Tannishblog

Chicago’s Edens Expressway was closed yesterday for seven hours. A Semi trailer tipped over and spilt it’s load on the northbound lanes near my house. Thankfully, no injuries were reported.

The northbound lanes of the Edens Expressway were shut down after the spilled pig ears, pig feet and grease created slippery road conditions. The affected lanes were reopened at about 3 p.m.

A sudden shift in the truck’s load caused it to tip onto its side near the Dempster Street entrance ramp in Skokie, according to Illinois Department of Transportation spokesman Mike Claffey. The Edens Expressway connects downtown Chicago to its northern suburbs.

[…]

The mess took hours to clean up.

IDOT workers used sand to absorb the grease, Claffey said. They also sprayed a foam usually used in hazardous materials situations, and dispensed rock salt to provide more traction.

"This is obviously something that’s really hard to clean up," Claffey said.

For those unfamiliar with Chicago area demographics, the Village of Skokie, where the accident happened, hosts one of the most prominent Jewish communities in the state. (So well-known that a Neo-Nazi group petitioned to stage a rally and parade in downtown Skokie in the late Seventies. They were denied.) Indeed, as one travels north on the Edens into Lake county, most of the suburbs serviced by the road are heavily populated by the Jewish community.

So, my twisted mind finds this incident ironic. C’mon - pig grease? Will the local Rabbis try to cleanse the tarmac?

NOTE: Before you start calling me names, I confess to being a happily married Jewish husband-by-proxy. My soulmate and I are busy raising an outstanding young Jewish woman who happens to have a Scandinavian surname. I’m no stranger to irony…

That’s what the Google link said: The Saddest Thing On The Internet. So I clicked. It took me to http://www.poverty.com/. At the top of the page, a world topographical map is overlayed by images of people and their names, which also scroll along the right side of the map.

About 25,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related causes, according to the United Nations. This is one person every three and a half seconds, as you can see on this display. Unfortunately, it is children who die most often.

Further along the left sidebar, the header reads: What You Can Do. First choice? Print A Letter. Here’s the American Letter:

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
USA

We respectfully ask our government to help stop the tens of thousands of preventable deaths that occur every day from hunger and poverty-related diseases.

Specifically, we ask our country to honor the agreement it made and signed at the 2002 Monterrey Conference and again at the 2002 Johannesburg Summit to make concrete efforts towards giving 0.7% of our national income in aid to poor countries.

The United Nations estimates that when all 22 countries that signed the agreement meet the 0.7% goal, the resulting $195 billion each year will be enough to effectively end hunger and extreme poverty in the world.

We commend the countries that have already reached the 0.7% goal: Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.

We also commend the countries that have set up a schedule to meet the 0.7% goal and encourage them in their efforts to reach it as soon as possible: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

We respectfully ask the six remaining countries to honor their agreement and set up a schedule to reach the 0.7% goal: Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United States.

Thank you.

2006 International Aid Donated

COUNTRY	Aid as % of income	How close to the 0.7% goal
Sweden	1.03	Already reached goal
Luxembourg	0.89	Already reached goal
Norway	0.89	Already reached goal
Netherlands	0.81	Already reached goal
Denmark	0.80	Already reached goal
Ireland	0.53	Scheduled for 2012
United Kingdom	0.52	Scheduled for 2013
Belgium	0.50	Scheduled for 2010
Austria	0.48	Scheduled for 2015
France	0.47	Scheduled for 2012
Switzerland	0.39	No schedule yet
Finland	0.39	Scheduled for 2010
Germany	0.36	Scheduled for 2014
Spain	0.32	Scheduled for 2012
Canada	0.30	No schedule yet
Australia	0.30	No schedule yet
New Zealand	0.27	No schedule yet
Japan	0.25	No schedule yet
Portugal	0.21	Scheduled for 2015
Italy	0.20	Scheduled for 2015
United States	0.17	No schedule yet
Greece	0.16	Scheduled for 2015
		Source: OECD

Today is another Cynical Sunrise for me: My first impulse is to holler "Yeah, George! Your Godforsaken War is killing even more people that we thought. Live up to your agreements, and give the money to these people." Then, upon a second glance at the included table (above), I note that the only industrialized nations that have lived up to their promises are Scandinavians and a few neighbors. What’s wrong with the rest of us?

I’m sick of this world. I’ve always thought it was going to Hell. It’s taking too long to get there. We humans deserve the Armageddon the Dominionists are angling for. Let’s just release the nukes and get it over with. Until and unless we start behaving civil toward each and every other human on this planet, then our "civilization" is only a poor and pathetic jest.

Please take a few minutes, an envelope and a stamp and send this letter to George Warmonger Bush and friends. They won’t care, but you’ll have done a good deed anyway. Then look into your soul, your pocketbook, your dreams for a better future, and give to an international hunger organization. Failing that, visit theHungerSite and click away… Do something - especially since our government won’t.

CNN reports:

The Wiccan pentacle has been added to the list of emblems allowed in national cemeteries and on government-issued headstones of fallen soldiers, according to a settlement announced Monday.

A settlement between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Wiccans adds the five-pointed star to the list of "emblems of belief" allowed on VA grave markers.

[…]

The VA sought the settlement in the interest of the families involved and to save taxpayers the expense of further litigation, VA spokesman Matt Burns said. The agency also agreed to pay $225,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs.

The pentacle has been added to 38 symbols the VA already permits on gravestones. They include commonly recognized symbols for Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and Judaism, as well as those for smaller religions such as Sufism Reoriented, Eckankar and the Japanese faith Seicho-No-Ie.

"This settlement has forced the Bush Administration into acknowledging that there are no second class religions in America, including among our nation’s veterans," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which represented the Wiccans in the lawsuit.

That is not entirely accurate. The Bush administration did nothing in this matter - the VA did. Bushies don’t care enough. So kudos the the VA for saving taxpayers money, their own time on a non-issue that I’m sure some would make a stink about. It if appeases a grieving family - so be it. What harm can it do?

King Jigme Singye Wangchuck of Bhutan plans to abdicate the throne next year. He is, after all, 100 years old. His vision is to modernize his tiny nation, and for the past decade he has brought in modern imports such as cable television and the Internet. Too, he has ordered his nation to begin mock elections in preparation for installing a Democracy.

 Four political parties presents directional choices for the new Democracy, each named for the national symbol a Druk, or thunder Dragon: Druk Green, Druk Blue,  Druk Red and Druk Yellow. The citizens are to vote for the party that best represents their priorities for the fledgling  government.

The elections test the democratic process on a people that love their king, so much so that they will vote because he tells them to. It is because of this affection, and the precepts of Buddhism that keep this small society orderly. And, perhaps, their monarch’s interest in a non-western ideal of Gross National Happiness. As the NY Times reports:

“The objectives are to ensure national security, national sovereignty, well-being and prosperity, which will lead to gross national happiness also,” the prime minister said. “His Majesty believes this is the best form of government, and the people of Bhutan are ready to launch this.”

How the strange lures of modernity will affect the gross national happiness, the unusual yardstick the king invented to measure his nation’s progress, is a matter of uncertainty and wonder in this country. Gross national happiness includes criteria like equity, good government and harmony with nature.

How refreshing. A possible Democracy devoted to the pursuit of happiness. That sounds vaguely familiar…

Using such a yardstick to progress is revolutionary. No other Democracy has one. That’s the Buddhism philosophy shining through; the recognition that everyone seeks happiness and avoids suffering. Imagine a government actively seeking to improve the happiness of its citizens instead of it’s wealth? Fascinating!

But little Bhutan must be strong to not let the capitalism /consumerism message seep into and pollute their high ideals. Just the inclusion of foreign television may be enough to turn a grand experiment sour. Brainwashing people to mindlessly consume, a mainstay of broadcast programming here, has done little toward America’s Gross National Happiness. And I wonder how these tame Buddhists-types will react to Internet porn?

You know what they say…Stay Tuned.

I’m sick of the Baby Boomers. We all know of them - the children of the Greatest Generation, born after WWII and before 1960 (roughly), who found themselves, by virtue of numbers, a force to be reckoned with early in their lifecycle. Clearly, it went to their heads.

During the Summer of Love, America gave the keys to our nation to a group of hippies. The media taught them they mattered, they were powerful, they were the future. Now we live in that future, and the Boomers, cannot hide the effects of wanton capitalism, reckless consumerism, exploitation of developing nations, and pollution. These are the same issues the hippies were denouncing 40 years ago. Instead, they conformed, reformed, and accelerated the same vicious cycles.

So many of them, draft dodgers and war haters in their youth, became chicken hawks when they realized how wars can affect stock portfolios. So many of them, once advocates of affirmative action, desegregation and civil liberties as defined by the 1960’s, have reversed themselves or - as Don Imus represents - exposed their inner racist and innate misogyny to the world. Too many children have been born to Boomer parents who ignore them in favor of selfish monetary pursuits, fleeting sexual adventures, and narcissistic preoccupation with angst never outgrown.

People refer to those born after the Baby Boomers as "the ME generation." This is an error perpetrated by members of the Boomers, who themselves are the greediest, most selfish generation in American history. Just look at the people in power now, how they comport themselves. Read the news. Our government is run by a generation of bloated self-worth, fed by a media designed for them in mind, now run by them, too. Paul Wolfowitz, architect of the New American Century, has been found to have secured his girlfriend a fat pay check using clout gain by his patronage-begotten position as head of the World Bank. His response was to refuse the option of stepping down. Selfish bastard.

And then there’s the Bush Administration… Every thing they touch, from the Iraqi Oil Grab debacle and the breaking of the Geneva Conventions to the firing of US attorneys for political gain, shouts out their greed and selfishness, their convictions that they can do whatever they want, just as they were told when they were children. In fact, in many ways they still are children: just watch the pouting tirades of our President. (Anyone who flips the bird at a running camera and thinks it’s funny is truly unfit for public office.)

Now we learn that Boomers aren’t as healthy as their parents. Perchance a a lofe of drug abuse, rehabilitation and excessive consumerism is hard on the body?

The world may still survive them, but the whole of the 21st century will be dominated by reparation for the damage done by one generation of people. It’s good that they are finally dying off, to leave the world a shambles for their estranged offspring to try and fix. Humanity can learn from them what not to do in the future. Sometimes negative lessons are the most potent.

Good Riddance.

A 3-D computer rendering of the Chicago Spire was unveiled Monday for the Grant Park Advisory Board, providing a magnificent viewing of a project that will create the tallest condominium building in the nation.

At 150 stories, the tower, created by architect Santiago Calatrava reportedly wowed the audience in its depiction of the proposed building that would rise above the Sears Tower by over five hundred feet. Over all, the design is breathtaking. With the gratis incorporation of a adjacent lot being made into a park as accompanist - a project neighbors have wanted for a decade - the plans will surely go forward.

The Chicago Tribune has the story with commentary. The video of sketches by Calatrava and narrated by Blair Kamin can be found here. As the photos provided by these sources are copy written, I will not post them here, but one glance and you may have the same response I did: It’s disturbingly phallic. Will people rename it the Chicago Dildo?

Imagine the following scenario: After a pent up morning in the classroom, children burst from the school for recess. Several of the older kids group to play a game. But the same old games are becoming boring, so one child begins a new game by pretending to be president. Another pipes up to vie for VP, and soon the prominent roles are filled in this schoolyard administration.

Over the course of a few weeks, this game plays out. Policies are discussed. A war is planned and executed, causes invented, and the children recruit underclassmen to act out a battle.War is, after all, what governments do. Follow through limited, as the kids quickly loose interest.

At one point, a younger group of kids attempt to join the game, and are snubbed. Talk begins on building an imaginary fence to keep out the undesirables.

An election begins when two more vocal members disagree on policy. Sides are drawn and after a week of recess one-upmanship, a vote is taken. this leads to a protracted argument on cheating, but the child with the bully on his side eventually wins reelection, and losers sulk and start scheming together.

The newly reinstated president again plays at general while younger kids fight for him, but the battles are confusing and it’s hard to see who is winning. Talk begins about passing laws, but every initiative by the losing group is ignored by the winners. Meanwhile, the empowered few start cutting imaginary taxes because someone once heard parents complain about taxes. As the children lower taxes, they cut money for the things they don’t like: education, hospitals, improved roads and bridges, helping poor people.

One child heard on the news about a big storm somewhere, and this is folded into the play. The president quickly dismisses the story: "Who cares?" he said.

Another pipes up about his grandma getting help from the government for medicine, and the vice president speaks out against giving things away for free to old, sick people. Better they just die.

Talk eventually comes to teachers they don’t like. There are many of them. One child, in a desperate attempt at being noticed by the president, suggests firing them, and a list is soon made of the teachers that should go. Some of the other kids disagree and task the president about the idea. He just points to the small boy who thought the idea up, and the group starts picking on him.

Eventually, the game becomes stale, and the children look for other amusements. Their mock government dissolves. Unknown to them some younger kids, having overheard the game, start their own governments, and in time, the game becomes a permanent fixture in the arsenal of recess amusements. As some kids relocate to new schools, the idea of playground politics spreads, evolves, and becomes more sophisticated and treacherous as the kids constantly try to one-up the previous motions.

Meanwhile the first group grows up, attend college and seek careers - some in politics. Styles and aspirations developed on a gravel lot come back to influence their methods and motivations. Some things never change.

A once-in-a-lifetime event is taking place on May 6th in Chicago’s Millennium Park. Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama is visiting to give a teaching in mind training in the morning at the Harris Theater, and a public talk entitled: Finding Inner Peace in a World Full of Turmoil, at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in the evening. Tickets are available for either event or for an all-day pass which includes a catered luncheon. The full-day package is very limited.

Tickets go on sale today a noon. Proceeds will benefit the establishment of Tibetan-American Center for Cross-Cultural Understanding, Chicago. Go to the web site dalailamachicago.com for more information, or go to the Harris Theater online box office.

Maybe I’ll see you there!

So Al Gore got his Oscar…

Come to think of it, the Dixie Chicks got Grammies this year, too.

Who said the entertainment industry awards were for entertainment? While I don’t begrudge the winners - I happen to like both Al’s movie and the Chick’s latest disk - I can’t help but being whacked on the side of the head by the politics involved.

Maybe we should have awards for the Best Political Mudslinging in A Television Spot, or Best Character Assassination of the Presidential Primaries. Now that has potential…

Ever see a cockfight? I haven’t. Nonetheless, my overactive imagination can envision two proud-plumaged, two-legged beasts each eyeing the other warily while preening themselves and showing off to whomever is watching their display of magnificent, fearless war readiness.

One is a black-plumed Siyahe Kantony, the pride of Iran, scratching at the dirt like a stallion. Facing him is an American Bantam tossing his red neck feathers defiantly. Each too arrogant to admit the futility of ensuing battle, each too proud to back down. If they ever begin, the hen yard will be destroyed. But begin they will, eventually: there can only be one, right Highlander?

Too much testosterone hereabout. Do roosters have testosterone?