Too Many connections?

Let me start by saying that I love love love being connected. I first got interested in the power of the Internet in the early 90's, when I was teaching Spanish in a remote area. Wouldn't it be great if we could use the Internet to give the students authentic learning experiences? So I packed up and went to grad school to learn how to use this great medium.

And boy, did I learn. What I learned most is that there are always more ways to learn with the Internet. Social networking is the biggie these days: connecting with people via Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, and various others. And I've got spaces on them all (hey, I have to for work. I love my job.) I found old undergrad buds, elementary school chums, and even former teachers. My dad even found a place where he could reconnect with his service buddies. But is it always a good thing?

I ran into an old grad-school buddy on Facebook, my favorite. She's now on another continent, but Facebook lets us keep in contact. With our first few messages, she asked if I knew where an old friend of ours ended up. An unusual name and a web search meant that I found her in short order and emailed almost immediately. It was a while before I heard back. In that time, I wondered. Does she want to hear from me? Is it possible that hearing from me reminds her of some things that she'd rather forget? I remember the good times we shared. But there are also some other times that are quite difficult for both of us.

Fortunately, she sounded glad to hear from me. She'd been looking for me too. So I dodged a bullet on that one.

The bullet came back today. I got a friend request from someone I'd known most of my life but had not seen in over ten years. The last time I saw him was a rough time, and I wasn't really sure that I would or would even want to hear from him again. When I think of him, I remember not the good times but the last time that I saw him, which was difficult for us both. While curious to know what hands life had dealt him (which is probably the reason he wanted to connect with me), I was unsure about re-establishing contact. (And no, it wasn't dangerous or violent or stalker-ish. It was just...difficult.)

What are the implications of this global connection? Is it good? Or does it mean that we will never have closure?

What do you think? And, more importantly, would you have accepted the friend request?

Remembering Farmington

Following on my last post, Larry Messina at Lincoln Walks at Midnight didn't forget. And a lot of other folks didn't either. His Remembering Farmington post gathers these all together, along with a few details I didn't know.

Thanks, Larry!

Remember: Forty Years Ago

A few years ago, I went to Local Diner and Watering Hole with Mountain Mother and Mountain Daddy. Mountain Daddy saw a man he knew and stopped to talk. I call it the old buddies' talk. "Hey, been a long time since I've seen you/ Yeah, must be since the mine closed/ You're probably right...so what are you doing now?/Working and trying to stay out of trouble, you?/Not me, I retired after the mine closed...enjoying it/Glad to hear; well, good to see you again/yeah, take care." I've heard it perhaps a hundred times.

Mountain Daddy, Mountain Mother and I moved to a booth across the restaurant. After the waitress took our order, Mountain Daddy said, in an almost-whisper: "See that guy I was talking to?"

"Yeah, I don't think I knew him."

"Probably not. I worked with him at the mine. They rescued him from the explosion at Farmington. He and two other men had been trapped for hours."



"Day...um! And he went back in?"

"Yeah, he went back in."


What were you doing forty years ago today? Remember? (To be honest, I wasn't doing much. I wasn't born yet.)

If you lived around Marion County, West Virginia, you'd remember. See, forty years ago the Farmington mine #9 (owned by Consolidation Coal Company) exploded, killing 78 men on the cateye (midnight) shift. Even if you weren't there, as I wasn't, you'd remember, as I bet Mountain Daddy's Miner Buddy remembers.



The disaster has touched the area ever since. One Marion County boy, Davitt McAteer, was in law school at WVU at the time. The explosion has marked his life ever since. He made mining safety his life's work and was the director of the Miners' Safety and Health Administration, the agency created in the aftermath of the explosion. In 2006, he completed a book on the disaster in Monongah in 1907. (That was my Christmas present. It's fascinating.)

Another Marion County boy later became governor and still is today. Though I disagree with some (OK, most) of what he does, he has always been a voice for mine safety. He should. Had MSHA been in place, his uncle Joe Gouzd might have been alive. Mr. Gouzd perished in the explosion. In 2006, Governor Manchin was one of the few that could really understand what the Sago Mine disaster families were going through. He'd been there.

It's also affected the kids my age. Fathers and grandfathers were killed, along with uncles and neighbors. I have heard so many stories: one girl's grandfather didn't feel right, so he called in sick. He was spared, while his entire crew perished. I remember seeing a friend's grandmother on a History Channel special. She recalled watching her husband walk to his car and drive to work, never to return.

We remember. We remember the stories and know the faces, recognize the names.

But we're in the minority. I just checked out the History Channel's This Day in History. You won't find a word there. You'll hear about the "Who Shot JR?" storyline on Dallas, but not about the 78 miners who lost their lives. Even the local paper, the Times West Virginian, is silent. This disturbs me. When we don't remember, we can forget. When we forget, we forget not only the event but the lessons of the event.

We're already begun to see the effects of the lessened MSHA codes. Just yesterday I read of the settlement in a wrongful death suit. I wish the wall had been there. And I"m sure the families would prefer their loved ones to the money.

So read this and remember.

More information is on the Wikipedia page. Unfortunately, several links are dead. We're beginning to forget already.

And look how it turned out for WVU

Under New Management: "More university governing boards are hiring presidents whose career achievements occurred outside of academia as the task of running universities becomes increasingly multifaceted, experts say."

Need I say more?


(Image linked from The Fifth Column).

Proof that there is a God, and He is not happy.

Breaking News: Focus on the Familiy lays off 149, eliminates 53 vacant positions

Subtitle: "you did WHAT in My name?????"

Yes We Can. Yes We Did.

A friend sent this to me today. It brings tears to my eyes.

May the unity of the voices in the video be like the unity of purpose that we have after the celebrations as we settle down to the work of governing our great nation.

The article I wish I'd written

This article from truthout is the blog post I've been planning for a long time. Fortunately someone did it for me. The writer outlines a good bit of what we've been saying about the ridiculous voter identification, the Bradley effect, the machines, and a host of other problems that I don't understand like he does. So go, read, and act!

WV Vote Flipping Caught on Tape

This YouTube video demonstrates how the "out-of-calibration" machines are consistently switching votes to Republican candidates as well as to other candidates.

Look carefully at about the one minute mark, in which a straight Democrat ticket vote results in a McCain presidential vote.

Also note the number of views. Almost half a million. This is what I'd hoped for. The Internet has resulted in the democratization of knowledge. No more do we have to get our news from only approved sources. WE can state the truth and get it out there. As Mulder said, the truth IS out there. WE just need to keep looking for it.

How They Are Stealing the Election in West Virginia

Note the tense. It's not future tense, because the stealing of the election is already in process.

First, they had to set the stage. This began way back in May, after the primary, when The Daily Show and later NPR did stories in which they seemed happy to get the most ignorant examples of life and parade them out. I'm not linking them as I'm sure you've heard about them, and a search of this blog will have the articles that we wrote on them at the time. The most recent story is from the New York Daily News, hardly a bastion of liberal thought. (Hat tip to Buzzard Billy for this story.) These ridiculous stories were all about how the ignorant hicks living in West Virginia were not going to vote for a black man and thought Obama was a Muslim. Both ridiculous. We've got problems with racism in West Virginia, but I've seen no worse problems here than in the rest of the US. We have problems with racism because we are a part of the US, and racism is a national problem, not one relegated to a particular region. But the point of these kinds of stories is to demonstrate that West Virginia is a racist state, beyond hope of enlightenment. And for this I consider the media to be at least complicit in this part of the rigging, if they're not downright aiding and abetting in this crime.

With the popular notion that a bunch of racist idiots is never going to vote for a black man, the scene is laid for the latest. Republican Secretary of State Betty Ireland went with the ES&S voting machines, a Nebraska-based company whose machines are known to have serious security flaws and being easily hacked. These machines were rejected by the state of Ohio (yes, OHIO, that handed Bush a second term in 2004). Yet they're good enough for the voters in West Virginia, according to Betty Ireland. She even gave an award for special services to an official from that company. This story details the whole nasty bit. Suffice it to say that Ireland is doing her job very, very well by choosing the easiest way to make sure that WV goes Republican this year. Conveniently, she's decided not to run for re-election, even passing up on an offer from Charles Minimah, the Republican candidate for Secretary of State.

And so, where are we now? Well, AG reported on the switching of Obama votes for McCain in Putnam and Jackson counties during early voting. The Film Geek reported on the same thing happening in Martinsburg. The same thing has also been happening in other parts of the state. I'll continue to update with links as I validate them.

Strangely enough, NO ONE knows about this. My parents had no idea, and they pay attention. So what can we do?

Well, Sagacious Hillbilly reported on a complaint that he made to the Secretary of State's office. So how did that work out? Not too good. Jennifer from AG has posted links to independent agencies that can help. Use them.

Finally, PLEASE, get the word out! Forward this post to anyone who needs to read it. Link to it. Heck, copy and paste it to your blog. I'd prefer attribution, but this issue is much more important than my own ego.

It may be a done deal. This has been orchestrated so carefully that it may be too late already. But as Atticus Finch says, "Just because we were beat a hundred years before we started is no reason not to fight." Stand up for your rights as Americans. If they take our votes, the other rights don't matter all that much.

UPDATE 10/27: Problems also in Berkeley, Ohio (Wheeling) and Monongalia (Morgantown) counties. I'm not sure of Berkeley, but Ohio and Mon counties are almost always Democrat. They went for Kerry in 2004.

UPDATE 2 10/27: This story hits Slashdot.

The Cruelest Month

If T.S.Eliot had been a Mountain, he wouldn't have said that April is the cruelest month. For us Mountains, November is the cruelest month.

Work with me here. November 1968, Mountain Grandpa had a sudden and fatal heart attack. He'd been planning to go to visit my mother and dad, recently married, to have Thanksgiving at their house. Mountain Grandma made the trip alone.

November 1990. Mountain Grandma has a massive, sudden stroke at the age of eighty-five. two more months and she would have been eighty-six. At that point, we started the whistling in the dark kind of joking that they died in November so that they wouldn't have to go through another winter, as they hated winter so.

November 1992. After a struggle with congestive heart failure, Mountain Rose, Mountain Grandma and Mountain Grandpa's oldest daughter, dies. She was buried in December, but it still counts as she actually died in November. After the funeral, Mountain Daddy remarked, "November isn't a good month for the Mountains, is it?"

Mountain Daddy came from a flower of six. At this point, three of the six died in November. Mountain Hyacinth, his other sister, had died in June. Now there are two: Mountain Daddy and his sister, Mountain Lily. (Yes, we like to name after flowers. Or at least I do. ;-)

Last night Mountain Daddy called me to tell me that Aunt Lil is in the hospital, and that he's going to see her. It's a bit of a long trip, but I assumed that she would be back on her feet soon with nothing to worry about. After all, we Mountains are hardy. And Aunt Lil is well into her eighties, and has been healthy as a horse. But this morning I woke up and realized that this is the last week of October. And the next month is....November. I felt a cold chill at the realization.

Every year since 1992, as December crests and we prepare for Christmas, we have a little toast that we've all made it through the evil November. I pray that we can do it again this years.

(One of these names is not made up. Tell me which one, and you'll get a prize. If you know me IRL, you're not eligible, as that wouldn't be fair, now would it?)

Betty Ireland's Reaction

Here's the official reaction of the Secretary of State to the voting machine, errrrr, anomalies from the

Charleston Daily Mail

And here's the unofficial reaction: from Sagacious Hillbilly. A commenter has left numbers to call on the national level as well.

We the people have a responsibility to be vigilant and to make it as hard as they can to steal this election. Steal it they may, but it will be while we are kicking and screaming.

And because there is humor in EVERYTHING....

Sometimes our best weapon is laughter. Even if the very same thing is happening in the next county over. This will at least help to raise awareness.

Enjoy.

Are you Really Registered?

Kit in her impressive blog Keep It Trill has posted a link to a valuable resource: canivote.org. Click there to make sure that you are actually registered. I was a little nervous as I've moved recently and not yet received my new card. Not only did it put my mind at ease, it told me where to vote.

Make your vote count!

Cross-posted at Appalachian Greens.

Racist Ohioan Mike Lunsford Hangs Obama Effigy from Noose in Tree

I'd like to say I'm shocked, but I'm really not. Beneath the veneer, this is still a racist country in so many ways. What I love is that the guy is brave enough to do this in his yard, but not brave enough to show his face on TV. Coward. Kudos to his neighbors who are wiling to take a stand against this publicly by showing their faces.

If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying

Ever hear that at a football game? I have, and it disturbs me. If you can't play fair and expect to win, then just don't play at all. Unfortunately, folks in the Republican Party don't hold with my philosophy. First Florida, then Ohio, and now right in my backyard.

This disturbing story in the Charleston Gazette
details how Democrat votes are being switched to Republican in Jackson County. Jackson County is an interesting one in that the folks around Ravenswood tend to be Democrat and the folks around Ripley tend to be Republican. Guess which one is the county seat? That's right...Ripley. Let's also note, for the record, that Betty Ireland, the Secretary of State of WV, is a Republican that chose not to run this year for personal reasons. So she has no recourse from voters. (Full disclosure: Natalie Tennant is running for Secretary of State on the Democrat ticket. I went to college with Natalie, like and respect her a lot, and will buy a drink for anyone who votes for her. Not that she needs it, because I think she's going to run away with it. Just saying.)

Now, in WV, especially southern WV, we have a long tradition of voter fraud that has been pretty much extinguished. "We are the most democratic state in the US," we boast. "your right to vote doesn't even stop when you die!" Every election day Dad calls me and tells me to "vote early, and vote often." But these are jokes pointing at a past we've left behind, such as saying "Wow, fancy new house! You've got the outhouse inside!"

We as West Virginians, and as Americans, have GOT to stand up and fight against stealing this election. Everywhere it happens. They've already started talking about the Bradley Effect (which I'll blog about later). They are setting up to steal this election too. Because, as every fan knows, if you can't win, cheat. And if you ain't cheating, you ain't trying.

UPDATE: It's happening right next door. Literally.

I am a Doris

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz...

You Are a Doris!

You are a Doris -- "I must help others."

Dorises are warm, concerned, nurturing, and sensitive to other people's needs.

How to Get Along with Me

• * Tell me that you appreciate me. Be specific.


• * Share fun times with me.


• * Take an interest in my problems, though I will probably try to focus on yours.


• * Let me know that I am important and special to you.


• * Be gentle if you decide to criticize me.

In Intimate Relationships

• * Reassure me that I am interesting to you.


• * Reassure me often that you love me.


• * Tell me I'm attractive and that you're glad to be seen with me.

What I Like About Being a Doris

• * being able to relate easily to people and to make friends


• * knowing what people need and being able to make their lives better


• * being generous, caring, and warm


• * being sensitive to and perceptive about others' feelings


• * being enthusiastic and fun-loving, and having a good sense of humor

What's Hard About Being a Doris

• * not being able to say no


• * having low self-esteem


• * feeling drained from overdoing for others


• * not doing things I really like to do for myself for fear of being selfish


• * criticizing myself for not feeling as loving as I think I should


• * being upset that others don't tune in to me as much as I tume in to them


• * working so hard to be tactful and considerate that I suppress my real feelings

Dorises as Children Often

• * are very sensitive to disapproval and criticism


• * try hard to please their parents by being helpful and understanding


• * are outwardly compliant


• * are popular or try to be popular with other children


• * act coy, precocious, or dramatic in order to get attention


• * are clowns and jokers (the more extroverted Dorises), or quiet and shy (the more introverted Dorises)

Dorises as Parents

• * are good listeners, love their children unconditionally, and are warm and encouraging (or suffer guilt if they aren't)


• * are often playful with their children


• * wonder: "Am I doing it right?" "Am I giving enough?" "Have I caused irreparable damage?"


• * can become fiercely protective

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at HelloQuizzy

The Tide Is Turning!

Oh happy day! According to West Virginia 2008 Presidential Ballot, Obama is ahead by 8 points!! No, he didn't move ahead 8 points..he's leading McCain by 8 points!!

I thought I heard a big popping noise earlier today. I think it was my fellow West Virginians pulling their heads out of ... the sand. Hey, this is a family blog.

I am ecstatic. Now, it's still early and I know there are plenty of other factors, which I'll detail later. But now, tonight, I am celebrating.

Politics of Attack

This is precisely what I'd worried about. This editorial - Politics of Attack - from the NYTimes.com lays out the problem in detail. The level of hate has been rising steadily over the past few years and has reached a fevered pitch. I wondered when the racist tendencies that have been lying just under the surface would pop up like bubbles in boiling soup. I guess we know now. The most recent thing that I've heard is "off with his head," referring to Obama. McCain referred to Obama as "that one" in a derisive tone. Now I don't think that is necessarily racist in and of itself (thought I suspect it might be, but that's another post**). For me it's just indicative of the level of partisan hate that's been rising.

I was in college in the 80s. My roommate (still a close friend whom I'm lucky to have) was a Republican. I was a Democrat. Both of us were active in our respective college groups. We'd often talk politics, she being a political science major and I a minor. We'd go to see politicians together, of both parties, and talk about their performances afterwards. The most memorable of these was seeing then-Vice President Bush. She drove and we discussed it on the way home, laughing and joking as we always did.

Let's compare that to the daughter of a friend of mine. My friend commented that her daughter would be glad when the election was over because then her roommates would speak to her again. See, Daughter was voting for Kerry. After the election, everything was fine.

I'm not sure exactly why we've had this decline in civility and polarization. All I know is that there are about two conservatives that I can talk to with respect and civility. WE need to get back to that point. The sooner the better.

** I have heard from some that "that one"is code for a person you'd like to call a n---- but you can't because that person in within hearing range. I can't confirm on deny that, but it's certainly worth thinking about.

Embarrassed Relief

Mountain Mama called me at work today. I saw her cell number on my caller ID at work and got a little nervous. When she calls me at work, it's usually on my cell. I got more nervous when I heard her teary voice.

"Laurel, I've got some bad news," she began. My mind whirled. Not my dad! Or my brother or his kids! Maybe my only aunt? I sat down.

"The minister's husband was killed in a car wreck yesterday evening. She was at a board meeting yesterday and hadn't heard from him yet. Then a few hours later, she found out about the accident. The wreck was so bad that it burned for 2 hours before they could get him out. Of course he was gone by then."

Mountain Mama and Daddy's minister is a really neat person whom I like a lot. I consider her my minister as I haven't yet found a church home here and my registration is still there, even though I can only make it a few times a year for services.

"Oh, my God! That's terrible. God bless her and the kids, and may He give them the strength they'll need. How is she?" I asked.

"Our friends spent the night with her. She's doing as well as she can be, and the kids will be coming today, which will help."

As we talked I looked it up online in the hometown paper, I felt an embarrassing sense of relief. Yes, it's terrible and I feel for the minister and her children, the youngest of whom started college this fall. But I breathed a little easier than I had before. My family was all fine. And then, of course, I felt guilty. I can't imagine what's like to lose my father so young. Actually, I can't imagine it now. I began my prayers for them.

Mountain Mama was still describing the horrific accident and memorial details along with the shock and disbelief. "I guess you just never know when your time will come," she said.

"Mama, Daddy's on the other phone. Let me call you back. I love you," I said, because Mountain Mama is right, as always. You never know. And when I called her back after I talked to Mountain Daddy, I ended the same way.

And that's why every time I talk to her, I tell her that I love her. Because you never know.

Prayers are appreciated for the minister and the congregation. They are used to being on the receiving end of her comfort. I'm praying that they, and I, will be able to comfort her half as well.

Would You Have been a Nazi?

Here's a fascinating question: would you have been a Nazi? Take the test. It's quite interesting.

Here are my results:

Your result for The Would You Have Been a Nazi Test...

The Expatriate

Achtung! You are 31% brainwashworthy, 32% antitolerant, and 24% blindly patriotic

Congratulations! You are not susceptible to brainwashing, your values and cares extend beyond the borders of your own country, and your Blind Patriotism does not reach unhealthy levels. If you had been German in the 30s, you would've left the country.





One bad scenario -- as I hypothetically project you back in time -- is that you just wouldn't have cared one way or the other about Nazism. Maybe politics don't interest you enough. But the fact that you took this test means they probably do. I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt.


Did you know that many of the smartest Germans departed prior to the beginning of World War II, because they knew some evil shit was brewing? Brain Drain. Many of them were scientists. It is very possible you could have been one of them.



Conclusion: born and raised in Germany in the early 1930's, you would not have been a Nazi.








The Would You Have Been A Nazi? Test

- it rules -

Take The Would You Have Been a Nazi Test at HelloQuizzy

But the problem is that I'm not sure that I would have left. I think I might have tried to stay and work for change. I know, dumb, dumb. What with the current state of affairs financially, I'm even more scared of the way things are going around here.