A citing or two...

Not really exciting, but my Blog has had a few citings (note the pun?) on the Internet here. An interesting one is here. I had posted a poem here (not about epicaricacy, but about nursing) that he cited. Interestingly, though he is from Australia, I had met him once at a conference. I am 100% certain that he didn't know that when he had cited by Blog.

It really is a small world.

What has happened?

I am very lucky. I love to travel, and part of my job entails traveling, particularly to state capitols. I enjoy the history and the politics and touring the capitol buildings. They are all very different, and yet quite similar. They are stately and beautiful. Some are well guarded, others allow firearms. And so on.

However, one thing strikes me. They all have pictures and stories about our history and how people worked together to keep this great country intact. It wasn't easy. Think of the Civil War. But Lincoln's goal was to stay the United States. Yes, there has been discord, and particularly with the Civil War. But people were passionate about our country, and it was about how to make it better. People just didn't always have the same ideas about how make it better.

But now? It doesn't seem to be about how to make it better. It seems to be about how to win. For example, unless the senate has 60 members of one party, the other side will filibuster and hold up everything. Look at health care. This was our chance to get it right. We needed regional focus groups for consumer views. We needed committees with physicians, nurses, insurance executives, and lawyers about how to redesign this failing system. We needed to work together. We could have done something really amazing. But no. The Republicans and Democrats alike made it into a game...will the Democrats win? Will the Republicans win? I suspect the Republicans will do everything possible to see that this reform fails because they didn't win. What a bunch of self-centered babies.

When I looked at the photo of senators in the state capitol today, I saw what I often seen. Mostly men. I wonder. Would it be different if women ran our country?

Sense of justice

I really like Julia Keller's book reviews. Yesterday she wrote about a best seller..."Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War." It's okay, she says, but nothing like the hype. She much prefers O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" or Schaeffer's "Buffalo Afternoon." The best writer advice, she says, comes from none other than Bruce Springsteen: "Keep an ear to the ground and an ear to your heart." When critiquing, listen to what the public likes, sure. But no one would simply want "best sellers" from critics. Listen to your heart. Keller listened to her heart on this one.

So what does this have to do with a sense of justice, you ask. At the end of her review, she quoted the British novelist, Joyce Cary: "Get rid of that sense of justice or you'll be a self-pitier all your life." I am not sure that I am a "self-pitier," but my sense of justice gets in the way much of the time. What I've never got is that others don't have it like I do. Fair is fair, to me, and generally (not always), to me, it's black and white. For example, punishment to criminals can be so disparate, often based on race or socioeconomic status. I suppose I should be quiet since I am on the right side of the status line, but I can't be. The injustice happens in all areas of life, though...from the workplace to referees for the Bulls (though I might be subjective about the latter). I must listen to Joyce Cary!

Lesbian or not, she's a good lady

Here's the crux of this voice of the people in the Tribune today:

"When I was a second-year law student, my father died suddenly.

Obviously it was a great family tragedy.

My mother was a wreck, and I considered dropping out of school permanently so I could come home to Chicago to be with her.

Though then-Dean Kagan knew me only vaguely, she wrote my mom a handwritten letter of condolence in which she promised that she and the school would do everything possible to support our family during our hardship.

I was subsequently given a financial-aid scholarship and Harvard permitted me to earn some credits at Northwestern Law School so I could spend more time at home.

I am now a lawyer in Chicago, and I recently bumped into Kagan at a conference.

I thanked her profusely for what she and the school had done for my family.

As is her way, she immediately shrugged it off and asked how my mom was doing."

Voice of the People, May 16, 2010 - chicagotribune.com

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Over 50 and not married?

I can be so naive sometimes. I hadn't heard of the kerfuffle about Kagen being a Lesbian. After all, the thinking apparently goes, she is 50 and not married. In the link below Mary Schmich makes fun of the accusations:

"If you are an unmarried woman over 40 carrying 15 extra pounds, you are totally gay.

If you are a stocky, unmarried woman of whatever age who plays softball — gay, gay, gay.

And if you're that woman who's also smarter than most of the boys? Beyond gay, sweetheart. You are scary."

These gossipy yahoos need to get a life. This lady was a law professor at one of the most prestigious law schools in the world...the U of Chicago...at a very young age (much like our current president). She was the first woman dean of Harvard Law School, again before age 50. What an accomplished lady. I wish the media, the conservatives, and the fools would get off her back.

By the way, so what if she were a Lesbian anyway?

Mary Schmich Elena Kagan gay stereotype - chicagotribune.com

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Do we really understand

The Arizona immigration law has caused a lot of talk here. This article tells about a high school girls team from Highland Park where the district has cancelled a basketball tournament because of Arizona's new law targeting illegal immigration. Highland Park schools also incorporate Highwood, which has a significant number of Latinos.

People are mad about this. They are calling it hypocritical. However, they are Caucasians who have never experienced profiling. They don't get it. I will never forget my son's high school track coach. He was African-American, teaching in Winnetka. Every single day he had to carry his driver's license on his visor...for easy retrieval. The "North Shore" just doesn't have many African-Americans, and time after time he'd get picked up.

I can't imagine how it must feel, but I support District 113 in Highland Park for not choosing to travel to Arizona. I hope the baseball all-star team pulls out too. That law is a disgrace.

A Snazzola Blog

One of my favorite made-up words is snazzola. It is snazzy with a bit of an attitude. That's what I want. A snazzola blog would be so excellent that thousands (millions?) would follow it every day. How does one do it? Language Log, for example, works very, very hard at it. But many of my friends work so hard, too, and do magnificent work. What's the difference? A little bit of luck, I think. Look at that little Justin Bieber. Now he doesn't deserve it!

First of all, I can't just write about epicaricacy (which I've just added to my online dictionary to get rid of that wavy red line!). I will continue to touch upon it, from time to time. But I am not going to talk about it every, single day.

Now onto other subjects. Wish me luck in making this a snazzola Blog!

We must never forget...

I like blogs because you can post almost anything you want without worries about others' responses as you are on discussion boards. Oh, of course you may get comments, but who cares. Only you are annoyed if they're rude or negative. However, as those of us who post on discussion boards well know, you cause a quite a ruckus, of the entire membership, at the drop of a hat.

Here is a link to a memory book about the Holocaust. It made a strong impression on me, and I think it will you too.