State Street in Spring

State street has woken up. When I try to imagine State Street as anything other than an organic system. A living creature on it's own, I fall short. Too much of how it exists can only be paralleled with a living entity.
It sleeps all winter long. Never empty, but slowed. People still walk up and down the frozen sidewalk. At Christmas, shoppers still make their way through the snow and ice. The irish pub still glows warmly and the Church key is still standing room only on Thursday and Friday nights. But the street itself sleeps.
Spring comes, and she wakes up. With all the hungers and yearnings of any creature shrugging off that short nap of body and spirit. Not hibernating, just sleeping.
Today, Sunday afternoon, I dropped off Sarah and Ashley at the opera, I walked down to the Union, and I could feel her life. Under my feet, seeping up through the concrete, up through my legs and into my chest. And I know I wasn't alone. It was on the faces, and in the strides of everyone I passed. Everyone who became, even if for a short time only, part of the creature.
On the corner by the market a man sat beating on an upside down plastic pail with drumsticks. The rhythm was fast and a little tribal. His baseball cap, tipped upside down by his feet, was filling quickly with loose change and a few bills. The beats alternated between sharp staccatos and a hollow lower sound as he used his sneaker to lift one side of the pail away from the ground.
The sound carried down the canyon of glass and concrete. Two blocks away I could still hear him as I passed an old black man holding an empty McDonalds cup.
I think he would have normally been asking for change. But today I was spared my internal struggle, the inability to give him a buck, clashing with the inability to really ignore him. Usually the best I can muster is a half-assed "no, sorry." And in more ways than one, that sums it up.
But today he is swaying back and forth, and singing a wordless song. Not performing, not even making any coherent sound, all he manages to do is warn people of his presence and divert the foot traffic with efficiency that would make any officer of the law proud.
As I pass him, and today he gets to ignore me - a role I'm frankly more comfortable with, I realize he'd singing, or chanting, in rhythm with the plastic pail two blocks back, still echoing down the street.
There is a young woman walking behind me. On her cell phone, as most people walking past are. She is oblivious to my presence, and, as most people with cell phones seem to be, has no idea just how loud she is talking. That's okay. I'm an eaves-dropper by nature.
She's talking about her class on Friday. She is indignant. Someone in her history class put forth the notion that the holocaust didn't happen. And if it did, it wasn't as bad they say.
I never see her face, but I can hear both the frustration and the personal hurt in her voice. As she talks it becomes obvious that in her life, she has never been thrown into the mix with people whose opinions are different than hers.
"How could she just say that?" she demands of the cell phone confidant, and anyone within 30 feet on state street.
"How can she just say something like that. And then when I asked her why, she said it's just her opinion. You can't say something like that, and say it's just your opinion. If you're going to make a statement like that you need to be able to explain it."
There is a pause as someone somewhere tells her something, probably equally as loud, but they must be more than 30 ft away because I can't hear them.
"Well I know people can have opinions. That's not what I'm saying. it's just..." She pauses, on the edge of pushing through something.
"Well, what's the point of even talking about anything if it all comes down to 'that's just my opinion'. It's not vanilla or chocolate ice cream. It's history. If she wants to believe that, fine, but if she's going to say it in class she needs to be able to say more than 'that's just my opinion'.
She turns into a coffee shop, and I pity the people inside. But I'm jealous of her too. She's on that edge. Maybe tomorrow, or maybe a week from now, she'll start to wonder what other "opinions" people cling so tightly to without examination. And maybe she's just around the corner from turning that question on herself. And then the world will open up. And the sun is only the sun because someone told you that it was. The water is blue only because you haven't learned another word for it yet.
In the open area outside State Street brats, where Art Paul Sschlosser usually sings, there's someone new. A tall unshaven, lanky man with a guitar, his young body curved like a question mark. He is bending his head closer to the short brunette in a flowing skirt and a jean jacket with a violin. He is matching his chords to her melody, and as i walk closer they phase in and out of synch. Just as I step passed they find it, and lose it again quickly, but for that brief moment the sound they made was so beautiful I turn my head and nearly stumble.
Radar Dan is sitting with another state street regular. A lady whose name i don't know, but I've seen her often enough. She has large protruding lips and wild frantic eyes that swing wildly though she sits perfectly still. Radar Dan is calling out to girls passing by, "are you a brewers Fan?" he calls out to a girl in a tight pre-faded Brewers t-shirt and pleated skirt. "I think I'm a Brewers fan now" he calls after her as she and her friends grin and almost giggle.
I havee't seen comfort on state street this year, though I've seen him walking all the way over by the belt line.
Down at the Union there is a line for ice cream, and finding a window seat is hard. I need to start keeping my eyes open for outlets. My battery on the iBook is wearing down already.
I find a window seat in the ratskellar, break out my book and laptop, and settle in.

Get on Herb (Part II)

Both my wife and I received replies to our letters to Herb Kohl. We got pretty much the exact same thing back. Here it is

"April 6, 2006
Thank you for taking the time to contact me. I value the
input I get from people back home in Wisconsin, and I would like
to take this opportunity to address your concerns.

The recent revelation that the President authorized the
National Security Agency (NSA) to monitor telephone calls and e-
mails of United States citizens without obtaining a warrant or court
order raises important legal questions. The Bush administration
argues that it has the legal authority, both under the Authorization
to Use Military Force in Afghanistan and the President's inherent
powers as Commander in Chief, to order the warrantless electronic
surveillance of U.S. citizens and others inside the country.
However, a great number of legal experts in this area disagree.

I strongly believe that the President, Congress, and the
courts all share a common goal: to protect our country. If terrorists
are operating in this country, or people in this country are
communicating with terrorists, we must give our government the
tools it needs to protect the American people. However, security,
the rule of law, and the protection of civil liberties are not mutually
exclusive concepts; we can have all three. If our laws are
inadequate, they should be changed, but they should never be
ignored. In the meantime, Congress must conduct vigorous
oversight of the executive branch, including the President's
authorization of the NSA warrantless surveillance program, to
ensure that the rights of innocent Americans are not being violated.

As you know, on March 13, 2006, Senator Russ Feingold
(D-WI) introduced S. Res. 398, a resolution to censure President
George W. Bush. Censure is a formal statement of disapproval that
carries no penalty, aside from the condemnation itself. Senator
Feingold argues that President Bush violated the Constitution and
the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) by
approving domestic wiretapping of American citizens without
seeking a court order.

This resolution has been referred to the Judiciary
Committee, of which I am a member. An initial hearing on
censure was held on March 31, 2006. In addition, the Committee is
conducting other hearings in the broader issue of the NSA
warrantless surveillance program. I remain committed to this
process, and to hearing both sides of the issue. It would be
inappropriate for me to make premature judgments, but I will listen
carefully as this process unfolds and the investigation into the
Administration's actions moves forward.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me. You
can be sure I will keep your thoughts in mind as Congress
continues to consider this very important issue. Please do not
hesitate to contact me again if I may be of any further assistance.
Sincerely,
Herb Kohl
U.S. Senator"

white feathered contrail
splits a blue hemisphere
reminding me that
there is life outside
mine
scraping against
the dry underbelly
of perception
there is...
something

outsife my knowing
sliding along
the blue face of...
something

so far away
through thin cold air
untouchable
but within reach

That one lady...

Sometimes, I just can’t understand what is going through peoples minds. I like to think that people are basically good, and that we all operate on more or less the save wave-length, but then something happens to make me wonder. Someone will do something to utterly alien to my way of thinking (yes, that’s more than a little egocentric) that I really wonder what the hell is going through their minds.

Take for instance yesterday. We were at the children’s expo at the Overture center. We are down in the little stage area on the first floor about to watch a teacher of my daughters sing songs about art. The place is crawling with kids, the ration is at least 4 kids to every adult. My wife and I tell our daughter to go find a seat, and we stand at the back of the room along the wall. Partly because we don’t want to take a seat that a kid could use, partly because our daughter doesn’t need someone right next to her anymore, but mostly because we weren’t really anticipating the show, and wanted to be as far from the noise as possible.

So here’s our view of the room



Now see that lady sitting in the first row of chairs, farthest to the right? And see that laminated handicap sign lying on the ground? Let me tell you how those pieces of the picture ended up where they are.

The two handicap signs were on the two chairs on the farthest right. The Lady comes in with her two kids, and without shame, without pausing, moves the two signs to one seat. Thus opening two seats for her kids. The rest of the row was full. So she stood off to the side. Before the show started, the kids were getting antsy, and one of her kids started squirming around, and finally knocked the signs off the seat altogether.

Again, without pausing, without even looking around to see if anyone would notice, she just sat down in the now “un-handicapped” seat.

What the hell? I mean seriously, what is going through a persons mind at that point? On some level she must be justifying it.

Does she think “oh, handicap people only need one seat. And I’ve got two kids, so we’ll just use one of the seats, and I’ll stand over here,” and then when her kid moves the sign “oh, I guess that isn’t reserved for the handicap, I must have been mistaken earlier. That chair is obviously open for anyone, and conveniently near my children. I shouldn’t let it go to waste”

Honestly, if you are reading this, and you think you know why she did what she did (beyond the obvious “she wanted to sit there.”) please tell me.

Remember

"Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know
tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land! So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!"

-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, April 3rd 1968, in Memphis, his last sermon.

How do you remember something that you weren't even alive for? You read about it, you imagine it, you let it rattle around in your thick skull for a little bit. But how do you really remember it?

How does a generation ever escape the mistakes of its predecessors? How will we ever learn the lessons of those that failed before us?

Our memory is short, and sometimes I fear that every hard fought victory is forgotten as the victors grow old and and their children gather pride and contempt for anything they have not discovered themselves.

We try, and we try, and we fail.

Yet there are some things that we cannot afford to forget

Privately Purchased Body Armor Banned

This story caught my attention. I try really hard not to just take what I hear at face value, but to go out and do a little research of my own too. And this is a case where I'm glad that I did. There are two sides to this story. And either the Liberal voices that I usually trust don't know the whole story, or they aren't telling it. Of course the neo-con sources that I grudgingly check aren't even acknowledging that it exists. I think that this article gives both sides. Still, if this is a topic that concerns you, you should do some research on this latest development.

In short, the more affordable Body Armor isn't as safe. And from what I found the military has made improvements in supplying troops with body armor. However, this is a problem that the military needs to take some responsibility for creating. There were legitimate shortages earlier on, and those shortages are why family and friends looked to find a way to buy the body armor on their own. And if there are companies selling body armor at a lesser price, naturally people will choose the cheaper armor over none at all.

In the end it's one of the issues that I'm a bit reserved about. It seems to me to be a complicated mess.

Army Bans the Use of Privately Purchased Body Armor

Many soldiers in Iraq bought protective gear they said the military wasn't providing. But the top brass says it may be inadequate.

From the Associated Press
March 31, 2006
WASHINGTON — Soldiers will no longer be allowed to wear body armor that was not issued by the military, Army officials said Thursday.

The order was prompted by concern that soldiers or their families were buying inadequate or untested armor from private companies, including the Dragon Skin gear made by Fresno-based Pinnacle Armor Inc., the Army officials said.

"We're very concerned that people are spending their hard-earned money on something that doesn't provide the level of protection that the Army requires people to wear. So they're, frankly, wasting their money on substandard stuff," said Col. Thomas Spoehr, director of materiel for the Army.

Murray Neal, chief executive of Pinnacle, said he hadn't seen the directive.
"We know of no reason the Army may have to justify this action," Neal said. "On the surface, this looks to be another of many attempts by the Army to cover up the billions of dollars spent on ineffective body armor systems which they continue to try quick fixes on to no avail."
Nathaniel R. Helms, editor of the Soldiers for the Truth online magazine DefenseWatch, said he already had received a number of e-mails from soldiers complaining about the policy.
"Outrageously we've seen that [soldiers] haven't been getting what they need in terms of equipment and body armor," said Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), who wrote legislation to provide reimbursement to troops for equipment purchases. "That's totally unacceptable, and why this directive by the Pentagon needs to be scrutinized in much greater detail."

Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said, "I don't think the Army is wrong by doing this, because the Army has to ensure some level of quality."
But, Rieckhoff said, the military is partially to blame for the problem because it took too long to get soldiers the armor they needed. "This is the monster they made," he said.

Early in the Iraq war, soldiers and their families were spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars on protective gear that they said the military was not providing.

In January, an unreleased Pentagon study found that side armor could have saved dozens of U.S. lives in Iraq, prompting the Army and Marine Corps to order ceramic body armor plates to be shipped to troops this year.

The Army ban covers all commercial armor. It refers specifically to Pinnacle's armor.
"In its current state of development, Dragon Skin's capabilities do not meet Army requirements," the Army order says, and it "has not been certified to protect against several small-arms threats that the military is encountering in Iraq and Afghanistan."

The Marine Corps has not issued a similar directive, but Marines are "encouraged to wear Marine Corps-issued body armor since this armor has been tested to meet fleet standards," spokesman Bruce Scott said.

Military officials have acknowledged that some troops — often National Guardsmen or reservists — went to war with lesser-quality protective gear than other soldiers.

But now, Spoehr said, "we can categorically say that whatever you're going to buy isn't as good as what you're going to get" from the military.