The Shellys. No, the other Shellys

I've had something rolling around in my head the past day or so, and am trying to decide what I believe about it.

Until pretty recently, whenever I'd go grocery shopping, I'd pick up this, that or the other thing, whatever was on sale, basically, and not give it much thought. Through some conversations and reading some stuff (and Sandy's inherent love of anything farmer market-y), the two of us have begun exploring different local food options - i.e, local meat, produce, etc. I've raved once or twice about the local bacon we've bought at the farmer market here. We also got local eggs and ground turkey (which Sandy made into awesome meatballs tonight!). We have bought some produce from nearby farms at the market as well, which was pretty tasty as well. We considered getting a cropshare (or at least sharing one) this summer as well, but came to the realization it'd mean much more veggie eating than we've done, and not necessarily with veggies we're too familiar with. I think we're going to instead get the handful of stuff each week at the farmer market. But anyways, we like the idea of it - it seems to be healthier, higher quality stuff than the average grocery market fare, and although a little more expensive, it helps support the local economy and more money goes to the farmers and not some major corporation. In addition, there is less pollution caused by its transportation, and related to that, less preservatives/etc. to keep it "fresh" for as long as possible. In some ways it seems to be a more conscious decision in the way we choose to spend our money on our basic needs, and how that consumer decision affects others.

Last night at church, my friends Nick and Lauren shared about a recent trip to Mexico. In the town they were in, the main local industry was coffee bean harvesting. Apparently, the farmers would harvest then sell their beans to coffee roasters, who in turn would sell them for a much higher profit to different coffee companies. As a result, the farmers would make a small fraction of the possible profit off of the beans (I don't recall the exact figures they quoted, but I think it was somewhere in the 10% range, as in out of the total profit possible off the beans, the roasters would make 90% and the farmers 10%). Partially because of this, the local economy was struggling and saw a lot of population migrating north (illegally) to America. So there was an internationally and (for Americans at least) politically charged situation that was partially caused by coffee beans. However, one emerging company in the town took upon itself the roasting of the beans and selling to coffee companies, which effectively put more money into the local economy and created more jobs for residents, which was beginning to entice more people to stay. Nick and Lauren ended their presentation with an invite to anyone interested to buy some of their coffee (straight from the factory, I guess), as they were going to start coordinating efforts to do so. Sandy and I were both interested, as it seemed to be a conscious way to spend our money, this time on delicious, delicious coffee.

But I guess it brings up an interesting question: What makes buying some food from close to here and some from afar both "good" decisions? In some ways, coffee isn't the perfect example .... there's no coffee plants grown probably within a thousand miles of here, so there isn't the "local vs. global" question that you'd encounter with, say, apples, or meat product, or whatever else. I don't know what the answer is, except to know how you choose to spend money even on basic food has an impact far beyond your own wallet. For me, I am still working on answering the question, but for now at least, I feel at peace with buying what I can from local farms and sources, and if buying something from elsewhere, being more conscious of the ramifications of the decision.

I think either one of those options beat buying Valu-Time, anytime.

p.s. - Mom, I've thought more about our "Chilean grape farmers" conversation from a few weeks back, and it took some time, but I find your points "more valid" now as my thoughts are still evolving. I think I'd still buy PA grapes (if such things exist, I'm clueless) if given the choice, but our chat definitely was formative in my thoughts about this.

I exercised too many braincells and feel like I really didn't much talk about us in our last blog post .... and if it's supposed to be (at least occasionally) about us, well I figured maybe I'd write about our weekend. Not like it was terribly exciting but I think it was pretty decent.

Friday night we stayed up way too late watching movies. We're in the middle stage of things .... young enough to think starting a movie at midnight isn't too bad of an idea, but when it ends at 2am, we wonder what the heck we were thinking. Earlier in the evening I mowed the lawn with the old school rotary mower that our awesome neighbors Al and Beth gave us when the gas mower died. Mows like a champ! I don't why but I am very excited about this.

Anyways, Saturday morning after being up way too late, woke up and got our meat for the week from the farmer's market next to the East Lib Home Depot. Best bacon ever, and a pound of ground turkey. Also got some local eggs while we there. After we dropped that off at home, we went to do the Saturday soccer thing at Heths Run w/ Y.E.S. soccer. I coach/herd cats with the 5 and 6 year olds, and Sandy helps with registration/snacks/admin/etc stuff. Always a lot of fun, and for me at least I try to make sure the kids are having fun by being goofy with them and keeping them moving than actually enforcing strict soccer rules. Got some tasty pastries from a local bakery on the way home, and still recovering from a short night's sleep, took a nice afternoon nap. After that, we went to Sandy's cousin Deanna's son Evan's first birthday party. Cute little kid! Though I found out the hard way he doesn't like to be gently tossed up and down like most kids. Sandy had a babysitting job that night, so after the party when she left for that, I went home to do a little laundry and relaxing. My mind started wandering towards our summer vacation we are taking in August up to Boston and Maine, so I started looking into things and finally purchased Red Sox tickets for their August 3 game at Fenway. I've been wanting to go there for years and years, never have, and finally we're changing that this year! Kinda pricey, especially when you consider they're just bleacher seats, but what are you gonna do?

Sunday was somewhat more productive. I slept in nice and late. Sandy beat me out of bed by a good hour and began making homemade challah for communion bread for church. When we were awake enough and the bread dough needed to rise for a while, we headed out on a not-quite three mile run. Our route was from our house, down Jancey all the way to Stanton, then Negley to up and around the zoo back to our house. We both made a conscious effort to try and run and not walk as much as possible, and I think we were both pretty successful ... I walked only twice totaling less than 5 minutes after the initial warm-up walk. It was sunny and warm and perfect for running, and felt great to go out and do it. We got home, grabbed the dog and his leash and took a walk up to the Rite Aid in the neighborhood for a newspaper and some bread, and ran into and chatted with some friends on the way back. I made us some ridiculously good bacon and cheese omelets for brunch. After that, I focused on doing some laundry and laundry folding for a bit (yes, I'm a man who cooks and does laundry. Sandy is one lucky gal ;)) while listening to the Pirates game on the radio (predictable result, Pirates lost 10-3. They're beyond bad this year!). Also trimmed the front bushes and got the screen doors up - no more cold this spring (hopefully!). Sandy finished up the bread and sewed herself a purse from start to finish (great baker and learning to be a great seamstress! I too am pretty lucky). I had to go to church early to set up and run the visuals, so did that. Good service, with an especially interesting time of sharing from our friends Nick and Lauren about a missions trip they recently were on. After that, we did the usual Sunday night thing of going over to Ben and Megan's for dinner. Great cookout of burgers, dogs, veggies, potatoes and beer.Of course, got some quality time of playing with Joseph. He's turning into quite the crawler, and he definitely wants to walk. Sandy and I picked up the makings of one of our favorite desserts on the way over - vanilla ice cream with grilled pineapple and dulce de leche. Megan literally picked up and licked her bowl, it was so good. Megan's parents Don and Mickey were in town too and they seemed pretty happy with it.

All in all a pretty good weekend! Now if it weren't back to the cubicle for 10 hours tomorrow ....

So .... way to go, Arizona. Thanks.

Actually, I don't get the huge fuss about the new law that Arizona has passed. It's kind of funny, because I don't feel it should be a law anyways. Basically, it's saying if you're in the country (or in this case, Arizona) illegally, you are breaking the law. Duh. If you're here in the country legally, you have nothing to worry about, have proper ID and be prepared to present to authorities if asked .... which is pretty much required, anyways. And though no one likes to say it, illegal immigration is a huge problem that or country needs to address, only it is afraid to do so as it sets off a shitstorm of political correctness and moral handwringing. Listen, newsflash: Immigration itself is not illegal. There are legal opportunities for citizens of foreign countries to legally enter our country, and if they so choose, pursue legal citizenship status. There's nothing wrong with that - I, in fact, encourage it. But if people are in the country illegally, they are breaking the law of our country, and so country as mandated by its legal citizenship is required to act upon their crime. This is like saying we shouldn't legally punish other criminals. There are laws in our country that are enacted and should be enforced for our protection and, dare I say it, the protection of our resources. Immigration is not separate and immune from this. I would, in fact, say that illegal immigration is a tremendous threat to our security (who are these people? what are they bringing in?) while also being a drain on public resources (I see this firsthand every day with different state aid programs) and handicaps our society's abilities to ably serve its legal constituents (job and revenue opportunity lost to citizens) . So what's the big deals? Ah yeah, the "morals" of it ....

I found this quote through a friend's Facebook page, and I found it pretty interesting:

" Enforcement without compassion is immoral. Enforcement that breaks up families is unacceptable. And enforcement of this law would force us to violate our Christian conscience, which we simply will not do. It makes it illegal to love your neighbor in Arizona." - Jim Wallis

I don't know much about Wallis or what he believes about things, generally. I know enough about to him to know I agree with him at least sometimes, as do a lot of friends and people I personally respect. However, I believe he is wrong in nearly every point he says here. Let me break it down for you.

"Enforcement without compassion is immoral."

Ethically, yes, I agree with this. I did not read the fuller context of this quote, but I think it's safe to assume he meant compassion in the way of Jesus, i.e, "love the sinner, hate the sin," "let he without sin cast the first stone," etc. Which I agree with, completely. However, there are ramifications of your trespasses (yes, I used that word intentionally), and while we can "feel bad" for the transgressor, there is still the dirty matter of the transgression to deal with, especially when it "hurts" others. This is true of anything. I say something meanspirited out of frustration to my wife, she can forgive me and understand I was frustrated; however, her feelings can still be hurt and we have to find a way to make things right (note: this scenario doesn't happen often. I'm a saint. Just take my word for it :)).

All that to say, this can be enforced with compassion. Let's say someone's found to be an illegal immigrant in Arizona, but they have a kid who was born here, and thus an American citizen, so they shouldn't be deported, it'll break up the family, on and on and on. Yes, that's a horrible situation. A strict reading and enforcement of the law says "Too bad. Your ass is out of here, the kid stays. Shoulda obeyed the law. Tough shit." You and I and your dog knows that when (not "if", "when") this scenario arises, there will be a way to address it, and I think it'll be safe to assume it'd be a way to address the violation of the law appropriately, while also trying to find a way to make things work. This part of legislation, as far as I have read, has not been drafted yet. Wait and see how that goes before jumping to conclusions about how it'll go - assumptions can be dangerous and usually misleading.

"Enforcement that breaks up families is unacceptable."

Again, the jumping to conclusions part. What's interesting to me, though, is something that I have not seen mentioned or thought about once by anyone yet. Illegal immigration actually helps support the breaking up of families of those immigrants. Yes, you read that right. Here's how:

The past two summers I have gone on a missions trip to Mexico and have gone to some pretty remote mountain villages which I couldn't even point to on a map. One startling thing in a lot of the villages: No males in the general 18 - 50something range. Well, okay, a few here and there, but there's lots of women, lots of kids, some old folks of both genders, but almost no men, at least without a readily apparent disability of some kind. I asked several townspeople about this, and they all basically said, "They have gone to the U.S. to make money. They used to send some back, now we don't get it too often." In fact, it's a pretty common story in these towns that a young man will grow up, hit his teens, have a kid or two by the time they're late teen, then they'll get up and go and never come back. It's reasonable to assume that at least a good amount of them came in illegally and pick crops and daylabor somewhere Some of the town women who shared this were moved to tears by their hurt and their longing to have back these men who they loved and meant much to them and men who could be father figures to their children. It's these families that get broken up. It is such a real and prevalent problem that the churchpeople in the villages asked those who worked with the children to implore them to stay with the families they were part of and would help to create. They're not as visible in our world, but they're just as real, and their pain is just as real if not more so. And perhaps with stronger enforcement of our country's laws, we could encourage more of them to stay and be the husbands and fathers that their families need.

"And enforcement of this law would force us to violate our Christian conscience, which we simply will not do. It makes it illegal to love your neighbor in Arizona."

I counter with a quote by this pretty famous Jewish rabbi .... his name is Jesus, and he kinda helped start this whole Christianity thing:

"Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." (Matthew 22:21b)

There's different ways to interpret this, I guess, but what I take is this: Obey the laws of your land, of the government God has set in place over you, unless it is clearly against the law and will of God. This isn't Nazi Germany we're talking about. We are talking about the enforcement of a law saying "those who are breaking the law are breaking the law." It does not ask us to hate or spit on those who are here illegally. It does not ask us to commit crimes against them. It does not ask us to, well, do or say or feel anything. And it doesn't say you cannot love or have compassion for illegal immigrants; it makes no move to legislate movements of the spirit and heart. It just says, if you're guilty of doing something wrong, you may be disciplined. And if it makes you feel better, unless you're a police officer or judge, you probably won't be enforcing it anyways.

I'm sure it'll be messy in Arizona for a while, but to be honest, I hope similar legislation passes elsewhere, as many states, even Pennsylvania, have illegal immigration issues. And I know there will be screw-ups along the way as it moves from legislation to implementation, but with patience and careful preparation, it can be successful. There are legitimate questions of profiling, no doubt, but again, let's see how things shake out before assuming anyone's fears and concerns become reality.

And I think I'll keep my driver's license on me at all times, in case the cops think I'm an off-the-boat Irish immigrant pursuing me lucky charms.

So today the Pirates lost .... 20-0. No, they didn't scrimmage the Steelers in two-hand touch. They went out as major-league team, on a major-league field, and took on a major-league opponent (Milwaukee Brewers) and not only didn't bother to score a run, they gave up TWENTY. This was their biggest loss in their entire history (I wouldn't say worst, cuz this one probably is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st6Er8UphqA). In their three game series against the Brewers, they gave up 36 runs and scored only 1, which makes the average game score 12 - 0.3333. Tough to do, folks.

I wish they were at least a somewhat better team, these Buccos. I've lost track of how many losing seasons in a row it's been, but it's getting kinda ridiculous. It doesn't matter much to me, born and raised a Phillies fan thanks to my Granny and many Saturdays at the Vet, but since I live here now I try and keep up on them and follow along with how they're doing.

But you know what? I'm glad they're a not-so-great team. A good part of me keeps hoping they'll keep on their losing ways. It sort of makes them more fun to follow for the pure joy of it - there's no stressing every standings every day from April through September. As a much bigger plus, PNC Park is one of my favorite ways to spend a nice summer night, and with them sucking so bad, there's always plenty of good, inexpensive seats available (unless, of course, it's a fireworks night, but plan ahead for those). You can get some of the best seats in the best park in baseball by spending $25, tops. Compare that to my planned purchase of Red Sox tickets at Fenway for a game this August .... $45 each for bleacher seats if I'm lucky at StubHub. If there's a good team in town, all the better too. And hey, if the Pirates actually get it together one of these years, it'll be fun to remember the crappy games lost by the likes of Salamon Torres and my favorite crappy player ever, Tike Redman. If that sounds crazy, remember: the Phillies are the losingest professional sports team ever, but things aren't looking so bad for them now.

Ugh, media. It's tough avoiding it around the 'burgh the past few weeks since Ben Roethlisberger's latest adventure, and today especially with the announcement of his suspension and whatnot. I want to pose a question: namely, what is he guilty of to deserve his suspension? He hasn't been charged with anything, much less found legally guilty of anything. No one knows what happened that night except Ben and his accuser (even that is questionable). For all we know it could have been consensual. That wouldn't make it morally right (as I don't believe in sex outside of the context of a comitted marriage) but legally speaking then, there would be no basis for legal accusations. From all indications, it has been thoroughly investigated by the law, who found no legal basis ("lack of probable cause") to charge, let alone convict him.

Anyways, I don't want to make a big debate about Ben vs. Right and Wrong. It's just that with his suspension, it sets a new precedent for professional sports: someone has been sanctioned and punished for wrongdoing that they have never been charged with legally. The NFL has a right to do so, I guess ... their league, whatever they want to do, whatever. But still I find it a curious decision, and I think it was reached because of the ever-emerging intense public interest in the personal lives of public figures fueled by media who are only too happy to deliver what they perceive as what the public wants.

I find this troubling. With the focus of celebrity and fame and privilege in the media, it is what the public consumes the most, while ignoring or skating past bigger, more important news. I would wager the average American knows more about Tiger Woods' sex life or whatever it is that Lindsey Lohan or Paris Hilton (whatever she is famous for) than about recent economic on-goings or healthcare debate and reform. And even the coverage of those current events are dumbed down to surface-level issues, without much of honest reporting and analysis of the issues. For example, every article about healthcare reform on CNN.com boiled down to "Scott Brown won Ted Kennedy's old Senate seat so it's going to be harder for the Democrats to force their way. ." Yes, you can make the argument "Don't read CNN, use the BBC, use multiple sources of information, blahblahblah," which I agree with wholeheartedly. But the fact remains CNN is one of the most popular (if not THE most popular) and most easily accessible forms of media out there, and their homepages and telecasts either focus too intently on celebrity and fame, or ignore too much valuable information about issues that affect people's lives.

I think the reason behind this is it is easy. For the media, it's easy to report on and cover. I know this from personal experience in my journalism background. No, I never stalked Brad Pitt, but on 9/11, I was a staff writer with my college newspaper. My editor asked me to call up architectural experts to explain how the Twin Towers collapsed. Those were not easy questions to ask, and despite the emotionality attached to those questions in the hours after the attack, they were not the most pertinent for the day. It's hard to cover complex issues evenly and fairly without prejudice and to do so in a way accessible to the average reader. (Side note: As a journalist in training I was told to write on roughly a fourth grade level of comprehension. Yikes.) For the public, it's easy to read and digest and make safe conversation about at work and with friends and family. I too would rather talk about Roethlisberger with my co-workers than chat about politics or personal beliefs, because at the end of the day, the Roethlisberger discussion doesn't matter and there's no emotion involved for me. Also, it's just easier to digest and read about after a day of work and other commitments we all have. In a way it's more fun, too - given the choice between the sports page or whatver and national hotbutton issues, myself (as well as most people, i assume) would rather catch up on the latest about things that entertain us, instead of wading through murky waters of attempting to find reliable, unbiased, complete information. And so it goes ... we consume what the media gives us because the media gives it to us because its what we want, and there's no real momentum to change anything about it. In the case of Roethlisberger, it goes and goes and goes to the point where he's punished for, legally speaking, doing nothing wrong, but speaking public perceptionwise, is a jerk, a criminal, a piece of $&^%&. And who propagated that? The media. Why? It's what we would consume.

Finally springtime .... and finally warm enough to run again. Sandy and I started a training regime last June with the Couch-to-5k program (c25k if you're cool). First time we ran last June, it was run for a minute, walk for a minute, so on and so forth for twenty minutes. We both felt like we were going to die after that. By September, we both were able to complete the 5k Great Race. Then wedding planning and so forth consumed our lives for every spare moment. I think we ran only once or twice before celebrating our fourth day of marriage by doing the Turkey Trot togetheron Thanksgiving (which didn't go so great, though we finished that too). Then nothing til a few weeks ago.

Tonight was our longest run yet this season. I parked my car at Sandy's work and we both ran up Morewood to Ellsworth to Negley to Bryant to where she usually parks her car for the day (she takes the bus the rest of the way in to avoid ridiculous CMU parking prices). It was almost exactly 3 miles in all and we're guessing took a shade less than 40 minutes (hey I never said we were fast. I'm built more for comfort than for speed). We're still in the getting-back-into-shape stage so it was a run/walk mix. I personally was fairly beat by the end but felt great!

Sandy's running in the Pittsburgh Marathon next week as part of a relay team. She's hoping to do the East End leg, so if you're being a spectator, be sure to cheer her on! After that we're planning to both do the Race for the Cure on Mother's Day. After that ... well, who knows? Sandy has said she wants to train to do up to a 10k by the time the Great Race rolls around again. I'm not sold on the idea yet, but I do enjoy chasing her around, so just maybe.

Just loving the exercise and giving the ol' legs a great stretch after being stuck in a cubicle 10-plus hours a day.

this is where russ is going to blog everyday for a week. because i said so....and i'm the girl so what i say goes :0) bug him if he does not write, give him a suggestion on what to write about, do something to get this boy doing what he loves to do!