Reuse Buldings - Repower America

Little do the makers of this video know, but this is a really good video that addresses the very basis of my thesis topic - reusing existing buildings to address environmental/energy issues while putting American's back to work ... brilliant! I hope you check it out.

O-BAMA O-BAMA O!

I have never been so proud to be an American as I am right now. I have never felt more hope and patriotism and belief in my country than I do in this moment. Not a moment of victory really, a moment of relief, confidence, and hope. So many of the elections - mayor, governor, senator, representative, president - incited action and awareness. I am most impressed with the way people came out and stood in line to vote, to be counted, to matter. I am also deeply humbled by President-elect Obama's "victory" speech because of his humility and grace (transcript in post below ... couldn't yet find the video of it.)

UPDATE: Found the video - scroll down to the FULL SPEECH ... the rest are just clips

I already look forward to State of the Union addresses and any chance I can get to hear/see him speak. I have been waiting for almost 8 years - practically my entire adult life - to have a president who could move and inspire me. I am so grateful to my Father in Heaven and to the Americans that voted for this opportunity to be led by a man of integrity, honor, and compassion. I firmly believe that if Obama keeps talking to the American people on a regular basis that we can get through the tough economic times ahead of us. Make no mistake - it will be tough. I pray that Obama has the courage to help us correct our mistakes and call us to action to do hard things ... like save money and work hard and be a little more faithful and trusting in each other. One of the most important aspects to this race and I hope it will be carried into his presidency is that of HOPE. I am tired of fear guiding this country and being lead along with a threatening rope of terror and fear. That is not real leadership. Encouraging HOPE where there seems like none is the mark of a true leader. Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor of the First Presidency of my Church said this in October in General Conference regarding HOPE:

Hope is one leg of a three-legged stool, together with faith and charity. These three stabilize our lives regardless of the rough or uneven surfaces we might encounter at the time. The scriptures are clear and certain about the importance of hope. The Apostle Paul taught that the scriptures were written to the end that we “might have hope.”¹

Hope has the power to fill our lives with happiness.² Its absence—when this desire of our heart is delayed—can make “the heart sick.”³

Hope is a gift of the Spirit.⁴ It is a hope that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the power of His Resurrection, we shall be raised unto life eternal and this because of our faith in the Savior.⁵ This kind of hope is both a principle of promise as well as a commandment,⁶ and, as with all commandments, we have the responsibility to make it an active part of our lives and overcome the temptation to lose hope. Hope in our Heavenly Father’s merciful plan of happiness leads to peace,⁷ mercy,⁸ rejoicing,⁹ and gladness.¹⁰ The hope of salvation is like a protective helmet;¹¹ it is the foundation of our faith¹² and an anchor to our souls.¹³

Moroni in his solitude—even after having witnessed the complete destruction of his people—believed in hope. In the twilight of the Nephite nation, Moroni wrote that without hope we cannot receive an inheritance in the kingdom of God.¹⁴

^{(check out the talk: THE INFINITE POWER OF HOPE here).}

No, I don't think Obama is a prophet or apostle of the Lord, but I do believe that good leadership inspires us to reach higher and be better believers in ourselves, our neighbors, our country, and our God. Obama makes me feel that and I hope that those who are skeptical and unsure and maybe even full of hate and resentment, can feel the warmth of hope and have the courage to move forward and do hard things. Hope after all is nothing without faith and charity. Hope is active - again I quote Elder Uchtdorf:

There may be times when we must make a courageous decision to hope even when everything around us contradicts this hope. Like Father Abraham, we will “against hope [believe] in hope.”³⁰ Or, as one writer expressed, “in the depth of winter, [we find] within [us] an invincible summer.”³¹

Faith, hope, and charity complement each other, and as one increases, the others grow as well. Hope comes of faith,³² for without faith, there is no hope.³³ In like manner faith comes of hope, for faith is “the substance of things hoped for.”³⁴

In closing I continue to pray for the leaders of the world ... that their hearts might be softened and that they may comprehend the individual lives that they have so much responsibility for. I will pray even more that this climate of HOPE prevails and that action follows, lifting us to new and better heights.

On a lighter note ... here are some things I love connected to the election:

"Yanks Very Much" -
headline from a British Newspaper ... love it

O8
BA
MA

AMERICA,
YOU BARACK MY WORLD

Barack Obama Victory Speech Transcript. US President Elect Speech. November 4th 2008

Hello, Chicago.

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.

It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.

We are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It’s the answer that led those who’ve been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.

A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Sen. McCain.

Sen. McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he’s fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.

I congratulate him; I congratulate Gov. Palin for all that they’ve achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart, and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.

And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation’s next first lady Michelle Obama.

Sasha and Malia I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the new White House.

And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother’s watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.

To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you’ve given me. I am grateful to them.

And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe, the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best — the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America.

To my chief strategist David Axelrod who’s been a partner with me every step of the way.

To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you’ve sacrificed to get it done.

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn’t start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause.

It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.

It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth.

This is your victory.

And I know you didn’t do this just to win an election. And I know you didn’t do it for me.

You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime — two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.

Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.

There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage or pay their doctors’ bills or save enough for their child’s college education.

There’s new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.

I promise you, we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can’t solve every problem.

But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it’s been done in America for 221 years — block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.

This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.

It can’t happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.

Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.

In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let’s resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.

Let’s remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.

Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.

As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.

And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.

To those — to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.

That’s the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we’ve already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight’s about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons — because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America — the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.

And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.

Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves — if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.
advertisement

This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States

survival mode has made me mute

I tend to gravitate towards news regarding socioeconomic and demographic subjects these days - topics that are really interesting to me. Culture, consumerism, citizenship, thoughts, actions, religion ... for those of you who read my blog (or at least used to read it before I went back to school and virtually barricaded myself in my room), you know these subjects intrigue me.

Although I am relatively young, I get a feeling that things use to be different. Now, I understand that nostalgia can be dangerous - there are some pretty ugly truths found in the past - but I still feel a sense of loss. Loss of values ... Loss of direction. Our culture no longer values things like saving, conserving, waiting, or sacrificing. I bring these up because they seem to plague my own behavior incessantly. I swear this rambling is going somewhere.

This is where the rambling is going: Another subject for another blog - "curbing my consumerism" or "sustainable living" (as in emotional, physical, spiritual, education, sustainability as well as the traditional sense of greening my life) - I will flesh these ideas out before the official start of the new year in order to take them on for better living in 2008.

I have been ill since Christmas Eve and coupled with the panic-feeling I have been living with since the beginning of Fall Term it has translated into a strange mood for me. I don't feel like blogging, sharing, reading, asking, or buying. I have been focused on picture hunting for my inspiration slideshow - think more design pictures like this, this, and this ... here are a few examples:

The transition of solid colors is pretty. The fun white chandelier looks great against the yellow.

Stripes and damask fabric (and my favorite free standing claw footed tub) = fabulous.

Check the square brick in the rounded fireplace ... love the contrast.

This is wallpaper on a fridge - love it.

I have also been doing lots of thinking ... thinking about self-improvement/reinvention/renovation/upgrade (whatever you want to call it) and how that can make me feel better. I have been hibernating, mostly trying to get better, but I think my sickness has just been a fortuitous event because I don't really want to be in the world right now ... what I mean is that I am evaluating and planning and not wanting to participate in real life just yet. It also helps (or doesn't depending on your point of view) that I have a dead-line for this behavior ... I have to jump back into life when I go back up to Oregon. Less than a week from today ... I need to start anew with me and with school. That is where the 2008 resolutions come in. More to be explored.

proving myself ... to myself ... in so many ways

I finished my first term of graduate school. One of the hardest things I have done, thus far. I have learned a lot so far and its really exciting. Its only the first term and I feel all sorts of anticipation of the future! So many things I want to learn about ... so many articles to read!

I feel like I have been learning so much about buildings, preservation, sustainability, cultural resource management, the economy ... all sorts of crazy things. But then of course it has been as if I have been living under a rock in other respects. I know nothing about music, politics, or movies ... those normal things that people are aware of. And that is probably ok (with exception of politics, I should know about that).

With all this political talk going on these days (most notably in my parent's house and when you live in DC ... UO students seem to be aware of it as well) I feel like I am so in the dark on what is going on. My dad said that he had heard about online questionnaires matching your ideas and views on hot political topics with the 2008 candidates. I was intrigued by this idea ... what if I was professing to have democratic leanings but in actuality had more ideological alignment with ... GASP ... a REPUBLICAN candidate (if you know me, you know my father would be soooo upset AND I would feel very foolish if this were true)! The fear is rooted in this - while I know a little bit about what is going on, I am extremely undereducated in terms of the issues. Always have been. I talk a good game, but I really only scratch the surface of understanding what is really going on in America today. So I took an internet test and here were the results:

2008 President Selector Rankings:

1. Theoretical Ideal Candidate (100 %)

2. Barack Obama (80 %)

3. John Edwards (80%)

4. Joseph Biden (74 %)

5. Dennis Kucinich (73 %)

6. Hillary Clinton (72 %)

7. Wesley Clark (not running, endorsed Clinton) (72 %)

8. Bill Richardson (69 %)

9. Al Gore (not announced) (68%)

10. Christopher Dodd (68 %)

11. Alan Augustson (campaign suspended) (67 %)

12. Michael Bloomberg (says he will not run) (52 %)

13. Mike Gravel (50 %)

14. Mike Huckabee (48 %)

15. Ron Paul (41%)

16. John McCain (39 %)

17. Elaine Brown (38 %)

18. Tommy Thompson (withdrawn, endorsed Giuliani) (37 %)

19. Mitt Romney (36%)

20. Alan Keyes (35 %)

21. Chuck Hagel (not running) (34 %)

22. Tom Tancredo (withdrawn, endorsed Romney) (30 %)

23. Rudolph Giuliani (29 %)

24. Sam Brownback (withdrawn, endorsed McCain) (29 %)

25. Kent McManigal (campaign suspended) (28 %)

26. Duncan Hunter (22 %)

27. Jim Gilmore (withdrawn) (21 %)

28. Fred Thompson (21 %)

29. Newt Gingrich (says he will not run) (21 %)

30. Stephen Colbert (campaign halted) (16%)

WHEW ... safe! I should have been more confident in myself I guess, but its nice to know that I really do vote the way I profess to believe. To be fair, and if I had the time, I would need to take multiple tests to see if they all came out relatively similarly ... that would be the responsible thing to do. Different tests might highlight different social/political issues in different ways. Even the phrasing of questions might sway me ... who knows ... I mean hopefully I would be able to figure it out ... but I am just suggesting it might be even more interesting to see who I was connected to on multiple sites. Another interesting thought is for the candidates themselves to take the test ... would they be connected with themselves as their ideal candidate??? hmmm.

Notice how my "Theoretical Ideal Candidate" does not even exist. I like to say that's because there is no one like me :) ... I am unique and thus so is my paradigm or life-view. In seriousness though, I think that it attests to my belief of voting issues rather than party. I posted the entire list in order to show the major players and persons of interest (in red) ... its official ... with 36% Mitt and I really only share religious beliefs ... and that's ok, we can still be friends.

I took another quiz on the site ... WHAT DOES YOUR SOUL LOOK LIKE. How could I not take the quiz with a title like that!?! I NEED to know what my soul looks like. Here are the results:

Belief System Selector:

1.	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (100%)
2.	Bahai (90%)
3.	Jehovah's Witness (82%)
4.	Orthodox Judaism (75%)
5.	Sikhism (73%)
6.	Mainline - Liberal Christian Protestants (73%)
7.	Mainline - Conservative Christian Protestant (68%)
8.	Reform Judaism (66%)
9.	Islam (63%)
10.	Orthodox Quaker (59%)
11.	Liberal Quakers (58%)
12.	Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (50%)
13.	Eastern Orthodox (50%)
14.	Roman Catholic (50%)
15.	Unitarian Universalism (50%)
16.	Jainism (42%)
17.	Seventh Day Adventist (41%)
18.	Neo-Pagan (36%)
19.	Mahayana Buddhism (34%)
20.	Hinduism (34%)
21.	Theravada Buddhism (33%)
22.	New Age (32%)
23.	New Thought (32%)
24.	Scientology (28%)
25.	Secular Humanism (26%)
26.	Taoism (24%)
27.	Non-theist (19%)

SAFE AGAIN! My soul is 100% Mormon (funny, my ultra conservative right wing church friends might find this a little surprising ... hehehe ... I joke, I joke). I was a little surprised that they even had my church listed with its correct name and all, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and not just Mormon. Again I have highlighted some of the interesting connections ... notice how my soul has more in common with Orthodox Judaism (75%) and Islam (63%) than Orthodox (59%) and Liberal Quakers (58%)! Not that shocking to me ... but go figure. I also found the vast difference with Scientology (28%) and Non-theist (19%) organizations interesting. Just a little food for thought.

Anyway - check it out and see what you think. And p.s. my mac is in the shop so we will see how this goes on the whole getting back to blogging.

Dem Peeps

No, I don't mean "them peeps" ... I mean Dem. Peeps ... or Mormons that are democrats. My favorite example, unfortunately, just passed away August 10, 2007, President James E. Faust. Now, you may be thinking ... "hmmm, I would have thought that Brother Harry Reid would be her favorite example of a dem peep" and you would be correct in the realm of politics. President Faust was very political yes (as you can see here) but he was not currently serving in a political capacity for the last 12+ years. He was instead serving the Lord as the Second Counselor to the President and Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley at the time of his passing and for those of you who are thinking "and that means??" ... it means that he was pretty well respected in the church. Not to mention he was pretty in tune with the man upstairs if you know what I mean.


President Faust's thoughtful talks given in General Conference and his kind demeanor are things I will most miss. He was compassionate, loving and urged forgiveness and brotherly kindness. Most important to me, especially at this time in my life now, he represented that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not political. At least it was not meant to be politicized or polarizing. The Salt Lake Tribune refers to Faust's own sentiments expressed to his biographer:

"I am a conservative on fiscal and property matters, and I am liberal in terms of human values and human rights," Faust told his biographer, James P. Bell. "I believe what it says in the Book of Mormon, that the Lord values all of his children equally - black and white, bond and free, male and female, Jew and gentile - and that the Lord likewise has compassion for the heathen."

"He went on to say that the LDS Church would prefer to have members in both parties."

My dad jokes that the "heathens" he is referring to are the Republicans ... only I don't think he is actually joking when he says that. Anyway, the article opens up with a great reference to Bill Clinton - please read it (see link above).

I know what will be on my Christmas list this year - President James E. Faust's biography by James P. Bell In the Strength of the Lord: The Life and Teachings of James E. Faust.

I Heart Harry Reid

Senator Harry Reid spoke at BYU's Barlow Center last night. It was pretty good. I like that he is no non-sense and says what he means. You'll remember how excited I was the first time to meet him, so you can only imagine how ecstatic I was to get a picture with him!


In the question and answer portion of the night, someone asked Senator Reid why he was a Democrat ... he responded with the following reasons:

• Upbringing - his father was affiliated with unionized labor
  
• He wants to help people from the bottom up because he does not believe in the "trickle down" theory. Society must be improved and helped from the bottom up.
• The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer in America - "its not right"
• He believes in government and that it needs to be improved and not denigrated
  

I thought it was interesting too that he made some very strong statements against Republicans and in favor of the Democratic Party:

"The economy is always better under Democrats"

"Republicans are more concerned about the rich than they are about the poor"

It was good for me to hear his convictions behind the democratic party. The issues that he mentioned are things that I often find myself turning to when people in the Church make me second guess my political feelings and their alignment with the principles of the gospel (not necessarily on purpose, but just by being themselves). I really liked how he said that there are issues more important that gun control and abortion ... that is definitely how I feel.


The saddest statement he made of the night had to do with how members of the church often treated himself and his family. He said in response to a question on how his religious convictions were received by other politicians or dignitaries, "the most un-Christian and hurtful comments are made by members of the church". Sigh. Very sad. When relaying the details of the night to my father (who is extremely jealous of my interaction with the Honorable Harry Reid) we had to remind each other that the knife cuts both ways ... when we say negative things about Orrin Hatch's politics its just as bad as when conservatives say negative things about Harry Reid's ... its important to not become the very things you are fighting against.

justifying my feelings

Normally I would just link to this article, but I thought it should be put out here in all its glory. This should help you understand even more of why I felt this way and this way (in case you didn't already see it the way I do). Thank you New York Times and Maureen Dowd and my wonderful roommate as well for forwarding it on to me. Brilliant. I have placed in BOLD some of my personal favorite quotes.


OP-ED COLUMNIST - New York Times

A Vice President Without Borders, Bordering on Lunacy

By MAUREEN DOWD

Published: June 24, 2007

It's hard to imagine how Dick Cheney could get more dastardly, unless J.K. Rowling has him knock off Harry Potter next month.

Harry's cloak of invisibility would be no match for Vice's culture of invisibility.

I've always thought Cheney was way out there — the most Voldemort-like official I've run across. But even in my harshest musings about the vice president, I never imagined that he would declare himself not only above the law, not only above the president, but actually his own dark planet — a separate entity from the White House.

I guess a man who can wait 14 hours before he lets it dribble out that he shot his friend in the face has no limit on what he thinks he can keep secret. Still, it's quite a leap to go from hiding in a secure, undisclosed location in the capital to hiding in a secure, undisclosed location in the Constitution.

Dr. No used to just blow off the public and Congress as he cooked up his shady schemes. Now, in a breathtaking act of arrant arrogance, he's blowing off his own administration.

Henry Waxman, the California congressman who looks like an accountant and bites like a pit bull, is making the most of Congress's ability, at long last, to scrutinize Cheney's chicanery.

On Thursday, Mr. Waxman revealed that after four years of refusing to cooperate with the government unit that oversees classified documents, the vice president tried to shut down the unit rather than comply with the law ensuring that sensitive data is protected. The National Archives appealed to the Justice Department, but who knows how much justice there is at Justice, now that the White House has so blatantly politicized it?

Cheney's office denied doing anything wrong, but Cheney's office is also denying it's an office. Tricky Dick Deuce declared himself exempt from a rule that applies to everyone else in the executive branch, instructing the National Archives that the Office of the Vice President is not an "entity within the executive branch" and therefore is not subject to presidential executive orders.

"It's absurd, reflecting his view from the first day he got into office that laws don't apply to him," Representative Waxman told me. "The irony is, he's taking the position that he's not part of the executive branch."

Ah, if only that were true. Then maybe W. would be able to close Gitmo, which Vice has insisted he not do. And Condi wouldn't have to worry every night that she'll wake up to find crazy Dick bombing Iran, whispering to W. that they have to do it before that weak sister Hillary takes over.

"Your decision to exempt your office from the president's order is problematic because it could place national security secrets at risk," Mr. Waxman, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, wrote to Cheney.

Of course, it's doubtful, now that Vice has done so much to put our national security at risk, that he'll suddenly listen to reason.

Cheney and Cheney's Cheney, David Addington, his equally belligerent, ideological and shadowy lawyer and chief of staff, have no shame. After claiming executive privilege to withhold the energy task force names and protect Scooter Libby, they now act outraged that Vice should be seen as part of the executive branch.

Cheney, they argue, is the president of the Senate, so he's also part of the legislative branch. Vice is casting himself as a constitutional chimera, an extralegal creature with the body of a snake and the head of a sea monster. It's a new level of gall, to avoid accountability by saying you're part of a legislative branch that you've spent six years trying to weaken.

But gall is the specialty of Addington, who has done his best to give his boss the powers of a king. He was the main author of the White House memo justifying torture of terrorism suspects, and he helped stonewall the 9/11 commission. He led the fights supporting holding terrorism suspects without access to courts and against giving Congress and environmentalists access to information about the energy industry big shots who secretly advised Cheney on energy policy.

Dana Perino, a White House press spokeswoman, had to go out on Friday and defend Cheney's bizarre contention that he is his own government. "This is an interesting constitutional question that legal scholars can debate," she said.

I love that Cheney was able to bully Colin Powell, Pentagon generals and George Tenet when drumming up his fake case for war, but when he tried to push around the little guys, the National Archive data collectors — I'm visualizing dedicated "We the People" wonky types with glasses and pocket protectors — they pushed back.

Archivists are the new macho heroes of Washington.

GO FIGHT WIN - ARCHIVISTS! Whoohoo! Can you even believe this is going on?! Talk about a lack of integrity!

Would You Like Lies with That?

I don't think I have yet blogged about the book I am currently reading - Fast Food Nation (PS there is a great preview of the book here, you can even read some of the chapters). As is often the case, I hear the movie isn't nearly as good and apparently it is more of a movie than a documentary - its nonfiction. So read it, don't watch it. Seriously. Unless you are Number4 ... and I have already told her not to read it, but everyone else - READ THIS BOOK. It is amazing. I thought it was going to be spouting out all these statistics and figures and health charts illustrating just how unhealthy fast food is for us. But I quickly realized that, no ... that job is left (rightly and effectively so) to the movie Super Size Me - see it! Eric Schlosser, the author, has even written a kids version of the book titled Chew on This. Check out the cover of the paperback edition:

I love the burger and cross bones - sooo awesome.

Anyway - the book is about the economics behind the fast food industry and all of the food production industries that supply it. Extremely fascinating. I would have blogged about it more as I was reading it, but I was trying to be less preachy and "weighty" in my blogging material. Blogs are suppose to be fun too - right?! But as I am nearing the end of the book I simply must share some of the closing thoughts. Often times while reading all these books that I have been interested in lately pertaining to the world economy, both locally and globally, I keep thinking ... "Ok I see the benefit of capitalism and the concept of the free market. But people don't know the price (environmental, social, biological, emotional, etc., etc.) behind their purchases. We only know that we want stuff and we want it cheap." The idea that the free market checks itself just never seems to sit right with me and I feel like the machine is just going to run its course and should we just let it? I don't know! And then I read this and it all clicked for me:

"There is nothing inevitable about the fast food nation that surrounds us - about its marketing strategies, labor policies, and agricultural techniques, about its relentless drive for conformity and cheapness. The triumph of McDonald's and its imitators was by no means preordained. During the past two decades, rhetoric about the "free market" has cloaked changes in the nation's economy that bear little relation to real competition or freedom of choice. [Schlosser goes on to talk about how industries always work hard against the restraints of the market in the name of big profits.]

"The market is a tool, and a useful one. But the worship of this tool is a hollow faith. Far more important than any tool is what you make with it. May of America's greatest accomplishments stand in complete defiance of the free market: the prohibition of child labor, the establishment of a minimum wage, the creation of wilderness areas and national parks ...

"... The twenty-first [century] will no doubt be marked by a struggle to curtail excessive corporate power. The great challenge now facing counties throughout the world is how to find a proper balance between the efficiency and the amorality of the market. Over the past twenty years the United States has swung too far in one direction, weakening the regulations that safeguard workers, consumers, and the environment. An economic system promising freedom has too often become a means of denying it, as the narrow dictates of the market gain precedence over more important democratic values."
(Excerpts from pages 260 and 261 of Fastfood Nation by Eric Schlosser)

WOW ... that is all I can say. Schlosser just articulated everything I was feeling but couldn't quite connect together. The market is amoral! (What a revelation to me - I never even thought about it like that!) It is the people involved with the market that should impose morality onto it - to make it work for us. Just because the market trends may go in one direction or another, doesn't mean its not harmful in the long run - its amoral, it doesn't know or care or comprehend suffering or injustice or damage. A market doesn't have to be unbridled to be free ... we can reign it in now and again and still keep the integrity of competition and choice.

This leads me to my most favorite thought these days ... just because its legal, doesn't mean its right. We can't legislate morality very effectively (nor do I believe we should) but we are responsible for our own actions. When it comes to the health aspects of eating fast food - we have the choice to eat it or not to eat it. But the economic side does not have to roll along the way it is now with low paying and dangerous jobs (seriously read the book). Go with your gut people. Trust your inner moral compass - don't just depend on the market or the government to tell you what is acceptable.

And as for me - I can't wait to get to Oregon where I will have the ease of locating and buying free-range and locally grown food ... those tree-huggers in the Pacific Northwest are big on that stuff.

Overheard on the Metro Today

"When I am at the gym, I don't want to remember that I am doing something good for myself. And so I don't want to watch CNN while doing it."

I don't know about you, but I have to do the exact opposite than this woman when I am at the gym. I have to constantly remind myself that I am doing something good for my health while slaving away on the elliptical. In fact I always watch CNN when doing my cardio. All the crazy things going on in the world help to distract me from my sweating and strained breathing. I even sometimes tear up while reading the closed captioning on the screen. Terrible things are happening to people right now while I am burning 500 calories! Doesn't the boggle your mind?

This world is just straight up crazy.

My Cool DC Life

After work I usually spend an hour or so at the gym ... sweating it out. Today, however I had the IN to a Capitol Hill presentation on displacement and I did some celebrity stalking - all at the same time!

Ryan Gosling was the celebrity (as well as Ben Mackenzie from the OC - but he didn't speak and all I saw was the back of his head) and let's just get it all said and done so we can move on to what he said and what the !Enough campaign is all about. Ok - he looked really really good. Scruffy (just the way I like my men), brooding, contemplative, and sincere. He was wearing a white collard shirt, open at the neck, with a suite jacket. His hair was short and messy (kind of like the picture here but a bit longer; and he was talking mostly about Norther Uganda, not Darfur like his shirt says) and he looked really really good. He sounded EXACTLY like he does as Noah in The Notebook. It was dreamy.

Take a good long look ...
and now lets move on to what was said and what I observed at the presentation.
P.S. - check what his wiki says about his family:
Ryan Gosling was born in London, Ontario and raised in the small paper mill town
of Cornwall. His parents, who were Mormons, divorced when he was young.
And this article confirms it in his own words ...
another peep in Hollywood (or at least a former peep)

First and foremost - the room in the Dirkson Senate Building was FULL of young female hill staffers. Multiple presenters, including Mr. Gosling, commented on the youthfulness of the Hill. It was interesting to see how the ENOUGH campaign was using celebrity to promote the cause - which is totally the thing to do. Mission - create awareness (because really that is the first step to success - people need to know about it). How to accomplish this mission? - enlist the visibility of a celebrity. CHECK.

All the speakers encouraged us to send letters to the President of the United States ... does that really work? Perhaps I am skeptical. Also, they asked the audience (mainly staffers of Senate and Congressional offices) to go to work tomorrow and ask their bosses to "sign on" ... I hate to break it to them - but that crowd was mostly interns that are lucky to even say hello to their bosses the Congressmen/women or Senators, let alone suggest they support a US delegate to the peace talks in Uganda (there I go again with the skepticism).

But really - lots of good things were said. There was an aura of hope in that room, even though the topic is seemingly hopeless. Children being stolen from their beds in the night to be enlisted in the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Really tragic things are going on there ... its hard to believe, but I know its true especially because my roommie lived in Uganda running a medical clinic for four months. Its bad there and she didn't even really deal with the LRA or the issues of Northern Uganda.

In conclusion, it was a good presentation and Ryan Gosling was sincere in his desire to make a difference ... to do something more.

In response to the looks on the people's faces in a displacement camp - looks that seemed to say "you can help us" he said,

"I'm just an actor ... I just pretend to be people who you think can help you ... I am just a guy."

But he realized he could help by speaking about his experience. He said of a boy he met in a camp,

"This little tiny boy was more of a man than I will ever be."

The five minute film Displace Me was also touching. Demonstrating the many peoples around this world that are displaced from their homes because of war. The destruction of culture, families, tradition, health, and other basic fundamental qualities of life that occur due to displacement. It is heart breaking. The movie ended with this great reminder:

EVERY WAR HAS AN END

Lets make them end sooner, rather than later.

and I quote ....

"On the issue of climate change, we ought to cap carbon emissions in the United States. We ought to invest in clean alternative sources of energy. We ought to invest in carbon sequestration technology, in coal technology. A billion dollars, at least, into making sure we build the most fuel-efficient vehicles on the planet. We ought to ask Americans to be patriotic about something other than war. To be willing to conserve."

- John Edwards at the First Democratic Debate in Orangeburg, SC April 26, 2007

Read some quotes from the other candidates here.

The way I see it, even if by some far stretch of the imagination climate change is not being sped up by human beings, isn't it always a good idea to use less and conserve? What's the harm in being as energy efficient as possible? Mostly these are just my thoughts to myself. I have leaps and bounds to go when it comes to conserving and being more energy efficient. But knowing is the first step to change, right?! I hope so. This idea of conservation and sacrifice seems to fit seamlessly with the gospel as well. It all goes back to the whole, being good stewards thing. Do what you will with the opinion of John Edwards. I just thought it was interesting and happens to be something that I have been thinking of for quite some time.

today is That day

I just realized that today is the day that Vice President Cheney speaks at BYU's commencement. Here is the outline for events surrounding commencement. I don't know what to think about the last listing - the alternative commencement ... but its pretty awesome that Ralph Nadar came to Orem/Provo. Rockin. I love that the BYU Dems are by the "Enter to Learn - Go Forth to Serve" sign. That is definitely what BYU is all about. I am glad to see some Cougs stepping up and I am interested to hear what Cheney says at commencement.

Commencement Happenings

Noon to 2 p.m. BYU College Democrats demonstrate at 1230 North and 150 East around the "Enter to Learn - Go Forth to Serve" sign on campus.

Noon to 2:30 p.m. Pro-Cheney ralliers demonstrate on the lawn of the Provo City Library, at 500 N. University Ave.

Noon to 6 p.m. Veterans for Peace will hold a vigil protesting the war on the southwest corner of 1230 North and Canyon Road.

7 p.m. Alternative Commencement featuring former presidential candidate Ralph Nader, former Amnesty International director Jack Healy, and former U.S. Senate candidate Pete Ashdown at the McKay Events Center on the campus of Utah Valley State College in Orem.

This list came from this article in the Salt Lake Tribune. More to come.