Trying to understand the stimulus

So much about this stimulus bill makes no sense. But tonight I heard the most puzzling information of all. Our President said we must get the federal deficit under control - at the same time he is saying that he will be signing this un-stimulating stimulus bill. How can a bill that will cost taxpayers almost a trillion dollars help to get the federal deficit under control. How can legislation that causes the USA to borrow billions of dollars be good for us? How can legislation that bloats the size of the federal government be good for us? How can legislation that takes away freedoms be good for us? Does anyone even know what is actually in the bill and what affect it will have on our country? Does it make sense to add massive debt and then insist that we must get the deficit under control? Is this leadership or politics? Is it change we can believe in or change we should fear?

Political Overload

I need an intervention to counter my addiction to news coverage. Between watching the stock market bounce up and down and keeping up with the action on the over-spending bill, I am saturated with news. Yesterday, I even tuned in to C-Span while the super bill was being debated. It was like watching a sports event where the teams are totally unmatched; you know who is going to win; but you keep hoping you are wrong. My team lost yesterday - and so did our country. Hopefully, some sanity will prevail when the bill goes to the Senate. The more details I hear about the specific spending detains in the House bill, the angrier I become. The only people for whom this is a stimulus bill are those in the special interests groups who are being paid back. I will keep watching Fox News and C-Span as the bill goes to the Senate. Let's all hope that the final version is a Stimulus Bill rather than a Spending Bill.

A DAY WITH NO CELL PHONE

I thought my handbag felt lighter as I went into our Smyrna office today. I think it was a psychological lightness, an omen of something missing. Alas, I had left my cell phone at home. Not being as technologically adept as I need to be, I also don't know how to access my cell voice mail remotely. Of course some days I have no calls at all on it. But not today. Fortunately, one person trying to call had also e-mailed to ask if I could introduce the speaker at today's Rotary meeting. Not only did I not have my cell, the phone in my office is working only for outgoing calls. The office suites manager is calling our phone company on that one. It is amazing how quickly we can feel out of touch without our simple luxuries. Looking back, I marvel that we could publish a weekly newspaper for so many years with no cell phone, no fax machine, no personal computers, no digital cameras, no e-mail and no internet. Put into that perspective, I can work today with no in-coming calls and no cell phone. Perhaps that's how I have time to update my blog.

A DAY AFTER INAUGURATION

It's the day after inauguration and the country still functions. The sun is shining and the stock market, after a terrible day yesterday, is once again rallying. Yesterday was a day of pomp and circumstance; a day when masses of people stood in the bitter cold to see a new president sworn in. Although not my choice, he will be my President. And now I, like many others wait to see if he will choose to be our President. Will he be the leader of all, or only for those of color? Will he be the President for all, or only for those who are on the lower rungs of society (and those who are Hollywood celebrities)? Will he support small business owners, or will he, as he did with Joe the Plumber, belittle those who try to succeed as entrepreneurs? Will he increase employment through more government or through private enterprise? Will he realize that lower taxes for all (not just for those who pay no taxes) can bring in more long-term revenue or will he be the stereotype tax and spend liberal? Since it's only been a day, I'll wait optimistically to discover how the new President will lead.

I've found that starting a blog is much easier than actually continually updating a blog. Since my original post was written last year, I knew it was time to add a something new. I have made many changes to my blog since its inception, changing the template about a dozen times. This is the latest, although perhaps not the last, template change. But now, in addition to template change, I have actually written something new.

I discovered that I can add a photo, which presents a whole new set of changes yet to come. If you're reading this soon after it's posted and before I make future changes, you are seeing a photo I took at Hilton Head Island on our last whole family vacation the summer of 2004. At the end of our time on the island, Katie headed back to Davidson to begin her senior year and Peter went along with Allan and me to Savannah, where we were making a presentation on working with the news media to the Georgia Association of Community Services Board Association. Peter had just finished working with Dylan Glenn's congressional campaign, one that ended in a disappointing loss. Soon after the Hilton Head trip, however, Peter was still headed to D.C. where he would soon began his career with Koch Industries. Those few days at the beach were a relaxing time of being together as a family before we once again went off to different cities.

Merry Christmas to all

It's the third Sunday in Advent 2009 and I have chosen this day to begin my adventures in blogging. To those who may read this, I wish you a very merry Christmas!

Below is my Bright Side Newspaper column for December 2009.

CHRISTMAS IS NOT A MODERN AMERICAN INVENTION

To hear some of the discussions on how we should limit the exposure of Christmas in our modern American world, one could almost think that the holiday is one that we invented and can now totally shape or ignore as we choose. Schools declare the official time as a winter holiday, yet build the calendar around December 25 as the focus of the holiday.

Yet, no matter how some try to limit the holiday, Christmas is one that is not just an American invention, but a world-wide celebration. One estimate is that Christmas is honored by some 400 million belivers world-wide. The traditions are deep, having developed over centuries, transformed or refined, but always centered on the birth of Christ.

Before the holy birth, ancient civilizations celebrated the winter solstice. December 25, the date the ancient Romans celebrated the winter solstice, may not be the actual date of the birth of Christ, but it has evolved to a universal day of celebration. Our entire calendar of BC and anno Domini is based on the birth of Christ.

In our 21^st century world, where news is constant around the clock it’s hard to imagine that the news of the birth of Christ could spread from a stable in Bethlehem to Shepherds, to wise-men, to the king in a short time. From Angels to Shepherds to ordinary people, the word has continued to spread throughout all the land, generation to generation, nation to nation.

There was no “good news” newspaper like The Bright Side back in the early days. Word was spread one on one, yet here we are, more than 2,000 years later, with the story of the Christ child still powerfully with us. There was an early version of news back in Jesus’ day, a daily sheet first published in 59 BC in Rome called Acta Diurna, or Daily Events, which Julius Caesar had posted throughout the city. Newspapers depend on literacy, however, and in civilizations where many could not read, early newspapers had limited readership.

Today, the story would be on Fox News and CNN with helicopters hovering overhead and reporters out interviewing the Shepherds. The interview might go something like this: REPORTER: “So, here in this field full of sheep, you claim to have seen Angels. Tell me Shepherd boy, do you have a history of hallucinations or drug use?” SHEPHERD: No, and I wasn’t dreaming. There was one Angel with the message of the baby’s birth and then a whole host of Angels. It was an awesome sight.” REPORTER: “Well, there you have it, a claim of Angels out here in the middle of nowhere. We’ll be checking the satellite images to see if they show any unusual activity, however we think it is a hoax. Just in case, however, we have reporters on their way to find the stable and we’ll bring you updates as we have them. Now back to you in the studio.”

Of course, in our modern world Mary and Joseph would not have had to travel to Bethlehem to pay their taxes; they could have stayed home and paid them online. We have computers and instant news coverage and people ready to file lawsuits over nativity scenes and songs of school children. Yet, despite our 21^st century restrictions, the ancient story of the Christmas miracle is, for Christians around the world, as fresh and awesome as when it was first revealed to the Shepherds.