Hope

I woke up this winter Kansas morning to a fresh layer of snow on top of a layer of ice. Shoveling the snow off the sidewalk and cleaning the car I couldn’t help but notice a large robin red breast that was working for his food in an environment that was suddenly frozen over.

We have a small crab apple tree next to the drive that still has a few frozen apples hanging on the branches and that’s what he was trying to feed on. To his evident dismay the apple he wanted was too far from the branch he was sitting on to make grabbing it easy. Instead he would lunge forward, grab the apple in his beak and frantically try to hover like a hummingbird. For a large thrush like that robin hovering just isn’t an option and several times he ended up hanging ingloriously by his beak and looking slightly out of sorts. But after several valiant attempts to pluck the fruit from the tree he finally managed to dislodge it and flew off with his prize. A tiny, wizened, dry and frozen apple that probably didn’t  justify the energy expended in retrieving it.

But the bird was happy and the snow will melt in a day or two and once again life will be good for birds and snow shovelers.

Ethics

The tumult in Wisconsin (and other states) over the rights of governmental employee unions got me thinking about concepts of rights and the responsibility of the individual to act appropriately. Today when I saw a news report that a firefighter in Arizona refused to respond to the shooting of his US Congresman I am even more concerned that we have lost our vision of morality and ethics. 

Over the years the varied levels of government have agreed to formalize many proposals put forth by their employee unions until now there are numerous employee privileges that could be described as “featherbedding”. The unions are merely perpetuating actions they took when organizing industry so it should come as no surprise to see them acting like a stepped on cat when the government asks them to assume some responsibility for the employee benefit programs they have pressured into being over the years.

I have worked for the government and on occasion represented the government in talks with the unions. Since most government employees are restrained from “job actions” the power of the unions at government level usually consists of persuading the legislators that their programs should be voted into law. All too often I had to sit back and observe the union do absolutely nothing to support one of their members who needed, or asked, for their help. From my limited viewpoint it looked like the only benefit received was by the union and its officers, the individual was merely a dues production unit, not a guy with an issue.

I actually do believe in unions, since they are more able to oppose bad management or work together with management to achieve a common goal. All to often management, union leaders and politicians forget that the people depend on them to act morally and to have a sense of ethical behavior if we are to have the type of society that Constitution envisioned.

John Wayne is quoted as saying “A man’s got to have a code, a creed to live by, no matter his job” and I have to agree with that thought. Recently I ran across an article that said the Montana State Senate had passed a bill that said it was the sense of the Senate that the state should operate under “The Code of the West”. I was curious and looked it up and found it in a book written by a Jim Owen called Cowboy Ethics and on reading I can see where we all would be better for it if individually and collectively we lived by this simple code:

            1. Live each day with courage                  6. When you make a promise, keep it

            2. Take pride in your work                      7. Ride for the brand

            3. Always finish what you start                8. Talk less and say more

            4. Do what has to be done                      9. Remember that some things aren’t for sale

            5. Be tough, but fair                                10. Know where to draw the line

Montana Governor Schweitzer has said he will veto any frivolous legislation. I guess he consider ethics "frivolous." He wants the legislature to focus on important things like jobs and a budget shortfall. He’s right that those things are extremely important. But the ethics and values deficit in this country is just as important as the fiscal and financial deficits…If life is just about dollars and cents then we are in bigger trouble than I thought.

Unintended Consequences

One of the more active “green” states is Oregon and following a very active campaign encouraging drivers to switch to electric cars no has learned the bitter truth that those who do switch will avoid paying tax at the fuel pump. As all good politicians do they are planning to fix that problem as soon as possible. They plan on introducing an odometer fee.

A bill in the Legislature is aimed at the growing fleet of cars and trucks that plug in rather than guzzle in lieu of paying the gas tax that helps cover the cost of state and local road construction and maintenance

They plan to charge a fee of 0.6 cents per gallon (interesting thought…that watts can be compared to gallons for tax purposes) and would cost an owner that drove his car 15,000 miles some $90 in “user” fees). Drivers would pay a "vehicle road usage charge", starting with model year 2014 electric vehicles and plug-in gas-electric hybrids. The state is now trying to devise a method of automatically recording the odometer reading of the vehicle in order to encourage honest reporting. Drivers would need to use a log book, or other method of documenting driving off Oregon roads in order to claim a refund from the state.

A well meaning driver, wanting to be socially appropriate goes in hoc to buy an overpriced electric car, gets hit with a humongous battery replacement bill when the original batteries fail and now has to pay a user fee that cannot be claimed as a deductable tax. We really are living in interesting times.

Peace...Is it possible?

The Muslim world has for the past 30 years been a defining force in the world, and the glue that holds it together has been Islam. Almost from its beginnings in the 6^th century Islam has been a religion divided by internal strive and tribal animosity. All religions have their procedural divides and sects but Islam’s history is replete with the sectarian violence that followed the death of Mohammed.

If the rioting and turmoil in Egypt is about freedom there is little evidence that the Arab world has any talent or desire for the concept. Iran is a psychiatric prison nation. Syria is ruled by a family of dictators while Hamas rules Gaza with a heavy and corrupt fist. The monarchies that exist in the region are all self centered and unable to act in a democratic fashion. Right now I think I’m seeing a repeat of the 6^th century wars that occurred between the Sunnis and the Shiites over who was holier in the eyes of a god that encouraged killing all nonbelievers as a matter of faith.

The story of that divide is convoluted and but can be reduced to a struggle for control of Islam with the Sunnis believing that Ali (Mohammed’s cousin) was the forth and last of the “rightly guided caliphs” While the Shia believe that Ali should have been the first caliph. In short it was an argument not over discipline but over power and control.

The line of Mohammed’s direct descendants ended in 873 when the last Shia imam disappeared at the age of four. The Shia branch of Islam do not believe he died, but that he had “gone into hiding and would return”. Their version is at the heart of  Iranian (Shia) theology which says that in order for him to return the world must sink into complete chaos with massive loss of life. Something akin to the Christian Armageddon.

It boggles the mind to realize that the core believe of Islam is to live with a conflict that began some 1400 years ago and where all the laws, particularly Shia law is based on seventh century values and diverge with hard won modern values of civilization.

In Egypt President Obama insists that the Muslim Brotherhood play a role in any future government. But ignores the fact that the Brotherhood is sworn to subjugate all who are not Muslim. Their guiding principle 9taken from their own web site) is “Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. Qur’an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope”

I hope our government is not intent on advancing the agenda of a collection of 6^th century thugs who would like nothing better than to cleanse the world of all who are not of their faith. Only time will give us an answer to that thought and I have concerns for the future.

Regime Change

Some regimes change periodically when the electorate decides they want a different party in power. Other regimes are reluctant to leave their position of power and need to be “nudged” so another party can take over and usually corrupt the government just like the old regime did.

I’ve been watching with interest the regime change that is about to take place in Egypt. Of all the Muslim societies that country is about the most liberal government you could find in the region. They allow their citizens a periodic vote, the all enveloping burka is generally not encouraged and they allow women to participate in government and education with opportunities equal to the male population. There is corruption and there is a repressive structure to their government but compared to other Muslim countries in the region it’s moderate.  

The uneducated and the ultra conservatives they support have been convinced by the mad mullahs into believing that they have an opportunity to build a government based on a 6^th century culture and way of life. I fear that any regime change we see in Egypt will look more like the Taliban of Afghanistan than the democratic countries we see outside the Muslim world.

The Lesson of History

Pursuing a vacuum around the house gives me plenty of time to think of things other than the task of chasing dust bunnies and other bits of random detritus. With little else to do I counted and have found that we have a total of 30 fully loaded bookcases scattered around the house. And I didn’t even count the desks, side tables and racks that hold a fair portion of our printed wealth. If we want to read fiction we go to the public library, but if our needs are for workable information we first start with the books in our own collection. Part of my enjoyable reading is history, literature telling me how others reacted in adversity and perhaps teaching me ways to deal with stress and the people who cause it in my life.

March 8, 1862 is a notable day in history in that the first recorded battle between two iron glad ships occurred. But there are other dates in that story that are important. On Dec 31, 1862 one of those two ships, the USS Monitor sank in a storm, not to be found until 1973, off Cape Hatteras in 235 feet of water. (As a side note the people who found the Monitor were looking for a WW II German submarine reported sunk in the area, proving that mayhem is an important part of history) In 2001, as part of the recovery process the ship’s engine was returned to shore where it spent the past few years in a pool of purified, alkaline water. Only recently have the conservators been able to drain the pool and start the task of cleaning the gunk of a century and half from the engine.

Now that’s just ho-hum history to lots of people, but to me it is a straight line connection with the past that made us what we are today. I’m envious of the conservator who uncovers a bronze engine valve, gleaming like new in all that accumulated muck and considers that the last person to touch that valve has made contact with a society he probably never imagined. That is the power of history that makes our collection of books, moving with us, wherever we go so valuable.

History teaches us by allowing us to make mistakes in the hope that we can learn from those mistakes and apply correction to our actions in the future. Looking around me I can see that the lessons of history are indeed our hope for the future…I can only hope we learn.