“And another one bites the dust.”
Letters (to the On the Street Penthouse Suite)
Before we get into last year, here are the last of the letters that somehow found their way home.
#1 Self-titled
Local and international photographer Bryan Rindfuss wishes us well. 
Happy New Year!
xo,
Bryan
#2 Ladies!
Hello All,
Hope you are having a great holiday season. Just a note that we are having an exhibition at the UTSA Satellite Space, opening this Thursday, Jan. 1, 6-9, and First Friday, Jan. 2, 6-9pm. Please join us for some great work by Anne Wallace, Joey Fauerso, Karen Mahaffy, Julia Barbosa-Landois, Guillermina Zabala, and myself.!!
Best,
Michele
#3 Circlebirds Need A Gig
Will, a recent transplant from College Station is trying to find a gig for his band on either January 11, 12, or the 14th. Perhaps one of the two or three readers here have some ideas?
Hey Mark! Thanks so much for all the help. Here's the myspace for the band, as well as a track from their demo. It's a 4 piece band.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=77989544
Auld Lang Syne
Unlike last year where I observed the turning of the year from a peak atop Monte Vista, this time I was in the valley of Beacon Hill. This wasn’t better or worse. A dizzying view was replaced by an amazing assortment of food – hummus, naan bread pizza, celery marinated in vinegar and sriracha (quite amazing), chocolate dipped strawberries, some ancient form of whiskey known as Apple Jack and other foodie specialties. Too many in fact to try at once, as the majority of them were first overlooked.
A good crowd.
A cherry on the bottom.
Matt the Morning DJ was without his moustache but this cherry in his Apple Jack whiskey was a good touch.
Adam Smith's Mark Jones' "Invisible Hands."
Misadventures in pet photography.
The Tunnels of Gaza
The current humanitarian disaster in Palestine is pretty much an embarrassment to the Western world for doing nothing to stop it, at best, and at worst, aiding in the destruction.
There is a tendency to speak in Old Testament values of an eye for an eye, but that assumes the situation is somehow equal. I can’t say I know an incredible amount about the situation in Palestine but I did help my friend Nida edit a documentary about Palestine called Palestine Blues, and in my limited perspective of watching the footage that was shot in Palestine, it’s hard not to sympathize with their cause.
Basically, they have no rights and are treated as third class citizens on their own land. “Palestine” is completely divided up into non-contiguous zones and travel between these areas is controlled by Israel. The footage I saw pertained to the creation of the illegal border wall built by Israel. The path of the wall was completely opportunistic for Israel as it didn’t at all follow the more recent agreed upon boundary, but instead would work to advantageously put certain water rich areas of Palestine into Israel control. In any other scenario this is an act of war. But when Palestine resists, it’s seen as “not allowing the right of Israel to exist.”
It’s an amazing trick of blaming the victim in this situation but it’s not like there haven’t been precedents for this in our own history.
Gaza probably has it the worst of any of the regions on Palestine. I’ve read that it’s the most densely populated area in the World. This is another way of saying it’s a containment camp, if not a prison.
I can’t imagine Israel is going to benefit long-term from blockading all supplies from going into Gaza, not to mention of course bombing the city into oblivion (schools and hospitals included) if not invading it by land. On the most basic fundamental level, even as simple as chemistry, one knows that it is difficult to create something out of it’s opposite. To create peace you have to be peaceful. Destroying a population only guarantees more war. It’s an unequal equation. Israel is inviting chaos by creating chaos for Palestine.
Somehow this isn’t obvious by now.
Anyway, Gaza is so desperate since the blockade of last year (where they can hardly get any supplies at all) that they’ve resorted to digging tunnels into Eqypt to get access outside of Gaza.
This is what prisoners do.
The fact that the number one job in Gaza is digging tunnels should clearly indicate the prison they’ve been forced to live in. And like a prison, the main currency is weapons and cigarettes, but other more crucial supplies are brought across as well.
Here is a fascinating video (much better than the one embedded at the top) that explains the Tunnels of Gaza and gives a backdrop for what is going on now. it has it's perspective, as does everything including me, but it's at least more in depth then what one will find in the U.S. media. (Embedding was disabled by the producers.)
I'll get out here before getting into Obama's lame, short-changed response to the situation...
A Completely Incomplete Year in Review (Cliff Notes Version)
Films...
Wall-E - not as good as everyone thought it was. An indication of how bad the year in film actually was, with a foreshadow of the grim prospects ahead. I'm not saying it wasn't a "good" movie but it tickled the brain more than it fully delivered a substantial punch.
The Batman Movie - was a good movie, maybe even great. It suceeded in painting shades of grey, but the "two barge moral lesson" at the end seemed out of place with how Batman (our hero?) had drifted into his own abyss chasing monsters.
Man on Wire - My favorite movie of the year. Wonderfully French, yet filled with tense drama to keep it from getting too contemplative for a mass audience, which isn't to say it had great success as it only played a week at the Bijou.
Let the Right One In - I'm not even sure if this vampire movie is playing in San Antonio. Completely Scandanavian, at least as far I've convinced myself. Reminded me of the original version of the movie The Vanishing in the moral ambiguities it posed, which once was the foundation of drama. Moments of surreality burst through the moments of hyperreality. A film for lovers.
I'm completely blank on anything else I've seen this year that even stands out for good or bad. Passage of time as I got to make a smoothie and think it over...
...yeah, nothing. I'm sure I saw a bad sports movie at some point but it's escaping me, as is everything else.
The Spurs...
Ankles - Ginobili's ankle issues may not have completely gone away, not to mention young messiah Ian Mahinmi has two bad ankles which have kept him out for the year, making Tim Duncan's job all the more difficult.
Last Second Shots - Roger Mason Jr. has already hit two clutch shots to help win a game. The Spurs have been in a ton of close games already this year, and as we've won many of them, it is uncertain if the team is showing great resolve, or if they're just getting lucky.
Can We Win One More? - That was the question last year. It's the same this time around. We have 3 "youngish" players contributing who weren't last year, yet, it's difficult to say if the team is slowly fading, or if we're just flying under the radar once again. I expect that narrative to continue for the next 2 seasons, with the 2010 free agent class bringing clarity to our 3rd act, or is it denoument?
The Economy...
Fuel prices have quickly dropped in half but yet things don't feel any better. With a shortage of credit and with the relatively cheaper fuel, there seems to be little impetus for any grand voyage into a new direction. Even Slim T. Boone Pickens can't get his wind farm. Basically, everything is at a standstill. Randomly, I went to the mall today to return some items. As luck would have it, Dillards was having a one day 50% off sale on a majority of items. There was some pandemonium but moments like that may actually become more common as stores feel the need to kickstart sales.
I've been slowly looking for an efficiency to rent. Should I wait a few months to see if things get worse/better? But will a further downturn in the national economy only mean that more people move to San Antonio (and Texas for that matter) thinking things will be better here?
The next 3 months are a mystery...
And that concludes the year in review.
Final thought - I'll be undergoing some sort of juice fast for the next five days. I'll try to keep nightly updates on the state of things but no guarantees.
And so goes another week on the streets of San Antonio. As always, to be continued...
Happy 2009, everyone. Tonight we're kicking off 2009 with the parentheses-happy Hawks (of Holy Rosary) (who'll be playing their first acoustic show ever [they're ordinarily very much plugged-in]) at GIG on the Strip. The show is free and open to all ages. Marcus Rubio and the Gospel Choir of Pillows and Nick Krill lead singer and guitarist for the Wilmington, Delaware- based Spinto Band will also perform. Doors open at 9 p.m.
By Gilbert Garcia
CBS reporter Roger
Mudd noted during his infamous 1979 interview special with Ted Kennedy
that, off the campaign stump, the Massachusetts senator "can become
stilted, elliptical, and at times appear as if he really doesn't
want America to get to know him."
Couldn't the exact same words be
applied to Teddy's niece, Caroline, as she makes an awkward public show
of her desire to win appointment to the United States Senate?
It's
easy to mock Caroline for her grating, habitual use of the expression
"you know," a tic which she apparently used more than 200 times during
a recent 30-minute interview. That verbal placeholder reminds us that,
for all her celebrity, she's basically a neophyte at public speaking.
But if verbal elegance was a Capitol Hill prerequisite, how did Gerald
Ford or Michele Bachmann ever make it there?
A little vocal
coaching can help Kennedy with her presentation, but it can't solve the
bigger problem. Much like Uncle Teddy in his 1980 presidential bid
(which the Mudd interview was meant to kick-start), she just doesn't
appear to have the stomach for this whole enterprise. She clearly likes
the idea of being an Obama-era U.S. Senator, but hasn't thought much about the reality of
it. Granted, Hillary Clinton's Senate seat opened up without a whole
lot of warning, but Caroline's lack of preparedness on the issues is
still pretty startling.
Her natural reticence has always made
her appealing from a distance; an involuntary public figure who didn't
need -- or want -- public adulation. After all, this is someone who
co-authored a book about the right to privacy. It's interesting -- and kinda strange -- that although Kennedy has spent 48 years in the national spotlight, we've learned more about her in the last two weeks (admittedly, not all that much) than we ever knew before.
Reticence can be a fine
quality in the real world, but in politics, it's crippling. If you
can't work up some good emotional contrivance for the public on demand,
you're unlikely to win a seat on anything bigger than a small-town
school board. Bill Clinton could summon a television tear faster than you could say "Gennifer Flowers," and that intrinsic phoniness saved his political ass on numerous occasions. But that phoniness was just a manifestation of a steely drive, an all-consuming hunger for the brass ring, that also made him an effective leader.
Ted Kennedy ran for the presidency by rote,
seemingly compelled by some kind of family obligation to fulfill the
destiny of his brothers. He only seemed to locate his fire when the
race was lost and the pressure was off. Caroline doesn't appear to have
a comparable fire to locate. She's the opposite of a happy warrior --
more like a sheepish equivocator. She wants elective office without the
election, because her idea of serving the voters doesn't include having
to humble herself before those voters.
It's easy to understand those feelings, but harder to sympathize. The Senate doesn't really need
her, and she obviously doesn't need the Senate, so what's the point?
The 2008 Alamo Bowl didn't sell quite as many tickets as in recent years, as a fair number of empty seats were plainly obvious. But the game was easily one of the most thrilling contests of the 2008 bowl season so far, as the heavily favored Missouri Tigers managed to pull out a 30-23 overtime win over the determined but not quite good enough Northwestern Wildcats. The win gave Mizzou back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time in school history. The loss left Northwestern still in search of their first bowl win since the 1949 Rose Bowl.
Each team had a corner of rabid fans sitting by their respective bands, while the middle of the field seats seemed preoccupied by local fans who had less of a stake in the contest. Such are the dynamics of college bowl games. But everyone got their money's worth with this game. Northwestern controlled the first half, but blew a couple of scoring opportunities and therefore held only a 10-3 lead shortly before halftime. Mizzou's All-American dynamo Jeremy Maclin took a 75-yard punt return back for a TD right before the half though to tie the game 10-10 at halftime.
Veteran observers might have expected the 12-point underdog Wildcats to fold at that point, but these aren't the "Mildcats" of old. Northwestern came out and scored the first points of the second half on a 46-yard TD pass from C.J. Bacher to Rasheed Ward. But kicker Amado Villareal bounced the extra point off the goalpost, leaving the Wildcats with only a 16-10 lead. It's a shame that this miss will haunt Villareal and Northwestern for the next year, and possibly much longer, but that's big time college sports.
Mizzou scored to go up 17-16, and then added a 43-yard field goal from Jeff Wolfert for a 20-16 lead. Northwestern came back with a 23-yard TD pass from Bacher to Ross Lane to go back on top 23-20 and seize the momentum at the end of the third quarter. The purple-clad Northwestern fans may not have brought quite as many fans to San Antonio as some of their Big 10 brethren have in recent years, but the contingent that came was as loud and raucous as you'll find in a second-tier bowl game.
The Northwestern defense held Mizzou's ace QB Chase Daniel in check for much of the game, intercepting him three times. But Daniel led the Tigers down the field for a 37-yard FG by Wolfert that tied the game at 23 with 2:49 to go. Wolfert then had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation, but pushed a 44-yard attempt wide that could have won it. Northwestern had a new lease on life, and won the overtime coin toss, which meant they got to choose to go on defense first. The flip side was that Mizzou was able to choose for the action to take place at their end of the field, which became a factor.
Daniel hit Maclin for a 7-yard TD pass on the first possession of overtime that gave the Tigers a 30-23 lead. But with the way this game had gone, most were expecting double-overtime. The Mizzou fans showed they could be plenty loud and raucous themselves as their cheering reached a fever pitch on the following third-down play that saw a ferocious Tiger blitz sack Northwestern's Bacher, who also fumbled. The Wildcats recovered but were left with a desperate fourth-and-goal from the 32-yard line for the game.
Bacher's subsequent heave into the end zone was knocked down, and the Tigers stormed the field to celebrate. Mizzou's fans exploded with joy, as the Big 12 seized early superiority over the Big 10 this bowl season. The conferences will meet again when the No. 3 ranked Texas Longhorns take on the No. 10 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes in the Fiesta Bowl on January 5. Vegas has established the Longhorns as 10-point favorites, but if the Alamo Bowl is any indication, expect another down-to-the-wire thriller in Arizona. A fair number of Longhorn fans were in the house at the Alamo Bowl, as were a handful of Buckeyes, both rooting for their conference siblings to uphold the honor of the conference.
The 2008 Alamo Bowl will surely rank as one of the most heartbreaking contests in school history for Northwestern. One could plainly see this disappointment on the faces of the purple-clad fans as they exited the Alamodome. But they can take heart in how it seems that 34-year-old head coach Pat Fitzgerald has clearly got the Wildcats headed in the right direction just to be in such a situation. Mizzou on the other hand loses Daniel and star tight end Chase Coffman (who made several amazing catches) to graduation, and likely Maclin as well to early NFL departure. Whether they can win big without these stars next season is a major question mark. It will be interesting to track how the two programs fare next season.
Unsettling Ornamentation
Letters (to the On the Street Penthouse Suite)
The creek hasn't completely dried up just yet. The trickles of the week...
#1 Bonnes fetes de fins d annee
From the local French community…
Bonjour a tous j espere que vous allez passer de bonne fetes de fins d annee entoure de gens que vous aimez ...Je pense bien a vous... au plaisir de se lire sur le net....amities
#2 Nativity with Birds
From ATX…
Happy Holidays!
Nativity with Birds, Austin, TX, 12.19.2008
can now be viewed at http://www.barrystone.com/
Cheers,
Barry
Hairy Christmoustache
Though these freshly silk-screened flyers were given away at the end of the fake moustache party at Fl!ght Gallery, it does serve as a nice introduction to the Stash Porn (which has nothing to do with the more common porn stash.)
And lost in all the mustachioed shenanigans, the event was also a benefit for the now fertile South Presa Community Garden, a garden I had too soon written off for its lack of "fecundity".
The Gallery of Mustaches
Somewhere between Hitler and Ghandi? In truth, much closer to the "Tramp", Charlie Chaplin (though I was always more of a Buster Keaton man myself.)
Rolly Fingers meets Pancho Villa.
All business.
Possibly real.
A fake moustache with a lower carbon footprint.
Also possibly real, which made the night a hall of mirrors.
Though there were mustaches everywhere, it wasn't just about the mustache. And sadly, because of that many people showed up late thinking they could avoid the situation altogether.
Luckily, there were options.
Inside the gallery Buttercup played a modest but full set. The amps didn't go to 11 but the energy was high. The lineup permutations can often be as exciting as the full band, as no one is quite sure what direction they will pursue for the night.
And to conclude, mustaches were not the only thing to be grown.
Fireside Chat with Congressman Al (Roster Spots 1 -15 Discussed
Though the once "famous" fireside chats with former congressional aspirant Congressman Al have probably receded into memory, we bring them back one more time with an extended discussion on the San Antonio Spurs. We give a "state of the union" analysis of the entire team, going through every roster spot adding imprecise and self-congratulatory analysis. Oh yeah, it's long.
The mainstream media deserves a toxic lump of coal in their collective stocking this year for their atrocious lack of coverage regarding the suspicious death of Republican IT guru Mike Connell last weekend.
Connell died when his plane went down near the Canton/Akron airport in Ohio on Friday night. The indie media has been ablaze with stories about how circumstantial evidence overwhelmingly suggests that Connell’s plane was sabotaged in order to stop him from whistle blowing about vote fraud efforts by the Republican Party, particularly in regards to Ohio’s pivotal vote in the 2004 presidential election.
CBS finally ran a story yesterday, but CNN, the Washington Post and New York Times continue their blackout. Their silence is yet another deafening indictment of how the mainstream media appears to have a gate-keeper that works to suppress information that would threaten the status quo powers-that-be. "All the news that's fit to print," New York Times?
Investigative reporter and NYU media studies professor Mark Crispin Miller has been one of the leading voices on this story. He appeared on Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now radio program to discuss on Monday and has been updating his blog with further intriguing insights. An excerpt from Democracy Now:
MARK CRISPIN MILLER: Well, I cannot assert with perfect
confidence that this was no accident, but I will say that the
circumstances are so suspicious and so convenient for Rove and the
White House that I think we’re obliged to investigate this thing very,
very thoroughly. And that means, first of all, taking a close look at
some of the stories that were immediately circulated to account for
what happened, that it was bad weather. That was the line they used
when Wellstone’s plane went down. There had been bad weather, but it
had passed two hours before. And this comes from a woman at the airport
information desk in Akron. We’re told that his plane was running out of
gas, which is a little bit odd for a highly experienced pilot like
Connell, but apparently, when the plane went down, there was an
explosion, a fireball that actually charred and pocked some of the
house fronts in the neighborhood. People can go online and see the
footage that news crews took. But beyond the, you know, dubiousness of
the official story, we have to take a close look at—and a serious look
at all the charges that Connell was set to make.
AMY GOODMAN: Now, he had asked the Attorney General Mukasey for protective custody, because of threats to him and his wife?
MARK CRISPIN MILLER: He reported threats to his lawyer,
Cliff Arnebeck, and Arnebeck—also, Velvet Revolution heard from
tipsters, as well, tipsters who also claimed that Connell’s life was at
risk. Stephen Spoonamore, the whistleblower who was the first—who was
the one to name Connell in the first place, also had an ear to the
inside. He’s also very connected. And all these people were saying Rove
is making threats, the White House is very worried about this case.
Also, here’s John Byrne, of RAW STORY, on Randy Cole’s dismissal of suggestions of foul play in Connell’s death. Cole is former president of Connell’s company, GovTech solutions:
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/President_of_GOP_IT_gurus_firm_1223.html
The piece includes a paragraph on the weather in Akron on the night of Connell’s fatal crash:
“RAW STORY was able to secure the weather data from the National Climate Data Center (NCDC) in Ashville, North Caroline. (Available here, with legend for interpreting data here). For the crash event time window between 5:35PM and approximately 6PM EST, visibility was 9-10 miles in broken cloud cover and temperatures hovered just above freezing, contradicting the 1 mile claim in the Akron Beacon Journal.”
Then there's some funny business from the NY Times regarding a press release from Velvet Revolution about the story:The Express-News reported last week on how Caterpillar Inc. has decided to build their new $170 million engine-manufacturing plant in nearby Seguin, which will employ more than 1,400 people.
“It's wonderful news,” Seguin Mayor Betty Ann Matthies said in the story. “By a
large margin, it is the biggest incentive package we have ever put
together. It's a boost for the whole region, San Marcos, New Braunfels
— their work force will come from the whole area. It's big and I'm so
proud to be a part of it.”
The story also reported that Gov. Rick Perry's office announced it's putting up $10 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund to sweeten the deal. “This investment in Caterpillar will not only create high-paying
jobs for Texans, but will strengthen our state's overall economic
situation,” Perry said in a statement.
Caterpillar calls itself "the world's largest maker of construction and
mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, and industrial gas
turbines." But how proud should South Texas be to host a company that is being sued by the parents of activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed in 2003 when she was run over by a Caterpillar bulldozer as she attempted to protest the Israeli bull-dozing of Palestinian homes? The Express-News coverage had nary a mention of this skeleton in Caterpillar's closet.
For more on the lawsuit, see:
Family of American Woman Killed by Military Bulldozer Files Suit Against Caterpillar, Inc.
Family of Rachel Corrie Charges Bulldozer Manufacturer Knowingly Sold Machines Used to Violate Human Rights
http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0315-21.htm
In a prepared response to questions provided by the Current, Senator Ellis wrote that:Greg Harman
Even if humankind came down sick all of a sudden and fell down dead, so much of what we have built would live on after us. At least for a few years.
You’re lovely wood frame home at the corked end of that traffic-limiting cul-de-sac would be overrun and overgrown in just a few decades. Time and the elements would completely wash it away within 500 years.
Here’s what it would look like as it is overtaken by roaches, rats, and other natural processes, courtesy of the website for the book The World Without Us:
Senator Van de Putte’s legislation, Senate Bill 338, would require every commercial retailer using plastic bags (including non-profits) to 
From the Current's "National Affairs" desk comes the sickening type of news we can probably expect to see more of as the Bush/Cheney regime exits the White House and attempts to cover the tracks of their many criminal misdeeds.
A GOP consultant who was apparently Karl Rove's right-hand IT guy was killed in a suspicious plane crash in Ohio this weekend. Circumstantial evidence seems to indicate that Mike Connell was the guy who could have revealed just how the GOP rigged the 2004 vote in Ohio to swing that election to Mr. Bush. Several stories about this are now making waves across the indie media news wires:
GOP consultant killed in plane crash was warned of sabotage: report
John Byrne, David Edwards and Stephen Webster
Published: Monday December 22, 2008
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Killed_GOP_pilot_suspected_plane_had_1222.html
Raw Story had previously reported in September on how Connell was a "high-level Republican consultant" who had been subpoenaed in a case alleging tampering with the 2004 election, see:
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Republican_IT_consultant_subpoenaed_in_case_0929.html
Further reporting comes from the ever vigilant watchdogs at Infowars.com and Velvet Revolution:
Bush Insider Who Planned To Tell All Killed In Plane Crash, Non-Profit Demands Full Federal Investigation
http://www.infowars.com/?p=6728
A tipster close to the McCain campaign disclosed to VR in July that Mr. Connell's life was in jeopardy and that Karl Rove had threatened him and his wife, Heather. VR's attorney, Cliff Arnebeck, notified the United States Attorney General , Ohio law enforcement and the federal court about these threats and insisted that Mr. Connell be placed in protective custody. VR also told a close associate of Mr. Connell's not to fly his plane because of another tip that the plane could be sabotaged. Mr. Connell, a very experienced pilot, has had to abandon at least two flights in the past two months because of suspicious problems with his plane. On December 18, 2008, Mr. Connell flew to a small airport outside of Washington DC to meet some people. It was on his return flight the next day that he crashed.
On October 31, Mr. Connell appeared before a federal judge in Ohio after being subpoenaed in a federal lawsuit investigating the rigging of the 2004 election under the direction of Karl Rove. The judge ordered Mr. Connell to testify under oath at a deposition on November 3rd, the day before the presidential election. Velvet Revolution received confidential information that the White House was extremely concerned about Mr. Connell talking about his illegal work for the White House and two Bush/Cheney 04 attorneys were dispatched to represent him...
VR demands that the Justice Department conduct a complete investigation into the activities of Mr. Connell and determine whether there was any foul play in his death. VR demands that federal law enforcement officials place the following people under protective custody pending this investigation. Heather Connell who is the owner of GovTech Solutions, Randy Cole, the former President of GovTech Solutions, and Jeff Averbeck, the CEO of SmartTech in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Both GovTech and SmartTech have been implicated in the rigging of the 2000 and 2004 elections and the White House email scandal. Our prior request to have Mr. Connell protected went unheeded and now he is dead.
Meanwhile, the silence of the mainstream media is deafening. Connell's crash is being reported by local outlets, but the the suspicious circumstances and implications are being skirted, as is to be expected. Connell's death doesn't even warrant mention on Google News's "Top Stories" front page. There's lots of reporting about the Denver plane crash in which no one was killed though - Google News returns 3,247 stories there.
Greg Harman
She wrote cutely about her husband’s affinity for leftovers. ‘Oh, the big goof!” we can hear Suburban Mom guffawing with a shake of the head as fresh disposable plastic storage containers dance in the frostless fridge.
I responded that my leftovers are actually left on the stove to gently mold over before being warmed for consumption again the next day. She “unfollowed” me immediately.
See, we weren’t friends — just mutual followers in the microblogging world of Twitter. And, let’s be clear here, she followed me first.
It’s strange how relationships form and fracture in micro-blogging communities. As the stream of observations, from the inane to the completely obtuse, roll down the screen, participating in the Twitterverse like getting a snapshot of the noosphere, that philosophized metaphysical realm of group thought now technologically redefined simply as The Cloud.
Suburban Mom wasn’t to be. But, to the platform community's credit, I’ve maintained longer relationships with folks that are even further distance from my particular ideological stripe. What connects us is an appreciation for community. So far, that group appreciation has guarded our world from the flame-warring of too many Internet chat rooms and news sites.
Recently a fellow Twitteratti accused me of writing under the influence of too much caffeine. The poster may have been on track there, though it was unclear if he was critiquing a particular story or my writing in general. As we popped refining notes back and forth, understanding came slowly. All said, I came away if not a better man, per se, one that had been reminded to shape up my news writing by offering links to additional resources and actionable options.
My most recent feature on terminally ill Rafael Garcia, my new friend said, is a bitch. BUT WHAT CAN WE DO?
The media miasma that is around-the-clock news cycles merging with exploding Webshots of rehashed and recontexualized around-the-clock news cycle offerings has folks overloaded and shell-shocked, according to several recent studies. That condition requires news writers to dig dipper into context — and offer solutions for the steady stream of bad-news nuggets we dish.
The sense of personal power is vital to communal, democratic functioning. Without it, expect nothing but increased governmental oppression and withering rights.
While Rafael’s story was the first in which I was careful to include action links at the bottom, I must continue mea culpas for any past damages my unanchored mouthiness has created. And by way of update and encouragement, I write this morning:
Rafael’s hard case, thank you for asking, is nearing resolution. Methodist Children’s administrators are working to set the family up with the home nursing care by early January. But during this turbulent past month, the family has suffered a lot. Those who offered words of encouragement were deeply appreciated. I was particularly touched to hear that 22 UPS employees based at the Callahan-410 office had pooled their money to buy Rafael a Wii system to help him keep his upper body active and healthy until he is home again with regular physical therapy.
Very kind.
While this individual case appears headed toward something like resolution, fixing health care in Texas is obviously a much larger fight.
Write your state representatives. Find your representatives.
You may even want to enter the Cloud and throw some shouts out on Twitter. To appropriate an old Kinkyism: Why the hell not?WEEKLY CONTENT: HOME | NEWS & FEATURES | COLUMNS | FILM | MUSIC | BEST OF SAN ANTONIO |
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