on it with our two party system with a vetting process that stipulates that candidates must be “viable” to run for office – viable meaning that you have raised a certain amount of cash from private sources? Anyone in either party that rises to the level of senator or executive office has been heavily vetted and greased.

We get mad at each other as “news” personalities seed the waters with toxic rhetoric and well crafted pseudo lies to get liberals and conservatives misdirected from the true causes of their anger. We watch our political blood pressure rise as we direct our fury at the opposing party, when the real thing that is killing our systems is corruption, and both parties have a vested interest in seeing that the systems remains in-tact. The truth of this statement is obviously something that Liberals will dislike but it should be of no comfort to anyone of the Conservative party either – as they solidly prove this hypothesis with equal aplomb.

Two things that anger and frighten me far more are the usual reactions to the truth of what I stated above.

“Well, that’s how it is, thanks for pointing out the obvious, tell me something I don’t know”.

“American is the greatest country in the world, and if you don’t like it you should move to Russia”.

Both seem like something you would say to make yourself look intelligent and politically wise, or in the case of the second example to wrap yourself up in the flag to avoid having to defend your views from these issues. Both seem like a red-herring someone throws out when the argument is effectively lost. It was Samuel Johnson (I believe) that so wisely said “patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel”. Both scare the hell out of me because they are both defeatist and stab at the heart of my Santa Claus – like belief that democracy…true democracy is the highest and most noble form of government.

Several years ago a good friend (we’ll call him Tom, because that is his name) voted for Perot. At the time I could not understand why someone would consider doing this. I admit I looked at his decision with a degree of smug amusement. This was one of the bad personality traits I had when I was younger and endeavor daily to suppress. Now that I am older I not only understand his decision, but respect him for having the political courage to act on it.

The term “asshat” gets thrown around liberally these days, often at times when it isn’t appropriate. It’s good that we live in a time when someone has acted in a way that has the power to show every American the exact meaning of that pejorative term. More on this later.

I was having one of those pointed but cordial discussions on facebook yesterday regarding a video circulating on YouTube that shows Democratic congressmen (and women!) coming to the microphone to speak in support of the health care bill, and Republican congressmen (and women?) attempting to obfuscate anything the Dems said by shouting “I object” over and over again the instant each one opened their mouth. The defense of these actions from the conservatives was the same defense that gets proffered every time a person or group acts in a way that they know is improper. “Well, they all do it. The Democrats do it. Why should we not be able to do it?” Everybody is doing it, so why can’t we?

Well, you cannot because that act lowers you to the level of your opponent, and you seem pretty adamant that you are better than they are. You cannot because a negative action should not be used to justify a negative action.

But, more importantly, is everybody doing it? The challenge was issued to those on the right in this discussion to cite evidence of liberal or Democratic members of congress acting in a premeditated organized manner to disallow conservatives from speaking on the house floor. The responses were both weak and irrelevant. It is odd that someone would consider a video posted by a relatively unknown private citizen on Moveon.org as being equal to a congressman shouting procedural objections at inappropriate times and for inappropriate reasons. The first is a person expressing their opinion, the second is someone preventing a person from expressing their opinion. This was a predictable knee jerk defense of a political strategy that, from a purists point of view, is difficult to defend or justify. The strategy is to shoot first and ask questions later. Sadly the question should be “Has there been a situation in congress where Democrats have openly acted to prevent an opponents ability to express their opinion”? I would like some help on that, because if there is I would like to know about it. As I Google I am finding the answer is no. Even Traficant, who was notoriously frank in congress, directed his outbursts at his own party as often as he directed them at the conservatives. and I never recall him going to a mic and loudly repeating noise to distract people from hearing the words of his opponent.

But all of these things are the gentle rumblings of an aftershock of the asshat earthquake that happened in congress on the evening of September 9th, 2009. This was the evening Joe Wilson heard the president claim that the bill would not provide health care for illegal immigrants and shouted “You Lie” during a presidential address. In and of itself this is regrettable but the apology has been made. The bigger issue is that Joe Wilson – a man charged by his people to comprehend and act on legislation – obviously missed section 246 of HR3200 that says:

SEC. 246. NO FEDERAL PAYMENT FOR UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS.

Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.

Sadly in the course of the facebook discussion I cited Section 347 of HR 3962 (a bill that did not even exist when Wilson made his comment) which says:

SEC. 347. NO FEDERAL PAYMENT FOR UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS.

Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.

This is why I should not engage in political discussions on facebook while making ciabatta. I don’t pay attention! Still, it seems either bill is a suitable defense against the statement.

Assuming Wilson is a smart guy. Why would he miss this obvious passage in 3200?

One theory I have is that he is really at odds with The Immigration and Nationality act of 1952 – Section 15 of act 101. It is too long to post here but I encourage you to read it. Why would he not directly address that bill and instead choose to overlay his agenda on a bill that merely references it? From overhearing conversations around me over the past…oh….seven or eight years it isn’t too hard to escape the conclusion that there are those among us that assume all immigrants are illegal, but Wilson is hopefully smarter than that.

Another thought – The problem Wilson has with the bill actually has nothing to do with immigration. It has to do with protecting the interests of a health care industry that has gave him $414,00 over the eight years of his term plus a contribution from the insurance industry of $455,000. With numbers like those, you want to be pretty public about your opposition. Maybe you look for reasons within reasons when you oppose a bill because you are being paid to do so, but you cannot disclose that fact.

A third thought – I have never seen a segment of America rally around a president like our current one, but I have also not seen a segment of America rally against a president like this either. During the campaign many of the complaints were things like “I just don’t trust him” or “He’s a socialist/he reminds me of Hitler”. It was as if there was some unstated reason that they really didn’t like him but they lacked the courage to just say it. It must be something pretty bad if you try to hide it with a softball that compares the man to Hitler. I think all of us know about the history of this country. Perhaps when you oppose a president for personal reasons, you look for anything to grab at.

The final reason might be the most disturbing. That he honestly believes that the bill provides for this, and has not read it.

When I see people on TV at town hall meetings shouting things like “Keep your government hands off my medicare” I wince. But can we blame anyone for not knowing even these basic facts? The bill(s) are all well over 1000 pages. People are busy working multiple jobs to keep their homes in what has increasingly become referred to as “this economy”. Neither bill is entertaining to read unless you enjoy researching. Our education system, saddled with the pointless lodestone of standardized testing is slowly producing a nation of people with no critical thinking skills, but excellent Jeopardy skills. I have only read the parts of the bill that I needed to in order to fact check things like “death panels” and “abortion on demand” for myself and I consider myself fortunate to have the time and desire to do so.

As an independent voter, I am prone to agree with either party and sometimes with neither party. I think that statement is true of most Americans that do not live on the edges of the political spectrum out of some irrational need to be extreme. I have a hard time letting the RNC off the hook on these issues. The issue is not about beliefs, it is about behavior. As soon as we dismiss the immediate “well they did it too” response we have to deal with behavior that has been going on since January and the fact that it has been happening with a degree that is unheard of in this country. Tea parties organized by a television network, encouraged by the media, then treated as a spontaneous outpouring of contrary belief and anti Obamaian dissent? Comparing a man to Adolf Hitler? Really? Do you understand making that statement implies that you have no understanding of recent historical events since oh, say, 1920?

The final rub is that by saying this I am now a liberal, because the conservative party in this country has become a group that you must either be in complete agreeance with, or you are a liberal. There seems to be no span between the two extremes, and no room for public dissent. You are either Sith or Jedi, and if you are one of us, you agree with all we say. Choose now. It’s an easy choice actually. We need to understand that the elections this past week say something entirely different than either party thinks. First, it is not a sweeping validation of any agenda. Virginia had a weak Democratic candidate. Second, it is not a meaningless local election. If anything voters were sending the signal that the Democrats are screwing around way too much. You were elected with a mandate. Why are wasting everyone’s time by not acting on it decisively? If you aren’t going to act on it why should I vote for you again? The conservatives seem to have the organization and logistics of a Greek Phalanx, the liberals seem to have the organization and logistics of an episode of Teletubbies.

In this sort of climate it is easy to see Wilson and the objectors as a cheerleader for a team of special interests, that team being blessed with a cheering section that in many cases doesn’t have the resources or the desire to check the validity of what they are cheering about. Wilson’s epic fail is not that he was wrong in a wholly antithetical way, but that those who support him do not realize it, or do not want to.

This is a rant. This is a rant about an incident that I take full responsibility for, but an incident that still warrants a few words of irrational rage.

I simply could not figure out how I wanted to approach expressing that rage. Slipping software onto someones system, even if you clearly spell out that you are doing it in the settings menu that you actively encourage users to bypass in favor of “express” settings, is unethical in my opinion.

I have to install a good deal of software in my job. Often, one of the people I work with will need a solution to a very specific problem very quickly. Many times the best way to solve this is to rummage through the software bin that is the internet to find just that right download. Audacity, Mediacoder, Clonezilla, Picpick, and Terra-copy are all pieces of software that I have discovered during one of these dumpster dives. All great utilities that give much and ask little or nothing.

Of course when you download indiscriminately you have to take precautions. Read your agreement screens carefully, look at ALL of the check-boxes and never choose the express install. Often there is a BHO/Toolbar or some other sort of “bonus” application that gets thrown in for the mix. Choosing the express install bypasses your option to un-check the checked box that indicates that you want to install the unwanted software. Sometimes if things look really sketchy I use Sandboxie or in the worst of scenarios, a virtual machine. Wear protection!

Once you get to know someone it is ok to trust them to respect your system and do an express install, right? Digsby was an application I trusted until one day they slipped in a “toolbar’ into their install package. I use other solutions now like Pigeon, Trillian Astra, and Meebo. Gain some money, lose a dedicated customer. It’s a shame since I was sold on Digsby until then. I would never have thought of switching to Trillian Astra, but now I like it better.

Some people you feel you can trust implicitly, like your doctor, your preist, or your printer company. Hewlett-Packard is like that attorney or physician that has been operating in your home town since before you were born. You trust them implicitly to sell you a printer and get you the drivers you need without any impropriety.

So after downloading and installing the “default install” (yes, I know it is my fault for not getting the bare drivers) I was confronted with this:

Oh HP, how low have you stooped. Is selling 23 cents worth of ink for 29$ just not a workable business model anymore?

One of the unfortunate aspects of our new found interaction on web services like Face book is what I have termed the “drive by moral superiority posting”. First, I am as guilty of this as anyone. I find some link sitting out there that sums up my feelings on a subject, and presents those feelings in a way that makes people who disagree with me seem downright silly. I hit the “post to face book” button on my newsreader with some smug comment like “YEAH, HOW YA LIKE ME NOW!” and go about my day, confident that I have stuck it to the proverbial “man”.

It was a long time before I realized that there are three types of people that read these posts, those that agree with them, those that disagree with them, and those that do not care either way. The posts are like bumper stickers in that no one has ever had their opinion changed by them, and the posts (and the bumper stickers) seem to function solely as a self esteem booster for the poster and his or her allies and as perceived salt in the wound of those who disagree. Those who don’t care will simply ignore it or shake their head and say “well, John is at it again”.

Because of this I made the decision about a year ago to ONLY post links that I see as helpful to others in either a technical or social way. Web services that I like, how to live a better life self help articles, and funny little things from Failblog were the bulk of my link sharing. I do have the occasional relapse, but for the most part I resist the urge.

Someone on my friends list posted this link.

This is not the actual link she posted, but it will suffice as there are 1207 news articles on this event along with the requisite comments either affirming the lunacy of the decision or backing the school boards decision by pointing out the “what if” scenarios. This article started me thinking about how we can have knee jerk reactions to news stories without really thinking about the deeper issues. All this stems from my firm belief that my profession (ironically – education) is utterly failing at the teaching of critical thinking skills, due primarily to the fact that most people devalue common sense and critical thinking skills in schools in favor of more tangible, but meaningless scores on standardized tests.

I have to say that I agree that the way this was handled was absolutely batshit insane, even by zero tolerance standards. I would also point out that zero tolerance is the unfortunate end result of the litigious society that our country has become and that this instance is but an extreme example of that culture. My wife and I have had many discussions about this topic. Pretty much every time a news story about something like this comes on, my wife and I get in an ever escalating exchange of beliefs. She tries to tell me that the school made a bad decision. I try to get her to understand that, although I agree with her completely on the moral implications of the decision, the decision had to be what it was. There was no choice. Schools are at the mercy of  so many forces that want to profit off of them in a variety of ways. The decision of zero tolerance is a defense, not a mean spirited power grab.

First, a hypothetical  scenario starring “Timmy”. Timmy is a dream student. Timmy is the type of student that makes me want to come to work every day. He loves what I teach and makes me get excited about it, fueling my teaching and moving it in different directions. Timmy plays clarinet in the school band and he is good. He is so good that he is working with a private teacher and that teacher is helping Timmy in learning how to trim and shape his own reeds. Timmy, like anyone, makes mistakes, and in this instance his mistake was to bring the blade he uses to trim reeds to school in his clarinet case. This is an honest, innocent mistake but a mistake nonetheless. Timmy’s band director notices the blade and is bound by policy to confiscate the item and report it. He does this quietly and notifies the administration. Administration only sees Timmy when he is being recognized for something, so they are amazed that they are even dealing with this issue and warn him not to do it again, calling his mother to come in and pick up the blade.

Now Steve enters the story. Steve has issues. He is a frequent disruptor of class and often bullies other children to the point where they are put in unsafe situations. He has a healthy disrespect of his teachers and of most adults in general. None of this makes him a bad person. There are usually reasons why a student acts this way but those reasons don’t absolve him from taking responsibility for his actions, they hopefully do give adults insight into ways to help him change his behavior. Steve likes to play the tough kid and decides to bring a rather long Case hunting knife to school. He shows it off to his friends and shows it to the kids he bullies in a threatening way. All of this gives Steve power, control, and self esteem – three things that he sadly lacks in his life. Steve gets caught in the boy’s locker room showing off and gets escorted to the office in a very public manner by the school’s security officer.

Steve’s parents are called in. Steve’s parents are at a loss. They don’t know when they lost control but they have, and they are starting to seek things to detract attention from it. The situation with Timmy is now well known because both Timmy and his parents privately discussed it with friends, and it is known by Steve’s parents who contact a lawyer. Why was this other student afforded all this consideration while their child was hauled off to the office by a uniformed policeman and suspended? Clearly their child was not afforded the same standard of treatment that Timmy was.

Whatever the outcome, this ends up badly for the administration. They will get criticism and lose support from some of their most supportive parents if they come down hard on Timmy. They will be seen as “soft on crime” if they go easy on Steve. If they use their “best judgment” and temper the punishment to the situation they will constantly be called upon to defend it either to the board or in a court of law, and have any decision they make questioned for favoritism.

A good number of parents feel that Steve got a bum deal. I wonder how they would feel if there was horseplay and their child was pushed into Steve’s knife. We can also assume that some parents would call for Timmy to be held to the code of the policy. I find that parents like this are all for zero tolerance until their child is the one with behavior that is not being tolerated.

This isn’t whining, it’s the reality of public schools. I just get amazed when people don’t understand why we have zero tolerance. They hear a story like this and ask “Are these school officials crazy?” No, they are not. They are doing exactly what you elected and hired them to do. Zero tolerance means that there is no judgment, no common sense. There is only cause and effect. You cannot have a zero tolerance policy that is merely “zero tolerance-ish”.  On the other side – 45 days of suspension? You really are painting yourself into a corner with that policy. It sounds like a policy that is the end result of political grandstanding from both sides of the aisle in that district. An ever toughening zero tolerance policy to get support! Then some poor kid gets nailed by it and the media feeds off of it for a week.

This also makes me reflect on how much we should allow public opinion to determine school policy. Obviously the public should have a great deal of input. I don’t question this, but the reality is that in 17 years of teaching I have found that many people  base their educational policy opinions on a belief that every person has (or should have) values, resources, and a moral outlook equal to their own. Obviously this is not the case and it results in a good deal of disagreement. The person that sees the big picture is a rare beast. I also worry abut the fact that a good number of people feel validated to intellectualize about what is wrong with public education, while having no children and not having stepped into a school since they graduated.

You cannot allow a culture of zero tolerance to develop to this degree and then stand around with your jaw dropping open wailing “aww come on!” You cannot wait until the worst case scenario occurs before you give schools the autonomy to use “common sense” and “good judgment”. You must defend the decisions school officials make. You simply MUST deal with those parents that live in the “land of a thousand Mercedes” and have their lawyer call the school when they don’t get their way. Those parents are the reason why kids get suspended for 45 days for bringing a spoon to school, not administrators.

Sent via web submission and U.S. Post

To:The Honorable Joesph Wilson
212 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-4002
Phone: 202-225-2452
Fax: 202-225-2455

Dear Mr. Wilson:

I am writing to express my concerns regarding your behavior during the Presidential address on health care Wednesday, September 9th. As an independent voter there are areas where I agree and disagree with both parties. This letter is not about the areas we agree. It is about one specific area that we disagree. Clearly you and I are of different opinions on what is appropriate, mature, and respectful discourse when discussing an issue.

In my opinion, your actions at the September 9th Presidential address were unacceptable and Un-American. My father fought in WW-II and both of my brothers fought in Vietnam to defend your right to freedom of speech. I feel it is your moral obligation as an elected official to responsibly use your freedom of speech for rational and accurate public discourse, not to justify your need to interrupt and label those you disagree with while they have the floor in a forum where policy for all Americans is discussed. I feel that you are being disingenuous when when you lay the blame for this at the feet of a momentary loss of self control due to anger. I also feel that your actions were public to an extreme degree, and that your apology should be equally as public.

I call on you to hold a press conference where you publicly apologize to all Americans for your actions on the evening of September 9th. You will not be apologizing for your opinions and beliefs. Those are yours and yours alone and I salute your passion even though I disagree with you on many points. You will be apologizing for what I see as a betrayal of the public trust given to you by the citizens of South Carolina as follows:

From the official code of conduct for member of the U.S. House of Representatives as enforced by the House Ethics Committee. 

• A Member, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives shall conduct himself at all times in a manner which shall reflect creditably on the House of Representatives.
• A Member, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives shall adhere to the spirit and the letter of the Rules of the House of Representatives and to the rules of duly constituted committees thereof.

At the same press conference I challenge you to outline to the American people and the people of South Carolina the specific areas HR 3200 (identifying each by page number and section) that you feel will provide health care to illegal immigrants including any interpretations you have of these sections that could stand as “loopholes”.  In this way your claims can be evaluated by all concerned parties.

In closing I want to explain why a citizen of Virginia feels it appropriate to write to a Representative of the state of South Carolina on this issue. Your actions and words distort the debate surrounding this issue. As an American I have a clear interest in seeing that  this debate occurs in a manner that allows for the best decision to be made for all Americans, not just those with the loudest voices. In the same way that a nation sends troops into a foreign country to protect it’s interests, I am sending you my words in the hope that they will protect the interests of all Americans.

Please wait for a representative to respond.

Welcome to AT&T Data Support Chat. My name is ‘Agent ‘ and I’ll be happy to assist you today.

Agent : Hello. I would like to assist you with your instant messaging issue Mr. XXXXXX. I am sorry for any inconvenience.

Agent : What is the issue with the instant messaging today Mr. XXXXXXX?

Me: I am under the assumption that use of instant messaging services such as AIM Yahoo, and Google talk use my data connection, but I have heard a great deal of talk that these services are routed over SMS

Me: I am hoping that this information is incorrect, and that I will in fact not be charged for SMS messages while using one of these services.

Agent : I would like to help. In order to better assist you today, I will need to access your account.  Will this be ok?

Me: why do you need to access my account to answer that question?

Agent : We access every account in data chat to see if the correct features are present.

Me: here is the information you need

Me: I have recently upgraded to a blackberry bold and I have family talk 550, the 30$ blackberry BIS, and NO TEXTING plan

Agent : As for the instant messaging. You will be charged for data and sms. You are being charged for data when accessing the instant messaging program and you are being charged for each message sent/received as sms.

Me: That hardly seems fair?

Me: seeing as instant messaging and SMS are two totally different systems that work on two totally different protocols

Agent : I am sorry about that.

Me: and in every environment other than this, instant messaging is solely data based?

Me: are you entirely sure that the information you are giving me is correct?

Agent : Yes

Me: so, just to check. If I start up Google talk on my blackberry bold, log on to the Google chat server over the data network, and send a message via tcp/ip, ATT will charge me for the data and for an SMS message?

Me: which did not travel over the SMS gateway

Agent : If you are using instant messaging like AIM, yahoo messenger, or msn instant messenger, which AT&T supports, you will be charged for sms and data.

Me: A technical question – does ATT route data chat over its SMS network in order be able to charge like this?

Agent : Our data chat is free. Does that answer your question?

Me: by “data chat” what do you mean?

Me: do you mean AIM, Yahoo, and Google Talk?

Agent : Oh, okay. I thought you meant this data chat.

Me: this data chat is no different from AOL, Yahoo, or Google talk

Me: it works the same way

Agent : I am not sure how it is routed, but I do know that you are charged for sending/receiving as sms charges and you are charged data charges for accessing the instant messaging program.

Me: I have a fairly high understanding of networking and computers, and I apologize, but I am having a difficult time understanding why ATT would charge SMS fees for AIM, Yahoo, and Google talk over a data connection

Me: other than to generate additional revenue where none existed

Me: I am asking this because I just bought a Blackberry bold and I am wondering if I need to return it and go to sprint

Agent : I did let you know about the charges that come with the instant messaging program. If you do want to switch carriers because of this charge, I am sorry, but that is up to you.

Me: Thank you for your time. You have been very helpful

Contract extension time:

That time in a young man’s life when he sets about the difficult process of deciding which phone he will be living with for the next 22 months. I am in the midst of this time. As if I was Spock, slowly losing control of my emotions, entering Pon Farr.

This time is different than before.

The decision has been made to get a smart phone. I know it seems a bit late in the game for someone like me to have one of these. I have had trouble with two hurdles. The first is, of course, WAF. The second has to do with the nature of the cell phone industry in general.

Initially the decision was clear.

iPhone.

I know three people that have them and they seem to love them. REALLY love them. They love them to the point that you start to get into “let me tell you about my iPhone” conversations. Playing around the app store seemed to settle this. They have applications for Twitter, Yelp, vehicle maintenance, mapping, finding your car in a parking lot, you name it. They really do have an app for everything that doesn’t interfere with AT&T’s ability to make money off of you. But where AT&T’s profit ends is where my indecision begins.

Prior to leaving for vacation in Tybee Island, the decision was made – my wife and I would both be getting iPhones. Then one day I was sitting on the back porch of our beach condo reading my RSS feeds.

“I just read a bit of news that will make a lot of iPhone users unhappy. Apple has decided to pull all third party Google
Voice clients, err, ugm, GV Mobile and VoiceCentral from the AppStore.  We know that there is an official Google
Voice client coming for the iPhone.  Clients for Android and BlackBerry devices have already been released.  We still, however, aren’t quite sure why Apple would pull third party GV clients regardless of if an official GV client is coming out or not.”

-http://www.rimarkable.com/apple-pulls-google-voice-applications-from-appstore

I use Google Voice heavily. I have been using it a long time, since it was grandcentral. I give it to co-workers and students when needed, without giving out my “real number”. I give it to close friends so that I can set it to ring all known phones when they call. I give it out to businesses so I can mark them as spam and never hear from them. Its usefulness cannot be underestimated and the ability to use it seamlessly is a must have. I immediately began examining my options. Yes, I did this on vacation. One of the most visible manifestations of my obsessiveness is that whenever I am buying technology I MUST research it until I walk into the store.

I began to cast an eye to my safety date, the Blackberry Bold.

Two of my three iPhone using friends have expressed a certain degree of contempt for my falling out with the iPhone. One even told me I was an “ass” for making this decision solely on Google Voice. Although I know this was all in jest, it does reflect back on my whole attitude toward the Mac community in general. The computers are fine, well made, and functional. Are they, in the end, any better than windows based computers? Not really. Once you get past the superficial differences in the interface they all pretty much run on the same Intel chip. Yes the Mac has a somewhat cleaner interface, but the M$ box has a somewhat less restrictive playground. It all depends on what you want.

This will not stop the Mac owner from smugly saying “you know, things like that don’t happen on a Mac” when your flash drive doesn’t mount correctly. It won’t stop them from rambling on endlessly about Garage Band while completely ignoring your references to Acid and FruityLoops. It won’t stop them from making bullshit statements like “I use a Mac because I like to get things done”.

I have one response to this…

.

But I digress.

The more I researched the Blackberry Bold, the more I realized that I wanted a Blackberry because I wanted to get something done. My phone would be a phone without light sabers and virtual whoopee cushions and the ability to bump my contact info to someone else’s phone. My phone will be clean, and ready for business. Its e-mail will be Spartan and quick, with push notifications that say “hey, you have some e-mail here”. Its keyboard will be a keyboard, not a touch screen that makes me shout “DAMNIT” in front of school children. It would have a 320×240 screen that is actually 320×240 and not pretending to 640×480 simply so you can say “Hey, look how big my screen is”. It’s web browser would display pages well enough for someone who, at the end of the day, would rather view pages on his laptop. It would support up to 32 gigs of REMOVABLE microSD memory and play far more formats than a DRM laden iPhone. It would support evernote and google apps and twitter, and do it all for 100$ less.

This is the decision I should have made in the first place. Both are great phones but the Bold is more suited to me. Google Voice works great on it, as does the rest of Google. The application community is there and has some great apps. Not as many as the iPhone, but the ratio of useful apps / apps you download and run once is a bit more realistic.

And, at the end of the day I would be sticking it to the man. Yeah, take that Apple. Google stands for world peace! I’ll put my money where I can have the freedom to do what I want.

…or so I thought.

Apple really had nothing to do with this. The same AT&T that got Google Voice thrown off the App store is the same AT&T that got Blackberry maps thrown off Blackberry. Google Voice competes with AT&T’s SMS messaging and enhanced voicemail. Blackberry maps competes (if somewhat weakly) with AT&T’s GPS upgrade – and depending on what app you use, you might need this for location services in software like Twitter and Where. This is the same AT&T that smugly has excellent coverage at my house, while all other carriers have static.

So I swallow my pride, realize that the man has me, and I make my decision to get a Blackberry. It seems my lot as an AT&T customer is to choose the lesser of two evils. This could all change by next week of course. The obsessive research never ends.

Still, it could be worse. I could be on Verizon.

Too many people are commenting and making decisions on the health care bill having not read one page of it, or having read only the right or left-wing propaganda. People that are too busy (or too lazy) to educate themselves on an issue and easy prey for ideologues on both sides. These people are nothing more than pawns in some grand chess game being played out by those who want to join the rest of the civilized world in providing medical care to anyone who needs it and those who use people to support the political and financial interests of huge drug and health insurance corporations.

I was saddened to see the video in Florida today. You had a mix of people who wanted a coherent discussion on this and a larger group of people who were mad.

They were mad because someone made them mad, someone with something to gain. You cannot really blame people for this behavior, but you can blame the disinformation cloud that surrounds this issue like a mist. You can also blame those who knowingly create this disinformation for their own financial gain.

Sometimes I feel that politics has changed from a process to a sporting event in this country, and the “red team” is still mad about losing the game.

Fear and loathing at New York town hall – Victoria McGrane – POLITICO.com

He too got the e-mail, in all caps, declaring that the legislation would dictate “mandatory euthanasia” for seniors, Massa said. He opened his copy of the bill and read the exact language, which provides for, under Medicare programs, “an explanation by the practitioner of the continuum of end-of-life services and supports available, including palliative care and hospice and benefits of such services must be made available — upon request.”

How can “end of life” services such as hospice be misinterpreted as euthanasia? Is it mistrust of the government? I get a chuckle out of that since it seems to be the right that is mistrustful, yet they gave us Watergate, Iran Contra, and the entire eight years of “W”.

I posted a link from AARP on my Facebook page that outlined some of the misinformation that is out there and correlated it to actual text in the bill that refuted the claims. The responses were universally contrite and petty:

• “You’re kidding, right”
• “If you weren’t so stupid you would watch Glenn Beck“

I decided to delete all the comments.  Why, because what I would welcome is a comment along the lines of “I disagree with this, and here briefly is why”. I won’t get that because social networking has beaten down the debate and interaction that our fore-bearers felt was vital to this country with trite politically targeted polls.

“Do you feel that the stimulus bill is the biggest fiasco in existence? vote now”.

People think that I use greasemonkey scripts  to block polls because I hate polls. The real reason is that I was fine with it until the political polls started. I hate drive by political statements.

Please read the bill, get both sides of the argument, then make your own decision. Don’t let others decide for you.