The Democrats are Coming....Run for the Hills

Well we had a new deadbolt lock installed on the house today in anticipation of all the riffraff that we expect to be swarming all over our fair city by the end of the weekend. That's right, the long agonizing wait for the Democratic National Convention is almost over. I have been looking forward to it in the same way I look forward to anything painful and unpleasant.

For the past several months, a tremendous amount of local news coverage has been given to all of the fringe groups that are supposedly going to be descending on the city and engaging in civil disobedience. I have been listening to a lot of NPR during the day, and I have to say that, local program, "Colorado Matters" has been one of the worst culprits in propagating all of this nonsense. Giving a voice and a platform to these boneheads isn't doing anybody any favors. I have to say that, even after hearing so much of the coverage on these guys, I still don't even fully understand what they are trying to accomplish. Barrack Obama is the party's nominee. I don't think that the extreme left could ask for much more.

A few of these groups that I am talking about included:
1. Unconventional Colorado - Their official website on MySpace describes them as "
Unconventional Denver is an autonomous chapter of Unconventional Action, a network of anarchists and anti-authoritarians organizing against the political conventions happening this summer."
What the hell is this foolishness? Anarchism? I thought that went out with punk rock in the 80's. If people want real anarchy they should look at the situation in Iraq after the US Military removed the heavy handed authoritarian government. Is that what what they want? Or no, that's what they are protesting against. I'm confused.

2. Recreate 68 - "R68 agrees with the proposition, POTESTAS IN POPULO, “all power comes from the people.” What stands between the people and power are the party machines. The parties were devised as a means to represent the people. Today they represent nobody, not even party members, but only party bureaucracy. The people have been left without appropriate institutions for their representation. We intend to create those institutions!"
Recreate 68 has gotten probably more press than any of the other groups that plan to be protesting during the DNC but their message is only slightly more coherent than that of Unconventional Colorado. People have been talking about getting rid of parties forever, but nobody has ever come up with a real alternative, at least as far as I know. They can complain as long as they like, but unless they get a candidate who agrees with them elected president I doubt anything will happen with their agenda. Glenn Spagnuolo, this groups primary spokesperson and friend of Ward Churchill, has been on the news more than any of these other rabble rousers. It is because of threats made by Recreate 68 that the Denver City Council felt it necessary to pass a special ordinance making the throwing of feces illegal. In their defense, the group subsequently claimed that this was unnecessary because they had already decided against using this tactic. I have to wonder why this would have been on the table to begin with.

3. Tent State University - " Tent State University is a model, not an organization. Young people across the country have used this model to take back their campuses and their communities. This August we are using this model during the Democratic National Convention in Denver to reclaim our future. Our future will not be cannon fodder for these parties' wars. We will reclaim and define what "Hope" and "Change" mean to us."

Again, I'm not sure exactly what this is supposed to mean, but if you read further on their website they seem to be pretty focused on ending the "war" in Iraq. In their defense, at least they seem to be advocating non-violent tactics, unlike the previous two organizations I've mentioned. These guys plan to set up a bunch of tents in City Park and listen to music. I think they have Michelle Shocked coming to perform, which I have to say is another redeeming factor for them. I know she's a super left-wing radical type, but I admit that I like her music.

There are other groups as well, but my prediction is that they will all be disappointed in the results. They have been building this up as the event that will serve as their great national platform, but in the end, they will be a footnote at best. My sense is that, for all that is wrong with America right now, most folks just aren't that angry. Certainly most people don't want violence and vandalism either. Whether Glenn Spagnuolo and his ilk like it or not, people actually do care about their private property and don't want it damaged by a small band of idiot blow hards.

Lasagna Cone?

I'd like to take note of a creative bit of parenting that was passed along to me today. Rachel is still to little to know anything but her mother's own milk but I am well aware that as children grow older and parents start introducing more foods into their diets that they are not always cooperative about eating everything that is put in front of them on their plates. My wife Bree witnessed this very phenomenon when she went to visit her friend Ellie this afternoon.

Ellie has a two year old son named Matthew. Matthew did not want to eat the lasagna that had been given to him for lunch. Instead he was insisting that he get some ice cream. His parents patiently advised him that he could have some ice cream if he would at least eat some of his lasagna. But Matthew wasn't having it. He wanted ice cream or nothing. So as the story was relayed to me, Matthew's father Eric finally just said to put the lasagna in a cone and give it to the kid. So that's what they did. Matthew ate it all, and never even asked for the real ice cream again afterwards.

I appreciate the imrovisation that this showed and I hope that when I am faced with similar challenges that I am able to come up with similarly clever and effective solutions.

Today was also the first time that Rachel was introduced to Ellie's new daughter Anna. Anna is about 2 months older than Rachel, and we hope that they can be good friends one day.

Anarchy In The CO

While our young daughter's musical tastes have leaned heavily toward reggae in her first weeks out of the womb, her style has been unquestionably influenced punk rock. In particular, she seems to be taking her fashion and hairstyling queues from the late Sex Pistol, Sid Vicious.

Her mother and I have had to take a firm stand with her concerning her desire for certain aggresive piercings and have had to say no to an expensive studded leather onsie. Rachel is a very live for the moment kind a gal and doesn't understand or doesn't care that she will just grow out of it in month or two anyway.

We are confident that this is just a phase that she is going through. When she matures a little bit Grandma Karen hopes that Rachel's interests will start leaning more toward Viennese Waltzes and square dancing. However, in the meantime we will love he no matter what her hair looks like.

Let's Get Dirty

Last weekend I participated in the annual March of Dimes Mud Volleyball Tournament which was held in a large field on the far northeast side of Denver. The company I work for sponsored two teams and although I had never played mud volleyball before, I thought it would be good time. I had considered riding my bicycle in the the Copper Triangle ride instead, but this seemed like it would be a good cause and would be a little closer to home. I'm especially glad I mad the choice that I did since Rachel had had a few bad nights in row and I had been struggling to get enough rest.

The high temperature in Denver on August 2nd, the day the event was held, was 103 degrees. Cooler than the high of 104 the day before, but still plenty toasty. It turns out that pigs really have it right, slogging around in the mud is a pretty good way to stay cool. There were tents set up around the outside of the competition area that provided some shade for the onlookers. Bree and Rachel even came out for a while to watch daddy slog around in the mud with a bunch of other people most of whom had started drinking beer bright and early in the morning. I'm afraid to say that I was no exception.

I'm sorry to say that our team did not do especially well. We finished the day with a 1 and 4 record. The other Collect America team fared considerably better and competed late into the afternoon in the playoffs before finally getting their butts kicked by a far superior squad. Despite my normally ultra-competitive nature, I didn't feel too bad about having to call it an early day. Playing in the mud is exhausting. Just taking a step or two in one direction or another takes considerable effort. Then there is trying to stand back up after falling down or diving for the ball that can be really tough. Before even going in the mud to begin with it is highly recommended that you duct tape your shoes to your legs, so that they do not come off when you try to lift up your leg. Every year many people lose their shoes in the quagmire. Although, once the initial aversion to the mud wore off it really didn't bother me anymore. Other people actually started flopping down and rolling in it, or in some instances, wrestling in it, which I must say that I approved of.

A girl on the other Collect America team had given her wedding ring to Kim, our HR director, to hold while she was out playing. As luck would have it, a couple of people thought it would be funny to throw Kim in the mud between matches. Sure enough, there went the ring into the mud which set off a good deal of crying by the young bride. A dozen people probably got down on their hands and knees in the pit to search for it, but to no avail although the ring was eventually found the following Tuesday.

Possibly the most interesting part of the day for me was watching an enormous dust devil form in the ajoining field. I'd seen dust devils from a distance before, but never such a large one so nearby. It was made all the more specacular because of all the dry soil that had been churned up by the hundreds of cars making their way across the field that morning on their way to the parking area.

When all was said and done, this worthy charity event had raised over $215,000 for the March of Dimes with well over a thousand people participating on over 100 seperate teams.

Uncle Justin's First Visit

Justin was very happy to meet Rachel for the first time. So much so, he got himself especially spiffed up for the occasion. Nevertheless, certain questions still remain about Justin's suitability as a role model for for young children.

Last week a male staff member of the Girl's Gone Wild crew was arrested for sexual assault after a shoot on Long Island. My Brother Justin would like everybody to know that, while he proudly sports the gear, he in no way endorses the actions of that staff member.

Time To Reign in Judicial Activism in New Zealand

Last week a story made the news here in the USA about how Rob Morfitt, a meddling family court judge in New Zealand took the radical step of making 9 year old Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii a ward of the court for the purpose of changing her name to something more conventional.

After having recently gone through the process of naming a child myself, I found myself sometimes walking a fine line between trying to pick a name that was unique, interesting and with character and picking a name that was bland, or overused. Choosing a name for a child is a great responsibility that no parent should take lightly. In trying to pick a great name for my child, I will freely admit that at times I wished that my choices were not limited to the relative few that would be deemed acceptable by the conventions of society. Part of me wanted to choose a moniker that would be a real stand out, something that would differentiate my child from all the other children out there with their boring, pedestrian names, something that would symbolize just how special a person my son or daughter was going to be.

In the end, we decided upon Rachel Alexandra, not exactly the most unusual name out there, but one which my wife and I thought fitting for our brand new beautiful daughter. However, had we gone in a different direction and picked a more far out and eccentric name I think that it would have shown courage and creativity. Any loving parent that chooses to go in this direction should not be chastised for their decision and they most certainly should not have the courts step in to overrule their choice.

Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii was a name we never actually even considered. Even if it is something that we had thought of, I doubt that it would have made the final cut. This is beside the point though. What does matter is that this do-gooder judge in New Zealand clearly overstepped a boundary. I don't think the judges in Australia would get away with this kind of interference.

Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii is a great name and I would like to see more parents take that kind of risk. It's sure a lot more interesting than Jane or Susan so I salute them for their creativity. I'm sure she will be a stronger person for the experience.

On a side note, Eugene Volakh of Slate Magazine in an article last week reported in in a related article that there are no known cases of boys changing their names to, or from, Sue. Also, if anyone wants to change their name to a number, at least in the United States, you might have a problem as a result of a North Dakota Supreme Court Decision in 1976 where it was ruled that Michael Dengler could not change his name to 1069 despite what I found to be an entirely convincing argument.

Petition of Michael Herbert Dengler to Change His Name to 1069

The petitioner, in support of his request, states that he was adopted and given the name Michael Herbert Dengler; that his personal philosophy has experienced expansion and quests for answers to various philosophies, including recognized schools of thought as well as his own personal philosophy, which he has adapted from those of other schools of thought and other cultures; that a person's name should be a mark of indicium which corresponds to and is a verbal and graphic manifestation of the person's philosophy. This is followed by petitioner's explanation of the characters:

"The first character, 1, stands for my concept of nature which manifests itself as one individual among the various forms of life. I stand as a single entity amongst millions of other entities, animate and inanimate. But yet even though I am an entity unto myself, I am part of the whole of life which is one. I am one; life is one; and together we are one.

"The second character, 0, shows my relationship with time in movement through life; I feel that I recognize a

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[246 N.W.2d 760]

past, experience a present, and am aware of a future with equal regard. I am therefore zero with respect to my march on the road of life.

"The third character, 6, is equal to the relationship I have with the universe in my understanding of space of my spatial occupancy through this life.

"The fourth and final character, 9, stands for the relationship I have to essence in the difference in the meaning when actualizing the spatially ever present nature of life. This final digit is like a string which surrounds the entirety of the previous three digits and explains the first three digits' concepts as they interact among each other to produce my philosophy."

Petitioner concluded with:

"The interaction of these phenomenon, which are represented by these numerals, creates an identity which is me. The only way that this identity can be expressed is 1069."

**The photo I used was lifted from a fellow blogger. If she should ever happen to come upon this I hope that she is ok with it. The photo is not of Talula herself.