a horrible day in Tucson and in our country

I've had to spend the last week up in Prescott dealing with an extremely challenging week after my elderly mother took a bad fall -- dealing with new accommodations, finances, paperwork, and so, so many other challenges and difficult choices.  One of most challenging weeks of her and my lives.

Saturday morning I was back in Tucson meeting a glass repairman at my house to have my cracked windshield replaced, he had his truck radio on and asked if I had heard of the shooting in NW Tucson.  I hadn't, and we both proceeded to listen to his truck radio for breaking news updates while he worked on my car.  I can't fairly describe my emotions at the time: grief, sadness, anger, frustration, pissed off, punched in the stomach, worried -- no words seem to be adequate.

No one deserves this.

Of the 20 people who were shot, the only one I have ever met was Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, the apparent primary target.  I've listened to her speak at town hall meetings held at IBM where I used to work.  She represents my district, and does so fairly and with open ears in a district that contains constituents of both liberal and conservative leanings.  One of her trademarks has been holding small meet and greet events such as Saturday's where people actually have time to speak 1:1 with her for a few minutes.

One of the biggest problems in our political system in our country is getting good candidates to run who will try to do what is in the best interest of our country, not just what's in the best interests of their own party.  Gabrielle is one of these rare individuals in my opinion. While its far too early to understand the twisted motives of the shooter in this instance, it does make me reflect on the role of portions of the media who make a living stirring a pot of hate between political parties rather than facilitating genuine reasonable political discussion, factual research, and discussion.

Last week I had to visit bankers for family business who had moved to a very nice new office.  I remember admiring the building layout and then sitting in a reception area where a flat screen TV was tuned to a station/program where someone was ranting about a politician in a very hateful manner and with unsubstantiated facts.  Hateful entertainment presented as news.  I almost brought this up when I met with my appointment, what a great facility it was, but that for my own business I could never see doing business there because of how negative their lobby is.  Now I wish I did.

I feel that we should all pay increased attention to where we get our information, whether its NBC, BBC, FOX News, CNN, as to whether they are presenting us with information so that WE can make reasonable opinions of our own or whether they are trying to stir our emotions so that we agree with THEIR opinions.  And as with so many things, follow the money -- what is their stake in the matter?  They are businesses after all.

News outlets and commentators are businesses.  Free speech is important, but so is "free hearing".  We are consumers.  We have a vote.  I'd suggest that there is value to turning off or not viewing excitable programs or news that are clearly working on emotion versus factual and civil discussions.  If we turn off the program, or don't frequent non-news businesses that present emotion filled hateful programs in the background of their businesses, then we are more likely to see more balanced, thoughtful reporting.

I'll be the first to admit that I've said some unkind things in the past about some politicians that I don't think have my or my country's best interests at heart.  Personally, I'm going to work even harder on keeping my perspectives and political discussions based on philosophies, research, and calm factual discussions of difference.  I remember my deceased aunt and uncle, who were very religious and had their own strong political beliefs, yet prayed for our elected political leaders and their success in the interests of the country every night regardless of their politics.

The 9 year old girl that was killed, Christina Taylor Green, had been brought to the event to see how our political process works.  Tragic.  Tragic on so many fronts.

I'm not saying that this tragedy was or was not caused by any organization of particular leanings, I'm saying that this tragedy can serve to make all of reflect on where we may be at or headed if we as a society don't back away from all of the hateful speech we consciously or subconsciously ingest from commentators and programs which do not have our and our country's best interest in mind versus driving up their own ratings, power, and revenue by playing on emotion, fear, and bigotry.

My thoughts and prayers are with all the victims of this senseless act, their families, and our country.

our brains are in our hands

This is part of a Shakespeare themed sculpture outside the Maroney Theatre on the U of A campus. Seeing this, I couldn't help but think of the catastrophic state budget cuts being considered for the state's higher education system.

The loss of Governor Janet Napolitano to Obama's Homeland Security position comes at a particularly bad time -- she recognized the importance of our state's educational system more than many of our elected officials. Every state agency is going to have to make sacrifices, including universities. But we need to be wary of those among us that would have us sacrifice the future to live more comfortably today. To be or not to be... indeed.

I'm reminded of the importance of seed corn for the Anasazi -- we may be hungry now, but if we eat our stored seed corn [for next year's crop], then the future is going to be much, much worse...

• University of Arizona statement on proposed budget cuts
• Arizona State University statement on proposed budget cuts
• Northern Arizona University statement on proposed budget cuts

[Links: Kim over at the Spadefoot Toad has a post on this subject worth reading: So this is what we stand for]

sent online opinion to Congresswoman Giffords

One thing that I've been remiss in doing in recent years is contacting my congressional representatives to weigh-in on issues that I care about. My previous contacts were always by letter which took enough effort to only rarely be done.

I've always believed that it can be helpful, certainly isn't harmful, to let elected representatives know how and why we feel a particular way about an issue (always respectfully). Some will listen, some will ignore, but if we don't try then there is nothing for them to hear...

So, last week with the big three auto industry bailout proposal coming up for a vote in the House of Representatives, I decided to let my thoughts be known to Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords who represents southern Arizona. [Giffords is a Blue Dog Democrat and happens to be the only political candidate to ever have a bumper sticker on my car]. I went to her web site and found an easy to use online form to send her comments. [new to me #64]

If you haven't sent your own congressional representatives notes in the past, I encourage you to check out their Senate or House web sites (easy google search) and drop them a line when something you particularly care about comes up. Its way easier to do than it used to be using letters and stamps.

Too often we vote in opposition to one another based on only a few issues when we first put someone in office and then silence our voices until the next election. If we all continue to use our voices while they are in office, we may find we get more traction on the many issues that most of us do agree on...

Happy 4th of July!

I always enjoy this huge flag flying over a car dealership on a hilltop approaching Prescott, AZ.

I'm proud of our country, very happy and grateful that I live here, but concerned for where we are headed.

I spotted this shipping container a while back in Tucson. Wow! I'm sure the intent was a totally patriotic display, but one could read a lot into this if one chose to. I so choose...

• What's locked up inside that used to be outside?
• If shipped to another country, would they be able to create a democracy?
• If shipped to our country, would our leaders be able to recreate our democracy from scratch?
• Where is it going? Where has it been?
• Would the founders of our country recognize it?
• Will our grandchildren recognize it?
• Why is it in public view, and locked?
• Would it be better if painted entirely Red? Blue?
• Doesn't it need wheels, an engine, and a driver if its ever going to go anywhere new?
• Who does it belong to, and why is there a fence around it?
• Is it going to get cared for and repainted, or allowed to rust?
• Will it get sold to make a buck today, but then be gone tomorrow?
• How many boxes of food would this hold? Guns? Books? Medicine?