And now for something completely different...

This post is dedicated to my friend Samuel, who has stumbled across some hard times of late and is looking for help.  I don't feel that I can offer much in the way of unbiased advise, as a lot of what he is going through seems to be similar to my own plight, but I told him that reading back what he's told me might help him at least find some clarity, which may in turn help lead to better times.

What do I know?  Throughout our lives, we find people with similar and different points of view.  Many of them are influenced heavily by their upbringing, which can be good or bad.  Some folks seeks out new friendships while others hide from them.  Both can be for reasons good or bad.  To tell someone involved in a relationship with somebody else, no matter how casual or intimate, that they need to do something the same or different to makes thing "better" is a laughable ideal at best.  There are so many forces at play that there is really no guarantee, even with advice from that person's mother, that things will go the way they want it to go.

What happened now?  Samuel has been in a few failed marriages, but his last one didn't really break off completely.  He's been a pretty private person for most of his adult life, and enjoys not having to worry about such things as "social skills" where large groups of people are concerned.  Samuel and his latest wife are attempting to make things work again, and he says he really loves her and wants to be able to enjoy her company for a long time to come.  His big problem is in addressing questions and concerns about what she wants, without feeling like he's intruding upon areas that he feels she wants to keep private.  He wants to respect her privacy, but doesn't want to suffer the possible effects of non-communication, which he feels led to her need for other companionship.

To make matters worse, he has reason to believe that his wife hasn't exactly been telling the truth to him about her reasons for returning, or that she isn't still involved with other close friends of hers.  She wants to leave her friends out of their relationship, but he feels that there is value in learning about them that might expose needs that neither of them has openly addressed to one another.  She has a number of very intimate friends (male and female) that she sees on a regular basis, and he questions their motivations in giving her their relationship advice.

Samuel's life resonates with my own in many ways, so not only is it next to impossible for me to give any advice that would not be tainted with my own personal judgments and downfalls, but for the reasons stated at the beginning I believe it quite foolhardy to offer anything other than well-wishes for them both.  I sincerely hope that they can find a mutual respect for each other that allows them to be who they are and not hurt the other.

My own chosen course is attempting to apply patience in all my dealings with my own wife.  I try to brace myself for each new revelation, which is usually accompanied by lots of yelling, and never seems to have as positive an outcome as I would hope.  I just pray that we can hold on long enough that (even if it turns out we can't be together) we can at least come out with a stronger and more respectful understanding of one another.  We've got kids to worry about, and while it gives us something to share, it also means less time to share with just the two of us.

Samuel, I'm sorry I can't give you more.  I hope you'll be able to find your way to happiness, just as so many of us are looking for the same thing.

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The Struggle to Keep U.S. Down

What do I know?  There is an unnamed class of U.S. citizenry that is being taken advantage of to no end.  While most are not aware of their membership in this class, we (because I am certainly not immune from this condition) are an overwhelming majority of the population at one time or another.  As good citizens, we have a responsibility to help these folks with special needs.  We need to show them love, and not gloss over the realities of the world in a poorly orchestrated attempt to "shelter" them.

I believe that we have failed these people in two ways, and both are completely our own responsibility as good citizens.  The first is an undeveloped education system that is being forced to do less in order that everyone be the same.  The second is the never ending supply of folks seeking to take unfair advantage of our condition in order to further their own goals.  We allow them to dictate our ways and preferences in ways that we should all be ashamed of.

What makes this such a struggle is our diversification and specialization as time goes on.  Anyone attempting to get anywhere in life is expected to be pretty skilled at one or a few activities, and then allowed to let their skills fall off in other areas.  If we are not allowed the opportunity to help ourselves continue to grow, we will continue down the path of relative ignorance.

What happened now?  Once again, we are allowing the wool-pullers to "guide" us in the direction of their choosing.  I'm not here to make a political stand for or against anyone.  Rather, I'm here to make an apolitical stand.  We have let ourselves become a society of Us versus Them, and it needs to stop.

I've been hearing of too many people siding with their political candidate of choice, simply because they like them or because they aren't the person they don't like.  In this day of information overload, it is all too easy to simply shut it out, but doing that will allow the Wool-Pullers to win!  Do you know what else helps them win?  Getting irate about how terrible they are can actually turn those of us in the unnamed class away from from you, and cause us to have sympathy for the bad people.  We just don't know any better, and don't have the inclination to find out when somebody wants to yell about it.

We need to find a way to act together, no matter who wins, or we will be lost in the devisive rhetoric engendered by the pushers of wool.  The next time you see somebody falling victim to sloganeering or lying to keep your attention, grab that wool and make them a sweater!!

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On the next episode of Desperate Mansionwives...

What have I seen on TV? I'm a fan of the show Desperate Housewives. I enjoy the way the characters can manage to get themselves into some rather impossible situations, and the even more impossible methods they think up to get out of them. While waiting for the new season to start, it seems as if I'm getting political substitute in the form of certain parties trying to find their way to an election victory.

The show features a woman named Bree Van de Kamp (now Bree Hodge), who has been brought to the forefront of my attention when regarding a certain young woman who might be running for the office of Vice President. Bree is known for being very proper and upstanding. She is a regular attendee at church, is very involved in her community, and knows her way around firearms. She also has some skeletons in her closet from time to time. One of the those skeletons came from her daughter having unprotected sex at an early age. In order to save face, Bree sent her daughter to a convent in Switzerland to stay for the rest of her pregnancy, but told everyone she was "continuing her studies" in Europe. Knowing that her daughter wouldn't want to keep the baby, Bree began wearing a fake belly to look pregnant to the outside world with the intention of raising the baby as her own after it was born.

What happened now? There are a number of stories I have become aware of that point to a similar tale that could try to combine a Desperate Housewives-like story with one not unlike The West Wing! What if Bree's Wisteria Lane was in a the booming metropolis of Wasilla, Alaska? How about it if Bree's strong sense of duty let her to run for Mayor, then Governor of the state? What if her daughter, Danielle, was taken out of school for eight months because of a particularly strong case of mononucleosis, instead of calling it traveling abroad, because she was actually pregnant? What if Bree was being considered as a possible candidate for Vice President of the United States, and realized that the shallow covering for her daughter's actions might not stand up to nationwide scrutiny?

How would you make the scheme less susceptible to leaks and holes? If I were Bree, I might consider a new twist. It might be a fitting lesson for my daughter (now leading a much more public and responsible life) to strap on my fake pregnant belly for a few months, just long enough for it to establish the impossibility of the real pregnancy having been hers. After a few months, I could trump up some story about how the pregnancy was threatening my daughter's life. If my daughter was behaving well, she wouldn't need to be dealt with directly, but could simply lose the belly.

That would be some real entertainment.

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Consumption Plug

What do I know? Gasoline and other petroleum products power our lives. Some more than others, but nearly everyone needs it in some way. There have always been corners that can be cut to liberate less of your liquid (or frozen) assets in the process of maintaining your chosen lifestyle, but they are not always apparent to the average person.

What has been happening? The rising costs of fuel, and subsequent cost of goods/services needing fuel for transport/heating, has made the subjects of frugality much more popular.

I'd like to think that to some small extent, my family and I have responded appropriately to the increasing cost of everything by shedding our older home, out in the woods, and moving to a more efficient (and larger) home in town. We are now a few blocks from the bus, a few blocks from the bike trail, and about 4 miles closer to everything else. We still have the same two full size sedans, but as those go, they don't do too bad. I'm trying to drive to work only once a week, at most. I can ride my bike or walk to the van pool, and we won't be driving to a whole different town for childcare for my son since he'll be starting kindergarten this fall.

As a courtesy to my fellow consumers, I'm placing a gadget in the sidebar from an organization run by fellow consumers that helps you find the lowest gas prices in your area. Maybe it can help you like it has me. Keep in mind that it isn't worth driving out of your way to get gas that is 10 cents cheaper than whatever place you might be driving by originally, but if you know ahead of time where you need to stop it can prevent you any hesitation or feeling like you need to drive back around the block to get the lowest price.

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Dining Secrets

What do I know?  There are many different eating establishments which specialize in differing ethic cuisines.  This (light hearted) blog entry celebrates those establishments which go so far as to make you think they might be a little more authentic than they really are.  I find this particular situation most often in Mexican restaurants.  I'm no stranger to being guided to my seat by a nice person sporting a false Spanish accent.  Sometimes I can flush them out of their protective verbal cover with a well timed question, and other times I can't.

What happened now? Salvatore's Cafe was conveniently located within our own hotel, which furnished us with a coupon to pique our curiosity.  We scanned the menu from our room and decided to give the place a try.  We were greeted upon entry by a friendly young man who seemed at first to have a slight Italian accent.  He seated us, took our orders, and served our food.  All the while, I thought something strange was going on.  What really sent me spinning was when our server (Carlos) said Vodka-Tonic like he learned to say it from Spanish-speaking folk.  While we were eating our food (which was quite good, by the way) we overheard a loud latin-based conversation coming from the bar.  I asked Allison if she thought it sounded more like Spanish or Italian.  She had taken some Spanish in college not too long ago, so I'm happy to trust her judgment.  She laughed after giving a listen, and admitted that it was indeed Spanish.

This changed the course of the entire meal.  Every word mentioned by the staff brought a secret smirk to my face.  The best part about this was that every time we contemplated where we might eat our next meal, I had to try not to dwell upon the next contestant in everyone's favorite food gameshow: Who's Food Is It, Anyway?  Afterward I remembered an old idea I had for my brother to start a food review site consisting only of Bacon Cheeseburgers.  A possible companion restaurant expose could involve judging authentic staff accents.

A Good Memorial Day to you and yours!!

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Advertising or Having Public Relations?

What do I know?  Opinion polls matter.  People with lots of money are desperate to find out what they can do (or not do in many cases) to make your life better (or less obviously bad), so that they can be better positioned to get their name in the history books.  When something bad happens to them or theirs, they are going to go to just as much effort to minimize the public backlash by carefully wielding their influence to recast the event in better light.

What happened now?  Maybe that's not the right question.  What could make it worse?  This is an expanding field, crossing the fields of marketing & sales, publishing, psychology, chemistry, politics, and is invading every aspect of our lives.  Many folks have been able to selectively block out these intrusions into their lives, while others are always waiting for the latest instructions from the subversive secret cabal.  This was demonstrated to me by my children's ability to pick up on advertising jingles and commercials.  One of their favorites songs of late is from truth.org's "Magical Amount" commercial.  They were instantly hooked by the animated characters and the word "magic" mentioned in the lyrics.  They wanted to watch it over and over again, so we had a nice little talk about what it really meant.

There's a lot more to talk about here, but I'm having a hard time not getting spun up thinking about it.  Just keep a watchful eye and you'll see more opportunistic product placement and hear more carefully worded quotes than you would have ever thought possible.

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Political shmolitical

What do I know? I used to be a fan of John McCain, and I could have been assigned to the US Navy vessel (DDG-56) named similarly. Much of my low volume fandom has been diminished after hearing his opinions concerning the latest war in Iraq and his apparent support for Resident Bush, but I have always held a little back. In my own quest for intriguing knowledge, I have always quietly hoped this was some bit of wool pulling to foil those who kept him from the White House most recently from doing it again.

What happened now? Now that he has tied up the Republican presidential nomination, I heard talk of subtle changes in McCain's political mumblings that are either proving my suspicions true, show he thinks he has a bigger ball of yarn to play with, or he is really as senile as some people think. I don't think I'm lucky enough for it to be the first one, but who knows? As his stated Rightliness has his party (reluctantly or not) falling in behind him, I'm even more afraid for a system of electing government officials that can pander so effectively and not worry about turning your back on your constituency because they have turned into their own wool producing entity (yes Rush, you could call them sheep just as well). It seems to me that we have doomed ourselves to repeat this continually. The Democrat and Republican parties are reducing themselves to little more than poorly managed voting unions.

When will enough people realize they are being taken advantage of en masse, and that the advantage takers should be treated to a wool-free reality check? I'd like to think that there are some states where this might be possible. Open primaries and other systems that do not favor the big two political monopolies are gaining a little traction. I'm interested in seeing how Louisiana-style primaries are carried out as well.

I'm almost hoping that the leading republican makes it to the White House, just for the shake-up I think both parties need. But I believe the reigning wool pullers are too powerful to let the full reconstruction take place.

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Media Outlets, Inlets, Eddies, and Sinkholes...

What do I know?  In an age of growing media conglomerates, where competing news and editorial teams have to combine resources to show "growth potential" and reporters have to stoop  lower and lower for a scoop, is it really any wonder that people are forced to look elsewhere for their news?  The good part is that there is greater selection, so the wandering ear can find the story playing the tune most melodious and chord-striking for it's particular taste.  Oh yes, that's the bad part as well.  People can tune in to their own narrow view all too easily, blocking out ideas and facts that might help us have a more balanced viewpoint.

What happened now?  Maybe I should rephrase that:  What has been happening for quite some time?  While increasing numbers find their own voice, there are fewer vocal coaches to go around (read editors) or being used.  We, as societal entities, could all use a helping hand when it comes to generating our own dialog.  Why?  It was an established norm because real writers need them to be properly understood by a broader audience, and we all make mistakes.  A second set of eyeballs help out more than many seem to understand.

The perspect of erducaishun helps can help as well as that.  I know I'm not perfect, but I can't help but wonder at how many of "edited" pieces we read these days are suffering from the lack of discipline acquired through skimping in school or celebrating our diversity in slanguage.  I see it every day from websites paying educated folk to write content for them.  Maybe they should bring in their grandmas in to help with the grammar checking.  I don't really know what the right way out of the hole is, only that for as long as this goes on there will be people sneering at web-generated content for being amateurish and unpolished, and they will largely be correct.  I'm not going to get into the politically motivated people-bashers that misuse many mediums in an attempt to brainwash the masses.  I'm sure they'll get an appropriate amount of attention later, but they are just as guilty of not offering balance in their productions.


Got opinions, topics of intrigue, rumors, or some other wool of you own?  You can leave me an anonymous (if you prefer) voicemail via GrandCentral, or you can make a public reply on the blog.

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The USAF and Boeing

What do I know?  Every US Government agency that purchases anything has certain rules they have to follow pertaining to whose services or products might be eligible for use.  The Air Force and Boeing have previously gotten into trouble for unethical deals involving preferential treatment.

What happened now?  It was announced the USAF was going to go with an in-flight refueling option from Northrop Grumman, using planes from Airbus, instead of a competing bid from Boeing.  Everyone is pointing fingers at everyone else to complain about patriotism, utilizing domestic resources for national security, domestic jobs, and on and on.

Where's the wool?  I don't pretend to know how many different angles this issue can be viewed from, but I think that this is the ABSOLUTE BEST DECISION that could be made at this point.  My opinion doesn't assume that this decision will be carried out.  My opinion is that this is a great way to cover your ass.  If you get accused of making deals that are less than fairly made, why not make a "bad" decision and let everybody tear each other apart proving why you made the right and wrong choices?

An Introduction

Pushing Wool is a place I will be using to share my thoughts about cover-ups and shenanigans.  It is my own feeble attempt to shed light on topics that seem shady to me.  While I'm sure I don't have the whole story, I hope my take on it can be illuminating enough to open a few minds.  Enjoy!!

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