The Crack Garden by CMG Landscape Architecture (Photo: Tom Fox). Photo via ASLA.

It is evident that nature in our daily life should be thought of as part of the biological need.
- A Pattern Language, Christopher Alexander

Every morning we walk the dogs in Warren Park in West Rogers Park. It isn’t at all like most Minnesota parks—those pristine, lush green spaces, patrolled by a small cab white Ford truck with green and blue lettering that reads Minneapolis Park Police, where the drinking fountains work, the bicyclists share the path, the dogs are all on leash. We’ve walked together for years. My partner doesn’t believe in working out indoors. She contends regularly and righteously that exercise is all around us as she bounds up every available set of stairs and proclaims like a pedestrian evangelical that she would never in her whole life get in a car again if she didn’t have to! The urban environment is her natural habitat.

Walking isn’t part of my genetic makeup. I come from thicker Italian stock. We like our hair and pasta bowl heaped high. But most days I get up with my chipper, perky girlfriend and walk the circuit. My draw to walking in Minnesota was the Mississippi River, regular eagle sightings, the sounds of the University of Minnesota crew team chanting from the water. But since coming to Chicago, I’ve made do with international cricket games, the guy on rollerblades pulled by huskies every morning, the piñatas and roasted corn carts.

White space is wasted space.
- A client

In graphic design, the client view is that white space is wasted space. Clients want to get in as many iterations of their message as possible, from page edge to page edge—fill it up! White space is wasted space is a blank is nothing, where no message is being communicated. The designer perspective is that white space is intrinsic to the message, is part of the delivery of the message.

There’s an urban garden in San Francisco called The Crack Garden. It’s a giant slab of concrete into which existing cracks have been enlarged and new cracks introduced. Plants and flowers are cultivated in the cracks. The project narrative states, “The design is conceived as an intervention that functions as a lens, altering perception of a place rather than completely remaking it.”

In design, white space signifies elitism, refinement, modernity. It is thin, angular women, thin, angular typefaces; chilly white spirits, the elegant bird wing Milwaukee Art Musuem Quadracci Pavillon designed by Santiago Calatrava.

Warren Park is an urban green space but most days the green is less apparent for the abandoned newspapers and tossed plastic bags rolling like tumbleweeds across the chewed up soccer and ball fields. We dodge the shards of broken beer bottles, trying to avoid trips to the emergency vet for a sliced paw pad. The white utility trucks chug along the paths—the clean up crew—but mostly the trucks emit choking fumes and the crews can’t keep pace with the litterati.

breath (mp3)

White space on the page is a breath, a break in the walls of gray text. Rather than the absence of content, white space gives meaning. It can propel the narrative forward, pause the narrative, open up a passage or a scene, invite the reader in. The reader enters the text through the white space and participates in the aesthetic process.

Lydia Davis, the short story writer and translator, most recently of Madame Bovary, uses white space eloquently. In her short story, “Marie Curie, So Honorable a Woman,” Davis tells the well-worn story of Marie Curie, who discovered radium. The story consists of 45 short sections with brief descriptive titles such as “Character,” “Poverty,” “Research,” “Teaching at the Sorbonne.” Each individually titled section addresses a new subject in chronological order, from Curie’s birth to death. The main episodes of Marie Curie’s life are well known to most fifth graders: brilliant woman pursues a career in science against the grain of her times, poverty, and her own intractable character. She marries another scientist, Pierre Curie, and they discover radium. He dies, then she dies from effects of the radioactive element. The sections in Davis’s story serve to build a narrative urgency to a story that everybody already knows, that holds no surprises. The spacing between sections serves to visually and rhythmically signify a break in the story, and also the omission of exposition and transition. The sections aren’t really “snapshots” or standalone scenes. There is a momentum implicit to the sections; a suggestion that something more will be said, a reference will be revealed, meaning will be made clear. But that doesn’t happen. What is omitted takes on significance. And as the reader, the imaginative act is to create that significance.

Sometimes all we want is respite from traffic and the sound of other voices, to inhabit the white space in the book, to listen to the silences, each space a mystery, descending light from the stars.
- Vanishing Point, Ander Monson

In the narrative of the city, the breath, the “respite from traffic and the sound of other voices” is in the green space. As a city resident, my imaginative act is to “alter my perception” and create a new definition of green space for Warren Park.

I walk in the park. I can go but not back. We can’t return. Nobody gets what they want. I don’t get the Mississippi bluffs, the groomed bike trails, the good dogs trotting obediently at heel on loose leashes, their rapt faces upturned toward what they love best—you only you—the dogs pant. I’ll see where I go, seeing as I go the scrappy crabapple and dogwood trees soon to burst into bloom, mud splashing on the dogs’ legs; all the children are running. I’m walking away from where I was. I trust the motion, which implies faith in the green space, where what is omitted is a crack, an opening, a white breath in the gray city.

Exhale sound by otherthings from Freesound (http://www.freesound.org) under Creative Commons Sampling Plus 1.0 License.

Dandizette: I know that this is not the first incarnation of of Fan History, but can you tell me what led up to the wiki and how it works now?

LH: A long time ago, in a fandom time far, far, away… Fan History originally started as a personal project that was part of Writers University on FanFiction.Net. It migrated to several sites and in several forms, including a fanzine, before it finally ended up as a MediaWiki installed at FanHistory.Com.

Fan History ended up as a wiki using MediaWiki for two primary reasons.

First, for about eight years, from 1998 to about two years after Fan History was founded, I was the only one spending considerable time researching the history of fan fiction. Most of the academics who mentioned the history of fandom only mentioned it on the periphial and their facts often turned out to be wrong when put under a historical microscope. (Star Trek isn’t the first fandom to write fan fiction in the modern age. Wrestling and music actually beat it. Most of it was just published as part of a wider fannish culture, where it was mixed with things like reviews, fan art and more. Man from UNCLE and Doctor Who fan fiction was being distributed as drawerfic before Star Trek was being published.) Putting it out there, on one site that could become extremely visible, was intended to encourage people to do work in that area and to clear up some misconceptions that had been circulating around for several years. (And point of irony, the bigger Fan History gets, the harder it is to find those easy facts like what fan fiction was first, how did this specific term evolve, what were the earliest fandom communities on LiveJournal.)

The second reason was that after having worked on the beginning information for the better part of eight years, I knew it wasn’t a project that one person could ever hope to do successfully. The topic is just too big. One person, or even a small group of people who share similar fannish backgrounds, can’t do it. They just don’t have the perspective and the time. I knew if I wanted this history to go forward, to really begin to grasp the scope of the history of fandom, it needed to be done in a way that the widest variety of people could help with that process. MediaWiki is familiar to a wide variety of people. If you build the rules right, organize it right and create good content, it would appeal to the widest community possible to help document it all.

How does Fan History work? At its simplest, you search on Fan History for a topic in fandom that you think you know something about. It can be a LiveJournal community, a fandom, a term like DubCon. You find the page. You click on the edit tab. You follow the example text already in their and add what you know. Maybe you have a link you think would be useful: You add it in. Maybe you know some influential stories in a fandom: You add them to the list. Maybe you know the date that a mailing list was created, when it closed and why: You add that to the article about the mailing list and the fandom article. Little bits and pieces of knowledge are collected to form a bigger picture.

Dandizette : What made you decide to make it a wiki?

LH: I wanted a wiki with a format that people were comfortable with so that we could get more people involved. I love the topic. I’ve probably written more about it than anyone else in the past ten years. I just can’t do it alone and portray an accurate picture of the history of fandom.

Dandizette: I first heard about Fan History via the geocities preservation project, and I remember all too well the geocities era of fan websites. Do you have any particular favourites from this (pre-live journal) time?

LH: LiveJournal is overblown in its importance in fandom. Fandom was and is alive on Geocities. A number of sites were scrambling to pull their content off and find new hosting. A lot of these fandoms were smaller or less active. That level of activity just isn’t as well known because the community that existed on Geocities post 2003 or so was tied in to communities that existed elsewhere. One such community includes people using mailing lists. Geocities was also big post 2003 for soap opera fandoms, some anime fandoms, small television fandoms, radio fandoms and some music fandoms.

A lot of the big fandoms didn’t move from Geocities to LiveJournal so much as they moved to multifandom fan fiction archives like FanFiction.Net, to mega fansites and archives like Gossamer,Trekiverse, MuggleNet, The Leaky Cauldron, AnimeNewsNetwork, to official sites 50 Cents site, Warner Brother’s message boards, Stephen King’s site, etc.

That said, I don’t know if I have a favorite site so much as a general class of sites. Geocities was home to some of the best X-Files fan fiction stories ever. Ditto for Star Trek: Voyager and Babylon 5. I’ve spent hours reading stories from those archives.

Dandizette: What else is in the pipeline for Fan History. Are there other projects you are working on now?

LH: From an admin view point, we’re working on several projects. We’re hoping to have a new skin installed in the next month or so. We’re working on improving the representation of sports fandom on Fan History. At some point in the next three months, we’ll be adding about 20,000 stub articles about various sports teams. We’ve also been working at creating articles about stories and we hope to continue to add articles in that area. It is a lot of little things that should help us to provide a more comprehensive picture of the history of fandom.

Beyond the coordinated organizing of local religious leaders and their communities, Arise’s pro-labor efforts include an arm dedicated to providing legal support and training to low-wage workers, particularly immigrant workers. This initiative is one among well over 200 functional “Worker Centers” that serve under-represented laborers in the United States. Arise Chicago’s director, Adam Kader, explains, “we’re a community resource … a place for workers to get educated about rights to learn about strategies for improving their workplace.”

The Arise Worker Center, like other organizations of its kind, began as a multi-faith religious advocacy group in 1991. The original members – among them Monsignor Jack Egan, Rabbi Robert Marx, and United Methodist Bishop Jesse De Witt – organized their varied religious communities to support labor initiatives on the north side of Chicago. When they published a comprehensive Workers Rights Manual in 2001, the group received a wide response as individual workers began calling with questions about their rights in the workplace. In 2002 the group added a Worker Center initiative specifically to respond to worker concerns about their workplace rights. Kader describes the early years of the Worker Center as a “rapid response” model, where workers’ calls were responded to as they came in – something the organization has tried to structure differently in recent years. Today, the Arise Worker Center is a member organization that somewhat resembles an actual union. Constituents are encouraged to “commit to other members” by contributing monthly dues (in any amount), attending and teaching workshops, and leading advocacy campaigns. With 215 members – primarily immigrants from Latin America and Eastern Europe, working in several industries – Arise’s Worker Center members have been able to take advantage of the broader network of Worker Centers to share stories and strategies.

In a 2006 Economic Policy Institute study of Worker Centers, Janice Fine described these organizations as “suggestive of earlier U.S. civic institutions” such as “fraternal organizations, political parties, settlement houses, and urban churches…” These early groups were places where immigrants found support and modern unions saw their beginnings. However, the organized unions that formed as a result – which provided job stability and secure wages to families in the 50s and 60s (when 1 in 3 workers was a member of a union) – have seen a steady decline over the past 50 years. The globalization of labor forces in manufacturing, and the nationwide expansion of unprotected job sectors (service industries such as food and janitorial services), has led to a modern economy in which few professions are protected against labor market competition.

But this imbalance of power between big business and organized labor appears to have reached its breaking point. Arise Chicago and other worker solidarity organizations stand today at the edge of what could be another historical turning point – a resurgence of organized labor. In light of the highly publicized occupation at Republic Windows and Doors, and upon the inauguration of a pro-labor president, Kader believes that labor organization has become more important now than it has been in generations. “Deregulation and privatization have really eroded worker protections and led to de-unionization” – a breach of what he refers to as the social contract. “The combination of those things have resulted in poorer and fewer jobs in the US … that’s why our standard of living is not as good as it should be.”

For the hopeful among us, it is difficult not to draw parallels to earlier labor movements and to envision a bright future for low-wage laborers in the U.S. With a new pro-labor president in office, who was an original co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, there are numerous reasons to believe things can only get better. The act would make it easier for workers to unionize based on a “card check” or secret ballot election, coordinated by union leaders; if more than half the workers vote in favor, the workplace would unionize. This is a significant change from the standard practice over the last 50-plus years of employer oversight in union elections, and heavy intimidation against unionization. The Employee Free Choice Act would be the first major pro-union legislation since the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935, which protected the right to unionize. (The NLRA has since been amended to outlaw “unfair labor practices” on the part of organizers, placing great limits on their jurisdiction.)

Unfortunately, the drive behind the Employee Free Choice Act, one of Senator Obama’s campaign platforms, is appearing more and more difficult to push through Congress. Business leaders, already faced with declining numbers in the poor economy, are fighting tooth and nail to keep the legislation from adding another difficult element to their restructuring processes. The business community’s attempts to counter the purpose of the bill argue that the elections would not be secret, that union leaders would coerce employee votes, and that the process denies a democratic right to free elections, despite the name of the bill. In a 2007 policy paper, the Heritage Foundation even argued that “few employees want to organize.”

Current economic troubles are not only a business-side argument against labor organizing, but are also a practical consideration for smaller pro-labor groups like Arise, whose operating budget has been shrinking by the day. Even as the need for these community efforts is growing, their sources of funding (churches, foundations, and so on) have been spread thin. When I met with Kader in a north side Chicago coffee shop in early March, he was just finishing a meeting with another staffer at Arise. He told me they no longer had money to pay her, and although she had done great work, they were going to have to cut her hours. Kader went on to tell me that as the economy turned south last summer, Arise’s Worker Center network members grew hesitant to push the envelope. Over the last few months, however, after Republic’s workers settled for $1.75 million, their constituents were impressed. In the weeks following the Republic settlement and Obama’s inauguration, Arise received more phone calls from disparaged workers than they’d seen in months. “Republic showed to vulnerable workers, low-wage workers, and immigrant workers, that you have to stand up,” Kader explained. “Workers are now saying ‘the economy’s so bad, I can’t afford not to fight’ … When people are desperate they’re willing to do more and to fight more.”

In response to the particular issues at Republic Windows and Doors, service workers around the country are gearing up to fight a large-scale problem dubbed “wage theft” – the pervasive practice of denying workers overtime and severance pay and benefits, to which they are entitled by law. The climate is hopeful and workers are inspired by their forefathers in the labor movement of the 1930s. Kari Lyderson, author of a forthcoming book about Republic Windows, writes, “in a shifting economic and political context, collective action can bring real results.” It seems the time has come for major change, as community organizations set the tone for the voice of labor in our generation.

—

To get involved with Worker Center initiatives like Arise, start with www.arisechicago.org/

To learn more about Wage Theft, see http://www.wagetheft.org

One alternative treatment that has been dubbed as quackery by the FDA is a fever therapy used in Germany that raises the body temperature and directs it towards the source of the cancer. These treatments are known as Hyperthermia, thermal therapy, thermotherapy, or fever therapy. On the Center for Hypothermia Hanover website they explain further:

Increasingly in the research of cancer cells, attention is being focused upon the escape mechanisms of these cells. Escape phenomenons occur when cells succeed in hiding themselves, in becoming invisible or when they send out messenger substances, which suppress the human immune system. Against these escape phenomenon’s, traditional medicine using radiation therapy and chemotherapy has proved rather ineffective, because the body’s degenerated cells are also able to defend themselves against radiation therapy and chemotherapy during treatment. Specifically active fever therapy, by inducing the fever phases, changes the surface of cancer cells, activates many messenger substances which stimulate the immune system to detect the cancer cells and to destroy them. There are also a number of highly potent medications, which change the information about messenger substances on the cancer cells to such an extent that they are exposed, detected and destroyed.

Our very own former president Ronald Reagan traveled to Germany to cure his cancer this way in 1985. When asked about whether or not he opted for German cancer treatments there wasn’t exactly screaming from the rooftops since the treatment was not allowed in the US.

Dr. Hans Neiper who was considered to be one of the best cancer doctors in the world treated Reagan along with other famous faces like: Princess Caroline of Monaco, Anthony Quinn, John Wayne, Nancy Sinatra, Red Buttons and Yul Brynner.  After Ronald Reagan’s treatment, he went on to live another 19 years and his death was not related to cancer.

In Andrew Scholberg’s book German Cancer Breakthrough , he writes that this treatment costs a tenth of what typical chemotherapy costs and is free of harmful side effects. In the book he gives a guide to all the treatment centers in Germany. Of course, this revolutionary treatment has been banned in the United States. That didn’t stop celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor, Suzanne Somers, or Cher from seeking out alternative treatments in Germany to cure their cancer. Why would the FDA deny Americans this type of treatment? If it is good enough for Ronny Reagan why isn’t it good enough for us?

The answer may lie in the hands of an organization many see as immune to scrutiny, the American Cancer Society. Doctor Samuel Epstein the former head of a Congressional committee on cancer has been a long time critic of the American Cancer Society. Epstein claims that the ACS’ “longstanding conflicts of interest with a wide range of industries, coupled with a systematic discrediting of evidence of avoidable causes of cancer preclude many powerful life-saving initiatives.”

The American Cancer Societies 22-member board was created in 1990 to gather corporate contributors. Natural news writes that board members include Gordon Binder, who is the CEO of Amgen, a biotechnology company that sells chemotherapy products. Another board member, David R. Bethune, is president of Lederle Laboratories, a multinational pharmaceutical company and a division of American Cyanamid Company.

With these board members representing their own financial interests, chances are that alternative medicines that cut costs and increase cures are going to look pretty unappetizing. Although unable to find an exact number of how much money chemotherapy generates per year, the word billions is well within the realm of possibility.

In a 2005 debate, Dr. Michael Thun of the American Cancer Society did not exactly deny corporate interests: “The American Cancer Society views relationships with corporations as a source of revenue for cancer prevention. That can be construed as an inherent conflict of interest, or it can be construed as a pragmatic way to get funding to support cancer control.”

It is no wonder that barely any funding is spent on the prevention of cancer since all the money to be made lies in the treatment of cancer. The problem is that the go-to treatment, chemotherapy, is toxic on the human body. According to the Stanford Cancer Center, some of the side effects of Chemotherapy drugs for various types of cancers include: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hair loss, decrease in blood cell counts, allergic reaction, rashes, hearing loss, kidney damage, bladder damage, fertility impairment, lung or heart damage, secondary malignancies, mouth ulcers, weakness, loss of appetite, and loss of reflexes. Those are just a few of the symptoms they list but anyone who has known a person who has endured Chemo can tell you that.  Chemotherapy can be effective for a small number of cancers, like leukemia. Yet in relation to most cancer cases, why would we destroy our entire house if we had a few roaches inside it knowing our house may not be able to be rebuilt? Chemotherapy, instead of killing just the cancer cells, kills healthy cells as well and many times kill the cancer patient. Many doctors have tried to tell the public the truth about chemotherapy, the truth being that (except for a few types of cancers) it does more harm to the body than good. One of these doctors is Dr. Ralph Moss who has said: “If cancer specialists were to admit publicly that chemotherapy is of limited usefulness and is often dangerous, the public might demand a radical change in direction-possibly toward unorthodox and nontoxic methods, and toward cancer prevention.”

If interested in the alternative German Cancer treatments, the Center for Hypothermia Hanover is one centers that use the same method as Dr. Neiper. Not all Cancer centers in Germany have these alternative treatments so it is important to find out before making the trek.

What does FDA approved mean anymore in America and has it really meant a whole lot in the past? The fact is that The American Cancer Society, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Cancer Institute, and the American Medical Association as well as all the drug companies out there generate enormous profits from our misguided wallets. Our health care is being run by businessmen and not by doctors. At this point it is up to us to be advocates of our own health and first take the steps toward healthy living to avoid dealing with the business of cancer.

Amidst these convoluted relations and the atmosphere of fear that colors the narrative about the Middle East, a group of 14 average citizens took a trip to Iran in order to create real relationships.

Rae Abileah, a local groups coordinator for CODEPINK out of San Francisco, called the trip a jihad in an effort to recast the word’s use. “Jihad simply means spiritual pilgrimage,” she explained. “Words like ‘jihad’ have been misused, or used out of context, by U.S. mainstream media and the former Bush administration and Republican party to take on whole other definitions.” The intention of these citizen diplomacy missions is to recast the mainstream narrative of the Middle East, defining it in terms of peace rather than war.

The mission, sponsored by the Fellowship of Reconciliation, consisted of Jews and Christians, university students and retirees, activists and rabbis. They explored mosques, temples, bazaars, and ancient ruins, amid a backdrop of chalky mountains and sandy cities.

But most importantly, the group members spent time talking to real citizens. Through Farsi interpreters and non-verbal communication, the delegation attempted to “find common humanity within poisoned social contexts,” said Rabbi Rosen Brant, from the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation of Evanston.

Describing life there, Abileah’s overriding notion is that Iran is a “tale of two cities:” one out in the streets, and one behind closed doors. This is particularly true for young people and women.

Upon entering Iranian airspace, women on the trip wrapped themselves in their hijabs. Because Iran is an Islamic Republic under the control of a Supreme Leader who functions both religiously and politically, women are required to wear some form of the hijab in public, but the degree to which the head is covered is left up to the individuals.

“Honestly, I didn’t feel a Western righteousness or anger around wearing head covering,” Abileah said. “I figure ‘when in Rome…’ when it comes to something that is not physically harmful…. We learned to poof our bangs and hair in the front in the hip style of the young women in Tehran.”

Beyond hidden hair, women are furthermore disbarred from singing in public and are almost always separated from men in public.

Despite these restrictions, Rabbi Brant noted that the many Iranians, including those who are not Muslim, enjoy living in a country that “moves to a religious rhythm.”

The citizen diplomats extensively explored numerous mosques, including the beautiful mirrored mosque in Shiraz, and met with leaders of the Jewish community in Iran, which numbers approximately 20,000 and is represented by one member of parliament. According to the Iranian constitution, a population of 500,000 is needed to gain representation in the parliament (also known as the Majilis of Iran), but an exception was made for religious minorities like the Jews, Zoroastrians, Catholics, and Armenians.

The delegation generally refrained from speaking substantially about politics.  “Once you raise the issues, you stand in judgment,” Rabbi Rosen said.  But when they did touch upon the subject the perspective was invaluable.

The United States’ storied relationships with countries of the Middle East, particularly our alliance with Israel, weighs heavily on the minds of Iranian citizens. The history of our interactions with the area are not widely known among the American populace; for example, the 1988 U.S. attack on civilian Iran Air Flight 655, which killed all 290 on board, including 66 children. Not only has the U.S. failed to apologize for accidentally shooting down the airbus, but many citizens are not even aware of the event.

Not to say the void in cultural understanding rests with Americans alone. Restrictions on freedom, an idea so distinctly and loudly rejected by Americans, is a habit of life in Iran. Besides the restrictions on women, there are other violations of liberty. Alcohol, forbidden by the Koran, is forbidden by the Iranian government; Facebook is banned within the city limits of Tehran; protests that Iranian NGO Mothers for Peace planned against the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq were forbidden; public hangings still happen regularly. But even the most egregious of human rights violations should be solved by Iranians, as Rabbi Rosen points out.

Agreeing that aggressive U.S. military or economic policy will not positively effect the country’s political or social atmosphere, Abileah says “This kind of external pressure and threat will allow more fundamentalist leaders to rise to power in Iran, and nationalism, rather than internal social change movements, will prevail.”

Abileah emphasizes the need for Americans to educate themselves on life in Iran and ignore the “saber-rattling hype.” CODEPINK will launch a Winds of Change campaign soon, in which American citizens will be able to invest in an Iranian wind power company for just $5 a share. “This act defies U.S. sanctions, supports alternative energy in Iran, and fosters peace and friendship between our two countries,” she says.

Speaking about her experience now that she’s returned to the U.S. has shed more light on the intercultural tensions for Abileah. One woman in New York City thought her oft-repeated slogan, “Peace With Iran,” was wildly idealistic. Instead of arguing with the woman, Abileah listened and acknowledged, a vastly important skill she fostered while in Iran. By learning this skill, we can all progress toward understanding.

For a complete look at the delegation’s trip, see Rae’s two-part blog and Flickr page, as well as Rabbi Brant’s blog.

Editor’s note: Abileah’s quote “Jihad simply means ‘spiritual pilgrimage’” may be terminologically misleading. ‘Jihad’ does mean struggle. Abileah’s usage is more akin to a ‘great jihad’ or spiritual jihad, that of the inner struggle toward improvement. She wrote, “We are on a jihad ~ which means that we are going to a conflict[ed] region and seeking to transform our perception of it into a field of compassion, a spiritual journey to deepen our understanding…”

The first time I went to Europe, I traveled to the old and shimmering city of Prague. I was prepared to conceal my American identity and join in on the Bush bashing so they would see I wasn’t one of those Americans. I found it interesting that no one in Prague seemed to care that I was American, and when I asked about Bush, I got “He’s your problem.” In fact, Bush came to Prague while I was there and I saw no protesters, no angry people. I was confused. Could it be that the anti-American feeling had been exaggerated? Or was it because they had been under Soviet rule so long that they still weren’t there yet?

I relaxed a little until I went to sunny Spain and realized that much of the resentment for Americans was reserved for Western Europe, and the rest of the world. Only the part of Prague I was in was immune.

Once I got to Barcelona, as long as I spoke my less than idiomatic Spanish, things were relatively mas o menos. Yet other friends I know felt stung by the Spaniards. I eventually did too, when I didn’t get up quickly enough for a Spanish woman on the bus. She spat out some rather unkind things about me as I was making my exit, including thoughts on my nationality in her list of insults.

Everyone has heard stories about trips to Europe: anti-American graffiti, rude waiters, and general “screw you” attitudes. When Americans flip open their passports abroad, they are inflicted with the feeling that they are personae non gratae. I think Diane Lane put it best in Under the Tuscan Sun when a German woman declares “You Americans, you think you’re so entitled. You ruin everything.” To which she sincerely replies, “Some of us feel really badly about that.”

That’s the thing, some of us really, really do. A lot of Americans feel bad, and those Americans are usually the people who are most instilled with wanderlust. That is why in the last few years, we’ve been trying to reverse things for ourselves. We’ve been fighting to combat the stereotypes since our former president fought to degrade our image to a dangerous degree (a factor that makes American travelers magically turn into Canadians).

This time, going to Europe, I wanted to find out if anything had changed. I wondered, as I sat on the plane next to a Croatian gal with an Obama pin on her luggage, if European opinions of Americans had changed since Obama was elected. Prior to the election, all the Europeans I knew thought we were incapable of electing a black man as our leader. In their minds, most of us were backward, gun-toting idiots. I asked one British friend how much diversity there was in his government and he quickly became quiet.

I spent most of my time in my boyfriend’s hometown of Frankfurt, Germany, an Obama hotspot. Everyone was overjoyed with the election results. The dinner conversations usually included praise, as if they had a chance to give a universal pat on the back to all Americans through me. The German people are in love with Obama and they seem to take the “any friend of Obama is a friend of mine” attitude.

Frankfurt recently had a local election; signs with different parties’ candidates littered the boulevards, near the eye-catching skyscrapers, and along the streets filled with markets and the smell of glühwein. A nine-year-old girl named Carlotta was eating dinner with us one night and suddenly the Frankfurt election came up. She turned to my boyfriend and in German asked: “Did you vote for Obama? I love Obama!”

I was shocked. A German schoolgirl not only knew about Obama, but knew enough to love him? Germans of all ages had definitely been struck with Obama fever and weren’t shy about proclaiming it. I felt only enthusiasm and happiness exuding from the German people. Every person I met had a comment or two about the new leader of America.

The next stop was Paris, the perceived holy grail of anti-American attitudes. Basking in my sheer excitement over going to the city of lights, I tried to forget what I had heard about the stereotype of pompous Parisians and their attitude about Americans. I was nervous about opening my little French phrase book in front of the suave Parisian pedestrians. I was slathered from head to toe in self-doubt. To me, I was the butcher and their dancing language was the unfortunate slab of meat. I relied on my boyfriend’s German accent and my high school French to get us through uncomfortable restaurant trips. Eventually I began to notice that it wasn’t as bad as I had expected. People were gracious about giving directions; whenever I dropped my gloves (which was often), someone chased me down to hand them to me. When we went to buy wine and couldn’t get our desires across, the store’s owner managed to sell us a great wine as well as giving us a free glass to ring in 2009. “Bon Année!” he exclaimed cheerfully, downing his wine. I had to say that the residents of Paris were as pétillant as their wine and as colorful as their luminous city.

The only time I noticed snobbery was in the very touristy areas. I got the feeling that people there weren’t so much snobby, but instead annoyed by the massive number of tourists. When I thought about it, I was able to sympathize with that. How often in Chicago am I annoyed by the clusters of clicking cameras on Michigan Avenue when I’m trying to get work? It did not so much seem to be a slight towards Americans, but more of a general irritation at those who do not really know how to get along in a bustling city. I could equate tourists in Paris to small town Americans going to New York City for the first time. New Yorkers aren’t being rude because you are from a small town; they are being rude because you are in their way and they are in a rush. The majority of people in Paris seemed indifferent about Americans overall. They lumped me in with the Japanese, German, and Australian tourists. The exception was the African Eiffel Tower keychain vendors: when they found out I was American, they smiled and said “Go Obama!”

We stayed with a friend of my boyfriend’s father and his girlfriend, Sabrina. When the news came on after dinner, conversation turned to politics. “I used to say that I would never go to America if Bush was president. Never. I didn’t even want to step foot there. But now that Obama is president, I think I would like to go,” she said happily. Though people in Paris seemed to be excited about Obama and Americans for the time being, the general attitude was a reserved enthusiasm. The French seem to keep in mind that the foreign policy of the US is so fickle, it may be hard to maintain the enthusiasm in years to come.

The last stop was the Netherlands. The laissez-faire Dutch attitude is known throughout the world due to their relaxation habits and lack of judgment towards others. I was thrilled to see Amsterdam’s flowing canals and billions of bicycles. I came to find the most kind and sincere people of any city I have visited. Alarmingly friendly street traffic greeted us at every single corner, happy to give us directions, and to smile warmly while waving goodbye.

As we approached a woman outside a boutique, we asked directions to the Anne Frank House. She gave us intricate instructions, and eventually asked us where we were from. When I told her I lived in Chicago, she immediately began to talk about Obama. “Yes we can!” she said, laughing out loud as I began to walk away. Her cheeks were as red as the tulips in my postcard-imagined Holland.

The broad rule of thumb seems to be that if you actually sit down and talk to a person in Europe, they will respond to you on the basis of whether you are a gracious traveler, rather than from where you hail.

Overall it seemed to me that most European people are as swept up in Obama fever as that little German girl. It seems that the world is cheering with us. International news praises Obama, and a sense of universal relief has swept over the globe; everyone’s realized that Bush’s time has come to an end. From China to Canada, the general feeling is that Obama is the the future, a future in which we will not use military force to secure our best interests. For the first time in years, the leading figure in the White House believes in humanitarianism, environmentalism, and all the isms that have been lacking in American foreign policy. This is a man who said he actually wanted to “build bridges across the world,” a pleasant shock since the public was accustomed to the literal destruction of bridges. Not only that, but he’s… cool. The same goes for his family. The German newspaper BILD proclaimed Michelle Obama the beautiful, sensuous, and interesting new first lady.

The sense of change has even been marked by Americans who have said ciao to America in search of greener pastures. Bernd Debusman of the International Herald Tribune (the global edition of the New York Times) writes “What was remarkable in 2008 was how quickly Americans abroad sensed a change of mood. After the Nov. 4 election, American expatriates posted jubilant messages to social networking sites like Facebook saying it was cool to be American again.”

In my opinion, European attitudes towards Americans have definitely improved, but still have a few kilometers to go. Will this pro-American feeling last? As for Spain, my sister has been studying abroad outside Madrid for the past five months and said that the people in Spain have proved to be ecstatic about Obama’s win. The morning after the election, the country was buzzing with sheer thrill. In fact, she walked into her classroom to find Si Se Puede! (Yes we can!) written on the board in bold lettering. I think the same goes for us Americans in improving our world reputation… yes we can.

I was born in Detroit, a good place to be from (ba-dump-BUMP).  My father was a lifer at Chrysler. Every kid I knew had a dad who was a lifer somewhere in the car biz.  In grade school, we didn’t go on field trips to museums, we went to the River Rouge plant and Jefferson Assembly.  Our civic heroes weren’t writers or actors or statesmen, they were mythical lions like Ford and Olds, and “car guys” like Iacocca, Shelby and DeLorean (pre-coke bust). The annual international auto show was the event; for a week it put my grubby rust belt city on front pages worldwide. We lived not too far from the steak house where Jimmy Hoffa was last seen; it was not some far off mob story, it was right there on Telegraph Road, on the way to the mall that, like all good Detroiters (and Americans), we drove to.  And now Detroit may be the first industrial American city to die.

As such, people keep asking me about the “bailout,” thinking that the 10W40 in my blood might make for some insight that doesn’t redact this Gordian knot of a problem into the easily digestible either/or proposition that we seem to be comfortable with in this era of Jerry Springer chair-throwing-styled debates. It is a dynamic that largely ignores the swirling vortex of factors and players; it’s like the end of Reservoir Dogs–everyone’s got a gun pointed at everyone else, and we get to watch with a mixture of revulsion, disbelief and schadenfreude.  Unions, executives, politicians, economic Darwinists and ideological blowhards of all persuasions have dogs in this fight.  All have their interests, biases, valid points and hysterical overreactions.  Some intersect, most diverge.

A popular bogie man (especially among the Wall Street Journal and Fox News crowd) is the UAW.  They grew fat and powerful and lazy.  They are grossly overpaid (especially compared to those in workers’ paradises such as China and India) and saddle the industry with untenable “legacy costs.”   Any bailout has to include provisions to “control” them, or rein in their influence.  Many Republican commentaries on the bailout sound like nothing more than a naked, union-busting power grab, as if a good union salary is somehow more “un-American” than an eight-figure CEO salary.  However, one need not look further than the jobs bank (where workers are paid even if there is no need for their job at that time) to see that there is some merit to this viewpoint.  On the other hand, they also provide tens of thousands of skilled manufacturing jobs.  If those jobs are lost, we are told, the ripple effect would be devastating.  After all, no car industry is worse than a failing or broken one.

Maybe the government is to blame.  Maybe there needs to be more intervention from Washington; legislate higher fuel economy standards, dictate what kind of cars can be made, require innovation.  Ignore Congress’ decades long predilection for being the industry’s lapdog, or the convoluted CAFÉ standards that allow for political cover but accomplish little, or that government-run auto companies give us winners like the Yugo.

Then there are the companies themselves, with their business models leading straight for the concrete abutment of oblivion or irrelevancy.  Sure, they gorged themselves at the hog troughs of SUV profits. Didn’t hear many complaints then about how unfair unions or government meddling were then, did we?   They have been painfully reluctant to accept change and display a pattern of resistance and outright hostility to science (Who Killed the Electric Car?) and safety (it took untold lawsuits and some [rare] useful action from the government to force carmakers to implement safety glass, seat belts, airbags and emissions reductions).  To paraphrase Hearst’s muckraking: Remember the Pinto!

To top it all off, we have the perfect perp walk, via scapegoats that sit sweatily in the white glare of the hearing room lights: the out of touch, tone-deaf CEOS!  Didn’t we all enjoy the theater of them being castigated for their Robber Baron salaries and smug sense of entitlement?  Didn’t the righteous indignation over the corporate jets make us feel better?  The promises of a pay cut to $1 may have exacted our pound of flesh but solved nothing of import.  Sure, these guys should be publicly flogged, but these are cosmetic changes and the lawmakers are all too eager to comply now that the political winds have shifted, especially if it deflects any culpability on their part.

And, yes, they deserve to be punished; a business that does not thrive should not be propped up by the government.  Should the government should have kept Underwood in business making typewriters in the face of the nascent computer industry?  It goes against all the precepts of free market capitalism (just ignore that that is exactly what they recently did for the banks…).  More damning, though, is that they chose not to lead, to look forward, to innovate, or to use America’s dynamism and technological prowess to improve their products.  But, really, can you blame the CEOs for running their companies into the ground by making bigger and more obnoxious cars?   It’s merely a reflection of our crack-mentality approach to capitalism, in all its eight-cylinder glory.

With all these villains to go around, the dirty little unacknowledged or unrealized truth is that we too are one of them, perhaps the main one, but nobody likes to hear that they are part of the problem.  Our short sighted, selfish interests as consumers add a substantial piece to this little morality play.  While it is cathartic to point our fingers at unions or government agencies or craven CEOs, it ignores the basic tenet of supply and demand.  We demanded it, they supplied it.  Now we are playing the hapless victims, like we were forced to buy a shitty, gas-guzzling car.  Hell, they were just giving us what we wanted.

Americans have a remarkable capacity to delude convenience into necessity.   Instead of demanding fuel efficiency or development of alternative fuels and power trains, we asked for more cup holders, three rows of seats, an entertainment system and a high riding profile.   We wanted a car that could tackle the Sahara desert or the drive through raging rivers or scale Everest, even if we were only driving to the Chuck E. Cheese’s in Schaumberg.  Fuel economy?  Let the other guy worry about that. After all, we needed the Escalades and Tahoes.  It was the OTHER guy who was the jerk for having one.

We bought the SUVs (and when I say “we” I mean “not me”) when there were already ample reasons not to.  We were sending money to our enemies–despotic, unstable, unFREE regimes. A journalist recently summed it up by noting “we are borrowing money from China to send it to Saudi Arabia”. We were hastening global warning–is there anything more galling than an SUV with anti-Bush bumper sticker? We were filling the roads with obnoxious, oversized and unsafe eyesores.  Driving a Hummer represented a giant FUCK YOU.  It was a grand expression of selfishness to which we all aspired.   Only when gas got expensive did we get our dander up.  We demanded little and received it in a massively over-horse-powered dose.

Now we are eager to blame everyone else for going along with it, for enabling our base indulgences and extravagances.  It was THEM that forced the gas-guzzling SUVs on us, depriving us of fuel-efficient hybrids.  We were powerless innocents.  Hey, if you don’t want a McDonald’s in your neighborhood, don’t buy any fucking McNuggets, okay?  The SUV binge was our own damn fault.  When will we learn that when we buy something we are voting for the kind of world we want around us?

Ultimately, the “what to do” question is far too complex for me and too complex for a short attention-spanned public looking to an obliging media for an easy scapegoat.  It’s certainly too tough to tackle in a short blog posting geared towards the digital, short-attention spanned generation.   I can only hope a lot of people far smarter than me, and not just some political poltroons, get a chance to address the problem in a meaningful way.  God help us if we get an “auto czar” in the mold of the Michaels, Chertoff or Brown–the wizards of Katrina relief.

It’s probably time to move on and a bailout is only delaying the inevitable, the necessarily inevitable.  The century of reliance on the internal combustion engine is perhaps over, and the gas-thirsty entitlement of generations of Americans is at an end. This bailout might be along the lines of sinking money into the canal system at the expense of ascendant railroads, only now the stakes are much higher, for our economy, our planet, our security, and our place in the world as a political power, as well as source of hope and entrepreneurial vigor.  The grand American tradition of problem solving by our spirit of innovation and big thinking is being diluted by this false choice of bail out or no bail out.  With private car ownership per 1,000 people at 480 in the US, in comparison to a rapidly-rising 1,000-9 ratio in China, it is an unsustainable proposition anyway.  The paradigm has to shift, but all the entrenched interests (including us) would rather point fingers or shrug shoulders or turn a blind eye; they didn’t see it coming, or didn’t WANT to see it coming; it is a solution (or non-solution) based on status quo thinking, and that’s the saddest part of all.

It took a business trip to Frankfurt and walk around to the various English-language sections of German bookstores to discover that laughs might be alive and well in the Old World. It’s frightening to think that there were actually a number of very funny books written by Americans this year and you can only find them halfway across the world in bookstores in Europe. Ever heard of Ron Currie Jr.? Well, his book God Is Dead last year was perhaps the funniest book of 2007. God comes down to Earth as a Sudanese woman to observe the conflict in Darfur only to get killed in the opening pages. Dogs feed on God’s dead flesh and become sentient beings who complain that God’s flesh tasted anything but divine. Currie Jr. makes George Saunders seem ordinary. Try and find Ron Currie Junior’s books in an Borders or a Barnes and Noble. I walked out of that Frankfurt bookstore with five literary comedies to haul home on the international flight. In America, if the comedy isn’t romantic and the cover isn’t pink or baby blue, you won’t find it. Is this the new American zeitgeist? The Tina Fey as Sarah Palin phenomenon was just a blip in the radar.

There are a few outliers to this disturbing trend in the red, white and blue states. They may be hard to find, but worth looking for:

Best Picture: JCVD

Do I lose all credibility by saying that JCVD was the best picture I saw this year and that Jean-Claude Van Damme deserves a best actor nod for his role as, well, Jean-Claude Van Damme, a washed-up, broke action star who is humiliated at every turn by his fame and accidentally gets taken hostage in a botched post office robbery. Viewers get to see Van Damme act for the first time in his career and you’ll even find yourself shedding tears for Van Damme the man as he begs his agent to put him in a studio instead of getting him cast in movies entitled No Limit Injury II. By the time Van Damme rises above the movie set and gives his existential monologue about what it’s like to be Van Damme the celebrity drug addict, the many-times ex-husband, and the karate kid, you’ll be ready to open the envelope and read his name in February at the Academy Awards. Seriously. If Forest Whitaker, his fellow cast mate in Bloodsport, can win an Oscar, why can’t JCVD?

Best Fiction: The White Tiger, by Aravand Adiga

Forget the saccharine film “Slumdog Millionaire.” If you really want to get an insider’s view of what’s it’s like to be from the Darkness in India, pick up the 2008 Booker Prize winner, The White Tiger. Adiga’s novel about a servant who kills his master is a scathing, hilarious look at a corrupt, present-day India, where the slumdogs left behind by India’s outsourcing boom are treated as sub-humans.

Best TV (a tie): The Office, “Moroccan Christmas” and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, “The Gang Cracked the Liberty Bell”

After watching hundreds of hours of television this years, two half-hour episodes stood out to me in 2008 as the funniest on television. The second-to-last episode of this season’s The Office finally pushed the show up to the cringe-inducing-I’m-laughing-but-I’m-not-sure-this-is-funny level of the U.K. original. When one of the office workers literally gets lit (gets drunk and inadvertently lights her hair on fire) at the office Christmas party, Michael Scott stages an intervention for her and literally drags her kicking and screaming into rehab. Funny or horrifying? You be the  judge.

As for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, in the episode The Gang Cracks The Liberty Bell, the gang tries to get Paddy’s Bar certified as a historical landmark and makes up a story of how Paddy’s Pub was responsible for cracking the bell. The episode puts the gang in Revolutionary Period garb with muskets and wigs. Dee is, you guessed it, a Salem witch and Dennis drafts a Declaration of Dependence on the British.

Analytical chemistry laboratories use a chemical called acetonitrile to perform liquid chromatography.  Analytical chemistry is a discipline devoted to determining how much of a given chemical is in a sample, and liquid and gas chromatography are two of the methods used to perform this delicate and invaluable aspect of laboratory research.

Acetonitrile has up until recently been, most of the time anyway, cheap and certainly plentiful enough for all the labs in the world.  Only a tiny amount is needed for each run.  However, analytical labs have been of late thrown into a panic due to a world-wide acetonitrile shortage. 

Several factors contributed to the shortage.  The Olympic games in China cause the Chinese government to shut down all the factories that made acetonitrile during the games; a fire destroyed another plant.  Perhaps the most alarming factor, though, is that acetonitrile is a byproduct of the production of polyacrilonitrile, one of the plastics used in car bumpers.  The massive slump in auto sales has caused an equally massive slump in polyacrilonitrile, and therefore acetonitrile, production.

“So what?” you may be thinking.  What is analytical chemistry anyhow and who cares if it goes away?  Analytical chemistry is a vital building block of laboratory science — any lab that researches how to make any kind of chemical uses analytical chemistry, and many of them use acetonitrile in their processes.  Pharmaceuticals, biotech, alternative fuels — these are just a few of the industries potentially affected by the shortage.

It’s hard for me, a lay person, to understand the vastness and interconnectedness of the world economy.  How could I predict that the slowdown of the US economy, particularly auto sales, would have an impact on pharmaceutical R&D?  But it’s an inescapable fact that the US economy drives the whole world’s finances, and petroleum is, with little argument, the single most important commodity in the US economy.  No other commodity’s prices come near the influence of petroleum, and what’s more, it’s not just the effect on the stock market that can be disastrous.  The dearness or rarity of petroleum results in unavailability and skyrocketing costs of thousands of other products and compounds — many of which the average consumer has never even heard of.

As someone who cares for the environment, at times there is a bit of schadenfreude involved when I hear news that petroleum is running out.  The unwanted byproducts of petroleum drilling, refining, and use have permanently altered the natural environment, so I think somewhere in the psyche of many environmentalists is a longing for the day when it disappears forever.

But what we all have to understand is that it’s not just Hummers and bottled water that will go away.  Every sector of the economy will be affected, some disastrously so, if we do not find a replacement for petroleum before it runs out.  If petroleum disappeared today, people would starve, freeze to death, die of disease.

Of course, petroleum resources will dwindle gradually rather than suddenly evaporating, but nevertheless we must find replacements for the many, many compounds currently made of petroleum.  Sure, companies are working on alternative fuels, but fuel, while accounting for the majority of petroleum used, is not chemically similar to many of the other compounds.  Will these alternative fuel companies also be able to produce high-grade plastics such as the ones used in car bumpers, for example?  Will they be able to recreate the hydrocarbons in cosmetics?  Will corn-based plastics such as those used in food packaging be worthy substitutes for the types of plastics used in child safety car seats?

I have not seen much in the way of research on these complex problems.  I’m sure someone much smarter than myself is working on a solution for each compound, as everyone is aware of the increasing expense and difficulty of petroleum production.  My concern is that the solutions will not materialize until after petroleum is so rare that the economy has collapsed under the weight of our massive dependence.

Most likely the economy will pick up a bit in a few months; people will start buying cars again; there will again be plentiful acetonitrile.  After that?  I for one hope all those pharmaceutical and biotech labs figure out new avenues of research to address the problems ahead..

They find a hole punched in the bathroom door, and a wall lamp with exposed wires. “Don’t touch it-it looks too dangerous,” Greg warns. Cole repeatedly closes a cupboard door in the kitchen that won’t stay shut. Greg pulls back the covers of one of the beds and smells the sheets. He finds silverfish in the sink. “Cockroaches, termites…” Cole lists off the gross things he sees. They inspect a mysterious gritty substance spilled all over a chair. “Oh, that is disgusting.” Greg comments.

Greg and Cole are slumming. The millionaire and his son live on Balboa Island, where you can’t buy much house for less than a million bucks. Today, they have boated down here disguised as poor people, with the intent to philanthropize. Greg-who admits with a hint of pride that Cole was “spoiled rotten”-also thinks that this will be an “enlightening experience” for his son. It will at least be a very different experience from, say, the time that Greg leased a castle in Ireland for Cole’s 15^th birthday.

So begins Fox’s new series Secret Millionaire. The premise is simple: a millionaire (or a pair of them) goes undercover for five days in one of the country’s poorest neighborhoods. The only cash they are allowed to take with them is “welfare wages” of about a hundred bucks. Their temporary digs are in keeping with the standards of the neighborhood, and some, like Greg and Cole, will find low-paying jobs in order to cover their basic expenses.

The millionaires’ mission is to go out and find deserving locals to whom they will, on the sixth day-after changing back into their “real” clothes and personas-donate at least a hundred grand of their own money.

Public reaction has been polarized and often heated. Snarky detractors are quick to point out the hypocrisies and shortcomings of both the show and the participating millionaires; god-blessing fans retort that the haters are “just bitter” and should give the millionaires more credit.

It’s true that all the millionaires have changed many lives with their generosity, and it’s true that their participation on the show opens their eyes to some important social realities. For that, I congratulate both the producers and the participants. There’s nothing wrong with rich people giving away lots of money to poor people, and there’s nothing wrong with teaching rich people what it’s like to be poor. Both of those things should be encouraged, and should happen more often.

It’s also true that there is much to criticize.

As is the case with all reality TV, the show is heavy-handedly edited for the entertainment values of voyeurism and sentimentality; to this effect, the producers take care to showcase any of the millionaires’ particularly grating behaviors or utterances. After all, we’re supposed to love them and hate them.

Certain of the show’s participants have been more roundly disparaged than others, and millionaire Gurbaksh “G” Chahal has been an especially easy target for character criticism.

G. acquired his millions by starting internet-ad companies and then selling them to other companies (the first for 40 million; the second for 300 million). The producers deliberately exaggerate his young-metrosexual-playboy style and demeanor as he shows off his brand new, gaudily decorated penthouse condo in what looks to be one of the widely hated new skyscrapers in San Francisco’s recently gentrified SOMA district.

They send him off to live in the Tenderloin, an area of the city full to overflowing with camera-ready homeless people and junkies. His temporary apartment is, by area standards, hella nice. It has refinished wood floors and uniformly white walls; there is no visible grime or mold; the furnishings are spare but stylish. It’s a one-bedroom, the likes of which would currently go for $1,500 to $2,000 per month. For effect, somebody has left a jar of something old and gross in the fridge.

A real poor person could not afford this apartment. Minimum wage in San Francisco is $9.36, the second-highest in the country, but at 40 hours per week that’s still only $375 per week, roughly $1,500 per month, and $19,400 per year–before taxes. And, as anyone who’s ever worked for minimum wage (or close to it) knows, truly full-time crappy jobs can be hard to come by.

We watch as G changes into his “poor” outfit: jeans and a tight camo hoodie. He looks like he belongs in the Castro, not the Tenderloin. He passes many a grizzled old homeless guy. He wakes up at night, afraid because there’s a knock on the door and the toilet keeps making sounds. He goes grocery shopping and struggles to tear off a produce bag from the roll. He now claims on his blog that he did not actually say afterwards, “grocery shopping–it’s not that easy”.

G volunteers at a soup kitchen and a women’s shelter in order to locate some deserving poor people. He probes into the life stories of the currently and formerly homeless, sometimes insensitively, as when he inquires of a woman who was in an abusive relationship, “Did it ever get…physical?”

But the real problem with Secret Millionaire is not the personalities of its participants; it’s the fact that the show structured in such a way that it might be more aptly titled Secret Capitalist Propaganda.

More than one of the millionaires gushes that he or she is “living the American Dream.” The term was coined in 1931 by James Truslow Adams, who had in mind a collective wish “of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.” These days, however, it’s more often associated with the individualism found in the phrase “rags to riches,” the concept of “pulling yourself up by the bootstraps,” or plain-and-simple financial success.

Season two’s Todd Graves is the CEO and founder of the Raising Cane’s fast-food chain; his wife Gwen is a millionaire in her own right, as the former owner of a McDonald’s franchise. Todd (and several of the other millionaires) boast of coming from “nothing;” the implication is that they have at least some sense of what it’s like to be poor, and that they earned their money legitimately. Some of these rags-to-riches claims are more dubious than others.

Central to the narrative of the show is the idea that only certain kinds of poor people deserve a better life. Not one of the millionaires can get from one commercial break to the next without mentioning how “blessed” or “fortunate” they are. Luck may have been a factor in the accumulation of their wealth, but only merit will influence whom they pass it on to.

They say things like “this woman has earned the right to have an easier life,” “she’s completely selfless,” and “I want to…really find the true stories.” Poverty, in and of itself, is not what makes any of the recipients “worthy.” As G walks down Market Street, which is a spot as well known for tourism and shopping as it is for poverty, one of the homeless dudes grunts in G’s general direction, “gimme some money!” This man clearly does need money, and he needs it more urgently than do the eventual beneficiaries of G’s largesse.

He won’t get any from G though, and that’s in large part because he’s demanding it. The lucky, deserving poor people on this show are the ones who don’t ask. They’re the ones whose spirits haven’t been “broken,” the ones who aren’t pissed off about economic inequality. They’re the ones who plod along, grateful for what little good comes their way, and stoically uncomplaining about all the bad.

What is entirely left out of the show’s conceptual framework is the question of whether the millionaires themselves deserve the money that they already have.

Greg Ruzicka is rich because he’s a partner in a law firm that specializes in evictions and foreclosures. He says of his business ”when the economy does poorly…we do very, very well.” The Graveses have raked in the money by overseeing the operations of fast food restaurants. The Raising Cane’s website doesn’t advertise a wage range for any of its positions, but it does say that only full-time managers get health coverage and sick days, which leaves little doubt in my mind about the minimum-wage nature of the other positions.

Most of the millionaires wipe away tears at the end of the show as they announce that their recent experience has changed their life, and I think those tears are genuine. But never do we see any indication that they’ve made the connection between their own wealth and the systematic exploitation of other people. Will Greg Ruzicka quit his job and put his lawyerly skills to a more socially productive use? Will Todd Graves and the other businessmen millionaires start paying their staff more?

Public philanthropy of the Secret Millionaire sort is as much about the giver as the receiver, as most of the givers make clear. It makes them feel good to make a difference, to be the face associated with generosity, to be thanked and hugged. But poverty is a necessary fact of a capitalist economy, and philanthropy, whatever the motivation behind it, is a stopgap measure, not a long-term solution.

After G hands over his check and leaves the soup kitchen, the other volunteers resume their tasks. “Back to work!” one of them announces, still giddy with appreciation.

G will head back to his hyper-monogrammed penthouse; the volunteers will chop more vegetables for the stream of homeless people that won’t abate. The crack and speed trade in the Tenderloin will continue; the counter staff at Raising Cane’s will be paid far less than the value of their labor; another family will be evicted. The poor will stay poor; the rich will get richer.

Back to work, indeed.

Join us as we break through the year’s rhetoric and double-speak as simply as we know how, and leave your own equations in the comments. For the historically minded, take a look at 2007’s edition.

Brigid Barry

Thrift shops > American Apparel
Why buy your ill-fitting 70s throwbacks from a misogynist who overcharges when you could buy them cheap and green from the used clothing store across the street?

Brigid Barry is a freelance copy editor based in San Francisco, CA. She is the Associate Editor of Is Greater Than and also writes short fiction and cultural analysis, and knits in her spare time.

Leland Cheuk

The Economy > The Price of Oil > The Popularity of Private Jets

2008 was a very bad year if you were a corrupt politician, Gordon Ramsey, a UK social services worker, a banker investing in oil futures, or a Republican. But 2008 was much worse if you were, say, a private jet company reliant on flying executives of Sean John or the Big Three automakers. Not only did the price of oil cause Diddy to swear off Cristal-loaded private jets early in 2008. The nose-diving economy caused private jets to become a political football when GM, Ford and Chrysler executives flew into Washington D.C. to ask for what ended up being a $14 billion bailout. I hope 2009 is friendlier to companies like Onesky and Privateair so we won’t have to bail them out in June. After all, it’s not their fault that we’re in the bind that we’re in.

Leland Cheuk is is a currently an MFA candidate at Lesley University’s Creative Writing program. His writing has appeared in MostlyFiction, Punk Planet, and other publications. Recently, one of his short stories was selected as finalist in the 2007 Washington Square Review Contest. He lives in San Francisco and is working on a novel.

Leilani Clark

Mushrooms > Anything made by humans

In Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road mushrooms are the first organic matter to grow after the an apocalypse brings on nuclear winter. While humans fall into cannibalistic disarray, the fungi keep on trucking. Tenacious and communicative, mushrooms are key to a thriving natural ecosystem. They make a simple hike in the woods into an awesome treasure-hunt. In addition, they are damn good to eat.  In 2008, you could listen to mycillium guru Paul Stamets talking about the glorious power of toadstools on just about every media outlet–from books to radio to YouTube. We should pull up a chair, take notes and learn something new that just might save the world.

Leilani Clark has written for Clamor Magazine and the North Bay Bohemian. She loves free media and defending the working class. She writes about more then mushrooms at www.leilaniclark.com.

Paul M. Davis

Reason > Superstition

The election of 2008 wasn’t only a triumph for those of us who have watched the last eight years in horror as the imperial President attempted to drag this new century into the 17th. Indeed, it was a triumph of a reasoned, pro-science, pro-progress mentality over the superstitious beliefs of the Christian Evangelical crusaders. But it was also the year in which the reasonable majority appeared to wipe the collected mung out of its eyes and return to its senses. To wit, the Republican intellectual schism of August and September 2008, in which numerous vocal figures dismissed the party’s insane Evangelical wing in favor of critical thinking. It was also the year in which a realistic appreciation for regulated markets emerged out of the ruins of post-Friedmanite, neoconservative economic policy. It was a year for sober realism over faith in destructive myths, and even if the reality before us is fucked, it’s preferable to living a collective fantasy.

Paul M. Davis is the editor and publisher of Is Greater Than. His Is Greater Than blog is Attencion!

Whitney Dibo

Gail Collins > Maureen Dowd.

Thank god the New York Times finally landed a female columnist who can write coherent, if shrill, commentary. Collins’ editorials around the election season were hilariously poignant and spot-on, as opposed to Dowd (whose idea of a productive use of New York Times editorial space is to write imaginary conversations between famous people). And Collins doesn’t even have a glamour-shot picture, (almost no makeup – gasp!) a sharp contrast to Dowd’s vampy smirk.

Harry Potter > Twilight

As a child of the Potter generation, it seems painstakingly obvious that to even put the two fantasy novels in same league is treason so high even He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named wouldn’t dare do it. Harry Potter is to the Imaginatively Curious as Twilight is to the Sexually Frustrated. I mean – the apple on the cover? Come on.

Whitney Dibo is a freelance writer and also works in the Education Department of Steppenwolf Theatre Company. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 2007 with a degree in English and Political Science.

Levi Fuller

Elective democracy > Direct democracy
In Washington, as in many states, “The People” lately have a huge boner for legislating via initiative.  Every once in a while this ends up being a good thing:  Smart, active citizens can ban together and pass legislation that our elected officials are too afraid or busy to pass (witness our recent “Death with Dignity” initiative).  For the most part, however, it’s a complete, unalloyed disaster that has our legislature and courts scurrying to and fro trying to manage the repercussions.

The most egregious recent example of this “tyranny of the majority” is, of course, California’s Prop 8.  Millions of church dollars went to hammer home the message that “traditional marriage” needed defending from the loony left judges who wanted men to marry men and gerbils to marry ducks and kindergartners to be indoctrinated into the ways of homosexuality.  Another, smaller example from Seattle:  Our City Council recently passed a $.20 per-bag tax on grocery shopping bags to encourage people to get reusable bags and curb the ridiculous waste of resources that occurs all day every day in grocery stores.  This bill was much more moderate than San Francisco’s outright ban on plastic bags, but of course it was still too much for the American Chemistry Council, who banded together to get a recall of this simple, sensible bill on the ballot for next year.  For now, the status of bags in stores is in limbo, and every time I shop at Fred Meyer the checker automatically starts putting my item or items in a bag without even asking.  Elective democracy isn’t perfect, and the initiative process can be a useful tool of last resort, but there are times when we should just let our elected officials do the job we elected them to do.

Levi Fuller plays music, DJs on the Internet, curates a quarterly series of compilations, and generally runs himself ragged in Seattle. www.denimclature.com

Matt Gajewski

Buying fruit at red light-stalled intersections > Buying subprime mortgages at red light-stalled intersections

In previous years, the lane line-tiptoeing hawkers at US-1 and Bird Road near my home were all about subprime mortgages: “Hungry and homeless and need investors for asset-backed securities,” “Will disregard borrower’s past credit history 4 food.” But with the housing bubble bursting, the global economy collapsing, 2008 was the Year of Intersection Fruit: sweet-smelling guavas, succulent mangos, to-die-for tamarinds and tangerines and papayas; investors clearly voicing their preference of juicy, vitamin-rich produce over risky, subprime collateralized debt obligations. Let’s hope that 2009 will be no less delicious, and that our nation’s intersections will remain a cornucopia of discount, indigent-vended citrus for many years to come.

Matt Gajewski hosts Pure Imagination, a radio program featuring darkly comic short stories set to music on 90.5 WVUM in Miami, FL. Listen to past episodes at www.vangloria.net/pureimagination.

Narinda Heng

Real food > Bacon-wrapped, deep-fried, gravy-drowned novelties

While I can see the fun in chicken-fried bacon (and am in awe of the genius behind the bacon weave), real food that can be eaten every day (without giving you a heart attack at 40) is infinitely more interesting. The appearance of people like Michael Ruhlman, Michael Pollan, and Alice Waters in mainstream media advocating more sensible, healthful cooking shows that there is hope that we might be able to fit into last year’s skinny jeans someday.

Narinda Heng is planning to start 2009 unemployed. She’ll be writing at Long Cool Hallway and wherever else she can get a word in.

Rob Miller

Hysterical hyperbole > bland euphemism.
The following are exact quotations from ABC World News Tonight as they have described the economic apoplexy during the past couple of months.
At least as we all get closer to selling pencils out of tin cups (or would the modern day equivalent be flashdrives?), we can rest easy that we will be suitably entertained as we watch the news (even if we might be looking at the TV through an appliance store window like a Dickensian waif cuz our electricity was cut off).  But still….

Thus, in order of appearance:

• Troubling downturn
• Confidence is ebbing
• Contracting economy
• The Dow is losing ground
• Has the Bull market run out of steam
• Grim jobs report
• Panic on the trading floor
• Cascading job loss
• Might send investors heading for the ledge
• It was a bloodbath on Wall Street

See?  Isn’t that more fun?  When we started, you could feel your eyes go droopy with the musty, lifeless talk.  Shit, it’s like you’re in some Econ 101 lecture after spending all night proving you CAN play Quarter Bounce with tequila shots instead of beer.  But by the end of the list, you can almost SEE Chuck Norris starring in the movie version with guts and explosions and falling buildings and cars driving through plate glass windows.
It’s more warming than drinking after-shave lotion.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Rob Miller is the owner and founder of Bloodshot Records.

Laura Pearson

Supporting independent booksellers > Buying books on Amazon or at B&N or downloading digital files to your ebook reader. (Plus, talking all about your Kindle just sounds gross.) As we all know, it’s getting more difficult to be an independent anything, and there are oh so many reasons to support nearby, non-chain stores (e.g., Of $100 spent at a local business, $68 stays in the community; whereas at a national chain, only $43 of your $100 sticks around (www.indiebound.org)). Most importantly, in an age where virtual experience often supersedes the tangible, real-world stuff, the time has come to get in close proximity to actual pages… Bookshelves. Book smells. Or to put it in another, lamer way: In 2k9, acquire a spine.

Laura Pearson is a Chicago-based editor and writer. She has written music news stories, as well as book, zine, and comic reviews, but her favorite subject to write about is people who are both contributing to culture and creating culture.

Erica Phillips

The Beijing Olympics > everything else

The rest of the world got served by China this August. From the awesome spectacle of the opening ceremony, to the mod and exemplar facility architecture, and the over-coverage, obsessive interviews and photo opps. The 2008 Summer Olympic Games was the shiny and bedazzling thing that made us all forget everything else.

We forgot China’s human rights record and the Olympic torch parades through Tibet, when residents were not allowed in the streets unless they promised to yell “Go China” and nothing else. We forgot that NBC was making it censorship-level impossible to find Beijing youtube footage anywhere on the internet. We forgot about the diplomatic mess between Russia and US-backed new “democracy,” Georgia. We forgot about Pakistan and Iraq and Turkey and everything, because China stepped up and we were like “Woah, it might not be all about us anymore.”

Erica Phillips currently splits her time between an immigration law office and the Venus Zine headquarters. She is editor / publisher of globalhuman and has written a few things for Love, Chicago.

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

Cloud Cult, Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes) > Any other new music I heard this year (or last year)
I heard a lot of great music this year, including great new stuff from Sam Roberts and Malcolm Middleton, but I feel that this album really just is 2008. Taste this bit from “Hurricane and Fire Survival Guide”:

“I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired
I’ll laugh my whole way through the hurricanes and fire
That’s why you don’t wanna bring me down.”

The first Black President of the US was elected. You just try and bring me down. I will laugh my way through hurricanes and fire.

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein is in the process of building a veritable cornucopia of degrees in physics and astronomy. The black hole of academia is a dark and dangerous place. In a perhaps related story, she also seems to be known as a trouble maker. Her Is Greater Than blog is Disordered Cosmologist Is >.

Elaina Ramer

1929 > 2008
None of the Wall Street dudes who were taking those huge bonuses from dying financial companies really lost much as the markets have crashed and, thus did not throw themselves out the windows of Manhattan skyscrapers. Bummer.

The Half Pint (8 oz.) > The Imperial Pint (20 oz.)
At some point a few years ago, I discovered that my fav local pub, the Poet and the Patriot, serves beer in 20 oz. glasses. I was delighted. This year I discovered that consuming more alcohol makes me neither healthier nor wealthier nor wiser and that the Poet also serves beer in 8 oz. glasses. If I’ve got to cut back, I’d rather sacrifice the quantity of my beverage rather than the quality.

The Wide Leg > The Skinny Leg
Just trust me; I’m right.

The Shoes > The Bicycle> The Public Transit > The Private Automobile
This is as much practicality as it is green washing. For those of us who live in urban areas, walking, cycling, and taking transit are things we do and things we could afford to do more often. Each of the things listed above are affected by the price of gas and the political situation (listed from least to most affected). But when gas hits $10/gallon and people are rioting in the streets, you’ll still have your boots and no one is going to set your bicycle on fire.

Elaina Ramer is a fashionista, bike messenger and radical economist living in Santa Cruz, CA. She completed most of a degree in Global Economics before she dropped out of college to pursue enjoying her youth. Elaina blogs about fashion and global politics at frugal and hep dot com.

Boaz Vilozny

pretty good > best
Let’s face it—it was nice being the world’s dominant nation for a while back in the 20th century, but who wants to deal with all the pressure? It’s high time we stepped back and let someone take over as superpower #1 while we get our own house in order. Any volunteers? China? India? Cuba? Anyone? What if we throw in Afghanistan and Iraq?

Boaz Vilozny is a native of Santa Cruz, California, where he is currently completing his doctoral research in organic chemistry at UCSC. When not busy thinking deep thoughts about molecular recognition, he spends time with his family, plays music, reads, and cooks.

Truth be told, I have no personal investment in the struggle for lgbtq marriage rights. I’m not all that interested in a patriarchal institution historically used to oppress women. I’d rather explore more creative and liberating expressions of queer love, than conform to such a tired old convention as marriage. Yet I do recognize that there are certain privileges associated with marriage, that everyone should have a right to access. Still, this struggle is not on my list of priorities.

Despite this I was yet another of the many people who voted against Prop 8, who were terribly distraught when it passed, and who joined in street protest to express outrage. This is because I was so moved by the obvious and profound level of hate which motivated and fueled the “Yes on 8″ campaign. These people only sought to further poison people throughout our state with hate against our LGBTQ community. They did so in the face of all the work many people have done and continue to do on the daily to make this place safe for LGBTQ people. So that we can one day walk down streets without any fear of suffering attack because of who we are. So when I saw “Yes on 8″ rallies with large groups of kids and children shouting out derogatory slurs and wielding those terrible signs, I could not be but totally overwhelmed by the hate.

So on a Saturday night earlier this month, I assumed I was attending an anti-hate rally. But that could not have been further from the truth. On stage was some white, dinosaur, les-biatch completely berating and tearing down the entire “African-American community”. Blaming us for the passing of Prop 8, she all but outrightly called Black people ignorant and foolish. She continuously used “us” in reference to gay people and “they/you” meaning black people. And to my surprise, all the folks around me were cheering and hollering at her every indictment of the black community. I learned that night that the racist rhetoric at this rally was in response to the divisive reporting propagated by mainstream media that Blacks voted in Proposition 8.

There are two dangerous underlying assumptions insinuated by this woman speaker and all the news reports. Firstly is that homosexuality is White. And secondly, that communities of color are absolutely homophobic. The reason these assumptions are so dangerous, is that they make me and all queer people of color invisible, as if we don’t exist. These assumptions render my perspective and my own life experiences invisible, and they leave no space for qpoc within the lgbtq rights movement. Just like there was no space for me at that rally. If “us” is the queer community and “they” are black people, then where am I? I wonder if you white gays and lesbians could not see the queer black woman beside you, when you rallied that black people had stolen queer rights.

And just to get this out the way, Black people did NOT make the Proposition 8 vote. The media has hyped the exit poll that “2 to 1 black voters supported Prop 8.” Even if that were 100% true, there’s no way Black people made the election. Anyone who bothered to think for themselves, or maybe even look at ALL the facts of the situation, would immediately see the fallacy of that conclusion. While the Black vote may have favored prop 8, the black vote still represents a minority percentage of the total voting population (Less than 7%!).The majority population in this state is still WHITE, and the majority of the voting population is WHITE. Therefore, even more white people voted for prop 8 than anybody else. The total number of black votes for prop 8 alone could NOT have made or broke the election, but 8 would not have passed without white people. DUH.

That this focus on misinformation is an obvious ploy to distract, divide and conquer the lgbtq rights movement, was totally lost on you all. Instead you white gays and lesbians just gobbled up this bullshit and swallowed hard. While I’m tempted to write you all off as ignoramus maximus, I think the fact that white gays and lesbians were so ready to point the finger of blame at Black people, further exposes the racist assumptions harbored within that community, as well as the lack of space for recognition of intersectional identities.

Last I checked the “yes on 8″ people were leading a very successful campaign of lies and misinformation, confusing prop 8 as an issue of child education. Given all the people who voted in fear based on these lies, how is it that the Black community so unanimously voted in hate and bigotry?

And here’s a question, why is it that the most immediate response of the white gay rights movement in this situation, was to start pointing the finger of blame? Are you all in second grade, is this really the most productive thing that could be happening now? Even I know, with my short few years of organizing, that when you come to the end of an unsuccessful campaign, you come together as an organization/movement/etc. and ask yourselves “what did we do well, what could we have done better, and where do we go from here within a larger strategy?” You don’t go pouting in the streets about whose fault it is you didn’t win!?

But this response isn’t all that surprising given that the average gay/lesbian within your movement experiences a great deal of privilege on account of race&class. And typically it is the people with the most privilege that have the most difficulty holding THEMSELVES accountable to anything, and not just blaming everybody else. In fact, the closest any of you have probably ever come to accountability is your white guilt, and Lord knows that’s not even close!

Fox 11 news happened to catch and feature the rally’s ignoramus supreme on the ten o’ clock news. “We (gay/white) people made Obama president, and they (Black people) left us behind! That’s it, we’re the last minority left now!”

This guy (like many of you I’m sure) voted away his white guilt at the polls a few weeks back. And he clearly thinks that the country purged itself of white supremacy in a single vote last week. Now you poor, poor, white gays and lesbians–you are the last of the oppressed! Alas the tables have turned, and it is us Black people barring you from your constitutional rights. We funded the $20 million “Yes on 8″ campaign of lies and misinformation–oh wait, that was other white people? Well, we contributed the largest percentage of total “yes” votes–no? That was white people too!? Well darn, now none of this making sense…

I realize this letter has gotten pretty long, so I’ll finish by saying this. If you white gaze and lesbiannes are so ready to leave Black people out of your gay rights movement, so be it. Who wants to be where they’re not wanted anyway. We’ll take our beautiful brown selves elsewhere, and start a real rainbow movement. And we’ll take all references to our civil rights movement with us. No more appropriating that legacy. Nope, not allowed. Because how you gonna hate on us, and then allude to our struggles in your commercials. I don’t think so.

It’s a stupid story now. Consumer lust and banker greed led to the over-extension of credit at monstrous rates of interest and pop goes the bubble. But, there are some unintended and probably under-thought consequences of this ill-fated attempt to forge the middle class into a landed gentry with huge manor houses. Class war, indeed. Those consequences focus their death ray precision on public libraries whose financial well-being depends on the collection of property taxes.

All public libraries, in one way or another, are funded by your tax dollars. In Ohio, public libraries are funded by a portion of the state tax. Even with state money, Ohio’s libraries rely greatly on funds coming from the municipalities; funds which are almost always generated by property taxes.

What does this mean? Well, take the library where I work. It gets nearly 60% of its yearly budget from local property tax levies. While we are entering into the first year of a renewed levy (thank you voters!), the library now faces a five percent (5%) reduction in overall funds. Why? Because property sales have plummeted almost 40% in the last fiscal year. Houses which don’t sell often end up abandoned. This means that no tax is being collected on those properties until foreclosure is complete. In short, the library funds are being diminished.

As I see it, the housing crisis fallout will affect public libraries which operate with municipal funding in three general ways:

1. As staff leaves or retires, those vacant positions will not be re-filled.

2. Tightening of funding will most directly affect our library’s materials budget. You know, the money libraries spend buying books, videos, CD’s, magazines, databases, reference materials, and such? The first cut always slices through the replacements. When a book falls apart or has been dipped into a bath of coffee, libraries toss that out. Now, we will not be able to replace every item that is discarded. While most customers will not immediately notice anything has changed, over time this sort of loss can be devastating to an older or rarer collection.

3. In the last several years, our library has moved from buying expensive reference books, like Encyclopedia Britannica, to buying the expensive web-based databases of those sources. As material budgets shrink, many of the electronic databases we buy will disappear since we will not be able to afford to pay the yearly subscriptions on them. Since many of the old reference books have been discarded or are out of date, these resources will effectively disappear from local libraries.

It may appear that none of this is all that dire. In the short term, that is probably true. Though when speaking about libraries one must remember that in times of economic hardship, the services offered by libraries are in greater demand. People coming into the library might have to look harder or wait a few more minutes to speak with a librarian, who might not have the same amount of time to help them as before. Students looking to access newspaper or magazine articles may not have the same access as they once did. Or maybe the customer who is cutting corners by borrowing books and videos instead of purchasing them might have less of a selection to browse. Not to mention the increasing numbers of people coming into the library to use our computers to print out resumes or apply for jobs–the free aspect of libraries becomes all that more important. The sad reality is that libraries are beholden to the same market forces that drive people into our buildings. So when times are tough and people are trying to do more with less, so too, are the libraries they use.

Now who wants to go help me rip out some copper pipes?

Just beyond the horizon,

A golden streak pierces the sky,

Spreading like wildfire

among the weakening night.

It began as a mere speck,

In the vast ocean of blue,

Struggling to be free of its star-shaped shackles,

The inevitable truth

was that it would be devoured,

For how,

Could this little soul survive.

Yet,

This speck could not be stopped,

The will to thrive,

Even among the mightiest foe,

Is a force that no being,

Neither man nor beast,

Could hope to stop

from the ultimate perfection.

Just beyond the horizon,

A golden streak pierces the sky,

Spreading like wildfire

among the weakening night.