Monday, August 29, 2011

Fair is Fair

Well, another fair season has come and gone, and with all the political stuff going on, I find myself behind in my special event postings, so here is a belated look at State Fair - snack food, live music, farm animals, crafts, vegetables, heat, and all things summer.


This year the fair was celebrating 100 years of the "butter cow", a life-size sculpture in the shape of a cow done each year in butter.

(I know, right?...)


This theme ran throughout the fair, in sand, on little statuettes,


and in sculptures made from canned vegetables.


[okay..]

I'd much rather look at the real vegetables.


And there are plenty of great specimens to see around here.


Not to mention to purchase. Farmers' Markets are everywhere now - even in the cafeteria at my workplace! But there's nothing like the


atmosphere of a fair, watching people of all sorts stroll by while you fill your face with food. Pork chop on a stick topped my favorites list for the second year. mmmm...


The radio and TV stations of course broadcast remote from the fair, and the weather guy from channel 13 was there doing his forecast.


And even though the fair is apolitical in nature, politics was still not far from people's minds. You could cast your vote for your favorite candidate by dropping a kernel of corn in a mason jar.


The fair-to-date totals looked pretty good for my guy. :)



But post-politics, there was great music ahead!


The opening act was not there, since he apparently got mugged AND hit by a taxicab while in NYC. Weird.


So PJ Morton, a keyboardist for Maroon 5 opened with a retro-funk act. Then came Maroon 5 with that great front man Adam Levine.


They put on a great show - he has lots of energy, but does not particularly connect with the audience.


Train, on the other hand, has a front man who really knows how to mix it up with the crowd. And, they did a broad variety of styles - very versatile and entertaining.







On the way out of the parking lot, the fireworks were going off. It was such a nice night, I opened the sun roof to get a good view. Sweet.

The fair was more than fair. It was great.

Friday, August 26, 2011

God's Preferential Option for... (part 2)

economic systems? political systems?

Does God have a preference in these matters? Politicians at all levels seem to think God does, or at least they behave that way. If I could design a little informal survey and get every GOP presidential candidate to answer it, here's what I would put before them.

**********

Dear Candidate, here are two statements for your consideration:

               A) Free-market Capitalism is God's preference for an economic system.

               B) Representative Democracy is God's preference for a political system.

Considering the above, please answer the following two questions:

               1) Do you agree with either or both of the above statements as being true?

               2a) If yes, on what basis do you come to that conclusion?
               
               2b) If no, then why do you behave as if they are true?

***********

Every GOP candidate in the race would say that he/she is against socialism (even if prosperous), or against dictatorship (even if benevolent). But on what basis would they say those things? Does the same source they look to for guidance on "family values" issues also speak to issues of economics and governance? I think it does. But what does that source indicate as a preference in these matters?

Hm... I have a theory about that. Does anyone else?

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

God's Preferential Option for...

Business?

That seems to be what the GOP mainstream thinks, and their presidential candidates too (save one, of course). They act like God has a preference for business, and that whatever is good for business is good for the country, and therefore God-approved. (since of course, God wants to bless America, and a booming economy is where all our blessings come from, right?)

Oops. I don't think so. Merchants are often castigated in the Bible for taking advantage of people through dishonesty, and for getting rich at the expense of their workers.

God does have a preferential option, all right. It's not for business, though.. it's for the poor. Catholic Social Teaching has it right, on this score and many others. And the US Conference of Catholic Bishops urged President Obama and Congress to "put the needs of the poor first" when allocating scarce resources, especially in the face of budget cuts in order to reduce the national debt.

And yet all I hear, from both sides of the aisle and the White House is how to create jobs. I suppose the idea is that with more jobs, there will be a greater level of prosperity across the board, so more people will be lifted from poverty. Reagan argued for this idea, that a rising tide floats all boats. But Johnson's War on Poverty (as part of his "Great Society" concept) actually directed government resources toward the most needy and vulnerable in society. I'm not sure the Reagan Revolution ever got prosperity to the most impoverished among us like LBJ did. And yet, Johnson committed us to the War in Vietnam and grew the military/industrial complex during the Cold War, too, so.. were we better off under his leadership, despite helping the poor? How about after we "reformed" welfare under Clinton? Are we all better off now?

Ugh. It's a mess when government tries to make things better. They never seem to get it right. They over-regulate in one place and under-regulate in others. They borrow in order to keep overspending, and then spend it on the wrong things. We tell them to reduce spending, and then they cut out the wrong stuff. But we never seem to want to stop them from trying. The next big solution is right around the corner after the next election. Yeah right.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

A house made of straw

The Iowa Straw Poll in Ames was a lot like a combination political flea market and carnival. Crazy atmosphere all the way around, both serious and silly, important and irrelevant, simultaneously. But my guy did good, much to the media's consternation.


See all those red shirts? They say "I voted for Ron Paul."


Every candidate gave out different color t-shirts if you voted for them. So coming in from the parking lot was sort of like an informal exit poll; count the shirts of those leaving, you'd know who was winning.


By the time I got there, the Paul campaign had run out of shirts, so.... I knew it was going to be a big day for Old Ron.


The media was everywhere, with satellite dishes,


outdoor interview rooms,


and buses.


Lots of buses.


The candidates had them, too.



This particular candidate also had decent food. Which was nice, since the Paul campaign had run out already. Another indicator of a big day for Old Ron: no food left.


But I had a feeling there would still be some Godfather's Pizza left over. Yep, sure enough. Good, too. I'd take it over Domino's. Especially if it's free.


Not only did the candidates and the media have buses and tents, but.. so did the lobbyists. There was the energy lobby (think wind power),


the family values lobby,


the corn lobby,


the geriatrics lobby (no smart remarks, please),


and the social justice lobby. At a GOP rally, no less. I was impressed at their boldness, and confidence in their message. Way to go, One.


And of course, to keep up the carnival atmosphere, the requisite costumed characters were there, too.


A pretty fun day all around. Even if I didn't get a shirt.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Debt Crisis

Saw this nice little opinion piece in the local paper on Sunday, and I have to say it's nice hearing someone other than Ron Paul (and a lot younger, besides) saying this: "The rejection of America as a top-tier credit [risk] is the outcome of a commitment broken 40 years ago..."

It's not Obama's fault, nor is it Bush's fault. It's Nixon's fault. And, Congress's fault for piling on to what he started. I'm glad at least I was too young to vote for him, or I might have been guilty, too.






Sunday, August 14, 2011

I love a parade

Last year, we took in a local tradition: a Sweet Corn Festival in a little burg about 20 min. west of us. But, we got there too late for the parade, so - change of plans this year. Parade first, then eat. :)


So our pastor and his wife joined us (and the rest of town, apparently) on the sidewalk to see what there was to see, before we all pigged out on corn on the cob. And there was definitely stuff to see.


First, the men...


Then the boys...


Then the girls...


They had some young people...


And a float made up of nothing but old people...


Then another one with even older people...


They even had all-yellow people. To celebrate corn, I suppose.


And embarrassing people. Not sure what they were celebrating.


They had fire trucks...


And big tractors...


Smaller tractors...


And even smaller tractors.


There were merchants...


Churches...


A helicopter,


and some hot cars. This one I was particularly fond of.


Mostly because it is the same car as the first one I ever owned. Except that mine was yellow with white tuck and roll leather upholstery. Not to mention the 327SS package under the hood. Yowza! I won more than my fair share of impromptu drag races off the line at stoplights in Wausau, WI back in the day. ;)


Small-town America. I love it.

Not to mention the free sweet corn. :)
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