MyQuest

Theodore Roosevelt's involvement in paving the way for Pearl Harbor

The NYTimes has a fascinating piece on how TR's Nobel-prize-winning diplomacy in the Russo-Japanese War set the stage for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

The First Saturday in December

What a wonderful first Saturday in December it was.  Wouldn't you agree?

In the late afternoon we met up with Ben & Daniel at City Arts Center for the annual pottery sale.  Michael and I finally found a cookie jar -- we've been looking since last Spring.  Michael also picked out a few other things he liked.  They currently have two fantastic exhibits.  One is the art of Donald G. Longcrier.  His installations have texture which tempts you to touch and play with them (though you shouldn't, of course).  Some of these pieces belong in a museum of contemporary art, they are that nice.  The other exhibit is the UCO design students' senior show, filled with imaginative, exciting presentations.

After some early evening coffee, we then headed to Cafe Picasso, the new restaurant in the Paseo, where Galileo's used to be.  We were very impressed.  Both appetizers we ordered, the pretzel and the sampler (humus, tampenade, and spinach dip) were very good.  Michael and Ben really enjoyed the Chicken-Fried Portabello Mushroom.  Now we have a new neighborhood favourite.

Dinner was followed with a stop by the Christmas party and ornament sale at the Red Cup.  Michael and I purchased a knitted red cup, in memory of that being the location of our first date.

We then went driving around to look at Christmas lights.  We were in Crown Heights and decided to stop and carol our friends Jill & Brian.  As we pulled up to their house, the neighborhood watch truck was behind us and turned on his lights.  He came up to the car and asked what we were doing because he had been following us for several blocks.  We said we had been looking at Christmas lights and were now stopping to visit our friends. 

Now we had a funny story for the evening.  Jill and Brian enjoyed the story and the singing and gave us wine.

The limitations of moral codes

We should learn humility, especially in applying our moral codes. Here is a quote from Alfred North Whitehead which applies quite well to the recent legal struggles for full equality:

"Moral codes have suffered from the exaggerated claims made for them. The dogmatic fallacy has here done its worst. Each such code has been put out by a God on a mountain top, or by a Saint in a cave, or by a divine Despot on a throne, or, at the lowest, by ancestors with a wisdom beyond later question. In any case, each code is incapable of improvement; and unfortunately in details they fail to agree either with each other or with our existing moral intuitions. The result is that the world is shocked, or amused, by the sight of saintly old people hindering in the name of morality the removal of obvious brutalities from a legal system."

Peace

As this Sunday approaches, I'm reflecting on peace as a concept.  Shalom in the Hebrew.  Eirene in the Greek.  They mean more than lack of violence.  They suggest wholeness, completeness, prosperous relationships.

The philosopher Alfred North Whitehead wrote about peace as a metaphysical concept, the "Harmony of Harmonies," in his book The Adventure of Ideas.  Here's some of what he had to say:

"The Peace that is here meant is not the negative conception of anaesthesia.  It is a positive feeling which crowns the 'life and motion' of the soul.  It is hard to define and difficult to speak of.  It is not a hope for the future, nor is it an interest in present details.  It is a broadening of feeling due to the emergence of some deep metaphysical insight, unverbalized and yet momentous in its coordination of values.  Its first effect is the removal of the stress of acquisitive feelins arising from the soul's preoccupation with itself.  Thus Peace carries with it a surpassing of personality.  There is an inversion of relative values.  It is primarily a trust in the efficacy of Beauty.  It is a sense that fineness of achievement is as it were a key unlocking treasures that the narrow nature of things would keep remote.  There is thus involved a grasp of infinitude, an appeal beyond boundaries.  Its emotional effect is the subsidence of turbulence which inhibits.  More accurately, it preserves the springs of energy, and at the same time masters them for the avoidance of paralyzing distractions.  The trust in the self-justification of Beauty introduces faith, where reason fails to reveal the details.

"The experience of Peace is largely beyond the control of purpose.  It comes as a gift . . . Thus Peace is self-control at its widest,--at the width where the 'self' has been lost, and interest has been transferred to coordinations wider than personality."

100 Days in Glacier National Park

A photo blog.  Beautiful images.  I really must go there.  Thanks for the link Michael.

"What I care about is that my life isn't any better today"

NYC City Council Speaker Christine Quinn reacts to the NY Senate betrayal: http://www.wpix.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=04d9006c-dfb0-4b51-bb6f-6a3ccc32ae12

A good NY Senate speech

I like what this one had to say about how government doesn't determine the quality of a commitment before issuing a license. 

An Overview of the Same-Sex Marriage Debate

You'll laugh at this graph which tries to map the various positions in this debate.  And we all need a good laugh.

Successes in Early Childhood Education

Best Books of the Decade

Of course I haven't read all the highly acclaimed books of the decade.  Some I wasn't even interested in.  Some I started and didn't like and put down.  Some I read all the way through and they still don't make this list.  Many I simply haven't gotten around to.

BTW, I am going to do a separate list of religion and philosophy books.

These are the books I liked, I enjoyed, I found memorable or meaningful, or that I thought were great.

24)  It Happened in Oklahoma by Robert L. Dorman
This is not a comprehensive or weighty history (I've read some of those too), but a series of interesting stories and tidbits.  It was in this book that I read about the archaeological find of the oldest piece of art in North America here in Oklahoma; and later, using its description of that location, I found it during my Western Oklahoma travels during the centennial year of 2007.

23)  The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
The novel served as a critique of America in the Bush years by imagining what would have happened if America had elected Charles Lindbergh, a Nazi sympathizer, in 1940.  The thought experiment itself is fascinating enough, and Roth tells the story well with a tension and focus that I appreciated.  But I felt that the novel didn't know how to end and the story became unwieldy as it advanced.  In some ways, I think he was unable to fully commit to the potential for horror.

22)  The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie
I am a sucker for Rushdie.  Even when his novels do not rise to greatness, his use of language and imagery delights me.  The purpose of this novel is to explore themes of interfaith dialogue and a pluralistic society, and he does it in an imaginative, fun way that also teaches us Westerners some things about Muslim and Central Asian history that we probably didn't already know.

21)  The Historical Atlas of Oklahoma by Charles Robert Goins and Danney Goble
So, I've been on something of an Oklahoma history kick the last few years.  This volume was published just after the centennial and is a beautiful book (and for book lovers, the joy of the physical object is itself an important part of the reading experience) filled with fascinating maps that you can stare at for long periods of time and excellent essays and sidebars on the state's history.

20)  Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People by Joan Roughgarden
I used to read a lot of popular science books, but I almost never do anymore.  I guess we go through phases.  And this biology book I read more for the queer theory aspects.  It was a fascinating, eye-opening, educational read as the book is a comprehensive and systematic overview of its topic.  It's basic theme is that nature is rainbows all the way down.

19)  Red Dirt: Growing Up Okie by Roxie Dunbar Ortiz
This memoir of a family which stayed in Oklahoma and struggled with poverty, race, and class issues moves the reader and records an important part of our national story.  The Red in the title has many meanings.  Her mother was Native American.  Her father a Socialist (as this state elected more socialists to office than any state ever has).  It is a reminded of the progressive history of Oklahoma and how that was defeated and the trauma it caused one family.

18)  Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynn Truss
This was a delightful, funny book that reacquainted us with some of the things we have forgotten (or never knew) from junior high English.  If you love language, then you must read this book.  Sticklers of the world unite!

17)  2666 by Roberto Bolano
Honestly, I had originally left it off of the list.  In its totality I think the book is a failure and the longer I reflect on it the more that conclusion is affirmed.  But, there was some amazing writing and some amazing story-telling contained in it, and because of that, I had to find a place for it.  The parts that are good are among the best things I have ever read.

16)  Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
I don't read a lot of comic writing, but this collection of essays had me laughing often and retelling the stories.  I probably need to peruse my copy again and, maybe, finally get around to reading some more.  Sedaris, however, I prefer to listen to on the radio.

15)  Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
Of the Founding Fathers biography industry I have only read a few, but this is the best of those I've read (I was not a fan of McCollough's John Adams -- I know that puts me in a minority -- I prefered Truman).  I learned a lot from this book and it was an engaging read.  I became solidly a Hamiltonian and have found that to be important ideological ground to stake out again in our current economic situation.

14)  The Best Poems of the English Language by Harold Bloom
How can mere contemporary mortals compete against the best English language of all time?  The reason I included this, however, is because of Bloom's own essays and introductions and explanatory notes.  Plus what he selects is itself noteworthy.  He made me fall in love with poets I had never really cared for before.  He introduced me to writing I did not know but now cannot live without.  And he enriched my understanding of poetry, language, and myself.

13)  A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
I far prefered this to The Kite Runner.  I didn't dislike The Kite Runner, I just felt that the writing itself was not very strong, though the story was quite good and significant in educating Americans on Afghanistan.  But this novel went even further with that, with more fascinating characters, and much stronger writing.  It does influence my take on America's Afghan policies.

12)  Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World by Nicholas Ostler
A fascinating read.  I picked up a copy while on vacation and was so mesmerized that I rushed out to check out the library's copy when I got home so I could finish it.  The book tells the history of the world through the history of its languages -- their rises and falls, the influences on one another (and culture, politics, etc.), and the development of images and concepts over time.  Again, if you love language, you should really read this.  Oh, and it was also helpful in understanding the ancient near east both for the purposes of biblical studies and contemporary global politics.

11)  Atonement by Ian McEwan
I can never decide what I ultimately think of this novel.  I really like his writing style (On Chesil Beach was so tightly woven, I recommend it, but it was not as broad and frustrating a story as this one).  The surprising turn at the end makes for interesting reflection.  The book is uneven, and, I don't think, fully sucessful.  But it doesn't let you go.

10)  1776 by David McCollough
A history of the Revolutionary War that reads with the fascination of a well-told story.  You think you know this story, but there is much that you don't.  And what you don't is fascinating and engaging with splendid characters and turns in the plot.  Seriously.

9)  Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie
I read this not long after reading The Kite Runner.  I thought Rushdie actually did a better job of exploring the history, culture, and issues that had generated the major international crises of this decade.  The story is set in Kashmir as the peaceful coexistence and centuries old way of life of the Hindu and Muslim communities is shattered by war and fundamentalism.  And, as always, the language can't be beat.

8)  Plan of Attack by Bob Woodward
I don't read many current events books (and I didn't read all of Woodward's Bush saga), but I did read this one when it came out because the administration was pointing to it as a good discussion of why it was doing what it was doing.  As a critic, I wanted to know more of the inside story.  I came away from the book an even bigger critic than I went in.  I have written on this blog many times about this book, so I won't say more now, but it was an essential part of helping to frame the public policy debate for me in this decade.

7)  Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling
I don't want to try to review this books separately, so, maybe unfairly, I'll take the series as a whole, but I will look through the lens of the final book The Deathy Hallows.  The earlier books may have been more tightly focused, but it was with the last book that we grasped the full breadth and depth of her enterprise (and her actual writing style, not just imagination and story creation, had improved as well).  What a joy it has been in this decade to participate in the global experience of reading and discussing these books with people of all ages and walks of life.

6)  Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Whoever has my copy -- give it back now!  A tour de force.  A slice of American history I did not know.  Characters and a culture that were fascinating.  And a topic that could have weighed down a novel, but didn't.  A grand rumination on bodies, sex, identity, culture, immigrant experience, family, shame, history, race, the city . . . and to pull it off so successfully.

5)  The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
This is just a good book.  A good story.  Good characters.  Good writing.  For me it also helped in the preparation for coming out, but without that personal side, it is still one of the best books of the decade.

4)  Living to Tell the Tale by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
My favourite author begins his autobiography with this first volume about his childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, and, in the process, raises intriguing questions about memory, identity, and telling our own story.  Writing about the fantastical memories of his childhood, he admits that with some of it he does not know what really happened, but that isn't so relevant as the memory which is what has actually shaped him and his story. 

3)  Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott
When I wasn't laughing out loud, I was crying.

2)  The Life of Pi by Yann Martel
A magical fable with deep philosophical and theological concerns.  This was one of those books we were reading and pressing on friends and family.

1)  The Road by Cormac McCarthy
There is no dispute for me that this is the best novel of the decade.  In fact I think it is automatically in the canon of American literature in a way that nothing else from this decade is assured of that place (it really wasn't a period of great literature, was it?). 

Best Books of the Year

For those who think I'm well-read, Publishers' Weekly has produced their end of year list of books in a variety of different genre categories and I have read . . . .

precisely NONE of them.

I am currently reading one book on the list.  I recently bought one other and plan to read it soon.

Seriously, is no one going to run against this man?

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/12/01/coburn-die-soon-health/

Pizza & Ranch Dressing

Lost Ogle has a humourous piece on Oklahomans dipping pizza in ranch dressing.

When I first saw people doing this (in the 90's I think) I thought it was rather odd and stupid.  But I must admit that I have done it.  I don't do it all the time or even regularly.  But I have done it.

NY Senate & Marriage Equality

I'm disappointed in the Senate for voting down marriage equality.

And disappointed in this NYTimes article, which makes it seem that religious people are against it.  This despite the fact that a handful of denominations and religious groups do support it.  For instance, the Interfaith Alliance, which includes people of all faiths, supports same-sex civil marriage and says that religion should not be used to determine the outcome of the political and legal debate on this issue.

MAPS 3: I'm voting NO

Background

When the MAPS 3 projects were first proposed, my initial reaction was negative.  They seemed like the wrong projects at the wrong time, plus they ran contrary to the public survey which was done.  A bad PR move if ever I saw one.  Most people I talked to initially were also confused or opposed.

As more came out about the plan, I paid attention.  The Oklahoma Gazette had a lot of very good coverage of the various projects.  The more I heard about the trails and river improvements, the more interested I was.

I also had a lot of conversations with various people from different walks of life and different perspectives.  I have had strong supporters of the plan explain to me the reasons they are voting yes.  I have countered with various arguments against that I had heard (even ones that weren't my own) and listened to what they had to say.  Some of what they have said has been persuasive and has moved my position or affected how I think about the proposal.  I have also talked with many opposed, and was even contacted by one of the anti-campaigns wanting to discuss their opposition with me.

About two weeks ago I was seriously considering changing my position and voting yes, but I have, after much consideration decided to vote No.

Some Basic Principles

I am not against this proposal for some of the reasons stated publicly by others.  I am not anti-tax in this regard.  I am not against spending on civic projects.  I am not against a proposal like this during a recession.  I am not against having some sort of MAPS 3. 

Though, as an aside, I must say that I do resonate with one statement I read.  We have a tax looking for projects.  With the first proposal we had projects and developed a funding mechanism.  Now we have a funding mechanism that went looking for projects.  The fiscal conservative in me doesn't really like that.  But it is not itself a determinative factor.

I do believe that right now, even in the midst of a recession, we need to raise taxes to increase public spending on a variety of things, even major capital improvments that could be economically transformative and/or contribute to community well-being for a broad sector of the community.

But I do not think that this proposal is the right one at this time.

• I believe it will not be transformative economically or otherwise; in fact it is probably no where near big or radical enough to achieve those goals.
• Nor does it meet what I think should be the priorities at this point in the city's development.
• It, in fact, will draw funds away from the projects that we ought to pursue and may hurt the city's overall development.
• I also think MAPS itself may be the wrong funding mechanism for the sorts of transformative priorities that we should be pursuing.
• Further, the proposal is not part of the sort of comprehensive, city-wide, long-term development plan that I would like to see.
• Finally, I am not comfortable with the fact that this proposal is not specific as to projects, timetables, etc.  The open-ended, flexible, and vague nature of it (MAPS 1 was not like this) is problematic for me.

The Projects

The Convention Center is simply not persuasive to me.  I do not see it as a priority for this city in this decade. 

I am told that our current facilities are inadequate and uncompetitive.  That may be so.  But I haven't heard a good argument for why this investment in attempting to attract more conventions is the number one priority for Oklahoma City in 2010 and ahead. 

My own sense is that we will never, no matter how large, state-of-the-art, or whatever our convention center will or could be, be a major convention-drawing city.  There is simply too much competition. Making this our number one priority, when we are behind in SO many other areas as well, seems a losing venture to me of huge magnitude.

And Danny Hites, fortunately, linked to this Brookings Institute Report on why convention center construction and development is currently a bad idea and a waste of a city's resources.  There are some excerpts from this study that I might include in a separate post (to keep this one from being monumentally long).  Perusing this report is very worth your time before you vote next week.

The public transportation involved is not necessarily a bad idea, but it is deceitfully being sold as something it is not, which contributes to distrust of the entire plan.  It is not public transit but is a way to move convention-goers, tourists, and downtown business people around downtown.  That is itself not a bad thing, but it is not really being sold as that.  I do not see this proposal as step one in the comprehensive public transit that we need.

I am very in favor of the river improvements and think that a proposal just for this would get overwhelming support.

The park is something I favor, though I don't like aspects of this actual plan which I have seen.  And I do worry about maintenance, since the city has a poor to failing record for maintenance of existing parks (this was hopefully helped by the 2007 bond issue). 

I also feel like we were misinformed about the Devon TIF.  At the time I understood that the improvements it was to bring to the Myriad Gardens was to be the beginning investment in the park.  Now in the plan the park and the gardens are separated by a block of retail.  Maybe I misunderstood, but I know I am not the only one who thought that the park was not going to be a MAPS project but was to be supported initially by the Devon TIF.

Of course I really like the trails proposal.  The other projects I'm ambivalent about.

Smaller Alternative

I wish that instead of this MAPS 3 proposal, the city had proposed a Healthy City Initiative (not using the MAPS brand) and included the river improvements, trails, maybe the senior centers, maybe the park, and improvements to other parks and social services throughout the city.  Something more in line with the successful 2007 bond issue.  I think that would have easily passed and left time to put together a truly radical and transformative mega-project.

Mega-project

And we do need to put together a mega-project.  The one that the citizenry asked for was public transportation (and moving people around downtown does not suffice).  I do not believe this should be handled by the MAPS brand, but should be a permanent addition to the tax system in the city and the region.  For, it must truly be regional and worked out in conjunction with outlying cities and the possibilities for increased rail (and other transport) on a state and national level.

When I read in the NYTimes about cities (some roughly our size) that are making almost $5 billion investments in transportation infrastructure and that even projects of this size are considered only necessary infrastructure investments and not the sort of mega-projects that bring economic transformation, then I realize that we are not thinking anywhere near big or radical enough. 

We are being true to something Danny Goble wrote in his history of the state, "few states do less with what they have."  He wrote that this problem was worse because we were starting out with less to begin with (as one of the ten poorest states in the Union). 

Plan

Tulsa has put together a wonderful, comprehensive, long-range plan for the city.  You can look at it here.  It makes for a more sustainable, healthy city, that develops city-wide in neighborhood centers with emphasis on walking and public transportation.  They will use various projects and funding mechanisms to implement the plan. 

I would like to see something similar for OKC and how something like MAPS would contribute to it. 

It is not just that the plan is lacking, but the city-wide focus.

Development in other areas

I am concerned about turning our focus south of downtown at this moment.  The development to the east and north are not complete.  In fact, many  are stalled.  Driving down the highway there are new eyesores of incomplete development projects. 

There is new effort being put into the development of the blocks west of downtown now as well.  Should we be expending great amounts of capital in a southern direction until we have completed these development initiatives? 

And aren't there other areas of the city lagging far behind in economic development?  We've spent money on downtown in order to catch up from our far behind position.  Isn't it fair to spend some more in other areas as well?

Labor

Another point I heard made this morning merits discussion. 

Rev. Dr. Kathy McCallie said this morning that her concern is for the unions.  Labor has been losing power in this country, and two of the city's employees unions are opposed to the effort.  A vote against does strengthen the power of labor and reminds the city that in the future that the working class ought to be brought to the table and not just the rich real estate developers who will benefit most from this transfer of wealth from the middle class.

So, for all these reasons, I am voting NO.  I have heard no arguments FOR the proposal that overcome my objections.  In fact, many arguments of the YES folk are things I can agree with (the need for major spending on public works at this time, etc.), I just don't think that this actual proposal achieves those goals or the priorities that the city should be pursuing at this time.