Showing posts with label Civil Disobedience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Civil Disobedience. Show all posts

My One and ONLY Election Post

Posted on Friday, October 24, 2008
(Warning - Long and disjointed post ahead. This post has been "in the works" for over a week now, and each time I try to "improve" it - It tends to get worse. So as to not "bore" you by making the post any longer, or to make it any more confusing - I'm going with it "as-is". Thank you for your understanding, and patience. Please forgive me.)
First, and foremost - I am NOT in any way going to try and influence anyone into voting one way or another. I am not trying to change anyone's mind about their candidate, their political party, or their vote. That is what the nauseating, disgusting, and child-like behavior of the slanderous campaign ads are for.

I will also NOT be spouting off in an uneducated, uninformed , an fanatical tirade for or against any candidate or their political party. That is what covertly slanted and biased news reporting is best at.

Yesterday, I discovered that on election day I am being forced to work an extra half shift - which puts me out of my voting district, at work, and unable to attend my polling place during it's hours of operation. My vote is important to me. It is not only my right, it is my DUTY. Many parents lost their sons, children lost their fathers, wives lost their husbands, and children lost their brothers (over 200 years ago) so that we could be (today) stand proud as a sovereign nation. They were the ones who fought, and died to provide us the rights and freedoms that this country was founded upon, and that we enjoy (or try to enjoy) today - INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO VOTE! I am unable (in good conscious) to not exercise my right (duty) to vote. I have already started the process for absentee voting.

I am not a huge "political" sort of guy. I want to live my life, and be left alone. In return, I will let you live your life, and I will leave you alone. I view MOST of our Federal, SOME of our Sate, and VERY FEW of our local laws as beneficial - I find laws beneficial when they are founded in the most basic and commonly shared worldwide morals (such as murder, theft, and laws protecting children).
On an related note... In a movie I recently watched "The Kite Runner" (which I am sorry to have seen the movie before reading the book), the main character's father, Baba, was talking to his son Amir about right and wrong. He told his son ...

"Now, no matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft... When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness... There is no act more wretched than stealing, Amir."

I actually paused the movie to reflect on this quote. I found it very poignant, inspirational, and accurate. I have since told my sons this very same thing.
While some laws are important to an orderly society, I do not believe we need laws dictating every little aspect of living our life. Aspects like how long grass should be kept, how many cars you can have parked in your driveway, what hours you can "legally" have a back-yard recreational campfire, and what not. Most of the ridiculous and "liberty killing" laws come from the lower levels of government.
You can call it what you want, but I maintain a certain level of (perhaps misplaced) "pride" (?) when I commit an act of "civil disobedience". It's nothing significant. Like I said... I keep my backyard rec fire burning "after hours", let my garbage cans sit at the curbside an extra day, I store grass clippings until the quarterly "compost" pick up comes around. I just don't sweat the "small stuff".
I consider myself fiscally conservative, and socially moderate (maybe even just a "wee bit" liberal). I subscribe to the "Give a man a fish, and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime" viewpoint - but I also understand that there are members of our society that (for a number of different reasons) are unable to "fish" even if they are taught. These are the folks that we should (morally) provide for.

Our "two-major-party" system inherently causes us to polarize ourselves to one extreme or the other. You have to choose between "A" or "B". Liberal or Conservative, Left-wing or Right-wing, Democrat or Republican, RIGHT or WRONG. You're either WITH US, or your AGAINST US. (In my book) this is a truly scary way to think. In this day and age, a candidate will not receive a party's endorsement - unless they FULLY subscribe to the party rhetoric.

Given these circumstances, I am unable to (in good conscious) cast a vote toward either of the two major candidates this election. I believe neither candidate (or party) has earned (and therefore do not deserve) my vote.
If you are not going to vote Republican or Democrat, where are you going to vote FOF?
Before I answer that, permit me (if you will) to ask a couple of questions...
- Are you fiscally conservative, and socially liberal?
- Are you socially conservative, but fiscally liberal?
- Do you plan on not voting because neither of the candidate has earned your trust?
- Do you find yourself voting "against" a candidate (as opposed to voting "for" a candidate)?
- Have you ever said (or thought) something like - Why vote? It's not going to make a difference.
- Are you a single topic voter, disagreeing with some significant views of a candidate, but feel like you have to vote for them because you feel strongly about a single viewpoint (like National Healthcare, The War in Iraq, or Roe v. Wade?)
If any of these sound familiar, or maybe you are still "undecided" (as I am) on this year's presidential candidates - perhaps it is time to consider, and educate yourself (as I do) with some of the "Third Party" candidate options!
Some people have told me that by voting "third party" I am "wasting my vote", or that if I vote "third party" it means I am voting for ___________. (The blank space is filled with the candidate for whom I am talking to is NOT voting for... )

It's funny... I have Democrats saying that my third party vote is the equivalent to a vote for McCain, as it is one less vote for Obama, and Republicans saying that my third party vote is the equivalent to a vote for Obama, as it is one less vote for McCain... It all seems so... I dunno... Biased? Which is it? A vote for Obama or McCain.))
Not one single candidate (from ANY party) will match up with my viewpoint 100% of the time. My job (as an educated voter) is to find the candidate (and party) that I feel best represents what is the best for not just me, BUT FOR THIS COUNTRY AS A WHOLE.
To be honest... It is the basics... It is our basic rights, liberties, and freedoms that are at the very core of our beliefs that I feel has made this country so great, and that are in jeopardy. My vote will be cast to the candidate (and party) who I feel will best protect these most basic fundamental rights, liberties and freedoms that this great nation was founded upon.
For those of you who are interested... I am (and will be) spending time between now and the election (or when I absentee vote) checking into both the Libertarian Party, and the Constitution Party. Fundamentally, I consider myself a "Libertarian" - but there are some significant and interesting similarities between the two parties - certainly worth checking into. We shall see...
Wanting to be part of the solution (and not part of the problem), I have put together a list of some of the more noticeable third parties, their candidates (along few independent candidates), and some links you can use to "investigate" their views.

Although I have an interest in two or three candidates, I am in no way endorsing any of these groups (at least at this time).

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Socialist Party - (Also affiliated with the Vermont Liberty Union Party)
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I hope you have found this list to be helpful, or at the very least - interesting. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

I'll be stepping down from my soapbox now, returning to my regularly bland observations of life as The Father of Five!
Labels: 8 comments

A Family Wedding!

Posted on Saturday, July 14, 2007
One of the major family events this season was the wedding of one of my wife's brother (or, as I like to refer to him as... my "brother-in-law"). I chose my summer work schedule around this wedding, as I was not guaranteed the ability to request the time off. By choosing the shift and the rotation I am on, I was able to have the two days prior to, and the actual wedding day off. (i.e. - able to help prepare for, and attend). The down-side was having to be back to work (and not able to get the day off) by 3pm on the day after the wedding. Normally, this would not be an issue, but since the wedding was held over 400 miles (about seven hours) from home - it would mean a quick turn around and long drive right after the wedding.

First of all, one of the BEST parts of this whole vacation (at least for me) was my lack of planning, or should I say the lack of planning required by me. For this, I need to thank my wife's sister (or, as I like to refer to her as... my "sister-in-law" (see a common theme here?)). Mary, I would like to officially thank you for all the work you put into the plans. You did an extraordinary job, and the accommodations were EXCEPTIONAL! I am planning on raising a cool frosty mug in your honor!

So, let's start from the beginning... As stated, all I had to do is show up (well, among a few other thinks like packing, driving and paying for our portion of it). When we left, I knew that we were going to be staying at a large "group" cabin for the first two nights, and (because of a previously made reservation) we had to check out of the cabin, and move to a local hotel on the last day/night.

By now I know you are all wondering / asking yourselves / begging me to "get on with the details" of where we stayed.

Unbeknownst to me (at the time) the cabin we were staying at is all part of the same "White Pines Inn". The White Pines Inn is made up of many components. But for the purposes of this blog entry, I will talk about the parts we utilized.

The "group" cabin we stayed at was one of the White Pines Inn Pine Creek Cabins. We stayed in "Knotty Pine #128"

The wedding itself was held at the White Pines Inn Wedding Canyon. This is an old limestone quarry that was drained, and redecorated into a beautiful setting. The Canyon has several wedding "stations", and are all very delightful.

The Grooms Dinner was held at the White Pines Inn Garden Canopy. (No link. Watch for a virtual tour option later.)

The wedding reception was held at the White Pines Inn Janssen Reception Hall (Again, no link - but watch for a virtual tour option later.)

As you can see from the map, The White Pines Inn Wedding Canyon (2) and White Pines Inn Pine Creek Cabins (3) are directly across the street from the State of Illinois White Pine Forest State Park (1). Don't ask me how, but the White Pines Inn Garden Canopy and the Janssen Reception Hall are actually located within the White Pines Forest State Park. It was very odd to see a private business held in a State Park. Very odd, yet very convenient! You see the "Minnesota" relatives of the Groom stayed at the Pine Creek Cabin, and a group of the Bride's family traveled from Tennessee, and parked their motor home at the White Pine Forest State Park.

Upon arrival at the Knotty Pine Cabin – I was overwhelming surprised! The cabin easily fit…
(2) My in-laws
(7) My family
(1) My wife’s sister (or, as I like to refer to her as…. My Sister-in-law)
(1) My wife’s brother (or as I like to refer to him as… My Brother-in-law)
--------------------------
(11) Total

The cabin had a full kitchen, a huge dining table (that sat eight), satellite TV, two bathrooms (one with a Jacuzzi tub), a gas fireplace, air conditioning, BBQ, and a giant fire ring outside the back door with an Adirondack swing. Sleeping accommodations included two bedrooms, one with a king sized bed (and its own bathroom) and another with two queen sized beds. There was a loft with two twin beds and a futon, and the two living room couches were hide-a-beds. There are a few pictures, a description, and a link to a virtual tour located HERE (on the Pine Creek Cabin page).

The next amenity we had access to was the White Pine Forest State Park (Links HERE and HERE). They had a (small) playground, a flowing creek, and a nice sized (and well stocked) gift shop (that housed "Max", the talking and waving Parrot). There were hiking trails and “species” forest (an indigenous tree of several species planted in a field, with signs identifying each tree’s species). We partook in several of the State Park’s amenities at various “down times” throughout our stay. The park was delightful.

After a quick “rehearsal” at the Wedding Canyon (more on that later) – we had the groom’s dinner held at the “Garden Canopy”. The Garden Canopy is an oversized patio, with (you guessed it!) a canopy covering most of it. It seats a large number of people, and has some nice accent lighting. At the far end is a bird bath that reminds me of one of those serenity fountains. It drew all the children like a magnet. We ate “my kind” of groom’s dinner. Hamburgers (served “California” style) and Bratwurst! (Any kind of “coarse ground” meat served in “tube” format is A-O-K in my book! I have a strong desire to experiment with trying to make my own “tubed meat” – but that is a post for another time.) I did exercise another act of “civil disobedience” while at the dinner. I will refrain from talking about here, but those present know what I am talking about!

(I think “Civil Disobedience” will be added as a label, as I seem to have a “disobedient” streak (when it comes to civil issues…) I despise people who feel their agenda comes before my personal (and legal) liberties… I do not want to taint this Wedding post with my libertarian rhetoric, so I will step off my soap box high horse and get on with the original post now…)
The actual wedding ceremony was held at the White Pines Inn Wedding Canyon. Again, this was an old limestone quarry, and was drained and decorated to facilitate some very beautiful outdoor weddings. They have a man made pond in the center of the canyon, and it pumps back up the hill, and creates a lovely waterfall from the one wall, and then a small creek from the waterfall, back to the pond. There are gazebos, tents, canopies, flower beds, small bridges, and water features all over the canyon. It is truly a memorable experience! It’s hard to describe. I suggest checking out this LINK, and viewing the pictures and the “virtual tour(s)”.

Finally, the wedding reception was held at the Janssen Reception Hall. This too was wonderfully rustic appearing hall. It had hardwood plank flooring, timber beams, and was decorated in early American Log Cabin styling. We had a great time at the reception, and we even got the boys to dance the “dollar dance” with their new Aunt (it was like pulling teeth to get Jonathan to do it, but he finally gave in.) My camera’s memory card was full by this time and (to Jonathan’s relief) I did not get any pictures to “blackmail” him with. As the evening started winding down, my wife’s father (or, as I like to refer to him as - (yup, you got it!) my Father-in-law) broke out the Arturo Fuente Curly Head Maduro cigars (a vastly superior cigar than I am used to smoking). This was a perfect “wind down” to the whole event. Several of us stepped out to the cool night air, and fired up the cigars, and sat around the benches, enjoying the cigars.

A little background story regarding the cigar ritual… During our first two nights (around the campfire) Joe and I smoked some Backwoods cigars I brought along. The first night, Benjamin (the 19 year old or “oldest-of-five”) joking said he wanted to try one. No one commented, and I heard nothing more from him about it. The next night he again said he wanted to try one. This time I bit, and offered him one. He nervously chuckled and turned it down. The other boys started teasing him about being afraid (in true “younger sibling pressure” fashion), and asking him over and over why he did not want to try one… I quickly shut them down, and in all seriousness told them that if he did not want one, it was not right to push the issue. (See everyone… Believe it or not - Once and a while I DO have moments of "positive parenting"…) That night after showering, changing into our “pa-jammies” and (literally) walking into the bedroom to crawl into bed, Ben called me out, pulled me aside, and whispered (in a nervous voice) if I could hold on to the extra cigar so he could try it the next night… I chuckled, and told him I would. When “cigar hour” arrived at the reception, his grandfather offered him one of the premium Fuentes in place of the little Backwoods cigar I had saved for him. He partook in the cigar(hisfirst),and seemed to have weathered his way through it. At first he produced very little smoke, and the cigar appeared to be drawing very slowly. I re-clipped the end, and took a couple of deep hits off his cigar to really get it going. After my attempt to “enhance” his cigar, Ben’s first drag was followed with a “whoa – that IS strong”. After the fact, when asked, he claims to have enjoyed it.
As cigar hour wound down, many guests were starting to leave. Towards the very end, my wife, carrying one sleeping daughter, followed by another daughter in a “zombie like” state joined us, and (as all good husbands can attest to) I got that “let’s move it along there big guy” look from my wife. I milked out the cigar as long as I could (then set it down in an inconsipcious place), grabbed the rest of our stuff from inside, said our goodbyes, went back outside (grabbed what was left of my cigar again) and took the last few hits off it as I walked out to the van. We all returned to the hotel, packed, and (because my brother-in-law, Ben, and I had to be back by Saturday afternoon) we went to bed so we could get an early start the next morning.

The next day started at 5:30am, and we were on the road by 6:05am. After an uneventful trip (and a few text messages from Bill) – I arrived at home by 1:30pm – with thirty minutes to spare before having to leave for work.

If you have not yet viewed all the "virutal tours" - May I recommend THIS PAGE.
Be sure to check out the following tours...

  • Pine Creek Cabin
  • Wedding Canyon - Main Ceremony Area
  • Wedding Canyon - Twin Bridges
  • Garden Canopy
  • Janssen Reception Hall

    • Now, a few final comments:

    To the bride and groom (I do not know if they want their names posted here or not. I can always edit them in, but I like to err on the side of caution…) I’d like to say “Zycze Wam wszystkiego najlepszego na nowej drodze zycia.” (No, I did not have a stroke.) This is (translated from Polish) – “I wish you all of the best on your new road through life.” This is considered to be a traditional Polish wedding toast - at least according to THIS SITE. (And y’all thought I was fluent in Polish huh?) (My in-laws have a strong Polish heritage...)

    The day (and weather) was beautiful, you both looked fantastic (as did M----), and speaking of M-----, he did a super job with all the busy activity going on! Honestly – everything fell into place just as it should have. From my perspective (as an observer), your wedding day was perfect! I hope it was all you hoped it would be, and I hope your marriage brings you all the happiness that ours has brought us.

    We look forward to many years of celebrating birthdays, holidays, functions, events, and “just for the heck of it’s” with your family.

    And lastly, I’d like to wish you just a very simple yet heartfelt “congratulations” to both of you.

    Please enjoy a few pics from the trip and the wedding! (Clickable for larger photos)






    This (incredibly long) post was written in honor of B, J, and M N who were joined in matrimony on 07-13-07.

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    Lost and Found

    Posted on Monday, July 09, 2007
    A couple of days ago I had the opportunity to share a couple of valuable lessons with my children. The lessons: Discretion, Good Judgment, and Civil Disobedience.

    I used discretion and good judgment today when the kids and I hung fliers on the lamp posts throughout my neighborhood. I used discretion and good judgment because hanging the fliers was an example of civil disobedience for violating what I am sure is some sort of “heinous violation” of one of the sanctified “covenants” of our neighborhood’s homeowners association (not to mention a flagrant violation of some city ordinance).
    (See THIS POST – Read the bolded text and pay close attention to the second paragraph.)

    Now, let me explain why these lessons were necessary:

    You see, I found out on Saturday that some time the day before, a door had been left open in our house. Ignore for a moment the fact that on a ninety degree day someone in our house insulted our (often ignored, yet beloved) air conditioner as it exerted itself in a feeble struggle to sustain a comfortable level of humidity within our home – you would think that the fact that we have an ADHD dog that (at the first possible opportunity) will run out the door in a desperate attempt to find anything she can chase (and as far and as fast from home as she can), and two “strictly indoor” cats - would be enough of an incentive to keep the door closed… But it was not. Somehow, someone left one of the doors wide open.

    Now, as you may or may not remember, Garfield (the male half of “team feline”) recently used up all his lives when he was discovered to have a broken leg that (initially) appeared would cost us over $3,000.00 to mend. He was “knocking on heaven’s door” when the vet provided us an alternative option of casting his leg, crossing our fingers, and hoping for the best (for 1/10 of the price). We decided that we would give Garfield one last “bonus” life, and agreed to have his leg cast. (SEE HERE for more info and a picture.)

    We struggled to keep him immobile, and many times found him climbing, running and jumping with the cast on. We woke up one morning (about two weeks ago) and found Garfield making his way up the stairs – cast-less and with an ever-so-slight limp (like he had not used the leg in a few weeks). We quickly located the cast in Jonathan’s room. It had fallen off two weeks early (which the vet told us to expect). Garfield has been doing fine ever since.

    I never did bring him in for a follow up appointment. The vet wanted to do more x-rays and a follow up appointment after the cast came off. This would mean another visit to the vet, x-rays, and other miscellaneous associated fees. This “follow up” would cost an additional $150.00 - $200.00. All total – I have close to a thousand dollars invested into Garfield (between shots, neutering, de-clawing, and the broken leg).
    I decided to save the other $200.00 on the follow up, because –frankly- if the leg did not heal, Garfield and I would have gone on a little “early” hunting trip together. Even without the “follow up” visit to the vet, I still have around $700.00 invested in this $5.00 farm cat.

    Mimi (the female half of “team feline”) on the other hand has had her shots - Period. When she first started going into heat...
    Imagine my surprise when I came home and found an incestual feline act going on right before my very eyes – several months before we “expected” this sort of thing to start.
    ...we were unable to afford to get both Garfield and Mimi fixed and de-clawed at the same time. We chose to have Garfield neutered – that way he would leave Mimi alone. Overall, the plan has worked out well. Mimi will (once and a while) go into heat, but Garfield has ZERO interest in her. This makes the total investment in Mimi, around $100.00. (Significantly less than the $700.00 I have into Garfield).

    So, when the wife “sat me down” to break the news about the missing cats, I could not help but imagine our cat a big bag of money being run down in the street (with bills and coins “squishing” out of it from all directions), or a little old lady feeding our cat an overstuffed bank bag (with my name on it), then snatching it up and bringing inside her home.

    As the day went on, I was more and more sure that the cats my money were gone, never to return. The kids were gloomy, and even Molly (the ADHD cairn terrier from hell) was not herself without the cats. At one point, I spotted Jonathan (elbows up on the railing, head in hands) on the deck watching over the (several) yards around. Garfield is “sort of” Jonathan’s cat, and Mimi is “sort of” Rebecca’s cat. (Humph… If you would look at my checkbook, it would appear that they are both MY cats….).

    Wanting to “appear” like a caring father recover my money , I made up some “Lost Cat” fliers to post around the neighborhood. I was going to do so - knowingly breaking both a neighborhood “covenant” and a city ordinance.
    As I finished the fliers, my brother-in-law arrived for a visit. So, the brother-in-law, myself, and four-fifths of my collection of children set out to tape up some fliers.

    Before we put the first flyer up, my brother-in-law had spotted (what he thought was) Mimi two doors down, in a fenced yard where a dog was barking. As we ran over there, we could not see anything but the dog. My interest quickly faded, and I refocused my attention on getting the fliers up.

    As I taped up the first sign, the kids came running around the corner saying screaming that one of the cats was in that yard. My brother-in-law and my collection of children went to the house and explained the situation to the homeowner. Within a few minutes Jonathan was walking out of their backyard with $700.00 Garfield in his hands! I was delighted! Not only was Garfield my favorite of the two missing cats - Garfield was also the cat that I had more money invested into... Happy Dad, Happy Children, and Happy Uncle (who had truthfully been responsible for finding the cat returning my investment.).

    I could (as far as I was concerned) give up now. Mimi represented “chump change” when compared to Garfield - but (to Rebecca) Mimi represented much more… Mimi represented all the things that (if never found) would break a little girl’s heart. A broken little girl’s heart is a daddy’s worst nightmare, so regardless of how “done” I was, or how flagrant my violation was going to be, we (as a group) walked around the neighborhood taping up lost cat fliers.

    Rebecca was glad to see Garfield back, but you could tell she was pining for Mimi’s return. It was a work day, so as I got ready, and left for work, the score was still tied 1-1.

    This story does have a happy ending (as uneventful as it is…)

    Later that night (just about dusk), I got a call at work from a VERY VERY HAPPY Rebecca. She excitedly shared with me that Mimi was now safely returned to the comforts of our warm and loving home. My wife got on the phone and said that she was all but doing cartwheels she was so excited that Mimi was back. Mimi had come in, ran to the water dish, and drank, and drank, and drank… Then she curled up in a little corner near an air conditioner vent, and fell asleep.

    Apparently, while visiting with my neighbors, my wife / kids spotted Mimi in the bushes in a house across the street and "kiddy-corner" from our house.

    Later that night, my wife called me and told me that Mimi (as she always does) curled up with Rebecca on her bunk as she went to bed. (It’s almost a ritual - whenever Rebecca goes to bed, Mimi will cimb up and curl up with her.) My wife said that Rebecca fell asleep with a smile on her face, and was even smiling in her sleep.

    Postscript:

    Remember the part about how little I have invested in Mimi, and why? After two days outside (and in heat) I have a couple of questions…

    1. How long before a cat gets pregnant before I will be able to tell she is?

    2. Do YOU want a kitten?
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