A New Campaign

In case you missed seeing any new entries here . . .

The value of public service is one of the many lessons my dad and mom demonstrated by their lives. They focused on doing it through the church, but I am seeking to show my commitment to our community through the political world. With that in mind, I have declared my intent to run for the Ohio 16th District, House of Representatives, which covers the five suburbs of Bay Village, Fairview Park, North Olmsted, Rocky River, and Westlake. For now, I will be posting on a blog at the campaign website, www.rosemarypalmer.com.

Please join us there to follow the campaign.

Seeking Sustainable Transportation

We all "see" what we're looking for. My photos from Switzerland are heavily slanted toward transportation and energy. I forgot, however, to take the photo of the Esso station price sign, with its $1.80 (or thereabouts) price PER LITER. Think of the two-liter bottles of soda we buy and try to figure out the per gallon price. That bloated figure is a prime motivator for Europeans to be energy conscious.

I do have a photo at the Basel Hilton of its own solar electric pump set up to fuel the hotel's small car. Other photos include a covered adult tricycle and the convenient trolley system.

And, don't get me started on the ease of the train system throughout the country. To get to the top of Jungfrau Mountain in the Alps, we took a train, a cable car, a smaller train, and two gondolas. Seeing the gorgeous views or skiing didn't require us to rent a car and drive up snow-covered mountains to get where we wanted to go.

State senators might want to join the Ohio House and open their minds to the 3C rail proposal. At the moment, they seem stuck on the Eisenhower-era automobile-based transportation system that serves this state. Progressing in terms of jobs and our economic future requires more than what we've grown used to.

David Beach at Green City Blue Lake gives us some backgrounding on the regional agenda for what we might consider here.

Our current transportation system is not at all sustainable. It forces us to spend more and more time moving around instead of providing convenient access to what we need. It is increasingly unaffordable, as the high cost of cars and fuel consumes a larger proportion of household budgets. It is not maintainable, as hard-pressed governments can't afford to maintain the far-flung transportation infrastructure built in the past 50 years. It is damaging the natural systems that support life. And it is incredibly destructive to the cities and towns where most people live.

What is the "sustainable" alternative?

Answers at Green City Blue Lake.

Trash Talking

Flying into Cleveland on Friday, I was somewhat amused at the running commentary of the two young guys -- probably college students on Spring Break -- describing what they saw from their airport window.

"Look, there's nuclear reactor!" [Perry nuclear power plant]

"Can we see Cedar Point from here?" [Probably not!]

"That's a $&%^& golf course." [I don't golf, so I wouldn't know.]

Then one said, "There's where the white trash live."

OK, that did it. A school-marmish voice (mine, I confess) demanded, "Who are you calling 'white trash'?"

The shocked young men apologized. "We didn't mean anything by that. We were just having fun." (Followed by nervous giggling)

Afterwards, I contemplated our penchant for labeling people who are different from ourselves. I see a great deal of it on blogs. Just this morning I read about: "panty-waisted psychobabblists . . . slick chicago mobster. . . " on a right-wing blog and in comments posted at the end of a liberal column, "clueless dopes . . . heartless idiots. . . .people like YOU with such sour, negative, crass and defeated attitudes. . . . "

At the bottom of comments on the latter, someone posted, "At least there were a minimum of personal attacks in these posts.I thought the most memorable part of the article was . . . . . Kind of surprised that no one else mentioned it. Oh well.... not really. Why let the uplifting actions of an individual get in the way of partisan ideological babble. "

I guess it isn't only young kids who need to think a couple of times before labeling.

End of this Sunday's sermonette.

Return of the War Party

Before protest can ramp up against Obama's move to a new full-scale war effort in Afghanistan, rumblings increase for the war to follow. As Pat Buchanan says,

The campaign to conflate Hamas, Hezbollah and Syria as a new axis of evil, a terrorist cartel led by Iranian mullahs hell-bent on building a nuclear bomb and using it on Israel and America, has begun. The full-page ads and syndicated columns calling on Obama to eradicate this mortal peril before it destroys us all cannot be far off.

But before we let ourselves be stampeded into another unnecessary war, let us review a few facts that seem to contradict the war propaganda.

I always find it a bit scary to agree with Buchanan, but I'd recommend his "Return of the War Party" column on Human Events.com.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Many Valentine's Days ago, my husband and I were starving young entrepreneurs/ journalists. When this day rolled around, there was no cash for buying cards or gifts, but that didn't stop us from celebrating.

At a card shop, we each shopped carefully for exactly the right card. We then met in the middle of the shop, exchanged cards, read them appreciatively, then returned them to the shelf.

(Thank goodness this blog doesn't have Hallmark sponsorship because I think that'd be a deal breaker!)

If you choose to commemorate the day, may your valentines be thoughtful and original as well as loving.

You Just Didn't Understand!

The caller on the other end of the line was apoplectic. "Why won't you let us run the ad supporting you?"

"You don't understand," I said, "I just. . . ."

In the background in my office, my boss waved for my attention: "I didn't make myself clear," he coached. I had to take responsibility for the misunderstanding.

That very important lesson is one columnist Phillip Morris might want to take to heart. His earlier column claimed it was time to do away with Black History Month now that Barack Obama has been elected President. His follow-up column asserts: "Black history (let's get used to just calling it history) should be studied and celebrated contextually 12 months out of the year -- not just in February."

I agree 100 percent that American history should be taught in a way that incorporates the contributions of all the groups making up this country. However, I also think that Americans aren't to the point that each major group will get its just due quite yet. For that reason, I'm still for the special emphases we put on different groups.

I don't want less black history scholarship. I want more. Just don't call it black history. Don't confine it to February. . . .

Many argue that America's greatest strength is its freedom and diversity. If that's true, then it's time we perfect the embrace of the diversity by studying it intensely and understanding its historical and contemporary connectives.

Our global standing and our children's fortunes depend on it.

I'm with you there, Phillip, but you lose me when you continue,

Perhaps it's time that we choose a month for reflection and simply call it, "Thank God I'm an American" month.

Let's stop squeezing our past into convenient historical ghettos.

That sounds strangely like jingoism [Extreme nationalism characterized especially by a belligerent foreign policy; chauvinistic patriotism] and is not what we need. We may be proud to be Americans (despite what has recently been a disastrous foreign policy), but we also need to understand the entire world and our place in it.

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’

But the tax collector, standing far off, would beat his breast saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.” -- Luke 18: 9-14

Our prayer (for those who believe in prayer) might be better if it is thanksgiving for our luck at being born in a developed country and having the advantages we have, then asking forgiveness for what we permit our country to do to other countries in our names.

Every Company for Itself; Too Bad About the Workers

While Washington tries to figure out how to stimulate the American economy, American companies are still putting profits first. This story of a Virginia company closing an Ohio plant to send jobs to Mexico just burns. Some 316 Ohioans are affected, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

MWV Calmar, a subsidiary of MeadWestvaco Corp., will close the Washington Court House plant in early April and consolidate the plant's functions with one in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

The Mexico plant is "more seamlessly scalable and features more advanced production equipment and processes," the company said in a news release.

MWV Calmar makes containers used for perfume as well as health-care and gardening products.

The Richmond, Va.-based parent company announced in mid-January that it would close 12 to 14 plants as part of an attempt to save $250 million to $300 million by mid-2010. No specific locations were listed at that time.

So where do you think they will send the other 11 to 13 plants? China? India?

But, please, let's make sure this company's owners and managers get their tax breaks and golden umbrellas.

Yup. Riiiiight!

I'd like to see Congress end all tax breaks for companies who move American jobs offshore but bring the products back into the USA. Didn't Obama mention that on the campaign trail?

Of course, the offshore gambit could get worse. Buckeye State Blog quotes a CNNMoney report that IBM, which has laid off over 4,000 American workers, is offering to match laid off employees with jobs in India or another “low-cost” country. It's still unclear but suspected that IBM means for the worker to accept the prevailing wages and benefits of the "low-cost" country.

How many rupees do you think you are worth? And, what health benefits are included?

Instead of "Do you want fries with that," we English majors might find ourselves asking, "Do you want naan or pratha with that?"