Archive - 2007
July 21st
The connection has timed out
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 07/21/2007 - 09:17It seems like yesterday
But it was long ago
One of Random Magus’s favorite books is Siddhartha. She has a great blog post pondering the metaphor of the river in Siddhartha and her own struggles against the tide.
She writes:
Yet I have always found myself opposing the river, maybe some of the disquietude in my soul can be blamed to not relinquishing myself to the the flow of things and letting things happen the way they are supposed to be.
I added a comment there, which I’m incorporating into this blog post. Siddhartha has long been a favorite book of mine as well. I've read just about everything Hesse has written as well as authors that were influential to Hesse, like Gottfried Keller.
I remember reading somewhere, but I don't remember where, that Hesse said you should not read anything he wrote before he was fifty, and you should only read it after you were fifty.
Siddhartha comes close. He wrote it when he was 45. I'm now 48 and I understand the longing to stop striving.
Against the wind
We were runnin' against the wind
We were young and strong, we were runnin'
Against the wind
It's interesting, just before reading this, I was over at Kellyology's blog where she did one of those online quizzes about burnout. She scored 74%. I hit 90%.
I'm sure that plays in there somewhere.
Back to the image of the river, I've found that there are times that I feel like flotsam on a river. Tossed about, sometimes getting stuck in an eddy behind a rock, sometimes drifting through slow water, but always moving.
The years rolled slowly past
And I found myself alone
Surrounded by strangers I thought were my friends
I found myself further and further from my home
And I guess I lost my way
There were oh so many roads
I was living to run and running to live
As I read Random Magus’ post, Bob Seger’s song, “Against the wind” wound its way into my thinking.
Against the wind
A little something against the wind
I found myself seeking shelter against the wind
Today, we are going back for a second look at a house about three minutes from Kim’s father’s house. It is a small house in the woods. It is a family house. The family had lived their since probably the fifties, and it still has a lot of a fifties feel to it. Both Kim and I saw things in and around the house that reminded us of the houses we grew up in.
Well those drifter's days are past me now
I've got so much more to think about
Deadlines and commitments
What to leave in, what to leave outAgainst the wind
I'm still runnin' against the wind
I'm older now but still runnin' against the wind
Well I'm older now and still runnin'
Against the wind
When this move is all done with and we are settled in where ever we end up settling in, hopefully the stress will decrease. Perhaps I will be more like Siddhartha. At the beginning of the book, we find him In the shade of the house, in the sunshine of the riverbank near the
Boats.
After all of his travels Siddhartha finds his way back to his childhood friend. Siddhartha tells him, "I'm travelling. I was a rich man and am no rich man any more, and what I'll be tomorrow, I don't know."
Siddhartha settles by a river ferrying people across. Where will the river lead me? Random Magus? Kellyology? Others that I’ve met in the blogosphere? How does this relate to parenting? How does this apply to the political process in our country today? What will we be tomorrow?
It was getting late into the night and time to head off to bed. But before I did that, I followed one more link.
Firefox responded with its message, “The connection has timed out”
July 20th
An Open Letter to Corporate Communications at JetBlue
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 07/20/2007 - 16:42Over the past couple of days there has been considerable attention to whether or not JetBlue is remaining a sponsor of the YearlyKos convention in Chicago.
The site DailyKos has an entry up entitled, "JetBlue caved" which says "Okay, so JetBlue, after deciding to resist Bill O'Reilly's pressure last night, just decided to back down." It goes on to add an update, "JetBlue wants me to note that they didn't pull the tickets they donated to the event. So the sponsorship remains, but they are too afraid to let anyone know that they donated those tickets."
Over on MyDD is an entry posting a letter attributed to Dave Barger which states "JetBlue will have no presence at the conference or any other involvement with the YearlyKos event."
Does JetBlue consider itself and wish to be considered as a sponsor of YearlyKos?
The letter goes on to say that "I personally have never condoned and abhor anything hateful towards anyone and am fully confident that JetBlue's crewmembers share this view."
Does Mr. Barber or JetBlue consider Hillary Clinton 'hateful' for her petition asking people to tell Bill O'Reilly to stop smearing Grassroots Progressives?
Does Mr. Barber or JetBlue consider Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Dick Durbin, John Edwards, Barack Obama, Chris Dodd, Bill Richardson, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, Sen. Jon Tester, Reps. Rahm Emanuel, Paul Hodes, Lynn Woolsey, Mike Panetta, Tim Walz, Steve Kagen and Gen. Wesley Clark 'hateful'?
Does Mr. Barber or JetBlue consider the Democratic Party to be 'hateful'?
Many people consider Fox News to be hateful. Will JetBlue be consistent and pull all its advertising from Fox News?
Clarifications about JetBlue's view would be greatly appreciated.
Helping students find their voices, or not
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 07/20/2007 - 12:08Chris Powell’s editorial in the Manchester Journal Inquirer last Wednesday was entitled Forget Sheff: Take up the real city problem.
It starts off:
Some state legislators have noticed that the settlement of the Hartford school integration lawsuit is a sham. Tens of millions of dollars have been spent building and operating "magnet" schools and busing students around the Hartford area but the city's schools are less integrated than they were when the settlement was reached four years ago, and the performance of city students is no better either.
It raises interesting questions. How effectively is money being spent on education in our state? What are the real problems?
Stephen Wilmarth run the The Center for 21st Century Skills. The Center is “a semi-autonomous organizational unit of Education Connection to enhance and expand upon the efforts and collaborations of existing Education Connection staff and their work in the area of 21st Century Career and Technical Education.” Ultimately, I believe, some of the funding from legislation that came out of the Sheff v. O’Neill decision supports Steve’s efforts.
I sent him an email to ask for his opinion about the editorial. I expected Steve to talk about how our educational system needs major revamping, particularly in the areas of curriculum development to meet the needs of a 21st century workforce. Instead, he focused on economic disparity:
I think you're going to see some real issues and social unrest over the next several years, because the problem can not be contained in the long term by a policy of building schools and cutting ribbons for show. The problem is…a problem of economic disparity. And it is a problem that is creeping out of the cities and into what we might have called "middle class communities" like Seymour, Naugatuck, Middletown, and others. Either Westport and Greenwich accept Bridgeport's students in their schools, or work their political power to change the rules of the game and insure that every CT student have an opportunity to be educated in a manner that enables them to be productive members of society in this century. It's not a hopeless challenge, but it will take courage and commitment.
So, what are the issues that our schools are trying to address today? First, there is the case of “Voice in Conflict”, a play put together by a theatre class at Wilton High School. This was the play that was judged to be too inflammatory by the school’s superintendent to be put on in the $10 million auditorium, so instead the students were invited to perform the play in venues around the country.
Now, a new case has emerged. Lauren Doninger has filed a suit on behalf of her daughter Avery who had been class secretary for three years at Lewis S. Mills High School because she wrote a blog post calling the superintendent a “douchbag” for canceling a concert at the school.
What does any of this have to do with Chris Powell’s editorial about Sheff v. O’Neill? What we need is better education in our state, education that helps all people find their voices. By helping all students find their voices, we can engage in dialogs that truly bridge the racial and socio-economic gaps that plague us. Unfortunately, school administrations in Connecticut seem more concerned about making sure that students do not find a voice, especially if that voice criticizes the administration or presents opinions that not everyone agrees with.
July 19th
Insider/Outsider Politics in Connecticut
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 07/19/2007 - 15:31Over on MyLeftNutmeg, there is a post about an upcoming gathering of Young Democrats in Stamford. The attendees include several notable political figures from the area and my good friend Sal observed that it looked like a lot of insiders there.
This spawned a lengthy discussion about how easy it is to become an insider in blogs and in Democratic politics in Connecticut. It was noted that Sal is the State Coordinator for a Presidential campaign and is in many ways very much of an insider himself.
To me, it felt that some of the people who had crashed the gate and become insiders were defensive about their role on the inside and dismissive of those who remained outsiders. There was talk about the insider/outsider dichotomy as being divisive. This is unfortunate. There is nothing wrong with being an insider or an outsider and ideally we should embrace the insider and outsider aspects that we all have.
I am very much an insider. I am helping with the technology for Jim Himes’ campaign. I was Ned Lamont’s technology coordinator. I was John DeStefano’s blogmaster. I was campaign manager for my wife’s campaign when she was one of the first Dean Dozen candidates in the country. I was a very active volunteer with the Dean campaign and have been ask to write chapters for various books about the Dean campaign. I was credentialed to cover the Libby Trial in Washington this year, the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004, and numerous other events. Yeah, I’m very much the insider these days. I’m proud of what I’ve done and hope to continue doing it.
At the same time, I feel a tad uncomfortable. You see, I’ve always been an outsider, the outcast, pariah. I wasn’t one of the popular kids in high school or college. I never intended, nor particularly wanted to be an insider. It happened by accident. At the same time, even today there are special gatherings of bloggers that I am not invited to. There are ‘true insiders’ that I feel uncomfortable around and would say that I’m not a ‘real insider’. They dismiss whatever I say as self-aggrandizing.
I guess it is a good thing. I think it helps me keep my edge, my perspective. You see, I believe the most significant political moments have occurred when the outsiders and the insiders meet. What matters is the moment of crashing the gate and the mixing of ideas and energy that happens in the moment. Political groups often talk about their insider/outside strategies, and I think we need recognize the importance of these strategies.
Yes, it is very easy to become an insider here in Connecticut and within blogging. We need to keep it that way. We need to be aware of barriers we put up, intentionally or unintentionally which keep out people who feel like outsiders.
This is some of the reason I like to focus on non-political blogs. I like to visit, get into discussions and get ideas from people who are much further outside the political process then some of the self-professed outsiders in political blogs.
The Internet has broken down many barriers to communication, but many more barriers exist within each one of us and our interactions with those around us. Let’s take our gate crashing seriously, not to get inside, but to make it easier for everyone to get inside.
Come, Let us Reason Together
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 07/19/2007 - 10:11People have asked why I link to conservative blogs here. On a mailing list I’m on there is a big discussion about whether or not they should link to conservative blogs. I find these comments in profound contrast to a discussion I was part of Monday night about the book Extreme Democracy. In that discussion, there was talk about including more people in a deliberative process. In other discussions, people have talked about how compromise, which was once a key part of the legislative process, is now considered bad. Politics, itself, is also considered bad and an extended debate is derogatorily called ‘political theatre’.
President Johnson often used the phrase, “Come, let us reason together”. It was a call to deliberation and compromise. If he were alive today, it would be a call to cross-linking. It is a call that we desperately need to heed. Some of you will raise the objection about not compromising with those who are unwilling to yield on their side. That is true. That would not be compromise, it would be appeasement or capitulation. Instead, we should seek those on all sides of the political spectrum that are willing to engage in meaningful dialog.
The phrase that President Johnson used came from the first chapter of Isaiah where the prophet speaks out against a nation that has rebelled against God. The second half of the verse goes on to say, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”
Reasoning together, meaningful dialog and, yes, cross-linking to conservatives are part of the reconciliation process that we need here in America. It is part of a process that we need to model to the people of Iraq if we want to see Iraq avoid further violence.
So, I will link to conservatives. I will even link to people that say things that I consider inappropriate and hateful if by doing so, I can help bring about a dialog to heal our country and our world. More importantly, I will go out into the marketplace. I will link to mommy bloggers, pet bloggers, sports bloggers, even SEO bloggers to the extent that I can get new people to join into the dialog about how to address the issues we face. I wish more of my progressive political bloggers would join me in this.
Come, let us reason together.
