Tag: reactions

Categories
life

Looking at Priorities

I was very impressed when I read The Most Important Thing™ by D’Arcy Norman. I was impressed with his candor and with his top priority – being a good father (it matches my own). I was also impressed at how well he expressed a thought that I have had before but never attempted to put into words. That thought is not the question, but the process of evaluating the components of your life and your life as a whole to ensure that they way you are living does conform to the things that you believe.

I think that anytime a person lives in harmony with their core beliefs and what they think is most important they are virtually assured of happiness. Not that they will not face challenges, but that they will feel real joy, the kind that can come even while things are challenging or disappointing. I know that I have never been unhappy as a result of something I have done when that something is consistent with my priorities. Disappointment and dissatisfaction only come when I am acting in a way that contradicts my real priorities.

Categories
life

Needed: Waterless Bathing System

Someone needs to come up with a way to get kids clean without involving water or a bathroom. My kids have just used the necessity of a bath as an excuse to break every possible rule in the bathroom. Toothpaste behind the toilet, toilet paper down the sink and water, or the remnants of water, in various unwaterable places.

Truth be told, this is not really about bathing. It’s about a certain unnamed person who has decided after two months of nearly angelic behavior, in which no significant disciplinary action had been necessary, that it is time to find out if the rules will be enforced. This bathroom incident – in which not a single bathroom-related rule was left unbroken – is just one of many tests to see if we have just forgotten to apply the rules.

There was outward disappointment to discover that all privileges magically evaporated for the night. I doubt there will be very many more infractions before the inward rebel goes back into hibernation.

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 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
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.

Categories
culture life

Amazing Grace

If you have not already gone out to see Amazing Grace you should go as soon as you can. I had heard that it was really good, and I have been wanting to go for weeks, but every attempt has been thwarted until today. It is fantastic.

I am not one to lightly recommend movies – even to my friends, much less to the whole world – but this movie is not one to be missed. The subject matter is worthwhile, the script is very well done, and the acting really pulls it all together in to a compelling story. The beauty of the whole thing is that they manage to do all this without stooping to anything objectionable. How can you pass that up?

Categories
life meta politics

Reach Upward

I have been wanting to post some thoughts on Scott Hinrichs post Gross Incompetence? As I have come back to it, I realize that I could quote much of the same material he is quoting or I could thoroughly botch an attempt to add something to what he said. Instead I have decided to share this as an example of the thoughtful posts that I have come to enjoy from Scott. He comes up with some good sources and always leaves you thinking.

I agree with him about 95% of the time. The other 5% I consider that I have not yet formed an opinion on the subject. Never can I reject his arguments outright, and never do I finish reading a post from Scott and feel I’ve wasted my time.

Categories
culture politics

Political Forgiveness

In covering the confession by Newt Gingrich concerning his affair of the late 90’s, CNN speculates that critics will call the religious right hypocrites if they forgive him for the affair when they are/were so critical of the infidelity displayed by Bill Clinton and Rudy Giuliani. I think there would be an element of hypocrisy to that scenario. On the other hand, forgiving him and voting for him are not the same thing. Some may forgive him and still not vote for him. Others may vote for him without forgiving his hypocrisy.

I know he claims that it isn’t hypocritical, but his logic is the same as the logic used to say that the Civil War was not fought over slavery. Certainly states rights was an issue in the war, just as perjury was an issue in the Clinton impeachment. That being said – common sense says that states rights would not have been an issue worthy of war without the slavery issue, just as perjury would not have been a problem for Clinton without the infidelity.

So if this admission is an attempt to clear the way for a presidential run I hope that Gingrich does not try to cast himself as a clean candidate just because he has paraded his skeletons in public already.