See you next Sunday, Albert,” said Father Tom with a quarter-mile stare and slight nod, “and have a Happy New Year.” The Father spoke slowly as if choosing with great care each word spoken – even if they were general pleasantries – and to some he came off as aloof, but to Albert (who always looked forward to Father Tom’s masses) the deliberate pattern made Father all the more human. Albert didn’t always know the right English word to say or the proper way to conjugate a verb, and often spoke with the same careful cadence. Because of it, most people talked to Albert like a dense child – loudly and with wild gestures – but Father Tom always spoke to him in a hushed confidential tone, they way two friends share a secret joke. And Albert always left smiling.

Albert volunteered every Sunday at the Church, handing out fliers, greeting parishioners with a friendly ‘good morning’, and performing whatever little odds-and-ends came up over the course of the morning. At the end of the Advent, the Nativity scene on the grass lot was kept standing until the New Year. A few older voices grumbled that it should be taken down Christmas evening, but most people enjoyed the sight of the Baby Jesus, so there it stayed for an extra week, greeting the members of the flock.

On this New Year’s Sunday when the final mass was completed, a timid volunteer coordinator asked if any of the usual helpers could stay after for a few minutes to box up the Nativity. Albert was the only member who came forward, so he did it alone. As always, Albert smiled.

Albert was left with a large cardboard box for the wooden manger, and a series of boxes for each member of the scene – even the donkeys, oxen, and sheep had their own boxes. The volunteer coordinator handed Albert a key to the rectory before departing, telling Albert, “to…lock…the…door…and…put the…key…through the…mail…slot.” Albert smiled and shook the man’s hand.

“Happy New Year.” Albert called out with a vigorous wave as the coordinator hurried to the parking lot, but the man either hadn’t heard Albert, or had moved on to other matters. The man didn’t wave back.

Albert began by boxing up the animals – if there was a respectful order for dismantling the Nativity, Albert decided it would be most appropriate to begin here. He then struck the Sheppard, mindful when placing him in the foam padding, not to break the delicate wooden crook. Next, Albert collected the three Wise Men, who – Albert felt rightly – shared a single box. Finally, Albert was left starring at the stark scene of Mary and Joseph standing over the Child Jesus, their wooden faces filled with pride and with love and with relief.

Albert removed the star that hung above the wooden barn. He dismantled the roof and the three walls, until the new family was left in the open air – the sun was shining, so Albert didn’t think the Baby Jesus would mind.

Sorry to break this up, Joseph, Albert thought, picking up the figurine, but Mary and Jesus need a minute alone. Joseph’s likeness was heavy and solid, about two and half feet tall, and Albert needed both hands to lay it softly to rest in its box. Joseph’s painted-on face seemed to glow against the bright white packing foam in which it hugged so very closely.

“Thank you, Mary,” Albert said out loud without realizing, as he knelt in the grass to lift up the Mother of God. He cradled her in his arms; in the same way Mary is depicted cradling the Baby Jesus in countless reverential paintings. Mary face was in a state of permanent smile. Albert thought of saying the Hail Mary after placing Her to rest, but he simply smiled back.

Albert lifted the Baby Jesus out of the manger with both hands, though the Child was small enough to fit in one, Albert didn’t dare. He held Jesus in his cupped hands, examining His innocent face and all of the intricate details. Albert was thankful for the opportunity to hold the Christ Child, and thought about communion. He placed Jesus in the cardboard box and sealed the top.

It seemed a shame to keep the Baby Jesus tucked away for so much of the year only to bring him out for a small time, but Albert thought it made him appreciate the Nativity more because its physical presence was finite.

It took Albert five trips to lug all the boxes to the rectory, and beads of sweat dripped from his brow as he locked the door. The key jangled as it slid through the mail slot and landed on the wooden floor beyond.

Albert passed the grass lot out front of the Church, now ghostly in the absence of the Nativity. He knew that he’d miss if for the next couple of weeks – he did every year – and every December its reappearance would surprise him with joy. Albert hoped that he wouldn’t be surprised this year. This year he’d remember. Albert walked home, smiling.

This year is an off year for elections.  Off years are marked by being on an odd numbered year, rarely having federal elections, few state legislative elections and even fewer gubernatorial elections.  Because of this, these years generally have a far lower voter turnout as well.  They typically involve elections at the municipal level, mayoral, city council, as well as many other local offices and citizen initiatives and what most people don’t realize is that these are the areas which will have the most direct impact on you.

These are the offices and initiatives that will affect your children in the schools, the emergency workers who come to our rescue, and local businesses.  These are the offices that will have an effect on our daily lives.

These elections won’t just have a direct impact on you though; you have a direct impact on them.  These are the elections where the voter actually makes a difference.  I’m sorry to tell you, but your vote doesn’t matter in the big elections.  Let’s be honest here, despite what the movie Swing Vote says, it is statistically impossible for a single voter to matter in the outcome of the bigger elections and let’s not even get into the Electoral College.

These smaller elections however, really do need every single vote.  In the 2009 Tacoma mayoral election, also an off year, Marilyn Strickland won by 1,152 votes.  That means that if 576 people changed their votes, the election would have tied.  The Auburn Council Position 2 election had a difference of 182 votes between the two candidates.  The Buckley Council Position 2 seat? 28.  If 15 people changed their vote, the outcome completely changes.

So this year, whenever you think that these elections don’t matter and are a waste of time, remember this.  Decisions are made by those who show up and you could be one of the 15 people who determines an election.

Vialle never sent me a picture, so I borrowed this campaign one from the internet.

Karen Vialle was introduced to me as a “bulldog,” her supporters have called her efficient and tough, and the TNT endorsed here whole-heartedly as a “a force of nature. Her qualifications are almost over the top.” There’s no denying she is experienced in policy and budget issues (if you doubt me I’ll send you her 20 minute answer to “Tell me about yourself”), and she’s familiar with Tacoma schools because she has taught as a substitute teacher in them for 9 years. Heck, she’s taught every grade level. And on top of it all, she’s the only candidate raising money in her race, allowing her to print doorbell cards and send out mailers to voters.

Now, don’t get confused, this is not an endorsement or intended as support. This is just my way of explaining Vialle having conquered 53% of the vote in a four way primary.

However, when I interviewed Vialle the primary election hadn’t happened yet. At the time I knew very little about her other than the fact that she had once been mayor and had recently been compared to a bulldog.

I don’t really have a mental image of a bulldog floating in my head (having no real experience with them), so I let Wikipedia do the talking. There I learned that according to the American Kennel Club (AKC) a Bulldog’s, “disposition should be equable and kind, resolute and courageous (not vicious or aggressive), and demeanor should be pacific and dignified.”

Vialle met me at Cutter’s Point on 6^th and Orchard. I’m not sure if she exemplifies all of the adjectives above, but she was definitely friendly, and after ordering coffee we sat down to chat. Another adjective that strikes me when I think of Vialle is practical. I never remember exactly what she wears (I’ve seen her in everything from a suit to doorbelling clothes) but it has always seems to be pants, a jacket, her shirt tucked in, and comfortable shoes. These first impressions did not answer the bulldog question, but throughout the interview I kept it in mind.

The first part of the answer to this mystery came when I asked her when the first time she knew she was different. There was hardly a pause at all before Vialle said, “Probably when I was a social justice enforcer in my fourth grade class.” I think I laughed, because the image that came to my head was a lot more like what you’d see on TV than in real life, and it all seemed much too serious for a fourth grader. Vialle explained the situation:

“I guess that’s the best way I can put it… I never grew up with any kind of racial prejudice, thank god, on the part of both sides of my family… And we had an African American family move into our neighborhood, and there was a lot of, I’d call them rednecks now, even though ‘they shoudda known better,’ as my dad said. So when school started (they moved in in the summer) my dad told me, ‘If there’s any trouble, you take care of it.’ Well, sure enough there was. One of these kids—and she was a bully! She was a big girl, a lot bigger than me. And she probably still remembers what happened–she called, you know, used the inappropriate word, and made Jolene cry. And I said, ‘Take it back,’ and she said, ‘I don’t have to,’ and I said ‘Take it back or I’m going to hit you.’ And she didn’t believe me, so she wound up with a bloody nose and a split lip.

“And I, of course, got sent to the office, because it was an inappropriate response, but I still remember my mom coming up to school, and laying into our principal, who she had gone to school with. His first name was Clarence, and all I could hear was ‘Yes, Clarence, Karen needs to be punished, but more than that, our society is changing, and people need to be treated equal and children don’t need to come to school and listen to that. Now I expect you to take care of it.’ And that was my mother. I mean, she did that. And so that’s when I first really realized that I did the right thing. I mean, I got in trouble for hitting, you know, but I mean my mom and dad both said that you did the right thing.”

And then, offhand, she added:

“Also, I was good in math, and girls weren’t supposed to be.”

In retrospect, the first story is an amusing anecdote not just because it represents Vialle’s first experience as an activist, but also because it shows her perspective now as a teacher looking back on her time as a student. There were several instances later in the interview when she grew passionate and used a “bad word” like “sucks,” and it was always followed “I hate that term, I tell the kids at school ‘don’t say that!’” and I found it to be an enduring view of vocabulary reserved for elementary school teachers (which Vialle primarily is). In a similar vein, hearing her using words like “inappropriate response” and “diversity” and “prejudice” sound very adult in a story about an elementary school squabble. Vialle’s conversation consistently juxtaposed complex policy terms and a child’s world where saying “sucks” gets you yelled at.

To be honest, though, Vialle’s offhand comment about being the only girl good at math was a much more honest moment. The first story could have been part of her campaign, that one moment revealed a struggle she had lived through, and a lot of the activism she would take on later.

But to continue with the story: the fact that Vialle was good at math and had conviction for standing up for what she thought was right, created a powerhouse combination that set her on her career path. Her 20 minute answer to “Tell me about yourself” was pretty much a long-form resume, and while I don’t want to repeat it step for step there are interesting points along the way.

After graduate school she returned to her undergrad Alma matter and taught political science at the University of Puget Sound. This was one of her first experiences as an adult, dealing with being a non-traditional women. “When I went to UPS I was one of the first women to teach there in the non—what they called non-female, you know, it wasn’t a foreign language and they had home-economics then and English—to teach outside of that box.”

Soon after that Vialle was the first women hired by the state budget office to work as a program analyst at OFM. She started in ‘72, and was promoted to assistant director in February of 73. Her explanation of what that experience was:

“The legislature was considering a bill upstairs and it was really important and our legislative person had not been doing what he was supposed to… [Someone she knew] called ‘get over here, I want this bill out of here and it’s about to not!’ So I went up and I testified and thought ‘oh, man I’m going to be in trouble,’ and when I came down and Wally said, ‘Oh, man from now on as of right now you’re handling all of our legislative stuff.’ And then about a month later we got all these bills out, it was amazing.”

Vialle took on a tough role at OFM, dealing with a tight budget and budget cuts, and took the job and responsibility of helping to balance the budget very seriously. “We were a real budget and management agency under Dan Evans. You saw us show us you knew your job might be in jeopardy, including department heads. I’d tell ‘em, I’d say ‘You know If I were you I’d get my stuff cleaned up or you’re going to be over there—and the Governor said to tell you—peddling your resume at 5 o’clock in the afternoon down on 11th and capitol. Now, you can either talk to me and get it together or you can talk to [the Governor}.’”

From there she did a lot of budget work and made connections to powerful folk in state government who helped her get other positions where she was able to further expand her knowledge of budgets and policy. To sum up the rest:

"And then we adopted our first child, so I went home. Then I went back to teaching part time at UPS and got involved in community activities, I was on Urban Policy Committee and when my kids got old enough we adopted another child a year and a half later, so you know I got into the PTA, preschool and all of that, and then in 1987 there was a city council seat on the west side of Tacoma and a lot of people in the community convinced me that I needed to run, and so I did and got into that, and then got elected mayor.”

This is a different moment in her life where two seemingly different worlds are brought together. Vialle had returned home to be a mother, but instead of falling back into the traditional role of managing the household she once again resorted to her passion for politics and policy.

I asked Vialle about what it was like to be a woman mayor who was willing to be different, do a lot of things first, and be good at math. The traits that Vialle had that helped her get that far—being tough, efficient, and determined—made her time as mayor interesting:

“When I was mayor it was harder because I got picked on much more by people who were looking for you to stub your toe… and if you were strong you were regarded as being kind of a witch [this was clearly a euphemism, Vialle says euphemisms fantastically], you know, and if you’d been a male you would have received accolades.”

“It was an acceptance that you had to do better, and prove yourself, and I was willing to do that and show them, ‘Hey, I’m just as good as you are.’ If I have to work harder, and if I did that and show that I’m just as good as them, then it was going to make it easier for somebody else who came behind me… I kinda look back and think, ‘Hey, it was worth all that, to be a part of opening doors.’”

While she served as mayor from 1990-1994, Vialle lost her re- lection campaign. I don’t know what the political issues of the time were, but she was the only person I interviewed this year who had run for election before, and it was interesting to get her perspective on what it’s like to experience having lost (which is an experience most candidates share).

“I think what it is, when you run for office—If you’re a bit of a control freak, and I tend to be a tad bit—is that it’s something you can’t control. But I came to grips with this when I lost… I look back on that… I’ve done that my whole life, and if I have done my absolute best, and this was my dad, if you have done your best… then don’t look back.”

“When I lost that election—really truly, I’m my toughest critic, my husband will tell you that—I looked back and I thought I did everything that I could do and the results were out of my hands.”

“It didn’t mean it didn’t hurt, it hurt for a long time. Losing, as somebody said, sucks. It does. I hate that term, I tell the kids at school ’don’t say that!’… But on the other hand, I walked away knowing that I made a tremendous difference…And people have aid later ‘you should run for mayor again,’ and my philosophy on that is that if you’ve already done something, you can’t go back. Things have changed, the dynamics, and it’s time for someone else to do it. I was proud of being mayor of this city, I love this city.”

Now she’s up for election again. It doesn’t seem like a step down, or a step backwards, but rather a continuation of her story in life.

“You know it wasn’t a real easy decision to do that. I’d thought about it, intellectually it was, but then you go back and think… you know, campaigning is hard. It’s a strain on everybody, your family and it’s a big commitment. But every time I thought, you know, I make the decision all through the fall, and I see these kids struggling at school, at you know, lack of support from the board, and them being in total denial about what’s going on within the schools. I thought, you know, I’ve got one more shot at making a big difference, and that’s always driven me in my whole life.”

I have a lot of quotations from Vialle about making a difference driving her. She grew up in the civil rights area and was inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and J.F.K. She protested against the Vietnamese war, and is incredibly passionate about supporting soldiers and veterans rights. She taught her children to be accepting of others, and they have in turn become “social justice enforcers” at their own schools, making sure that kids aren’t being bullied or put down because they’re different. She works hard subbing in elementary schools and doing her darndest to prepare young children for the future.

I’ll let you decide for yourself what sort of dog is the best comparison for Karen Vialle (you know, if you insist on not mixing metaphors). I certainly haven’t made up my mind yet on what sort of person (or canine) she is. Looking back, it’s amusing that at the time I interviewed her she said things like “Right now I’m about ready to jump out of my skin. Tuesday can’t get here soon enough!” but having looked over everything she said, I don’t want to end this on a political note (even though there’s a pretty good political monologue I have hanging about). I don’t think politics is the end all be all for this former mayor. I think she’s really doing it for the kids.

“You feel empowered every time you go into a class room and teach kids. Last time I felt empowered, oh my gosh… I guess I’ve always in my life felt empowered in the sense that you can make a difference. You don’t have to hold public office, you don’t have to be walking around with everyone walking around saying ‘Mayor’ and ‘your honor.’ …. For me I feel empowered when I am able to help someone, or I can speak out for something, or I can help a family find help at one of my schools, or when the kids will come up to you and say thank. I think to me empowerment is a state of mind.”




Fun facts about Karen Vialle:

The events of September 11th will always be inexorably linked (in my mind anyway) with the events of several years prior that took place at a Columbine, Colorado. If I were five or six years older I may have felt the same about the Challenger disaster, but (as it is) I am too young to remember that tragedy first hand. These were the events that unfolded for me (and for millions of people my age) on television screens in classrooms, on the kinds of devices that were just out-of-date enough to be available in public schools, and were often strapped by a kind of seat belt to a rolling metal dolly that can only be found in Audio Visual departments and some hospitals.

Looking back, it still seems surreal that I experienced that horrible day they same way that I learned about The Cosmos from Carl Sagan, but we as a class (or a school, or a country) processed those images of confusion and of horror as a community, and that was important. I have never talked to anyone my age (In fact, I don’t remember talking to anyone, period) that watched those events alone. Some moments are simply too large for one person to comprehend without support.

I was in high school in Redmond, Washington on that particular Tuesday, and our school began at seven o’clock Pacific Standard time (10 am EST), and I was out of district, meaning that I had to wake up by about 5:30am (or about ten minutes before the first plane struck the North Tower) and start my commute at around six am (or right about the time second plane struck the South Tower). I learned of the worst attack on American soil in my lifetime from a Seattle alternative music station morning drive-time DJ – it was initially hard to believe. I think it was hard for everyone to believe until they saw the impacts and the aftermath and the always-put-together nightly news anchors with mussed hair and nothing to say.

By the time I had parked and walked the block or two to school (I wasn’t yet an upperclassman, and therefore unable to park on campus), most classrooms were already filled, some spilling students out into nearly vacant halls. Most mornings, the majority of the student body hung out in the large common areas, usually near vending machines, but this morning even the students who tried their best to look the least interested in academia, were sitting quiet and present at desks fifteen (maybe twenty) minutes before first period. There was no prodding everyone just instinctively knew it was what must be done. I don’t know why (maybe it was because I knew the kinds of students who wish to study extra calculus lessons before school) but I watched the continual loop of collisions in the Advanced Math classroom. Much later, I saw the footage that had gone out live (and then, thankfully, was pulled) of people jumping from the buildings, and sometimes I get all of those visuals mixed in my memory, but it did seem like Peter Jennings and the ABC News Team must have shown the second plane hit the tower ten times in the short span that I watched.

The first tower collapsed five minutes before the first period bell at Redmond High School, and even the teachers didn’t know how to proceed. I took my book-bag and headed to my own classroom, but was quite certain that we wouldn’t be discussing a great deal of English Literature on this morning. The class was half-full, and the teacher told us that our room’s television didn’t get reception, so she was going to put on a VHS copy of a Shakespeare production, and that if any student wished to watch the news in another class, they would be free to do so. Most of us left to stand along the back wall of the Calculus room. By second period, I (and everyone else, I suppose) had learned of the crash at the Pentagon and was hearing rumors of a fourth hijacking (students who are raised in Microsoft’s backyard are adept at using the Internet for news, but had also learned of its spotty reliability.)

I didn’t learn of the crash of Flight 77 in a Pennsylvania field until forth period after lunch. By that time, nearly all students were attempting to have as normal a day as could be possible, and were attending their regularly assigned classes (mine was, fittingly enough, US Government). We watched the news with the volume low and discussed all of the names and terms that all Americans learned on that day. That afternoon al-Qaeda entered the US lexicon and has never really left.

Once school had let out, the flag was already at half-mast and many students lingered. It felt like we had all learned of the terrible event together and thus, were reluctant to break that tenuous bond (Or maybe we were just too dazed to do much of anything.) But other than the students who needed a ride on the big yellow buses, nobody went home. In the cafeteria, I talked with a group of friends about our futures, about that of the country. We wanted to do something, anything, but (for the live of us) we couldn’t figure out what it was.

After school, I watched more of the news (I think everyone did), and called a group of friends to answer my one pressing question: Do you go to soccer practice on 9/11? It turned out that I did. And so did everyone else on my team. We had a distracted lesson, and at its completion the sun had gone down. I don’t remember how I slept, but I was a teenager, so I probably slept fine enough.

Conventional wisdom says that the Sept. 11 attacks were the defining moment of my generation (or an instigating event, or some such thing), but at the time it just felt confusing. And in many ways it still does. Compared to the Columbine massacre, the motives behind the attacks felt murkier and farther away. I may not be breaking new ground, by claiming that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold acted out of anger when they decided to open fire on their faculty and fellow students, but that anger wouldn’t have been present if the boys didn’t ultimately want to fit in. And every teen can identify with that desire.

In contrast, I did not understand the fanaticism required to plan and execute such a cold-blooded act as 9/11. I have learned a great since of both the history of Western interference in the Mid-East and of Islamist extremism (and it was an extremist element that carried out the attack), but I can’t say that I yet understand the motivation. On an intellectual level I can connect the dots, but I certainly don’t empathize on a gut level. And maybe that’s a good thing, but it makes tragedies like this seem all the scarier. I just don’t get it. And I probably never will.

I think that many people who had not attended high school in a good many years, felt similarly to the Columbine events – the media sure seemed to. Largely diverse subsections of students were lumped together as “others” even if those groups were wildly dissimilar. To be clear: Harris and Klebold were not Goth. Just as Al-Qaeda was not Islam. Eric and Dylan may have worn black and sneered at the popular crowd, but so did Johnny Cash. And Johnny Cash is not Goth.

[The Gothic movement began in the 1980s with a wave of overly sensitive (mostly male) rock-pop music from the UK – think The Smiths, Morrisey, et al. – and much like the Nerd empowerment events of the same time, the Goth kids were attempting to find strength by controlling their own exclusion. Most of these kids knew they were never going to be cheerleaders or football All-Americans – they were the misfits – so they dressed and acted in a manner that guaranteed ostracism. They dressed androgynously, talked about feelings, and were usually the only kids paying any attention during discussions of 19th century poetry. They didn’t want acceptance. And it worked. And the misfits found each other. ]

Because Harris and Klebold wore trench coats and did their damnedest to be off-putting to those around them, Goth culture (teens often on the receiving end of bullying themselves) was blamed for inciting violence. America (and its media) loves the idea of “enemies from within”, but aren’t particularly skilled at defining them.

I had a friend in high school, not a close friend but the kind I would talk to at lunch almost every day, who had the misfortune to be named Osama and to live in the US in the Fall of 2001. After several ugly incidents involving older generations (the hardest kind for teens to deal with), he started going by Sam. It was for the same reasons there weren’t a lot of Adolphs running around after 1945. In the grand scheme of things it isn’t the most heart-breaking concession that came out of the era, but it’s one that has stuck with me over the past ten years.

It is impossible for me to know how the televised horrors of both Columbine and New York City have shaped me as a person, but I believe they have made me wary of generalizations. They have made me think about spheres larger than my own. And they have made me aware of mans potential both for great love, but also for great hatred. But I do my best not to dwell on any of these thoughts for too long. They are simply too much for any one person to take on alone.

By Sept. 14th (roughly), I had watched the news at every opportunity, hoping for some conclusion (some great revelation), but it would not come so quickly or so easily. I, along with many Americans, turned off the TV – and the radio, and the Internet browser – and simply tried to live as best I could with what had happened. And that all any of us can ever really do.

The year that I started kindergarten was the same year that Mikhail Gorbachev signed over control of the Soviet Union’s nuclear arsenal to the new country of Russia, the last act of the USSR. A few weeks earlier, William Jefferson Clinton beat an incumbent President Bush in an overwhelming victory to be the first Democrat since Jimmy Carter to hold the Presidency. Change was everywhere.

Clinton enacted policies that helped foster the burgeoning technology industry; the world was rapidly becoming smaller and in my little house in the south of Seattle (near the Boeing and Microsoft campuses) I was in the epicenter of it. I grew up with computers, the internet, and the privileges of a technocratic suburban lifestyle. The possibilities were endless. The world was, in my estimation, relatively peaceful and prosperity was everywhere.

We all, as a nation, grew complacent. We largely ignored the strife outside of the bubble we created, and except for the clusterfuck with Aidid in Somalia, things like the Rwandan genocide and the Taliban’s increasing brutality in Afghanistan went largely unnoticed or underreported. Even the intervention in Kosovo was reduced to night-vision views of NATO bombing salvos.  Instead, we began to obsess ourselves with Survivor and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

The 2000 Presidential Election had little to do with foreign policy. Little did we know that foreign policy would be the key issue the next President would have to face. Instead we talked about tax relief and how to spend our budgetary surplus. After one of the most controversial and close elections in U.S. history, President George W. Bush was sworn in on the vows of compassionate conservatism.

By 2001, I had started my first year of high school. I had no real ambitions or dreams, just a head full of punk music and a penchant for rebellions. Our family had just moved to a new town in Southern Oregon.

It was on the second day of my freshman year that I woke up to my mom screaming, “Eric wake up! We are under attack!”

Thinking that the little condo we were living in until our house was built was in some sort of physical danger, I sprang out of bed. As I got up, my mom was planted firmly to the television as they showed repeats of a second plane smashing into the World Trade Center. I had never seen anything like it. I watched for about an hour, foregoing the shower and breakfast that was usually crucial to my morning routine.

I still remember the walk to school that day. It was eerily quiet; hardly any cars were on the street. The nation was collectively glued to their television sets. We spent the whole school day transfixed by images of planes falling out of the sky. From the Pentagon, both the WTC towers, a field in Pennsylvania, and all of the emergency diversions to clear US airspace, it was clear that what we were watching was now going to play a large role in all of our lives.

I remember watching the same night-vision television shots of bombs that I saw in Kosovo, but this time they were in Afghanistan and for retaliation. It seemed more real this time than it did in Kosovo.

I started to understand the global political realities of action and reaction. I was filled with two conflicting emotions. Yes, I wanted to get the bastards who killed so many of my countrymen. I also was disgusted with the world of international relations. Morality and long-term planning played no role. If they did, we would have listened to Charlie Wilson and built up the country of Afghanistan. Instead we used it as a theatre to beat the Soviets and left it in the hands of madmen.

The world was too big, at the time, to think of the consequences of arming the Mujahedeen. While there is no justification for killing thousands of innocents, there is also no justification for using a country as a pawn of war without thinking of the future we are creating. George Marshall knew after World War II that we could lead and shape the world with some amount of dignity. I had hoped that we would do the same in Afghanistan. Instead, we pulled most of our troops out and invaded Iraq.

For me, it was the biggest step in creating the political being that I am today. 

I started protesting the war because it did not make sense. Our enemy was Al Qaeda and the Taliban, not Saddam Hussein. We had a charge to rebuild Afghanistan into a stable country, not destroy Iraq. We cut taxes, we got into two wars that we could never build our way out of. We surged; we turned the tide against the insurgency, but we did nothing to stop the underlying causes of terrorism.

Ultimately, what September 11^th means to me is a lost cause for peace. We saw the ugly side of the globalized world after a decade of growth. To me, the path to create a globalized and more peaceful world out of the ashes of 9/11 was the best way to turn a tragedy into the linchpin for change. Instead, we doubled down on the ethos of action/reaction and the old games of power politics to protect US interests. Maybe human history, from Sun Tzu to Cardinal Richelieu and all the way through Kissinger and Kennan correctly predicts that our lesser nature will prevail in the anarchy of international relations. I can’t stop wishing, though, that in a world of promise, opportunity and global connectivity, maybe we can chose cooperation over conflict.

Whenever a monumentous (or heck, a small yet entertaining) event goes down, I have taken to Twitter for short, pithy op-eds and education tid bits. I must say, however, that this time twitter has failed.


Searching “Tacoma” and “Wal-mart” to get the most up-to-date, rage-filled posts has led to a mediocre crop of “oh, noes” and “not in Tacoma!” I frown upon you, Tacoma tweeters. Surely, you can do better than this?


As my facebook wall has informed me (Current count: 26 related Wal-mart posts) Wal-mart is an evil, giant, anti-union, small business slaughtering hell demon (these are not my words. I am not editorializing. I am citing a bonafide source of information). Certainly such a creature should lead to hilarious outcries that can be summed up in 160 words? I challenge you Tacoma: do better! I would like a better list of tweets for tomorrow.




One exception: good job RR_Anderson!


RR_Anderson RR Anderson
WE HAVE CONFIRMATION OF WAL*MART INVASION!!! blog.thenewstribune.com/business/2011/… DEFCON-4 ULTRA-RED ALERT HYPER-TEAM GO!




The best crop of others I could find:


RR_Anderson RR Anderson
RUMOR: Wal*Mart coming to current Elks Lodge location in Central Tacoma? facebook.com/groups/1436741…


LeahLizabeth Leah
@@RR_Anderson Tacoma will destroy the very idea of Wal-Mart.


TacomaFoodie Adrienne
Noooooooooo…..RT @KCooperTNT: Wal-Mart confirms that it plans to build a Super Center in #Tacoma: bit.ly/qOyFbs


monstergirlee charlotte
@Puking. RT @thenewstribune Wal-Mart confirms its plans to build store on Central Tacoma Elks site: bit.ly/ohI8l4 #tacoma #walmart


jameyrivera jamey rivera
No. Bad. RT @tacomaupdates Tacoma News Tribune: Wal-Mart confirms plans to build on Central Tacoma Elks site bit.ly/qlHhIB #tacoma


waymondhampton Waymond Hampton
RT @kcooperTNT A little more on the potential development of the Central #Tacoma Elks site: blog.thenewstribune.com/business/2011/… // PLEASE no Wal-Mart…


jenhal Jenn Halverson Kuehn
“God bless California, make way for the Walmart; I hope they never find you Tacoma.” – Thrice All American. Me too, Neko.

The rise of the modern obesity epidemic in the United States means that most of us could stand to lose a little weight. We’ve been told the grim stories about how this generation is the first generation to have a lower life-expectancy than the last because of obesity related illnesses, that the military is concerned about the national security implications about a country so massively obese, that new army recruits aren’t fit to serve and so the military built a fat-camp just to de-flab Americans enough for regular boot camp, that little kids are now getting heart attacks, diabetes, and kidney stones, and perhaps you’ve seen Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution and the difficulty of getting nutritious food in the face of budget problems, social and institutional resistance, and parental apathy. Perhaps you’re tired of this incredibly long list. Instead of reading a depressing litany of problems related to weight gain, it’s time to do something. Most diet plans are scams: Atkins, South Beach, Acai Berry, colon cleanses, Allie. You know this and I know this. But in our desperation, we flock to them with cash in hand just the same. Americans pour literally billions of dollars down the drain in the form of  unused exercise equipment or gym memberships, and ineffective diet plans. All in a futile attempt to lose a few pounds. It would be funny if I couldn’t personally relate to the anguish and frustration that so many feel. So what’s a poor slob to do? If you’re looking for an easy solution for weight loss look somewhere else. Weight loss is hard, painful, and frustrating. Easy weight loss remedies are like a doctor saying “this won’t hurt a bit”. Brace yourself because you’re being lied to.

No longer.

1st tip. This is key: talk to your doctor! Your doctor is probably already telling you to get off your fat jiggly ass and lose some weight anyway. Take this time to ask your doctor what realistic expectations in terms of how many calories you should be eating, how much exercises is appropriate for your age and physical condition, and what a safe amount of weight loss/ week is. If it’s covered by your health care insurance, your doctor may be able to refer you to a nutritionist who can help you with very specific and helpful insights. Having a good working relationship with medical professionals is a vital component in weight loss. Also, your doctor may be able to help evaluate other potential physical or mental problems. It probably isn’t “glandular,” but it might very well be depression. There’s no cure for obesity, but your doctor can help set you on the path to health and vitality.

2nd tip. Self-discipline starts at the store. Cakes, candies, chips, dips, pizzas, and ice creams weighing you down? Don’t buy them. It should come as no surprise that these valueless “foods” have been scientifically engineered to be addicting with the same malicious forethought as cigarette companies adding extra nicotine. It’s tempting to keep these around as snacks for yourself and the kids, but they will make you more hungry than if you ate absolutely nothing. They’re made that way, and the engineers at these places know exactly what they’re doing. Regardless of the advertised “health benefits,”  there is absolutely no reason to purchase any of these sorts of foods.  That’s why it’s called “junk food.” You might think that it’s OK to buy and eat in moderation, but if you’re fat, then moderation isn’t possible for you. What’s worse is that even if you can get by with just a mere chip or two, but for an overweight family member it will be literal torture for them to abstain. It’s a massively cruel thing to do. So cut out the junk food, you’ll be lighter and your wallet heavier.

3rd tip. It’s called water, ẇä-tər. It’s clean, clear and free. The medical and scientific consensus on this miraculous substance is that it is critical for life on this planet, so it’s time to refamiliarize yourself with this under-utilized nutrient.  Beverages like diet sodas are tempting and seem healthy, but they’re not.

Diet drinks and other diet foods maybe low in calories, but that doesn’t mean they’re doing you any favors.  Studies show that drinkers of diet drinks tend to gain weight over the long term compared to others who don’t. Scientists attribute this to the increase in cravings that these sweeteners can induce.The intense sugary taste also diminishes your natural desire for fruits, and vegetables. Try this experiment, buy yourself some in-season fruit, abstain from any artificial or refined sugars for a week, and then see how much fruit is left. You may be surprised. Not only that but sweet tasting drinks can affect your metabolism negatively regardless of caloric content.

Another problem with non-water beverages is that they are often caffeinated which will make you dehydrated, exacerbate cravings and diminish metabolism. If you’re feeling lethargic in the middle of the day the solution is not “Five Hour Energy” (which is nothing more than a calibrated dose of caffeine) but a brisk walk around the block. Alcoholic beverages have a very similar effect as caffinated ones, dehydration, slow metabolism and empty calories. One last thing, your morning latte, mocha, etc probably contains  at least 300-400 calories or more depending on your order.  Quality espresso is about as healthy for you as two servings of premium ice cream.  “Healthy” drinks like 100% fruit juice are acceptable but you’re better off by far to just eat the actual fruit. It will provide you with fewer calories and cravings, plus more fiber and nutrients.

4th tip. Snacks. Got the munchies? No problem. It’s nearly impossible to over eat on fresh fruits and vegetables. Additionally, the majority of Americans don’t get even a third of the recommended quantity. As a result we’re seeing the rise of problems related to vitamin and mineral deficiencies. The FDA recommends that half the food you eat come from fruits and veggies, so eat up.  I know that fresh fruits and vegetables can seem expensive, but affordable produce is within reach. For the best deals, avoid traditional supermarkets, and check out nearby fruit stands and farmer’s markets. In season produce is surprisingly affordable. There is absolutely zero penalty for fresh produce, feel free to eat in unlimited quantities. However, I personally, avoid canned vegetables. They’re fine to eat, but frozen vegetables have a far superior taste and texture. If the kiddies won’t eat their veggies next time try the frozen peas instead of canned. A word of caution regarding nuts. They’re absolutely delicious and supremely healthy, but they tend to be high in calories so consume in moderation. Another fun thing to do is freeze fresh berries. Fresh frozen blueberries are a particular favorite of mine and make for a delicious desert.

5th tip.  Fast food of any kind. When I was a child I couldn’t understand why it took twenty minutes for my mother to cook dinner. As an adult I find the fact that she could put together a exceedingly nutritious meal in half an hour nothing short of miraculous. I understand the pressures of busy parents to instantly provide food for themselves and insistent children, but fast food is the shortest route to weight gain. Such food tends to be high in fat, sugar, and salt. I don’t need to convince anyone that McDonald’s serves unhealthy food. Those “Super-Sized” meals often contain enough calories for three large meals all at once.  Whether we’re talking about a happy meal or a boxed dinner it’s not healthy.  Even more sophisticated restaurants have extremely calorie intensive meals. Studies show that the people who lose weight cook for themselves. It’s healthier, cheaper, and if you’re serious about weight loss you’ll make it a priority.

6th tip. Weigh, measure and record. If you want to lose weight than it’s vital to keep a record of every last thing you swallow. It’s annoying and embarrassing, but if you are going to lose weight, you need to keep a diet journal. I would go so far as to say it isn’t even possible to lose weight without keeping some sort of record. I do not know of any successful weight loss program that doesn’t weigh, measure and record in some fashion. It doesn’t matter if you calorie count on your own, or have a Weight Watcher’s style point system. People tend to lose track of what they eat pretty easily. We eat whatever is on our plate regardless of amount, we forget about all the little extras like coffee, or power bars, we forget about the extra helping at dinner. Or the fact that we’ve slipped and over-indulged three nights in a row this week. It all adds up in small forgettable amounts.

7th tip. Exercise. This is the tricky one. Who has the time, money, or energy to exercise properly? Besides the bad knee always acts up in cold weather or under the threat of a light jog.  If you’re in pain, see Tip 1. Otherwise suck it up and go do it. All those “Burn fat in as little 30 minutes a day 3x week” commercials are total scams. You don’t even START burning fats until you hit 30 minutes of continuous exercise. But the good news is you don’t need to do intense exercises either. To burn fat it’s all about endurance not intensity.  An hour riding a bike, laps at the pool, yoga, or a long stroll in the evening are all wonderful fat burning exercises. Pick the one that works best for you. However, you burn nothing without muscles. Muscle building is a also key component in your exercise regimen. Building muscles is about intensity not endurance. Your doctor can give you better specifics when it comes to weight lifting, but in general you should be able to lift a weight no more than 7-10 times. Rotate different muscle groups, repeat 3-4x, and you’re good. It shouldn’t take too long to do a thorough weight lifting routine. For best results you need to lift weights no more and no less than 3-4x a week. If it hurts, stop. If the pain persists, see your doctor.

Losing weight is more about doing what’s healthy instead of avoiding what’s bad. So long as you eat the right foods, and exercise, mistakes are pretty easy to manage. No matter what plan you create, you’ll have to get used to a certain amount of discomfort. Your body sees weight loss as a kind of injury and will alert you that something is wrong. You’ll simply have to get used to the idea of  sweat and hunger being a part of your life. That said, no one’s asking you to be miserable. The right exercise can be fun, and healthy food is beyond delicious and satisfying.  And weight loss is a team activity with you, your doctor, and your family.  If you’re still in a rut, join a program like Weight Watchers.  They can offer help and encouragement if you’re feeling down.   If your team is pulling together, a healthy lifestyle can be a meaningful and rewarding experience.

Bon apetite.

Recently the Tacoma Urban League hosted an education forum which, from an objective perspective, was flawed for a number of reasons, not the least of which included the fact that the moderator had already publically endorsed one particular candidate on stage, who just so happened to be positioned in a seasaw rotation that always gave him the benefit of hearing what three other school board candidates had to say about a particular issue before delivering his own well-crafted answer. But such gimmicks are routine to modern political theatre and hardly worthy of the first Melon article to be published by this writer in more than a year.

No, what made this forum truly upsetting for me was the response to a question offered by a 17 year old member of the audience, asking if any of the candidates would support lowering the voting age to allow students to participate in school board elections. The audience immediately erupted into laughter. The moderator, upon regaining his composure and wiping away a tear, turned to the candidates on stage and with a smile on his face and voice in his throat that somehow simultaneously seemed amused and nervous, said “do any of you wanna answer that?” An awkward pause followed, the candidates looked at each other, and again, the audience broke out into uncontrolled hysterics.

I could not believe what I was watching. Here was a sincere and valid argument for political enfranchisement from a politically aware American citizen, asked at a candidate forum sponsored by the Urban League (a national civil rights organization) and all but a few people in the room seemed to believe that this question even deserved an answer. Not even incumbent school director Kim Golding offered her opinion on this subject, despite the fact that for the past 6 years she has sat next to a dozen student representatives on the school board; representatives who, despite their age, inexperience, and lack of a vote, are nonetheless often able to contribute to board meetings by providing insight and perspective to a board whose youngest director is more than twice their age.

I have often lectured and lambasted people and policies that conflict with my belief that students should not be prevented from reaching their natural stages of maturity and, ultimately, adulthood. While America’s aging adolescents cheer that “40 is the new 20” America’s teenagers and now “tweenagers” continue to long for the day when they can stop studying (and paying for the privilege) and start proving themselves as capable adults. But there is one truth I cannot ignore.

While 16-year-olds have historically served as soldiers, bore children, and worked full-time jobs, there is no precedent (that I’m aware of at least) for them participating as enfranchised members of any democracy (though a few, like King Tut & Louis XIV who were absolute monarchs before hitting puberty). But then again, women’s sufferage was also unprecedented in the annals of democracy, and now we live in an age of serious female contenders for the White House.

This past year, Washington’s courageous young State Senator, the Honorable Scott White, heroically responded to constituents who work, pay taxes, largely drive national trends and styles and – in a select few cases – found multibillion dollar internet startups, but are then laughed at when they ask for a say in the administration of their schools. Senate Bill 5621 would lower the voting age in school board races to 14 for students currently enrolled in their school district. The bill quickly died in committee last year, and probably will not pass next year because the budget crisis will likely eclipse all other concerns.

However, given the economic woes of our school district, and past failures to pass bonds and even a levy back in 2007, it would seem to me that enfranchising those who are supposed to most directly benefit from this tax revenue would be a no-brainer for our school board members.

As to concerns that high schoolers cannot make mature, rational decision in the voting booth (if, in fact, we still had voting booths in Washington) the results from Tuesday’s Primary should prove, yet again, that neither maturity nor rationality has ever been a prerequisite to eligibility. In one school board race, 12.74% of the electorate voted for Betsy Elgar, a candidate who identified her priorities in the voter guide as “Saving the US Military Bases in our US Territories and Foss High School.” In another race, 20.36% voted for Kim Washington, even after she tried to get her name pulled from the ballot and did nothing as a candidate beyond submitting a picture and brief statement for the voter guide. Her numbers were enough to put her in second place, ahead of the competent incumbent and active candidate: Kim Golding. The fact that she was the only Black female in the race may explain her numbers, or perhaps the voters were confused by two “Kim”s on the ballot.  However, the fact that Kim Washington’s numbers require explanation prove that her victory was not rational.

Andrew Milton and his family

When asked about who, amongst all fictional characters, Andrew Milton would want to be, he replied “the John Cusack character in Gross Point Blank… Martin Blank. (That’s bad though, he’s an assassin.)” Certainly his assassin traits were not the ones Milton wanted to emulate.   “[John Cusack] is a funny, calm, but rather independent actor who gets to be in charge on his own terms.”

These characteristics that Milton admires in Cusack are the ones he strives to bring out in himself. He doesn’t see himself as a politician (“I don’t like politics per se”), he is a person who is working to stand up for teachers.

With the last 41 years, one way or another, being involved in schools Milton has a “teacher’s sense.” Working right now as an 8th grade language arts teacher, he views part of the  bureaucracy of his school district as a challenge for teachers. In his blog “Speaking of education” you can read about his concerns with programs like the Common Core, and how he worries that good ideas can turn into regulations poorly imposed.

“There are lots of mandates that come down. I would say be careful on how much we mandate and how we implement mandates,  ’cause if you mandate four different areas… eventually the teachers are like ‘how do I deal with that?” When comparing this to the possibility of “being in charge on his own terms,” Milton sees the later as an opportunity for himself (and all teachers) to do their work, and implement the larger ideas, in a way that works best for them.

In additional to public school teaching, Milton currently works at Troy University on Joint Base Lewis McChord, and in the past he spent time as a visiting professor at the University of Puget Sound. I asked him about the switch from UPS to teaching junior high. It was in part because he was working at UPS as a guest professor, in part because he didn’t want to move for another job, and in part because he thought he might make more of an impact in public schools.

“Actually I found that it is in some ways much more appealing – you really are contributing – even if just a small bit – it is easier to tell you are contributing to someone. UPS graduates are effective students by and large and are going to go be assertive, even aggressive, out in the world and are going to be fine… Students who maybe aren’t as effective actually need better teachers.”

To describe Milton’s commitment to helping people, particularly children, I would like to point out something about our meeting. I had not met Andrew Milton before this interview, and I recognized him more by the almost-four-year old boy he had told me would be coming with him than by his picture in my voter’s pamphlet. He had brought his son, Peter, with him because he agreed to meet me on short notice.

There is something very obvious about Peter: he is black, Milton and his wife are not. I did not need to ask (and I did not ask) whether or not Peter was adopted, but it came up in passing that he was and that he is originally from Atlanta. I did not ask about why Andrew and his family chose to adopt another child (he has two teenage children), but as I talked with Andrew about his life and his desires, he explained his philosophy: he supports specific work getting done for people – the process of meeting people’s needs.

It was hard for Milton to name just one charity, when asked, that he would give money to. He supports Children’s International, orphanages, someone he knows doing work in Thailand. Milton has gone on mission trips and helps out his local community through his church. He is passionate about making sure every child has what they need, to the point where he welcomed another child into his family to give him love and support.

And so, after years of commitment towards providing for children, time analyzing challenges that face schools on his blog, the desire to stand up for teachers, and with a good sense of humor, Milton entered into the race for Tacoma School Board, position 3.

The fact is, not many people know what it’s like to run for office. Since filing, Milton has had the opportunity to learn what it means:

“You file for the office – to run for office – online. So I filled out the, you know, and there’s a submit button at the bottom. And I think I sat there for hours. I couldn’t click the submit button. So I finally clicked and I thought, ‘Where’s the back button!?’

“You’re out there trying to win approval from people. You spend your life raising up your children, raising up your students, saying ‘You shouldn’t … Don’t get thrown in with needing approval’ and here I am saying, won’t 51% of you approve me please?’ It’s stressful in that way.

“It’s been good exercise to face that not everyone’s going to vote for me, not everyone’s going to like me. It’s good exercise in facing that not everyone’s going to like you – and that’s okay.”

Milton handles the pressure by understanding his priorities. He explained how he went on a vacation for five days just three weeks before the primary. It was a family vacation they had planned since November, and while he now felt a lot of pressure to stay and campaign, he knew the race can’t be everything. “I only checked my e-mailed once while I was gone.”

Andrew Milton can work hard running for office, and he would like your vote, but that is not how he defines his life. Like John Cusack’s character Martin Blank, Milton wants to live his life on his own terms, and his terms have a lot more to them than being a politician. They are about spending time with his family and friends, and doing his best to sustain others’ needs.




10 fun facts about Andrew Milton:

This past Monday January 31st, 2011, Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland delivered the first Tacoma State of the City speech since 1942 at the Tacoma – Pierce County Convention Center.

Find out more at the TNT. Video below: