Thirteen years ago, I received a letter from my natural father, Bob Jaycox, in which he railed against “legal fiction of the corporation,” observing that they have “never breathed a breath of air, never watched a sunset, never held a child,” but they “feed at the trough of government largesse, wield political power on a measure which should never exist in this nation, and cast off those who live and breath at their own whim and convenience.”
Today, in a 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled that corporations should be able to spend whatever they want to spend in political campaigns, arguing that corporations had the same rights as individuals and that this spending was protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. But, wait a minute… First of all, are corporations really individuals? The Supreme Court has held as much for many years so let’s put that aside for a moment. But, another question: I, as an individual, am limited as to how much I can spend on a political campaign. I have a cap on my contribution to a candidate or party I support. Now, corporations have no limitations whatsoever, but my ability to contribute to a candidate or party remains limited. What’s up with that?
Is a corporation now more of a “person” than I am? Or than you are? Your political contributions are strictly limited under current law and yet Aetna or Philip Morris or Pfizer can now donate whatever they want. No limits. None. What in Sam Hill’s name is going on?
My friends on the right (and I do have some) will likely not approve of what I’m about to suggest but I think the time has come for serious reform of campaign finance, and the reform I want is public financing. This would stop the millionaires from having an unfair leg up on the rest of us and level the playing field. We would (collectively – uh-oh, he must be a Socialist!) finance campaigns for all federal elected offices; states could decide what they want to do for statewide elections on their own. But it seems to me it wouldn’t be that hard to create a legitimacy test for prospective federal candidates that entitle them to public financing. Once they satisfy that test they could only receive public financing and we would have a level playing field in terms of ad buys and the like. Each candidate would have to prove him or herself in the arena, through the cleverness of the ads the public finances allow them to buy to their personal pressing-of-the-flesh to their performance at debates. Let the best woman or man win.
Corporations are NOT individuals. As my late father said, they’ve “never breathed a breath of air, never watched a sunset, never held a child.” Individuals do all of those things. We breathe, we notice the sunset (and the sunrise), we hold children, even if we don’t have them ourselves – we hold our nieces and nephews or the children of friends, or, our own younger siblings. We are individuals. We breathe, we see, we touch, we taste, we feel. Corporations don’t cry or hurt or laugh. Their stocks rise or fall and individuals involved with them might cry or hurt or laugh, but corporations themselves demonstrably do not. That’s why they can lay off 10,000 workers at a time without blinking an eye.
Let me be clear. I am not anti-corporation. In fact, I, along with my wife, own a corporation. It’s called Russell Creative, Inc., and we formed it because it was a good tax move. But Russell Creative, Inc. is not and never will be an individual. It is a tax haven. It is a way for us to pay for medical expenses and research expenses and other business related necessities on a pre-tax basis. But, I wouldn’t ever in a million years argue that Russell Creative, Inc. should be thought of as an individual. It is demonstrably NOT an individual. It is a VERY small company run by my wife and me. It exists because given the current tax laws it makes sense for it to exist. Why should it be able to spend more money in support of a candidate than I am able to? This makes no sense.
This ruling will surely be overturned eventually, but meanwhile, I urge you to be in touch with your Representatives and Senators and push them to enact new legislation to try to work around this abominable ruling the Supreme Court. Our lives do, in fact, depend upon it.
Namaste.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Saying Goodbye
“Oh, these sweet, sweet creatures who love us and bring us so much joy and depend on us to make this difficult decision.” That’s what my friend Carmen wrote to my wife and me a year and a half ago when we had to make the painful decision to put Gloria’s beloved dog, Buddy, to sleep. He had a brain tumor covering fully one-third of his right lobe and there was nothing at all to be done.
Now, we find ourselves needing to make the same decision about Max, a dog who has been at my side for thirteen years. I haven’t had a relationship (outside of family) that has lasted thirteen years!
Two years ago, Max had surgery on his left rear leg to replace a tendon that had worn away somehow. The doctor opened his leg up, drilled through the bone and essentially tied in a new tendon to keep the bones operating properly. The recovery was long and painful. But it eventually worked. For a time Max was able to walk on both legs, run even, with little or no sign of pain or discomfort. Last summer, I noticed that he seemed to be having the same sort of trouble with his right rear leg that he’d had with his left rear leg that led us to approve the surgery of two years ago – something, by the way, that I would never have imagined I would do for a dog, but I’m glad I did… I fretted and worried and took him to the veterinarian. She put him on anti-inflammatory medication and gave us some pain medication as well, for when it was really acting up. He’s been on the anti-inflammatory meds ever since and we’ve generally given him a pain pill once a week or whenever it seems necessary.
Last week, he injured his right rear leg running in response to some neighborhood dog barking or something and it’s been downhill ever since. He can no longer put any weight on his right rear leg. He cannot ascend stairs on his own. I have a sling that I put under his mid-section to help carry the bulk of his weight as he lumbers up the stairs, hopping his front feet up a step and then hoisting his weak back legs up a step with the help of the sling.
Max is fourteen years old, nearly fifteen. He’s had a great life. He’s traveled to more places than many humans I know. He has been swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean, and Big Gull Lake in Ontario, Canada, and, of course, Lake Michigan. He explored deserts and mountains and dunes and woods.
Tomorrow we have to say goodbye. He’s suffering and it’s time. I’m sad, of course, but I’m also beyond words grateful for the years of joy that he’s given me, the years of companionship and love that he’s provided. I know he knows that I’ve always loved him. I know he knows that I’ve always thought that he was/is a “good dog.” That helps, a little.
In this holiday season many of us try to take a moment to count our blessings, our joys, things for which (or for whom) we should be (are) grateful. Max has been a blessing, a joy, a treasure. Tomorrow I will execute the final act of my responsibility for Max, even though it’s the last thing I want to do. I will say goodbye and Godspeed and thank you and I love you and always will.
When I adopted Max from the Animal Shelter on Grand Avenue in downtown Chicago, they told me he was called “Maru.” but I didn’t think that name fit at all. So as he lay curled up on the floorboard in the front of my Subaru Justy as I was driving him home I tried out different names. When I called “Max” he lifted his head up to me and raised his ears. That’s how I knew that was his name.
Tomorrow I’ll say goodbye to Max. I’ll remember him forever.
Now, we find ourselves needing to make the same decision about Max, a dog who has been at my side for thirteen years. I haven’t had a relationship (outside of family) that has lasted thirteen years!
Two years ago, Max had surgery on his left rear leg to replace a tendon that had worn away somehow. The doctor opened his leg up, drilled through the bone and essentially tied in a new tendon to keep the bones operating properly. The recovery was long and painful. But it eventually worked. For a time Max was able to walk on both legs, run even, with little or no sign of pain or discomfort. Last summer, I noticed that he seemed to be having the same sort of trouble with his right rear leg that he’d had with his left rear leg that led us to approve the surgery of two years ago – something, by the way, that I would never have imagined I would do for a dog, but I’m glad I did… I fretted and worried and took him to the veterinarian. She put him on anti-inflammatory medication and gave us some pain medication as well, for when it was really acting up. He’s been on the anti-inflammatory meds ever since and we’ve generally given him a pain pill once a week or whenever it seems necessary.
Last week, he injured his right rear leg running in response to some neighborhood dog barking or something and it’s been downhill ever since. He can no longer put any weight on his right rear leg. He cannot ascend stairs on his own. I have a sling that I put under his mid-section to help carry the bulk of his weight as he lumbers up the stairs, hopping his front feet up a step and then hoisting his weak back legs up a step with the help of the sling.
Max is fourteen years old, nearly fifteen. He’s had a great life. He’s traveled to more places than many humans I know. He has been swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean, and Big Gull Lake in Ontario, Canada, and, of course, Lake Michigan. He explored deserts and mountains and dunes and woods.
Tomorrow we have to say goodbye. He’s suffering and it’s time. I’m sad, of course, but I’m also beyond words grateful for the years of joy that he’s given me, the years of companionship and love that he’s provided. I know he knows that I’ve always loved him. I know he knows that I’ve always thought that he was/is a “good dog.” That helps, a little.
In this holiday season many of us try to take a moment to count our blessings, our joys, things for which (or for whom) we should be (are) grateful. Max has been a blessing, a joy, a treasure. Tomorrow I will execute the final act of my responsibility for Max, even though it’s the last thing I want to do. I will say goodbye and Godspeed and thank you and I love you and always will.
When I adopted Max from the Animal Shelter on Grand Avenue in downtown Chicago, they told me he was called “Maru.” but I didn’t think that name fit at all. So as he lay curled up on the floorboard in the front of my Subaru Justy as I was driving him home I tried out different names. When I called “Max” he lifted his head up to me and raised his ears. That’s how I knew that was his name.
Tomorrow I’ll say goodbye to Max. I’ll remember him forever.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Veteran's Day in the USA
Many have made the point that one day is not nearly enough to honor America’s veterans, and I agree. Whether veterans of foreign wars or stateside support personnel, our veterans deserve our respect and deep gratitude, regardless of our personal thoughts regarding the politics behind a particular conflict (war), be it Vietnam or Iraq. It is not, after all, the veterans who are responsible for starting or continuing a war, those decisions are made by our civilian leadership, including our congressional representatives and, of course, our Commander-in-Chief.
My and my wife’s families have a long history of military service, even though neither of us has served ourselves. My birth father served in the Army, my adoptive father served in the Air Force, my mother served in the Navy Reserves, my brother served in the Army (I think I’m recalling that correctly) and as an MP, my sister served in the Air Force, and my uncle served in the Navy. Gloria’s brother served in the Navy and her father served in the Army, storming the beaches at Normandy in WWII.
The sacrifices that veterans make for each and every one of us Americans are hard to adequately catalogue. Whether it is being away from family for long stretches of time or being put directly into harm’s way, all veterans sacrifice in order to secure our freedom and to protect our way of life. For many years in this country, we have had an all-volunteer military, for which I am grateful, and also deeply humbled. Those folks who have enlisted, who have fought the fights and prevented other fights from having to be fought are to be honored – beyond one day a year.
So thank you, veterans. Thank you what you do each and every day. Thank you for standing guard over our country’s constitution and way of life. To those currently serving, I am especially grateful. I hope we can find a way to get you all home safely soon!
Namaste.
My and my wife’s families have a long history of military service, even though neither of us has served ourselves. My birth father served in the Army, my adoptive father served in the Air Force, my mother served in the Navy Reserves, my brother served in the Army (I think I’m recalling that correctly) and as an MP, my sister served in the Air Force, and my uncle served in the Navy. Gloria’s brother served in the Navy and her father served in the Army, storming the beaches at Normandy in WWII.
The sacrifices that veterans make for each and every one of us Americans are hard to adequately catalogue. Whether it is being away from family for long stretches of time or being put directly into harm’s way, all veterans sacrifice in order to secure our freedom and to protect our way of life. For many years in this country, we have had an all-volunteer military, for which I am grateful, and also deeply humbled. Those folks who have enlisted, who have fought the fights and prevented other fights from having to be fought are to be honored – beyond one day a year.
So thank you, veterans. Thank you what you do each and every day. Thank you for standing guard over our country’s constitution and way of life. To those currently serving, I am especially grateful. I hope we can find a way to get you all home safely soon!
Namaste.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
A Mixed Bag
I am thrilled that President Obama is issuing an executive order to rescind the ban on HIV infected individuals from entering the United States. I’m pleased that he is working to close Guantanamo and trying to open up dialogue with Iran and other countries with whom we have strained relationships.
But, what the heck is it with this $250 check that he wants to send to Social Security recipients because the cost of living has decreased? The COLA (cost of living adjustment) would properly LOWER social security payments if reason prevailed. Obviously, that’s not going to happen, and that’s fine, but why add the extra dough? The cost of living (statistically, at least) has fallen, so why should Social Security recipients get more money? Bear in mind, my mother, father, uncle, aunt, and sister-in-law all will benefit from this government giveaway, so I’m happy for them, I suppose, but, really? We’re in the midst of a recession. A downturn. A contraction. A serious as shinola problem.
My wife and I got our property tax bill today. Our property taxes are nearly 20% higher than last year, even as our property has lost as much as 40% of its value. What’s up with that? Are our schools better? No. Are they more effectively educating the young people in our community? No. Are our streets safer or better maintained? No. Is crime down? No. So, why are we paying 20% more in property taxes when services are no better or diminished in comparison to a year ago? There is no good answer. Greed, corruption, graft, perhaps? Or perhaps it’s simply incompetence and foolishness. I honestly don’t know.
I don’t like to simply issue complaints on this blog, but I’m concerned. Worried. We need leadership, and I’m not seeing as much of it as I would like out of Washington, DC right about now.
All for now…
Namaste.
But, what the heck is it with this $250 check that he wants to send to Social Security recipients because the cost of living has decreased? The COLA (cost of living adjustment) would properly LOWER social security payments if reason prevailed. Obviously, that’s not going to happen, and that’s fine, but why add the extra dough? The cost of living (statistically, at least) has fallen, so why should Social Security recipients get more money? Bear in mind, my mother, father, uncle, aunt, and sister-in-law all will benefit from this government giveaway, so I’m happy for them, I suppose, but, really? We’re in the midst of a recession. A downturn. A contraction. A serious as shinola problem.
My wife and I got our property tax bill today. Our property taxes are nearly 20% higher than last year, even as our property has lost as much as 40% of its value. What’s up with that? Are our schools better? No. Are they more effectively educating the young people in our community? No. Are our streets safer or better maintained? No. Is crime down? No. So, why are we paying 20% more in property taxes when services are no better or diminished in comparison to a year ago? There is no good answer. Greed, corruption, graft, perhaps? Or perhaps it’s simply incompetence and foolishness. I honestly don’t know.
I don’t like to simply issue complaints on this blog, but I’m concerned. Worried. We need leadership, and I’m not seeing as much of it as I would like out of Washington, DC right about now.
All for now…
Namaste.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Death is not proud…
It simply is. Death is arrogant, sometimes swift, and often wildly unexpected.
When Death takes a fifty-eight year old man in the middle of the afternoon while walking down the street, Death is alarming. The man was a good man. He left a wife, Miriam, and a daughter, Megan, behind. His name was Michael Philippi. He was a deeply gifted lighting designer and a kind and decent man.
Death visited him on Dearborn Street Tuesday afternoon October 27 and took him away from us. The suddenness of his passing made all who knew him gasp. Nothing could have possibly prepared any one of us for this.
It’s hard to know what to think in the wake of an event like this. It seems there have been so many unexpected, too-soon deaths of friends and colleagues in the past several years. I run across their email addresses in my contact list and can’t bring myself to delete them, as if to do so would be a final erasure or a turning away of some sort.
Years ago I worked on a new musical that (to the best of my knowledge) never did get a full production, but it had some great pieces in it, and some deeply moving sentiments. One of the lyrics read, in part, “The dead get tired of waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting for the living to live and do something! Do do do something.” Perhaps that’s what we need to recall when we are forced to face Death, that we must live while we can and not waste our precious time here on earth, here with our loved ones, our family, our friends.
Death is the one thing we all share, the one fate that awaits each and every one of us and yet it remains so… difficult for us to accept, for us to cope with. Even if a death is not a huge surprise or not completely unexpected, we are still shattered by the loss. And yet… We also, at some level, in some place, know that it’s an inescapable part of life. All that lives shall die. Cold comfort, that. Or, no comfort, I suppose.
What do we do? We carry on. We persist. We persevere. And, perhaps most importantly, we remember and we celebrate the lives the departed lived, and the lessons they taught us through their living and their grace. We cherish those memories and keep them alive through our stories. We lift them up, and in so doing, lift ourselves up in the process and recommit to living each day to the fullest and being grateful for our lives and try to keep the dead from waiting for us to live.
Namaste. Rest in peace, Michael.
When Death takes a fifty-eight year old man in the middle of the afternoon while walking down the street, Death is alarming. The man was a good man. He left a wife, Miriam, and a daughter, Megan, behind. His name was Michael Philippi. He was a deeply gifted lighting designer and a kind and decent man.
Death visited him on Dearborn Street Tuesday afternoon October 27 and took him away from us. The suddenness of his passing made all who knew him gasp. Nothing could have possibly prepared any one of us for this.
It’s hard to know what to think in the wake of an event like this. It seems there have been so many unexpected, too-soon deaths of friends and colleagues in the past several years. I run across their email addresses in my contact list and can’t bring myself to delete them, as if to do so would be a final erasure or a turning away of some sort.
Years ago I worked on a new musical that (to the best of my knowledge) never did get a full production, but it had some great pieces in it, and some deeply moving sentiments. One of the lyrics read, in part, “The dead get tired of waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting for the living to live and do something! Do do do something.” Perhaps that’s what we need to recall when we are forced to face Death, that we must live while we can and not waste our precious time here on earth, here with our loved ones, our family, our friends.
Death is the one thing we all share, the one fate that awaits each and every one of us and yet it remains so… difficult for us to accept, for us to cope with. Even if a death is not a huge surprise or not completely unexpected, we are still shattered by the loss. And yet… We also, at some level, in some place, know that it’s an inescapable part of life. All that lives shall die. Cold comfort, that. Or, no comfort, I suppose.
What do we do? We carry on. We persist. We persevere. And, perhaps most importantly, we remember and we celebrate the lives the departed lived, and the lessons they taught us through their living and their grace. We cherish those memories and keep them alive through our stories. We lift them up, and in so doing, lift ourselves up in the process and recommit to living each day to the fullest and being grateful for our lives and try to keep the dead from waiting for us to live.
Namaste. Rest in peace, Michael.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Health Care
Earlier today the Senate Finance Committee voted to send a health bill to the full Senate with one Republican vote, from Olympia Snowe, of Maine. Is the bill perfect? No. Will it be passed in the US Senate as is? No. Will it survive a conference committee as is? No.
But, it is still an accomplishment. This country has been working on passing comprehensive health care reform since FDR or earlier. We must not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
The bill passed out of the Finance Committee today ends pre-existing conditions and disallows insurance companies from dropping covered individuals when they need the coverage the most - when they are sick. This is a good start. It will not solve all of our health care problems and challenges, but it is a good start.
In the richest country in the world, is it acceptable that we have so many people without health care coverage? I think not. And, this pre-existing condition thing hits home with me... you see, about a year ago my wife, Gloria, got a great new job that provides us both with health care. That's wonderful. But, I had to stop getting my allergy shots, because that was/is a pre-existing condition. So, now I've spent a year or more with no shots and my hearing has worsened a little bit more, but soon I'll be able to start up the allergy shots again because we've waited a year. I should be grateful, right?
Grateful that I had to wait a year to continue treatment that is critically important to my health?
I could not afford to continue those treatments without health insurance covering them, but I had to simply forego them for a year because I changed insurers. Do you not think our system needs fixing? Do you think that nothing is wrong with this picture? The bill that passed out of the Senate Finance committee today is far from perfect, but it's a good start. It will end pre-existing conditions. That, in and of itself, is reason enough to support it. We will - they will - make it better in sessions to come. But we simply MUST have health care reform soon.
Namaste.
But, it is still an accomplishment. This country has been working on passing comprehensive health care reform since FDR or earlier. We must not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
The bill passed out of the Finance Committee today ends pre-existing conditions and disallows insurance companies from dropping covered individuals when they need the coverage the most - when they are sick. This is a good start. It will not solve all of our health care problems and challenges, but it is a good start.
In the richest country in the world, is it acceptable that we have so many people without health care coverage? I think not. And, this pre-existing condition thing hits home with me... you see, about a year ago my wife, Gloria, got a great new job that provides us both with health care. That's wonderful. But, I had to stop getting my allergy shots, because that was/is a pre-existing condition. So, now I've spent a year or more with no shots and my hearing has worsened a little bit more, but soon I'll be able to start up the allergy shots again because we've waited a year. I should be grateful, right?
Grateful that I had to wait a year to continue treatment that is critically important to my health?
I could not afford to continue those treatments without health insurance covering them, but I had to simply forego them for a year because I changed insurers. Do you not think our system needs fixing? Do you think that nothing is wrong with this picture? The bill that passed out of the Senate Finance committee today is far from perfect, but it's a good start. It will end pre-existing conditions. That, in and of itself, is reason enough to support it. We will - they will - make it better in sessions to come. But we simply MUST have health care reform soon.
Namaste.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize
On November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament, and in describing what he wanted as the criteria for the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, he wrote that it should be awarded to “the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”
President Obama has eliminated torture on the part of United States military and intelligence personnel, he has pledged to close Guantanamo Bay and is making progress on that pledge, especially with the recent news that prisoners there will be allowed to be tried in U.S. courtrooms, he has pulled forces back in Iraq on the way to a complete withdrawal, and he has – successfully – begun talks with Iran about their nuclear program.
Are the two wars he inherited won or over? Of course not. Has he fixed the economic quagmire he inherited? Nope, hasn’t done that either, although the stock market did record its highest close of 2009 today. Has he brought peace to the Middle East? No, not yet, and he may not succeed at that, but nor has any other president since 1948.
What he has done is significantly opened up and fostered good will for international diplomacy. In the nearly nine months that he’s been president he’s traveled to thirty-one countries, more nations in the first (not quite) year of his presidency than any previous occupant of the office. He has told the world that America wants to listen and talk to the rest of the world, that we wish not to dictate how their countries should be organized, but that we wish to partner with them, and to be their friends.
The Taliban and Rush Limbaugh both agreed that Mr. Obama didn’t deserve the prize. He hadn’t earned it, they said. But Mr. Obama, in his speech this morning indicating that he would accept the prize, said, “I do not view it [receiving the prize] as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations. To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honored by this prize.” He has said that he will donate the $1.4 million cash award to charity.
Mr. Obama understands that the award is meant to motivate, to catalyze actions towards peace in the months and years to come. He has been advocating for a nuclear weapon free world. He has been willing to talk to enemies as well as friends, something for which he was ridiculed during last year’s campaign, but something for which the majority of Americans voted.
Mr. Obama has not yet accomplished much of what he has set out to accomplish, but he is on his way, and the world is listening. The world’s view of the United States of America has undergone a major shift for the better because of Mr. Obama’s election, and it is likely that, as much as anything else, that explains why he was honored with a Nobel Peace Prize this morning. It is an honor that looks to the future, that embraces his message of hope and optimism, and that understands that things don’t change overnight, but that this sort of recognition might help move the rest of the world to be more eager to work with this young, vibrant president to forge a better future for all of us and for our children.
I salute and congratulate you, President Obama. God speed. Do us proud.
Namaste.
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