What unfolds today...

It appears today that America is on the verge of the passage of the most sweeping piece of healthcare reform legislation ever. Not since FDR’s administration and the passage of Social Security or LBJ’s administration and the passage of Medicare has America seen such a historical piece of legislation go to the Hill. Whether you support this bill or oppose it, you can’t deny that the vote going on today is huge…as is the price tag of it.

Now, I have not read the bill. I don’t know it inside and out, and cannot speak to the minute details contained therein. The sad part that I’ve seen in recent weeks, though, is that the staunchest opposition and support of it have not and cannot either. The loudest voices hawking this bill and even more so in protest of it are unable to speak intelligently as to why, and subsequently of what they support and/or oppose with this legislation. The loudest liberals and even more loud “Tea Party” conservative protestors take their cues and become puppets of Fox News Channel and Glenn Beck and Bret Baier, MSNBC and Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann. They spew their vitriol and two or three talking points, yet know nothing of the intricacies of the plan. They scream “government takeover,” yet don’t know that the freedom to choose is still there. They cry it “will reduce the deficit,” but ignore the fact that is unlikely to happen.

Now, I again don’t know this plan to the letter. I do know that I am the child of two very good people that worked hard for decades but seldom could afford their own healthcare coverage living in fear of getting sick not from what the cost to their physical health, but rather to their financial health. They, along with 30 million others, would benefit greatly for the passage of this plan. For this reason alone, I see the most good from the healthcare reform plan. I know the fiscal cost is great, and I hate government spending that raises my taxes and lowers my paycheck more than the next. But, to know that our family members that may not be able to afford private health coverage will now be able to go to the doctor when they need it, without fear of being bankrupted makes me think the most powerful nation in the world may finally be catching up to its neighbors…

Stirring the "Melting Pot"

In the past year, more children were born in the United States to people of color than to whites. Evidence has shown that by the middle of the 21st century, other races will outnumber whites. It seems, based on these facts that we are on the verge of a new minority in the United States. Now, I’m not for a minute complaining of the increasing amount of people of color in our country, or offering to champion increased immigration restrictions. I for one embrace the diversity that our country is so rich with. However, I wonder if come 2050 the paradigm will shift once our Anglo brethren are outnumbered across the nation. Will scholarships and job opportunities become easier to secure for those of Caucasian background because of new affirmative action legislation? Will advocacy groups march in force to ensure the rights of the ginger are protected? Are we going to recommend that our schools offer English classes so our kids have foreign language exposure? These may sound like foolish questions posed by an ignorant soul, but look deep at where things are going in the US today, and ask yourself, are they really that absurd?

One round-trip around a radio dial in Texas will show you the influence of our shrinking English-speaking population. Go to any new retail establishment and look at the department signage hanging from the ceiling to see that it is now required to be in two languages. Search the help wanted ads, and see that most positions now encourage bilingual skills. My last job position virtually required me to speak another language. I sit at my cubical, and hear full conversations in Spanish. I say all this with a bit of a laugh though, because if you were to visit our neighbors to the north, you’d see that most, nay nearly all, people speak two languages. My point is that America is behind the power curve as it is when it comes to open-mindedness regarding language. In our arrogance we expect everyone in our country to automatically speak English, and at the same time when we travel to other countries we expect them to speak our language as well.

America is heading a new direction with a growing population of blacks, Hispanics, and other races, and in our lifetimes we will see that whites are not going to be the majority any longer. The diversity and flavor that has defined America’s culture and language however comes from our roots as the new home and land of opportunity for those seeking a new life, and should always remain that way. I just hope that when we’re the new minority we’re not subject to the oppression and difficulty we gave their predecessors…

My job in a nutshell

Relig-itics, poli-gion, um...yeah...

There’s a movement going on within certain Christian sectors to boycott Glen Beck and Fox News Channel for Beck’s call for people to leave churches that preach social and economic justice. Now, I am not a fan of either Glen Beck or Fox News Channel. I think both are sensationalized perversions of journalism and political commentary, and contribute about as much to news reporting as their left-wing counterparts at MSNBC, a load of bunk a load of bunk seasoned with yelling and finger pointing. [I’ll remind you that I strive to take a more moderate and centrist look at all things political and make decisions on my own values rather than political affiliation] I’d like to take a look at this argument through an objective lens, as I take extremist politics and extremist religions with a similar grain of salt, especially when it involves such an über-conservative pundit like Beck. Too often in recent years the lines of politics and religion have blurred to such an extreme point that it is starting to get dangerous, and too many of our policy makers in DC forget their oath to support the Constitution, which calls for politics and religion to be separate. Many argue that America was founded on Christian beliefs, and that is a short-sighted argument because many of our founding fathers were actually Atheists or Agnostics rather than the traditional Judeo-Christians that they are argued to be. But enough of that, back to the topic that started this whole train of thought: social and economic justice in our churches.

Glenn Beck recently called on his viewers to leave their churches if the pastors taught messages of social and economic justice, and he’s got the son of a popular Christian figurehead on his side. Social and economic justice, what is that? Some modern-day followers of the Bible contend that both Old and New Testament books teach charity, volunteerism, helping those in need, assisting in disaster relief, offering a hand to those less fortunate as social and economic justice. There are many that believe it is also related to changing the environment or conditions that lead to people being downtrodden. This is where the political lines can really start to cross over, and where Glen Beck and his supporter Jerry Falwell Jr. (yes, son of the late Reverend, who tried to inject his moral majority into politics so much) argue that those churches are pushing a socialist agenda on their patrons. But, honestly, who is politicizing their religion more here? Is it the pastor who wants his flock to spend more time volunteering in soup kitchens? Is it the Rabbi who wants members of his synagogue to help the unemployed in their job hunt? Is it the priest who is spending time in his inner-city neighborhood working to reduce gang violence? Or is it Beck and Falwell who think all those I just listed somehow "are trying to twist the gospel to say the gospel supported socialism." I think everyone needs to realize that when it comes to helping your fellow man, it’s not about left, right, or in-between, it’s more about seeing someone who’s in a tough time, and doing what you can, when you can, to somehow brighten that person’s day and help them realize that they can make it in this world, and maybe offer them a hand out of the hole they’re in. It might just change their life.

I don’t profess myself to be the most spiritual or religious person in the world. I’m at a place in my life where I’m still trying to decide what I truly believe when it comes to a “higher power.” What I do know, is that in the world I live in, I see and have seen lots of pain, suffering, and strife day in and day out. I’ve seen a lot in my short thirty years. I’ve seen the best of mankind, and I’ve seen the absolute worst. The best in mankind I’ve seen was due to people doing what they could to help the person to their left and right, whether they knew them or not, whether they liked them or not. The worst I’ve seen in man has almost every time been tied to some sort of religious dogma, and that saddens me. I've seen radical Islamists blow up children "in the name of Allah." I've seen "Christians" harass, abuse, and beat up gays because they were "different," and "perverts." Now, many of the ills of man lie and are due to extreme ends of the religious spectrum, and I know that. However, there are many that are caused by those that don’t fall so far to one end, and that’s where the change that can lead to true social and economic justice needs to come from. Ghandi said it best: “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” More of our Christians need to start being like our Christ, just like more Muslims need to subscribe to the true teachings of the Koran. The Jesus and Mohammed I’ve read about would like that…and that goes for EVERYONE...

The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth...so help me blog.

The past few weeks have been quite interesting to say the least,
providing me a lot of time (probably too much) to be introspective,
uncertain, hopeful, and angry, though not all at once thankfully. I've
had a lot of time to wonder if the decisions I've made in recent months
have been the right ones, and I've hopped back and forth across that
fence a few times, and tripped over it a couple as well. At the end of
the day, I still think that parting ways with corporate America was in
the end a good decision. Life in the public sector is cut-throat,
political, and to truly succeed and exceed one must "know and be" more
than they must "do." By that, I mean, who you know and how you can be
the image they look for plays heavier at the table than what you
actually do for the company. It seems that out there, being the person
who likes to ask the Emperor why they're not wearing any clothes (in
lieu of complimenting their new outfit) creates a virtual concrete
ceiling that is impenetrable.

So, where have the days of the honest broker gone? When has our
society, and subsequently our workplace, gone to such a sensitive state
that telling the truth (good, bad, and ugly) alienates one to a point of
not being a good fit for success? There was a time when your boss asked
for your opinion regarding a matter that you told them the un-biased,
respectful, unfiltered, unpasteurized, 100% USDA Organic Certified
truth. Now it seems that one must be the spend day in and day out
tip-toeing on eggshells and ensuring that every professional opinion is
laced with rainbows, butterflies, smoke, mirrors, and sunshine. Before
I go further, let me say I'm not advocating a workplace where one's
daily routine is flooded with sarcasm, disrespect, and condescension.
Productivity and cohesion cannot thrive in such an environment. What I
am advocating, is an office or environment where no one is afraid to
tell their boss, their boss's boss, or even their boss's boss's boss
that the pile of rotten apples on their desk actually smells like rotten
apples. To me, when we get back to a place where such candor and
professional vigor is embraced, rather than squashed, we will once again
be in a professional society that I feel comfortable living and working
in. It worked to a fault for Peter Gibbons in "Office Space," as he
ended up the "Straight shooter with upper management written all over
him." Now, that's probably not the best example. I'll close with a
quote from "Heartbreak Ridge," a great movie that embraces an extreme
look at the candor needed in America's workplace:

Col. Meyers: [during a readiness exercise]: What's your assessment of
this situation, Gunny?
Highway: It's a cluster f*ck, sir.
Col. Meyers: Say again?
Highway: Marines are fighting men. They shouldn't be sitting around on
their sorry asses filling out request forms for equipment they should
already have, sir.

Even if the profanity is left out, he gave his honest assessment of how
things were going. That's how it should be. I won't piss on your leg
and then tell you it's raining, and you should thank me for that. It'll
keep your socks dry if anything...

Tuesday Musing

Today's one of those days where I can't help but think that Ferris Bueller was wise beyond his years when he said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." As with most days, I spent the majority of my time in useless meetings and nugging away at PowerPoint presentations that I'll never get credit for. Such is my job, such is my mania. However, I also got to spend a bit of time following my daughter as she tromped around the yard pointing at random objects and babbling incoherently with what I could only assume were her descriptions of each of the objects at which she was pointing. As she becomes more and more observant of the things around her it never ceases to amaze me the amount of small, once meaningless things that are now amazing and relevant once again. That bush at the corner of the house that I never got around myself to trim is now a new discovery. The paper that I didn't have time to pick up from the driveway this morning, now something cool to carry around. The neighbor's yard, just as dead and weed-infested as my own, a new frontier to explore. The garden gnome in the flower bed, once a cheeky bit of self-expression that I had to have, now a new toy. As the days go on, I only think more and more at how these little moments all add up to make a lifetime. Watching our little one grow, learn, and discover brings a whole new perspective to life, careers, and decisions, all of which I have to take inventory of over the next few weeks...

To be continued...

Captain's Blog: Stardate March 8th, 2010. Entry #1

This is my first foray into blogging, it's never been something that I've thought about much until recently, but the chance to have an outlet to talk about what's going on, share stories of life, work, family, etc., seemed pretty interesting. Plus, strangely enough, some consider me a relatively witty and humorous person, so who knows, maybe I'll post some quirky little gem that you can quote to your friends like, "I read this on a guy's blog, isn't he funny?" So, a little about me: I'm 30 years old, married for seven years to my absolute best friend, have a 15 month old daughter who's beautiful and hilarious and much more popular than I am. I'm an officer in the Army, and love my chosen profession. I'm a self-professed music snob. I'm a self-professed beer snob. I'm politically moderate, I can't stand the self-righteous right, the self-righteous left, too much government, irresponsible spending, or the Tea Party. So, needless to say, I prefer to make my own decisions regardless of party affiliation. I enjoy running, and recently completed my first half-marathon. I want to complete a full 26.2 mile race this year sometime. Being out on the road for hours at a time with nothing but my music running is my favorite outlet for blocking out the stress of life, work, bills, etc. I like to take risks, and sometimes they bite me in the ass. So be it. The best lessons learned in life sometimes come from taking risks. I'm very competitive, I always have been. It will one day spell my doom, I know. I have a handful of friends that I will always stay in touch with. They're the type of people that even when we go three or four years without seeing each other, when we do it's like only a day passed. That's friendship in my opinion. I can't stand seeing people touch their eyes. I can't even watch my wife put her contacts in. it's just creepy. For some reason I can't seem to take my shoes off, even at home. My wife hates it. I blame Iraq. Just not a fan of being barefoot these days. The year from March 2004-March 2005 changed me permanently, good, bad, and all in between. I still like cartoons. I still hate insomnia. I've tried to change the way I eat many times. It doesn't work, so that's another reason I have to run long distances.

SO, that's a little peek into the twisted mass of grey matter and velveeta that lies between my big ears. Random, I know, but aren't most first blogs? I'll shed more into who I am and what my life is like as I go. Till then, cheers!