SeaTac drivers: You suck!

Photo from a wreck that occurred on I5 near the Tacoma Dome back in June.  What do you expect, dumb asses?

Just got back from a trip up through beautiful Washington state, where I stood by the side of David Thompson when he married lovely Nicole Thompson (née Chatfield).  The wedding took place in the San Juan islands, amid the beauty of Puget Sound waters and Pacific Madrona (Arbutus menziesii).  An exhausting, but rewarding trip.

I must say, as Maty and I trekked along the I5 corridor, through Olympia, Tacoma, and Seattle, I was left with a sour taste in my mouth.  As much as I love my neighbors to the north, it must be said:  SeaTac drivers suck.

I'm not ashamed to admit I was more than a little nervous on the drive home when, on the stretch that runs from Fife, Washington, past the Tacoma Dome and on to south Tacoma, an 18-wheeler took offense at my driving a mere 60 miles per hour (which was 5 mph in excess of the speed limit).  I was in the middle lane, trying to keep a safe distance between our car and the car ahead of us.  But this truck driver took no such precautions.  He tail-gated me for several miles, to the point that the grill of his truck filled my rear view mirror.

Meanwhile, other drivers in their appalling SUVs and minivans were dodging in and out of traffic, changing lanes without signals, riding in my blind spot, crowding me on all sides.  An aggressiveness pervaded.  I got the feeling that every driver around me was looking for an opportunity to screw the others, cutting them off, tail-gating.  It was a hair-raising experience.  Even Maty, who does not drive, noticed the difference from slow-paced Portland.

This aggression probably stems from Seattle's utter intransigence vis-a-vis a workable public transportation system.  They recently implemented a European-style active traffic management system, in which signs provide up-to-the-minute traffic information.  But this is 2010!  The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported in 2001 that Seattle was 2nd in the nation for lousy traffic problems.

I usually endure SeaTac traffic a couple of times per year, and it is always scary.  One Christmas, as I was heading north from Tacoma, I passed an accident on the southbound side of the freeway.  The police were zipping up a body bag as I drove past.  The traffic beyond was backed-up for miles.

Church steeple:  I5 northbound somewhere along the SeaTac wasteland

Don't get me wrong.  I love Seattle, but she's a far cry from my home, where the pace is much slower and the people are friendlier.  Of the major cities in my part of the continent, (bounded by San Francisco in the south up through British Columbia) Seattle would be my last choice for a place to make a home.

For a time, Seattle was the nation's favorite up-and-coming city.  At least, it seemed that way, back in the 90s when grunge rock was surging, and everyone drank Starbuck's Coffee.  But nowadays the sheen has come off the emerald, as it were.  The only real Big City trait I can discern in Seattle is the poor attitudes of the drivers.

So to all those SeaTac drivers with their hostility and aggression toward people who are just trying to get through their sh*thole traffic system:  You suck!

In Portland, we're not burdened with any pretensions of being a "Big City."  And I'm thankful for that.

Congratulations, Dave and Nicole!

When Dave  Thompson called me (what was it? four months ago?) and asked me if I would stand beside him when he married Nicole, I told him I would consider it a high honor.  If a man thinks enough of you to ask that you be his second at the nuptial gig --well, any man with any character is going to relish that responsibility.

And part of it is saying a few words at the banquet.  Tradition dictates that I recount the virtues of bride and groom, which I am more than happy to do.  But I'm faced with a difficulty in that I haven't spent much time with Nicole.  Apart from a few hours together in September of last year, and the time this morning, Nicole and I haven't had much opportunity to get to know each other.

Nonetheless, I'm pretty sure I know a thing or two about Nicole.  And here's why:  I know her husband.  I've known Dave Thompson now for over 10 years.  We met while working at a company called OrCAD, in Beaverton, Oregon back in 1998. 

Kindred spirits are quick to recognize one another, and it didn't take too many cigarette breaks at the loading dock before we were aware of our mutual love of acoustic guitars, and from there we discovered our similar (Dionysian) attitudes toward life.

Friendship led to guitar-playing led to forming a band, Mahatma Candy, that became, more or less, the primary focus of our lives (and the lives of our two bandmates, Dan and Lori) for nearly 2 years.  Dave and I were roommates and travel companions and coworkers and best friends. 

And in that time, I came to know Dave very well.  We've each seen the other through some crazy times:  sometimes helping each other, sometimes each contributing to the other's destruction.  Whatever we did, we always did with love and trust.

And so that's why I feel like I know Nicole:  because I know Dave.  I know Nicole is wise, because Dave recognizes wisdom.  I know Nicole is kind, because Dave dislikes cruelty.  I know Nicole is beautiful, because... well, I guess I don't need Dave to tell me that.  And I know Nicole is responsible because Dave has an eye for responsible women.

So, I'm pretty confident that I know both parties of this matrimony.  No one can know what time will reveal, but, since I know them both, since I know Dave and Nicole, I'm happy and satisfied that the future for them looks pretty damn good. 

Congratulations, Dave and Nicole!

Book review: The Left Hand of Darkness

Ursula LeGuin's much-acclaimed The Left Hand of Darkness was this month's selection for the book review.  Generally, my group enjoyed the book.  Will Johnson was the most enthusiastic.  Left Hand is the fourth novel in the Hainish Cyle which consists of six novels.  (I haven't read any of the others.)

I can't say I was all that impressed with this early work of Ms. LeGuin. 

Like any good bookworm teenager, I read the Earthsea Trilogy back in the 70s and I remember finding it puzzling and morose and haunting.  I enjoyed it well enough.  But Left Hand to me, was not a particularly compelling novel, nor did I develop much sympathy for the characters, whom I found to be rather dull.

Left Hand examines several themes, the most obvious of which is gender roles and their effects on society.  On the planet Gethen, humans are gender neutral for all but a few days a month when they assume a gender in a cycle called kemmer.  This cycle is akin to a woman's menses or an animal going into heat.  An individual might be female one month, and male the next.

LeGuin takes a stab at how such a world, where there are no absolute genders, might be different.  For example, the political and sociological structures of Gethen are byzantine and ruthless.  There is murder and violence and treachery, aplenty, but there are no wars.  LeGuin introduces a concept of prestige and social stature called shifgrethor that governs all interactions between people.  I'm not sure I understood it, but I likened it to the Chinese concept of "face."

The story is related via the journals of Genly Ai, an envoy from the Ekumen.  The Ekumen is an interplanetary organization of human-inhabited planets (think Star Trek:  Federation).  The Ekumen has only just discovered Gethen and seeks to establish relations.  Ai becomes embroiled in Gethen's politics and wins an ally in Estraven, the prime minister to the ruling monarch of a country called Karhide.

Ai falls afoul of the various schemes in play around him and he is sent away to a prison camp.  Estraven, by now disgraced and exiled, effects an escape and the two set off across a continent of ice toward redemption.

I enjoyed the first two-thirds of the novel, which involved politics and intrigue.  But I found the last third of the book, the part that dealt with the journey across the ice, to be tedious.  The novel is written from a detached perspective:  we read accounts from the various characters memoirs.  There is no immediacy to the book at all, and that kept me from much caring about the characters.  When one of the main characters was killed toward the end of the story, I was indifferent. 

Ms. LeGuin draws a fascinating sketch of a universe similar to our own with subtle differences.  And she touches on many intriguing concepts.  From the perspective of a sociological discussion, the book has a lot to offer.

But I just didn't care about the characters.

A couple victories

Court strikes down California's Prop 8 

Yesterday, the California Supreme Court struck down the recently-passed state ban on gay marriage that was adopted by referendum (the infamous Proposition 8).  The decision, which takes effect in 30 days, clears the path for gay people to be legally married in the state of California, even if they are not residents of the state.

This is a victory similar to the victory we had in Oregon, back in 2008.

Justice Vaughn Walker of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California wrote:  "[Prop 8] fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples. … Because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional."

One weakness of the argument in favor of Prop 8, it seems, was the inability of proponents to demonstrate (indeed, even to articulate) how gay marriages might harm heterosexual marriages.  

Appeal is a certainty.  This case will eventually be presented to the Supreme Court, which doesn't exactly inspire confidence.  But keep in mind, one of the legal eagles that is arguing the case against Prop 8 is former Solictor General under Junior Bush, Ted Olson, demonstrating that this issue does not fall neatly into the left/right dichotomy that allows for reflexive judgment.

NYC gives nod to Muslim Cultural Center 

"I believe that this is an important test of the separation of church and state as we may see in our lifetime - as important a test - and it is critically important that we get it right." --NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg

In spite of hysterical protests from the Anti-Defamation League, Sister Sarah, and Newt Gingrich, New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission voted against ascribing landmark status to a vacant building in lower Manhattan.  This clears the way for plans to build a Muslim cultural center on the site, which is located near One World Trade Center.

Mayor Bloomberg, flanked by clergymen of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths, delivered an impassioned defense of the decision.  You can read his remarks here.

This is not a popular decision, but it is a courageous one.  A recent poll revealed that New York City voters oppose construction of the cultural center by a 52% to 31% margin. Bloomberg and the Landmarks Preservation Commission are flatly rejecting the obvious hysteria, race-baiting, and demagoguery of right-wing opportunists who have the popular winds at their backs.

Opposition to the cultural center seems to center around the dubious argument that it is insensitive to the feelings of the families of 911 victims.  But, I'm afraid I don't see how peoples feelings have much to do with it.  If the owners of the property are acting within their rights, no one has anything to say about it.  Just as racists are free to wear pillow cases on their heads and say ignorant, ugly things, Muslims are free to exercise their property rights.

And further, September 11^th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, a nationwide group founded by family members of those killed on 9/11 issued the following statement:

September 11^th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows strongly supports efforts to bring an Islamic Cultural Center to lower Manhattan, near the Ground Zero site. We believe that welcoming the Center, which is intended to promote interfaith tolerance and respect, is consistent with fundamental American values of freedom and justice for all.

This fight isn't over yet.  An advocacy group founded by right-wing Bible-thumper Pat Robertson, the American Center for Law and Justice, plans to file suit to stop the construction. So be it.

In any case, today, I want to acknowledge these victories.  The fight continues, but the good guys have scored a couple wins.  Take heart!

Hang me up!

Hang me up, hang me up!
Everything else is gone
So why don't you just hang me up?

Every ramshackle cot I threw together
To shelter me from tickling breezes
Fell flat before your gale; 

Every hard-won truth I thought I might cling to
When sneaker careered o'er wet beaches
Dissolves in your rip tide;

Every wee treasure held in my secret heart
That I might one day be pleased to find
Feeds your raging furnace;

Tell me then, please tell me:
Since everything's gone
Why don't you just hang me up?

GOP senators call for repeal of 14th Amendment birthright provision

Senator John Kyl: Maintaining the dignity of the World's Greatest Deliberative Body

From CBS News:

Sen. John Kyl, R-Ariz., said today that Congress should hold hearings to look into denying citizenship to illegal aliens' children born in the United States, as the fight over immigration widens into the explosive "birthright" issue.

Last week Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he was considering introducing a Constitutional amendment to repeal a provision of the 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to anyone born within U.S. borders. Graham suggested that children born in the United States whose parents are here illegally should not automatically become U.S. citizens.

The 14th Amendment was enacted in 1868 to ensure that states would not deny citizenship to former slaves. It reads, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

This is another example of Republican desperation in the face of the decline of the one demographic they can still count on: white people frightened at the prospect of their irrevocable (and inevitable) loss of power and status.  And wouldn't you know it?  After all the hysterical tea-bagger jibber jabber that President Obama was going to repeal the 2nd Amendment and take away their guns, it is the Republicans who are calling for a repeal of rights from the Constitution that they (falsely and cynically) claim to revere.

It is hard to imagine that Republican fear-mongers like John Kyl and Lindsey Graham might actually succeed in altering the Constitution.  That would require that they win a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress, plus win passage in 38 of the 50 state legislatures across the country.  But I expect that they know that it is a pipe dream.  What they hope for, of course, is another hot-button issue they can use to rally their idiot base.

They have used the abortion issue over the years in the same way.  And, if you recall, there was even some talk, back in the Newt Gingrich era, about a constitutional amendment requiring Congress to balance the federal budget every year.  Nothing ever happens with either of these issues but, boy, oh boy, do they work the right-wing fringe into a lather!

It is offensive to me that a despicable loser like John Kyl (or Joe Lieberman) imagines he has any authority at all to determine the legitimacy of anyone's citizenship.  If anyone is going to have his citizenship examined, I propose that we start with bald-faced hypocrites who ignore the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution against cruel and unusual punishment in order to protect a war criminal.

But, even Cheney should be afforded due process.

Because if we're going to start questioning each other's rights, where will it stop?

Payin' some bills

You know how life is, eh?

Sometimes you look around and see that you've wronged people to the degree that it becomes necessary to say "sorry."  And often times, you don't arrive at the realization until years later, with the help of time-deepened perspective.  After all, decent people don't set out trying to hurt other people; it just works out that way sometimes.  And sometimes, when the realization does finally occur, the tides of life have swept the aggrieved parties forever beyond your reach, and you can only hope that, somehow, they'll get the message. 

With that in mind, I've got some bills to pay, today.

Jeff, old friend, I consider myself in your debt.  I showed up on your door one Sunday; you dropped everything, and drove me from Eugene to Portland.  You got me out of a sticky situation, and you didn't hesitate.  I am sorry that years later, I said disrespectful, angry things to you.

Casey, I've never understood what happened; why you felt the need to drop out of sight.  But, then again, that was a crazy time and passions were running high all around.  It was the time of Big Change for all of us, and I was plenty crazy myself.  I'm afraid that between the anti-depressants and the booze and everything else, I was running roughshod over a lot of people.  I deeply regret that I behaved so callously toward you.

To the Basque Doña, who has never shown me anything but kindness and hospitality, please forgive me for being a thoughtless ass.  I have no excuse I can offer.  I can only stand here, with my hat in my hand, waiting.  Which I will do.

To that other person who must remain unnamed, thanks so much for having the wisdom to do what I never could do.  I owe you a debt of gratitude.  You kept a clear head and got us out of the dangerous, confusing situation into which I, in my arrogance, had led us.  I think you showed courage and I respect and admire you for it.

I suppose I will leave off there, for now.  If I were to try to write an apology to everyone that was due, I wouldn't have much spare time between now and Curtain Call.  But these are a few things that have been vexing me.  And you know how we Germans are with our guilt.