Global Godliness

If you believe in God you have to believe in global warming.

I’m not an atheist only because I really don’t know the truth behind human existence and what it’s all about. I do believe in evolution, however, and the scientific proof behind it. The fact is, though, I don’t really know the meaning of life. (And, be honest: neither do you.)

Rather than choose that we simply turn to dust after we die, I prefer the happier ending of eternal life in the wonderland of heaven. That said, as I’ve had conversations with my Christian friends the argument about faith that’s always pushed me over the edge has been, “Well it couldn’t hurt.” It couldn’t hurt to read the bible and follow those 10 commandments, either. Consequently, I have not born any false witness against any of my neighbors and, though we bicker sometimes, I totally honor my mom... and it’s only a little bit of work.

Applying this same logic to the present argument: if you believe in God, you must believe in global warming, and, therefore, you have a moral obligation to act. Even if we find, definitively, based on the recent e-mail controversy or some new scientific evidence, that we have no impact on the future of the planet, it really couldn’t hurt to attempt to protect it, now could it?

So for you naysayers on global warming, why not take a risk? Recycle, stop driving your gas-guzzling SUV (all by yourself) to your inner city commute, attempt to buy your foods locally and reduce just a little bit, even if you don’t “believe.” Because in the end I promise you’ll be a better person for it – whether or not it's all a load of crap.

Flying Solo

(photo from http://parentingsquad.com)

A close friend of mine recently said to me “there are many ways to be a mother on this planet.” A sentence I’ve been thinking about a lot lately; largely because I am getting older and haven’t had any children of my own and partly because I frequently encounter judgment about the fact that I don’t have any kids, (though have mentored many).

Recently while flying from Hawaii to Seattle, I arrived at my assigned seat on the airplane and there was a child sitting in it. I looked at the child’s mother and said, “that’s my seat”; she was sitting in the aisle providing her two children the middle and window seat.

“Can you sit on the aisle?” she asked.

“Well no, I want to sleep and I purposely booked that seat.”

“Well maybe someone else will move then, I don’t want to sit away from my daughter or have them sit next to a stranger.”

“The aisle seat is too far away from them? You'd literally be RIGHT next to them”

“Do you have children?”

“No, no I don’t”

“Well, you don’t understand then.”

The woman then asked passengers around me if someone in a window seat would switch with me. One guy offered up his seat but I didn’t take it because I didn’t want to put him out, making me the ‘bad guy’ no matter what I chose to do.

I hated to be selfish but the fact is that I planned ahead and purposely chose that seat. While I understand the whole, “it takes a village", and motherhood is difficult and should be honored point of view – I just wonder what’s wrong with choosing not to have kids and not asking someone else to accommodate that choice?

In the end I took the aisle seat and was unable to sleep while this woman’s children sleep soundly in the seat I booked and paid for. I’m still mad about it (obviously) though wonder if I Am at fault? Should I have just happily moved because I’m not the one with kids and so can more easily be inconvenienced? Should I have stuck to my guns and made her kids take the middle and aisle seats they were assigned while the mother sat next to them in the other aisle seat? Am I shirking my motherhood responsibilities?

Splintered Democrats

This piece first appeared on Air America's Website:

Do Democrats Need To Circle The Wagons Around President Obama?

Ron Reagan Show executive producer Tina Nole wonders why Democrats don't support Obama when he needs support most.

Thursday December 3, 2009 3:01 p.m.

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Photo Credit: Associated Press

By Tina Nole

If there is anything I’ve learned in my many years playing team sports it’s that a confident and unified team is a winning team. Applying this strategy to politics: it’s no wonder we Democrats watched as the country swirled down the toilet during the Bush years and are looking down the loser's barrel in the 2010 elections.

During the hours before President Obama gave his speech on Afghanistan, progressives began panning it. Said The Huffington Post's Derrick Crowe: “The president is getting ready to announce his decision re: Afghanistan. A note to press covering this: adding more troops is the opposite of an "exit strategy," and should be noted as such.”

Not quite a year into the president inheriting the a grim economy with record levels of job loss did Arianna Huffington call unemployment “Obama’s Katrina.” Before the ink is placed on the paper in the health care bill, Democrats have decided it’s not good enough. While the president is planning to try Guantanamo detainees in the United States for the first time in history we say “it’s not soon enough, he hasn’t fulfilled campaign promises.”

Meanwhile Republicans gain steam with loud voices creating dissent with their teabagger movementand grow in numbers because if “not even his own party can support him, what kind of president do we have?.”

The Democratic Party has always been the party of questioning, critical thinking and fighting against blind faith. We are the smart ones. And though I’m not suggesting we dumb it down in order to win, I do think we could afford to step back for a moment and show some faith in the man we elected.

It’s quite possible that our expectations are not only unrealistic but impossible. The president, in 365 days was supposed to, close Guantanamo Bay, legalize gay marriage, get rid of "don’t ask don’t tell," repair the economy, end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, create an endless supply of jobs for the American unemployed and repair the economy?

According to Politifact: President Obama has kept 56 of his campaign promises thus far with another 255 not yet rated, while breaking 7, odds I’m willing to accept.

Further the president’s announcement of strategy in Afghanistan was exactly what he campaigned on and why we elected him in the first place.

I’m not suggesting we stop questioning our president, but if we wake up in a few years to a new regime of Republican leadership, let’s not scratch our heads and wonder how that happened.

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Dumbo Luck

Found a four-leaf clover in DUMBO today: just looked down and there it was. Can't wait for all the luck to arrive!

My Hood

I often walk around my Brooklyn Heights neighborhood and say to myself "really? I get to live here?!" Last night I literally walked about 20 steps from my front door to the promenade and watched the sunset and took some pictures.

This one I actually took from my roof deck:

After I left the Promenade I had the BEST drink at Jack the Horse Tavern, only about 4 blocks from my apartment while I got a lesson about the history of the hood and it's roots from a neighborhood friend. Just so you know how cute it is, here's a shot I grabbed from the NY Times review of JtH:



If you find yourself in New York, you MUST come visit this neighborhood, especially in the Fall when the leaves are vibrant against the backdrop of quaint houses, kind people and a nice laid back environment.

Would Terrorism by Any Other Name Smell As Sour?

Until today I've been reluctant to talk about either dating or politics on my blog, but considering my life is consumed with both almost everyday, I figured I'd change my mind.

This post was orginally published on the Air America website:

Would Terrorism By Any Other Name Smell So Sour?

Ron Reagan's Executive Producer Says NO!

Monday November 9, 2009 4:41 p.m.

Mark Rodgers of Groesbeck, Texas, stands on the side of US 190 outside the main gate of Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, to pray and show his support on Sunday Nov. 8, 2009, following the mass shootings at Fort Hood last week. (AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman, Jay Janner)

By Tina Nole

Merely hours after the tragic shootings at Fort Hood on Thursday, right wing bloggers, mainstream media professionals and the general public began calling the incident “an act of terrorism.”

ABC news said it was the “worst act of terrorism since 9/11.” Senator Joe Leiberman called the shooter a “self-radicalized, homegrown terrorist."

He went further on Fox News Sunday, saying, "If the reports that we're receiving of various statements he made, acts he took, are valid, he had turned to Islamist extremism, and, therefore, if that is true, the murder of these 13 people was a terrorist act and, in fact, it was the most destructive terrorist act to be committed on American soil since 9/11.”

Webster's defines terrorism as: "the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion."

Dictionary.com defines it this way: "The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons."

Wikipedia, not surprisingly, seems all over the map: “At present, there is no internationally agreed definition of terrorism”.

So we have to ask ourselves what is behind the eagerness to call the Fort Hood massacre "terrorism" or further the reluctance to do so?

What exactly is to be gained by labeling the act of a loan gunman, who happens to be Muslim, a "terrorist?" Do we act differently in response to this than to the shootings at Virginia Tech or the loner who killed six people and then himself in Seattle a few years ago or the ex-postal worker who killed six people and then herself in 2006? Are any of these individuals "terrorists?" And should we then round up the loners, the Asians, the Muslims and the women and label them "terrorists" so we can keep a more watchful eye? If we have a name for it does it make us more safe? Or if we don’t, less so?

We’ve traditionally let the right wing commandeer our vocabulary. "Liberal" became a bad word during the Bush years, a public option for health care is now "socialized medicine" and any time a crazy person of a varied ethnic background commits a crime, it’s "terrorism."

In the end whether or not Nadal Malik Hassan is labeled by the Department of Homeland Security as a terrorist, let’s consider the larger ramifications of that umbrella terminology before we start throwing it around so freely.

Found: Button

Found this on Montague Street this morning. I'd always heard they show up when you least expect it!

A Day in the Park

Because this city often gets to me, sometimes I have to find reasons to fall back in love with it. So Sunday I packed up my flip video, my camera, a note book and the Times and headed to Central Park for the day. Here's a list of what I found:

2 Native American Rituals

4 Great saxophone Players

1 really amazing jazz band! (you can see from the video I took here.)

1 unusually young street performer
(who by the way, I felt both impressed by and little sorry for)

2 Brides
(who by the way, I felt both impressed by and little sorry for..eh he)

1 Fairy - who gave me some glitter when I put a dollar in her funky little suitcase

Lots of roller bladders, but only 2 who were jumping around and dancing

1 weird looking dragon fly with red wings

2 all black squirrels

1 Lady walking her cat (poor cat)

1 unhappy bubble blower upper: They were some fun big bubbles but the guy making them seemed to hate it

5 people hula-hooping

1 really weird performance artist/singer dancer guy - I've seen him before and he's usually in a loin cloth of sorts. Seems many tourist are really in awe of this guy, but he kinda bugged me.

At the end of my day I also enjoyed some time with one of my favorite attractions to Central Park Summers, and that is the Roller Skaters! It's the most joyous explosion of fun and I stood and watched with a smile on my face for at least an hour. Here's a portion of the video I took.

Another day in Wonderland!

Searching

You know that time when you’ve been in a relationship for two or more years and you look back to when you only knew that person for a year and you think “I can’t believe I thought I knew him back then, I had no idea.” Well, I’ve officially reached this stage in my relationship with New York. I’ve been here for 2 years now and I remember last year, thinking “everything is familiar now”, I had no idea. I imagine 2 years from now, should I still live in the city I’ll say the same thing about how I feel today.

Lately I’m feeling a familiarity with the city that is both comfortable and irritating all at the same time. I no longer have to be the first one across the street to prove that I know how to cross Manhattan roads, I don’t push anyone out of the way when getting on the train (I know I’ll make it), I can find my way around the village and can even recommend a handful of restaurants. The irritating part though is I’ve learned New York has issues with specificity.

You see, while the city seems so convenient to new comers, the corner stores, the gourmet cheese and wine at your finger tips, the ease by which you can pop in and out of the subway on any given weekday afternoon and end up relatively close to your destination; finding something specific you really need, like a husband, a tape measure or say… a button is not a simple task. In any other city you would simply hop in your car and drive to the husband, I mean, button store. You’d walk into a sea of various fasteners, fabrics and what not, and eventually you’d walk out of the store with exactly what you came in for, someone tall dark and handsome – I mean a nice round fastener with a lil flower on it .

Well in the city it’s not so easy. I know this first hand as my Matilda has a fondness for fasteners and has eaten several rather critical buttons in my life.

First you have some decisions to make; do you want a new button? An old button? Maybe an antique? Are you SURE you want a button and not a zipper? or some other type of fastener? There are a great many choices and distractions in this city …you have a plenty buttons to choose from, so you better know exactly what you are looking for before you leave the apartment!

Next you have figure out where all the buttons are. Where exactly IS the button district? (Specific stores in New York tend to congregate). Then you have to figure out what train to take and beyond that, is it across town from where you live? In which case you might want to just forget about it and solve your problem by hiring someone to handle your fastener issues.

See, it becomes an entire strategy, this button finding. Because what if you travel all the way down or up-town and find this particular district doesn’t have the button you’ve been looking for, you could waste your whole life, I mean… day trying to find the right button!

Anyway you get my point, it’s a process trying to do anything you REALLY want to in this city, so in the end it might just be best to go with the flow and take what you can get.

.

Invisible Dogs

While walking down Court Street today in Brookyn Heights I noticed a woman strolling along, carrying a dog leash. On the end of the dog leash was a harness, only the harness was empty - no dog. I'd seen it before at a carnival or something, so it made me smile and wonder a little - but then again I do live in New York so I just continued on my way. A few seconds later though, I noticed another one: right! another person holding a leash for an invisible dog. That's when I realized, something was up (because I'm quick like that).


Turns out there were literally THOUSANDS of them! Thousands of people walking all over Brooklyn with leashes attached to air. The funny thing was noone seemed to break "character." People would pull their dogless leash away from a real dog because apparently the two creatures didn't get a long. Some carried waste bags, stopped by fire hydrants, made sure stores let dogs in etc. It was hilarious.

Thank you Improv Everywhere, well done!