Distracted Mind

This isn’t an argument about semantics, or something I’m asking just to be tedius. I really want to know. What the fuck is an “Average” American? Is there a standard that we either adhere to or deviate from, some baseline that we’re all measured against? I’m asking because Senator John McCain seems to think that there is and I’d like to know where this definition is so that I can check to see how I measure up. I know about his idea of average from his campaign (and look how good that “Average Joe” is doing right now–he’s turned mediocrity into a marketable skill!).

For those of you that don’t know, the Senator has taken his Mavericky Maverickness to the land of twitter (gosh, he’s so cutting edge, we’re all bleeding), where he’s keeping us all up-to-date on the “Top 10 porkiest projects” each day. He assures all of us in twitterland that Thursday’s will be posted soon. I love how the things he thinks of as pork all have potential to create new jobs, and how many of these jobs don’t apply to the “average” American. If you’d like an example, check out this one, from February 27th. Just throw out the window that if we’re talking about “American”, we’re talking about the entire continent, not just U.S. citizens. Wait, scratch that: include the entire continent. I’d like to see what Sen. McCain uses as a definition for the whole damned continent.

As much as all politicians like to think they’re fighting for the “average” guy or gal (or at least like having that appearance), Washington D.C. is like a interrogation room with dirty windows. We can see in (mostly), and politicians can sort of hear what we’re saying but, as long as they’re in the room (D.C.), they can’t see us all standing outside. McCain’s petty jabs at projects are the result of his obscured vision of the U.S. He sees everything through his partisan lens, which obscures the potential help any of these projects offer. Take the example I linked to above: McCain comments that investing in astronomy isn’t going to help “average” Americans. How’s that? Americans need jobs. Some Americans (and by American, I mean those of us living in the United States) happen to work in the field of astronomy, or are studying in that field. How is investing in astronomy a bad thing? Or is it because this investment is going to Hawaii, which probably has the least obscured night sky in the country other than, perhaps, Alaska?

Where McCain finds pork, I find jobs to be an avenue toward progress. Guess I’m just not average according to John and I think that’s a good thing.

Looking for something to read? Can’t keep your mind off the current headlines? Thinking that the news is merely a harbinger of worse things to come? Have I got a web comic for you!

[Shooting War](http://smithmag.us/shootingwar/) is the story of a video blogger who was in the wrong place at the right time, inadvertently shot footage of a terrorist hit in Brooklyn, NY, and got sucked in by the media. The year is 2011, John McCain is President (God I hope not), and Iraq is still a clusterf*ck. The protagonist, Jimmy Burns, finds himself working for a news network that makes Fox look like it’s on bedrest. On assignment in Iraq, Jimmy’s knee deep in blood, violence, Jesus-freak soldiers and conspiracy.

Go. Read. Try not to feel like the creators are channeling the future.

It’s hard to watch or read the news right now — there’s violence in the Middle East, unrest in Asia, and our witless leader is more concerned about [what's for dinner](http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060713/od_nm/germany_pig_dc) than the condition of our world. It’s difficult to take it all in, overwhelming to process. It makes me think about property prices in Canada, Ireland, or New Zealand, for sure, but it also overwhelms me with fear.

I’ve got questions: are we seeing the birth of World War III? How long will this last? How will we get through this? Will we get through this unscathed?

It doesn’t help that the Sci Fi channel is airing reruns of [Dark Angel](http://www.scifi.com/darkangel/), which get me to pondering how to survive an electomagnetic pulse (EMP). I know, I know, it’s science _fiction_, but it’s also got a prescient ring to it.

The escapist part of me wants to turn the news off, pay attention to only local events and the occasional celebrity fluff piece (is Tom Cruise’s and Katie Holmes’ baby actually _real_? IS IT??), but I’m drawn to current events around the world. It’s like touching a sore tooth with your tongue — it’s painful, but unavoidable.

Question is, what the hell am I as Jane Q. Public, everyday citizen, supposed to do? How do any of us, as ordinary people, change the present? I go about my day as anyone else would, working and living my ordinary life, and pray for a change. I’ve come to the point where I’m thinking that prayer just isn’t enough. What comes after prayer and faith that the world will right itself?

Waiting for November 2008 is passive — change needs to come before 2008. I’m tired of being ashamed by my nation’s leadership. I’ve had enough of divisive wedge issues like the condemnation of stem cell research and gay marriage. Denying rights and hobbling scientific advances aren’t things that the general public are interested in doing, yet these issues have been shoved down our throats as the rest of the world explodes around us. Nero fiddles while the _world_ burns.

Fatalities stack upon casualties. You can almost smell the death, and yet we’re all still here, still watching American Idol, still eating twinkies and making trips to WalMart to save on chips and detergent. What else can we do? How can we make ourselves heard above the screaming? I don’t have the answer, but I can safely say that I’m tired of feeling helpless and ineffectual.

The tricky thing about faith is that it’s a belief in a God that isn’t very vocal. Sure, holy texts reveal that God spoke to prophets and common folk, but when’s the last time you heard of God talking to Joe Blow in the modern day? Have you seen a burning bush, lately? Some days I long for a Monty Python-esque hand of God to come out of the clouds; it would sure beat quiet introspection and meditation.

God becomes a sticky subject when tragedy plays out, especially en masse. Holocausts, genocide, disasters, wars, we wonder why God is mute. When Pope Benedict visited Auschewitz over the weekend, he was moved to ask “Why, God, did you remain silent?” Perhaps the answer isn’t in God’s silence, but in our resolute deafness to the signs.

When Hitler was in power, the evil was gradual. It started with speeches, then propaganda, then segregation, then disappearances. Did people know what was going on? Probably, though many people just didn’t notice. It was business as usual. By the time awareness crept in, it was too late.

When Rwanda’s genocide achieved momentum, we were deaf to the calls for help. It was a blurb on the news as we rushed to work, a bit during dinner time. Only now does the full horror of the murders really reach us, over a full decade later.

The same scenario plays out over and over again. History repeats itself more often than a bad burrito. We hear about horrible violence and monstrous acts, often too late. We embrace inaction because we don’t know what else to do.

We see photos of atrocities every day, so many that we become immune. And yet God’s silence is deafening — the sound of blood beating through your ears. Is it really that God is silent, or are we just not paying attention?

God’s vocal chords are humanity. If we remain silent, God remains silent as well. Pope Benedict wonders why his God, my God, didn’t speak up during the Holocaust, but the answer is clear: God was screaming. Every person beaten, every shot fired, every child and parent gassed was a cry out for help that was smothered before it was heard — suppressed by fear.

Why, in present times, does God remain silent? We see war crimes, torture and monstrous acts every day and they just keep coming. We don’t live in Nazi Germany, but some still remain quiet in their fear. Fear for their jobs, their families, it makes no difference. There are voices clamoring above the masses of pop-news, though, to get the truth out.

If you think that God is silent, just raise your voice.

[Tim Russo](http://democracyguy.typepad.com) has been chronicling the election snafu as it unfolds, but I’d like to voice a few concerns of my own.

First off, my voting experience was uncomplicated. Other than not getting the card to read the first time, the voting went off without a hitch. That said, I’m still concerned.

First off, what about a paper receipt? It seems to me that the paper trail was a selling point. Having to read everything on screen and verify that way was a pain in the ass, and the receipt that printed out and scrolled off never to be seen again didn’t help me either. The receipt issue was, and is, extremely annoying.

Second, [what about people with disabilities?](http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=5693) Sure, there’s supposed to be an audio booth at every polling place, optical scanning devices were supposedly available, but none of that was widely (if at all) publicized. How are people with vision impairments supposed to vote? Well, if all the other options fail, they can vote by dictating their votes to someone who _may_ cast them accurately.

Someone with limited motor skills may find the touch screens to be unwieldy–they require a degree of accuracy that many individuals with motor-impairments can’t muster. If you have severe palsy, how can you ensure that you’re going to touch the right candidate’s space? It could be a fairly long and frustrating process for people with motor-impairments. I’m thinking that there will be some lawsuits regarding electronic voting and accessibility.

The whole electronic voting thing is playing out like a bad farce. I’d like to think that the machines had been tested before today, that kinks had been worked out, but it doesn’t seem to be playing out like that. Polling places are closing down due to mechanical errors, people are angry and frustrated with the new technology. While both Daman and I had no problems, we’re also used to working with technology (being the computer geeks that we both are) and aren’t exactly citizens average.

It’s almost primary time and that means that the loonies are coming out of the woodwork. The Conservative Primary Fairy (hereafter known as CPF) left a little blue goodie in our doorway the other day, one that’s been a source of amusement for the adults in my household. If there’s one thing that will make me simultaneously laugh, curse, and bring me back from the blogging dead, it’s mindless ultra-conservative propaganda.

This precious little folded piece was masterminded by the Ward 20 Republican Organization and its _esteemed_ leader, Richard May. Its heartfelt, conversation-style is a little conspiratorial and extremely humorous. As an independent and staunch _non-republican_, I was roaring.

Just so that you can share in the joy and outrage, I’ll give y’all a few snippets of this masterpiece on paper. Any italicized emphasis in the quotes is mine.

_The Opener. The following paragraphs have been plucked from the opening statement of this leaflet because they are so. Absolutely. Precious._
“On Tuesday May 2nd the Ohio Republican primary will present voters with the opportunity to state if they want the moderate Ohio status quo this party has run for the last sixteen years or if they fully embrace the conservative revolution as the national party has done for nearly a generation.”

_The first paragraph’s grammar and punctuation are indicative of the entire leaflet. If there’s anything this organization is *actually* conservative about, it’s punctuation. They don’t like it and they won’t stand for it. Not a comma, not an apostrophe. The only reason why periods are allowed is because people need to be told when a full stop is in order, or else they won’t remember to BREATHE!_
Read the rest of this entry »

A hero was buried in Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, one who was unique in his bravery and convictions. Desmond T. Doss Sr. was 87 when he died, the only conscientious objector to receive a Medal of Honor for his service in World War II. Doss was a medic in the war; he refused to carry a gun and instead saved lives in his service to our country.

While Doss endured ridicule for his decision, he was steadfast in his conviction that he would not take a life. He rescued 75 servicemen in Okinawa, carrying each one to safety at the edge of a cliff while under fire. His actions showed that peacemakers and pacifists can serve in our military and affect lives in a way that guns and mortar fire can’t.

When you hear the term “conscientious objector,” what images come to mind? Do you think of hippies stuffing daisies into gun barrels? Do you think of protesters and folk songs? Or do you think of a young man or woman in uniform, saving lives?

Conscientious objectors have served in the military as medics, clerics, cooks and in other roles throughout our country’s history. The decision _not_ to bear arms is a brave one: they’ve given up personal protection and instead sacrifice their safety to serve our men and women in the military. They could have chosen to stay in the private sector, but they didn’t.

I’m a pacifist, but the only uniforms I’ve worn were for food service and choir uniforms. I don’t wear patchouli, I tend to abhor the _hippie nouveau_ trend (’round my house the word “hippie” is usually intoned in a Cartman impersonation). I went to college instead of enrolling in the military, a decision I don’t regret, but I respect and appreciate those that decided to go into the service. It’s not a minor life decision and it’s one that needs to be respected. Doss made that decision and went above and beyond the call of duty to rescue his brethren, making him a hero in every sense of the word. His sacrifice and his legacy will not be forgotten.

[link](http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/04/doss.funeral.ap/index.html)

Amidst all of the atrocities, the bloodshed and the chaos in Iraq, something good has happened that we should celebrate. Jill Carroll, the Christian Science Monitor journalist that was kidnapped November 26, 2005, has been released.

This is good news amidst the horrifying events occurring daily in Iraq, but there needs to be more news like this. There are still journalists, soldiers, civilians and relief workers being used as pawns. These people have just as much of a right to safety and freedom. As much as I’m celebrating Carroll’s release, I’m thinking about the families of the three Iraqi journalists that haven’t been released and praying that their families will soon celebrate their releases.

I don’t know Jill Carroll. I don’t have any reason to care, no reason to relate to her except that she’s my age. She went over to Iraq to do her job and was kidnapped doing it. I’ve been following her story, hoping that she would be released, and it’s happened. There’s not many details about her release, but there is a reason to celebrate about her captors recognizing her innocence and letting her go.

[Christian Science Monitor: Jill Carroll update](http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0113/carroll_update.html)

After the brouhaha over abortion over at Brewed Fresh Daily yesterday, [this article](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/28/AR2006022801450.html) from the Washington Post: [Unintended Pregnancy Linked to State Funding Cuts](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/28/AR2006022801450.html). This quote was especially illustrative:

At the same time, states as different as Nebraska, Ohio and Utah were among the worst when it came to providing access to contraceptives for needy women and teenagers, as well as gynecological exams and information on preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

Wow. We really need to stop making the news like this. Of course, that would mean that we’d actually have to start caring about poor people, more specifically, poor women. How much would we actually save by providing better access to contraceptives and better reproductive care to lower income brackets? This study stated that “Every $1 spent on family planning saves $3 in health care costs related to a pregnancy.” Sounds like the difference between a soda and a latte, until you start thinking in volume. Then it starts to sound like a plan.

A heap of thanks to Jon Armstrong at [Blurbomat](http://www.blurbomat.com/) for pointing out this [Malcom Gladwell article:](http://www.gladwell.com/2005/2005_08_29_a_hazard.html)

“Moral hazard” is the term economists use to describe the fact that insurance can change the behavior of the person being insured. If your office gives you and your co-workers all the free Pepsi you want–if your employer, in effect, offers universal Pepsi insurance–you’ll drink more Pepsi than you would have otherwise. If you have a no-deductible fire-insurance policy, you may be a little less diligent in clearing the brush away from your house.

This should be required reading for anyone that thinks that HSAs are the way to go. Gladwell provides information on the history of the failed Universal Healthcare movement (did you know that it dates back to WWI?), reasons why the current method of providing healthcare is a failure, and why HSAs are a categorically bad idea.