New Years Wishes, Reflections, and Pictures

Wishing everyone a very good New Year!
Just cooked up a proverbial storm of New Year's food (recipes at Borealkitchen.blogspot.com).

As is typical for this time of year, it's cold here, with temperatures below zero Fahrenheit. Here are some pictures from yesterday when we drove to the Mat-Su valley. The first part of the drive was in the sunshine (view of Talkeetna Mountains from Chugiak):By the time we got down to the Knik River, we were very much in the fog -- looks cold and grim, doesn't it? It actually is amazingly beautiful, I think -- reminiscent of the Dr. Zhivago, which we just watched -- a tradition for us during the break between Christmas and New Year.
By the time we got to Wasilla, we could see the sun again.

We've entered a new decade -- I hope that it's a better one politically compared to the last. The post 9-11 decade (a.k.a. George W. Bush era) sure seemed full of fear. Fear of terrorists, fear of economic collapse, fear of reform -such as fear of "socialized" healthcare. I say "Bring it on!" I'd like to see healthcare reform continue to be "tweaked" and improved over the next decade or two, and hope that we adopt more and more green energy policies, that we reform agriculture to be more sustainable, and that US foreign policy become less about fighting wars and more about peace-making!
On a more personal level, our family has entered our second decade of living in this beautiful valley, and feel very blessed. While we still sometimes miss Fairbanks and Colorado where we lived during the last millenenium, we have grown very fond of this valley. The children are growing into lovely young ladies and gentlemen, and bring us parents much joy and pride. We feel very satisfied in our jobs as well -- we're truly blessed!

Berlin Wall tumbling down...

Today is the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall tumbling down. What a momentous event!
Most everyone remembers exactly where they were when they heard big-momentous news --such as when the twin towers came down on 9/11/2001, or when the Challenger blew up, or the Kennedy assassination (well I was barely out of diapers on that one...)

And I hate to admit that I barely remember the Berlin Wall tumbling down -- my own life at the time was tumbling down around me: my then-husband had left me and my 2-yr old daughter...
But life has a way of going forward, my life turned around, and my then 2-yr old daughter (Eldest) has just now returned from a month in Germany, full of stories "Berlin was my absolute favorite city -- it's the best party town, ever!"

Full circle. I've been to Berlin only once as a young adult, when I was around her age, and remember vividly the divided city: East Germany with it's graying buildings that still had bullet holes from WW2, the East German police with their guns and dogs when our train pulled into their stations, then crossing the border, giving way to colorful, lively, and yes "Party-town" West Berlin!

I heard on the radio this morning that for a few euros you can buy fake passports with East German transit stamps in them -- I still have one that's for real! Never would have guessed back then that someday it would be a souvenir of a bygone era...

Nobel Peace Prize to President Barack Obama

Woke up this morning with the news that President Barack Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. This announcement came as a big surprise, and already there are negative comments floating around. Altogether, it seems that our president's efforts on behalf of world peace are appreciated more around the world than they are in his home country. The Nobel Peace website states that he was selected "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples".
I don't envy the President's job -- it's got to be one of the toughest jobs in the world right now -- what a mess he has inherited! I, for one, congratulate him on being selected for this honor. It speaks of the high hopes much of the world has on his ability to affect positive change!

The Value of Education?!?

I couldn't believe how many kids were kept at home here in backwards Alaska on Tuesday. I guess their parents did not want their children to be exposed to President Obama's speech about this terrible socialist idea (namely the value of education,?!?!)
My son's High School history teacher didn't show it because it supposedly "did not have any relevance" -- what the @&F*%?
I had a school class on a fieldtrip at the Nature Center and the teacher said many stayed home because of the speech -- who knows, might we have piped the speech to them in the woods?

My daughter's 6th grade teacher taped the speech and showed it a day later -- good for him! Parents had the option of sending a note if they wanted to have their child to go to another classroom during the speech. I bet they would not have had to do that last week when our Republican governor spoke last week at a local school about the same topic...

SO, let me get this straight -- people kept their kids home to prevent them hearing Obama telling them to stay in school and work hard. I kringe at the message these parents are giving their kids: are they saying don't stay in school like Obama tells you to -- emulate Sarah (the Quitter) Palin instead...

Actually, come to think of it, there's one of those celebrity READ posters at my kid's elementary school with Palin in a dogsled holding a book, and the message is "READ A BOOK" -- how subversive!!! I better start writing nasty letters. After all, there's not many letters difference between Palin and Stalin! And if kids don't value their education, they may not be able to tell the difference...

Yikes, do they have any room in Canada...?

Healthcare debate

When I first came to this country, people would asked me if I came from the "socialist or communist" Germany -- and why the heck was it called "democratic" when it isn't? Don't they get free healthcare, and have no choices and freedoms?
Well, I hardly knew where to start answering! In broken English I'd try to explain that
(a) I came from West Germany, which was democratic (official name was Federal Republic of Germany) while East Germany (even if the name was German Democratic Republic) was communist, but that (b) West Germany did also have "socialized" healthcare, but it was not free - it was paid for by taxes (doesn't anybody understand that nothing is ever truly free?), and that you still had choices & freedom, and, most difficult of all (c) that socialism does not equal communism!

Today, I just came across a blog new to me, Solipsist, by a writing teacher. I really enjoyed his discussion on healthcare, and he offers an excellent explanation as to why Americans are so scared by the word "socialized" in front of Medicine.
and here I quote the Solipsist:

...maybe people get turned off by the phrase "socialized," which makes them think of socialism. Now, here again, the main problem is that the word "socialism" has gotten a bad rap. Political scientist Robert Axelrod in a book about cooperation, effectively defined socialism (or at least a socialist state of mind) as "niceness." So what's the problem with "niceness"? Well, nothing, but many people equate "socialism" with "communism"--which are not the same thing--and "communism" with Russia and in particular with "Stalinism." The thing people don't realize is that calling Josef Stalin a socialist is like calling calling Tony "Scarface" Montana a pharmacist...

Anyway, even if my family is among the lucky ones to have decent health insurance through an employer, I do feel that the AMERICAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IS BROKEN, and it needs FIXING!
How is it broken? Let me count the ways... the US spends much more on healthcare per patient without delivering better health; the unfairness of denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions, the huge number of un-insured and under-insured, and on and on...

Let me just give you one tiny lousy example of BROKEN: a gainfully employed (but under-insured) friend of ours ended up making the risky choice of NOT going to the emergency room with a dangerous bowl obstruction, risking rupture (and thus possibly death), because he simply could not afford it -- he's still paying off the bills from his last one several years ago that precipitated a HUGE chain of medical problems. Note also that an indigent or homeless person in the same situation would have been treated for free. THERE IS SOMETHING TERRIBLY WRONG WITH THAT!

Don't get me wrong: I don't think that it's "unfair" when the homeless get treated in the Emergency Room-- it's the compassionate thing to do: we don't let people die in the streets! I digress here, but there is a whole big problem with homelessness in this country, and much of it has to do with how poorly we deal with mental illness, and again, healthcare reform could help...

I think that access to affordable healthcare should be a basic right just like access to education -- maybe it would help if called our public school system "socialized education". Most countries have just that, including ours, as it is obviously in a society's best interest to educate its citizens. Imagine a world where not everybody could afford to send their kids to school -- what kind of a heartless society would that make us?

Here's an account of a British(-American) Mommy blogger entitled "Hey America, socialised medicine is not that bad!", very enlightening!
I also recommend any of Honeypiehorse's social commentaries: very insightful.

Questions from an inquiring young mind

You now how LONG drives can make you think about all kinds of things? We just drove to Fairbanks (350 miles) and back, driving through a lot of beautiful wide empty spaces, but also along some rather rural & poor Alaska. Quite frankly, some of the homesteads you see along the Parks Highway are hovels: delapidated trailers, plywood shacks, big collections of defunct vehicles, all covered in snow.

Youngest was taking that all in, together with the prolific McCain-Palin signs, and was wondering: "Where we live, a lot of really rich people are Republicans. But then why do poor people vote Republican?"
"Good question", the Prof and I answered, "Conservative Alaskans often vote for Republicans because they're against abortion, gay marriage, etc."

"But the Republican Party is, like, the 'Party of Greed' -- they're always promising tax cuts for the rich! Why don't more poor people vote Democratic? Especially after all the economic mess that the Republicans got us into? At least Obama is trying to make things better!"

How I wish I knew ....

Later, in Fairbanks, near the University where our friends teach and live, Youngest noticed the abundance of Obama signs.

"Mom, I have a theory. The people around the university are more educated, right? So maybe educated people just spend more time thinking about what the Republicans and Democrats are really saying and doing?"

All I can say is: Go girl! You just keep on THINKING, questioning, analyzing...

Inauguration Day

Today history was made!
We all listened intently to the radio as we're getting ready for school and work: it was 8am and still dark here in Alaska at 12 noon in Washington DC.

Yesterday, on Martin Luther King Day, I was running errands (catching up on life after a nice long sunny vacation -- more on that soon). I listened to an NPR "Fresh Air" interview with Civil Rights Activist John Lewis (organized the Selma-Montgomery March), and later heard MLK's "I have a Dream" Speech -- it was so amazing to reflect on the struggle that happened a mere 40-some years ago: America, we've come a long way, baby!

Here's a sentence from MLK's speech that just about made me cry (and I don't cry easily) because it has come true:

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Happy Birthday, Uncle Ted!

I don't actually have an uncle named Ted (mine are named Eberhart and Klaus), but that's what Alaskans have been calling Senator Ted Stevens -- yes, the one who was convicted last month of accepting a quarter of a million dollars in bribes. Uncle Ted turns 85 years old today!
So how's his day going so far? First of all, the GOP decides to postpone his possible expulsion for just a few more days. Meanwhile back in Alaska, the counting of absentee ballots now has Mark Begich well ahead of Stevens by 3724 votes, and there are only 2500 left to count.
Yippeee! Sure looks like Alaska will get a Democratic senator after all!!! This is the first time in nearly 30 years. Yup, change is a-coming.


But Stevens is a cantankerous old man, and he's not conceeding yet -- in fact, he'll likely demand a recount. And he'd have to pay for the recount himself if the current margin holds, and alas, there's no corrupt Veco employees to hit up for the money -- they're in jail! Meanwhile, speculations abound as to whether a Senator could even serve his term if convicted, and whether Sarah Palin would try to run for his seat if there were to be a run-off election.
But relax, looks like Begich is gonna win, fair and square, and Palin may just be stuck in Juneau. And Alaskan politics will never be the same...

Poor Uncle Ted. Instead of being able to celebrate his birthday, he's having a terrible day. The New York Times quotes him as saying "“I wouldn’t wish what I am going through on anyone, my worst enemy,” and I have to admit, I'm feeling a bit sorry for him. But I do wonder, after a long life of public service (40 years!), wouldn't it be nice to be able to enjoy your achievements and celebrate with your loved ones? Without facing jail and looking like a bitter old man? Without your ambitions and greed having gotten the best of you?

A mother's pride and guilt, and the wisdom of youth

Eldest daughter 's Letter to the Editor was published in the Anchorage Daily News this past Monday. I feel guilty that I did not post it then (my excuse is that I was getting ready to leave on my trip then). Here's the letter:

Stevens is not fit to serve
Alaska is a red state, there is no doubt about that. However, there are reasonable limits to party loyalty. Voting for a convicted felon is beyond die-hard loyalty, it's borderline crazy.
Sen. Ted Stevens served Alaska very well in the past, but he betrayed us through his unethical conduct and dishonesty. An honorable man loyal to his state and party would have removed himself from the race at the beginning of the ethics investigation in order to give the GOP time to field a valid candidate against Mark Begich.
Stevens insulted Alaskans by not taking responsibility for his own transgressions and stepping down in the face of this humiliation. Instead, Alaskans were asked to vote for a convicted felon in order to defeat a Democrat. Sen. Stevens will most likely be unceremoniously thrown from the Senate by an expulsion vote. He can no longer serve Alaska and has further besmirched the name of Alaska politics.
Alaskans, please take a good, hard look at yourself, your elected officials and your party. At what point will you follow your own moral compass rather than federal money or your party line?

Runningl8 posted it right away on her blog in a post entitled Follow your OWN moral compass, saying: "This 21 year old woman has so succinctly and eloquently hit the nail on the head regarding the absurdity of trying to re-elect Ted Stevens...AWESOME letter, Eldest!!!"

And I, the proud mother, feel guilty I wasn't quicker to post it and praise my daughter...

Ahhh guilt -- but what good does guilt really do?
Here's a great little quote (it's from the daughter of a friend -- she's the same age as Eldest).
She recently told her mom:

Stop feeling guilty!
Guilt is a lot like rocking a rocking chair. You put lots of energy into it, but in the end, it gets you nowhere -- you're still in the same place as before!

Alaskan Kids Voting

I helped at my youngest's elementary school with KIDS VOTING, and it was very eye-opening to me. As a naturalized citizen, I take voting very seriously.

KIDS VOTING helps prepare kids for the responsibility of citizenship in a democracy, which is great. At a young age they're still completely influenced by their parents, and since we live up here in Alaska (Republican-Palin land), I fully expected the outcome of KIDS VOTING to be for McCain-Palin.

I'm a strong Obama supporter, but my state, alas, voted red, as expected. BUT SURPRISE: Kids voting over the entire Anchorage school district preferred Obama 49% over 44% for McCain, whereas the "real" adult voters voted 61% for McCain-Palin, and only 36% voted for Obama Alaska-wide. The Anchorage Daily News has a red-blue breakdown for how Alaskan precincts voted in the Senate race (convict Ted Stevens vs. Mark Begich). I found it interesting how wealthier South Anchorage voted solidly for Ted, while North Anchorage went blue for Begich. Wealthy Eagle River, of course, voted for the convict too, as did the Mat-Su Valley. But Fairbanks and the majority of the North Slope and Western Alaska voted blue.

Why the discrepancy between Kids Voting for Obama vs Alaska grown-ups going for McCain? I attribute it to younger families (with school-aged children, with some of the most fecund living in North Anchorage) voting more Democratic compared to their older Alaskan neighbors who look out mostly for themselves and their money ("Kids left home, so why do I need to support things like families or education...?").

By the way, did you know that GOP ("Grand Old Party", the nickname for the Republican Party) if spelled backwards is POG, which may well stand for "Party of Greed" -- the economic disaster that the Republican administration have led this country into. See the New York Times article entitled Greed helped Wall Street dive into danger:

But the larger failure, they say, was human — in how the risk models were applied, understood and managed. Some respected quantitative finance analysts... had begun pointing to warning signs years ago. But while markets were booming, the incentives on Wall Street were to keep chasing profits by trading more and more sophisticated securities, piling on more debt and making larger and larger bets... "Innovation can be a dangerous game," said Andrew Lo, and economist at MIT. "The technology got ahead of our ability to use it in responsible ways."

After Obama was elected, my daughter reported some rather mean-spirited language bordering on racist talk on the school bus (I have to add that this is a VERY white area -- there are few blacks in her school). It's crazy what some of those kids are saying, and I know they're just repeating what they hear at home from their parents! After discussing this at home, with input from our older daughter in college, I realized I needed to say something, and brought it to the principal's attention.
I'm glad I did -- and the principal did feel the issue deserved serious attention at the school. It doesn't matter if all the children on a bus are white, it's not OK!!! And other parents had called and complained. Apparently there was a lot uglier talk than what I had heard. The principal plans to deal with this more during the coming week -- the children will hopefully take this to heart, and even if it does not do much to change their parents, will change their emerging sense of right and wrong.
After the ground-breaking election of the first African-American president, this little incident (the fact that educators are coming down hard on this: not tolerating racist talk and re-directing the dialogue), gives me hope, even for wayward Alaska!

I remember talking with my brother-in-law in Germany this past summer (and some 90% of Germans would have voted for Obama, if they could!), and back then he predicted "No way will Americans elect Obama -- they are way too racist!" Well, I'm so glad he was proved wrong.
I'm proud of my adopted country, finally, and feel I can once again hold my head up high when my family and I visit abroad and say I'm American!

Photo Credit for Kids Voting: Jill Fankhauser, Alaska Star
Photo Credit for School Bus: Anchorage School District

What's patriotic and what's not

There's so much talk about who and what is patriotic. The dictionary defines patriotism simply as " love of and/or devotion to one's country".
But lots of people seems to think their view is the only patriotic one. After 9/11, if you didn't support fully the war on Iraq, you were probably called unpatriotic by many in this country. We later find out that evidence for Saddam Hussein's WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) and the Al-Qaida connection to Iraq was not really there...oops!

During this presidential election, Republicans are making taxes to be something bad, unpatriotic. During last week's VP debate, Sarah Palin said to Joe Biden: “You said recently that higher taxes or asking for higher taxes or paying higher taxes is patriotic. In the middle class of America, which is where Todd and I have been all of our lives, that’s not patriotic.”

In today's opinion editorial, New York Times' Thomas Friedman made this excellent point in response to Palin's statement:
I only wish she had been asked: “Governor Palin, if paying taxes is not considered patriotic in your neighborhood, who is going to pay for the body armor that will protect your son in Iraq? Who is going to pay for the bailout you endorsed?

To read the rest of Friedman's article, click here

An Old Lady on aging

I'm getting to be an OL (Old lady), at least that's what I gather from the media. Together with the ads for anti-wrinkle cream and hair dyes, I read an article in this morning's paper that if you're over 40, you're an OL, "you are a faded rose, desiccated fruit. A goner... You don't have an edge."

Really? What happened to aging gracefully? What happened to wisdom? It wasn't that long ago that 72-year old McCain was blasting Obama for not having enough experience to be president -- and then he turns around and nominates inexperienced young sexy Sarah Palin to be his VP -- but I don't want to go THERE today!

So I'm in my (late) 40's, can see 50 from here, wear flannel shirts and still don't wear make-up. I don't feel a need to use artificial means to look younger in order to be better at the things that matter to me -- being a mom, a friend, a teacher. My hair has got some serious streaks of gray going, and for the record, I refuse to dye it!

I look at many women around me who spend lots of money and time on make-up and hairdye, and I wonder why? If it's truly what makes them happy, then great. But how many are doing it because they feel (subconsciously perhaps) forced into it by society's expectations - i.e. it's just not acceptable to look the way you naturally are! Are they afraid their husbands, friends, colleagues, etc would reject them? How very sad...

Sometimes it seems to me that America, and perhaps the West as a whole, seems to be getting shallower and shallower. While professing that we believe in equality (gender, race, etc), deep down we don't seem to really practice it. In November, this country will elect a new president, and my sincere hope is that the American people can elect a capable & qualified leader, and not be swayed by looks, race, or other superficial things. In November, I will celebrate my birthday with family and friends who accept me as I am!

Art credit for the old lady drawing: Jack Noel (UK)