Oakmont, PA
Home. I flew back to Pittsburgh yesterday, meeting my family at the airport and returning home after 290 days of service with Americorps NCCC. My swirling emotional mix continues; despite my relief and pride at having completed the program, I know I will never see the majority of the people I served with again. With that in mind, I'd like to wish everybody from Denver farewell, and all the best wishes in the future. It was a hell of a ride.
Americorps NCCC
Class XIV
Central Region
Sun Four
Carly Colgan - Team Leader
Gina Bianchini
Travis Cambra
Megan Cuneo
Zach Farmer
Dulce Garcia
Gatien Gaujac
Atiya Rideout
Meredith Sortwell
Vanessa Staff
Britney Sutcliffe
So, what's next? I wish I knew. I'm planning on going back to school in for the fall semester in 2009, but I have yet to put in any formal applications. For the next few months, I will be living in Pittsburgh and trying my best to find employment until the summer, when I will (hopefully) be working back up at Sheldon Calvary Camp in Ohio. Life goes on.
Not for this humble little online journal, though. I started it in January 2008 with the intention of keeping a record of my term of service. I think I've accomplished that fairly well, and I have decided to shutter it for the time being. It will still be online, and people will still be able to comment, but I will not be regularly updating it as I have been previously. Mind you, this is a temporary decision; if in the future, I end up going off on another half-cocked adventure (or, y'know, something that I've put a lot of thought and planning into...but that wouldn't be my style, really) I will resurrect it. God knows this thing isn't exactly an example of brilliant writing, but I have had a lot of fun getting my thoughts and experiences down. I think the very act of recording such things has helped me develop both my thinking and writing, and thus it has served the purposes I set for it in the very first post I made almost a year ago.
To anybody who has come across this blog, thank you for taking the time to read and comment. Seeing the feedback and responses that people have left has been very gratifying, and I greatly appreciated it. I have a Facebook (Zach Farmer, Catholic '10) , telephone (412 480 0104) and I use Instant Messenger (parrthd07) all too often, so please keep in touch.
With that, this is Zach Farmer signing off...for the moment.
22 November 2008
19 November 2008
Complete!
Congratulations to the Corps Members and Team Leaders of Americorps National Civilian Community Corps, Class XIV: Central Region.
My term of service is officially over. I am no longer an employee of the Corporation for National Service. I am now an alumni.
Ten months of work behind me. Oddly enough, I still remember the first day VIVIDLY. I woke up at 4 AM, after going to bed at midnight. I would have gone to bed earlier, but the Super Bowl had ended with a satisfying Giants win over the Patriots. I took a quick shower (that was lengthened slightly because I spent a good five minutes or so staring at my reflection in the shaving mirror, asking myself exactly what the hell I was getting into as the water continued to pulse down on me) and dressed. My dad and I rode out to Pittsburgh International in relative silence. He was tired; I was still trying to wrap my head around what was about to happen.
The airport was busy, but I cleared security quickly and headed to the gate. I wrote a post there, The Deep Breath Before The Plunge, then boarded the aircraft and tried my best to relax. The flight itself was uneventful, but the instant the wheels touched down on the runway in Denver, my heart leaped into my throat. The tram ride between the terminal and the main concourse took less than five minutes, but it seemed endless. My heart was racing, my palms were sweaty, and I was more nervous than I had been in a while. I met the Americorps representatives in the concourse, got my bags, and boarded the bus to campus. From there, it was surprisingly smooth: bus ride to campus, check in and get room key, a bit of unpacking and a quick look at the schedule. I spent the rest of the afternoon playing football with people I had just met (some of whom I talk to even to this day, some of whom I do not, and some of whom left the program altogether).
Since that day, February 4, 2008, I have...
-personally completed 2110 hours of work (2030 of direct service, 80 of independent service)
-logged over 13,000 miles in vans, cars and aircraft
-set foot in 18 states (Colorado, Louisiana, Texas, Indiana, Michigan, Kansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and New Mexico)
-personally led and managed over 200 volunteers (from Alternative Spring Break, Southern Baptist Conference, and various other volunteer groups) on various work sites in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans
-aided in the construction of a house in Sabine Pass, TX that survived the 25-foot storm surge of Hurricane Ike
-served as the assistant manager of the Johnson County Volunteer Center in Indiana (after the flooding this summer), dispatching over 800 spontaneous volunteers in order to provide aid to more than 150 households in the affected area
-worked as part of a trail crew in Copper Harbor, MI and helped to complete a mile of world-class hiking/bicycling trail
-served as the night manager of a Red Cross shelter in Lake Charles, ultimately responsible for the well-being of 175+ clients and staff
-worked as part of a crew that sorted, organized, inventoried, and loaded over 5,000,000 pounds of donated food in a distributions warehouse in Kountze, TX
(This is not my attempt at braggadocio. This is just an example of what an average Corps Member can do over ten months of service with the National Civilian Community Corps)
I don't possess the degree of writing talent necessary to accurately describe how I'm feeling right now. It's a bit of everything, I suppose. Relief, that I am free of the sometimes onerous demands of the program. Pride, that I was able to complete my term of service knowing that I did my best to be the hardest worker on the team. Sorrow, that I will be leaving the greatest people I have ever had the chance to come across. Regret, that I did not take advantage of every opportunity for new experiences and personal development that I came across over my term of service. Uncertainty, as to what my future (both near and distant) holds. A number of other emotions too, but I don't know how to put them into words. Tonight marks the end of a journey that really started for me in the fall of 2006, when I first made the decision to take a year off from college and pursue other goals.
As for now, however, I fully intend to enjoy my last night in Denver with the people that made the last ten months both agonizing and unbelievably fulfilling.
My term of service is officially over. I am no longer an employee of the Corporation for National Service. I am now an alumni.
Ten months of work behind me. Oddly enough, I still remember the first day VIVIDLY. I woke up at 4 AM, after going to bed at midnight. I would have gone to bed earlier, but the Super Bowl had ended with a satisfying Giants win over the Patriots. I took a quick shower (that was lengthened slightly because I spent a good five minutes or so staring at my reflection in the shaving mirror, asking myself exactly what the hell I was getting into as the water continued to pulse down on me) and dressed. My dad and I rode out to Pittsburgh International in relative silence. He was tired; I was still trying to wrap my head around what was about to happen.
The airport was busy, but I cleared security quickly and headed to the gate. I wrote a post there, The Deep Breath Before The Plunge, then boarded the aircraft and tried my best to relax. The flight itself was uneventful, but the instant the wheels touched down on the runway in Denver, my heart leaped into my throat. The tram ride between the terminal and the main concourse took less than five minutes, but it seemed endless. My heart was racing, my palms were sweaty, and I was more nervous than I had been in a while. I met the Americorps representatives in the concourse, got my bags, and boarded the bus to campus. From there, it was surprisingly smooth: bus ride to campus, check in and get room key, a bit of unpacking and a quick look at the schedule. I spent the rest of the afternoon playing football with people I had just met (some of whom I talk to even to this day, some of whom I do not, and some of whom left the program altogether).
Since that day, February 4, 2008, I have...
-personally completed 2110 hours of work (2030 of direct service, 80 of independent service)
-logged over 13,000 miles in vans, cars and aircraft
-set foot in 18 states (Colorado, Louisiana, Texas, Indiana, Michigan, Kansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and New Mexico)
-personally led and managed over 200 volunteers (from Alternative Spring Break, Southern Baptist Conference, and various other volunteer groups) on various work sites in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans
-aided in the construction of a house in Sabine Pass, TX that survived the 25-foot storm surge of Hurricane Ike
-served as the assistant manager of the Johnson County Volunteer Center in Indiana (after the flooding this summer), dispatching over 800 spontaneous volunteers in order to provide aid to more than 150 households in the affected area
-worked as part of a trail crew in Copper Harbor, MI and helped to complete a mile of world-class hiking/bicycling trail
-served as the night manager of a Red Cross shelter in Lake Charles, ultimately responsible for the well-being of 175+ clients and staff
-worked as part of a crew that sorted, organized, inventoried, and loaded over 5,000,000 pounds of donated food in a distributions warehouse in Kountze, TX
(This is not my attempt at braggadocio. This is just an example of what an average Corps Member can do over ten months of service with the National Civilian Community Corps)
I don't possess the degree of writing talent necessary to accurately describe how I'm feeling right now. It's a bit of everything, I suppose. Relief, that I am free of the sometimes onerous demands of the program. Pride, that I was able to complete my term of service knowing that I did my best to be the hardest worker on the team. Sorrow, that I will be leaving the greatest people I have ever had the chance to come across. Regret, that I did not take advantage of every opportunity for new experiences and personal development that I came across over my term of service. Uncertainty, as to what my future (both near and distant) holds. A number of other emotions too, but I don't know how to put them into words. Tonight marks the end of a journey that really started for me in the fall of 2006, when I first made the decision to take a year off from college and pursue other goals.
As for now, however, I fully intend to enjoy my last night in Denver with the people that made the last ten months both agonizing and unbelievably fulfilling.
18 November 2008
Precipice
Had our final Sun Unit meeting this morning, and now it's finally starting to sink in that I graduate from the National Civilian Community Corps tomorrow. Even throughout this past week, as I have completed out-processing paperwork, did Sun Four's final team-based activities, and presented the last debrief to the Denver staff, I was never able to really come to grips with the fact that my term of service with Americorps ends tomorrow.
Our Unit Leader, the esteemed Vaughn, gave a little speech this morning about how many Corps Members have no concrete plans for the future. He mentioned that we did not want to be looking back on our lives after turning 40 and wondering where the time went...and THAT hit really close to home. That exact thing has been a huge fear of mine for years, and having somebody like Vaughn spell it out in essentially the same words I use is...disconcerting, to say the least.
Graduation tomorrow. Graduation tomorrow. I keep thinking it to myself, but it STILL doesn't seem real. Ten months of travel, of hard work, of endless bullshit, of new experiences and incredible people, of difficult living conditions, of getting things done...and it comes to a close tomorrow. Don't ask me how I feel, because I honestly don't know myself. I will do my best to make sense of it all and get back to you tomorrow.
Our Unit Leader, the esteemed Vaughn, gave a little speech this morning about how many Corps Members have no concrete plans for the future. He mentioned that we did not want to be looking back on our lives after turning 40 and wondering where the time went...and THAT hit really close to home. That exact thing has been a huge fear of mine for years, and having somebody like Vaughn spell it out in essentially the same words I use is...disconcerting, to say the least.
Graduation tomorrow. Graduation tomorrow. I keep thinking it to myself, but it STILL doesn't seem real. Ten months of travel, of hard work, of endless bullshit, of new experiences and incredible people, of difficult living conditions, of getting things done...and it comes to a close tomorrow. Don't ask me how I feel, because I honestly don't know myself. I will do my best to make sense of it all and get back to you tomorrow.
11 November 2008
This Is A Boring Post
Listening to Genesis' 'Watcher of the Skies' a lot lately. Dunno why, but it's classic Genesis...sound experimentation, lyrics based (I think) on some kind of sci-fi lizard invasion, Phil Collins' dramatic drumming. That and Jimmy Buffett's tribute to the revival of New Orleans post-Katrina: 'Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On'. (And it rained/nothing really new. And it blew/seen all that before. And it poured/the earth began to strain. Ponchartrain/there in the Ninth Ward, to the second floor). Very poignant, a bit sad, but ultimately optimistic.
I am extremely enthusiastic to return to Pittsburgh. The atmosphere on campus has become something similar to an episode of 'The OC' or something...lots of annoying eighth-grade-esque drama. My flight lands at 3 PM on November 20th, and thus begins another period of uncertainty for me. I will almost certainly be returning to college (although I don't know where yet) for the 2009 fall semester, but as to what I will be doing until then...Christ knows. I'd love to head back up to Conneaut for the summer, so we'll see.
I highly recommend Newsweek Online's series, "Secrets of the Campaign". A seven-part article, it takes readers behind the scenes of both the Obama and McCain campaigns, from the primaries to Election Night. The reporters in question were allowed unprecedented access to the campaigns with the promise that they would not reveal their stories until after Election Day. It's a VERY cool collection of articles, with a great deal of insider information. Here's the link to Chapter 1: http://www.newsweek.com/id/167582
In other news, Ben Roethlisberger has got to get his game together. That is all.
I am extremely enthusiastic to return to Pittsburgh. The atmosphere on campus has become something similar to an episode of 'The OC' or something...lots of annoying eighth-grade-esque drama. My flight lands at 3 PM on November 20th, and thus begins another period of uncertainty for me. I will almost certainly be returning to college (although I don't know where yet) for the 2009 fall semester, but as to what I will be doing until then...Christ knows. I'd love to head back up to Conneaut for the summer, so we'll see.
I highly recommend Newsweek Online's series, "Secrets of the Campaign". A seven-part article, it takes readers behind the scenes of both the Obama and McCain campaigns, from the primaries to Election Night. The reporters in question were allowed unprecedented access to the campaigns with the promise that they would not reveal their stories until after Election Day. It's a VERY cool collection of articles, with a great deal of insider information. Here's the link to Chapter 1: http://www.newsweek.com/id/167582
In other news, Ben Roethlisberger has got to get his game together. That is all.
07 November 2008
Re-Entry
Amarillo, TX
Halfway through with our final journey to Denver, and the weather is turning cold. This should not be nearly as much of a surprise to me as it is, but we've spent the last two months in the Gulf. Today was basically the first cold weather I've experienced since the first week or two in New Orleans. Good thing I brought a sweatshirt. Irrelevant, I know. Sod it.
I caught the first episode of Whale Wars on Animal Planet tonight. The show follows the crew of the Sea Shepherd, an environmental organization that takes Greenpeace's opposition to Japanese whaling to the next level. The crew uses aggressive and controversial methods, such as tear gas and flash-bangs, to interfere with the whaling ships and save the endangered whales. Now, don't get me wrong...I am not a rabid environmentalist. I don't like the concept of whaling, but I could never spend months at a time eating vegan meals aboard a small ship in some of the coldest and roughest weather on earth. However, some of the things these guys do are pretty damned cool. Playing chicken with ten-thousand ton ships? Strafing processing ships with stink bombs from a chopper? Fuckin' A. (I can just imagine how your resume would look. Job Description: Bow gunner.)
One more travel day. Our belongings are currently in the back of a Ford F-150 pickup with a cap over the bed, and let me tell you in no uncertain terms that this is the World's Worst Truck. Despite being a 2006 model, it does not have a CD player or auxiliary input. The cup holders are cheap foldout things that can hold literally nothing in place, and the entire interior is absolutely filthy. The engine, though, really ties it all together. There is some sort of transmission problem with the fucker; it refuses to shift up with any kind of promptness when the gas pedal is leaned on. This results in a very loud revving noise, but little in the way of actual acceleration. This poses a problem on the endless two-lane roads that we traveled on today. Several times, while attempting to cross into the opposing lane to pass, our drivers have had to back down and duck behind the vehicle they were attempting to overtake in order to avoid oncoming traffic...which at first glance seemed far enough way to attempt the maneuver. The truck simply did not accelerate quickly enough to get clear. Very frustrating.
I am not a fan of Texas, but we encountered some picturesque scenery today. Hours were spent driving through utter desolation, many times with 40 to 50 miles of road between towns. The only signs of life for dozens of miles at a time were the occasional small oil tanks and cattle ranches. Should've brought my camera.
Halfway through with our final journey to Denver, and the weather is turning cold. This should not be nearly as much of a surprise to me as it is, but we've spent the last two months in the Gulf. Today was basically the first cold weather I've experienced since the first week or two in New Orleans. Good thing I brought a sweatshirt. Irrelevant, I know. Sod it.
I caught the first episode of Whale Wars on Animal Planet tonight. The show follows the crew of the Sea Shepherd, an environmental organization that takes Greenpeace's opposition to Japanese whaling to the next level. The crew uses aggressive and controversial methods, such as tear gas and flash-bangs, to interfere with the whaling ships and save the endangered whales. Now, don't get me wrong...I am not a rabid environmentalist. I don't like the concept of whaling, but I could never spend months at a time eating vegan meals aboard a small ship in some of the coldest and roughest weather on earth. However, some of the things these guys do are pretty damned cool. Playing chicken with ten-thousand ton ships? Strafing processing ships with stink bombs from a chopper? Fuckin' A. (I can just imagine how your resume would look. Job Description: Bow gunner.)
One more travel day. Our belongings are currently in the back of a Ford F-150 pickup with a cap over the bed, and let me tell you in no uncertain terms that this is the World's Worst Truck. Despite being a 2006 model, it does not have a CD player or auxiliary input. The cup holders are cheap foldout things that can hold literally nothing in place, and the entire interior is absolutely filthy. The engine, though, really ties it all together. There is some sort of transmission problem with the fucker; it refuses to shift up with any kind of promptness when the gas pedal is leaned on. This results in a very loud revving noise, but little in the way of actual acceleration. This poses a problem on the endless two-lane roads that we traveled on today. Several times, while attempting to cross into the opposing lane to pass, our drivers have had to back down and duck behind the vehicle they were attempting to overtake in order to avoid oncoming traffic...which at first glance seemed far enough way to attempt the maneuver. The truck simply did not accelerate quickly enough to get clear. Very frustrating.
I am not a fan of Texas, but we encountered some picturesque scenery today. Hours were spent driving through utter desolation, many times with 40 to 50 miles of road between towns. The only signs of life for dozens of miles at a time were the occasional small oil tanks and cattle ranches. Should've brought my camera.
05 November 2008
Changing of the Guard
Extended Stay America
Austin, TX
We're back at the same hotel in Austin that we stayed at before our deployment to Beaumont a month or so ago. FEMA is requiring all of us to return in order to check out...a process that consists of our team leader handing our FEMA badges to the security people at headquarters. Once again, their logic must be above my comprehension. I had to stop by the Joint Field Office to fill out a report (because I am an idiot, I left my badge in Kountze and thus had to account for it) and I was struck by the dozens and dozens of Americorps members I saw there. They were from Denver and Sacramento campuses' Class 15; they had just finished their month of training and were only a day or two into their first project deployments. They had clean uniforms, unmarred by the paint stains, rips, and general wear that distinguish a 'veteran' Corps Member. With nine months of service ahead of them, I could almost see the gleam of anticipation and enthusiasm in their eyes, which I knew well; they were the same feelings that I held when I first arrived in New Orleans at the beginning of March.
I feel a bit bad for the new Americorps teams that have come down to replace us on disaster deployment; they are walking blindly into what could charitably be called an epic clusterfuck. Several of the Denver unit leaders have been giving them the impression that there is a great deal of work to be done down here, and that FEMA has things under control. Nothing could be farther from the truth; the vast majority of the teams currently down here have been short of work and have fallen victim to massive disorganization and incompetence by FEMA and the Red Cross. In fact, the incoming teams have been advised to disregard anything negative that we tell them about the last two months on deployment. That's about as fucked up as it gets; the first real experience that these new Corps Members have of the program is almost certainly going to be frustrating and hugely negative, and they are being kept in the dark about it. Hopefully it gets better for them after first round; it's not nearly as bad of a program as I've made it out to be over the last two months. It's just been pretty crappy lately.
Good luck, Class 15.
Austin, TX
We're back at the same hotel in Austin that we stayed at before our deployment to Beaumont a month or so ago. FEMA is requiring all of us to return in order to check out...a process that consists of our team leader handing our FEMA badges to the security people at headquarters. Once again, their logic must be above my comprehension. I had to stop by the Joint Field Office to fill out a report (because I am an idiot, I left my badge in Kountze and thus had to account for it) and I was struck by the dozens and dozens of Americorps members I saw there. They were from Denver and Sacramento campuses' Class 15; they had just finished their month of training and were only a day or two into their first project deployments. They had clean uniforms, unmarred by the paint stains, rips, and general wear that distinguish a 'veteran' Corps Member. With nine months of service ahead of them, I could almost see the gleam of anticipation and enthusiasm in their eyes, which I knew well; they were the same feelings that I held when I first arrived in New Orleans at the beginning of March.
I feel a bit bad for the new Americorps teams that have come down to replace us on disaster deployment; they are walking blindly into what could charitably be called an epic clusterfuck. Several of the Denver unit leaders have been giving them the impression that there is a great deal of work to be done down here, and that FEMA has things under control. Nothing could be farther from the truth; the vast majority of the teams currently down here have been short of work and have fallen victim to massive disorganization and incompetence by FEMA and the Red Cross. In fact, the incoming teams have been advised to disregard anything negative that we tell them about the last two months on deployment. That's about as fucked up as it gets; the first real experience that these new Corps Members have of the program is almost certainly going to be frustrating and hugely negative, and they are being kept in the dark about it. Hopefully it gets better for them after first round; it's not nearly as bad of a program as I've made it out to be over the last two months. It's just been pretty crappy lately.
Good luck, Class 15.
Magic Walls and Holograms
I begin by congratulating Senator John McCain for a valiantly fought campaign and a gracious concession speech. I didn't agree with him most of the time and I didn't vote for him, but he's a stand-up guy, a war hero and as true a patriot as they come.
Watching President-elect Barack Obama on that stage in front of hundreds of thousands of people was a very surreal experience. Despite my disagreement with several of his positions on issues, I had been pulling for him over the last several months; his idealism, energy, and reconciliatory attitudes converted me...and GODDAMN, can the man give a speech. Obama will go down in history as one of the best orators to ever hold the office of President, and rightfully so. He achieved some of the larger margins of victory ever amassed by a Presidential candidate, and will have a Democratic House and Senate to work with for at least the first two years of his administration.
After two years, having the election finally come to a close is very odd. Coverage of the election, starting with the first debates between over a dozen candidates for each party, had become so widespread and common that it seemed natural to hear so much about it throughout the course of the day or the week. Now it's over, and I don't know what to do with myself.
I'm hoping to get down to Washington DC for Barack Obama's Inauguration in January; I experienced Bush's second one in 2004 thanks to LeadAmerica's PYLC program and found it to be a lot of fun...but thanks to DC and its one-extreme-to-another weather, VERY cold.
I can tell that my writing is rambling as much as my thoughts are tonight; I've been up for a LONG time today and have basically been sitting in front of the TV since 4 PM. Speaking of TV...what the hell was up with CNN tonight? During this campaign season, I have been a big fan of CNN due to a combination of Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, and a large touch-screen map (the Magic Wall, apparently) of the United States that can be used to display just about any kind of information relating to voters, elections, etc. This map is cool as hell; CNN reporter John King was able to bring up any county in the country and its data dating back to the 2000 election. He could expand and collapse screens using his fingers (kinda like an iPhone, for anybody who has seen one of those in action) and could conjure various graphs and pie charts. Very cool. However, it seems that CNN got a bit technology-happy tonight...at one point, Wolf Blitzer was interviewing Jessica Yellin. Or, should I say, a holograph of Jessica Yellin. Apparently unveiling this new technology tonight, the network took great pleasure in summoning a half-size graphic of Yellin, who apparently had 18 cameras ringing her at whatever location she was in. If you didn't see it, go YouTube it...it looked EXACTLY like that scene from Star Wars when the hologram of Princess Leia pops up (in fact, the first thing I thought when I saw it was "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi...you're my only hope").
Anyway, it was a hell of an election. Good luck to Senator McCain...take a vacation, man. As for President-elect Obama...time to go to work. We're with you.
Watching President-elect Barack Obama on that stage in front of hundreds of thousands of people was a very surreal experience. Despite my disagreement with several of his positions on issues, I had been pulling for him over the last several months; his idealism, energy, and reconciliatory attitudes converted me...and GODDAMN, can the man give a speech. Obama will go down in history as one of the best orators to ever hold the office of President, and rightfully so. He achieved some of the larger margins of victory ever amassed by a Presidential candidate, and will have a Democratic House and Senate to work with for at least the first two years of his administration.
After two years, having the election finally come to a close is very odd. Coverage of the election, starting with the first debates between over a dozen candidates for each party, had become so widespread and common that it seemed natural to hear so much about it throughout the course of the day or the week. Now it's over, and I don't know what to do with myself.
I'm hoping to get down to Washington DC for Barack Obama's Inauguration in January; I experienced Bush's second one in 2004 thanks to LeadAmerica's PYLC program and found it to be a lot of fun...but thanks to DC and its one-extreme-to-another weather, VERY cold.
I can tell that my writing is rambling as much as my thoughts are tonight; I've been up for a LONG time today and have basically been sitting in front of the TV since 4 PM. Speaking of TV...what the hell was up with CNN tonight? During this campaign season, I have been a big fan of CNN due to a combination of Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, and a large touch-screen map (the Magic Wall, apparently) of the United States that can be used to display just about any kind of information relating to voters, elections, etc. This map is cool as hell; CNN reporter John King was able to bring up any county in the country and its data dating back to the 2000 election. He could expand and collapse screens using his fingers (kinda like an iPhone, for anybody who has seen one of those in action) and could conjure various graphs and pie charts. Very cool. However, it seems that CNN got a bit technology-happy tonight...at one point, Wolf Blitzer was interviewing Jessica Yellin. Or, should I say, a holograph of Jessica Yellin. Apparently unveiling this new technology tonight, the network took great pleasure in summoning a half-size graphic of Yellin, who apparently had 18 cameras ringing her at whatever location she was in. If you didn't see it, go YouTube it...it looked EXACTLY like that scene from Star Wars when the hologram of Princess Leia pops up (in fact, the first thing I thought when I saw it was "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi...you're my only hope").
Anyway, it was a hell of an election. Good luck to Senator McCain...take a vacation, man. As for President-elect Obama...time to go to work. We're with you.
04 November 2008
Long Live Democracy
After more than two years of positioning, primaries, debates, sparring, more debates, and endless punditry and prognosticating, it all comes down to tonight. Polls begin to close on the East Coast at 7 PM tonight, and shortly afterward we should be getting the first results of the most hyped and expensive election in the history of the United States. I cannot wait. The sheer volume of information that will be coming in is mind-boggling; not only is the White House up for grabs, but 435 House seats and 33 Senate seats are in play. The Democrats are attempting to tighten their grasp on both the House and Senate, while the Republicans fight an uphill battle on all fronts.
GO VOTE. If you haven't already, GO DO IT. I don't care if you vote for Barack Obama, John McCain, Ralph Nader, Bob Barr, or write-in your own name...just go do it and vote your conscience. 18- to 25-year olds vote far less frequently than any other age group, despite the fact that we have so much stake in it. The kinds of issues that have come up in this election and that the next President and Congress will deal with are those that will affect us for the rest of our lives. Conventional political wisdom does not regard 18- to 25-year olds as an influential voting bloc (as it does with seniors, union workers, etc) because so few of us just do not go and vote. Our voices don't get heard, our beliefs don't get expressed, and decisions are being made without our input or approval. College costs, climate change, our financial policies, the war in Iraq, education, Social Security and our budget crisis are only a FEW of the issues that our generation is going to have to deal with in the future, and we aren't having our say. It's infuriating. GO VOTE.
And now for some predictions.
President (popular vote %)
Barack Obama: 52%
John McCain: 47%
(Obama takes the Electoral College, 313-201)
Pennsylvania 4th Congressional District
Jason Altmire: 54%
Melissa Hart: 45%
GO VOTE. If you haven't already, GO DO IT. I don't care if you vote for Barack Obama, John McCain, Ralph Nader, Bob Barr, or write-in your own name...just go do it and vote your conscience. 18- to 25-year olds vote far less frequently than any other age group, despite the fact that we have so much stake in it. The kinds of issues that have come up in this election and that the next President and Congress will deal with are those that will affect us for the rest of our lives. Conventional political wisdom does not regard 18- to 25-year olds as an influential voting bloc (as it does with seniors, union workers, etc) because so few of us just do not go and vote. Our voices don't get heard, our beliefs don't get expressed, and decisions are being made without our input or approval. College costs, climate change, our financial policies, the war in Iraq, education, Social Security and our budget crisis are only a FEW of the issues that our generation is going to have to deal with in the future, and we aren't having our say. It's infuriating. GO VOTE.
And now for some predictions.
President (popular vote %)
Barack Obama: 52%
John McCain: 47%
(Obama takes the Electoral College, 313-201)
Pennsylvania 4th Congressional District
Jason Altmire: 54%
Melissa Hart: 45%
03 November 2008
A Statement of Beliefs
I believe that basic human freedom is inviolate.
I believe that gays and lesbians should be allowed to get married.
I believe that the easiest way to bolster the economy is to allow people to spend their own money.
I believe therefore that taxes should be kept as low as possible.
I believe that the Founding Fathers got it right the first time.
I believe that government should stay out of religious affairs.
I believe even more strongly that religion has NO place in any kind of government.
I believe that abstinence-only sex education is irresponsible, unrealistic, and dangerous.
I believe that the states have the right to determine whether or not abortion should be legal.
I therefore believe that Roe vs. Wade should be overturned.
I also believe, however, that when all is said and done, a woman should have the right to choose what happens to her own body.
I believe that
I believe that American military should not be used as the world’s police force.
I believe that genocide is the only exception to the above rule.
I believe that the United Nations needs to get its act together and be as effective at policing rogue nations and preventing genocide as they are at humanitarian efforts.
I believe that the genocide in
I believe that a couple squadrons of Apache gunships are ideal for such a task.
I believe that the government that governs least governs best.
I believe that the Second Amendment clearly lays out the right to an armed citizenry.
I believe that anybody who wants to own a firearm should be required to take classes to learn to shoot and store them safely.
I believe that the Second Amendment does NOT give us the right to own submachine guns, assault rifles, machine pistols, land mines, RPGs, or other such heavy weaponry.
I believe that government intervention in the market is a major cause of the nation’s current economic problems.
I believe that the recent bailout bill will be seen as the worst decision made by Congress since the vote to invade
I believe that a truly free market will succeed far more often than not.
I believe that the PATRIOT Act is the first step down a slippery and dangerous slope.
I believe that Donald Rumsfeld should be brought to trial for allowing our soldiers to go into battle without the equipment necessary to keep them safe.
I believe that anybody who truly supports our troops should be ashamed of the stop-loss program and of the Pentagon’s unwillingness to provide comprehensive, quality health care to our veterans.
I believe that our political leaders have to date been unworthy of and have completely failed the brave men and women of the Armed Forces.
I believe that if the Iraqis haven’t properly trained, equipped, and deployed their military and police forces out after more than five years of the United States Army and Marine Corps doing their job for them, it’s just not going to happen.
I believe that insurance companies, healthcare companies, mortgage companies, and oil companies have a right to make a profit, but not while inflicting a crushing burden on our citizens.
I believe that regulating these companies from
I believe that investment in clean, affordable sources of alternative energy is absolutely necessary, and immediately.
I believe that drilling for oil in the Gulf or
I believe that in a decade or so, Social Security will make the current budget crisis look like a minor bump in the road.
I believe that throwing tax dollars at an ineffective program is not going to magically fix it.
I believe that allowing the federal government to take control of the healthcare system is a recipe for disaster.
I believe that ‘neoconservatives’ have absolutely destroyed the Republican Party.
I believe that true conservatives would not have invaded
I believe that I’m tired of explaining the difference between the two.
I believe that the American dream should be possible for those who work for it.
I believe in the unlimited potential of a man (or woman), his mind, and his work ethic.
I believe in the triumph of the individual over the collective.
(This in no way represents the viewpoint of any organization, movement, or person besides myself. This in no way represents my endorsement of a particular candidate at any level in tomorrow's election. I voted my conscience, as I believe everybody should do.)
02 November 2008
Winding Down
Kountze, TX
One day of work left. It almost seems unreal after so long, but it's the truth: tomorrow, November 3rd, is our last day of work for this project, and thus the entire Americorps program. It's not over YET, however; on Wednesday, we will be driving to Austin to meet the new team from Class 15 that will be taking over for us. Our return to Denver will take place this Saturday. The end is within sight; one more week of travel and confusion before the last two weeks of out-processing. God, I cannot wait. I was a bit sad to leave my first project in New Orleans, I was a bit sad to leave the cool people in Indiana and Copper Harbor. This time, I'm not sad at all. Our work has dwindled over the last week or so, and we have moved into the front hall of the local firehouse. The firefighters and the Red Cross volunteers have been amazing (especially a gregarious Connecticut-ian named Joe who happens to be a brilliant cook...THANKS JOE!) but there are two teams (total of 17 people) living in a really small room and sharing two port-a-johns and one shower, so I'm quite excited to get back to a hotel.
Random sports-related thought of the week:
Okay, I know the NFL is a copycat league. The Ravens took the Wildcat formation to a new level last week by sending Joe Flacco deep, which resulted in a 43-yard catch. Today, the Chiefs one-upped that by throwing a touchdown pass to quarterback Tyler Thigpen. I'll admit, it's novel (in the NFL, anyway) but I won't be really impressed until they hit Peyton Manning on a go route. Just sayin'.
One day of work left. It almost seems unreal after so long, but it's the truth: tomorrow, November 3rd, is our last day of work for this project, and thus the entire Americorps program. It's not over YET, however; on Wednesday, we will be driving to Austin to meet the new team from Class 15 that will be taking over for us. Our return to Denver will take place this Saturday. The end is within sight; one more week of travel and confusion before the last two weeks of out-processing. God, I cannot wait. I was a bit sad to leave my first project in New Orleans, I was a bit sad to leave the cool people in Indiana and Copper Harbor. This time, I'm not sad at all. Our work has dwindled over the last week or so, and we have moved into the front hall of the local firehouse. The firefighters and the Red Cross volunteers have been amazing (especially a gregarious Connecticut-ian named Joe who happens to be a brilliant cook...THANKS JOE!) but there are two teams (total of 17 people) living in a really small room and sharing two port-a-johns and one shower, so I'm quite excited to get back to a hotel.
Random sports-related thought of the week:
Okay, I know the NFL is a copycat league. The Ravens took the Wildcat formation to a new level last week by sending Joe Flacco deep, which resulted in a 43-yard catch. Today, the Chiefs one-upped that by throwing a touchdown pass to quarterback Tyler Thigpen. I'll admit, it's novel (in the NFL, anyway) but I won't be really impressed until they hit Peyton Manning on a go route. Just sayin'.
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