The Buck and Mike Blog

Today marks the official end of National Adoption Month, as designated by President Bush, and November 15 was National Adoption Day, so this post is late. But it’s never too late to consider the alternative of adoption.

So many successful people in our history were adopted. Oprah Winfrey, Steve Jobs.

One adoptee was Wendy’s restaurant founder Dave Thomas. To show the importance of adoption, he created the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. The Foundation’s web site has great materials for those considering adoption.

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I was reading an article in the New York Times recently about the projected cost of the federal government’s recent bail-outs. According to “U.S. Details $800 Billion Loan Plans,” the current estimate for taxpayers is $7.8 trillion. Yes, that’s Trillion with a T. The 2000 census says that there were about 105.5 million households in the U.S. eight years ago. Perhaps they don’t think we are too dumb to use calculators, but mine says that amounts to about $75,000 per household.

I know it’s complicated and all that, but can someone please explain how the banks that are being rescued can get away with continually raising their interest rates to us if we are the ones bailing them out? Recently my credit card company raised my interest rate by 4%. I happened to notice it on the monthly statement. I hadn’t been late, missed a payment, exceeded my credit limit, or otherwise been a derelict but according to the microscopic print that requires an experienced attorney to translate, they can do it whenever they want, as often as they want, with no reason. I had the option of accepting the change or notifying them that I didn’t accept it. A phone call confirmed that if I don’t accept the new terms, my entire balance is due immediately, in full. Yes, this was a bank that we bailed out.

I have two alternative plans:
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All year we recognize our blessings, but Thanksgiving offers us a unique opportunity to reflect on the recent past at a time that everyone else is doing the same thing. It is one of those times when we are all involved in a single communal activity. It’s great to sit around the table stuffing ourselves and recounting those things for which we are thankful.

Thanksgiving is a family holiday and our thoughts always seem to turn to those we love. Mike and I are blessed with wonderful families. The main reason we moved from the East Coast to the West Coast this summer was to be closer to family members.

Our families are very different from each other, but they share similarities. His is composed of Jews from New England and the South. Mine is made up of Mormons from the West. Our fathers are less than a year apart in age and our mothers about a month apart. His folks had one boy and three girls; mine had one girl and four boys. Mike’s folks have three grandchildren, my mom has 22. » Read the rest of this entry »

About 25 miles east of our house, along the Columbia River Gorge, lies Multnomah Falls, the second-highest year-round waterfall in the country. Its water falls 620 feet, with an upper and a lower fall. In 1914, Simon Benson, a prominent businessman and owner of the falls at that time, erected the bridge you see in the picture. Crafted by Italian stone masons, it crosses the falls between its lower and upper cataracts and provides an impressive view of the upper falls. If you see the movie Twilight, you will see the falls and other areas around where we live.

Our friend David Bruce, a businessman from Washington, DC, was in Seattle for a conference and drove down to visit us over the weekend. It was really great to see someone from Washington, DC. He serves on the board of directors for the Skopelos Foundation for the Arts in Skopelos, Greece. We are always looking for a good excuse for an adventure and David made for a good excuse. The hike to the bridge is an easy .3 miles and, as we discovered, a very scenic way to get wet.

As we move into our first autumn in Portland, we are in awe of the natural beauty of our new area. The fall colors and the abundance of bright green moss, which softens the hard edges of the old stone walls and walkways, provide a striking contrast in color and texture. Unlike most places I have lived, the city and environs are covered with very old pine and cedar trees. Because they keep their leaves all year, the city is always green. As the leaves from the other trees drop, the light rains begin their annual months-long drizzle. The rain isn’t hard enough for an umbrella. It’s sweater and hoodie weather, but not cold by any means. We still have roses blooming and a few tomatoes remain on the vines. I normally find autumn to be depressingly gray, but this year it seems rich and layered. I think we’ll survive!

Thanks, David, for visiting and allowing us to show you our city and its environs and to enjoy it again. (Click the photos to see larger versions.)

Multnomah Falls, Portland

I thought this was a balanced opinion piece, so I’m reprinting it here. The words and opinions are the author’s.

Pro-Liberty, Not Anti-Mormon

Joel Engardio

The lights of local TV cameras seeking gay-on-the-street sound-bites illuminated the darker part of Broadway on the Upper West Side where thousands of people marched the other night chanting, “Gay, straight, black, white, marriage is a civil right.”

I was one of them, upset and disillusioned that a right could be so easily eliminated for an entire group of people that included me. Sure, New York has never allowed same-sex marriage. But it was a right granted in California until a simple majority of voters decided that gay relationships weren’t equal to their own.

I joined up with the march in progress at West 66th Street, in front of Manhattan’s Mormon Temple. The spot was significant because California’s constitutional amendment was bankrolled largely by the Mormon Church, which urged its members nationwide to donate tens of millions of dollars to stop gay couples and their families from receiving the same legal recognition and protections everyone else enjoys.

“Two-four-six-eight, separate church and state,” the crowd shouted.

I couldn’t agree more. Working for the American Civil Liberties UnionI know this concept is what allows America to be America—we may not be each other’s cup of tea in our beliefs and actions, but somehow we have to find a way for a variety of kettles to peacefully share the stove. » Read the rest of this entry »

Joel Engardio, Mormon Church, American Civil Liberties Union

I like to occasionally point out artists whose work I find unique and creative. (Like MUTO, the animation video by Blu.) A fine example is French musician François Macré, who recorded Michael Jackson’s iconic “Thriller” using his own voice on 64 a’ cappella tracks. There are no instruments, synthetizer, beatbox, or samples. Just his own voice, a laptop, a mike, headphones, and web cam. Made in his spare time at home, simply as an artistic challenge, it took about 350 hours.

Read more about the artist at http://www.myspace.com/francoismacre.

“THRILLER” music and lyrics by Rod TEMPERTON
© RODSONGS

Buckley and I left Los Angeles Monday after a very quick trip. This was my third trip in the past month, and Buckley’s first in that time, to see my mother. Mom K has been asking for Buckley since she awoke in the hospital a month ago so we couldn’t put off his visit any longer.

Here’s what happened: Mom and Dad K were visiting my two sisters who live in LA. While there, Mom K went outside alone and fell on her face on a concrete patio. Moments later one of my nephews went out another door to listen to his iPod and found his Nana behind the house lying face down in a pool of blood. He is a quick thinker and got help for my mom within seconds. If not for his quick thinking, things would have been much worse.

As it was, Mom was in the intensive care unit of Cedars-Sinai for a week before transferring to a regular hospital room for another week. Following that, she was moved to Cedars’ rehabilitation program for another two weeks to help her regain physical and cognitive abilities she has lost—hopefully, only temporarily—after suffering traumatic brain injury (TBI) from the fall. Monday we moved her from Cedars to another facility in the LA area for continuing rehabilitation. » Read the rest of this entry »

Veterans Day is to commemorate those who have served our country since its beginning. Mike and I are very proud, especially, of our fathers. Both served in WWII. My dad served as a Marine on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific during and immediately after the war. Mike’s dad still has scars and pieces of metal inside his body from serious wounds he received while serving in the Army in Europe. They both returned alive, but—like all veterans—with memories that never left them the same. They both went on to be great fathers and examples to us and to their respective communities. Mike called his dad, who is still living, to thank him once again for his service. I wish my dad were around so I could call him.

It is also a time to remember that war is not glorious and has its costs. The many thousands who survive their service are changed, some not for the best. Those who suffer, physical, psychological, and spiritual wounds deserve our help.

Our most recent war has so far claimed 4,780 lives. The Bush Administration forbids photographs of the caskets as they return, lest they “upset people.” But we must face the reality of what war really means. Each of the caskets below represents a man or woman who paid the ultimate price in our name. It is in their memory that we must work tirelessly to eliminate the causes of war.

Here is one casket:

The next page shows what 4,780 caskets looks like.

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Every election brings both victory and defeat. We have all lost time, money, and emotional energy. If we truly cared about the outcomes, there are bound to be severe wounds and ugly bruises that need healing. At deep emotional losses, we all go through a period of grief, with its requisite stages—denial, anger, depression, and acceptance—in order to be healed.

It is our sincere desire that the healing begin now. Some things transcend our political differences, no matter how passionate our beliefs. Things like family, friends, country, and the world community. We pray we may begin to rebuild, one relationship at a time, with civility and respect. Please join us in that prayer. It’s a new day. Let’s move on.

We must not give up our core beliefs and hopes. We will continue to advocate for the things that we believe in, hope for, and dream for. A life lived without belief, hope, and passion is an empty one. We must have hope that our dreams of a better world will be fulfilled, but we know that it won’t happen without lots of work.

“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.”
—Activist and writer Anne Lamott

I’m delighted that Barack Obama won so decisively in Tuesday’s election. He won in every group except white people over 65. These senior citizens stuck with voting for their senior citizen, but not by an overwhelming majority. The election shows that America is finally growing up and willing to change the world by hard work and by example rather than by greed and force.

America still has a long way to go, however. The passage of Proposition 8 in California, to amend the state constitution to remove the right of same-sex couples to marry, shows that special interest groups can still buy their way. I’m saddened that people felt it was more important to spend $75 million dollars on the campaign than to use that money to feed a few hundred thousand people in Africa for a few months. The campaign was losing by 17 points before out-of-state religious groups became involved and the money started flowing in to purchase TV ad time. The ads used fear and lies about the effects on children, education, and religious institutions to sway voters. Pleas from the state Superintendent of Schools, the mayors of all the major cities, the Senators, virtually every newspaper, and hundreds of clergy were not sufficient to counteract the misinformation.

The irony that religious money went to break up stable and commited families and make their children illegitimate is heartbreaking. Just as with the rights of African Americans and the civil rights of women, religious institutions are the last to grow up. Our children and grandchildren will look back on this day and shake their heads with disbelief, just as we do at the “Whites Only” signs on water fountains and restaurants. The majority question then was, “They have their water fountains. What difference does it make if they are separate from ours?” The majority question in California today is, “They have pretty much all the rights of marriage. Why do then need to have real marriage?”

Last night someone said, “It’s just an election. My candidate lost and your proposition lost. It’s the same thing. Life goes on.” The wise answer was, “You didn’t lose any of your civil rights. My wife and I lost our family. Life can’t just go on.”

Our video friends share their thoughts on California’s Proposition 8. Please join them.