It is Monday, and I take back my apology!

I was going to mention that this is the first time that we have had someone post back-to-back, but I wanted to be accurate so I started going through all the old posts. You may not have noticed, but we have 167 posts, which is quite a lot of scrolling. So I'm not going to mention it, because I didn't bother to finish checking.
Speaking of 167 posts, we've almost had this up for a year!

In other news: We got to talk to Richard yesterday! He seemed very happy, though there were quite a few pauses while he searched for the English equivalent of some of the terms he had learned. We recorded the conversation, so hopefully the sound worked out ok.

Some kind of transition....
I got an carved giraffe from Andrew! Joseph also got one, but mine is much cooler. It would definitely win in a fight (either physical or intellectual). I haven't come up with a name yet, but I am brainstorming.

Aunt Sara and co. came this morning, so we've been able to spend some fun time with them. All of our cousins are so much taller than they were before. Uncle Pete and Aunt Sarah should be here tomorrow.

I'm kind of bummed that I'll only see Adrianna for a day or two. And I won't get to see Andrew at all :(
But I did enjoy talking to you both on the phone.

Hope everyone had a nice holiday! Sorry I have nothing interesting to post.... I am a little tired at the moment. Maybe I will add something really neat and fascinating in the comments tomorrow to make up for it. Or maybe I am just saying that to keep you all on your toes. Who knows?

It is Monday, and I am sorry about the last two weeks.

Update: I am in WV! Christine and I drove down to Richmond from Chicago on the 11th. I visited Sarah from the 12th to the 18th (during which time I won a prize for my amazing bowling [I managed the rather difficult feat of scoring a 36 in one game, earning me a plastic pink pig that poops candy!]), then Sarah drove me to Cville where I met up with Joseph, Dad, and Johnny. We all proceeded to drive to Buckhannon.

I am currently sitting on Gma Mag's and Gdad Dobe's green couch in the living room. After dinner Johnny, Joseph, and I visited Mumsy for several very fun hours. Once we got back, Johnny took a shower, Joseph and Dad (and Grandma) discussed physics, and I talked with Gdad and played pyramid solitaire. Now, Gdad, Dad, Johnny and I are discussing politics (specifically the sad state of the Republican party). I am about to get off and go to sleep, but I wanted to put something up here.

Andrew, Adri and Richard: We love and miss you guys!! :)

I will close by referring you to an article that Christine showed me. I found it interesting. Hopefully you'll enjoy it as well.

Christmas Cometh

Hmm... Over the next couple of weeks, it will be nice to see most of you are reading this.

---

No.... I WASN'T implying that there are some of you I don't want to see.... Just that ... I know I won't get to see everyone who reads this, but at least I'll get to see many of you, and I'll enjoy that.

----

Yes, you're right. I should be more careful with my words.

Over the next couple of weeks I'll get to see lots of the kids and other family, and I do look forward to it. Notable exceptions: Andrew and Richard.

---

For crying out loud! Of course I want to see them too. Would you give it a rest a minute? It's just that well, Richard is in Brazil, and Andrew is on his way home from Africa, but won't be visiting family. :(

Andrew will be attending Guilford again Spring Semester, so it shouldn't be too much longer before I get to see him a little.

Ok... so you want the current itinerary?

---

Not really? Hold on this is actually interesting, or at least I think it is. It could easily be one of those SAT word problem questions.... (Bob, Mike, Jane, Francis, Mary, Paul, and Samantha must all meet and all share the same transportation during a portion of their journey. Bob must meet Francis at X at 1:00 , but Francis must arrive at B no later than 1:05. Paul is available to meet at....)

11 December--Andrew arrives in NYC. Stays for Holidays.
11 December--I drive to Charlottesville VA after church.
12 December--Joseph or Johnny drives me to the airport and I fly to Chicago.
12-17 December--follow up on job leads in Illinois, visit Judi, and attend Chloe's wedding.
12 December--Ruth and Christine leave Chicago for VA
12-18 December--Ruth visits with Sara, Zoey, Christine, Joseph, Johnny, and others in VA.
18 December--Joseph, Johnny, or Ruth picks me up from airport in VA. We drive to WV.
27 December--Joseph heads back to VA and starts working again.
28 December--Adrianna flies to Charleston WV. Joseph, Johnny, Ruth, and or I pick her up.
30 or 31 December--We all head to VA to pick up Ruth's car and then Ruth heads to Richmond to pick up Christine. They drive on to Chicago, and Adri, Johnny, and I head to NC.
31 December--I pick up Judi in Greensboro
8 January--We drop Adrianna and Judi off at Greensboro Airport.
13, 14, or 15 January--I drive Johnny back to Virginia for classes.
October 2013--Richard reenters the United States.

Oh and I'm supposed to speak in church in Dobson NC on December 25th!.... Now my head is really spinning.


Still reading? think this is way too much information? Don't worry it will all be different tomorrow if the current pattern keeps up.

An English major, just in Spanish

Hello everyone!

I've been writing posts, but I haven't been posting them. Many of them are still half-finished, stewing around in the back of my brain and the notes document of my computer. Maybe when they or we have matured I'll put them up. For now, at least, we will have to wait.

I enjoy Spanish, a lot actually. I have wondered at times if I really want to spend semesters of my life studying and doing in-depth analysis of medieval spanish literature. And I have come to the conclusion that although it is not my greatest academic passion, I have enjoyed my classes, though the writing has been time consuming. Writing papers has always been something of a struggle for me, for although I feel like I achieve a decent product in the end, my methodology can be somewhat frustrating. In that way I think the blog has been useful for me, in that it's helped me to write without worrying too much what I'm writing. I tend to get stuck on one paragraph or transition in my papers, and switch to another part, then go back to a previous one etc. etc. I end up just jumping all over the place rather than making clear, logical steps. I enjoy writing whatever I want in whatever order it comes out in. Sure it's messy, and often obtuse or confusing, but it's there. I can always edit and rewrite afterwards. And the more I practice, the easier it gets.

So, thanks for giving me the chance to write and keep in contact with you all.

I love you!

Finishing

Hey all!

Sorry to whoever’s day I’m stealing/interrupting, the internet stopped working on Thursday before I could post. I learned, however that it works when you are right next to the server technology, so I am reconnected and can communicate with you all again! Today feels like the last day of school before summer here, and it sort of is. I finished my research paper (after countless hours and late nights, drafts, three complete rewrites of my results because agriculturalists who have livestock are agro-pastoralists, etc.), and it is a monster of a beast. It’s 50 pages without the appendices, and 132 with (but the majority of the appendices is appendix C, which is the analysis used for the results, and because it was so big I didn’t include it in the hard copy I turned in). I’m proud of it, although I wish I could have had more time on it, which technically now I do. Because all we have left is the community presentation of our results on Wednesday and closing activities (basically stuff to try to reduce culture shock), it feels like it’s all over, and I just have the next few days to relax. The grass is green (because of all the rain, it’s the start of the rainy season), the stream by the camp is overflowing (it’s constantly orange and was roaring last night), bugs are everywhere and so are the swallows eating them. And in my bird count I’ve seen/identified 233 birds so far, and my goal is 250 before the end of this week, which is totally possible. Each time I go birding around camp I get around 3-5 new species, and we went to the slopes of Kilimanjaro yesterday, which was amazing, and I saw 16 new bird species there. Anyway, I have 6 days left here, which is both sad and exciting, but I’m ready to get on that plane again.

It's Sunday

I had a couple ideas for humorous blogs, but they'll just have to wait.

I spent last night under a sleeping bag--alternately hot and cold--with a fever, chills, a headache, and an ear ache. I kept wanting to get up and be productive and at the same time wanted to sleep for weeks. I would nod off for a while and wake up feeling better. As I finished waking up, I would realize that I was NOT better yet, rather that being partially asleep had prevented me from realizing how miserably sick I was. You've all been sick. You know the feeling.

Today is that after sickness feeling--feeling returned health and the accompanying lightened load that brings, along with knees and legs that still feel weak, a head that is clear, and a body that feels ready to go until I get moving and really demand something from it. Then the message gets sent: hey you're feeling better, just not THAT much better yet. Wait a day okay?

Thank goodness for a good immune system: Warning! Probable barrier failure (Whether surface, biological, chemical, or mechanical is unknown.) Histamine response? Raise body temperature? Check. Pain and misery functions to indicate problem to owner of body? Check. Adaptive Immune response? Check. Antigen specific Lymphocytes including B and T cells? Check. Twenty four hours later, the majority of the pathogen has been dispatched, and repair crews are left to put things back where they should be. By tomorrow, I'll feel fit as a fiddle, and no one would ever be able to tell by looking at me that I was sick on Saturday.

All this from a few tiny organisms (Okay, yeah I know that the 'organism' part is debatable if this whole thing was caused by a virus), too small to see that got past my immune system and started to use my body as a reproduction playground. If my immune system wasn't up to par, it would have been much worse. Most people recover just fine, but there are people who die from the common cold. Even short of death, most people I know don't want even the relatively minor pain and inconvenience usually associated with an infection.

I went to church this morning not knowing if I'd stay for all three hours, but quite determined to make it at least through my Sunday School Lesson. Church isn't all that strenuous, and I got better as the day has progressed.

Going to fast and testimony meeting in this state got me thinking. Our spiritual lives work the same way. The things that will make us spiritually ill can and usually do start out very small--too small to notice. Yet protection is available. There are things that can keep a spiritual infection from ever getting started. We have a barrier system. Because of the Light of Christ, we all know right from wrong. This can warn and protect us from spiritual pathogens.

Good spiritual hygiene can help in the maintenance and strengthening of this barrier. If I will turn my life over truly, and daily to the Lord, then he'll protect me from spiritual illness and even death. I can inoculate myself through daily prayer, scripture study, and obedience to the commandments. This will strengthen my appropriate immune response. Or I can ignore those things and intentionally contract and spread spiritual infection the same way I could refuse to ever wash my hands, brush my teeth, get proper rest, or get shots to help prevent physical illness.

If I will EXERCISE faith daily, obey and live worthily enough, I can be worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost which is a further layer of protection. I can make covenants that will strengthen my spiritual immune system even further. I especially need to evaluate these covenants regularly--to check up on my own spiritual health, and repent to make course corrections as needed. Finally, it helps to occasionally have a doctor check me out, because he has been trained to see things I might miss until they become problems big enough to cause great suffering or even death. So it is in spiritual things. God has given us the opportunity to have a spiritual check up through the temple recommend process. If I (or we) can have faith in Christ, and truly follow those things which he has commanded us to do, our spiritual immune system (Which starts with the light of Christ and continues through cleansing by the Holy Ghost and sanctification through the atonement.) will protect us from not only outside pathogens, but our own inborn faults as well.

Love you all,

dad

Yes, it is Monday.

And I am posting! In case you couldn't tell from the lack of pictures (not to mention multiple consecutive exclamation points and emoticons), this is not Adrianna.

What?! Why is this not Adrianna?!!

Didn't you read my post last week? We're changing things!

Why?!!

Why not? Change is fun! 

It's a new surprise everyday! Never know who might post!

Sounds suspiciously like anarchy to me. 

Think of how things will be scrambled.

Now that's just ridiculous.

No it's not!!! It's already started.

You're stealing Richard's format!

Why yes, I see that I am. I'll revert back. Sorry about that.

(You're still wrong though, residual spirit of Adrianna's posts).

To clarify our new schedule: Monday I post; Tuesday Johnny posts; and Adrianna has Saturdays.

Ever other day of the week is as previously constituted (that is unless someone wants Sundays....?).

Enough with the administrative blabber! After all, the reason you guys read this is to find out about my life, right? What's going on with Ruth, right? Well, I will tell you. About two weeks ago I scheduled an appointment to give blood at 12:30pm today. Unfortunately I got sick within those two weeks, and while I am pretty much recovered (barring a couple still-swollen lymph nodes), I thought it would probably not be the best idea to donate (mostly because I would not want to be responsible for making other people sick [also it is not allowed]).

In closing, please watch this video so you will know what to do if someone has a seizure!

(Love you all)

Interviewing the (Assistant) Chief

Sorry to steal your blog post day Joseph, but I’ve forgotten yesterday and the week before that, so I figure I’d better just get it out now.
Today was our last day of data collection for our directed research. I got Environmental Policy, which was my last choice, but I am so happy I got it. The other two groups are in a bit of a mess compared to us (all the people in my group are awesome and work really hard) and it is probably the most beneficial studies as it goes for wildlife conservation. Our research topic (which is completely different from our individual studies- we collect a bunch of data on the topic and then we all focus on a different portion for our individual studies) is on land tenure, land use, livelihoods, and how all this relates to human-wildlife conflicts.
It is with both great excitement and great sadness that this was the last day of data collection. The past seven days (seven days excluding thanksgiving, of course) we have everyday gotten interviews from 8 different households in either Kimana Group Ranch, Kuku Group Ranch, or the Kilimanjaro Foothills. I was nervous for this at first but I’m really going to miss it. Even though we have to speak through interpreters it’s amazing just to talk to people, to gain knowledge from them and hear all their stories. The guides are awesome too, and I’m sad I’m not going to be seeing much of them now. The other groups give us a hard time because they have to follow animals or trek through a forest by the river, but I think that our work was equally difficult, just in a not as physical way. Today we split our group into two and split up the interviews. We were interviewing a Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) assistant manager of Amboseli National Park, the Loitokitok District Senior Chief, Livestock Officer, and Agricultural Officer, and the Kimana Assistant Chief. Unfortunately, KWS pulled a “you have to fill out this paperwork etc. etc.” before we could interview them (which they had never done in previous years) and the Loitokitok District Senior Chief never showed up, so we couldn’t get those interviews, but I was at the interview with the Kimana Assistant Chief (the other half of the group did the Loitokitok District Livestock Officer and Agricultural Officer interviews). It was enlightening and discouraging. Talking to Kilelo, the Assistant Chief of 17 years and counting, we learned a lot of how little dialogue there is between the local government and KWS/central government. We also saw how the local government didn’t really do anything. It operates by just being open most of the time and people can walk in, but in the guest book (which we signed) there were only 5-10 people in the last 6 months. We also asked him what were the three biggest projects on their agenda (and gave examples, such as hospitals, roads, fencing) and he wasn't able to name a single thing. The discouragement from this only compounded the discouragement I had felt on the 22, when my friend Alyx and I were interviewing. At the end of our questions we always ask if they have any questions or comments, and that day they had a really good question. They told us that every single year they were questioned by SFS students but there had been no change for them. That was a really hard question to answer, and only thing we could say was along the lines of we’re going to do our best, this is just a study where the findings will be sent to government organizations and NGOs. I didn’t expect my findings to have any serious change in governmental structure or anything like that, but I was hoping for something, some benefit to the area, and seeing that it probably won’t, that all these studies, at least 2-3 times a year for over a decade, has resulted in no change for the people and the area is just heart-breaking. I am back up from the discouragement some, though. Today in the car (on the way to the Senior Chief-who-never-showed-up’s office) we were talking about the interview with Kilelo and how we didn’t see how we couldn’t really change anything pretty much no matter what we found in our studies. Then Rainer, one of the members of our EP group, pointed out that for serious change, as seen in many movements, it takes at least 50 years from its conception before actual change occurs. This gives me some hope, at least, as does many of the interviews which I have had with people who have already started to make changes to help change the degradation of their lands.

Read this so you can reply to all of the important points I raise!

First of all, if you are only reading this because of the title, I would suggest you skip to the last couple paragraphs.

Now, on with talking about my life(!):

I learned a new skill since last I blogged. I am now a tatter! Ta da!!
What is tatting? It is essentially the process of tying a series of whole hitches to make lace. While I am not personally an avid fan of (most) doilies, there are lots of other cool things that can be made by tatting.

In case you are wondering how my NaNoWriMo is going, I will tell you that it is not at the moment. I was doing rather well until sometime last-Tuesday-ish, when my tatting supplies came in the mail (hurrah for amazon gift cards!).

Christine and I went downtown yesterday for an assignment for one of her classes. We went first to the Chicago Cultural Center (which used to be the Chicago Library), where we saw some neat exhibits and found information on free cultural events being held there within the next couple months. Afterwards, we went to a farmer's market that was not really a farmer's market at all. Instead, it was a store that got its goods from local farms. (No, that is not the same thing as a farmer's market!) They had some free recipes, so I nabbed one for artichoke soup to try out (Don't judge me! It looked really good... It has bacon in it!)

Friday night, Christine and I made hot chocolate. We happened to have some leftover cream in the fridge, so Christine threw some sugar in it and whipped it into (drum roll...) whipped cream! So we had homemade hot chocolate with homemade whipped cream! In foresight, this was probably not as amazing and ingenious an idea as it tasted, considering milk worsens congestion (Did I mention I'm a little sick? Don't worry; I'm getting better). I can't find it in myself to regret it though. It was delicious (and very very rich).

So, a few administrative details before I close: I realize that many of us have undergone lifestyle changes since first starting the blog, and I was wondering if it would be helpful to switch around everyone's days? I could rustle up a doodle poll or some such thing...

Also, is everyone up for doing secret Santa again this year? If we are going to do it again, I can set it up with everyone's emails. I think we mentioned before, cheap/homemade gifts and spend more if you so choose (Yay for being broke students/graduate!).

So respond in comments and let me know what you think!
Miss you guys.

Homework Curse

I had not thought about what to say

Nor known my post would go this way

I had not forseen this rhyming verse

Rather, I think it’s a product of my homework curse

What is this curse you ask, my friend?

Why a horrible thing of fright and gloom

Regardless the effort and time that I spend

I get nothing done, just doze off in my room.

Sad it is, but true, but true!

Think you not I’d like my coursework to do?

But my curse it prevents me, oh were it not so!

My distractions are legion, and Facebook, my foe

Whether at library, at home, outside or on bus

I cannot do work, so why make a fuss?

My fabled will-power has turned into jelly

Might as well just give up and turn on the telly.

There has been a change.

I now have a library card!!
And there are qed thn 8iklm8ikm (<--- Christine's contribution to the blog [for those of you who are unaware, Christine is my roommate, not a cat.])
As I was saying before I was interrupted, there are ebooks for download!
Welcome to the 21st century. We've been here for over a decade, but no single advancement in the availability of technology has made me more happy.
The follow up question would naturally be: So what amazing books have you found to check out Ruth?
Well,...... no amazing ones yet. Most of the ones I wanted were checked out. But I'm on the waiting lists!

In other news, November is almost halfway over! Which not only means boys around the world will again start shaving before too much longer, but also that I should theoretically be halfway through my novel! Right?
Well, close at least. Right?

To be honest, I am not entirely sure of my total word count. I have been keeping up with my daily goal rather consistently, so if I am behind it is not by too much.

I was thinking of maybe posting in Italian every once in a while to keep from forgetting all six semesters' worth. I was going to start with this one, but I forgot.
But how would you all be able to read it then? Google translate of course. It has gotten much better over the years. I remember one particular lecture of my cognition class when my professor presented us with the following passage, a translation of a song verse into Spanish, then back into English:

You would improve the clock towards the outside,
You would improve not the shout,
You would improve not the codfish. I is saying
to him Papa Noel is coming to the city.

Can you guess which song??
If you happened to say "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," you are correct!
If you said anything else, you were wrong.
If you've seen this before, well good for you Joseph. (Just kidding. I love you!)

Miss you all.

Research!

Today I skinned my hand playing duck duck goose with some of the children from the primary school, about a 45 minute walk from our camp. Those kids are fast, and I took the curve of the circle of use a little too fast. It was a lot of fun.

I have a little question to pose. Tomorrow is exam day (which is why this post will be shorter than usual) and after exams we will need to rank which of the three directed research projects we want (wildlife ecology first, environmental policy second, wildlife management third, this is just an example). The three directed research projects are:

Wildlife Ecology: Do a quality assessment of critical wetlands in the Group Ranches and examine human encroachment and use.

Wildlife Management: Examine how wildlife disperse and use the Group Ranches.

Environmental Policies: Examine how land tenure affects wildlife conservation.

I know I want wildlife ecology or wildlife management, but the question is which one should I put first? I know how the research will be conducted (WE through vegetation transects, water sampling, human buildings/water use assessment; WM through transects and observations of large wildlife [probably in a car, because we can't really be in the sanctuary on foot technically I think but I might be wrong]) and I enjoy both of them, and I like both of the professors and the research topics. So I don't know what I'll choose, but I'm feeling lucky, so I'll probably get it.

Talking about research, I have had a few problems with the way it is conducted here. Not with the staff or professors, they are great. The research procedures are awesome, as are the issues they are investigated. The issue I have had is with other students. We did a transect through Acacia tortilis sparse woodland/scrubland to assess damage to vegetation by humans and damage by elephants. The group I had was on a transect that went through some of the denser portions of the rangeland (though dense in a rangeland is not really that dense at all), so we had a lot more shrubs and trees to examine and assess. The other members of my group wanted to rush through it, so they started pushing to cut corners which, while they might not compromise the data they might as well, and one of them even said, "We can make that up. It's not graded." It really shocked me. We came here to learn how to do research, and how can you do it correctly if you refuse to learn it correctly? Also, the study we did in Tanzania on bird density and abundance in habitats in the Serengeti is going to be submitted by Kioko (our wildlife ecology teacher there) to a paper. Did their groups cut corners in that one? These studies that they have us practice on our meant to not only teach us but to also be useful. It really surprised me that these students, of all people, would be so quick to, while not falsify (except maybe, if the person was serious), potentially compromise data. There was also talk in the car afterwards, complaining that we had to write it up, and someone else said that they didn't come to Africa to write papers. They, and I, came to Tanzania and Kenya to participate in this academic program. Academics include communicating the information you find through papers. If they wanted a non-academic study abroad they could have chosen it. We were told it would be academically rigorous before we came here. It just annoys me how quick we are to forget why we came here (to learn how to conduct field research and possible solutions to current issues facing wildlife) and the importance to maintain integrity in research. Just recently an eminent psychologist, Diederik Stapel, has been cited for falsifying data on many of his studies, and we all know about the autism and vaccine link study. How can we trust any research if some scientists are willing to make up data so that it looks like that their studies make a difference, when they don't.

All I can say is that I hope the other members, whoever they are, of my directed research group will take it as seriously as I will.

An Unexpected Guest

I came home from Chicago Monday night. It was a very good trip. I was tired. Before unpacking, and as I was letting people know I had arrived safely, I noticed that the inside of living room window frame had been shredded. No, I'm not kidding, and YES shredded is exactly what I mean. I'm not exaggerating. What? You still don't believe me? Fine. Want to see some pictures?

Yes all those chips on the floor were part of the window frame. I agree with you it IS shredded. That's what I said.

'What happened?'

That's what I wanted to know too.

I looked around. No droppings anywhere. Rat poison untouched.

On the other side of the house a loaf of bread on the kitchen counter was untouched. Apples in a mesh bag partially rotten. Bag uncut. Did something eat in between the mesh or did the rotting happen on its own?

The toaster in the kitchen was knocked over and a plate was knocked off the counter and broken in the middle of the floor.

The glass of the window with the shredded frame is smudged all over. All the windows were locked, and the doors as well. The only openings from the outside I could see were a couple of small holes in the ceiling to the attic, and a sliver around a not very well hung light fixture.

Yet something had gotten in and probably had trouble getting out. I couldn't figure out what it might be. My conclusion was that it was most likely a bat. Here's why. No droppings. Stuff disturbed on both ends of the house (no walls in between). Food untouched. Rat poison untouched. And just before I left they were exterminating bats in the house in front of us. A bat might recognize the window and try to get out that way. Still would a bat shred the wood that much?

I went to bed without a sure answer.

From what you know, what could have shredded the window?

Sound off with your guesses in the comments below. THEN check out what I learned today: https://sites.google.com/site/johntglass/mysteryguest

Hello!

I am sorry, but I do not have much to say.

My NaNoWri is going well. I currently have 8, 213 words, so I am only a little behind. It has only four characters so far (three of which actually count) and still no plot line! The great thing about trying to write a novel within a month is that there is absolutely no way for it not to suck, so it's ok!

Other than that, not much else is new. I drove with Dad and Judi to Nauvoo on Thrusday (which was really awesome). Christine and I went to the Lincoln Park Zoo yesterday (which was also very awesome and completely free). I'm getting the hang of navigating the transit system. Daylight savings time was eeeeaarrrrlly this morning, so we gained an hour (more sleep! :).

I loved all of your posts this past week. Thanks for being amazing guys. Miss you all!
Ruth

P.S. As an apology for the brevity of this post, I thought I'd include a poem!

Guess what!!..... No, you're wrong. :)
I'm right....mwahaha


But that's ok because you are awesome anyway. What you were supposed to guess is that Virginia is going to a Bowl!! For the first time in 3 years the University of Virginia has finally qualified. Football wise we are actually doing "ok," at least in comparison to the past seasons :D

Oohoh! I've gained 16 pounds! Aren't you all so proud of me! yay! More good news? yes! no more conjunctivitis! My eyes are back to normal. Even more awesome news? very yes! one of the medications I got is Cyclopentolate Hydrochlorine Ophthalmic Solution USP, 1% .....which is basically a fancy way of saying "stuff that dilates your eyes. Mwahah, it's the same stuff they put in your eyes prior to eye examinations, but it keeps your pupil huuug for more than a day. So for the past week I looked kinda psycho with one little pupil and one HUGE pupil. Soooo if any of you guys want to look super cool with freaky eyes, just let me know (oh yeah...btw...it gives you a horreeenndous headache if you are around lots of light...minor detail :D )

Gosh I miss you wonderful people!! and there aren't enough pictures in the blogs :P (props to adri!)



So far life at the good old UVA goes well. Sleep schedule is kinda weird and homework is stressful, but those are the side effects of me not appropriately prioritizing and such. For example, taking pictures of myself and a Cheezit cracker isn't conducive to academic excellence.








Aside from cheese photography, homework, and weight gain, I have become increasingly aware of much more I need to work on simple forms of self-control. For example, for the past three weekends I have spent $4.76 of my plus dollars on a pint of of Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream. However amazingly wonderful the taste is, the satisfaction is momentary and always results in a slight stomach ache. I tell myself that it is so very much worth it, because it is so very yummy and I don't get real ice cream often, plus its Plus Dollars that I should spend anyway. So it is frustrating to decide what should be done about this situation. Impulsively, it seems like a great idea, but when under the light of healthy eating behaviors and economic frugality, it is pretty pointless. Of course this is a large generalization of both arguments.

Oh and keeping up with politics is rather interesting. I'm about to give a short and base run down of my hall's political affiliation. My hall consists of seven Republicans, three Democrats, one Independent, and the rest (about 6) don't care to discuss politics. When discussing war, the distribution of wealth, and tax laws I wasn't surprised at who landed where. But what I found interesting was their individual experiences, which came up on a completely unrelated discussion. The two most outspoken republican persons described their parents' salaries as "alright, I guess" and "doing well enough" which to them is $1.5 million a year. Another student who is firm in the Republican party, has a father serving in the military. The frontrunner Republican candidate for the conservatives in my hall is Herman Cain, followed by Perry. The most outspoken Democrat is a kid who has lived most of his life outside of the United States. His parents have worked in U.S. embassies in multiple European countries and spent the past 5 years in El Salvador. As of two months ago, his parents are now in Afghanistan. The second Democrat in the hall comes from a household that is strongly conservative. His dad is a dermatologist who teaches a Piedmont. (sidenote: this student has insane amount of knowledge concerning music from the 50s -80s, Miami Vice, and James Bond) One other student prefers to avoid any form of potentially argumentative topic and never comments on any political or religious discussion. The rest of students are never active in political discussions. Some don't care to discuss it and then some don't care about it at all.
So yep, there it is. Those are some things about my hall's politics.

Quick Things About Johnny from My Hall
"Johnny you should join a circus" - Vishesh, "You know your stupid if Johnny calls you stupid" - Patrick, "You must get all the ladies with you guitar playing and Hugh Jackman looks" -Greg, "Hey don't say that around Johnny" - Vishesh, "Johnny doesn't get mad" - Aaron, "Hey it's ok if people think Mormons sacrifice cats, a guy I met thought Catholics sacrificed babies" - Alex, "Johnny, how much time of your life have you played Super Smash Bros?" - Patrick, "Your hair looks better short, it looked really bad long" - Wyatt

The Watson-Webb, 3rd Floor, Left Wing is a pretty chill group and yes, I dominate at Super Smash Bros, and yes that is a bowl of Captain Crunch mixed with Reese Cup Cereal.

Piano-sized holes

Hullo all.

Yesterday morning as I left for class and I noticed something was different in our living room. Nothing looked new, and no furniture was out of place, but there was a lot more room, and one slightly more dusty square of floor next to the front door. Then I realized that someone had taken the piano. The piano that had been claimed by Nathan Peterson, the piano that had been brought here by Richard and a troop of muscly movers, that had been bequeathed to the moving-out Ben Ogden, that had been left in our living room for half a year or so, that piano is now gone. It moved next door I believe. At least I think. I think Nathan left it to one of them, anyway.

There are lots of things that you just don't expect to go anywhere. They've been there forever, and yeah, you heard they'd be going or changing or whatever sometime or another, but they haven't at all. You kind of suspect that life has gotten infected with the same procrastination the whole world gets from time to time.  But then BAM! suddenly and without warning, they're gone.

And there is now a small, out of tune, piano shaped hole in our furniture arrangement. It will no doubt remain that way for a while.

But spaces mean more room to do new things with, more space to play and ramble and cavort in. Novelty has its charms.

Backwards hands

Hello all.

I would like to start my blog today talking about animal tracks. Specifically the animal tracks that I saw today.

The first was the tracks of the impala. They're pretty much just like deer tracks.

Next were the elephant tracks. Imagine a large dinner plate pushed into the soil, and that's what it looks like.

Giraffe tracks are like cow tracks, only two or three times larger.

Ostrich tracks are the most interesting. They are like mittens, almost as if someone with backward hands were wearing mittens and walking on said backward hands. If that makes any sense.

These tracks were seen while we were doing a field exercise, a rangeland assessment. The majority of land in Kenya is rangeland, though only 35% of the population lives there (this is growing with the population however). Why would only 35% of the population occupy the majority of the country? Because the rangelands have a very low carrying capacity. One of the assessment criteria was vegetation cover, and not once in any of our eight plots was vegetation cover (which was pretty much all dead) greater than at most 30%. Erosion was an obvious visible problem as well. Of course, the vegetation will be greater during the rainy season, but people, like most animals, have to survive the whole year, not just during the rainy season. Needless to say, at least in my groups transect (and most likely everyone else's) the rangeland was assessed as very poor. This is the land that the Kenyan population has to expand to, and that is set aside for wildlife conservation. So while it may look like a lot of land is set aside or managed for wildlife conservation, in effect the food biomass in that large area is extremely limited, limiting the effectiveness of the conservation. There's been a push, both by the World Bank and the Kenyan government, to get the Maasai, a traditional nomadic pastoral tribe, to become sedentary and commercialize their livestock production. This has failed horribly for several reasons. One is the fact that the rangeland, because of its poor quality, can only support a nomadic lifestyle, and a nomadic lifestyle is not very conductive to a market economy, especially when the people involved are most worried about subsistence. Another reason is the migration of agricultural tribes, such as the Kikuyu or the Kamba, into the region. They practice their traditional agriculture, which makes the poor soil even poorer, strains water resources due to the necessity of irrigation, and increases human-wildlife conflicts due to crop-raiding by wildlife. In short, although I think my last post may have about this (sorry if this bores you), the past and current plans for sustainable development in the area are not, themselves, sustainable, because of the area.

Not Nauvoo

Yes, this post is not about Nauvoo. So what you say? EVERY post so far has not been about NAUVOO IL!

Well, yes that's true. But there's a difference this time. This post was supposed to be about Nauvoo. We were going to go there today, but the temple is closed so we are going tomorrow. Ruth is going too! So maybe next week's will be somewhat about Nauvoo, a little bit anyway.

I'm still in IL until Monday, but just got some information about a job I applied for in WV which sounds great. So, some good news on that front. Otherwise this post will be much less interesting than Adrianna's post. Mine usually are--I set low expectations. That way when I do have a great post like last week, it can really wow you. That doesn't really work though, because who's really still reading the blog anyway? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone? Sound off if you're here?

I have a Post! :D

Ok, so lately i've been having one of those periods in a college student's life where they've just gotten past midterms, and their grades weren't as good as the first exams, but not bad either. It's the period in between fall break and the third canon of exams. It's the period where I find myself with homework/ studying i need to do, but I say to myself, "it's fine! you've still got two weeks until your next exam!" and then I don't do it... yup, and then a week before the exam, said student will get depressed about how much they've procrastinated and then inspire themselves to study.....but then you find that you have a terrible desire to clean your room, and you don't end up studying until the night before the exam. yeah. I'm trying not to get caught in this terrible trap called procrastination.

So I did my algebra homework early! But is doing my homework early enough? no,
b/c i generally use my algebra homework as an excuse not to read my
chemistry textbook

So, what do i do now?
I'm going to try to lay down some guidelines to force a procrastinating college student to study:
{btw, this is based purely off of personal experience and may or may not relate to anybody else :D}

1)decide to want to do well in school!!! :D
2) go to a place (not your bed/dorm room) where it's quiet, where your not likely to see people you know, and where you don't have many distractions/temptations to allow you to further procrastinate. At UCA they have these tiny cells where i can make myself do work

3) stay away from all social networking sites. (i.e. facebook, twitter, tumblr) you may even need (in such cases as johnny's) to use your browser to block them, b/c the desire to update how studying is progressing may lead to a decrease in your productivity
4) make a plan. google calendars are very helpful. make goals for yourself and have planned study times in which you make yourself go your study place and complete your goals! :D
5) allow yourself to have plenty of time to waste on things like vlogbrothers, facebook, and other wasteful(but important) things :D b/c gone unheaded, the desire to do these things will become greater than that of the desire to study, and then you'll give in and fail at life.

And, if you're as good at this as I am, people will give you cups! :D

Guess what the day after tomorrow is!

All saints day? Well, yes. Sarah's birthday? Also yes.

Guess some more!

If you said "Tuesday," good job. If you said "the first day of November," even better job! (If you said "a movie," negative points for total irrelevance.) Can you stretch even farther and tell me what November is? Other than just a month?

Yes, it is Noshavember (cough Johnny cough), but that isn't really what I was looking for.
Any other guesses?

Well, I suppose I have already told several of you about this, so I should just spit it out.
It's NaNoWriMo!

Not as descriptive as you wished? I'll try again:
It's National Novel Writing Month!

That is correct! November is the month during which writers all over the internet join together in an attempt to (individually) write a (individual) novel in a single month!
For further clarification (as my botched explanation was probably insufficient), go here.

So, why do I bring this up? Because I'm going to do it! I will probably not (in all likelihood) reach the suggested 50,000 words before the 30th (as I still have little ideas for characters or style and absolutely none for plot), but I plan to enjoy trying.

Even If I'm not sure of anything else, I know one thing:
There will be parentheses!

I'm looking forward to seeing the Museum of Science and Industry with Dad and Judi tomorrow (and seeing all of the little kids running around in costumes!). Hope you are all doing well in your respective day-to-day-ness.

VVTB,
Ruth

Swamps

Hello everyone! I am not blogging from Tanzania today but from Kenya! We made the switch on Monday, and I am loving Kenya. The camp is large and amazing. Its approximately 20 acres, contains some woody, shrubby and grassy areas, and borders a stream. Compared to the Tanzania camp, which was approximately 3 acres, it feels so much more free. We are technically fenced in (because we're in a wildlife dispersal area there is some danger of cape buffalo, elephant, etc walking in, which would be dangerous). There is so much wildlife in the fence that I've just been so happy to be able to see. There are a group of ibises which wake me up in the morning, a family of eagle-owls, bushbabies come out around 6:30, and we have to watch out for baboons and vervet monkeys. These are just the most common things seen, there are a ton of others.

Tomorrow we are leaving camp for Lake Nakuru National Park, a fenced in park that is one of the few places that have black rhinoceros. It's going to be interesting not only comparing it to Tanzania Parks in general but also not fenced in parks. We are also going to be spending Halloween in Lake Nakuru National Park. How awesome is that?

I've been thinking of water use here, how different it is from the US east coast. We had an ok rain here yesterday but it hasn't really soaked in because the soil has very poor water retention. I know I've talked about the issue of water here before but it is a really big issue. Luckily we're near Mount Kilimanjaro (I get to see Mount Kilimanjaro everyday, which is amazing) so we get some spring water. Every morning I hear a generator running in the stream just outside the fence, where someone is pumping out water to use for irrigation. Irrigation is so necessary here for agriculture that it makes agriculture unsustainable. We've had lectures out on hills and pretty much the only green areas are swamps and crop fields. Everywhere else is dry and brown. There is a reason that pastoralism is the traditional land use here, because there is not enough water for anything else. The rate of evaporation of water is about a thousand millimeters higher than the rainfall is annually. This is also why wildlife conservation has been important in this area, because nomadic pastoralism is very compatible with wildlife. However, with modernization and movements of people the economy has changed to agriculture, which overtaxes the water supply and destroys ecosystems. The Amboseli swamp, which supports the Amboseli ecosystem during the dry season, is projected to be gone in the next 15-30 years. With that gone there will be nowhere near enough water resources for the ecosystem, causing an ecosystem crash. Diversity is a big word in conservation, diversity in genetics, species, habitats, ecosystems. Diversity in land use practices is important too. Too often we use a one-size-fits-all model with economic growth, and in some areas that just does not work. Agriculture is not sustainable in semi-arid areas, and only approximately 12% of Kenya is arable land. Creativity in land use and learning from traditional land use is needed in order to come up with a solution, because just using up a diminishing resource is going to stop being a solution very quickly.

Dad Occupies Chicago

Dad Occupies Chicago (OC)

Yesterday I went to downtown Chicago to take a civil service test. I got an A by the way--and that is without my veteran's preference because they want a raised seal copy to count it. (They do letter grades here.)

I went to three buildings before I hit the right one. The Illinois Human service department occupies the top floors of a mall rather than being the in state owned high rises that are on either side. After getting there, I was informed that they stopped handing out tests at 12:00 and that everyone had to be done by 1:30 which meant there was time for only one test. Website hadn't stated testing hours, --only 'flexible testing schedule'. Okay. Leave really early in the morning next time.

After the test was over, I started walking down LaSalle. About a block down the street I pass six police men and women with Kevlar vests on. They were just casually standing around and talking. One was drinking coffee of course.

Just past them I ran into a Chinese gentleman carrying a 'No Bank Bailouts' sign. He was with a 20 something young man (also Chinese) who was wearing a Chinese national flag pin and a round button with the stars and stripes. I stopped and asked if they were with Occupy Chicago. Bruce (the middle aged man) answered yes. I asked him to tell me about OC--just that general.

Bruce told me that they were protesting the bank bailout and corporate greed. The economy crashed, people lost homes, have homes that are tens of thousands under water, and the government bailed out the people that caused it. Things are a mess and we need to find a solution. Rich corporations have a stranglehold and are making money both ways. Bruce was polite and calm. As he talked to me he directed protesters to a conference suite he and his niece (A Chicago realtor) had **rented for use of those who wanted to contribute to a group discussion of problems and solutions (open mic it sounded like). Apparently it was getting pretty full and he stopped pointing people there during our discussion.

I mentioned trickle down at one point and he responded nothing trickles down. I told him yes there is something that trickles down and you know what it is. Bruce and the young man chuckled. Bruce continued: 'Look, I have it good. I'm a first generation immigrant; I worked hard, got an education, and was lucky.' He works as a Chicago fireman. Bruce mentioned that not everyone has this chance--and we are paying--we just had a big bailout to fix the economy and it is not fixed.

I said we messed up the bail out. Bruce (Skeptically): 'You really think we didn't need it?' I said I did think we needed it but went about it the wrong way. Me: 'There were homes ready to be foreclosed on. Banks weren't getting their money. No credit because presumed equity was gone. So we paid the banks off. They ended up with the money AND the property--plus bonuses for 'profit'. If we really HAD to have a bailout, then why not pay off mortgages. That way people keep their houses, the banks are liquid and paid off, and people can use their income to live on which gets poured back into the economy. If we had to have a bail out, that method had a better potential to help people along the way and the banks still end up with the money.' Bruce nodded thoughtfully with his head cocked to the side a little, as if he was thinking about it but not sure about the idea one way or the other.

He asked if I had a job. I told him no. Asked what I did for a living. I explained that I had been a teacher and a field engineer. He then explained that there were a lot of Chicago teachers in the movement and began explaining about TIF. According to Bruce TIF funds are used to fund impoverished school districts in the area. His beef here was that Rahm Emanuel (no one I talked to trusted Rahm, Barak, GW, Fox, any TV news media--but Fox in particular, or anyone really from either party--interestingly Ron Paul was mentioned as an unrealistic idealist by a couple of people--some thought him sincere and honest, and some just nuts--but that was the closest thing to a positive evaluation any one politician got.)

Okay, back to the main narrative--Bruce claimed that Rahm declared the financial district of Chicago a TIF area when the businesses had over *500 million in profit. Bruce says this resulted in the people (through tax breaks and credits) giving the financial district 200 million plus. 'Some of that was used for interior renovations in these high rises.' Part of it went to bathroom renovations right there (points to nearby high-rise.) Bruce: 'I just want people to have a chance like I did. It's taking money out of the school districts--hurting kids. The money is going to the wrong people and we need to change the way things work.' I asked him about claims people were being paid to protest. He shook his head. 'I've heard those claims. I haven't met anybody being paid.'

I talked to Bruce a while and walked down the street. I passed more and more protesters the further I went. Everyone was peaceful. Foot and vehicular traffic weren't impeded. They got out of people's way to let you through. Signs said things like 'No Bank Bailouts', 'Financial Executives Got Bonuses! The Bail Out was Wrong.', 'Fix Tax Loopholes' 'Too Much Money in Politics' and 'Stop Corporate Greed'. Signs about the corporate bail outs seemed to be the mode.

There were people of all ages and every look--young, middle aged, and older: people that looked dirt poor, men and women in business dress, with most people wearing comfortable jeans and shirts. Everyone was standing around talking in small groups--mostly like a bunch of small informal debate groups.

I passed a black man handing out yellow fliers and took one. Don't Shop @Take a stand against corporate greed! was blazed across the top. The leaflet continued 'Top Verizon executives took home $258 million over the last 4 years. The company made a billion dollars in profits last year and not only paid no taxes but got a refund of over $700 million from you and me! ..[AND now] they want to slash wages and benefits of their workers...time to join together and say "Enough"

The next flier passer had a Middle Eastern look. He was probably in his forties (old, I know). His half sheet of white paper said "Oppose the U.S. Backed Crimes of the Israeli Government Boycott the ‘Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema.’ ” It continued "Israel has dispossessed Palestinians, forcing them from their land and property, discriminated against Palestinians in schools, living conditions and denied them a democratic voice..."

I didn't meet anyone else who was extremely concerned about that particular issue, but then again, everyone I talked to was clearly there for their own reasons. It was not a group with a list of unified demands, rather most people seemed to key in on the tax system is broken, corporations run politicians, and we are here together to discuss exactly what that means and at least get people thinking about finding solutions.

Another block down I stopped where a grey haired gentleman (Fred) was interviewing a couple of young men. He had an old style large worn leather briefcase that opened at the top end like Mary Poppins’s bag. It was full of books. Fred was asking questions and taking detailed notes. He was asking what people thought the problem was, and how they thought it should be solved.

Fred was NOT a reporter. Fred was an enthusiastic protester. On one sheet he took notes and on the opposite, he had bullet points of what he saw as common themes: Corruption, Wall Street Bailout, Greed, Mismanagement, Lack of Involvement. His common solutions list was short. Many people were concerned about the same things, but distilling a commonly agreed upon solution? Everyone had a different take.

One of the interviewees, Mark (a late 20s or early 30’s brown skinned Linux App and Ubuntu developer and programmer,) is really against corporate bail outs. He feels that the same people are pulling the strings as long as it’s about money. ‘Our society focuses too much on it. Money is the root of all evil. We have to get money out of politics.’ He continued: ‘We act like money is everything. People pretend that it is the only reason people work. It isn’t.’ Fred and I immediately agreed with him. Fred: ‘I work because I want to help people—I’ve worked my whole life. People need to eat, but I work because I want to make the world a better place.’

Fred moves on. Mark says: ‘That guy is never going to piece together something that works likes he thinks he is.’ Mark would like society to democratically choose to do away with money altogether. He doesn’t want any ideology running government. ‘Money hasn’t always existed. People lived and worked together and shared before there was money. Why can’t we do that now before there is a complete crash? People are dying over money. Every war in history has been fought over economics. WWII—it was really all about oil—and Hitler wanted it.’

‘A lot of it was about the Treaty of Versailles and its repercussions.’ I said.

‘Okay, still money though.’ Mark responded.

I agreed that a world without money sounded great but… I asked him, so how would things work without any money? And how would you get us there?

Mark: ‘Money hasn’t always existed. People were fine without money before. They worked, traded, and shared what they had all without money. People are dying—thousands of people every day.’ I don’t know exactly how, but I want everyone together—the people—to find a way before it’s too late; before there is a global economic collapse.

‘That already happened.’ I said.

‘Yes, but another one is coming. Do we have to have millions more die on the way there?’

Jeff (a white 20 something part time college student and local sushi chef)began giving his take on the ideas. [Jeff is holding a ‘It’s not a recession. It’s a robbery.’ sign.] Jeff said to Mark: ‘maybe a total economic collapse is the only way society would ever get to where you are talking about. If you believe it’s happening anyway, wouldn’t that be the place to start what you want?’

Mark: ‘Yes it would, but why should we wait for a bigger collapse? I want to prevent the suffering that would cause.’

In reality, Jeff (like me) was skeptical that we as human beings with human faults and proclivities would ever be able to get to a share and share alike, everyone help everyone else directly democratic society. Jeff thought the idea was wonderful but completely impractical. ‘You are always going to have bad apples in society. There will always be people that are doing what they are doing just to get what they can for themselves.’ What we need is to cut the money out of politics—go to direct democracy.

Direct democracy? I ask. Everyone vote on everything? No, that was not what Jeff meant. Jeff meant he would like to go to a more honest and purer form of representative democracy. He’d like people to put their own messages out—ordinary people can do that now. He wants money out of politics. He believes that politicians are corruptible. His solution: term limits; get rid of perks and retirement for politicians. Stop lobbying. Don’t treat corporations as citizens. Each member of that corporation is a citizen and the representatives need to represent them and all of the other people. Have strict anti-corruption laws.

How do you keep politicians from being bought out just with term limits? I ask. It will just make it so that those with money need to act quicker won’t it? People can still be bought off. Mark likes this too.

‘That’s why we need strict punishment for corruption.’ says Jeff.

Okay I say. But who enforces the anti-corruption laws?

‘The people.’

How? I ask.

'Through the court system.'

There’s your entry for corruption again I said. Someone has to interpret the laws. How do you make sure they aren’t susceptible to being bought off? Mark likes this. ‘Money will corrupt.’ (Mark really is brighter than this conversation is making him sound.)

I’m not arguing against you I tell Jeff. I agree that we need thoughtful change, and I’m glad people are thinking about it. I agree that the bailout wasn’t done right. I’m going to question every solution proposed, because we have to know their flaws. Jeff continued that we had to have strict laws against corruption with heavy penalties and some means of monitoring the courts so that the people could ensure they are fair.

I ask them what they think of the claim people are being paid to protest. Neither one of them knew anyone that was being paid. Both of them had heard news reports on Fox that claimed this. ‘It’s based on an ad in Craigslist.’ said Mark. Fox News probably put the advertisement up themselves.

Jeff said it could have been someone aiming to make the movement look bad, or someone could have actually been dumb enough to actually do it. ‘No one I have met knows anything about it. It doesn’t matter anyway. That’s not what we’re about.’

No it isn’t says Mark. The Tea Party: Now I KNOW some of them are getting paid. I’ve read a lot about that.

I said that I knew some tea partiers and that they were quite passionate about their beliefs as well. I also told them I’d checked out the source for the claim that OWS people were being paid too, and found the same thing: that it was a Craigslist Advertisement. That’s anything but a reliable source. Craigslist, for those of you not familiar with it, is an online free add service that anyone can claim anything on. It’s like a chalkboard on a dark alley. Anyone can write whatever they want, sell or offer whatever they want. Seeing an ad posted on Craigslist for a claim of this magnitude does not make anything real.

I went back to the tea party and asked what they thought about it. Mark thought that anyone who would believe Fox News or the Tea Party wasn’t too smart. ‘But I know people who are smart and feel that way.’ I say.

They may be smart, Mark says, but they don’t think about the world around them. They don’t look at the big picture.

Jeff says he thinks that working with the tea party is important. Jeff believes there are many people in the tea party that are frustrated about the same things. They differ from us because they focus on social issues—gays and abortion. We just aren’t concerned about those things right now. We do have a lot of overlapping areas: The Bail Out, Responsible Finance, Getting Rid of Corporate Welfare, Corruption, Fair Taxes. If we could get them work together with us on those things, something really might happen.

Steve, a white, black haired Chicago math teacher in his early thirties, walks up. You guys talking about the tea party? Yes. I say.

He riffed on the same theme: that working together if both groups could overcome their biases and focus on commonalities, progress could be made. Didn’t see it as likely, but IF it could be done…

Steve is unhappy with the bailouts. Like many he is concerned that ***40% of the wealth in the country is held by only 1%. ‘In the sixties one person could work hard and manage to support his wife and three kids on one income. Can you do that now?’ Steve says it isn’t just TIF that has teachers mad at Rahm. ‘He hurt students by giving money to people who supported him and weren’t in need of a bail out. They were making a profit. That’s not it though. He refused to honor our contracts. Cut pay and funding for students—not in contract negotiation, but unilaterally refused to honor a legal contract that would not expire for another year—even refused to discuss it with us.’

Steve wasn’t hung up on his own finances though. He was quick to correct statistics being used. He said: the other day we were out here chanting tax the rich and people misunderstood. ‘What do you see as rich? Mark: ‘anyone with a million dollars.’ I said I felt I was rich because I have enough to eat and a place to live. Jeff agreed. Steve: A million dollars? I’d consider that well to do, not rich.

Mark: A million dollars in the bank.

‘What if it’s retirement?’ asked Steve. 'We all have different ideas of what rich means.'

In the end it turned out everyone there (including me and except for Mark who wants no money to exist) really meant that they want FAIR taxes. They were all for hard work and people being able to enjoy the fruits of their labors.

Neither Jeff nor Steve wanted to raise tax rates on the rich. They want to get rid of huge loopholes that allow some corporations and some individuals to rake in billions and not pay a realistic amount of taxes. Tax the rich to them means treat everyone fairly and don’t let your wealth mean that the rest of us pay your way just because you can grease the palms of politicians with amounts you consider pocket change.

Most people also wanted to see environmentally, socially, and economically responsible business practices and felt government and large corporations were betraying their natural obligations to act responsibly in order to favor those with power.

In summary, there were people of various views and various levels of common sense. Everyone I met was there because they wanted to make the world a better and fairer place for others. Many varied views and goals, and the whole thing was like a big think tank discussion and debate where anyone was welcome to come in and put their two cents in.

There is clearly no party that at this point benefits from or would have any reason to support this group—if it can even be called a group. The people on the street aren’t out there to support anyone. They are there to say things are broken and they need fixed. The most common theme was searching for a solution to our messed up economy and the belief that we bailed out banks and corporations who are largely responsible for the mess we are in anyway and left everyone else to rot.

Am I worried about this? No, I think it’s a good thing. Will it make a significant difference in how the country is run? Possibly, but probably not, but it is at least getting people together to think about civic responsibility, social justice, and solutions.

*Statistics are the claims of the participants being interviewed, and I have not included independent research on them unless specifically stated.

**Bruce reported that his niece Rebecca? Wooten was chairman of a grass roots collective organization

*** http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/01/31/141611/income-inequality-egypt/

http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2010/09/the-great-income-shift.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EconomistsView+%28Economist%27s+View+%28EconomistsView%29%29

Gary Trudeau on OWS:

http://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/2011/10/25