Auto makers, maybe you'll listen now..........

Michael Moore is right--If the auto makers want the people to pay the band, then they have to dance to our tune. Make the cars and trucks that we need, that use little or no gas, that keep down emissions. We know that the technology is possible, even if Big Oil wants us to believe that it isn't. We certainly don't want to cause thousands of layoffs if the big 3 is not bailed out. I know that 1 out of 4 jobs in this country is directly or indirectly connected to the auto industry, but we have to make the big companies understand that this is not 'business as usual'. In fact, with the economy on the skids, it's not business at all. I also believe that if we bail them out that it is must be understood that any U.S. auto factories in other countries or planned U.S. auto factories in other countries will not be supported by our money.

Sauerkraut and Noodles and life goes on

Noticed that the economic summit of the past few days came to the conclusion that all economies must have regulation or this mess that we are in could happen again. I guess the Republican idea that the U.S. could be a rogue and just decide not to regulate is a privilege that we cannot take anymore. The rest of the world is watching and we have to start acting like we are part of it. The President was honest enough to say that this depression (not calling it that yet, but that will come) could be worse than the last Great one. So NOW it becomes serious to him! Of course, now someone else has to clean up after him and his friends.
If you haven’t yet seen Obama’s web site change.gov, it is worth the look. What a great way to get feedback from the people!
But our lives go on. Yesterday was the first day of deer hunting season and Mike and daughter Kristina were out hunting in the morning and late afternoon. Kristina almost always gets a deer on the first day of the season, but not this time. Most of our red meat is venison and the object is to get as much as possible during the season to try to get us from year to year. It is also beneficial to the wild herd to thin out the population or it will weaken and die. Hunting and marksmanship has always been a big part of our family life. My father is 80 and a few months ago he won the championship trapshooting trophy for all age classifications for the states of Indiana and Illinois and he is the only person to do it twice! He claims that his father was better than him and I personally saw my grandfather shoot from a sitting position a walnut thrown into the air (he used a walker to get around then). Kristina has the same good sight and reflexes. Mike also loves to hunt. When he brings them home, we do our own butchering. It takes almost an entire day and is exhausting, but worth it. Summer sausage and jerky make great Christmas presents. The deer around here eat what the cattle eat so there is very little ‘gamey’ flavor.
Also yesterday, it was time to take the sauerkraut from the big crock and can it in jars for the year. I used huge flat dutch cabbages from my dad's fall garden (I always have him grow those very large ones just for me to make kraut) and about six weeks ago, sat at the picnic table in the back yard and shredded the cabbages as thinly as possible and put the cabbage and salt into the crock. It’s the German in us that longs for all things pickled. Just two weeks ago, our garden was tilled after I picked all of the spinach, and gave all the swiss chard, radishes and broccoli plants that were left to the chickens. Today, I began getting ready for Thanksgiving by making a huge batch of noodles which are drying on the racks right now. I have orders for my noodles and will need some for us so I may have to do it again next week. Soap to make that I will get to soon, I hope.

Maybe it's not too late

As I heard the last words from John McCain’s concession speech, I literally felt a burden lifting. Senator O’Bama’s acceptance speech was wonderful, but not nearly as wonderful as going to bed for the first time in almost 8 years with a pride in my country. I had forgotten what it felt like. We had been looked at so badly for so many years—stereotyped behind a man who seemed to adhere to no party, no principles except himself. Capitalizing on his oil background, a reactionary to everything that happened, he embraced nothing but the cult of GW and it was the scariest time I can remember. We lost 8 full years of working on global warming, 8 full years of working on stem cell research that could have save the suffering of thousands, 8 full years of ignoring the fact that we are a part of this world and its people, 8 full years of allying ourselves with anyone who took the label democracy, 8 full years of working on health care reform. We can’t get those years back, but at least now we have committed ourselves to tackling the issues with the rest of the world. Maybe it took 8 years of that to finally grow up and decide to take our place as citizens of the world, not just citizens of a country. Maybe it’s not too late.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

For all of us who have seen the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou", I can't help but see the resemblance to Joe the Plumber in the 'little man' character. In the movie, a politician has a midget by his side (thankfully they are now referred to as little people) who represents the 'little man'. McCain must have had this in mind when he introduced his little man, Plumber Joe. Now Joe might be a regular guy, but after the poor judgement that McCain showed with his Palin choice, I wouldn't lean too heavily on Joe being the best representative of all of us 'little people'. As for Sarah, if she isn't a feminist now, she may see the light when the election is over and she sees the Republicans stumble all over themselves to get rid of her . After she returns home she might realize that, like many women through the ages, she was used as a token to divert attention from the issues and to be the McCain mouthpiece for those not so nice things McCain wanted to say but allowed her to do so instead. After all, McCain will probably want to continue his career after the election and Palin is dispensable. Palin's career will be a wash-up and she will be left looking out of her office window trying to figure out why she can't see Russia anymore. The notion that 'any woman will do' is one of the biggest insults the Republican party has given women. That and the idea that we are too stupid to make reproductive decisions. Granted, there are many Republican women who are Pro-Choice, but that certainly wasn't reflected in the Palin choice. In fact, McCain has left many moderate, thoughtful Republicans behind. This will be his undoing. And Palin will be the scapegoat for Republican defeat. I almost feel sorry for her------but not quite.

Signs of the times

Yesterday we received a letter in the mail from the local car dealership that we like. The letter said that they would no longer be selling cars and trucks, but would continue to service vehicles in their garage. It was nice to know that you could call Mike or whomever and tell them that you were in the market for a vehicle and actually know the person you were talking to and he knew you lived on a gravel road and needed 4 wheel drive to get to work--knew just what we might need. I hope that scaling down to just mechanics work (and heaven knows we need good mechanics) is not a precursor to closing their doors, but in our area that is happening more and more.
I have an entry level secretary vacancy in my office. Ordinarily, HR would have sent maybe 15 resumes for me to look through and pick out interviewees. I received the totals on Monday. There were 115 applicants! This is for a $10.00 an hour job to start with benefits. There were applicants with Masters degrees, numerous bachelors degrees, untold associate degrees! I had people calling me about the position who have retired on what was supposed to be a comfortable retirement, only to realize that they had lost 40% of their retirement when the stock market collapsed or when they found that medical insurance was completely beyond their retirement budget! This job was traditionally for a young woman/man who is just starting out in the employment world with computer skills they may have learned in high school! That’s how it is.

One More Week

“In one week”………..I heard those words this morning when I watched a video of Barack Obama in Canton, Ohio yesterday. He was reminding the country that in one week we could be on the road to change. I felt great pride and hope as I remembered the changes that were initiated by Franklin Roosevelt when we faced the most daunting challenge of the last century. Roosevelt went part of the way and now we can go further. Notwithstanding the fact that all humans are fallible and wanting to get these things accomplished is not the same as getting them it done, I have great hope for changing this country. I believe that there are fundamental rights that all human beings should have—the right to live in dignity with decent food, shelter, education, and healthcare. These things we must have and provide for others if we are to call ourselves human beings. It has been a long 21 months, but it will be worth it when we finally get on the road to where we should go.

This is how it all started...........

This is how it all started a couple of weeks ago. I am not sure that posterity will note this in the annals of the most important things that have happened to human beings, but....................................

My daughter Katie (getting her Ph.D. at Wayne State) e-mailed me with this comment Subject: Finally!!!
Finally someone has brought this up!! It took a woman to have enough balls to stand up and say that this is stupid - who freakin' cares if Obama WERE Muslim! I'm so sick of Christians acting like they own this country!
Make sure you click on the link to her actual commentary within the article ('Watch Campell's Commentary'). Also, I would like to point out that these Christians don't even think about the fact that there have been people from their own religion who have done 'terrorist-like' acts - people standing outside of abortion clinics and killing women, for instance! Why are people thinking that just because some people who claimed to be Muslim (I say claimed because people of Muslim faith will note that the people who did this were not acting in a Muslim way) and attached on 9/11- we think that every Muslim is a terrorist! I'm just so sick of ignorant people.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/13/campbell.brown.obama/index.html

Then, I e-mailed back to her my response....."Right on, Katie. There are also radical Christians in this country who claim that they can see Russia from Alaska, who think that Canada is a suspicious foreign nation, who think that they must be purged to keep the 'witches' away, and who incite hatred and violence in the name of the Lord (Christian Lord of course). I might remind those people that it was the 'good Christian nation of Germany' who initiated the holocaust! Now tell me that a radical Christian is somehow better than a radical jihadist! You're right----------FINALLY!!!!! I AM SO PROUD THAT I RAISED A THINKING PERSON!!!

Then Katie e-mailed her cousin Missy (getting her Ph.D. at Auburn University) and Missy wrote me saying "Do it aunt Jane! Start a blog. I would definately subscribe to it...ahh the wise women in our family;)

So you see, it was definitely a family project. I am not sure about the 'wise women in our family' part, but what the heck!

Thoughts on an October Sunday afternoon

I am tired of worrying about the election. Insulted by the 'one woman fits all' that the Republicans have decided would be their answer to equality. Worried that we will have 4 more years of the same or, if that isn't bad enough, that if McCain wins and then dies that we will have someone with so little experience and knowledge that I wouldn't have nomiated her for a PTA committee chair. And I am also afraid that if Obama loses the election and there is a shadow of a doubt that the election was not quite honest that I will seriously wonder if my vote means anything. My family has always treated the vote as the most serious and effective duty of all Americans, and I will not give it up willingly, but sadly as I see the passing of our time.

Beautiful fall day, a bit windy but sunny. Spinach still refuses to die and I picked broccoli shoots from the big stems that have already given me large broccoli heads. On a day like this I can pretend that winter will not bring the hardships that are sure to come with our economic crisis (I guess I should call it honestly--depression). I am finishing the baby blanket that I am knitting for my niece's first born who should be with us sometime in December.

Jane