Thoughts on the election
The 2010 midterm elections are drawing near. Here in Houston, early voting has been going on for a couple of weeks, and I voted early this past week. I registered to vote back in August when I was still staying at the Bread of Life and going to the Beacon.
I voted pretty much a straight Democratic ticket with the exception of a Libertarian or Green party candidate where no Democrat was running. In Houston, there is a LOT of conservative talk radio, mainly the national guys like Hannity, Savage, Mark Levin, etc., and these guys act like a Republican sweep in the midterms is almost the same as impeachment of President Obama himself, and that failure to do this means America is somehow doomed to destruction as a nation.
I would submit to you that a Republican victory in the midterm elections would signify that we are doomed, but not by the intent of the Republicans, or their followers; the Republican Party and their radical offshoot, the Tea partiers, want nothing more than fascism and a "Christian Taliban" in the United States.
It seems to me that liberal policies have never been truly allowed to work in this country. The "Obamacare" that the conservatives rail so stridently against was nothing more than a watered-down compromise that will do more harm than good, simply because the centrist Obama would not listen to the deepest wishes of the REAL liberals in this country and adopt a sinlge-payer "Medicare for ALL" healthcare plan, and eliminate the dominance and control the insurance and pharmaceutical industries have towards healthcare. When will Americans and Texas get it through our collective heads that healthcare is a BASIC HUMAN RIGHT the same as food, clothing and shelter.
Another huge outrage that transpired this week was the McDonalds election controversy in Ohio:
"...An undetermined number of McDonald's employees in northeastern Ohio received handbills in their most recent paychecks suggesting they vote for three Republican candidates...The handbill with a simple McDonald's logo at the top recommended votes for Republicans John Kasich for governor, Rob Portman for U.S. Senate, and Jim Renacci for Ohio's 16th congressional district...'If the right people are elected we will be able to continue with raises and benefits at or above our present levels,' the insert said. 'If others are elected we will not.'"
http://www.suntimes.com/business/2847112,McDonalds-election-controversy.article#
McDonalds corporate put out a statement condeming this action, but why would these dumb***es do this anyway?
"...(Allen Schulman, an attorney representing one of the employees) told (Canton, Ohio) city law director Joe Martuccio the letter was "clearly designed to intimidate, threaten and coerce a captive group of employees to vote for specific candidates at the risk of their jobs, their raises, and their benefits...particularly egregious that in this time of harsh economic conditions, a corporation would stoop to this level of voter intimidation."
Someone needs to organize a boycott of that franchisee, immediately. UPDATE: seems like a few people on the Democratic Underground blog are talking about doing just that. McDonalds needs to issue a public rebuke of the franchisee and make it clear that employees are not to be coerced into supporting any candidate. Period. McDonalds needs to revoke the franchise of any dumb*** who ever pulls a stunt like that again, and I don't care how much revenue that franchisee makes for the company.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Reflections on Arizona
In June I wrote the following reflections on my time in Phoenix, on vox.com, which has recently gone out of business. This was written as I was trying to make it in Austin, and before I decided to make the move here to Houston. I am posting it below:
------
As I am now in my fourth month as an Austin resident, I feel it's a good chance for me to reflect on my second stint in the state of Arizona and look back on my time in the desert and what I accomplished and didn't accomplish.
I lived in Phoenix from about September 2004 to February 2010 - a period of 5 1/2 years. (My first residency in Arizona was from 1990 to 1996, as a University of Arizona student who stayed in Tucson after graduation to take part in what would become a failed marriage that resulted in my now-14-year-old son.) I moved to Phoenix after four months in Las Vegas, and this was after about two years in Dallas. I wanted to be in a city with a growing economy and the best chance at
having a good graphic design career.
During my time in Phoenix, I attempted to make a living as a freelance graphic designer, but was not successful. That lack of success was a huge reason why I thought a move to Austin was in order, but I now realize that many factors beyond my control affected my success, or lack thereof, as a graphic designer.
Basically, without some major differentiation in strategy and outlook, I cannot be successful in a field for which there is little business need or demand, and a field which is over-saturated with good practitioners charging too little for too much work. The graphic design profession has changed considerably since the 1990's and I want to participate solely on my own terms; the profession - and the larger economy is not allowing me to do so right now.
Arizona is a very beautiful state, but it is a state that is quite strange. The politics are an uneasy mix of right-wing conservatism and pragmatic moderate views. As of right now the conservative forces are raging and rampaging, especially with the misguided anti-immigrant legislation of SB 1070, which was signed into law in an attempt to deal with the issue of illegal immigration into Arizona by workers from Mexico and other areas of Latin America.
Phoenix and Tucson are struggling to increase economic development, but the antics and stupidity on the part of the conservatives in the Arizona state legislature have once again made Arizona a national laughingstock - and now, the critics aren't laughing, because SB 1070 will most certainly result in racial profiling and give bigots one more reason to feel justified in their disrespect towards those different from them.
I love Arizona, but the economic and political climate was not improving over the years I was there, rather, it deteriorated. And my 14-year-old son in Austin
is not getting any younger, and neither am I.
Here are some of the highlights of my time in Phoenix:
1. I got to see several Diamondbacks games in person after being a long-distance fan of the club during my time in Atlanta and Dallas. I was a college student in Tucson during the 1990's when Jerry Colangelo, the owner of the Phoenix Suns, made the plans for Major League Baseball to come to Arizona. I left the UA and Arizona by the time the team was created and longed for the day when I could see a D-Backs game. While in Atlanta I cheered and celebrated the 2001 World Series win, as the nation was in shock and mourning over the horrors of 9/11. Once back in Arizona, I eventually grew weary and apathetic towards the Diamondbacks and baseball in general, especially after Ken Kendrick and his team took over control of the Diamondbacks from Colangelo and distanced the team from its origins, changing the colors and design of the uniforms and giving the legacy of the 2001 World Championship a huge slap in the face.
2. I got to work as a graphic design/production artist for the Arizona Republic, the newspaper of record for Arizona and the desert Southwest, a paper with a very rich and wonderful history. By the time I arrived, the Republic was owned by Gannett, also owners of USA TODAY. At the Republic, I earned the most money and had the longest tenure of any job I have ever had, but I also had a front row seat to the dramatic decline in ad revenue after the housing market crash of 2007-08, and the massive layoffs and plummeting employee morale that resulted. Employee morale dropped like a lead balloon. The Republic's biggest local competitor, the East Valley Tribune, at first laid off a bunch of staff, reduced days of publication, and then in 2009 just shut down altogether (it has since been purchased by new owners and has resumed publication). My department was literally cut in half in two years, through layoffs and resignations. The Republic's R&G Ranch, a park-like employee retreat and conference area east of the Biltmore district, and a symbol of the paper's history under the ownership of the Pulliam family, was sold in 2009. There was serious talk of the Phoenix advertising design department shutting down by the summer of 2010, except for a handful of staff, and most if not all design work outsourced to regional production centers in Des Moines and Indianapolis. The handwriting was on the wall.
3. I got to drive around the state and take road trips to Tucson and Las Vegas. I was able to reconnect with the University of Arizona and see a few Wildcat football games in person, enjoying the experience as an alumnus and noticing how the current generation of UA students expanded on the fan tradition with the Zona Zoo.
4. I blew a lot of money, and I mean a lot of money, in the tribal casinos of Phoenix at various times, indulging in my love of the slot machines, culminating in a day of losses at those slot machines that forced me to hastily flee Phoenix and move to Austin 2 months sooner than I planned. It will be a while before I ever visit another casino.
5. I got to witness first-hand the ongoing revitalization of Downtown and Midtown Phoenix:
a. witnessed the construction and opening of the light rail system, which is wildly successful.
b. witnessed the construction and opening of the downtown Sheraton hotel, spending about $12 on a cheeseburger in their fancy cafe.
c. witnessed the expansion of the Phoenix Convention Center.
d. witnessed the expansion of Arizona State University's presence downtown, with the construction of the Cronkite Journalism/KAET, the Taylor Place dorms, the nursing school buildings and the takeover of the downtown post office on Central and McKinley.
e. witnessed condo construction along Central Avenue
f. saw expansion of St. Joseph's Medical Center
So while I enjoyed, for the most part, my time in Arizona, I am glad I moved to Austin. I want to focus on reconnecting with my son and getting to know my new city, hopefully establishing myself as an independent graphic designer, and even coming together in partnership with other creative professionals.
------
And as you know by now, by July of this year, Austin wasn't working out and decided to try Houston. I am glad I made the second move in one year. I am struggling right now but I am also experiencing a degree of support and abundance. My basic needs are being met and I am staying focused on finding work and establishing myself in this town. If my time in Houston is as productive as my time in Phoenix was, I will be very happy.
In June I wrote the following reflections on my time in Phoenix, on vox.com, which has recently gone out of business. This was written as I was trying to make it in Austin, and before I decided to make the move here to Houston. I am posting it below:
------
As I am now in my fourth month as an Austin resident, I feel it's a good chance for me to reflect on my second stint in the state of Arizona and look back on my time in the desert and what I accomplished and didn't accomplish.
I lived in Phoenix from about September 2004 to February 2010 - a period of 5 1/2 years. (My first residency in Arizona was from 1990 to 1996, as a University of Arizona student who stayed in Tucson after graduation to take part in what would become a failed marriage that resulted in my now-14-year-old son.) I moved to Phoenix after four months in Las Vegas, and this was after about two years in Dallas. I wanted to be in a city with a growing economy and the best chance at
having a good graphic design career.
During my time in Phoenix, I attempted to make a living as a freelance graphic designer, but was not successful. That lack of success was a huge reason why I thought a move to Austin was in order, but I now realize that many factors beyond my control affected my success, or lack thereof, as a graphic designer.
Basically, without some major differentiation in strategy and outlook, I cannot be successful in a field for which there is little business need or demand, and a field which is over-saturated with good practitioners charging too little for too much work. The graphic design profession has changed considerably since the 1990's and I want to participate solely on my own terms; the profession - and the larger economy is not allowing me to do so right now.
Arizona is a very beautiful state, but it is a state that is quite strange. The politics are an uneasy mix of right-wing conservatism and pragmatic moderate views. As of right now the conservative forces are raging and rampaging, especially with the misguided anti-immigrant legislation of SB 1070, which was signed into law in an attempt to deal with the issue of illegal immigration into Arizona by workers from Mexico and other areas of Latin America.
Phoenix and Tucson are struggling to increase economic development, but the antics and stupidity on the part of the conservatives in the Arizona state legislature have once again made Arizona a national laughingstock - and now, the critics aren't laughing, because SB 1070 will most certainly result in racial profiling and give bigots one more reason to feel justified in their disrespect towards those different from them.
I love Arizona, but the economic and political climate was not improving over the years I was there, rather, it deteriorated. And my 14-year-old son in Austin
is not getting any younger, and neither am I.
Here are some of the highlights of my time in Phoenix:
1. I got to see several Diamondbacks games in person after being a long-distance fan of the club during my time in Atlanta and Dallas. I was a college student in Tucson during the 1990's when Jerry Colangelo, the owner of the Phoenix Suns, made the plans for Major League Baseball to come to Arizona. I left the UA and Arizona by the time the team was created and longed for the day when I could see a D-Backs game. While in Atlanta I cheered and celebrated the 2001 World Series win, as the nation was in shock and mourning over the horrors of 9/11. Once back in Arizona, I eventually grew weary and apathetic towards the Diamondbacks and baseball in general, especially after Ken Kendrick and his team took over control of the Diamondbacks from Colangelo and distanced the team from its origins, changing the colors and design of the uniforms and giving the legacy of the 2001 World Championship a huge slap in the face.
2. I got to work as a graphic design/production artist for the Arizona Republic, the newspaper of record for Arizona and the desert Southwest, a paper with a very rich and wonderful history. By the time I arrived, the Republic was owned by Gannett, also owners of USA TODAY. At the Republic, I earned the most money and had the longest tenure of any job I have ever had, but I also had a front row seat to the dramatic decline in ad revenue after the housing market crash of 2007-08, and the massive layoffs and plummeting employee morale that resulted. Employee morale dropped like a lead balloon. The Republic's biggest local competitor, the East Valley Tribune, at first laid off a bunch of staff, reduced days of publication, and then in 2009 just shut down altogether (it has since been purchased by new owners and has resumed publication). My department was literally cut in half in two years, through layoffs and resignations. The Republic's R&G Ranch, a park-like employee retreat and conference area east of the Biltmore district, and a symbol of the paper's history under the ownership of the Pulliam family, was sold in 2009. There was serious talk of the Phoenix advertising design department shutting down by the summer of 2010, except for a handful of staff, and most if not all design work outsourced to regional production centers in Des Moines and Indianapolis. The handwriting was on the wall.
3. I got to drive around the state and take road trips to Tucson and Las Vegas. I was able to reconnect with the University of Arizona and see a few Wildcat football games in person, enjoying the experience as an alumnus and noticing how the current generation of UA students expanded on the fan tradition with the Zona Zoo.
4. I blew a lot of money, and I mean a lot of money, in the tribal casinos of Phoenix at various times, indulging in my love of the slot machines, culminating in a day of losses at those slot machines that forced me to hastily flee Phoenix and move to Austin 2 months sooner than I planned. It will be a while before I ever visit another casino.
5. I got to witness first-hand the ongoing revitalization of Downtown and Midtown Phoenix:
a. witnessed the construction and opening of the light rail system, which is wildly successful.
b. witnessed the construction and opening of the downtown Sheraton hotel, spending about $12 on a cheeseburger in their fancy cafe.
c. witnessed the expansion of the Phoenix Convention Center.
d. witnessed the expansion of Arizona State University's presence downtown, with the construction of the Cronkite Journalism/KAET, the Taylor Place dorms, the nursing school buildings and the takeover of the downtown post office on Central and McKinley.
e. witnessed condo construction along Central Avenue
f. saw expansion of St. Joseph's Medical Center
So while I enjoyed, for the most part, my time in Arizona, I am glad I moved to Austin. I want to focus on reconnecting with my son and getting to know my new city, hopefully establishing myself as an independent graphic designer, and even coming together in partnership with other creative professionals.
------
And as you know by now, by July of this year, Austin wasn't working out and decided to try Houston. I am glad I made the second move in one year. I am struggling right now but I am also experiencing a degree of support and abundance. My basic needs are being met and I am staying focused on finding work and establishing myself in this town. If my time in Houston is as productive as my time in Phoenix was, I will be very happy.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Thankful list
To follow up on the wish list I made yesterday, here is a list for things I am thankful for.
1. For Magnificat Houses and the room and food I am getting here in Houston.
2. For the Houston Public Library and public internet access so I can stay in touch with my son and my brother, and other friends and acquaintances.
3. For SNAP and the Lone Star card so I can purchase food for myself and for the house where I am staying.
4. For Workforce Solutions, another place where I can get access online and send resumes out.
To follow up on the wish list I made yesterday, here is a list for things I am thankful for.
1. For Magnificat Houses and the room and food I am getting here in Houston.
2. For the Houston Public Library and public internet access so I can stay in touch with my son and my brother, and other friends and acquaintances.
3. For SNAP and the Lone Star card so I can purchase food for myself and for the house where I am staying.
4. For Workforce Solutions, another place where I can get access online and send resumes out.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Wish list
Now that the holidays are coming up, I have a list of wishes for what I want and need as we near the end of 2010.
1. A new job.
Graphic design or customer service, minimum salary $29-32k/year or $14-16 per hour. On a busline. Good benefits please.
2. A way to repay the people who have helped me.
I have gotten a lot of financial assistance from my brother in California. If I can send him a $250 gift card this Christmas that would go a long way towards giving back to him for all the gracious and generous help he's given me. Hopefully 2011 will be much more prosperous for everyone.
3. A way to reconnect with my son.
Or at least help him have a good Christmas and birthday. I'm looking for a $100 gift card for him. He will be 15 years old December 23 and loves action video games.
4. A new apartment.
In the Westchase district of Houston, preferably. $450-550 per month. Must be able to work with poor credit and TWO broken leases.
5. A replacement iBook.
My iBook was stolen recently so I would like a replacement one:
Processor Type: PowerPC G4
Product Family: iBook
Processor Speed (per Core): 1.33 GHz
Screen Size: 14 inches
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5, Leopard
Memory (RAM): at least 768 MB
Primary Drive: CD-RW/DVD Combo
Hard Drive Capacity: 40-60 GB
Must have AirPort card installed.
Would also like Adobe Creative Suite 3 and OpenOffice.
Right now I am still staying in the Magnificat Houses and working 30 hours per week at the Loaves and fishes soup kitchen in downtown Houston in exchange for room and board in the house.
Google, you have the money: sponsor this wish list and get me on track in Houston.
Apple, I'm calling you guys out as well...you just posted a record $20 billion in revenue and over $4 billion in after-tax earnings. You can get me a new laptop. Easily.
Now that the holidays are coming up, I have a list of wishes for what I want and need as we near the end of 2010.
1. A new job.
Graphic design or customer service, minimum salary $29-32k/year or $14-16 per hour. On a busline. Good benefits please.
2. A way to repay the people who have helped me.
I have gotten a lot of financial assistance from my brother in California. If I can send him a $250 gift card this Christmas that would go a long way towards giving back to him for all the gracious and generous help he's given me. Hopefully 2011 will be much more prosperous for everyone.
3. A way to reconnect with my son.
Or at least help him have a good Christmas and birthday. I'm looking for a $100 gift card for him. He will be 15 years old December 23 and loves action video games.
4. A new apartment.
In the Westchase district of Houston, preferably. $450-550 per month. Must be able to work with poor credit and TWO broken leases.
5. A replacement iBook.
My iBook was stolen recently so I would like a replacement one:
Processor Type: PowerPC G4
Product Family: iBook
Processor Speed (per Core): 1.33 GHz
Screen Size: 14 inches
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5, Leopard
Memory (RAM): at least 768 MB
Primary Drive: CD-RW/DVD Combo
Hard Drive Capacity: 40-60 GB
Must have AirPort card installed.
Would also like Adobe Creative Suite 3 and OpenOffice.
Right now I am still staying in the Magnificat Houses and working 30 hours per week at the Loaves and fishes soup kitchen in downtown Houston in exchange for room and board in the house.
Google, you have the money: sponsor this wish list and get me on track in Houston.
Apple, I'm calling you guys out as well...you just posted a record $20 billion in revenue and over $4 billion in after-tax earnings. You can get me a new laptop. Easily.
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