KSU May 4th - 38 years later

Yesterday marked the 38th anniversary of May 4th at Kent State, and even though it was a beautiful sunny day with occasional cool breezes that made it feel a tad chilly, only about 400 people showed up to the commemorative program held on the Commons. I found that a tad ironic, considering the similarities between the Vietnam War and the current Iraq War, but I think that with the current economic situation occupying so many people, the Iraq War has kind of fallen off of people's radar screens as a political issue. Most folks right now are more concerned about being able to afford to put gas in their cars and pay for groceries than worrying about a war halfway across the world. Anyway, the keynote speaker, Scott Ritter, was a former Iraq weapons inspector, a former Marine and current firefighter in New York, and he gave a powerful speech about the obligations of citizenhood, about our collective neglect of the Constitution that he, as a Marine, was sworn to defend. He asked us how we could, as citizens, defend that which we are ignorant of, and called on us to be better citizens and acquaint ourselves with our Constititution and what it means with regard to our rights and obligations as Americans. Ritter pulled no punches, but it was a very inspiring and powerful speech that ended with a standing ovation from the audience. He even asked us how many of us could honestly say that we knew what was in the Constitution, and I proudly raised my hand. You see, I keep a copy on my desk at work at all times. Libraries are just one of the places that have been under attack by our administration with this so-called "Global War on Terror", so as a library employee, I feel as if it's my obligation to know my rights and those of my library patrons. Ritter also asked us what we learned from Vietnam, and by all accounts, not a whole lot. We're seeing the same kind of war of aggression being waged right now in Iraq and it's become the same kind of quagmire that Vietnam was. If we pull out, they say, it will descend into chaos, so we must stay, despite the fact that, by all appearances, the whole thing looks like having a tiger by the tail - you can't let go, but you can't keep holding that tiger, either. So Ritter urged us to continue to disagree with the government, to call it to account for its actions and to be responsible American citizens and to read and defend our Constitutional rights whenever and wherever possible. Sure, a few folks I know took issue with Ritter's constant mention of patriotism, but hey, the guy's an ex-Marine, already. Frankly, I didn't mind a bit. In fact, as historian and author Howard Zinn says, "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." I could not agree more.

25 YEARS AND STILL GOING STRONG

This past Friday (May 2nd) marked my 25th anniversary at my job. Hard to believe it's been so long, and that I have only 5 more years left before I retire. I'm looking forward to being able to either work closer to home or work for myself or just do something different. I'm tired, and although I have lived through both good and bad times at work, I am looking forward to some change. I hate having to wake up so early and drive 15 miles through every kind of weather that NE Ohio can dish out in a year's time. And with gas prices not likely to ever come down again, it's looking more and more like a big chunk of my monthly budget will continue to be transportation costs. Not having to shoulder that anymore will certainly save me a good sum of money. And my car will be paid off about the time that I retire, so it will be mine, free and clear, so no more car payments will also save me a lot of money as well. If I manage to successfully certify as a T'ai Chi instructor in the next few weeks, then I can either start my own business when I retire or work for Jason at Breakaway Sports Training, something I've already suggested to him as a possibility. So we'll see what happens down the road, but for now, I can honestly celebrate my silver anniversary on the job knowing that I have put in 25 good years of hard work at my job and feel proud of my accomplishments there.