Category: Culture

A Life of Love and Grace

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Inspiration from a Biography of Fred Rogers Growing up in a strictly conservative home, there were strict limits to what our family was allowed to watch on television. We were probably a decade behind the times when we finally upgraded from the boxy old TV set to a new-fangled flatscreen. Our TV time was limited to a few animated cartoons and old (mostly black and white) movies. But there were a few shows on PBS that were also acceptable, including Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which came on every day at 12.30 pm. My mother would comment that this was perfect timing because…

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Book Review: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

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tree, kahl, moon

In a future world, the moon is used as a penal colony for Earth. Some “earthworms” decide to take their chances in this new territory and voluntarily move to the moon for a fresh start, making it something like the new Wild West. There are methods of extracting resources on the moon to send back to Earth in exchange for the materials the “loonies” need. But there is growing resentment among the loonies at being a colony of Earth—the trade is highly unbalanced and loonies struggle to survive in an economy where they are not getting paid enough for their…

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Unbelievable Injustice

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How All of Us Participate In the Silencing of Truth “Just because we can’t see the path doesn’t mean it’s not there.” — Karen Duvall (Merritt Wever, Unbelievable) I recently binge-watched the Netflix crime drama series, Unbelievable. I added it to my list when it was released, but of course, it became buried in my queue. When my husband started the first episode on his own, he realized it was something I’d want to watch with him. I don’t often binge-watch shows but couldn’t help it with this one. I admired how the writers explored so many sensitive concepts with nuance and…

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Shepherd Book: Gadfly of Serenity

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I’ve had a lot of projects going on the past few months, so I haven’t had the time to write new posts. This weekend I am going to Indianapolis to the MPCA/ACA (Midwest Popular Culture Association/Midwest American Culture Association) to present a paper on the influence of Socrates and Kierkegaard in the Firefly character, Shepherd Book. I just uploaded the final manuscript to my portfolio, here.  So while it is a bit more academic than my usual posts, it will perhaps make up for my absence here recently!

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Report on Meeting with Transform Rockford

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When Mike Schablaske, the executive director at Transform Rockford, saw my recent posts through Twitter, he put me in touch with the group which had written the Shared Value statements. The team, Jay Sandine, David Sidney and Blake Musser, were very accommodating and willing to discuss my concerns. Although Jay was unable to make it, I met with David and Blake last week to talk about the questions I had raised. Before I get into the details, I just want to make a disclaimer. Although David and Blake are involved with Transform Rockford, not all the opinions they expressed represent…

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Mises University 2014

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For those of you not aware of this…I am in Auburn, Alabama this week attending the Mises Institute’s Mises U. So far it has been just incredible, I am enjoying every moment of it. To follow the official posts, please visit the Mises blog. As time allows I am posting to my Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, so you can check it out there as well. I am excited to share more details next week, but the schedule is pretty intense and I can’t make any guarantees about additional posts this week. Just listen to the lectures and and follow along…

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Concerns about the Vision Statements

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In my last post I discussed the issues I have with the Shared Values of Transform Rockford. The leadership of Transform Rockford was very responsive to these concerns and when I get back from Mises University, we will be meeting so that they can better answer these questions. I’ll definitely be writing another post to update you on that situation. However, that post was really just a lead-in to my response about the Vision Rally itself. I have three primary aspects of concern with the vision statement and related statements announced at the Vision Rally. I think it is easy…

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Shared Values: Upholding Virtue or Undermining Freedom?

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I intended this to be a post specifically about the Vision Rally, but I realized that I have not yet written much about the Shared Values and decided that topic deserved its own post. Transform Rockford has developed a list of nine statements that sum up the values which the movement holds to and promotes.  Here is the list: Update: I had incorrectly stated there were seven. There are actually nine of these value statements. I copied this text from the Transform Rockford site and apparently missed the first two, inclusion and caring.  – Inclusion: Cultivate and support an environment that fully…

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Report on Transform Rockford Vision Rally 2014

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Last night was the much-anticipated Transform Rockford Vision Rally, held at the Coronado PAC. From the reports I saw online, the event drew over 1,400 attendees.  To recap what has been going on, Transform  Rockford has a 6 step process for changing the greater Rockford area. The stages are: 1) Analysis and case for change: Alignment on why 2) Develop the vision: Articulate our future 3) Define the strategy: Show the path to our vision   4) Develop the implementation plan: Assignment of work 5) Implement Initiatives & Measure: Achieve our vision 6) Review and Update: Update to Reflect Process/Change…

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