Eastern Exposure Zero

In honor of my first time out street skating in 7 months I give you this:

Hello World

I have much news, and I realize it has been quite some time since you had a substantive update from me. To begin simply, I am doing well. I am comfortable with my job, with Norwegian, and with living in Oslo. I don't have many friends or any truly close friends, but I've accepted it. The general loneliness is not stopping me from enjoying this place, even if I end up spending too many hours in my room on my laptop. The DSE program is going very well, and I know that I am doing an excellent job as Teaching Assistant. Tim and I have also developed a very good working relationship. My Norwegian class is going fairly well, and I'm confident that if it continues in this direction I will receive marks I can be satisfied with. Spring is finally in the air, which has brought me many smiles already and lifted my general mood. I'm already spending more time exploring Oslo, and I'm looking forward to getting my skateboard under my feet and rolling around.


Major recent events:
-A student from last semester, Charloette, got married to her Norwegian boyfriend last Friday. I had the pleasure to take part in the festivities. It was great fun, and I had several excellent conversations while drinking plenty of whiskey. Charloette and I are very much enjoying a relationship based on mutual friendship, rather than a student-TA dynamic.

-I spent Valentine's Weekend in Gothenburg, the second largest city in Sweden. I absolutely loved the city! It is an architecturally fascinating city, as it is a blend of industrial/working class and university town. The city also had a fine design museum and a truly superb Museum of World Culture. The latter museum had an exhibition titled "83 Ways to Change the World" that highlighted all of the different ways to challenge domination. This included alternative methods of producing media (such as 'zines and pirate radio), the radical greening of public spaces known as guerrilla gardening, publicly demonstrating in support of Ungdomshuset (a radical youth centre which was torn down last year in Copenhagen), and more well known forms of disobedience such as the American civil rights movement and the fight against apartheid in South Africa. I traveled to Gothenburg with Jule, an acquaintance from Germany, but I don't believe our budding friendship has survived the trip. 'nough said.

-A recent post of mine commented on the somewhat absurd number of roommate I've had. Well, one of those old roommates is getting hitched. I lived with Janice for nearly two years at "The Terrace," though we had lost touch with each other and I hadn't heard news of her in about a year and half. We used to sit on our stoop, have a few smokes and beers, and complain about classes, love, and the weird smells coming from our landlord. Since those days of yore she has found a Frenchman, and they plan to marry this summer. Here is a photo from the epic summer 2006 party, the Love In. Shockingly, it is the only photo I have of the two of us. Otherwise I would have chosen one that was more flattering...


-I watched Twin Peaks in its entirety, all twenty-nine episodes. I suggest you all go out and do the same if you haven't seen them yet. I suggest a snack of black coffee and donuts.


-I've also been doing a little bit of reading lately, but not much. As I alluded to in my travel re-cap I've been reading Dostoevski: The Brothers Karamazov. I've been reading it in bits and pieces for about a month and I'm still not even half way through. It is long and dense, but interesting enough that I won't quit. I also read Teaching Community by bell hooks. It has helped me to positively reflect on and heal from the failures of last semester. Already I can tell it has influenced the methods and goals of my teaching.

Recent class highlights:
-Attending a conference with the President of the European Commission and the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs. The conference was specifically about cooperation between the EU and Norway on climate change, but an undercurrent was the bizarre relationship between the EU and Norway.
-Attending a seminar at the U.S. Ambassador's Residence on the legacy of Martin Luther King, including presentations from representatives of the Oslo City Council, the Organization against Public Discrimination, Pan-African Women's Alliance, and the Norwegian Center for Human Rights. It was superb and allowed students to reflect on the acceptance of diverse populations in Norway and America. It especially challenged them on some of their preconceptions of Norway being a progressive utopia and America being a global bogeyman with insurmountable racism.

Finally, I've posted a few dozen photos from the last couple months up on the flickr site. There are shots from the Gothenburg trip, the wedding celebration, and a couple trips into the woods.

Evan Hecox

I promise a longer post will be coming, including tales of Sweden, Twin Peaks, class updates, and a wedding. In the mean time, enjoy the work of Evan Hecox.






Hecox has done some graphic design for the Girl/Chocolate Skateboarding Family ads, but my eye was really caught by these urban scenes. The first is NYC, the next two are LA, and the last is Mexico City. He has also worked with the arts magazine Arkitip quite a bit, and he has a new book out that is a retrospective on his career: Urban Abstract.

I CANNOT GET OVER THIS SONG

God, what a mess, on the ladder of success
When you take one step and miss the whole first rung
Dreams unfulfilled, graduate unskilled
It beats pickin' cotton and waitin' to be forgotten

We are the sons of no one, bastards of young
We are the sons of no one, bastards of young
The daughters and the sons

Clean your baby womb, trash that baby boom
Elvis in the ground, there'll ain't no beer tonight
Income tax deduction, what a hell of a function
It beats pickin' cotton and waitin' to be forgotten

We are the sons of no one, bastards of young
We are the sons of no one, bastards of young
The daughters and the sons

Unwillingness to claim us, ya got no warrant to name us

The ones who love us best are the ones we'll lay to rest
And visit their graves on holidays at best
The ones who love us least are the ones we'll die to please
If it's any consolation, I don't begin to understand them

We are the sons of no one, bastards of young
We are the sons of no one, bastards of young
The daughters and the sons

Young...take it, it's yours...

A Valentine's Post?

I'm a day early, so I'll give you two posts for the price of none.

The intellectual is always showing off,
the lover is always getting lost.
The intellectual runs away.
afraid of drowning;
the whole business of love
is to drown in the sea.
Intellectuals plan their repose;
lovers are ashamed to rest.
The lover is always alone.
even surrounded by people;
like water and oil, he remains apart.
The man who goes to the trouble
of giving advice to a lover
get nothing. He's mocked by passion.
Love is like musk. It attracts attention.
Love is a tree, and the lovers are its shade.

Rumi said that. Bell Biv DeVoe say this:
Never trust a big butt and a smile

a post for lovers

Okay, for real this time. This post goes out to all the lovers, especially the ones who ain't got someone to love with them right now.




Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

A Lebanese poet I like said that.

Obama-Lieberman and Polling/Electability

A friend last night called me on the Obama-Lieberman connection. I did some investigating to make sure I wasn't bat shit crazy. Its happened before...

So. All freshman Senators enter into a mentorship program with another more senior Senator. I do not know how the mentorships are normally assigned or precisely what the mentorship entails.

As a freshman Senator Barak Obama requested having Joe Lieberman as his mentor. I believe this lasted approximately two years, until the next election cycle.

Obama being mentored by "Holy Joe" is in the NYTimes. MinnPost and CounterPunch have published pieces that refer to a Hartford Courant article in which Joe bragged Obama requested him. The Courant charges to view articles in its archives.

In the 2006 Senatorial campaign Lieberman battled with an anti-war lefty, Ned Lamont, and a progressive movement for the Democratic nomination. Lieberman lost the nomination, ran as an independent, and won the general election. While Lieberman was still going for the Dem Nom, Obama flew to Conneticut for a high profile fundraiser. "I am absolutely certain that Connecticut's going to have the good sense to send Joe Lieberman back to the United States Senate." Reported in the Times and the Courant.
Once Lamont won the nomination Obama endorsed him. Hillary also made the Joe to Ned switch. A few months ago Lieberman endorsed McCain.

Its not exactly steamy stuff but there you go. Also, I was on pollingreport.com earlier to check up on the head-to-heads. It is an excellent website if you want to keep up with national polls on just about any issue. I wanted to check up on some of the electability stuff.
National polls are for likely voters. I am deliberately vague on numbers because every poll has lists different numbers and poll results should be understood as a range anyways.
In McCain v. Clinton: McCain looks to have a slight lead currently although less than a month ago they were neck and neck.
In McCain v. Obama: Obama leads by a few points, up from neck and neck.
The following poll result is for Dems and folks who lean Dem.
In Obama v. Clinton: The polls are a bit all over the place, although the majority have Clinton with a few point spread.

I still don't think McCain's base will turn out in huge numbers unless Huckabee is the VP (but don't forget we could have T-Paw!). Clinton's recent hit against McCain is likely a result of Obama's surge and subtle attacks on her political character. Obama's support is probably higher than these results due to polling issues (such as problems in polling young adults and folks with cell phones).

But then, I don't support politicians on the basis of their electability. Judging electability often stems from uncertain impressions and vague emotions. It is something which can shift drastically in a day, let alone the 9 months until the general election. Furthermore, I believe using it as a basis can cause us to lose our values and make us forget why we care in the first place. Sometimes it is a giving in when we need to stand up. While every person needs to be pragmatic and suppress certain ideals in order to live in society/in community/engage in politics, there are ways to do this in which we respect our values and each other. Choosing my endorsements based on electability is not my way. Perhaps my way is wrong.

I wonder whether my understandings of the candidates and the election fight would be different if I were home. Would I be swept up in the Obama movement most of my friends are in? I certainly expected as much before...

Man! When did I get on my high horse and when did this become a politics blog? I promise no more politics posts for a while, and I will try to get the quality of my other posts back up. Both of those are things we can all vote for.

Roomies

A conversation yesterday about the housing situation for this summer caused me to reflect on how many people I've lived with. There are many. Part of this blog post is to see if I still remember all their names.

I've defined lived with someone as sharing a flat, house, or similar residence for at least one month while having common household chores like cleaning. That excludes most of the folks from Philosophy Camp but includes my cooking and cleaning team. Since turning 18, I've lived:

-With folks from 11 different countries: Canada, the U.S., Norway, China, Bangladesh, Nepal, Malaysia, Iceland, Germany, Slovakia, and the Sierra Leone.

-And 12 different states: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Illinois, Idaho, Maryland, Texas, Kansas, California, Washington, and Florida.
-In eight different cities, four different states, and two different countries.

-With four people whose names I can't remember.

For a total of fourty four people in six and a half years. That seems ridiculous. Is it more ridiculous that I don't remember the names of some of them? Of course, many people in their younger years have similar experiences of change in living situations. Somehow mine seems extreme to me, although I know many folks have gone through more.

I think part of the reason I miss home and chillin with Cate so much is because of all this transition. Its worn me down a bit. While others are chomping to travel and meet new folks, I kinda want to relax with folks I know and who know me. But alas, I am here for some time yet. I try to experience what I can even if I'm not as enthusiastic as I should be.

Speaking of: I'm going to Gothenburg next weekend. And I have a friend coming now, Jule from Germany is going with. Oh the germans...

Metamorphises

I just read a wonderful little joke I wanted to share. Months ago I said I'd post about Kafka, and here is that post.
"THE SASAS HAS HAD A HEATED DISCUSSION ON WHAT KAFKA WAS TRYING TO SAY THROUGH GREGOR'S FAMILY'S REACTION TO HIS TRANSFORMATION. SOME OF US BELIEVE THAT IT'S EXPRESSING A FATALIST VIEWPOINT OF A WORLD WHEREIN EVERYTHING IS ULTIMATELY MEANINGLESS BECAUSE ALL PEOPLE WILL MOVE ON AND FORGET YOU ANYWAY, AND OTHERS OF US BELIEVE THAT KAFKA THINKS BUGS ARE ICKY. YOUR THOUGHTS?"

Why Hil

I suppose I should explain why I went Hillary. Again, I should have done this before that big ol' Tuesday. Oh well, better late than never? This may not be terribly well organized. My reasons are cumulative. I also want to hear your reasons for choosing. Write them in the comments or e-mail me.

First of all: Hillary is to the left of Obama. This comes as a surprise to most Obama supporters, but when you get into the grit of the policies its true. In addition, Obama discusses the need to work together across party lines. This means as President he would be more willing to compromise an already centrist position. In truth, if you take away the charisma and Iraq then as a politician Obama closely resembles Joe Lieberman. I don't want a President like that.

There is another reason I will mention Lieberman. I remember when Obama had his keynote address at the 2004 DNC. It blew me away! I was so so excited and started envisioning Obama in 2012 or 2016. I went out and read his first book and fell in love with him, more or less. And then I started following his career in the Senate. What a disappointment...

He played it so safe! He wasn't the progressive ideal I envisioned him to be. He kept quiet for the most part and worked a bit on congressional ethics issues. He did nothing to set himself apart except for one thing: Joe Lieberman became his mentor. Yup. The two worked closely together for years and Obama was a strong supporter of his in the 2006 Senatorial campaign that saw Joe run as an independent versus a progressive left movement to oust him.

It is understandable when many folks argue that there are no significant differences in the policies of Hillary and Obama. But thats not entirely true. There are differences and I support HRC in most of them.

The most significant difference that is sited is in health care. Obama's health care plan would cover about 20 million less people that Hillary's. If that is not significant than I don't know what is. Hillary's ensures everyone is covered. It is not truly a universal single payer system that I'd like to see, but it does provide for universal coverage.

There are other differences as well. Education is incredibly important to me and a huge issue for me is getting rid of No Child Left Behind. NCLB is one of the most poorly crafted pieces of legislation I've ever seen. It is an absolutely terrible law, even if it is "fully funded." I don't agree with its goals or methods. I want it off the damn books. Hillary agrees. Obama does not.

Another issue I care deeply about is immigration reform. Last year at Jane Addams School I did some work on the USCIS fee changes. Obama was co-author of a bill to change the structuring of the fee increases. This was incredibly important to me and was the most important thing he did as Senator, in my eyes. However, Hillary goes further by supporting the DREAM Act. For the future of immigrants and accepting immigrants into our society as equals, the DREAM Act is a far more important piece of legislation.

I care deeply about human rights, and not just in matters of foreign policy but in how we live in the United States. I've never heard Obama mention HR and he does not mention it in his FP platform. Clinton doesn't note it on her website either, but in the mid-90s she gave that incredible and important speech in China about women's rights being human rights. It was big.

In all of the above issues that are very imporant to me Hillary is to the left of Obama.

Obama speaks significantly about service, and I really like how it is a central piece of his campaign. He would increase the size of Americorps, Peacecorps, and like organizations. Yet there is a problem here: currently not all Americorps positions can be filled. This is primarily because the positions don't pay enough. Increasingly it is only middle and upper class individuals can participate in these programs, thereby reinforcing twisted notions of charitable volunteerism rather than folks working together to solve their collective problems. Clinton provides the material opportunity for all to participate in Americorps by doubling the size of the college scholarship.

There is one significant matter that Obama speaks of that I haven't heard Clinton on as much. That is poverty (and naming it as such), especially combatting concentrated poverty. Yet Clinton's plans on health care and education will have a more significant impact on the daily life and future of families living with poverty.

With this issue, Obama's appears more to the Left but when you closely examine the overall thrust of their policies and would they would impact American life, it is clear that Hillary Clinton's policies are more progressive and lefty.

There is an elephant in the room. Iraq.

Now, I don't have the solution to Iraq. You'd have to ask the Iraqi people that, and I haven't spoken to many Iraqis (though I have spoken with some). I've never supported the war in Iraq, just as Obama has not and unlike Hillary. When I look at their two plans on the future in Iraq, the only significant difference I see is that Hillary would work with the UN. This is something I have been advocating for several years.

There are other significant pieces that are central to both campaigns: the movement for Obama, political culture, and Hillary's experience.

I understand and support the excitement for Obama. It is an excitement that I have felt, and then lost when I saw through the rhetoric to the practice and policies. This is the first time that many folks, especially young adults, have felt excited and passionate for politics. It is a powerful feeling to be a part of a movement. I respect that. Yet I am surprised when those inside a movement which calls for unity, dialogue, and reaching across party lines cannot understand why I would not agree with their choice for the Democratic nomination and would choose rather to attack my choice rather than learn why I would make it. I would ask: What is the movement for? If it is only a movement for one person, than it is meaningless.

Visions of change are everywhere. Yet, what is the change? I live change everyday in my work and approach to the world, this is the true way to change society. Obama is one person, the problems in our society are much deeper than that. There are structural issues that need be changed that would require most of society, both parties and some constitutional amendments. Obama as president would not revolutionize our way of doing politics, indeed the election of any one person is not enough. I support the creation of a consensus based democratic culture, it is a culture that exists in Scandinavia and I find it refreshing and incredible. Yet the reason it exists here is not because of one politician, it is because it is built into the structure of politics here. This is not the case in the the structure of American politics. Until this structure is changed, we are limited in our capacity to build consensus politics.

I will admit the above section is the weakest of my arguments. After all, no one gets exited about Hillary and changing society in the way they do for Obama. He motivates people in an incredible way. It is just that his vision doesn't do it for me.

However, I believe Hillary's pragmatic approach to doing politics within the American system would do more to positively change the everyday living conditions of Americans. I imagine Obama would more readily jettison his proposals in order to reach an agreement. I need someone to stand up and fight for change, and it is the only way change has been achieved in the United States. Hillary has an incredibly record of work and concrete achievements, much more so than Obama. I cannot disregard this proven record of experience.

There are charges of cronyism within the Clinton camp. It is likely that many of the folks that were part of the 1990's Bill Clinton team would be back again. Personally, I only hope this happens. The Bill Clinton Administration is the second greatest of the 20th century, behind only FDR's. We would all be better off if a good chunk of that group came back again. I'll admit two mistakes of that era: the 1995 welfare reform was terrible for working families and NAFTA should have included provisions for protection of the environment, labour rights, and re-education programs. As for welfare reform, it can be argued that we should be thankful the reform wasn't worse than it was considering a strongly Republican Congress. The NAFTA concerns largely came into the national consciousness post-NAFTA, so perhaps we shouldn't be too critical for it not being included then.

Hillary's team, including these 90s holdovers, have the experience and power to deal with the incredible challenges of society today. Iraq is fucked. Our economy is not as strong or healthy as it could be, and there is increasing inequality. Don't even get me started on environmental challenges. I want nose-to-the-grindstone to get these things taken care of, and it will not be pretty it will be ugly. But I trust an HRC admin to achieve more that I can support than an Obama admin.

Part of this is due to his lack of experience. And yes, he does lack experience. The only things he has run (that I am aware of) have been the Harvard Law Review, a small community organizing operation in Chicago, and a congressional ethics committee. He lacks significant national and international political experience, and I don't know if he can handle (or more significantly HOW he would handle) today's challenges. I always imagined him running in 2012 or 2016 once he was more seasoned.

It is argued that JFK also lacked experience. This isn't true to the same extent as Obama. Indeed, JFK had been a leading figure in congress for over a decade and grew up in politics. I would also note, that I am not inspired by JFK's presidency as thus comparisons to him do not impress me. JFK fucked up with the Bay of Pigs, he started the war in Vietnam, and didn't do anything for civil rights (unlike his brother). The only thing he did (that I am aware of) that I support was start the Peace Corps (an institution which has been critiqued for neo-colonialist aspects but that I still support). LBJ was the Dem. president who brought forth the great Lefty victories of the 1960s (although his great failure was getting us further involved in 'Nam).


It is argued that Hillary is less electable than Obama. I argue this is believed by those who listen to a right-wing smear campaign more than anything else. Hillary achieved incredible electoral victories in New York in 2000 and 2006. These victories were large and were achieved through capturing the left, independents, AND moderate Republicans. Indeed she even had upstate New York voting for her, a well known bastion of Republicanism. She has proved that she can win over everyone. So has Obama, who won a ridiculous margin in 2004 to get into the Senate. He also faced no significant opposition from the Right.

McCain appears to have solidified the Republican nomination. I believe an Clinton ticket, with Obama as VP, has the strongest chance of beating him. For a long time I have maintained that anyone that the Dems put up can beat anyone the GOP puts up in 2008. The only matchup which concerns me is Obama v. McCain. McCain does EXTREMELY well with independents, which is Obama's target voter. It is possible that Obama will be able to motivate enough voters to the polls, especially as McCain will find it difficult to get the conservative and evangelical bases out, but I would bet McCain wins more independents than Obama. Head to head I think Obama would more or less be schooled. Hillary stands a stronger chance head to head through the support of more women, Hispanics, and Bill's popularity among Black Americans. Most charges of Hillary being such a polarizing figure are not accurate and once folks take an good look at her many support her (or at least aren't freaked out). The polarizing stuff has been a line of the far-right for years and seems to now be a self-fulfilling prophecy. A dream ticket of mine is Clinton-Obama. With Obama's movement Clinton would be a shoo in. And I am convinced that she would make a better president than Obama.


On the more disturbing side that should cause us to pause and reflect, I've heard several folks compare Obama to the left's or middle's GWB. There are similarities in political stylings. GWB won the White House through a similar popular movement supported by evangelicals (compared to Obama's "progressives"). GWB, if you remember, came to office with little experience but much discussion of the need for unity and compassionate conservatism. "I'm a uniter, not a divider." Obama is compassionate neo-liberalism with similar discussion of the need for unity. Also note that many during the 2000 campaign argued there were little differences between the policies of Gore and Bush, similar to today and Obama v. Clinton. W also campaigned vigorously against the Clinton political machinations and 90's politics culture while arguing that he would bring ethics back into politics so we could have a white house and president we could be proud of. This paragraph is inarguably the most upsetting I've written. Feel free to give me hell, but consider what I wrote.

So. Those are the reasons why I put a photo of Hillary on this blog. Again, I want to be in dialogue with those who want to discuss. E-mail me or write a comment about YOUR reasons!

The Primary

Well folks its Super Tuesday. I can't vote in the primary, but I can offer an endorsement. Most of you will have voted by the time you read this blog, but I guess thats not the point of why I'm posting. I guess this has no influence on anything whatsoever. Still, here ya go.

Surprised?

Self Among Others

First day of class today. It went well. I am optimistic for the semester, but with reservations. And ya know what, I consider this a maturation in my teaching. I learned a lot last semester, and I can't wait to see how DSE goes with everything I've taken in.

I am also taking Norwegian class again, with the same teacher even. I think it will go better this semster. As an aside, in speaking with this teacher she said the class last semeseter was the most advanced and fast-moving introductory course she'd ever tought. Several of the students skipped the next level directly to advanced, and no one had below a 'B' on the final exam. That is extraordinary when you consider the higher level of rigour in European grading. A 'B' here is equivalent to an 'A' or 'A-' in the U.S. This is another way of justifying why I dropped out, and I will stop now.