So now I realize that my wayward life has become a series PROJECTS.
I use the word “project” in the baseball sense. Major League teams are eager to sign talented young players who are promising “prospects.” Note the difference between a prospect and a project.
A “prospect” has a real chance to make it in the Major Leagues, after a year or two in the minors. Baseball scouts have high expectations for a prospect. He probably gets a bonus simply for signing a contract. Hence, the term, “bonus baby.” Millions, sometimes, for raw talent.
A “project,” on the other hand, is a young player who appears to possibly have the makings of a Major Leaguer. But the wise old men of baseball understand that this player needs a lot of coaching, and maybe years of seasoning in the minors. Developing this rookie into a Major Leaguer is a project for the long term. The outcome is by no means certain.
My projects are never going to the Major Leagues, but they will require perseverance to reach humble goals. I’ve already mentioned the first two projects:
My Austerity Project. The first part of this project is simply keeping a record of how much money I spend every day, with a goal of bringing my budget under control. The record keeping is easy enough, and I’m sticking with it every day. The frequency of unbudgeted expenses, however, is discouraging. The $328.33 for routine 50,000-mile maintenance on my car this past week, for example. This project is going to be like pushing a rock up a hill every day.
My Fitness Project. I mentioned that I got a good deal on a one-year gym membership. So far, I’ve been using the gym every third day, sometimes walking on one of the in-between days. I’d like to ratchet up the Fitness Project to every other day at the gym. Even better would be working out almost every day. Just showing up is clearly 80 percent of the Fitness Project. So far, so good.
In addition to Austerity and Fitness, the care and organization of my small and disorderly living space has achieved the status of full-fledged project. My Apartment Project. More on this to come soon, with “before” pictures.
And now I see that the Holiday Project is upon us again. This is primarily a Survival Project. The Holiday Project will make all the other projects more challenging. Normal life resumes on Jan. 2, 2011.
After the holidays looms My Job Project. Talk about a humble project! It’s weighing on my mind a little. But not too much, thanks to Social Security.
I feel a rant coming on soon about politicians who want to solve the national budget and debt crisis by killing Social Security. They want to throw aging workers under the bus. Or put us on an iceberg and let us drift out to sea.
Excuse me, but I’ve been paying taxes into Social Security since I went to work at McDonalds at age 16. Social Security is not like welfare, or even food stamps. My Social Security is b0ught and paid for. I own it. It belongs to me. Do I make myself clear?
As you can see, I’m dealing with a full load of projects here. And I haven’t even mentioned the Laundry Project, which has reached the top of the priority list for tomorrow, or the Blogging Project, the one that keeps me typing until the middle of the night.
If it weren’t for the Blogging Project, consisting of three different blogs (which is two blogs too many), I’d have more time to focus on the important projects.
It has been said: “Nothing succeeds like success.”
And: “Nobody loves you when you’re down and out.”
That about sums up the unforgiving political climate in this raw election year.
One statehouse candidate in my corner of America says she wants to make our state “Millionaire-friendly.” Wait a minute. Today’s big news is the fast foreclosure scandal, and this candidate is worried that millionaires don’t have enough friends?
I don’t know whether to laugh . . . or cry.
Meanwhile, several candidates here are keen to make seasonal workers ineligible for unemployment compensation, in the midst of the worst depression since . . . The Depression.
Around here, we have plentiful work in summer, nothing in winter. Unemployment compensation for seasonal workers has been part of the business and economic equation — the social contract, if you will — for decades. Not anymore.
In this new, winner-take-all system, some local leaders ridicule the unemployed. The poor are “gaming the system,” they say.
Supermarket clerks laugh at folks who have to pay with food stamps. Folks lucky enough to be working scapegoat the unemployed. Don’t touch their food stamps; they might be contagious.
Cozy up to the rich. Give the poor a kick in the teeth.
Politicians know how to choose their friends. But do voters know how to choose their politicians? Is this a great country, or what?
Quit your night job and run for an obscure political office.
One blog isn’t enough. Try three blogs.
Get yourself adopted by a cat.
Volunteer for a political campaign. Better yet, volunteer in TWO campaigns.
Freely offer unsolicited advice.
Begin each day promptly at the crack of noon.
Experiment with carbohydrate-rich nutrition.
Be too busy for prayer. Be too busy for exercise. Forget to be grateful.
Every day is a good day to repent and start anew. Today, for instance. For starters, one blog will be enough, don’t you agree? This blog is the one. Humor me. Stay tuned.
People with moxie and common sense are starting to climb on board the Alvin Greene Bandwagon To Take America Back. Here’s five reasons to vote for Mr. Greene, courtesy of Huffington Post.
Where is it written that you have to wear thousand-dollar suits, have $400 styled hair, cheat on your wife, AND be bought and paid for by at least one, zillion-dollar international conglomerate, in order to qualify for the U.S. Senate, or, for that matter, governor of South Carolina.
For your convenience and amusement, let’s have a little mock election right here and now.
Above top, Mark Sanford (SC), John Edwards (NC); second row, Sarah Palin (Alaska), and Alvin Greene (SC Dem Party photo). (The Sanford, Edwards and Palin photos are from Wikipedia.) Sanford and Edwards are “Establishment.” Palin and Greene are “outsiders” (Ok, Mr. Greene is a new outsider, and Ms. Palin is a veteran outsider.) Sarah Palin represents the Tea Party, and Alvin Greene represents the Mockingbird Party (unless someone comes up with a better name).
Your vote counts! In fact, your vote is the most important vote! No poll tax! All races and genders welcome to participate. Is this a great and free country, or what?
South Carolina is waking up to the amazing but true story that Alvin Greene is the real deal, the unknown “everyman” who won against all odds.
Alvin Greene is the small-town guy who went away and served in the Army for a long time, then came back home, ran a very low-key, under-the-radar campaign, and astounded everyone by winning! Alvin Greene is today the official and legitimate nominee of the South Carolina Democratic Party for the U.S. Senate. Exactly what about that is hard to understand?
For the first exclusive and respectful interview with the political phenom, see OpEdNews.com.Here’s a quick sample:
My campaign is about jobs, better education for children and justice . . .
We spend much more of our taxpayer dollars on inmates than students. We must get our priorities together in South Carolina and across the country.
Truth to tell, I doubt you’ll find many African-American Democrats in South Carolina who disagree with Mr. Green’s views. Looks to me like Alvin Greene is going to come out smelling like the hometown hero.
Here’s a prediction: I’m going to be sending the Alvin Greene campaign a small check, and so are thousands of other people from across the country. Alvin Greene is the Democratic Party’s answer to the Republicans’ Tea Party movement. Just my opinion.
What about that spurious “charge” against Greene, which S.C. officials have not even bothered to prosecute? ROFL. Everyone who has ever read “To Kill A Mockingbird” has a pretty good idea what that’s all about. Come to think of it, Alvin Greene is so soft-spoken and gentle, he reminds me of a mockingbird. Maybe the Democratic answer to the Tea Party will be called the Mockingbird Party. I like the ring. Remember, you read it here first!
Here’s another prediction: Alvin Greene is going to win approximately 97 percent of the black vote in South Carolina on Election Day in November. If he can add the votes of a few open-minded white Democrats and Independents, he might just win, and I will write a book and call it “Mr. Greene Goes To Washington.”
For an even more enthusiastic opinion than mine, check out the Washington Post’sPostPartisan Blog.
Alvin Greene, left, and Vic Rawl. S.C. Democratic Party photos.
A military veteran and graduate of the University of South Carolina named Alvin M. Greene, 32, has come out of political nowhere to win the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in South Carolina.
AP Photo
Many in the political establishment and the cable news business have disgraced themselves by their prejudiced reactions. Just my opinion.
I had underestimated the arrogance and self-righteousness of our country’s ruling elites.How dare an ordinary American of humble means . . . How DARE he presume to run for high political office???!!!
They say Alvin Greene has no business running for office because he is poor and has no political experience. The U.S. Senate, after all, is a millionaires’ club. It is perfectly OK for a wealthy person to come out of nowhere and spend millions of their own money to win. Happens every election. But a person of humble means? Not allowed!
They ridicule him for living with and taking care of his ailing and elderly father in small-town Manning, S.C. (Seems commendable, to me.) Also, Alvin Greene is African-American. The outcry from the political and media elites falls just short of a lynch mob. (OK, I am exaggerating for effect. I want you to understand that I have not been this angry in a long time.)
The elites are proudly flaunting their ignorance of and disrespect for democracy.
While the MSM is busy trying to smear Alvin Greene, I am not the only blogger who believes that Mr. Greene is simply a rare long shot who won an obscure election against a weak opponent. For example, see this post from Salon. It is instructive that the little-known Vic Rawl, who was expected to win the Democratic primary, was thought to have absolutely no chance of defeating the Republican incumbent, Sen. Jim DeMint. Maybe that’s why Democrats voted for Mr. Greene instead. Even if your man is going to lose, you can at least send a message.
Alvin Greene, Scott Brown, Barack Obama
Do you mind if I suggest that Alvin Greene may be the new Scott Brown? Mr. Brown is now known as Senator Brown, the gentleman from Massachusetts. Mr. Greene and Mr. Brown both have something in common with President Barack Obama. None of them was the establishment candidate; the deck was stacked against them. The voters defied the orders of the elite and voted for Barack Obama, not Hillary Clinton. Is democracy breaking out in America? Could the world be turning upside down?
I have listened to Alvin Greene calmly and patiently respond to unfair interviews on TV, and it is obvious to me that he is an intelligent, well-educated, and patriotic citizen. (As always, just my opinion.) He is a humble man, soft-spoken and not used to the glare of the spotlight. You can see that he is not a polished career politician. He is not an actor. He doesn’t have all the answers. But he is well-spoken and answers intrusive questions truthfully and without hesitation. He is refreshingly without guile. You can see it in his face and his body language.
In what way is Mr. Greene not qualified to run for political office? He is South Carolina through and through. He has a degree in political science from the state’s university. He served his country for 13 years in the Army and Air Force. These facts have been confirmed by the university and by the Pentagon. Mr. Greene is not boastful. He has not made any untrue claims about great accomplishments. He is only 32 and has spent his entire adult life going to college and serving in the military. Younger men from the “right” families have been elected with less experience than Mr. Greene. The Pentagon says he has received at least four service medals, including one for serving in Korea. Mr. Greene says it was while serving in Korea that he began thinking about running for office.
“I saw the country declining and I wanted to do something,” he said softly in response to one question on TV. When asked about his qualifications to run against the great incumbent, Sen. Jim DeMint, Mr. Greene cited his own military service. Sen. DeMint did not serve in the military, Mr. Greene noted.
Mr. Greene said he believes that incumbents need to be held accountable, and that incumbents are a major cause of America’s current predicament. (Now there’s a radical idea!)
Smear campaign without basis
The media and politicians are trying to smear Mr. Greene, plain and simple. Shame on them. Some say he is a Republican “plant.” Some question where he got the $10,400 filing fee. (A better question was raised by Slate. How come it costs so much to be a candidate in South Carolina?) He has not collected any campaign money nor run any slick TV ads. He is unemployed since leaving the military last fall, but what is more common in this sad economy than unemployment, especially among returning veterans?
The media is also sensationalizing a so-called “obscenity” accusation against Mr. Greene, who has no criminal record. I strongly suspect that the charge is trumped-up and unfounded. Mr. Greene says he is innocent.
Apparently, a young white woman was offended by a very brief conversation with Mr. Greene. She can’t really describe what he was trying to show her on a computer. She says she hardly looked at it. The entire encounter lasted perhaps two minutes. No evidence, no witness. No accusation of assault, only a very brief conversation. No harm, no foul.
A white woman and a black man. Hmm . . . This foolish story is as old as the South. No one who has read “To Kill A Mockingbird” will believe this accusation for a minute. The alleged incident is nearly a year old, and officials have made no move to prosecute it. (I wouldn’t be surprised if the “charge” is revived, now that Mr. Greene is a viable candidate.)
There is also some question about Mr. Green’s exit from the military last year, six months early, after 13 years of service. Mr. Greene says he received an honorable discharge, and the military does not dispute that fact.
All the phony talk against Mr. Greene smacks of racism. There, I’ve said it.
Why is it so hard to believe a black man won?
How do you dismiss a 59-41 percent victory? I believe the simple truth is that Alvin Greene won the S.C. Democratic primary. He says it was “simple, old-fashioned” campaigning, help from family and friends, and word-of-mouth support. Got a problem with that?
Remember, South Carolina is a small state. Mr. Greene is a lifelong Democrat, and his father is reputedly a longtime Democratic activist. Many Democratic voters in South Carolina are African-American. Do you think news of Mr. Greene’s run could have spread like wildfire through a community of faithful Democrats? Do you think the photos of Mr. Greene and his almost-equally-unknown white opponent, shown at the top of this post, were routinely printed in small-town newspapers, voter guides, and Democratic Party material?
Is there anything wrong with black Democrats choosing to vote for a man who looks like them? Could it be that many South Carolina Democrats believe Alvin Greene is well-qualified by his views and life experience to represent them in the U.S. Senate?
Do you believe in democracy?
— John Hayden
Note: In the long-distance video below, you can see that Mr. Greene is having trouble hearing the questions using that nasty TV sound monitor stuck in his ear. Many veteran newscasters have the same problem. Considering that he had never done such an interview before, and considering the confusion and delay of the sound coming to his ear, I thought Mr. Greene maintained his cool very well. His answers are somewhat slow, but that is the way people from the deep South talk. It’s called a Southern drawl. Everybody in S.C. talks like that.
If you’re puzzling out the political trends for the 2010 election season, you could watch today’s primary results. But perhaps more telling as a leading political indicator is the recent election result in Iceland.
Jon Taplin, an astute observer of what he calls the “political interregnum,” takes note of the unexpected turn elections can take, when voters are just plain fed up.
“What is so interesting about Iceland, . . . is the spirit of renewal in the air . . . They have suffered from the excesses of the boom, just like we did, but they are determined to get on with the future and not just argue about the past.”
The mile-deep gusher at BP’s offshore oil well in the Gulf of Mexico has ended President Barack Obama’s proposal for new offshore oil drilling, just as surely as the collapse of the stock market, and the housing and credit bubbles, snuffed out President George W. Bush’s plan to invest Social Security funds in the stock market.
In the wake of the BP oil disaster, thousands of people chanting “Drill baby, drill,” would seem surreal.
Thus are presidential policy options narrowed by unpredictable forces. Leaders deal with the world as it is, not as they wish it to be.
Events not only narrow a president’s choices; events can change the direction of a president’s attention, like a river cutting a new channel. Events can force a president’s hand, as war forces a choice between guns and butter.
It is left to great men to answer the question: “What do we do now?” And then to do it well.
Great men affect history by choosing wisely among limited options. Even more, perhaps, great men affect history by thoroughness of planning and excellence of implementation. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower became great because he thoroughly planned and successfully implemented the invasion of Normandy.
George W. Bush became a bungler because he made the wrong military decision, war in Iraq. Then he compounded the error by failing to plan and implement the war.
Abraham Lincoln made the right choices, but would he be considered a great president if he had lost the Civil War?
Now President Obama’s policy initiatives at home appear increasingly limited by political and economic realities. I hope that events do not force the president to turn his attention to war.
Thursday, there was a whiff of panic in the air, as the Dow went through a 1,000-point intraday swing.
Friday, American eyes were locked, with a sense of “deja vu,” on the financial train wreck in Europe. The credit engine in Europe may be on the verge of seizing up, like it did in America in 2008.
This week, Greece; next week, the Continent? Germany and France are rushing to avert crisis, but probably too late. It doesn’t help one bit that Britain woke up Friday morning with a fractured Parliament. Can the new Parliament possibly be more dysfunctional than the American Congress? And next week, strikes are scheduled in Europe.
For the average human being, this would be a good time to be far away from and fully independent of free markets; out of debt; and growing your own vegetables in dirt and fresh air. In other words, simplicity never looked so good.
Next time someone flies into a rage over a parking space or a line at the supermarket, give them plenty of room to vent. And don’t take it personally. It’s not about the parking space or the line. People are angry about events not under their control.
This would be a good weekend to go fishing, in a quiet place, far from the maddening crowd. Take along someone you like. Eat comfort food. Read a good, long book, or two short books, and call me in the morning.
Inhabitants of Spaceship Earth are suffering through an ongoing economic crisis. I say “crisis,” only because my mind cannot grasp the enormity of total worldwide economic “collapse.” Whatever you call it, we are living in a period of economic change and dislocation.
Now begins Phase II of the crisis, in which the pain from economic dislocation begets social and political unrest. Some obvious symptoms:
Failure of the United States political system to compromise on universal health care, or on immigration policy.
Rise of the Tea Party protest movement in the U.S.
States in the U.S., and nations in Europe, on the brink of insolvency.
Rioting in Greece against government austerity measures.
Demonstrations in Arizona against a state crackdown on Mexican immigrants.
Unpredictable acts of nature — such as Hurricane Katrina and the volcano in Iceland — or manmade disasters — such as an offshore oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico — send shock waves through the unstable economy.
On all sides, people remain in determined denial and resist acknowledging or sharing culpability for economic damage. Wall Street arrogantly resists financial restrictions. Voters everywhere reject tax increases.
Social cohesion breaks down as elites withdraw, militias form, terrorism spreads. Groups and individuals protect self-interest, rather than support community interest. Social and political divisions harden, willingness to cooperate or compromise evaporates, battle lines are drawn. The governing emotions are anger, and fear.
Economic fear could turn into panic on any given day. But perhaps the economic crisis will subside over time, and lead to needed reforms. Meanwhile, the ride will be bumpy. We may be seeing only the beginning of protests and riots. Social and political unrest might continue and intensify for a long time, possibly leading to localized violence, chaos, or anarchy.
No one can predict the future. Fasten your seatbelt and hope for the best.
Living Simply And Still On The Grid 