Mmmmm.... Poutine!

So here I am at my penultimate workday at WFUM. (I'm working tomorrow to oversee our station's backup schedule and then I'm outta here until my exit interview on Jan. 29).

So what am I thinking about? The impending change in my life? The fact that I will be without a job for the first time since I've been 12?

No. Those would be the reactions of a normal brain. My brain may be many things, but normal it is not.

No, I'm sitting here at my desk dreaming of a huge serving of delicious poutine. For those of you whose lives have been denied this bit of inexpensive culinary heaven, poutine is an awesome dish served in Canada. The recipe is simplicity itself. You take French Fries and Cheese Curds and pour gravy all over 'em. That's it. But mmmmmmm... I want some SO bad right now. Thing is, I've never seen poutine outside of Canada.

Well, one of the things I was hoping to try with my extra time was to do some cooking. I think this may be a challenge. I may have to attempt to create some poutine on this side of the border!

I don't know if "I've made poutine" would go over well on a resume, (it would if I ran the world!) but it now sounds like something I must try!

Welcome Wagon Redux

Earlier, I posted a link to my friend's blog. Well, here's an update. It turns out that previously-posted link will be more for practical advice and for information about her more entrepreneurial pursuits.
She has, however, started a second blog with more of her personal musings.
Feel free to check out:

http://thebohemiancrow.blogspot.com/

I look forward to some cool postings there!

WFUM 1980-2010

Today at 11:01 am, WCMU took over the broadcast signal of WFUM.
I've enjoyed my 26 years working at good ol' TV 28. It was a good run and I will remember it fondly.
I hope WCMU realizes the value of the resource it now has and will use it wisely to serve the community.

Martin Luther King Day: The Hungarian Connection - Or: Of Gandhi and Goulash

Next Monday is Martin Luther King Day in the United States. It’s a day on which Americans of goodwill reflect on the life and goals of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his quest for freedom and equality through the use of non-violent direct action.
As an American of Hungarian descent, I feel an extra bit of pride in knowing the Hungarian roots of this non-violent non-cooperation strategy for the furthering of civil rights.
These Hungarian origins of the non-violence movement have been largely forgotten to the point where today many people may doubt their veracity.

I will endeavor in the following paragraphs, therefore, to demonstrate how the Hungarian non-violence movement, lead by Hungarian nationalist Ferenc Deak against Austrian rule, inspired the early Irish independence movement, the Indian nationalist movement of Mohandas Gandhi and consequently the civil rights movement of Dr. King.

The best way to do this, I think, will be to work backwards, using the words of those involved to state the source of their inspiration.

A good starting place will be with Dr. King himself. That he was inspired by Gandhi’s practice of non-violence was readily acknowledged by Dr. King.

So the next step is to determine where Gandhi got HIS inspiration to use non-violent means to achieve his goals. Luckily for us, Gandhi was very clear in stating where the movement got its start. In an essay in the newspaper “Indian Opinion” entitled “Benefits of Passive Resistance”, published on September 7, 1907, Gandhi wrote about the movement for Irish independence and how Irish nationalists were using non-violent means to stand against British rule. In stating that the Indian people should use similar methods in their struggle, Gandhi wrote:

This movement had its roots in Austria-Hungary in the south of Europe. Austria and Hungary were two separate countries. But Hungary was under the rule of Austria and was always exploited by it. To discomfit Austria, a Hungarian named Deak taught the people that they should not pay taxes to Austria, should not serve any Austrian officers and even forget the very name of Austria. Though the Hungarians were very weak, this kind of spirit enabled them in the end to assert themselves against Austria. Now Hungary is not regarded as subject to Austria but claims parity with it.

So there you have it. Right from Gandhi’s pen. Ferenc Deak’s non-violence/non-cooperation movement against Austria influenced the Irish struggle, which then influenced Gandhi which, in turn, influenced Dr. King and the American civil rights movement.

Although this connection is largely forgotten today, those of us with Hungarian backgrounds can take pride in the role our ancestors played in shaping one of the most influential movements in world history.

Time to Get Out the (Virtual) Welcome Wagon!

One of the quaint traditions of bygone days was the "Welcome Wagon", in which people would get together to welcome a new neighborhood resident.
In the internet age, some traditions may need to be modified but needn't be abandoned. And with that in mind, I would like to welcome a new resident to the blogging "neighborhood". This blogger has been a friend of mine for many years and I look forward to many witty and weird observations on life & junk & stuff.
She's just getting started so there's not much posted yet, but I know that will change shortly.
I hope you will drop by her little corner of the internet and take a look around. If her written contributions are anything like her snarky spoken witticisms, it will be worth checking out for sure!
Her blog may be found at:

http://mockingbirdcrow.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

January Haiku

Snow deafens; fog blinds.
Unperceived, yet beautiful...
Winter world at night.

Why Conservatives Give Me a Headache

Recently, during a rather - uh, shall we say - "spirited" discussion with a very conservative family member, the topic of outsourcing manufacturing jobs to China came up. I argued that the practice of businesses shipping their manufacturing and service positions overseas in search of cheaper labor, though it boosted short-term profits, was harmful in the long run since it results in the decline of a stable American middle class. This, eventually, will gut the very economic base on which these businesses depend. Or, to put it more simply, who’s going to buy a company’s products if there’s nobody left in America making a decent enough wage to afford them? True, people can run up their credit card debt for awhile, but eventually, that bubble will burst as well.

Henry Ford understood this when, in 1914, he started paying his workers a wage of $5 a day, more than twice the going wage at the time. What is largely forgotten was that Wall Street types and other business owners were apoplectic at Ford’s decision, criticizing it severely. What Ford realized, however, was that paying his workers decent wages would enable those same workers to afford the cars his company was producing. Apparently, the idea worked, since Ford sales skyrocketed after the increase in wages. This bit of history seems lost on today’s capitalists.

Which brings me to the thing that melted my brain. A few days after the discussion during which I heard one conservative defending sending jobs overseas in order to save on labor costs, I heard some other conservatives decrying the Obama administration’s “Cash for Clunkers” program. Their reason? Most of the “clunker” money went to (gasp!) foreign carmakers!

This prompted me to invoke the initials of the Wisconsin Tourist Federation while slapping my face with my palm.

The same political philosophy that lauded sending money overseas when it benefited corporations was suddenly against it when it could possibly help middle and working class auto purchasers?

Hmmm… so I guess if corporations do it, it’s brilliant. If Obama does it, it’s stupid.

Come to think of it, I think I’ve just summed up the conservative philosophy for the past year.

I need an Aspirin.