The Dempire Strikes Back

This election is being fought the Chicago Way.

My brother, Gawd bless him, decided to out-of-the-blue tweak me today about the presidential race.

He's not a super-vocal righty, but he leans that way. I guess he passes for moderate compared to the rest of that bunch these days.

I've been thinking about this race for a while. It's different in a lot of ways. And nasty in most ways. In fact, this is the most low-down, dirty race I've ever seen. I guess that's a good thing. Here's why:

For years, the below-the-belt stuff was always initiated by the right. Willie Horton? That was the work of GOP operative Lee Atwater, a ruthless SOB if there ever was one. Karl Rove probably has a shrine to the guy, who, thankfully, is dead. Rove's Willie Horton was the Swiftboating of a war hero in 2004 with the disgusting attacks meant to discredit John Kerry.

Kerry was a lousy candidate. Dukakis, not so much. But Kerry went to Vietnam and actually fought and actually got wounded. Meanwhile, pussies like Rove, Five-Deferments Cheney and a "W" ol George Bush were never in harm's way. Kerry didn't deserve to be slimed like that. The only time Cheney ever shot anybody was when he blasted his rich friend.

I believe the 2000 and 2004 elections were fixed. The SCOTUS voted for W; Ohio was stolen with Diebold machine fraud. I guess, though, as bad as W was, a Kerry presidency would have meant the despicable scumbag John Edwards would be VP. Ugh. Talk about a lose-lose situation.

Dirty politics has always been around, but the GOP has always been better at it. Atwater and Rove are the masters of the dark arts. But it's come back to bite them in the ass. The GOP pretenders cannibalized each other during the primaries. Gingrich savaged Mittens. The GOP desperately wanted anyone but Willard. For once, Ann Goatler was right.

But the biggest difference this year has been the left has finally, finally decided to play rough. Obama's team is doing things "The Chicago Way." They've fought hard, and perhaps even a little dirty. It's the first time I've ever seen the Democrats come out swinging. They've always let the other side slag them and refused to muck it up like this.

I don't know if it's a good thing. But it's at least a fair fight now.

Radio Silence

It's been unavoidable.

Some random thoughts...

As some of you may know, we're leaving Gawd's Country. Heading off for a great adventure as the Little Achiever in the family has been promoted. We're going nearer to the Great White North; can't say for sure because we have to find a place to live!

So that's exciting.

I'm excited because we're going somewhere that is a real city with real employment prospects. I've been grateful for my PT gig, it's been a life-saver in a lot of ways. We've been able to build a little bit of savings which is going to come in handy when we move to Expensiveville.

A longer post has been brewing in my mind about leaving Gawd's Country. I need to go back and count the number of jobs I have applied for at Beloved State U. I felt triumphant to come back and complete my degree after a 24-year layoff; but my very own Beloved State U. has minimized its value by refusing to hire me. I've landed precisely ONE interview out of all the jobs I have applied for there.

Alas.

Anyway, things are pretty busy right now. So I haven't had time to write. I'll try and correct that.

Wow

Let me reiterate: WOW!

OK, then, something huge happening. H.U.G.E.

Job Drama

There's been a little stress in and out of the JJ household the last week or so.

I'm not really ready to go into details. Mistakes may have been made. On the other hand, it's important to be able to maintain your standards. Time will tell.

Stay tuned.

Money Honey

It wasn't that I was necessarily bad with money, but I was careless.

I guess that was a nice problem to have. Once I got to a place in life where I could afford some things, it wasn't something that seemed to be a big issue. There was always enough money to go around.

Each year now the IRS sends out a history of your income. My first job, I worked at a Minyard Food Store in the summer of 1974, sacking groceries and carrying them out to the car of old ladies. Those "old ladies" were probably younger than I remember. I made $428 that year.

My first eight years of income, I earned $2,192. My first full year of "professional" employment, I made $14,840. I had a rent payment and a car payment. I don't know how I survived.

Living here in Gawd's Country, incomes are low, but fortunately, so is the cost of living. Still, before I landed this part-time job, my last full year of work (2010) saw my income only slightly higher than it was in 1994.

Clearly, that's an indication that the economy is still weak. The numbers bear this out. Check the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or this relevant story in the Christian Science Monitor. (See? There are some news sources you can cite that can't be dismissed as the "librul media.")

American earning power has been sharply eroded. Sometimes it feels like we're having to live on the equivalent of $14,840 a year.

Consequently, I've learned to be much more aware of my financial situation. Thanks to Al Gore inventing the Internet (NB: He didn't, and never said he did; that was BS perpetuated by wingers who hate him), you can check your finances several times a day. It used to be hard to stay on top of your finances; you'd have to call or go to the bank, or keep a ledger, or wait for a monthly statement.

Now, I am almost always aware of exactly how my bank accounts look.

That knowledge makes you more... accountable... and responsible with your money. It only takes a little effort to be able to successfully manage your personal finances.

And the best part is, through the hard lessons learned by a less watchful approach and carelessly falling into the temptation of easy credit, we are very fiscally solid these days. Our total "official" debt is the $2,900 we owe on our car. M has a credit card with a zero balance due. I don't have a card, although I'm considering getting one in a couple of months just to have around.

We have also managed to build a tiny nest egg. Now that I'm getting a paycheck, we're hoping to save $500 a month (or more) to stash a good chunk of money away for an anticipated move.

That's a big thing: saving. You've just got to do this. It not only gives you an emergency stash if you have an unexpected expense, but it also represents real freedom. Our goal is to put away $25,000 so that we can go when and where we want.

FYI

My overnights are a grind, and the last one ended Thursday morning at 5:30 a.m.

It's impossible to write during that stretch, and the past few days are somewhat of recovery/return to "normalcy" (always a relative term) mode.

For that handful who frequents the joint, my apologies for not giving you anything. For those of you who don't stop by, also thanks for nothing.

But seriously folks...

Hide and Seek

Sometimes the weight of life can really press on you.

This oppressive summer, adjusting to a weird work schedule, worrying about career, worrying about money, worrying about society, worrying about political ramifications... blah blah blah. The mind is insanely powerful, but it's also something that ... has a mind of its own. 

Think about your dreams. You have no control over them. You're just along for the ride. Those dreams can be pleasant, or very unpleasant. Deal, because you're not stopping them.

There's been a lot of loose madness this year. Aurora. Wisconsin. Syria. I think we're living in a really unsettled time. The latest insanity is the debate that flared up Sunday when a congressman who could become a senator issued forth some idiotic, anti-reality views about rape.

It's 2012. Yet we have people who are clearly out of touch with reality in a position to be joining others like him in determining the rules the rest of us have to live by.

People are arguing about whether or not rape is "legitimate." How can this be?

***

In a couple of days my daughter starts college. I'm worried about her. More worried than I know how to deal with.

I know that college can be a dangerous place. The world can be a dangerous place. Hell, it IS a dangerous place. I wonder if she's ready. And she is 18 and smarter than everyone else so the things I want her to think about are falling on deaf ears.

Never have the rifts among us been greater. For all the progress humanity has made, why is there still so much strife? Whites vs. Blacks and Browns. Men vs. Women. Left vs. Right. Religion vs. Religion. Rich vs. Poor. Straight vs. Gay. There's so much division. It's overwhelmingly sad.

How do we fix this? I feel like we're all so far apart.

***

I saw a guy yesterday riding a scooter with a phone pressed between his ear and his shoulder. Stupid, risky and... why? What could be so important? And I heard a story of a young girl looking at her phone and walking right into the side of a car.

Some people think the world has gotten smaller, and that technology has brought us together. With Facebook we are able to find long lost people and keep those links to our old lives open. Everyone has a phone so we can talk to anyone at any time. That's connectedness, right?

Right?

Right?

I'm not sure it is. This technology has put a cold layer, a fence, a DISTANCE, between us. Everything is done electronically. Very little is done with a truly human interaction. You don't see someone's face. You see a picture. You don't smell them, share their air, see them smile or unless on a phone hear them laugh. You don't notice how their hair is messed up or falls a certain way, you don't see their mannerisms, you can't touch them.

Instead they sit alone and you sit alone and try to pretend that you are together.

I'm not sure I like the way this has gone.

***

I read yesterday that half a billion people were "unfriended" on Facebook last year. I've contributed to that. But it's kind of cold. Click a button and someone is "deleted."

I know some people who have programs that tell them when and who has done this. They get pissed when their little collection breaks free.

But what these people don't get is that human interaction isn't a contest, and you shouldn't be keeping score.

***

This weird dynamic that is "just the way things are" today is part of what worries me about my daughter's impending collegiate experience.

Kids starting college this week are the 9/11 generation. My daughter was 7 when that happened. Probably one of the first things these freshmen vividly remember is this terrible thing, but at the same time... was it, is it, real to them? Even those of us who knew what it was about had this odd feeling that it almost seemed like a Jerry Bruckheimer action scene.

So within months we were at war, and within two years, another. These kids have lived during war almost their whole lives, but with one huge difference: Unlike wars past, they never knew that one day they'd have to be the ones fighting them. I think when it was a requirement that people had to perform military service, there was a lot more pressure to make sure that human capital wasn't wasted.

There's a significant disconnect among young people. That's another war: Reality vs. Perception. Kids today think "reality" is what they see on TV. They even call it "reality television" even when it's impossible for that intrusive and inherently artificial setting to be real.

With the erosion of journalism and the partisanship that's in place and on public display on TV and all around us, Michael Moore was prescient and right. We live in fictitious times.

It takes work to find the truth because it isn't readily available. If it doesn't come to us, we're too distracted to seek it out. And if it lasts too long, we're too ADHD to soak it in.

How does a young person fight through all this? What if they haven't had the guidance to know how to find out what's really real?

Clearly even a lot of people of my generation are disconnected from reality. Otherwise, there would be no need to use a term like "forcible rape."

***

Into this crazy world my daughter sets forth.

I feel like the stakes are higher for her, and that she and many others on her journey are unaware of the dangers.

I don't want harm to befall her. I worry about her being around Wooderson types and the other con artists in that world. And there's not much I can do about it. If I thought prayer would work, I would try it.

My daughter isn't stupid, but she's inexperienced, and you don't have to be dumb to make mistakes.

I made mistakes, and I did dumb things, and I was lucky not to get more burned by any of them than I was. But I wasn't a woman, so I already had an easier path regardless.

I had also seen, by age 18, a lot of negativity that I associated with alcohol. So I never really drank that much, and certainly less than 75 percent of the people around me. I don't like barfing, I don't like falling down, I don't like getting the spins, I don't like having to pee every five minutes, I don't like peeing on myself, I don't like drunks. So alcohol had less appeal. I preferred to be a little more in control. And there were other ways to maintain control and still have fun.

Nevertheless, when I went to college I (like a lot of kids) struggled with how to manage all that freedom. I allotted too much time to fun, and not enough to the goal. And I paid for that, for a long, long time. 

And I was lucky to live in an age that was a little less mean. And a lot more connected. You couldn't tell someone to fuck off on Facebook, you had to tell it to their face. And that inhibited some of that bluster and bravado.

So now you CAN tell someone to fuck off on Facebook, but the aftermath can be the same as if you did say it to their face. And as we've seen in recent years, there are plenty of unbalanced people running around out there.

I don't know if I could NAME 500 people, much less 500 I consider "friends." Try it. Name 500 people.

Hell, name 100. Don't count family. Go.

Thought so.

Yet we invite hundreds of more or less strangers into our lives. And the more you add, the more likely that some of those people are going to be ... out there.

That's why it was probably better when your "friends" were usually people you actually met.

Now, the online access has changed MY life. I met my M online, and have met some true friends online. These people I hope are in my life forever. So I'm not suggesting that the online world should be chucked, that's ridiculous. But there needs to be a balance, and there needs to be perspective.

And sometimes the perspective of the young takes a little more seasoning than they've gotten to that point.

***

All these thoughts were spurred by the song posted at the top of this, "Hide and Seek" by Ani DiFranco. When men can hold government office and not know what "rape" is, it should worry any man who has a daughter set to enter the adult world. Ani's song talks about the abuse men perpetrate against women. These women are then left to deal with the consequences, emotionally for the rest of their lives.

And, if the GOP has its way, the women who are raped would be forced to bear the children of their abusers.

That's INSANE.

And that's the world my daughter is potentially subject to. And it scares me, because she doesn't know.