Help support our troops at the MDP Endorsement Convention!

I hope you are looking forward to this weekend's Michigan Democratic Party Endorsement Convention like I am!

As you know, we have an important duty to fulfill on Saturday, as we endorse candidates for Secretary of State and Attorney General. But while we fulfill this important obligation in Detroit, we would do well to remember the selfless service of our troops thousands of miles away, whose job it is to protect the very freedom that allows us to choose our leaders.

Thanks to the Michigan Democratic Party Youth Caucus, Saturday will present us with an excellent chance to make life easier for some of our men and women in uniform!

The Youth Caucus will have a table set up at Cobo Hall on Saturday so you can drop off some items that will be sent to a unit overseas.

Among the items most needed and wanted over there are:

• Wet wipes/baby wipes (in high demand)
• Magazines
• Non-perishable snacks
• Non-perishable canned food (small cans, please!)
• Packets for coffee and hot chocolate
• Lemonade/Kool-Aid/Gatorade mix
• Hygiene products
• Toiletries - toothpaste, mouthwash, etc.
• Comics
• CDs and DVDs
• Playing cards
• Paperback books
• Calling cards
• Envelopes

These are just some of the items that would help greatly. The major restrictions are that we cannot send alcohol, pornography, weapons, or perishable food.

Given all that our troops are going through for us, helping to make their deployments easier is the least we can do. So, on this Saturday, as we take advantage of our right to endorse two of our Party's nominees, please take this opportunity to thank those who serve our country. Please consider bringing a few of the aforementioned items to the Convention, and pass the word to everyone you know who plans on coming!

DOs and DON'Ts for Progressives in 2010

Happy New Year! That is, if you think the year is still new. Which, in some respects, it is; the Super Bowl hasn't been played yet!

At any rate, what will 2010 be like for Democrats? What will 2010 be like for our communities, Michigan, America, and our world?

Of course, none of us knows for sure. What I do know is that each of us has a part to play in how this year (and the future) turns out. Nothing will happen if all you do is sit back and criticize/praise/comment on Obama, Congress, state or local officials, businesses, the media, etc. Rather, change will happen because people make it happen.

So here are some thoughts on things we as Progressives should and shouldn't do this year. I'm sure you have your own ideas, as well!

DO get involved in your local Democratic Party group or club, if you aren't already. Believe me - our Party needs our progressive voices! Not being involved because of the weakness of the healthcare bill or lack of focus on this issue or that? Big mistake. If you get involved with the Party and progressive Democratic campaigns, you will have a great opportunity to speak out in favor of progressive values. Plus, you will have a good shot at a leadership role within the Party in the future.

DO get involved in your community. You'll do a big favor for yourself - and for those you help! You'll meet new people, make great memories, and make a good name for yourself. All of that will be very important if you ever want to run for office! Serve.gov is a good place to get started. Oh, and speaking of running for office...

DO think about running for office - if not this year, then next year or beyond. Yes, that's right; if you have a chance, maybe it's time for you to consider trying to make a change from inside the system. Keep in mind, running for office is not something you simply decide to do just like that; it's a commitment. You still have four months to decide if you want to run for Congress or state or local office; the filing deadline is May 12. If you don't run for one of those offices, you might want to run for Precinct Delegate; more on that in a few weeks.

DON'T be silent or sit on the sidelines. What happens when someone isn't involved or doesn't speak their mind? No one listens to them. Decisions are made with out their input. In effect, that person is assenting to the status quo.

DON'T become cynical or give up. Change takes a while! As Paul Wellstone said, "I think the future also will not belong to those who are cynical or those who stand on the sidelines." If that young band of colonists had given up on liberating themselves from tyranny, the USA wouldn't even exist. Thank goodness they didn't give in to cynical attitudes; may you have the same resilience!

We are all human beings - just like Barack Obama, Albert Einstein, the Founding Fathers, the Abolitionists, the Suffragettes, and those who have fought for equality for all human beings. If they can do big things, so can each and every one of us!

So that's my challenge to each of you for 2010 - to make this the most productive, fulfilling year you've ever had. This year can be an amazing year - or it can be a year you'd rather forget. It's up to you and me to make it great!

Bits of Tid: August 11, 2009

• No, Sarah Palin. We won't have any 'death panels' deciding whether to kill your son or anyone else. Nor will the giovernment ration care - let's leave that up to some private insurers.
• Need to be amused? Here's Barack Obama's Facebook page - not his real one, but a satirical one.
• Headline from The Onion: "GOP Warns Healthcare Bill Would Only Inflate Costs of Defeating Obama in 2012."
• Check out Blogging for Michigan's Twitter Michigan directory.
• Did you know that every three seconds, someone needs blood? If you're eligible to donate blood, please do so when you get a chance. Michiganians, find an MCBC or Red Cross blood drive near you. Whether or not you can donate, you can also volunteer at a blood bank or blood drive. Whose life will you save?

Service + History = Spring Break!

[T]he way to live a full life is to think about what can I do for others, how can I be a part of this larger project of making a better world. - Barack Obama

For about the seventh (?) year in a row, a group of Central Michigan University students spent my Spring Break volunteering at Chippokes Plantation State Park in Virginia. It was by far the most fulfilling and productive Spring Break I have ever had, not just because of the work we did, but because of how historic the area is. Located right across the James River from the Jamestwon-Yorktown-Williamsburg area, Chippokes is one of the oldest still-operating farms in the entire United States.

I've been busy in the past few weeks, but luckily I am finally able to share with you some thoughts and pictures from the wonderful break that was!

We left Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, around 5AM on Saturday morning, March 7. We spent much of the next 16 hours listening to the Top 40 on satellite radio, getting to know each other, playing name games, stopping for meals... and sleeping! On Sunday we met some of the camp staff, took the ferry across the James to get some groceries, and had our first nightly reflection. I took a couple of shots of the James:




...and here is their donkey, Jack, whom we called Stephan!


Our service itself involved such tasks as fertilizing trees, raking leaves, building a fence, raking leaves, cleaning the beach, raking leaves, refurbishing antique farm equipment - and did I mention raking leaves?


Not only was Thursday the birthday of one of the other students, it was also the date of the annual lunch thrown by the park staff for CMU volunteers. The menu included mac-and-cheese, rolls, a birthday cake, and a genuine Smithfield ham, which, according to Virginia law, could only be called a Smithfield ham because it was slaughtered, processed, and cured within the City of Smithfield. After lunch we toured the plantation's mansion.

Incidentally, here's a fun fact for you: Brandy likely saved the plantation during the Civil War. Officers from both sides cherished the brandy that the plantation produced, and, let's face it, when you're engaged in armed conflict, do you really want to risk destroying your source of brancy?

We had Friday off, and Kathy, our volunteer coordinator, took us across the river to Jamestown! We toured both the Jamestown National Historic Site as well as the Jamestown Settlement museum. We also saw the glass factory. As one participant said, it was a living history lesson that cannot be taught within the confines of a school building.


As we got ready to go to bed on our first night there, a realization hit me: We were going to sleep where slaves once slept. As we learned before we left, the cabin served as a slave quarters for much of the plantation's history. I was once again reminded of slavery's presence in the area when we watched a movie about the beginnings of Jamestown - and the beginnings of slavery - at the Historic Site.

But then, as we left that theater, I saw something that reminded me of just how far we as a nation have come:


I think that seeing his portrait at the Historic Site is when it finally hit me that this young man is actually President of the United States.

Kathy offered to be in a picture with us at the museum:


I will not forget the good times we had there, nor the many great people we met, from Ray, the camp host, to RJ, the park ranger. And they were so friendly! Whomever came up with the term "Southern hospitality" must have had these wonderful people in mind!

To me, Spring Break 2009 will serve as a shining example of how, when we give of our time, talent, and treasure, we receive so much in return!

Bits of Tid: March 28, 2009

• Just three days before Al Gore's birthday, tonight is Earth Hour! It lasts from 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM.
• 
  Find out how you can help.
• Payback.
• Obama is moving at a faster pace than Bush when it comes to filling vacancies for appointed offices.
• UNC, Pitt, Missouri, Louisville.
  

What am I doing for Spring Break?

Well, for the first time ever, I am not going home for Spring Break. Instead, I'll heading to Chippokes Plantation State Park in Virginia this weekend!

With recreational activities and opportunities to look at life in a bygone era, Chippokes Plantation offers something for everyone. A working farm since 1617, visitors may tour an antebellum mansion, stroll through formal gardens, or view a collection of antique farm and forestry equipment and a sawmill exhibit at the Farm and Forestry Museum.

But I'm not just going there for the beauty and history. I'm going there to help preserve the park as part of CMU's Alternative Breaks program. This will be my first weeklong AB, and almost everyone who's been on an AB before said they had a blast!

Says the Virginia Conservation and Rec website:

Chippokes Plantation State Park is one of the oldest working farms in the United States. Chippokes is a living historical exhibit located in a rural agricultural area along the James River in Surry County. In addition, the park has a wide variety of traditional park offerings, including a swimming complex, visitor center, picnic facilities, and hiking and biking trails. The plantation has kept its original boundaries since the 1600s and has a variety of cultivated gardens and native woodland. The formal gardens surrounding the Chippokes Mansion are accented by azaleas, crepe myrtle, boxwood and seasonal flowers. The plantation grounds are also home to the Chippokes Farm and Forestry Museum.

Chippokes Plantation State Park is operated by the Department of Conservation and Recreation in cooperation with the Chippokes Plantation Farm Foundation. The Virginia General Assembly created the foundation in 1977 to establish, administer and maintain the model farm. Funding for the foundation comes from farmland rent payments, donations, admissions and gift shop sales.

I will be back on Sunday, the 15th. Then (or shortly thereafter), I will have plenty of pictures to show you!

So look out Tim Kaine, Mark Warner, Jim Webb, and Bobby Scott... here I come!