courage and conviction

 

I was reading the NY Times at home last night when I ran across an obit, towards the back of the A section.  The family name was familiar, and unique enough to pique my interest.  Turned out to be about our realtor’s father, who passed away earlier this month.

 

I’m in Seattle, reading the New York Times.  So clearly this man was well-known enough for his passing to rate a mention in one of the world’s premier publications.  What Dale Noyd was known for was being the first conscientious objector to base his case on the morality and legality of a specific war.  That war was Vietnam.  Captain Noyd was a decorated Air Force Captain, with 11 years in the service when he wrote an eight page, single spaced letter to his superiors asking to be allowed to resign his commission, or be classified as a conscientious objector.  The Seattle Post Intelligencer notes that Captain Noyd could have taken a much easier path to keep out of Vietnam (apparently taking an eye test would have done it).  It’s also worth mentioning that things came to a head when he refused to train a combat pilot heading for Vietnam, stating his humanist belief that his combat training should only be used as a deterrent, not for aggression.

 

The Supreme Court refused to hear the case, determining that the military had jurisdiction.  The military court did not permit discussion of Captain Noyd’s humanism, or about his assertions that the war was illegal and immoral.  They did allow testimony during the sentencing phase about the belief that risking one’s life (in war) for a core belief constituted a religious act.  The argument went that Captain Noyd’s beliefs constituted a religious conflict with this, so he should be excused.  This apparently resonated, and Captain Noyd received the minimum sentence of one year, with a dishonorable discharge.

 

While I think it’s a shame that the entire argument wasn’t permitted, the case is a striking example of courage and conviction.  He chose to give up much of what he’d worked for in order to remain true to a principle.

 

I dropped Erik (our realtor) a note expressing our condolences and some admiration for what his dad had done.  I expect that his dad was a more interesting and complicated person than can be described in a short article (always the case).  It’s still important that we remember examples of courage like this, in the hope that we can find something like this in ourselves in time.

 

 

hello?

 

Got an odd phone call yesterday from my parents, vacationing in Hawaii.  Apparently I left my cell phone keypad unlocked sometime last week, and inadventantly called them while in the middle of a meeting.  It was apparently a lively 45 minute call, but they won’t tell me what I said.  So I’m a bit wierded out by the idea.  What did I say?  Was I an unrepentent hardass?  Off-color jokes?  Juvenille?  Or, as is likely, all of the above.

 

I do remember banging my fist on the table for theatrical effect once last week, something I almost never do.  I forget the context, so it was clearly very very important.  But now I’m completely self-conscious.  Erk.

 

 

x-country skiing adventure

 

I’ve gone to x-country ski these past four weekends, as a way of getting a nice long workout in.  I’m finally progressing beyond the train wreck stage, and can move a bit more efficiently.  It’s not pretty, but at least I have a bit more control over where I’m going.  Well – unless I’m trying to go downhill.

 

It’s definitely lots of fun.  I took Kayla up to Hyak yesterday, and got her an hour-long lesson so that she could learn some of the basics.  She’d been on skiis several times, when we went to the Sleeping Lady Mountain Retreat these past two Christmases.  Naturally she had a great time, and made a friend. 

 

Her friend was a girl named Taylor, who was there with her mom.  Both of them were skiing for the first time.  We met them out on the trails after the lesson.  Taylor’s mom was trying to put an errant ski back on.  She was sitting in the snow, with her foot up in the air, trying to moosh her foot and the ski together.  I might have laughed, but I’d been in exactly the same place before, so I stopped to help.  The kids wanted to hang out together, so we ended up spending a while with them.  I spoke with Taylor’s mom, Ashley for a while.  She’s a single mom, a tax accountant, and is in the Army Reserve.  She was apparently in one of the first waves to have served in Iraq (she’s an MP).  I tried to wrap my mind around how deployment works for single parents, but couldn’t figure out a way that isn’t very very painful.  Ashley’s hoping that she’s not going to be deployed to Iraq again, but isn’t sure.  This whole war thing feels different when you encounter the people it affects directly (to say nothing of families who have lost someone there).

 

Back in the snow we had a great adventure though.  We did a nice 4k out and back, then threw snow clods for a while before heading back.  We were both a bit hungry, so ginormous burritoes at Chipotle were in order.  It’d be nice to do this semi-regularly, and maybe try some of the ungroomed trails around as well.

 

 

 

bush to US on iraq : trust me

 

 

 

escalate or evacuate?

 

So the way the dialogue about what to do in Iraq is being carried out bothers me.

 

I have a lot of trouble getting past the idea that we shouldn’t have gone in to begin with.  I feel lots of anger at the Bushites over this war of choice.  It’d be interesting to tally up the number of civilian dead over the past four years and figure out how it compares to the number of people Saddam Hussein killed during his reign.  Comparisons like that are almost always nonsensical – but it does erode one’s ability to seize high moral ground when explaining oneself.

 

Most of my anger is about the completely dumb-assed single-mindedness with which our government pursued this war.  Now that we’re in, and mired in the sectarian violence predicted by Scowcroft and Co in 1991, we act annoyed by the vengeful Shiites we elevated to power in Iraq.  We’re somehow surprised that a distinct, long oppressed minority would not welcome a the Sunnis into power.  We’re also apparently shocked that destabilizing this country has turned it into a cauldron for terrorists from all over the region.  The failure of planning and foresight is stunning, and will take years for us (let alone the Iraqis!) to recover from.

 

After our withdrawal from Vietnam in 1975, there was a natural reluctance on the part of the United States to act boldy on the international stage.  The decades-long Vietnam debacle also reinforced the whiny liberal tendency to try to apologize on the national behalf.  I resent the President’s putting us in exactly the same position again.  We’ve initiated a war which has killed tens of thousands of people, ripped apart the infrastructure of a nation, weakened our national resolve to engage boldly on the international front (particularly with nations like North Korea), and compromised our ability to play as strong a role in the middle east peace process (Lebanon, Palestine, and Israel).  It will take years to clean up the mess, and the price paid can never be recouped.

 

On the other hand, I think it’s utterly irresponsible for Democrats to suggest simply washing our hands of the situation.  We have a responsibility to pursue a peace which rebuilds Iraq from the inside and helps to stabilize the region.  This may not be possible, but we cannot walk away.  In addition to being unethical, walking away will marginalize the Democratic chances to lead the country out of this mess.  They need to cease governing as opposition and begin to lead.  In general, people will vote for the party with ideas, not against a party with bad ideas.  "Anyone but Bush" won’t play in 2008, because it just isn’t good enough.

 

I’d like to see someone suggest a practical and actionable plan which factors in the geopolitical, strategic, tactical, and operational issues.  It should involve a concentrated diplomatic effort paired with a period of stabilization, and then a drawdown of troops conditioned on specific milestones.  The scary part is that a workable solution may involve a very different Iraqi goverment, if the al-Maliki crowd doesn’t wise up to the notion of fair democracy very soon.

 

All in all – few good options for the Iraqi people, and for the people vying for elected office.  The terrible thing is that is our political world, electability will trump any difficult to sell solution.

 

getting outside, getting moving

 

Although I’m not running, I’ve still been pretty active.  I’ve spent a lot of quality time on the other aerobic training machines at the gym, and have learning a bit about cross-country skiing.  I don’t care much for working out inside, but the skiing’s been a lot of fun.

 

I visited the Snoqualmie Pass Nordic Center last Sunday.  Didn’t care for it as much as Stevens Pass, but had a great day for it.  Lots of sun, and quite a few hills.  I went up about 5k, capping it with a steeper climb, which turned into a fast ride back down.  The highlight was a hairpin curve with a dropoff on the outside edge … nothing too dangerous, but careening off would have hurt.  Of course I handled it like a dork, braking with one ski outside the track on the way down … people looked pretty amused.

 

My technique on the skis is improving, but I wouldn’t call myself competent.  After arriving I donned the skis at the start of the trail, and then clumsily tried to slimb up a short incline without sailing sideways or backwards.  Eventually I removed the skis and walked it.  Then, when I got ready to start, I realized that the loop on one of the poles was really really short.  Naturally they’re adjustable.  Naturally I didn’t know how to adjust it, and hadn’t even noticed when I rented the equipment.  Bad bad bad.  So I struggled along with a loop I couldn’t really use for a kilometer, before asking for help from a nice couple I met along the trail.  I felt foolish not knowing how, and more foolish for not having checked my gear when I rented it.

 

I fell a few times, including once right at the very top of a long hill.  Each time I probably looked like a toddler just learning to walk, or like I was panicking about the downhill.  I also felt like I had some trouble getting going very fast at first.  When I got into a rhythm, it felt like the snow was a bit icy for good skiing.

 

All of that aside, it was great to be outside in the snow and sun.  I’d like to get to the point that I can try some of the more challenging trails higher up, where the better scenery is.   

 

It’d also be fun to take Kayla up with me … always a good idea to groom a kid as my skiing companion.  Makes it easier to carve the time out to go.

 

 

unfiltering the cacophony

When I was on my way up to the mountains last week, I listened to an interesting discussion about the nature of unfiltered discourse (ie blogs, talk radio) with Seattle PI editorial cartoonist David Horsey. He’d posed the following question to readers, as the subject of his final Burning Question column :

"All things considered, is our understanding of the world made better or worse by an unfiltered cacophony of opinions?"

It’s about quality vs. quantity, news vs. infotainment, conservative vs. liberal.  It’s about as difficult to find reasoned discussion between people who might disagree on principle as it is to find a good course comparitive religion.  You can, but you really have to look.

As much as I dislike that the conservonauts rally their numbers via Limbaugh and Hannity and their ilk, I don’t think the answer is something like Air America.  I have conflicted feelings about AA’s financial troubles.  AA listeners might have more in common with me than Limbites do, but the whole AA thing is pretty unoriginal.  I can’t listen to it, not even for the few minutes I might be able to eavesdrop on one of the conservative gits.

First of all, by the numbers there are probably more ultra-right wing nuts in the various target audiences than there are ultra-left wing nuts.  No stats to back this up, just an opinion.  Second, where’s the talk radio for the swing voter?  This is the sweet spot – folks who identify with sides of an issue rather than political party.  Third, the worst sin you can commit in the entertainment business is to be unoriginal.

On election night 2004, I watched the late returns come in with my mom.  After the networks called the election for Bush, she switched over to an interview Charlie Rose was doing with David Halberstam and others.  They were talking about social dynamics and political culture.  It was pretty dry, but a whole lot more interesting than any of the crap you could see on CNN, MSNBC, Fox, {N,A}BC, or CBS.  I pointed out to her that the basic problem we face is that there are only a couple of hundred people who feel that same way, which is why we don’t see good stuff like that on the networks.  It’s not sexy, but if I want sexy I generally don’t watch news.

The left and middle just don’t know their audience as well as the right does.  It’ll be interesting to see whether or not someone tries to change this by identifying a set of least-common denominator values and fears that motivate this target audience.  It’s not often that issues are thrown into as much sharp relief as they are currently – so the time seems ripe.

Side note – Fox was among the first to link to the videotape of Saddam’s execution.  Shows you where their journalistic standards are.

 

back to work?

 

Tomorrow is my first ‘official’ day back in the office since mid-December.  Mixed feelings.

 

On the one hand, there’s so much more I’d wanted to do outside work before diving back in.  They include :

 

• Doing more things with the kids.
• Doing more things with Kris.
• Seeing the dead sea scrolls exhibit at the pacific science center (missed it, last day was today).
• Getting up to the mountains more.
• Taking more pictures.
• Organizing pictures.
• Fiddling with gadgets around the house.
• Unpacking speakers and a/v equipment that’s been away since Feb.
• Setting up weight equipment in the basement.
• Spending more time cooking, particularly to try out more middle-eastern recipes I ran across in Egypt.

On the other hand, work’s been getting fun again.  So it’ll be good to get back to it.

I spent this morning doing one of the better workouts I’ve had in a while.  I went around on the weight routine I’ve had for a while, but notched the weights up a bit and pushed harder than in a long time.  This was both exhilerating and demoralizing.  I clearly have some more work to do before I’m feeling good about this again.  For the aerobic workout, I did the rowing machine for 20 min, then the bike for another 20.

Ordinarily I would imagine the rowing machine to be dead boring.  Other than getting a phenomenal upper body workout, there’s absolutely no fun involved.  There’s nothing to see, you can’t read, it’s hard to talk to someone else, etc.  Today I paid some attention to the metrics flashing up on the screen, and tried to push harder on the strokes/minute and time/500 m front.  I mixed in a couple of 2 minute intervals in which I worked hard enough to really get my heart going.  This also meant I was breathing loudly and being conspicuous in the amount of rowing machine noise I generated too.  I’d do that on the treadmill sometimes too, when I was doing speedwork.  You get some looks too – like you’re some kind of freak.  And you are really, puffing like a madman and spraying sweat in all directions when some of the other folks are going at a much more sane cadence.  It’s especially fun when you’re next to a person who’s wearing perfume/cologne, and is decked out in a fancy, expensive warmup suit that looks more comfortable for martinis on the back deck than working out.  Their look of concern, then horror is pretty fun.  Does this make me a bad person?  Maybe.

Anyway, I managed to entertain myself for the 20 minutes on the rowing machine, but don’t think I can really take too much of that.

 

still not running

 

I’m injured and not running now.  The problem is a likely stress fracture in my left leg.  Other than a 4 mile vanity run in Egypt, I’ve not run since Thanksgiving Day.  I’m working out on the elliptical trainer, recumbent bike, and stepmill as alternatives, but it’s pretty unsatisfying.

 

I was reminded this evening that it stinks to be injured.  While waiting to rent some x-country skis at REI, a woman I’d met at last year’s Sunflower Iron Event said "Hi!  Are you running the Fat Ass this weekend?".  Sigh.

 

The Fat Ass 25k is a really fun, and very challenging informal race on Tiger Mountain, traditionally held the first weekend of the year.  THe name comes from "get off your fat ass and run 25 or 50k of hills".  I’ve done the 25k event the past two years and had lots of fun.  Two years ago, I decided to do this at the last minute, and drove out to the mountain and found myself shivering in 28 degree, but dry weather.  My late friend Peter drove up just then, and made me jump when he said "wow – it’s cold out here!".  He was just making conversation of course – Peter had no trouble in the cold, and finished the 25k loop 15 minutes ahead of me.  I was okay for a while, but really struggled after trying to power up the hills (there is about 3700′ of climbing).  The race finishes with a wild romp down the West Tiger #3 trail.  I found myself trying to keep up with two young women who were in much better shape than I.  I stumbled through the gate at the finish, and climbed into my car and drove to a nearby coffee shop to get some warm liquids and carbs into my body. 

 

Still wearing my sweaty running clothes I sat down in a nice comfortable chair next to the fireplace, wolfed down two pieces of banana nut bread and promptly fell asleep with a cup of very hot tea balanced on my lap.  When I woke up sometime later (no idea how long I was out), I noticed  that people had cleared out of all of the seats around me.  I don’t know whether it was my appearance, or maybe the smell.  Whatever the reason, it’s a tried and true method of securing a good warm (and spacious) place to sit in a public place.

 

Anyway, the longer I’m hurt, the more fun runs I miss.  So far I’ve not run a marathon since September, and have missed out on the Seattle Marathon events, as well as the aforementioned Fat Ass, and (soon) Nookachamps too.  Crap.

 

Well – back at REI tonight, I wished Jeannie good luck and cursed my injury again.  It’s strange, but my leg feels fine about 80% of the time.  Just sitting here now though, the top left part of my tibia aches.  I’m concerned that as I keep active, I keep resetting my recovery clock.  It’s probably time to schedule a bone scan so I can confirm or deny the stress fracture diagnosis.

 

 

a preemptive strike against poor musical taste

 

So, I’ve long held the opinion that you shouldn’t subject your kids to stuff you’re not willing to put up with yourself.  An obvious example of this is music.  When we’re in the car, we listen to my music – or at least music I’ve introduced the kids to.  Currently in vogue is the Beatles "mash-up" Love.  Purists will say it’s derivative and a sell-out.  Obviously yes, but the music’s still great, and the way George and Giles Martin remixed the tracks, and set up the transitions between the songs is pretty nice.

 

Side note about Love.  I saw the Cirque de Soleil show in Vegas when I was there in November.  It’s really good, but a very drunk guy was sitting next to me, and insisted on belting out the lyrics along with John, Paul, George, and Ringo.  Ug.

 

Anyway – the kids have really taken to the music.  Previously, they’d liked some of the tracks from the White Album – particularly Blackbird, Rocky Raccoon, and Mother Nature’s Son.  They also took to some of the tracks from Let it Be (Naked) – For You Blue, The Two of Us, and Across the Universe.  On the other hand, one can only listen to Eleanor Rigby, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, and Yesterday so much.  But then on the other other hand, we’ve got this routine for I am the Walrus.  When the song goes "I am the egg man …. ooooooooo", we stop what we’re doing and give it a big flourish.  It’s guaranteed to inspire a big eye roll from my wife.  I can’t wait.

 

We’ve listened to all sorts of stuff together.  Right now the songs they seem to like a lot are the aforementioned Beatles tunes, as well as some Nat King Cole, some tracks from the Garden State soundtrack, some Coldplay, and the Wall of Voodoo cult classic Mexican Radio.  they’ve also enjoyed the Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, and even some old T. Rex.

 

None of these might be to your taste, but it’s gotta be better than listening to Hilary Duff.