Madison vs. Ferguson: Contrast of Community in the Face of Tragedy

Soapbox moment:

I have been closely monitoring the media coverage, community & activist attitudes, and the reaction of the Madison police and city regarding the shooting of Tony Robinson.  There are comparisons being made between Madison and Ferguson that are entirely misplaced.  Here's why:

• Wisconsin is one of only two states that mandates the investigation of any police-involved shooting by an outside agency
• The Robinson family has taken an active role in promoting open dialogue and patience while the investigation is conducted
• Police Chief Koval's leadership has been embraced by Black community leaders and the Robinson family itself

Madison is not perfect. We have serious social cleavages and the problem of discrimination against minorities, among other issues, that deserve attention.  We have started a dialogue and we are taking steps toward improving our community.  Inflammatory, uninformed rhetoric has no place in this discussion from either side.  It works against progress, not for it.

Ferguson and Madison are both being exposed for the cities they are.  I cannot speak for Ferguson but I am proud of the Madison community and city leaders for showing the country how a *community* should handle a tragedy: by fostering a positive environment for dialogue and working to identify the root causes, then working towards a solution.

The biggest difference between Ferguson and Madison?  Ferguson is being pulled further apart by tragedy; Madison is being brought closer together.  Make no mistake, progress is slow and difficult but, from what I have seen, Madison is resolute in its vision of a better city.  It is our duty as citizens to facilitate the changes necessary to make a better city, a more cohesive community between races and cultures.

What You Should Know Before You Watch Season 3 of 'House of Cards' ...Also Thoughts of Indiana Jones...

If you have seen the first two seasons of Netflix's House of Cards you have or are probably currently watching season three which was released about a week ago.  For your sake I am going to speak in generalizations and vagaries regarding specific details of season 3 as I would hate to be a 'spoiler'.

Let us start at the beginning, season one.  In the first season Frank Underwood is a Congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives.  This season is spent dealing mostly with state and federal politics.  State politics refers to policies of a specific state and its legislators whereas by federal I mean the interaction of the states with the Federal government and vice versa.  This is important to note as the relationships and interactions within a state and among states is very different from interactions of states with the federal government.  Domestic policy is brought forth toward the middle/end of the season with the education bill moving forward.  By domestic I mean policy put forth by the federal government (in this case the legislature).  Much like the how the interactions with state and federal governments vary, so does domestic policy which is presented in season two.

  Season two phases out state politics almost entirely and, instead, focuses on federal and domestic policy.  The interactions of the two dominant parties (Democrat and Republican) and their leaders are the focal point of this season.  Frank spins his web around the parties and bleeds opposition and friend alike of their life (literally, or figuratively in the form of influence).  Poised for an executive ascension Frank steps up, leaving any bridges he had left at the start of season two, burnt.

So starts season three.  Frank *SPOILER IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED SEASON TWO* as president of the United States of America.  This season is different.  Much more different the other two seasons because the focal point of this season is international politics. International politics is barely looked over in the other two seasons.  Domestic policy plays a large, strategic, role in season three but does not delve into many details of 'AmWorks'.  We also see some serious foreshadowing of the importance of the Judiciary branch, specifically the Federal Supreme Court.

What does this mean?  It means that this, the third, season is different.  Much different.  Not necessarily bad but, as with any change, there is a different taste to this season which may not sit well on everyone's palate, especially after the first two seasons.  Let's use Indiana Jones for an example!  We all know that the first three movies (with the exception of the second which was still okay...) films were great.  Really great.  Based around World War II Nazi bad-guys for the most part.  What could be better than that?  According to popular culture?  Nothing.  Nothing at all.  Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is based in an entirely different era.  I am not referring to the era that is was filmed.  No.   Rather, I am referring to when the movie takes place, which is the golden-era of conspiracy theories, aliens, and UFOs.  Was it a terrible movie?  No.  Most people will disagree with me because the movie wasn't their taste.   Everyone was expecting the same, succulent, juicy, flavor of the WWII Indiana Jones and his [mis]adventures.  Instead what you got was a crunchy, cheesey, spicy cold-war era movie with some over-the-top action sequences and a crazy ending.  Crazier than Raiders of the lost Ark?  Fuck No!  Not crazier at all!  In fact, more sane and logical than Raiders of the Lost Ark or even the Last Crusade!  At least aliens might exist!  Ghosts and/or eternal life?  No way.  Was it better than the the two of the three originals?  No, but it wasn't as bad as everyone thought it was.  PHEW!  Rant over... I've been waiting for an outlet to let those thoughts out.

Season three of House of Cards is not nearly as dramatic of a change as Indian Jones was but I do anticipate some critics giving some flak.  In fact, I think most critics are waiting to dole out their strong opinions one way or the other for fear of giving an unpopular review.  Ridiculous.  What people should keep in mind is that if you loved seasons one and two you may not like season three as much.  Perhaps you will like it more!  But your opinion of the show as a whole should not change because, true to form, the show is changing with its environment.

Congratulations!(?) You're Getting Married! ... To Electronics... [If You're Not Already]

Electronics and their applications are seeping into every aspect of life, for better or worse.  It is a marriage, a relationship that is not likely to be severed any time soon- or ever.  It's scary!  I did not sign up for a gmail account more than ten years ago with the intention of 'tying the knot' but at some point in the last decade it happened.  This relationship between electronics and I started like any other, with an introduction and first-impressions.

Warning: nostalgia incoming! My first memory (ever) is playing Centipede on a computer with a DOS operating system (you can draw your own conclusions from that fact...).  We would play an assortment of games that were mostly age appropriate. One day my Father brought home an NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) complete with Super Mario/ Duck Hunt combo, the gun, and Super Mario Bros 3.  It was magical. We would play these impossibly difficult games for hours.  These games could only be played at home.  When we went to school, we were at school.  I can infer that it adults in the workplace didn't tote their NES with them to work with them, too, although I cannot speak directly for the 1990's workforce as I was far too young for most of the decade.

That was gaming, for communication we had to use our home phones and call other households.  Of course you would hope your friend would pick up right away but it was a crap-shoot.  Chances are you would have to interact with their parents or siblings before talking to your friends.  These other household members often times acted as 'gatekeepers' allowing or disallowing your call depending on whether or not your friend was grounded, done with homework, busy, or otherwise.  Can you imagine in this day and age how mortifying it would be if your parent(s) intercepted a phone call between you and a friend?  Or worse... if they listened in (which definitely happened, by the way)!

From there we ascended to beepers, INSTANT MESSAGING!, and cell phones.  This was followed by rise of text messaging.  There was no gatekeeper.  No delay.  Your friend isn't home? No problem. Then the internet spread and evolved.  Email accounts were required for some websites' functionality, shopping got bigger, faster, and easier, and everything got more connected, social.

The very same day I was feeling nostalgic, I was concurrently feeling very introspective (as I often do).  I decided to evaluate my interactions with my electronics.  I realized that I was messaging, checking websites, facebook, twitter with no goal in mind.  It was just part of my day.  Bored?  Check facebook, look on a deal site, tweet something... ANYTHING... to no end.  The means?  My desktop, cell phone, tablet, laptop.  Those inescapable devices that you are always looking at.   Moreover, all of my devices and accounts are seamless.  It matters not which device I use, there is a level of continuity between devices that no one could have predicted ten years ago.

Even when I am busy or uninterested, they are there:  buzz,  ring,  chime, beep, flash- they know how to get our attention... yes they do.  More than that- devices want us to use them!  Apps use users for ad revenue.  Searches and preference data are constantly being collected to custom tailor recommendations, relevant ads, suggestions, and more.  Any site that you sign into does this and even some that don't require a 'sign-in'.   It is fantastically creepy and somewhat overwhelming.  Helpful? Absolutely.  Intrusive?  Without a doubt.

The point?  Like any other serious relationship- it can be difficult to tell whether or not it is healthy when you're in it.  Guess what?  We're in it deep.  We took the plunge and now we're committed.  Just like a successful marriage, your partner (electronics) should enhance your life, not make it.  If you can't function without your device(s)- you have a problem and should either seek help or disconnect for a while to gain some perspective or both.  Interactions with real people are important- electronic devices should not replace spending time with friends and/or family.  Feeling alone? Alienated?  Give an old friend a call.  Don't email, text, facebook, tweet, or IM- call their phone and catch up.  It feels good and they will appreciate it.  Most importantly- enjoy the moment you're in.  Instagramming your food doesn't make it taste better, facebooking won't make you meaningful friendships, and tweeting... well I'm still figuring out what that's all about.

"It is okay to have your head in 'the cloud' as long as your feet are on the ground." - Joel Ondercin

Five[Six] Questions for Twenty-Somethings Considering an Existential Crisis (and panic about)

Prepare for an existential crisis (or don't).  Realistically- I am the only one reading[writing] this that is having an existential crisis but that won't stop me from [over]sharing, anyway.  

I am a 27 year-old Political Science undergraduate student at UW-Madison.  Last week I was the Youth Director at 100,000+ square foot sporting facility.  After five years in the working world I am going back to school to finish my undergraduate degree and, perhaps, more.  It's a frightening, drastic change that wasn't easy to settle on.

In the past five years I have been the aquatic's director at a private pool, director of a sports camp, a sales manager for a trade publication, an inside sales rep for a telecom company, and the  Youth Director at a the aforementioned sports facility.  About six months ago I started looking back at how I had grown and what I had accomplished personally.  The list was thin.  

I made this radical change after I answered questions I hadn't even asked.  Like Jeopardy, my answers came first.   I framed these questions around the answers that I arrived at:

1) Where am I (in relation to the ones that I care about)?  Further and farther away.  I've committed more time to fruitless and dead-end tasks and jobs than I have to the friends and family that deserve my time and attention.

2) Where am I going?  Nowhere- at least I wasn't.  I've made a few small strides forward including filling in a bit of my financial hole that I dug during 'part one' of my undergrad.  Furthering my career? I was just... working. I was a cog repeatedly turning.  A cog that was part of a machine that wasn't going anywhere.

3) What am I doing (or not doing)?  I was working, obviously, but more accurately distracting myself.  When I wasn't working I was actively trying to distract myself from work or, if I was unable to distract myself I was stressing about work.  I was not doing the things that make me happy

4) What do I look like (compared to my own standards)?  I look stressed, tired, and frankly, out of shape.  I thought that my work would help me make time for the things that I enjoy and allow me to improve myself. 

5) How do I feel?  Out of place.  Out of sorts.  I am (or was) a bubbly, social, energetic person.  Looking back over the past several years I have become removed from my friends and family and from myself.  I have not been myself for some time.  It is a sobering thought.

Panic!  I did.  It's natural.  Just... take a step back and look at the big picture.  Realizing that you are unhappy or moving toward unhappiness is unsettling.  The first thing I did was look for new jobs.  Any job.  Anywhere!  This was not the larger issue and not the correct course of action (for me).  Don't act just yet.  

[6] What actually needs to change?  The answer to this question is the hardest.  It could be your job, relationship, location, lifestyle, beliefs, whatever.  For me it was my career and education.  This was not immediately obvious for me and it likely won't be for you.  Does it need to be an earth-shaking, life-changing, existential epiphany?? No.  No it does not.  Is there something you should change? That's up to you but don't let yourself get in the way.

I'm scared.  You will be, too, if you decide to change something worthwhile. Even if you decide to make an adjustment or do something different with your life, career, etc- it is always scary.  Do it, anyway.  Do it because you can.  Do it despite yourself or your family or your ex or whatever reason you need.

"There is no greater education than one that is self-driven." - Neil deGrasse Tyson