Oh Lonesome Tree!

For the first time in many, many years I bought a painting. And I believe it is the first time I have purchased one directly from the artist. I love it's quality and haunting simplicity. It looks like a place I've been to in my mind many times. The artist is Kayti Jeffords, a local artist here in Waycross, Georgia. She painted this at 15! She is now a year or two older and just getting better and better! They are displayed sometimes at the Okefenokee Heritage Arts Center in Waycross. I am going to research as to where else these may be found on the web and then update this post with the results.

Chattin' with Saxby!

I ran across this thing on the Internet, I think from the Michael Moore site, to send a note of encouragement to your Congressman and Senators to pass H.R. 676, the single-payer health care bill sponsored by Dennis Kuchinich and John Conyers (among many others). Now my Congressman is Jack Kingston and my two Senators Are Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Issacson. These are very far right gentleman, so it seemed like a bit of a waste time. But I decided, what the heck! It's not like I'm using my spare time to broker Mideast peace!

I wrote them all the following:

"As a concerned citizen, as a caring Christian, as a practical CPA, I urge you to pass H.R. 676. It has the advantages of being both morally correct and fiscally sound. When this nation was formed, we weren't afraid of revolutionary changes, we certainly shouldn't shy away now! Ideological purity is almost criminal when people's lives are at stake, when record numbers are driven to bankruptcy by health care costs, when entrepreneurship is dying because the risk can no longer be borne. Please set aside your talking points, ponder what is best, and pass H.R. 676!"

I was trying to use their own language to at least get them to listen. or at least clue them in that they weren't the only ones who could bring in Christians, founding fathers, and entrepreneurial capitalism.

The only one to respond so far has been Saxby Chambliss. Yes, he of the "Max Cleland, the Vietnam hero/disabled vet should be tied to Osama Bin Laden and I, Saxby Chambliss, the draft-dodging weasel, am the real guy to protect you." Well, it was a form response. Something about co-sponsoring S. 1019, the Universal Health Care Choice and Access Act, whose only real purpose seemed to be to propose tax rebates to go towards insurance payments. Yeah, that's a real help. I am so tired of tax gimmicks as solutions, regardless of whose side they come from. When you make the tax code more complex and goofy, the only person you benefit is me - the CPA.

So I wrote back the following:

"Considering the problems we face in regard to health care, I'm afraid any solution that simply messes with the tax code is useless and idiotic. I urge you to support real solutions, as such is H.R. 676."

I will keep you all updated as their responses continue to pour in!

Mr. Barack Obama, Jr.

BenJerMan's Gate class at his school have an annual live museum. They take on the character of a well-known person and give an auto-biographical speech. After thinking about being Jackie Robinson, he decided to be President Barack Obama, a candidate he was enthused about even before his parents.

I have hopefully included a video of his performance. It has left off the first few lines which go - "I am Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States. I am the first person of African-American heritage to hold the office. I was raised by my loving mother and grandparents in Hawaii and Kansas. After graduating from Harvard Law School, I moved to Chicago and became a lawyer and community organizer..." the rest should be in the video.

Yes, Benjamin is not African-American, but why should skin color be important in who we choose to identify with?

Yes, I also know it's sideways. I promise I will get more adept over time. Probably.


Yes, there is also a surprise bonus video of BenJerMan's pal Grant doing Dr. Louis Pasteur. I can't fully explain it, but it's only three seconds.

Global Trinity

Sometimes when you watch the news, it's hard to grasp what's really important. The media is so easily distracted by the new shiny penny. Health care reform? That's interesting...ooooh, look!...Miss California said something crazy! The Cheney office may have advocated torture? Wow, that's significant...no, look, Nancy Pelosi said something that maybe, just maybe, might be inconsistent!
For my initial political blog, I would like to establish what I believe are the three most important problems/threats facing the planet today. sometimes the media skirts around these topics, but then, oops - there's that shiny penny!
First, Global Warming. You can debate the degree and the level of mankind's involvement, but it is indisputably happening. It bears watching, and I think we're naive to the max if we don't think we play a role in it's acceleration. Included in this would be the growing shortages in basic resources, the most ominous of which are water shortages.
Second, Global Economic Crisis. Yes, there's been a lot of financial mischief making by the US financial industry, and complicit is a lax and corrupted government. And, yes, Globalization is a conveniently destructive boogieman. But what disturbs me most is the growing worldwide inequity between rich and poor. This has to be reversed. A world structure based on exploitation can no longer be tolerated.
Finally, Global Violence. I don't even want to call this terrorism, because that is a political word for a problem that I think is broader than that. As the world becomes destabilized, the possibility of someone using "weapons of mass destruction" becomes a more real certainty. We have to get a handle on the world's increasing nuclearization. This will require all the tools in the world's arsenal to combat it - diplomacy, humanitarian efforts, addressing the first two global problems, and yes, at times, may require the use of military force.

That is the broad outline as I see it. Please feel free to extend, clarify, comment and debate. I welcome the discussion!

BenJerMan the Baseballman

My eight-year-old son, Benjamin Strait, is starting to play baseball for the first time. Athleticism, alas, does not run in the family, but I am extremely proud of his efforts to date. In three games he has had six at bats. He has had three strikeouts, and has hit the ball three times. Each time he was thrown or beat out at first BUT while this was going on, a run scored on two different occasions. So that means he has two RBIs. Yes, that's right. BenJerMan has a stat! How much closer to Nirvana can you get!

UPDATE: BenJerMan got a hit Tuesday, May 12; a whopping single down the third base line! He then went to second on the next batter's hit, and then went from second to home on the next hit. He now has one hit in twelve at bats (.083), two RBIs and one run scored! He is improving and having a blast!

SECOND UDATE: BenJerMan got another hit Friday, May 15. He is now 2 for 14 for a new batting average of .143. Only one more week to go!

FINAL UDATE: The rain shortened season has concluded and I am proud to say that BenJerMan has collected another hit, what I would call a gentleman's double! He ran for second even though Coach was trying to hold him. He pumped his arms up and down, excited to the max, looking for all the world like Mark 'The Bird' Fydrich! His final stats: 3 hits in 16 at bats for a .188 batting average, 3 RBIs and 2 Runs scored. Viva la BenJerMan baseball!

Welcome to my World

Welcome to my little experiment in dipping into the blogosphere. Hopefully, I will get more surefooted as time goes on. At this point, I'm not sure what direction to take it in. Or how much it will be the sound of one hand clapping.

To begin, I will just be me and see where that takes it. I love storytelling, in all forms. I love politics. I love my family. Hopefully, that will all be reflected.

To blogfinity...and beyond!