Categories
life

Faith of a Child

Kids are amazing. While I was running this morning I was thinking about what my 18 month-old daughter did last Sunday when I was at an early morning meeting. I again realized what an impressive feat it was.

When I got home from the meeting Laura told me that Mariah had waited on the couch for me for over half an hour. She just sat there, watching out the window, waiting for me to come home. She probably thought I was running – which is usually the case when I am gone before she wakes up – and fully expected to see me running down the street towards the house. Occasionally she would ask Laura to tuck the blanket in around her, but she was content to wait for my return. She almost made it too.

As I thought about it I wondered how often I don’t do as well at waiting for others (my children for example) as my daughter did at waiting for me. How often do I fail to display the kind of faith that she displayed that everything would be as she wanted it to be if only she gave it the necessary time.

Categories
politics

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton is one of the most recognizable figures in American politics today. From a campaign standpoint that is generally a good thing. Hillary’s problem is that she is also one of the most divisive figures in American politics. She has worked hard to soften her image in preparation for this run, but whether she is sincere or not is immaterial in the face of the fact that so many people will not trust anything she says. Even if Hillary were becoming honestly less liberal than she used to be she could never gain the trust of a large section of American voters.

I do not mean to suggest that she could not become president, but I am very sure that if she did her presidency would be constantly hampered by attacks from those who oppose her. If she made even a tiny misstep her problems would grow even larger. While there are many candidates who would do little to unite our country (which it needs), there are few, if any, who could cause the division to grow more than Hillary would.

It is no wonder that Hillary does not have a section on her website that outlines her positions. They are irrelevant to her candidacy. Her name is her biggest asset as well as her fatal liability. I could never endorse a candidate who would have no chance of being effective – therefore I cannot endorse Hillary Clinton.

Categories
culture

The Best of Times and the Worst of Times

I enjoyed reading Scott’s It’s Worse, but It’s Also Better and then I was surprised to hear on NPR a piece on how our society is Going Ghetto. It’s easy to get caught up in the idea that our culture is going downhill fast which is why it was so refreshing to read Scott’s take that there are some very positive things happening if we will look for them. I think that Amazing Grace is a good example of that.

On the other hand there is much that we accept and even promote which should be decried. That is what the Ghetto Nation is all about. I found it interesting that some people commented on the slightly racist connotations of the word ghetto as a failing of the argument being made. It is unfortunate if that charge of racism serves to dilute the power of the message being sent. Personally I would have used the word grunge – my grandma would have said “slouchy” – but regardless of the term being used, the argument is sound. We are shamelessly promoting some things which we should be rejecting or improving. When we would speak out against them we are told things like:

It seems to me that this demonization of everything ‘ghetto’ is representative of an underlying societal racism, equal to the way jazz and blues were demonized throughout the first half of the 20th century. (Comment by Katherine Ogilvie on the Blog of the Nation post)

While societal racism has no rightful place among us, I think she’s wrong (about ghetto, not about jazz and blues). It is not racist to speak out against something that is bad even if that something is often associated with a particular race. The arguments against all things ghetto are fairly applied regardless of race. The argument and the term are about a mindset which is unhealthy at the least and downright destructive at the worst.

Categories
politics

The Beltway

I heard a story on Talk of the Nation today about the firing of federal prosecutors(Blog of the Nation post). The thing that caught my attention was that they were going to discuss how different the coverage on this story was “outside the beltway.” If anyone is unfamiliar with the term – “inside the beltway” is Washington D.C. (specifically the politicians) and “outside the beltway” is the rest of us. Unsurprisingly the conclusion was that this story was getting much less coverage from the rest of us. As I heard that I think I know why that is. I believe that most people outside the beltway hear about these kinds of stories and think “oh boy, another stupid move by a politician – why am I not surprised.”

I then wondered why this should be so newsworthy inside the beltway. Surely they are even more aware of the constant stream of questionable decisions by politicians. My best guess is that they find it newsworthy not because they are surprised by the news, but because they enjoy the circus they live in. They do not care about the latest poor decision so much as they care about how the whole political establishment will react and what the outcome will be. They just want to know whose job is on the line and who will benefit politically from the mess.

Perhaps I’m cynical, but if I’m right it’s no wonder nothing really serious can get done in Washington D.C. for the right reasons anymore.

Categories
technology

Online Genealogy

I stumbled upon a site called Geni today that was supposed to be a tool for online genealogy collaboration. What I found was not exactly what I had expected. It seems to be more heavily focused on the living generations and making connections. If I had been trying to describe its function with no knowledge of what they say they are trying to do I would have compared it to friendster, myspace, or facebook – a way of making connections online with people, in this case with those to whom you are related.

I had always seen genealogy as more interested in finding and connecting with generations past. Obviously this can lead to making connections with other relatives further from your immediate family. I found Geni through a post by Paul Allen who is actually working on an online genealogy collaboration site called FamilyLink. Based on what I could see I thought that FamilyLink might be more what I would have expected.

I am curious to know what other people think of Geni. Is it what you imagine when you think of genealogy, or could it be used for genealogical purposes? Does it look like something you would want to use? I am, as yet, undecided.

Categories
life

Spring Again

It’s been months since I have had anything to do in the way of gardening, but now that Spring is back I got to start cleaning the flower beds with the kids and get ready to plant a few more plants to fill in the bare spots. It’s fun to see the plants from last year starting to grow again and I am excited by the large number of raspberry shoots that are coming up around the two plants we had last year. Soon we will have to start planting the vegetables again.

I had never thought about it before but yard projects in general seem to be an indicator of Spring as well. I have already put up a fence so the kids can play in the back yard without wandering into the street while Mom’s not looking. We also have some new plans for things we would like to change about the back yard -more flower garden space and probably removing the little deck next to our patio so that the babies can’t crawl under it.

There’s never a dull moment when you have a house and yard to play around with. There’s always something we can think of to make it just a little bit better. It reminds me of a house we looked at when we were trying to buy our house. The yard was amazing with all the little touches in the landscaping and the plants and garden areas. The family wanted to move so they would have a new yard to work on. Maybe that’s what will get us moving when the time comes.

Categories
life meta

Speaking of Lessons

Recently I was introduced to Bokardo, a blog about social web design. I have enjoyed what I have found there. Two recent posts combine to give 18 Lessons for Would-Be Bloggers. I consider myself more than a “would be” blogger but I am looking at learning from some of those lessons. After reading those posts I have decided to share two lessons I have learned over my years of blogging. One lesson is for aspiring bloggers and the other is for blogging advocates such as Joshua at Bokardo.

To the aspiring bloggers, one great lesson I have learned is to write consistently. For me that means that I strive to write daily. Sometimes I do better than others, but that is my target because that rhythm seems to fit me. Find your own rhythm, but don’t write on a completely random basis. Some would argue that this regularity will help to keep readers interested. I’m sure that’s true, but I stress this lesson for another reason. Write regularly because it keeps your mind active in noticing and generating ideas for writing.

To blogging advocates, one vital lesson that I have learned is that blogging does not suit everybody. I think that most people, if not all, should try blogging on to see if it fits them but I have learned from the experience of many people I have known that it will not always fit. There are many reasons why this is but we should accept that some people, even people who want to blog, find that it does not fit them. The best part of that lesson for me has been that it’s okay. Blogging fits me, but I don’t have to second guess myself or my friends if they discover that blogging does not fit them.

Categories
life

New Words

My third daughter is at that stage of development where she is coming up with new words at an incredible rate. It has been fun to see her language blossom so that she is using words more and more, rather than pointing and other non-verbal signals. She has always been good at communicating her desires, but it’s fun to see the words coming.

Today I told her that we were going to visit Grandma for dinner and she said “Mogah.” She repeated it a few times and I figured out that she was saying “Grandma.” I said “Mimi,” which was the name our other girls used for grandma when they were young and she said “Mimi.” She now has two words for Grandma. It was a big surprise for Mom and Grandma when we got there for dinner and they heard her call out “Mogah.” Even though they had not heard it before, they knew exactly what she meant.

Categories
life

Shadows of Life

While I was out running this morning my brain began to wax philosophical. I thought I’d share some of the main elements that were rolling through my brain – spurred by seeing my long shadow as the sun rose.

As I saw my long shadow (about 50 feet) I got to thinking about the shadows that people cast in their lives and through history. Interesting things about shadows include the fact that they show the shape of something but remove most of the details and the third dimension. Also interesting is the fact that they are altered by the background upon which they fall and the light from which they are generated. This last thought percolated into this post.

Our perspective on a person will change throughout their life just as a shadow changes throughout the day. In the morning it is long and heading West. In the middle of the day it is very short, or even non-existent. In the evening it is long but facing East. Likewise, we view children through the shadow of possibility that they cast. At first they cast a big shadow of virtually endless possibilities. As they grow the shadow gets shorter as they begin to hone in one specific possibilities. Later the shadow changes from a shadow of possibility to a shadow of accomplishment which grows longer over time.

Categories
culture life

All for the Love of Money

I remember being alarmed last year to learn about the number of people using negative amortization to finance their homes. In some areas it was over half of all home loans and the highest rates of negative amortization loans were nearly 2/3. Negative amortization comes in the form of an Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) where the payments during the first years, before the rate is fixed, do not even cover the full interest on the loan so that after the three or five years when the rate gets fixed, the payments balloon and you owe more on the house than when you bought it. The bet for the borrower is that the house will appreciate more than the loan so that you can refinance.

At the time I thought of how that was a sad way to get in to more house than you could actually afford. Today I found an article on foreclosures in the New York Times. The cause of these foreclosures is not necessarily negatively amortized loans, but it is because of sub-prime lending and a combination of careless borrowers and greedy/predatory lenders. Lest anyone think I am heartless, I think that the bulk of the blame – especially in the cases covered in this article – lies with the lenders.

I could rant about how disgusted I am about lenders who would capitalize on those who are least knowledgeable and least able to protect themselves or afford the losses that they face. Instead I would like to point to the root cause of this plague. It is greed – the love of money.

When I purchased my home I dealt with a mortgage broker who had my needs and values central to his decision making process. When I estimated what I could afford in monthly payments he cautioned me against estimating too generously. After pre-approving me for a certain level of mortgage he suggested that it might be to my benefit not to try to find the most house I could fit under the limit. The end result was that my payments are lower than I thought I could afford. I pay what I estimated that I could afford and I am paying off the house faster because of it. This is not the attitude displayed by the broker who would exaggerate your income to look larger to get you into a larger loan so that he can get a larger commission.

It’s too bad that we have so many people (not just in the real-estate business) who claim to provide a service but who only service their own pocketbook. The fact is that the broker has nothing to lose if you default on the loan. Generally speaking, the lender can recoup their costs between the payments you make and the money they get from the foreclosed property. The loss is almost entirely the borrowers loss, and in the case of most of these loans, the borrower does not know enough to protect themselves when dealing with greedy and knowledgeable brokers.