Seriously?

Have you seen this video of the 72-year old woman being tasered?



Ok, so she was a little on the ornery side--but seriously, you need to taser a 72-year-old woman in order to control her?

This comes right after a Flagstaff man was killed after being tasered in Utah. Can't we teach cops some better form of self-defense? How about judo?

Whoa nellie

Wow, I just realized its been over a month since my last blog (bloggers anonymous intro?)

Ok so I would never qualify for bloggers anonymous since I have been anything but regular.

Perhaps I should just give it up.

What I've been doing instead of blogging...

working--yes my work life has gotten a bit busier. Did a field trip in early April and have been desperately trying to get a final report out the door. Just when the weather is getting beautiful--I'm trying to write a report. Not a great combination.

working--ok this deserves two entries because we are also working on a HUGE proposal at work. This one would ease my worries about losing my job every few months or so--but it is kind of a scary prospect.

remodeling--we have finally picked out kitchen cabinets after an eternity of interviewing people and drawing in Google Sketch Up. Now we have to bust our butts trying to get the kitchen ready for its new tenants.

gardening--my little seedlings are doing ok. Every time I put them outside to "harden" them and prepare them for the garden--they get fried in the sun :(. I haven't given up. We made a new herb garden the other day--but I don't want to get my hopes up about it's success.

climbing--sort of. We've been trying to go to the gym lately and we actually went out to Paradise Forks this weekend. Its nice to have hobbies that don't involve toxic chemicals.

running--yeah! I've been trying to start running again. I used to be a fanatic, but for some reason stopped when I came to Flagstaff. My knees don't like it, but I'm trying to ease my way back in.

hosting couchsurfers--this actually takes a lot of time. We've met some really cool folks--but sometimes I do have to wonder where all my free time has gone?

Politics

Not people politics--dog politics.

I've been thinking recently about how different a dog's sense of personal space is than ours.

Dogs that are total strangers will sniff and lick each others a holes and other private parts.
but if I call one of my mutts to come to me--and the other is in the way, she will just whine, wag her tail, and look at me--but will not bother the other one. I guess there's no "excuse me" in dog language.

My dog, Rizo, is obsessed with the frisbee--she brings it with her everywhere she goes. She often pees on it or lets my other dog, Jeckyll pee on it. She'll still pick it up--sometimes like a bowl of pee--and bring it to me to throw. Eeeewww.
yet if another dog comes near her dog dish--forget it

I find this fascinating.

Parking

I noticed this phenomenon this morning and wonder if anyone else has noticed the same.

Men are obsessed with backing into parking spots. Women just seem to be fine pulling in and then backing out--but men, perhaps with the notion that they will have to escape in a hurry, want to reverse into the spot so they can pull straight out.

I've noticed it with Isaac and I've noticed it at work. The small building in which I work houses our office, a male contractor, a male lawyer, a female CPA, and a group of female consultants of some type. My boss and the contractor both will go to great lengths to back into their parking spots. All of the women pull in forward as does the lawyer.

Is it a male ego thing? A "manly man" thing? The lawyer doesn't seem to mind being lumped in with us women--hell he's probably making more money than the rest of us combined. I think its a mystery that should be explored.

Happy Anniversary

Twenty years ago today, a drunk sailor crashed his oil tanker in the Prince William Sound spilling 10.8 million gallons of oil ruining and ending the lives of native man and beast. Recent scientific studies conducted by the Exxon Valdez trust indicate that the oil is still present--an estimated 16,000 gallons are still buried--and the herring, a keystone species for the Sound, have not recovered.

Last year, the supreme court cut the damages due the local fisherman from the massive corporation. Original punitive damages amounted to approximately 1-year's profit for the behemoth--the new amount doesn't even cover the costs of bankruptcy lawyers for the fisherman who lost their livelihood.

Happy Anniversary Exxon--you thoroughly screwed us on that one!

Not Very Stimulated

I'm not very impressed with what I've seen of the new "stimulus package." I think something is wrong with me because I actually agree with some Republicans. This might be the first time in my adult life that I can say that.

I appreciate the need to help the "down and out" in society--but this housing rescue package really stimulates me...to be angry.

Let's take a bunch of people who have demonstrated their inability to manage money (many of the folks currently in foreclosure)

and give them more money.

In addition lets tell folks who don't have enough money or don't have the desire to buy a home that we will give them a $7500 "incentive". How exactly will this help? So all of a sudden people who couldn't afford a home (because the incentive is only for first time home buyers) will be able to afford one with $7500? Won't that just give people a false sense of what they can afford? Isn't that what got us into this mess in the first place? I recognize that we need for people to buy homes--but I thought the Republican plan of a fixed rate 4.0% loan either for purchase or refinance was pretty darn enticing. That's giving long-term savings--and not just rewarding those in foreclosure. I wouldn't mind a little stimulation.

Evolution

I was just thinking about the George Bush Segway incident --and found this video. This has got to be one of the cutest things I've seen in a while. This one's for you Charles Darwin!

Potsie Scheme

For some reason, while listening to NPR once again mention the Ponzi scheme executed by Bernard Madoff, I started to wonder why that name, Ponzi, always makes me laugh.

Flashback--about 25 years ago (maybe more--ok, yeah more). I am the youngest of 5 children. The breakdown is as follows: Marie Anne, Paul, Hugh, Chris, and me--baby Rita (nickie to my family). My brothers and I used to play little make-believe games most likely to keep Chris and Hugh from killing each other. One of our favorites was to play "Happy Days".

Paul was always Fonzi--always. You might think that I played the part of Joanie--but no, that would make too much sense. As a little tomboy I was usually Spike--and sometimes Chachi. Who's Spike? Spike was Fonzi's cousin--before Chachi got introduced to the show. Think of Spike as a miniature Fonzi--complete with leather jacket.

Chris and Hugh alternated between Richie, Ralph, and Potsie Weber. How they behaved--well how "cool" they were dictated what character they got to play. The highest level they could ever achieve was Richie. Their parts, unlike Paul's and mine, were not secure however. Say something stupid and "Richie" would get demoted to Ralph. Do something completely "uncool" and guess what? You're a Potsie.

Potsie/Ponzie --either way you're bound to feel pretty stupid.

It just makes sense

Ever since I rear-ended a guy in a truck with my father's car (when I was sixteen) I've thought about bumpers.

Wouldn't it make more sense if car bumpers all had to be the same height off the ground? Isn't that what a bumper is? For bumping? Every time I see in my rear view mirror a lifted truck bearing down on me I think about this. What good is his bumper (I say he because 90% of the time it is a male driver in one of those--but not always) going to do? It would probably assist in decapitating me I suppose.

When gas was at $4, I came up with the plan for Flagstaff that we just have a fleet of bumper cars for in-town driving. How fun would that be? We could have convertible bumper cars, truck bumper cars, station wagon...whatever. All of them would belong to the city--so you just have to borrow one to get from place to place. We'd have big parking lots for personal vehicles for when you leave town--and some roads would be gas-power friendly. Wouldn't you want to visit Flagstaff if you knew you could drive around in bumper cars all day? We would eliminate road rage altogether--and I wouldn't have to worry about being decapitated.

Simple Priorities

So in case you've been under a rock for the past....oh year or so, our economy is in the landfill. The outlook is not good. If you've got a job...give thanks.

The state of Arizona has found itself to be $1.6 billion in the red. Yikes. So now that our intelligent governor, Janet Napolitano, is gone--her replacement (who doesn't have a college degree by the way) and her friends in the legislature have crafted a plan to reduce the deficit. So what do we cut here in Arizona --a state that ranked 48th or 49th in funding for K-12 schools and was ranked as number 50 in Morgan Quitno's 2006-2007 "Smartest State" rankings? Why education of course! If you're already at the bottom I guess you have no worries right? So the geniuses in the statehouse are cutting $142 million to university funding and $133 million to K-12. What does that mean? Well teachers I know say it means no "cost of living" raises for this year and their jobs are not secure (not to mention cuts to field trips, books, and other supplies).

At the climbing gym last night we had a short conversation with our friend Robert Kelty. Robert is sort of a local celebrity because he was Teacher of the Year for Arizona in 2008. It was an unusual choice because Robert is an elementary school teacher and it was only his 2nd (or 3rd) year teaching in the AZ school system. That says a lot about what a great teacher he is.

Anyway, Robert is the new kid on the block at his school. If his school is forced to lay off teachers--guess who gets to go?? Robert is not worried--hell, he could likely easily get a job in any other state--but really?

Taxes

Have you heard the new joke going around?

Why do Democrats always raise taxes?
......Because they never pay them

Who's Watching the Candy Store?

So here is something that worries me.

We hear everyday about massive layoffs in companies large and small (ok, the massive ones, by nature, are only in the large companies). We've been hearing for years about how newspapers are being forced to downsize because of the internet. This time last year the New York Times severely cut newsroom positions and this year we're hearing tales of NPR making cuts to staff and programs.

The loss of journalists may not seem like a serious problem to some--but the problem is that downsizing may result in high quality investigative journalists being forced to take mundane "local news" positions or to lose their jobs altogether.

Fewer investigative journalists is good for the new White House Administration...but very very bad for American Democracy.

More to come

Yesterday morning I read about a couple in California who both lost their jobs. Not able to handle the stress of raising 5 kids in these tough economic times, they allegedly shot all five children the themselves. They faxed a suicide note to the local TV station explaining their actions. Apparently they owed $15,000 to the U.S. government and were waiting for a $10,000 pay out from the insurance company from a recent car accident. When their bodies were found, the car was packed with belongings. Family and friends said they spoke of moving to Kansas to save money. They never made it.

Today I read of a family in Ohio. The father lost his job and shot his wife, himself and his two kids.

Today on NPR's "Day to Day," they discussed this phenomenon. They even have a name for it "familicide". Why must there be a name? Naming something is giving it power--making it possible to contemplate. This act is beyond my contemplation, beyond my comprehension. The expert on the show said it had nothing to do with the economy. I'm not sure that I buy that. I think we are going to see more and more drastic actions being taken by desperate people. Petty crime will likely go up as will suicide. How desperate (not to mention disturbed) must you be to take the lives of your own children?

I consider myself incredibly lucky that I still have a job and a family/friend support system. Hopefully we can be present physically and emotionally for our less fortunate citizens.

Candle Confusion

I've wanted to ask someone this for a long time. It may seem trivial--but that's what this blog is all about right?

So we have this candle at work in the bathroom (I work with two men and we share a bathroom). It is similar to the ones pictured above with the entire candle enclosed in glass. This is different from those glass candle holders in which you put a tea light--this candle comes with its own house like a turtle.

So everything is fine until the wick starts to burn down below the top of the surrounding wax. What the heck are you supposed to do to keep the melted wax from filling in around the wick and either putting the candle out or making it impossible to light? I've tried rolling the candle to get the wax to harden around the top--but that seems really stupid. Is this just a bad design or does the rest of the world have a secret that they are not sharing?

Conspiracy theory??

A little while ago, I made mention of a Republican IT specialist (Stephen Spoonamore) discussing how the republicans stole the 2004 election (http://ritasrants.blogspot.com/search/label/outrage). Well one of the main characters in that nasty play was Mike Connell. Who was he? Oh nobody really, just a chief IT specialist for Karl Rove and the IT person who set up the election website for Ohio in 2004--remember Ohio in 2004?? Convenient huh?

Anyway in October it was announced that Mike Connell was deposed regarding an investigation of the 2004 election and his access to Karl Rove's files and how they went "missing". Friends of Connell's said he stated afterwards that he was afraid that Rove and Cheney would "throw him under a bus." Who needs a bus, when you have a plane?

Connell was said to be an experienced pilot--that means nothing I realize. Apparently in December 2008, his plane crashed after running out of gas??? Oh yeah and bad weather (weather which had passed 2 hours earlier). I'm no conspiracy theorist but this seems to be awfully convenient for our friend Karl--watch out Stephen Spoonamore!

Resisting the current

In yoga this morning, our instructor was beside herself with emotion about the inauguration. I think the feeling was mutual among most in the class and most in the country. She talked about how part of yoga was finding the good streams and stepping into them. She invoked the image of this historic inauguration and the good stream of energy that people across the world are feeling and how we should step into and contribute to that positive energy.

I was thinking about this as I watched the inauguration. Stepping into the positive streams. It seemed to me that my chosen role is so often (perhaps too often) a riffle in that stream. I seem to always want to block the flow--to implore people to take some time to think about the energy rather than following along with that.

Anyone in stream restoration will tell you that riffles are healthy. They keep the water from moving too fast and incising the stream. Being a riffle is a position of constant unhappiness, though. Fighting the current is no fun. It occurred to me that perhaps I should make it a point to join the current more often. To revel in its force and power in order to fully appreciate it. Once I fully appreciate, perhaps I can more effectively place myself as a riffle.

But I also wonder about the current. I hope that, just as in yoga practice, the members of the current don't get lazy and just follow along. I hope that current-goers understand that the stream is working and every member must engage in propelling it along in the proper path. Don't just let the current carry you. The work is not done, America. It has but just begun.

Protecting our children....

...from bargain shoppers like me

Apparently, starting in February of 2009, it will be illegal for thrift stores to sell used children's clothing and toys without first getting them tested for lead. (Click here for full story). Many stores say the cost of testing will be so high--that they will just abandon the sale of these items in favor of sending them to the landfill.

Uggh.

The purpose of this legislation was really so that all new products be tested. But instead of wording it as all those produced after February 2009, they said all items sold after February 2009.

Now I'm all for protecting children--but really is this the best way to go about it? I would like to know if they did any scientific sampling of thrift store kids' collections and discovered just how much of the inventory contained lead. I'm not anti-regulation, but at some point, parent's will have to decide for themselves whether an item will hurt their child or not.

We have a store here in Flagstaff, Zen Baby (sadly, I found out recently that they are selling the business). Its an awesome store. Everything inside is organic and/or earth friendly (toys made from recycled plastics or bamboo). It's nice to go into a store and not have to scrutinize a label. BUT I do not have children. I can afford to shop there for the odd gift for a friend--shopping there all the time is certainly cost-prohibitive. And think about all those items. Maybe a kid wears an organic onesy a few times until he grows too big. Doesn't it make sense for that item to go to another child?

Never Get Enough

I will surely miss him!

Alignment (Warning Graphic Image is Included)

Lately, Isaac and I have been engaged in conversations about the situation in Gaza. I don't want to make this entry about this conflict (well, I do --but I'm trying to resist)--but I will summarize our discussions. Despite the fact that I have friends of Israeli origin that I love dearly (and I can't seem to resist those "Dead Sea" salespeople in the malls), I am not pro-Israeli government. I am not a fan of the "occupation" of the West Bank or of Gaza. I see Israel as a powerful bully picking on an eight-year old child (although I guess the metaphor is better described as a younger, stronger man picking on an elder). I feel the current attack on Gaza is a perfect example of Israeli bullying. I do not want to put words into the mouth of Isaac--but our conversations (read arguments) have included the fact that the only way to get Hamas to stop its attacks is to show it that it is powerless against the might of Israel. Sometimes you have to cut your losses and realize that you're engaged in a battle that you'll never win, and that it is Hamas who is at fault for the deaths of hundreds of Palestinian children. I generally follow with discussions of the civil or women's rights movements. They, too, were fighting a much more powerful force that did not just one day decide that racism or sexual discrimination was wrong--but it took a fight.

Anyway, Democracy Now! has been focused on the conflict in Gaza for the last week or so. Anyone who is familiar will know without me saying that Amy Goodman has feelings similar to my own. In the interest of discourse she generally invites people from opposite sides to come onto the show (read "duke it out"). What sparks my curiosity is the notion that some people are credible (to me) and others are not. What makes someone credible in our minds? It can't be just because they say something with which we agree. I must have gotten my opinion about Israel and Gaza from someone.

We heard a NPR piece this weekend discussing whether Hamas is getting weapons from Iran. There were two guests: one felt certain that there was some transfer of cash and potentially weapons and the other felt certain that there was not. Isaac found one of the guests completely believable and credible and I found the other one to be such. It wasn't just that I thought one was credible, but I thought the other one was completely lying. Both had credentials, both had experience in the region. Are we really so transparent that we only believe those who say what we want to hear??

Take the rest of politics. It has come out that some of Obama's nominees have some indisgressions in their pasts. We say that Timothy Geithner made an "honest mistake" in failing to pay over $40,000 in taxes. What would we have said if he was part of the Bush Administration?? Be honest. We have to recognize our own hypocrisy before we can rid ourselves of it. Why do I find Neve Gordon a more credible "expert" on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict than Lanny Davis? Neve Gordon is an Israeli professor at Ben Gurion University of the Negev and Lanny Davis was a former Clinton advisor and an advisor to the Israel Project. I can try to rationalize and say, "Well Neve Gordon lives in Israel and if he says that Israel is in the wrong, it must be true." Is that legit? Maybe Neve Gordon has other motives? Sometimes I tell myself that it's my instinct that tells me who's telling the truth. Am I just rationalizing my bias? Most likely.

Its frustrating to be confronted with my own hypocrisy. I know it's there--and I try to be honest about it--but sometimes it just jumps up and slaps me on the face!

For those interested, I highly recommend watching some of the discussions on the topic at Democracy Now! You can watch the videos on line for free. Here are some of the more poignant ones.
12 January
13 January
14 January

Stroll down memory lane

I'm not sure why I was thinking about this video the other day--but it did grace the empty chasm that is currently in control of my body.

This was one of the first things given to me by my sweetie. Its pretty random and I think it came along with a CD of "hair band" music. So romantic. Its one of those videos that you have to watch over and over in order to fully appreciate. (sound is VERY important)

A few of my favorite things..

Here are some of my new favorite things...

Yoga
I know, millions of people discovered yoga centuries ago--but I have been a hold out. Even back when I used to run--I was never much of a stretcher. That probably explains why my running career ended prematurely with knee pain. I love going to yoga class --I can actually feel the difference from day to day. Who knew that stretching could leave you so sore or be so much fun?

Riding the bus
Next to riding my bike, riding the public bus to work is my favorite way to get here. I feel like such a good citizen when I ride the bus. And, if you do it enough, you get to know the other folks on your bus. I feel like it gets me more connected to my community. And, I don't have to clear the snow off the car in the morning!

Google SketchUp
Holy Cow this program is awesome! Its my new obsession. So Google Sketchup is a program that lets you create 3D models and animations. It is free, fairly easy to learn--and fricken amazing. For our recent remodel we've been using it to explore kitchen layout options--incredible. It models shadows and sunlight throughout the day and the year, and you can create surfaces--so I can model my slate floors and my bamboo cabinets. Seriously--you need to check it out.

Crushed

I admit it, I was wrong. I had heard stories of Bill Richardson's inappropriate actions in politics, but I chose to ignore them. I had a political "crush" on Bill. There, I said it.

I like him for his experience in energy, border issues, and foreign relations. I liked his stance on getting the hell out of Iraq, and I loved his idea that all teachers should receive pay raises. I let my guard down--I let him infiltrate my emotions and tossed my criticism aside. Shame on me.

I would say shame on him--but, really, he just acted as all politicians do. I would still vote for him as commerce secretary--I would rather see him in that position than Obama's chosen National Intelligence Director, Dennis "I supported the Indonesian Army in their quest to massacre the East Timorese" Blair in his position, or Cowboy Ken Salazar as Interior Secretary.

But then, nobody asked me.

The Price of a Bargain

Lately I've been engaged in the remodel of my kitchen. Since the purchase of my house, I've discovered that I have an endless imagination for what could be done and neither the patience nor the pocketbook to see everything to fruition. That being said, we are working very hard to build my "dream kitchen" through sweat and hard labor (and minimal impacts on the bank account). There are, unfortunately, items that cannot be produced through our own hard work--an oven for instance. While I'm sure my beloved could, if given the right materials and time, manufacture an oven that would bake a cake on its own, we do not have that kind of time nor those materials. So what's a girl to do? Craigslist.

I am a craigslist addict. I find myself checking the local ads religiously--even ads for things for which I have no interest. My favorite is the Phoenix Craigslist site. You can pretty much find anything you've ever wanted on Phoenix Craigslist. There is so much crap for sale in Phoenix, I can't even browse the listings--I have to search for individual items. So this past week I was dreaming of a nice new wall oven. My hope is to put the stovetop (gas) on a new island and have a separate wall oven (I know--pretty trendy). We were discussing what to do about the microwave (ours currently doubles as the stove hood). I then remembered that I had seen a combo wall oven/microwave at one of the local appliance stores. So instead of a double oven (largely unneccessary for the two of us), the top is a microwave and the bottom is an oven. Pretty nifty, eh?

Well being the bargain hunter that I am (the unit I'd seen costs about $1800), I immediately turned to Phoenix Craigslist. Low and behold, there was one for sale! Who would have guessed? (ok, so I would have guessed--but nevermind). Anyway, the asking price for a new, unopened unit was $900! Whoa! So I ran to the phone--not to call the seller, but to call Isaac who does all my bargaining for me--to tell him to get the scoop.

So here's what the seller said. He said that he had been working for a distributor and insteading of getting paid in cash for his work---he got the oven. What? I asked Isaac if the distributor knew they were giving the oven away. Come on now--with a story like that, we knew it was probably a "hot" item. Uggh.

Now I'm left with this dilemma. Ok, so I think the item was stolen--but I don't know for sure. It likely was not stolen from a person, but rather from a large corporation--which makes me feel a little better--but should it? I tried to explore my options: not buy the item due to moral issues, get a smokin' (pun intended) deal for a great oven and pretend I never suspected it was stolen, or call the Phoenix PD and get the scoop. The item is still wrapped--so it comes with a warranty. I checked the Whirlpool website and they don't seem to care who sold the items under warranty. So if the guy is trying to scam me--I can probably get Whirlpool to replace it. On the other hand, buying a stolen item is really no better than stealing an item--but really, how do you ever know if items you get on Craigslist or Ebay were legitimately obtained? And let's say the guy is telling the truth--but the crime committed was that the distributor was hiring illegal aliens and paying them under the table. So if I call the police, maybe this poor guy gets deported or something. All he was trying to do was to buy a few morsels of food for his family--and maybe a little toy train for his son--and crutches for Tiny Tim, and.... ok, you get my point.

Some advice from the masses is in order. So far, we've done nothing.