An Internet Globetrotter

Butte County bus riders will have a problem when the new Downtown Transit Center on Second Street is completed next month. Jim Peplow, of Butte Regional Transit, said in an e-mail that while the parking arrangement that B-Line buses use at present will be the same, the traditional County buses which park at Second and Normal will have nothing for protection, unlike their city cousins.

Peplow said that the transit center is being planned by the Chico city fathers. It will sport solar panels on the roof, bathrooms, benches, and covered shelters, according to sketches posted on Second Street. He discovered though that passengers riding the route 20 to Oroville and 40 to Paradise, will have no benches or protection as indicated in present plans.

There was an earlier plan that would have parked those buses on Second Street with protection, but that has been scraped. Peplow is in discussions with the planners of the transit center, but does not expect the new plans to change.

As presently designed, the new transit center seems about as useful as costume jewelry. It dazzles and looks to be designed for the politicians to feel good and not for the bus riders to use.

Posted by Gary D. Brune at 05:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There are a few news reports that disturb me about the future possibilities in Iraq, The letter posted below I published in the Washington Post, july 31.

Comment on: Robert D. Novak - Bush's Turkish Gamble - washingtonpost.com on 7/30/2007 6:20 PM

Are we seriously entertaining the re-establishment of the Ottoman Empire? Turkey occupied Iraq as part of that entity until 1922 when the British and the European powers dissolved the empire, including the territory we know as Kurdistan.

How much of this has to do with the Turkish economy? Until January 1 of this year, the Turkish Lira had slid to an exchange rate of 1.3 million to the dollar.

They re-valued their currency, but the new lira may still be an indication of just how bad things are there.

This would be the third time Britain and the United States have stabbed the Kurds in the back. Britain set up Iraq, and now they want to wash their hands of it. After the Gulf War, the United States, as I recall, pledged to help them, but thousands died.

If the Bush Administration does this, not only will we over-extend our military resources, but this country will prove just how untrustworthy we are.

All this sound and fury is about oil and money. Iraq has it and Turkey wants it. If history is any guide, the Kurds should have Kurdistan. They've had enough troubles with the Turks.

Posted by Gary D. Brune at 02:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My mother passed a saying on to me when I was in elementary school that has stayed with me to this day; “I cried because I had no shoes, until I met the man who had no feet.”

The problem with the baby seat generation, or at least the representatives I've encountered as they buzz by me while on their cellular phones on their way to their next appointment, is that they don't appear to know this saying or what it means. The students I've met seem to be human doings and not human beings.

This generation seems to have no idea of the world beyond their nose. Further, because they have been wedded to the silicon age through one digital device or another, they have no exposure to real emotions. Likewise they have faced no real challenges in their life, so they wouldn't know what an obstacle is or how to deal with it if it reared up on its hind legs and spit fire across their path.

In a discussion I had with a bus-driver we arrived at the notion that the difference between safety and freedom is that freedom allows the individual to fall down in the obstacle course, get back up again, and chart a unique course. Safety pads the obstacles until there is no risk to hide or heart.

It isn't the obstacle course that makes one a better person, it is the act of getting through the obstacles to the point where one crosses under the finish line. Another older person told me when I was young that anything that does not kill a person makes them stronger.

Various societies have some sort of coming of age ceremony which allows the initiate to leave the struggles of childhood behind and be respected as an adult. The United States does not have such a ceremony, and in this high-speed silicon age, it needs one. I suspect that the high use of drugs and alcohol by our young people is the only way they have to challenge themselves and see how strong they are as people.

I've already been challenged by society. In fact I've spit in the face of the devil and marched out of hell. The young people I encounter on the quad don't have the frame of reference I have to cope with something like being a spouse's caretaker until they die, or deal with the consequences of a stroke. They zoom down the sidewalks, and wo be the person who stands in their way.

The final question I have today is – was I that bad when I was their age? More on this tomorrow.

Posted by Gary D. Brune at 01:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our newest non-conformist, Austin Perkins, who caught official trouble for wearing a coat and tie to school, explained his decision to do so thus; “They (the administration) set the standard, but we exceeded it,”

As I walk around campus today, wearing my khaki suit with white shirt and tie, hundreds of students buzz by me. When I was their age, we had an expression called “The Generation Gap”. Which dealt with the difference between us and our parents. Today that gap is a chasm, and now I am on the other side of the divide.

Chico State is a very conformist campus. I've lamented such to many professors and not one has contradicted me. I am here to get a sheepskin that I couldn't or didn't get 25 years ago.

When I graduated from Chabot College before the silicon age, we typed papers. There was a gallon of white-out on my desk. Calculators were just making their appearance in major catalogs, and we used cassette tape to record and play the music of the day. Radio telephones came in attache cases because of the large batteries they needed.

Every generation can make the same type of statement, as this one will when they find themselves with an AARP letter in the mail.

But the problem with that perspective is it is useless. The student body in this school is young, and the lesson plans are aimed at their lack of experience. The youngsters buzz on by not caring about anything beyond their immediate sphere of interaction. Perhaps this is made worse by cellular phones, ipods, and laptop computers.

But perhaps there is another point of caution in their silicon world, where there is no emotion, no compassion. They have faced no great challenge equal to the Great Depression. The Iraqi action is the closest thing to a generational conflict, but it is out there beyond their ken.

At least I carried a draft card when I was a teenager, and crossed my fingers as draft numbers were drawn once a week.

I try to see the character of this generation, and I don't like what I see, but more on that tomorrow.

Posted by Gary D. Brune at 06:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today is the first day of school at Chico State, where in order to show respect to the event and school, I chose to come to school wearing a coat and tie, a Chico State tie at that. Students wearing t-shirts and jeans or their derivatives are everywhere. Emblemed t-shirts and shorts seem to be the uniform of the day.

Mine is the same decision made by Golden Gate High School senior, Austin Perkins, 17 except that the Bonita, Fl student got suspended from class. It seems that according to the school administration, he didn't follow the dress code.

“I thought it was better than a polo shirt,” Perkins said in the story that ran in the Bonita News.. “So, my friend and I thought why not take the extra step? (The dress code) says business dress. A coat and tie are business dress. Instead we were thrown in a room where we couldn’t talk.”

The heavy in this piece is Principal Bob Spano. Before the suspension, he said that he warned Perkins and other students that to wear a coat and tie would be in violation of the dress code. When the students returned to campus waring such, they were brought to the principal's office. Because they didn't comply. “We had a few students who chose not to follow it ...”, Spano said.

His overriding reasoning in this issue was that by imposing the new dress code on his students, strangers would stand out while standing on campus, which he said keeps the campus safe.

There's that word again, safety, which seems to walk hand in hand with conformity. But the question is when did the memo come out that safety is the eleventh amendment to the Bill of Rights? More on this notion tomorrow.

Posted by Gary D. Brune at 04:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The first day of school is always an exciting time; new books, new shoes, new teachers, and seeing those you went to school with last year. Today my school bus comes to its stop, a big white Butte Regional Transit carriage, repainted with B-Line indicia.

I get out my shiny student id card when I get on and run face to face with it – the obelisk.

It stands about three feet high, has a brushed metal case with a grey plastic cap, through which passengers insert various methods of payment. Called an electronic fare box, it will give the bus line an accurate account of their daily ridership.

Businesses like silicon exactitude for its immediacy and complete control of resources. Wells Fargo lost much of its monetary record for a time last week; I just worked through a network failure at Chico State where when the servers went down, the network connections were gone, and for the most part, so were the computers.

This over-reliance on computers is one of the problems with today. I remember while being a sophomore at Chabot College a quarter century, or does 25 years ago sound better, and we used manual typewriters, cassette tapes, and the only network we knew of was Ma Bell and our telephone. We made copies with xerox machines, and hardcover books in places called libraries to the place of the Internet. Cut and paste was done with scissors and contact cement.

Back in the day, there was a humanity about things, before we had to deal with the modern trinity of plastic, silicon, and magnetic media. The silicon age has a lot of capability, but at what price. Silicon's very exactitude is its most attractive feature, saving us from having to think, to dream, to emote. Fact is, humanity and emotion is antithetic to silicon, hiding society from the consequences of their mistakes, by making sure they don't make any.

Posted by Gary D. Brune at 03:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My senior year at Chico State starts Monday, but as I walk around the campus today, I see the mothers, fathers, and their students pondering the future. I remember when beginning my term here, how much anticipation there was. Today is one of those moments that I wish my family was still alive, so I could share this with someone.

As squirrels rush around with acorns in their jaws, I wonder if they are late for class themselves. All the young people rush about, carrying cellular phones next to their jaws. One memorable encounter I had was with a line of students walking in unison down the sidewalk, each person talking on their own cell phone.

Even I now have one of these infernal machines now, thanks to Virgin Mobile. The pre-paid service provides me with what I need, when I need it, without having some stifling two year contract.

The one task I have put off until now is buying my books, or more accurately renting them. Not only do these things have higher price tags than anything I find at the bookstores, the authors are boring reads. Beyond the time line of class, I wouldn't crack these covers if I found them in the mall. Hopefully I can keep this weblog more interesting.

Posted by Gary D. Brune at 03:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

These are the Post 259 Board Meeting minutes for June 30. Thank you, Adjutant Mike Miles

POST 259 BOARD OF DIRECTORS MINUTES
DISTRICT 4 MEETING
DEPARTMENT OF CALIFORNIA

PRESIDING OFFICER: THOR SPARR, COMMANDER

Meeting called to order at 1930 hrs. Roll Call of officers: Absent, Harry Hudson, 1st Vice Cdr.; Bill Allen, Judge Advocate; Bob Bell, Service officer.

Laura Gatch, ALA Treasurer asked in the Post had ever been billed for their share of postage for the American Warrior's Support Group. She said that the Post's share for postage from August of 2005 to July, 2007 was $681.96.
2nd Vice, Jimmy Hayes said that the Post had paid 2 checks during Pete Freitag's tenure as Commander. He said members had approved the payment. The Commander said we would research the matter and advise the ALA on the matter. Gatch also brought up how to apportion the payment for the Liability Insurance carried by the Post. the matter will be researched.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:Cdr. Sparr handed out sheets detailing the job responsibilities of the Post office holders.
To solve a conflict in responsibilities, Sparr moved James Hayes to first Executive officer, Mike Miles to 2nd Executive officer. Nominations for 3rd EO will be take at general meeting. Sparr said he would approach Gary Brune to see if he wanted the post of Historian.

Discussed Sparr's Objectives for 2008. He asked for focus and direction from the board. He suggested that our top priority be "Vet's helping Vets."
Membership- no program now in place.
New Members: work on retention, increased attendance and work.
Welcome committee to help orient new members. Welcoming pamphlet discussed. Could inclued phone number of Officers, background on the Post, and a free "red hat".

50/50 raffle: discussed idea of replacing with raffle for a gift card to stores such as Lowes, Home Depot, Best Buy, etc.

Newsletter. We need an editor.
Budget is being readied according to Finance Officer Bud McAlexander.
Transfer Safety Deposit box custody to Cdr. and Adjutant.
Craft Fair- tables will have to set up and taken down. Aug 17 and 19.
Indian Gaming Proposal. Ready for review by Mary Redding at Butte Co.

Discussed problems with rental of the hall to the honor Guard for Relay for Life. Building left open, chairs removed from meeting rooms. Board indicated that renters should not have access to meeting rooms.

Ray Redinger discussed problem of experienced staff of Bingo retiring due to burn-out.

Start times for meetings discussed. tentative decision to keep General membership at 1930 until discussed with members. Board may move start time to 1900.

Meeting adjourned at 2035 Hours.

Posted by Gary D. Brune at 02:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The entry below is the minutes from the Post 259 June 6 General Meeting. I thank Adjutant Mike Ryan for his work here

MINUTES OF PARADISE POST 259
MEETING DISTRICT 4
DEPARTMENT OF CALIFORNIA

DATE: June 6, 2007
DAY: Wednesday
TIME: 1930 Hours
PLACE: VETERAN’S MEMORIAL HALL, PARADISE, CALIFORNIA
PRESIDING OFFICER: THOR SPARR, 1st VICE COMMANDER

Meeting called to order at 1930 hrs by 1st Vice Commander, Thor Sparr.
Roll call of Officers was taken and Commander Mel Schmidt was absent.

Guest Speaker was Jenelle Johns from the Peg Taylor Day Care Health Center which provides day care for the sick and injured after hospitaliazations and duriong rehab. They have RN's on staff and the service can often be paid for by the VA. For a referral, see Social Services at the VA.

FINANCE: $109,000 in Wells Fargo account, $1800 in the General account. $3701 in Bingo Account. Net: $114,042.

COMMITTEES: 1st Vice Commander Thor Sparr reported on the status of the Post's membership. Only 4% of members are active. CHAPLAIN Chuck Fleischman reported on his visit to the Post in Bend OR. They have numerous activities at meetings to keep the members interested in coming to meetings. We need ideas to keep members active and interested. Bill Penberg said that we need to stress the camaraderie of Veterans to make the meetings more interesting.

BINGO: chair Ray Redinger talked to the members about the need for volunteers for the Bingo. A sing-up sheet weas passed around.

GRAVES REGISTRATION: Planning for Memorial Day, 2008.

NATIONAL SECURITY: FIRE Presentation next month.

SCHOLARSHIP: thank you letter from Kevin Morris.

SOCIAL COMMITTEE. Picnic June 16.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Finance Officer Bud McAlexander discussed the need for hep at Bingo. It is 1/3rd of post income. Volunteer or be drafted. Motion to continue Bingo approved.

Installation Luncheon July 14th. at 1400 hours. Men to furnish Cake and rolls.

Meeting adjourned at 2048 hours.

Posted by Gary D. Brune at 02:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On the bus this morning, I overheard the cliché that seems to manifest itself in California's driver law. Driving is not a right, but a privilege. I had to laugh because I was on a motorized vehicle. What I have to argue here is there is a third consideration towards this cliché: driving is a necessity.

At the present time Butte County is laid out so that the only practical way to get around is by motorized vehicle, bus, taxi, or automobile. As I walk to my bus stop, hundreds of cars remind me that this is a fact of life as they buzz by on the asphalt.

The automobile is a double-edged sword. It allows those with money to come and go as they please, all things being equal. On the other hand, I have to plan my day based on the bus schedule, all the way down to the classes I can take at Chico State. Living up on the Ridge is a point of separation between me and other students in that those who live around the campus have no desire to go up the Skyway to get to my house. I am too far out of the way for them.

Which brings me to the other edge of the sword. A car separates its driver and passengers from the rest of society. Closed windows define their world; those in the automobile deal with what is in their chariot, and have no feeling about anything beyond the perimeter of their car. The only exception is anything that could threaten their world or impede the progress of their trip.

In other words, nothing or nobody better deign to get in their way. Because of my stroke I walk slowly. More than once I've heard a car horn imploring me to get out of the way. Drivers like to push out of driveways right in front of me as though I am not there because their egress is more important than mine.

Posted by Gary D. Brune at 02:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Maybe we have a problem here. As a starving student, I am one of the poor folks in Butte County that supplements minimal income with food stamps, specifically the CitiBank program called “Golden State Advantage”. This is a credit card that allows California to send my allotment to a computer network.

I can call on that network anytime I purchase food that month. Of course there are reporting requirements and periodic reviews that come with this plastic. I have to visit the county offices in Oroville and let them know I exist.

A letter came in from Butte County a week ago, asking that I report next month for review. Unusual in it's sequence, I would not make a note except for the posts I did last month in the Washington Post. The timing caused my eyebrows to raise.

This is my page in the WashingtonPost.com

My Comments
Comment on: Charles Krauthammer - Lit Up For Liftoff? - washingtonpost.com on 8/3/2007 7:32 PM
Top of the day Mr. Krauthammer;

I would like to file an amicus brief to your commentary. NASA has been the guiding light for this country since I was a wee lad.

Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and the impossible mission of flying a man to the moon and getting him back in a decade, before the modern technology we're swaddled with.

Since the days of the Right Stuff, NASA has been a high pressure organization, trying to do the inconceivable on a shoestring budget.

We expect these employees to be superman and superwoman, and sharpen our canines to rip them apart when they prove to be human beings.
They nay be the best people we have working for us, but in no way does that mean that they are perfect.

Frankly I wouldn't want to employ them if they were perfect. Perfection comes at the price of one's humanity.

Remember, space exploration is a human experience.

Comment on: 'Poor' at $100,000 a Year? - washingtonpost.com on 8/2/2007 7:03 PM

Seems that Representative Barton, with a wicked pen, has nailed a problem we have in this country. The Unites States hates poor people.

With whatever label we choose to hang on them, illegal aliens, homeless, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera, they are the scum on our shoes that we want to scrape into the garbage.

We haul away our garbage to the dump in this country. And so it is a matter of great frustration that we can't do the same to those people.

Isn't it a tenet of Christianity that what we do for the least of our brethren, we do for ourselves? And don't you know, Representative Barton, that bureaucrats are the screen behind whom politicians hide when they don't want do deal with the effects of the laws they pass.

Comment on: Comments: Robert D. Novak - Bush's Turkish Gamble - washingtonpost.com on 7/31/2007 7:02 PM
Top of the day, Bud0;

First of all, I recognize your points. It sounds like, from your viewpoint, this PKK organization is equivalent to the Irish Republican Army. Be that as it may, what is described in the basic article is a problem.

The United States is already in Iraq. For better or worse we tried to establish an inclusive government there. That may work, but if the US throws in with Turkey, won't our troops be fighting our troops?

The last time that happened was in the 1860s, our War Between the States. There may be debate as to whether we're involved in one civil war now. We don't need to make it two.

Comment on: Robert D. Novak - Bush's Turkish Gamble - washingtonpost.com on 7/30/2007 6:20 PM

Are we seriously entertaining the re-establishment of the Ottoman Empire? Turkey occupied Iraq as part of that entity until 1922 when the British and the European powers dissolved the empire, including the territory we know as Kurdistan.

How much of this has to do with the Turkish economy? Until January 1 of this year, the Turkish Lira had slid to an exchange rate of 1.3 million to the dollar.

They re-valued their currency, but the new lira may still be an indication of just how bad things are there.

This would be the third time Britain and the United States have stabbed the Kurds in the back. Britain set up Iraq, and now they want to wash their hands of it. After the Gulf War, the United States, as I recall, pledged to help them, but thousands died.

If the Bush Administration does this, not only will we over-extend our military resources, but this country will prove just how untrustworthy we are.

All this sound and fury is about oil and money. Iraq has it and Turkey wants it. If history is any guide, the Kurds should have Kurdistan. They've had enough troubles with the Turks.

Posted by Gary D. Brune at 03:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In yesterday's news, Wells Fargo had its national monetary operations hindered by a glitch in its nationwide computer network. Individual customers could not access their money at the branch level or at many automatic teller machines. According to Datawire at computerwire.com, it is ranked sixth among the top 15 national banks with almost $482 billion in assets.

Of the first five banks, three are well known in Butte County. Citicorp is number one with $1.8 trillion in assets. Bank of America is number two, with almost $1.5 trillion, while Wachovia is fourth with $700 billion in assets. What these figures indicate is just how much American money is fixed in national monetary networks.

There are two distressing problems with these figures. If another electronic glitch struck the major banks, they have control of so much money that the customers could have major difficulties. More of a problem though is how much money is under the direct supervision of silicon.

Almost every dollar we earn and spend in this country has a silicon trail. Every financial transaction is etched in a computer network under the Terrorist Financial Tracking System. President George Bush has issued executive orders that allow the government to shut down the checking and saving accounts of individuals, thus rendering them as non-persons according to Marjorie Cohn, current president of the National Lawyer's Guild.

Next week I will launch the series; “I always feel like somebody's watching me" with more research on this and other technical surveillance.

Posted by Gary D. Brune at 01:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Summer Sol send warmth down through the tall timbers, and as I walk to the bus stop a raven debates a gray squirrel. I walk down the hill on a paved trail that is quiet except for the occasional barking dog, bicyclist, or jogger. But after visiting the bank, I walk to an enclosed bus stop, where what passes for opulence buzzes by with the heat and the flies.

"Living up here is a mixed bag. There is the peace and quiet, but there is also the frustration that comes with trying to work with a technological world." (as quoted in the Chico Enterprise-Record August 27) There is stock footage that aired on Channel 24 that depicts this area as a frontier community that wraps itself in the American flag.

Since the power supply went out on my computer, I had to take my jump drive on a daily bus ride commute down the hill in order to tend to An Internet Globetrotter because there are no useful computers up here that don't come with a high price tag. Below, see a letter I published in the Paradise Post earlier this year in an attempt to address the problem.

Rumor has it that Wal-Mart may build a store up here, and K-Mart is going through a significant renovation to serve the major needs of the ridge. Towers with cellular antennas are springing up among the evergreens, so somebody believes there is money up here. Digital subscriber lines don't reach everywhere so those who aren't served by dsl have to use cable if they can and an old-fashioned phone line if they cannot..

Thirty minutes up the Skyway leads to a societal split between Chico and the Ridge. As one who straddles that split between tall timbers and tall dreams, I find this a challenge that I have to make the best of, one of the by-products of my senior year at Chico State.

I published this letter on Thursday, January 4, 2007 in the Paradise Post, Page a-7
Paradise should have better technology

Editor
Last week I ran into a problem, and found that Paradise does not now have a solution to it. Nathan Lindstrom’s comments brought same to mind.
This started in the first major storm of the season, where my phone line got cut. The line is also the only access I have to the Internet. so with the line down I had to go to plan B.
Plan B is Portable Applications. These are programs designed to be run from USB jump drives.
At one and two gigabytes, these drives make very small and wonderful storage media.
Portable applications run off these drives, and allow the users to use programs that don’t have to be installed onto the computer the jump drive is plugged into.These programs work off of Windows without any difficulty
Firefox is one of these, an Internet program that can use any open broadband connection for access. So I hung my jump drive around my neck and tried to find a public broadband connection in Paradise.
There only two such places in town and they charge $10 to $15 an hour. As a starving student, those costs are prohibitive.
The library in particular, has signs posted that jump drives are potentially dangerous and their computers do not have open USB ports.
This reasoning is fallacious as they allow floppy discs from the outside. We have new technology here, veryeasy to use technology and aside from the jump drive, free to the public.
I save many settings on mine when I plug in these to get my work done without interfering with the host computer. The powers that be in this town need to look into this.
There are some parts of Paradise that only allow expensive means to provide broadband access, and this being a good alternative. Us poor folks need help here.

Gary D. Brune
Paradise

Posted by Gary D. Brune at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't believe what I just saw on YouTube. Piaggio, the company that brought us the Vespa scooter, which I owned a long time ago, has just come out with a three wheel scooter. Called the MP3, it has two steering wheels in the front and it's drive wheel astern.

Piaggio says the MP3 is available in two sizes, 125cc and 250cc. The video sells this concept extremely well in that even in a steep lean, all three wheels stay on the ground. The most unique saddled motor vehicle I've ever seen, this thing claims to be much more stable than its two wheel cousins. Yet it is small enough to be registered as a two-wheel scooter.

Tomorrow, ah well we can dream, right?

Posted by Gary D. Brune at 03:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Associated Press ran the story yesterday; Report Details Terror Cell Threat. The report, drafted by the New York Police Department, said that disaffected Muslim youth, instead of hanging out in mosques, were more likely to use ''cafes, cab driver hangouts, flop houses, prisons, student associations, non-governmental organizations, hookah bars, butcher shops and bookstores” to gather and potentially develop terrorist cells.

AP indicates “the report warns that potential terrorists are difficult for law enforcers to detect because they blend in well with society. It also argues that more intelligence gathering is needed to thwart potential terror plots at their earliest stages.

“Potential homegrown terrorists ''are not on the law enforcement radar,'' the study says. ''Most have never been arrested or involved in any kind of legal trouble.'''

“They ''look, act, talk and walk like everyone around them,'' the study adds. ''In the early stages of their radicalization, these individuals rarely travel, are not participating in any kind of militant activity, yet they are slowly building the mind-set, intention and commitment to conduct jihad.'''

In a college town, this report shudders my spine because it sounds so familiar. I remember the beatnics, the hippies, and hang around with the youth of today. As I walk through Chico and look into the cafes and bookstores that dot this town, the scene looks like the streets of Berkeley. Young people hang out, talk, experiment with society and develop what they learn in class into something they can use when they venture out in society.

This report seems to use what is normal interaction with youth and the young mind and attempts to turn it into something we need to fear. The phrase that leaps out to me is “young men ... grow disillusioned with life in America.. “ If disillusionment is to become a point of notice to law enforcement agencies, then many Americans would attract their attention.

Are we going to plant high definition microphones and cameras in every place young people hang out in order to keep this country safe?

Posted by Gary D. Brune at 03:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

According to the American Diabetes Association, there are over 20 million people suffering from Diabetes. The American Heart Association reports that 72 million people over 20 have high blood pressure. I am just one of these people.

This year the Girl Scouts offered a brand of sugar-free cookies from one of their two licensed bakers. Their website reports that it is not one of their best sellers, and it is not featured prominently in their sales campaign. In their frequently asked questions section they ask if diabetics should consume their cookies, which links to their bakers. On those sites the answer is inconclusive.

Automobile manufacturers develop car types with lower expected sales numbers than tha food manufacturers have for diabetics.

While the economics of scale seem to preclude manufacturing sugar and sodium free products, in staying away from the products loaded with these flavorings, I am the lightest I've been in almost 20 years. In staying away from salt and sugar, there are not too many alternatives left. Many of these products are hidden on the store shelves and bear much higher price tags than the what else is out there.

The battle of American food is a frustrating exercise. Since my stroke, I've had to give up so many of the foods that kept my youth going. No wonder at least 100 million Americans are considered overweight. What this leaves me with is a choice; eat right or eat cheap. I choose to eat right.

I wrote this related article for The Orion two years ago;

FEATURES
http://www.orion-online.net/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/09/07/431e6f88ebc11?in_archive=1
Accessed October 6, 2005

Writer finds sugar-free fare scarce on campus
Gary Brune Staff Writer
September 07, 2005

There are more than 18 million diabetics in this country, making up more than six percent of the population. I am one of them, which would not have mattered except that a stroke in April forced me to change how the world looks and how I eat. After leaving the hospital, I did not eat another granule of sugar.
Therein is the problem. Snack stops and convenience stores all over campus offer donuts, cookies, ice cream and other sweets for those who can keep their blood sugar in check. In the land of pizza, hot dogs, and smoothies, Diet Pepsi is almost it at Chico State for diabetics.
According to the American Diabetes Association Web site, there are not only 18 million diabetics, but a third of them do not even know it. By applying these statistics to the 14,250 students registered at Chico State in fall of 2004, according to the Office of Institutional Research, almost 1,100 students may be diabetic and almost 400 don't know it yet.
Diabetes is a disease where there is more sugar in the blood than the body can handle. Such a condition, if unchecked, can lead to a stroke, blindness or kidney failure.
The object for diabetics, therefore, is to control the blood sugar so it doesn't get too high or too low. Sugar does not help here. For example, cheesecake is good if it is sugar-free. Finding that on campus is very difficult.
"We can make anything that we have the recipe and the ingredients for," said Corine Skidmore, a baker at Whitney Hall.
The Whitney Hall staff prepares almost all of the food they serve to the residents, including the desserts. Skidmore said that they would not make a sugar-free cheesecake for one person though. They don't get enough calls for it from the residents.
The American Diabetes Association Web site lists some of the artificial sweeteners. There is saccharin, the main ingredient in Sweet'N Low, and aspartame, known under brand names Nutrasweet and Equal. But a lot of people feel that foods made with these products taste odd, not like sugar.
A new product is on the market, sucralose, is marketed as Splenda. It is now in Diet Coke and some brands of Seven-Up. It retains its sweetness in processed food and baked goods because it doesn't break down in heat.
As the buyer for the convenience store in the A.S. Bookstore, Diane Manna shops for its sugarless section. She said that there isn't a great deal of products.
"I'm always on the lookout for (sugarless) product," she said. "It could be that the choices aren't that good."
Because of contractual agreements and ordering requirements that would lead to having more product than her customer base demands, ordering sugar-free product is very difficult, Manna said.
Supervising the food selections at Whitney Hall is William Johnston, who said he was aware of the sugar-free food situation. He said it is not one of the things the students want.
He set up the hall's menu on a four-week cycle. His staff makes most of the food, including the desserts, served at Whitney Hall. Johnston said he is proud of the different recipes he has this year.
"It's a stronger program this year," he said. "If there's no call for it, it's not done."
But as of Friday, the Whitney Hall staff announced they would offer sugarless desserts this week and plan to have them for the rest of the year. The chocolate cookies I tried today were very good, even my non-diabetic friend had to agree.

Posted by Gary D. Brune at 01:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Eating in the field;

Once this fall semester starts at Chico State, I won't have the time or energy to shop at supermarkets or cook at home. That leaves restaurants, fast food and otherwise. There is a good trend in that I can find what many of the foods are made of.

I have the nutritional information from many of the major fast food restaurants bookmarked on my jump drive through Firefox. In looking up these sites, another site popped up run by three self-described geeks who wanted to eat smarter and couldn't find an adequate site so they set up The Daily Plate.

They keep track of nutritional information for many foods, including fast foods. When I looked up a Big Mac, this site said there is over 1,000 milligrams of sodium in one such. Add an order of large fries to that order and there is an additional 330 mgs of salt.

I had a college diner manager tell me once that fries without salt are sacrilegious, indicating how insidious this problem is. When I go to fast food and ask for fries without salt, this becomes a major production in that they have to fry a new order. The problem is equal for food without sugar. Most restaurants offer only diet cola unsweetened tea, or water.

In an article I wrote for the Chico State newspaper, The Orion, on the availability of sugar free alternatives, the common reason many of my sources gave for the lack of sugar free foods is that there is no market for such. That comes down to the yuck factor; most people I've talked to have the experience that sugar-free foods don't taste right to them.

Given the conditioning that I was raised with as far as food where refined sugar was everywhere, including table salt, and sodium is ladled into and onto most American meals, this state does not surprise me, but I find frustrating. There is so much I have to give up and do without that my cupboards are often close to bare.

I've developed one meal that works on a basic level here. By pouring two packets of sodium-free broth in a pot of water, adding stew meat cubes and fresh mushrooms, I bring all to a brisk boil. After it starts to boil, I pour in a container of whole wheat pasta, and cook the pasta al dente. With this as a basic meal, I can spice it to taste, or add other food as desired.

This is expensive, but it works. However it shows the extremes I have to go to to eat right. Tomorrow I bring this series to a conclusion.

Posted by Gary D. Brune at 02:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Breaking news, Ridge residents;

American Legion Post Commander Thor Sparre announced a Craft Faire for August 18 and 19 at the Paradise Veteran's Hall. Sponsored by the Legion Auxiliary it will feature a wide assortment of hand-made crafts from area
artisans. Commander Sparre described the event as "the best kept secret in Paradise".

As an early event for the Christmas shopping season it will be open from 9 am to 4 pm on Saturday and from 10 am to 3 pm on Sunday.

Posted by Gary D. Brune at 02:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The exercise of supermarket shopping;

There is an article in today's Washington Post; Stretch your grocery dollars which contains solid suggestions on how a family of four can eat on $120 a week. While all I have to worry about are my two dogs, cat, and me, the ideas Sally Squires made in her piece are of note, even if I don't agree with all of them.

The url for this piece is http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/health/features/2007/stretch-grocery-dollars-061907/graphic.htmll in the August 14 Washington Post.

As a re-entry student at Chico State, for a while it became difficult for me to navigate around campus after my stroke. The next fall was a test of just how much I would have to deal with. One of the items on my agenda was a basic nutrition class.

There were many explanations of how food interacted with the body, but while the professor and registered dietician set these ideas in motion, she pressed home the use of whole wheat bread, pasta, and a good explanation of food labels. While the common wheat bread claims to be good, since it is made from enriched wheat flour, it does not have the nutritional value God gave little green apples.

Bread and pasta made from whole wheat flour has much more nutritional value. Hence the common macaroni and cheese meal is out. Not only is the cheese component loaded with salt, but the pasta is next to valueless as a nutritional component.

While reviewing Squires' list and applying it against what i learned in class and in reading my food labels, I made note that she suggests whole wheat bread for toast and sandwiches, whole wheat tortillas, brown rice and tofu. Her pasta recommendations are generic, and margarine has too much salt for me to use it, and non-fat milk has too much of a yuck factor for me, but the list seems viable except that it requires a lot of cooking.

That is one place where health and American food part company. Supermarkets cater to the easy or pre-cooked food that seems to fit in today's high speed world. Walking through that bakery is like fending off temptresses. Exploring the middle of the store is more about convenience than health. Blowing by frozen foods is like tip-toeing through a minefield.

There is healthy food in the supermarket, but it is hidden. Trying to find sugar-free food has three complications, price, placement, and variety. When I find it, the price is usually higher than otherwise, where I find it requires a bloodhound to track it down, and what I find is often discouraging. Salt-free alternatives are even worse.

I feel like an afterthought looking for the food I need. Service people don't realize that they are condescending when they say they have sugar-free pie, when they are surrounded by product that could put me back in the hospital, and frequently does to so many Americans.

The human body was not designed to handle processed sugar and salt, especially in the quantities today's food contains. All it can do is store the stuff, as fat around the middle, or water in the ankles. Out of 300 million Americans, 100 million are overweight.

Convenience food, or comfort food, or friendly food – the stuff we were raised on – may get us through the day, but the prise is high blood pressure and high blood sugars, the stuff that puts us in the hospital, or in the grave.

My wife was insulin diabetic, overweight and had a number of health problems. She had a stroke in Maui, and died of a massive heart attack at the age of 51. She was a typical American.

There are two more segments to this battle, coming tomorrow and Thursday.

Posted by Gary D. Brune at 02:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday Associated Press reporter Stephen Ohlemacher filed a story titled US Slipping in Life Expectancy Rankings. He reported that this country had slipped to 42nd place in world life expectancy statistics.

Ohlemacher wrote that “Adults in the United States have one of the highest obesity rates in the world. Nearly a third of U.S. adults 20 years and older are obese, while about two-thirds are overweight, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.”

I am one of these overweight Americans, and just over three years ago, as a result of long time hypertension and diabetes, I had a major stroke. Right after the stroke, I made the decision to stay away from refined sugar. At the beginning of this year, with blood sugar figures in good control, I further decided to stay away from sodium.

In my latest physical the figures spoke for themselves. I had lost significant weight, my blood pressure had come down to normal levels, and my ankles were no longer swollen, indicating that I was no longer holding water.

The problem is what I have to give up to get figures that make my doctor smile -- almost everything.

Shopping in modern supermarkets is a reminder of the food i grew up on, all the stuff I have to stay away from. Starting with the bakery with all the goodies loaded with sugar and icing, flashing past the processed meats, including sausages and sliced meat products and diary goods including American and cottage cheese, all the canned vegetables and boxed foods, and just about everything in the interior of the supermarket.

I have to walk by the spaghetti sauces, canned spinach and macaroni and cheese because of all the sodium. My dietician has me on sodium budget of 2,000 milligrams of sodium a day, which sounds like a lot until I read on the label that a can of chili takes me over by itself. Forget most pizzas, potato and processed chips, and most food that has been either processed or packaged.

Part two of this experience will be filed tomorrow..

Posted by Gary D. Brune at 04:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is the latest ramification that comes out of what I call “The Car Seat Generation”. Far removed from the world i grew up in, this item tells me what we're coming to as a society.

The website for this $175 device says “Their safety is in your hands - My Child's Pack is here to help!” What one gets here is a bulletproof – backpack. It says that you can now protect your child against bullet and knife violence.

According to WCVB-TV, Channel 5 in Boston, Joe Curran, co-inventor and founder of My Child's Pack said about the product, "I want to keep my kid safe. I don't care what you do -- if you want to fight the good fight or fix the world's hurts, I can't help you, but my kids are going to be safe because of these backpacks,"

As someone who grew up as an adult child of alcoholics locked away for 21 years by my parents back in the day, I have often pondered what would happen when this car seat generation gets in a position to effect society. When we strap them into booster seats, mandate helmets when they ride their bicycles, or by extension helmets and seatbelts for adults.

When did the memo appear where safety became a mandate of society.? Back in the day we had to put up with drunk-driving, child-abuse, or all manner of travails as children, but society shrugged its collective shoulders and told us to get over it. Such was no big thing.

Today we have nanny-technology out there which appears to have superseded the Constitution of the United States. Under the cover of fighting “terrorism” we are now being forced into George Orwell's 1984 vision with nary a protest. For the moment, if I could survive what I grew up with and etch letters into silicon today, what's wrong with today's children?

Or for that matter what makes this society think it' is so special?

Posted by Gary D. Brune at 04:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This letter I did in response to the Sacramento Bee story of July 20

GaryBrune at 3:05 PM PST Friday, July 20, 2007 wrote: Problems with Proposition 83

What Ryan Lillis illustrates in this article is one of the main reasons why I voted against Proposition 83. According to figures posted by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation on July 11, California incarcerates almost 173,000 people in 32 state facilities now. The prisons are at 180 percent of capacity.

First of we must establish what we want. If we want any sex offender imprisoned for life, then the consequences of that are that we build more prisons, raise the prison capacity to 300 and four hundred percent, well beyond what they are designed for, or make it a mandatory capital crime to commit any sex offense. The last option is unconstitutional, so we are left with the others.

At present, when they serve their sentence, sex offenders have to live somewhere. The restrictions of Prop 83 may get them out of your neighborhood, but what's left in California. In effect we have them imprisoned without walls. Which option is better for us?

By Ryan Lillis - Bee Staff Write
Published 12:13 pm PDT Friday, July 20, 2007

More than 200 sex offenders in the Sacramento region live too close to schools or parks, corrections officials said.
The parolees - who had served time in a state prison and been released since Nov. 8 - are in violation of Proposition 83, a bill passed overwhelmingly by voters in November that requires all convicted sex offenders to live more than 2,000 feet from schools and parks.
State corrections officials will review the cases of each parolee believed to be living within the 2,000-foot buffer, and those found violating the law - also known as Jessica's Law - will be given 45 days to move, said Bill Sessa, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
In Sacramento County, 175 paroled sex offenders are in violation of the law, Sessa said. Yolo County has 19, Yuba five, Placer three, Sutter two and El Dorado none, Sessa said.

http://www.sacbee.com/749/story/283469.html

Posted by Gary D. Brune at 03:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This op-ed was web posted in the Juneau Empire on July 23, 2007
Kevin Reeves' commentary in the Juneau Empire, ("'Big Brother' is almost here," July 13) amplifies a discovery I made that scares the living frijoles out of me: With today's technology the government can monitor our e-mail and eventually all computerized documents without ever needing a search warrant.