2004-11 Vital Source Mag – November 2004
Technology for All of Us
By Lightburn Designs The holidays are just around the corner and that means two things – shopping, and spending quality time with Aunt Betty! If you are like me, you may not fully appreciate the art of dodging little tikes in the mall, walking eight blocks in a slushy parking lot or dealing with a 16-year old cashier with an attitude. As the malls grow busier and time more scarce, it’s no surprise online shopping has grown exponentially over the last few years. It’s perfect for those of us who prefer to shop in our PJ’s late at night while watching reruns of Cheers. eCommerce, my how you’ve grown!Compared to other tools we use to trade and purchase goods, the Internet is by far the fastest-growing of all time. The telephone took 38 years to reach 50 million users and the television took thirteen. The Internet? Four years. According to the Census Bureau, eCommerce sales in the second quarter of 2004 were $15.7 billion (yes, billion!), up 23.1rom the second quarter of 2003. It is projected that eCommerce transactions will increase annually by 22�compound). Part of the appeal is selection. Without leaving your house, you can find everything from digital cameras and designer clothes to rare wine. I did a search for the phrase ‘Holiday Gifts’ on Google and it returned 5.1 million results! New shoppers might want to start with the more popular, established sites that offer a larger variety of items across multiple categories. Amazon, Blue Nile and eBay are three of the biggest. Many even have the ability to cross-match potential gifts or mention items that others have purchased, offering shoppers even more options. And if you have absolutely no idea what to get your second Uncle Steve, try www.surprise.com or www.findgift.com for suggestions. Shop safely.Online shopping is convenient, and most gift-type vendors are legit. But anytime you’re giving out your personal information, common sense must rule the day. Just as you could get robbed at the mall, or taken by a merchant with bad intentions, the same can happen to you online. But there are simple ways to protect yourself. Reputable merchants should always use Secure Socket Layers (SSLs) for transactions, which scramble, or encrypt, the information you send to a vendor (billing address, credit card numbers, etc.). The best way to see if a vendor is using a SSL is to look in the lower right-hand corner of your browser for a little padlock icon or an unbroken key, or for a web address that starts with “https:” – the ‘s’ stands for secure. If a site is not using SSL, when you submit the information, a pop-up box will notify you that the site is not secure, at which time you can cancel the transaction (strongly encouraged). I also recommend you start with small purchases the first time you shop at a particular online store and keep a personal record of your online transactions. Keep Your Private Info Private.A simple rule to follow: never […]
Nov 1st, 2004 by Vital Archives
November 2004
Dear Readers, Years from now, I hope to re-read this particular blog and laugh, picturing myself propped up on pillows trying to balance my keyboard on my lap, cursing over not breaking down and getting the laptop which would come in so handy now as I try to type without throwing my back into another painful spasm. I have restricted myself to ibuprofen until this column is finished, but my head is nevertheless filled with fog from the pain in my back and leg. I shift again. I cannot get comfortable. I should see a doctor. Maybe I can wait until tomorrow… It seemed like a good idea at the time. I awoke before everyone else and, as is my wont, began thinking about how I could maximize a few stolen moments of “alone time” before the demands of breakfast and soccer and an all-day production marathon took over the rest of my waking hours. I was feeling a little toxic after a long week of work, and decided a nice bike ride to my local coffee shop on North Ave. would be just the thing. I’d pick up donuts and be back before anyone even knew I was gone. It had been raining earlier, but it was fairly warm, just a little misty. I live on the east side of Wauwatosa. The residential streets in my neighborhood are quiet and mostly level, perfect for an easy ride. I took Meinecke west about three blocks past Cranky Al’s, then headed back east on North, riding in the bike lane. As the lane came to an end, I tapped the brakes. I remember my wheels locking up on the wet pavement, then the quick realization that yes, I was actually going down, then a full spin in the middle of the normally busy street, my body twisting most unnaturally. My right cheek kissed the pavement as my bike landed on top of me. I lay there for a second. A nice older lady was standing over me, trying to lift my bike and urging me to get out of the street. At first I thought the cuts and bruises on my leg were the worst of it, but as the minutes wore on, it grew increasingly difficult to breathe. Every inhale brought a stab of pain and not enough oxygen. A steel band formed quickly around my torso. I had seriously messed up my back. Like an idiot, I still stopped at Al’s for donuts, refusing rides home from several of the good neighbors there, insisting that I could make it on my own. Stupid. By the time I stumbled in to my house, I could barely stand. Eight hours later, I am sitting up for the first time. Call it instant karma. Three days ago, my art director, Tony, flipped his truck on the same off-ramp he takes every day. He’d realized too late as he took a tight turn that he hadn’t compensated enough for the wet road conditions. […]
Nov 1st, 2004 by Jon Anne Willow
That was Easy…
By Paul McLeary One might dare hope that during an election cycle where intelligence gathering and national defense are the big issues, the nomination and appointment of a new CIA Director would spur some serious-minded policy debate. As with so much else in American political life, however, the chasm between what should happen and what does happen is big enough to throw a stack of policy briefings through. On September 22nd, after a mere six and a half hours of questioning by its Intelligence Committee and a sadly familiar rollover of the Democratic leadership, the Senate approved the nomination of Republican Congressman Porter Goss as the nation’s new spy chief on a 77-17 vote. The reason for the easy confirmation of a career Republican politician to the country’s most sensitive intelligence post? Call it the Patriot Act jitters: Democratic lawmakers told several news outlets off the record that they were afraid that fighting the nomination would leave them open to GOP charges of obstructionism and a disregard for America’s security. Looking at Goss’s record, one sees that not only is he not independent, but that in many respects he is a Republican ideologue who could scuttle any attempts at intelligence reform that might prove inconvenient to a second-term Bush administration.Goss’s lightweight questioning before the Senate in September was emblematic of the fear of negative spin that pervades Washington in the Age of Rove. Democrats didn’t want to risk getting themselves—or their presidential candidate (who didn’t even bother to vote on the nomination)—into trouble. This could explain why, during Goss’s milquetoast questioning before the Senate, several problematic areas of his past record were ignored. For starters, he was not asked about a comment he made in June during a conference call with reporters that chemical and biological weapons are ‘more dangerous’ than nuclear weapons. One wonders if this was simply a partisan attempt to attack John Kerry’s anti-nuclear proliferation proposals, or if it points to the more problematic issue of a man who has forgotten about all that loose nuclear materials floating around the Russian republics. Who’s reality is this, anyway?During the aforementioned conference call, Goss also stated that he wasn’t concerned at all about North Korea’s active nuclear program because he believed that the United States had ‘called their bluff successfully’ and, thus, they were ‘not making any progress’ on the nuclear-weapons front. This flies directly in the face of U.S. intelligence estimates that suggest North Korea has developed plutonium for six new warheads over the last two years. In whose reality does this not constitute progress? Perhaps Goss believes the president when he says that the CIA analysts are “just guessing” when they write their reports based on intelligence gathering and empirical evidence. If this is the case, he is clearly an inauspicious choice to head the agency. Also in the dustbin of unasked questions is the hotbutton issue of the ‘house arrest’ of Pakistan’s top nuclear scientist, A.Q. Kahn, who has treated his country’s nuclear program like a […]
Nov 1st, 2004 by Vital Archives
Interpol
as it is to loathe, but Interpol actually make it comprehensible and appealing. Because, even more on their current album Antics than on their 2002 debut Turn on the Bright Lights, the NYC quartet view that time through their own artistic lens, focusing the best of the (largely non-American) music of that period into something more than a slavish reveling in the past. The best, subjectively considered: the eternal loneliness of the Smiths, in which Morrissey held hands with himself; the crisply supine melodies of the Go-Betweens; the resolute affectation of New Order (plus the curiously romantic realism of New Order’s predecessor, Joy Division); and above all, the sense that emotion finds its fullest literate expression in obliquely impressionistic lyrics. On Antics, there is even a distinct insinuation of the recklessness that drove bands like the Replacements and Sonic Youth. On a basic level, Interpol remain a rock band, with the syncopation of bassist Carlos D. and drummer Sam Fogarino, and the noisy riffs and angular solos of guitarist Daniel Kessler. Across the intense electricity these three generate in the dark liveliness of “Public Pervert” and the Pixies/Talking Heads snap of “Evil,” singer Paul Banks can be by turns regretful, introspective, furtive, shy and indirect. But he can never be entirely hopeless. Antics unfurls its diverse shades of blue moods against a bright light that never goes out.—Jon M. Gilbertson
Nov 1st, 2004 by Jon Gilbertson
Commentary
By Peter Hart For many years, right-wingers have complained to no end about the “liberal bias” of PBS. Nowadays, it appears someone at PBS is listening. A new program called “The Journal Editorial Report,” featuring writers and editors from the archconservative “Wall Street Journal” editorial page, recently debuted on public television stations around the country. The show joins “Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered,” hosted by conservative CNN pundit Tucker Carlson, and a planned program featuring conservative commentator Michael Medved; all as part of what many see as politically motivated decisions to bring more right-wing voices to public television. According to media reports, conservative complaints about the alleged liberal bias of the program “Now with Bill Moyers” contributed to the momentum to “balance” the PBS lineup. In fact, “Now” will soon see its role on public television diminish, as the program is cut from one hour to 30 minutes when Moyers voluntarily leaves the program later this year. His replacement, co-anchor David Brancaccio, expresses no obvious ideology. If Carlson, Medved and the staff of the Wall Street Journal editorial page are all necessary to balance the liberal Moyers, by 2005 who will be at PBS to balance them? The “underserved” Right?The notion that public broadcasting should find ways to balance itself is odd, and accepts at face value the right-wing critique that PBS is biased to the left. If anything, PBS (and public broadcasting in general) is theoretically designed to balance the voices that dominate the commercial media. As the 1967 Public Broadcasting Act proposed, public broadcasting should have “instructional, educational and cultural purposes” and should address “the needs of unserved and underserved audiences, particularly children and minorities.” Instead, public television has in practice been largely a home for elite viewpoints, dominated by long-running political shows hosted by conservatives (“Firing Line,” “McLaughlin Group,” “One on One”) and by business shows aimed at the investing class (“Nightly Business Report,” “Adam Smith’s Money World,” “Wall $treet Week”). When this lineup wasn’t enough to insulate public TV from right-wing complaints in the mid-1990s, programmers responded by creating more series for conservatives like Peggy Noonan and Ben Wattenberg. Now PBS seems once again to be trying to placate right-wing critics, in this case by bringing to public broadcasting voices already well-represented in the mainstream media. Tucker Carlson’s take on world affairs, for example, is available at least five days a week on CNN, and the Wall Street Journal editorial page, included in every edition of the nation’s second-largest newspaper, is already widely available—and widely read. Meet the new boss(es).At the center of this controversy is the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which provides significant federal funding for public broadcasting projects. Two Bush appointees to the board last year, Cheryl Halperin and Gay Hart Gaines, are big donors to the Republican Party, and do not hide their political agendas. Conservative television producer Michael Pack was appointed senior vice-president for television programming at the CPB, and after former House Speaker Newt Gingrich complained to PBS President Pat Mitchell that […]
Nov 1st, 2004 by Vital Archives
Coral Slavin’s Labor of Love
By Lucky Tomaszek Coral Slavin lovingly rubs the laboring woman’s back and says, “Remember, when it’s this hard, it’s because it’s almost over. This is the hardest part.” The woman’s contraction ends and her eyes close as she drifts into a doze that will last approximately 45 seconds before the next contraction comes. It’s 2 a.m. and Coral has been with this family all night. She is understandably tired, but obviously content to be right where she is. Coral has been attending births as a doula since 1996 and has, to date, witnessed about 150 babies being born. But she didn’t start out as a professional labor assistant, supporting women during their births. Coral holds a doctorate in Stress Management and spent years counseling people with chronic pain conditions using biofeedback and relaxation techniques. She was also a full-time grant writer for HIV/AIDS education and intervention. Her path began to shift 16 years ago with the birth of her first child, Robert. During her pregnancy, she read a lot of books about natural childbirth and became dedicated to giving birth without pain medication. But she was alone and unsupported during her labor and ended up asking for an epidural. She had a healthy baby, but always felt like her labor and delivery experience could have been different. Later she realized that the tools she used to help others with their pain could have helped her. When she got pregnant again eight years later, she took Bradley® childbirth education classes, which emphasize natural childbirth and teamwork between the mom and dad. This started her down a new career path. NEW LIFE SPURS NEWDIRECTION. After her second baby was born, Coral began training as a Bradley® childbirth educator and was soon attending births as an assistant for her students. She knew that she become a better teacher if she witnessed at least a few births. What she didn’t expect was how quickly this experience would become a part of who she was. “Once you’ve assisted at your first birth and you feel like you had some impact on improving the outcome, it becomes a passion” says Coral. “There are so many ways you can help a family when they’re expecting a baby, especially a first baby.” This belief led her to expand her services a little at a time. Her next step was to start and facilitate parenting groups, and that’s when the real questions began to form in her mind. “We (childbirth educators) do all of this work helping families get ready for the baby and give birth, but then we pat them on the head and send them home from the hospital with a wave and a ‘good luck!’” Coral believes early parenting is an important and fragile period in parents’ lives. Several years ago, a newly postpartum client of hers struggled with depression and committed suicide when her baby was just three months old. Coral was already a dedicated and passionate educator and doula, but the death made her […]
Nov 1st, 2004 by Lucky Tomaszek
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
By Erin Wolf Billy Graham, hang up your boxing gloves, Nick Cave is the new Mr. Fire and Brimstone. The latest addition to the Bad Seeds’ library, the double-disc Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus, is a heavy-hitter, changing things up by waving adieu to guitarist Blixa Bargeld and welcoming organist James Johnston of Gallon Drunk. The Seeds, along with Nick Launay, also took it upon themselves to produce and record, lending a rawness and fervor absent in last year’s Nocturama. The double-disc emerged from ample material, and the final tracks fall under two umbrellas: Abattoir Blues whips up hell-raising, heaven-yearning songs with the driving force of an instrumental hurricane, while the soft, lyrical poetry of The Lyre of Orpheus seems gothic and even odd in its contrasting choice of lyrics and sweetness. The Lyre of Orpheus should please Cave fans in that it’s no far step out of the ordinary. “Easy Money” and “Spell” are quiet reminders of No More Shall We Part, finding beauty and hope in the places where one would expect neither. Abattoir Blues comes out stinging with dire gospel proclamations: “Everything’s dissolving babe / according to plan / the sky is on fire / the dead are heaped across the land / I went to bed last night and my moral code got jammed.” Chilling on its own, Cave’s message is further lyrically enforced by the backing of the London Community Gospel Choir, the overall effect of which is strange but somehow appropriate. This may be the Seeds’ strongest album in years. Filled with conviction, raw earnestness and the creativity of an improv jazz ensemble, Abattoir Blues is a jolt of charismatic caffeine, while The Lyre of Orpheus still covers listeners with a security blanket of classic Cave.
Nov 1st, 2004 by Vital Archives
The New and Improved Holiday Letter
By Lucky Tomaszek I remember opening Christmas cards as a teenager and being frustrated by the ever-growing number of holiday letters. You’ve probably received at least one yourself. They’re the form letters that run down the year in review on behalf of the sender. At that point in my life, I was only responsible for myself and the demands on my time were few. I was also a budding writer, in love with language and looking for any excuse to fill page after page with my every thought and feeling. I felt almost superior sending out my Christmas cards, lovingly scribed by hand. No form letters for me! Then I got married and had a baby. The first year after Lena was born, I picked out beautiful cards and matching lined stationary so I could sit and write letters to everyone on my list about my little girl and the progress of the restoration of our 1880’s Victorian home. I got two of them done. Nine years later, the box of cards is still in with my wrapping paper collection. The next year I did a little better. I actually signed the cards and mailed about half of them, but there was no personal note inside. I felt bad. My family and friends had spread across the country and I had become lax with my correspondence. As the New Year rolled by, I considered writing a holiday letter for the next year. The First Time. My first Tomaszek Family Holiday Letter was a pitiful attempt at communication. I simply couldn’t figure out how to sum up the previous year of our life in an interesting way. I think I managed to squeeze out about three paragraphs on snow-man paper. In a desperate attempt to spice it up a little, I decorated the envelopes and included Lena’s most recent photo. By the following year, Emma had joined our family and we had lots more to talk about. We also had great pictures of the girls wearing their pretty red dresses. Lena, now three, helped me decorate the envelopes that year. It was a great success. People actually took the time to call me and say how much they liked having something homemade included with the letter. Well, that sealed it for me! If people liked homemade things, we could do that! I quickly developed a little routine for putting together our holiday letters that has lasted several years now. It’s not too difficult and our extended family loves getting them. Making It Special. I start by finding a box of very basic holiday cards. I’m always careful not to buy anything that mentions Christmas specifically and I tend to lean toward something with a brief message about peace. I like to get a package of holiday-themed paper as well, and can almost always find something at a dollar store. We all sign the card by hand and then I type up the big letter, which follows the cosmically-developed format utilized universally. We also […]
Nov 1st, 2004 by Lucky Tomaszek
