No Money, Mo' Problems

There's been a lot in the news lately about income equality, or really the extreme inequality in the United States. Just last week the Huffington Post published an article regarding a study showing that the US has the worst income inequality in the developed world. This result echoed another study done by the the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that showed the US followed only Chile, Mexico and Turkey among all nations in income inequality. Anytime we can say "but at least we're better than Chile, Mexico and Turkey" is a sad day indeed. What happened to "the Greatest Nation?" Who let this happen?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/15/income-inequality-wall-street_n_3762422.html

Wallstreet and the politicians who love them, that's who.

Thankfully, President Obama supports raising the minimum wage, which would help correct some of the inequality. Many left-leaning political organizing groups have recently taken the minimum wage issue on as one of their biggest causes. I'm seeing a lot of internet memes and quotes about how appalling it is that we subsidize corporate profits by allowing them to pay their workers peanuts and let public safety nets like foodstamps and Medicaid pick up the slack.

Pope Francis (the best Pope ever) recently called out global capitalism by saying:

Just as the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say “Thou shalt not” to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills. How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points? This is a case of exclusion. Can we continue to stand by when food is thrown away while people are starving? This is a case of inequality.

And in the words of the late President Nelson Mandela, "Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like Slavery and Apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. YOU can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom."

I'm grateful that there seems to be some national movement and mobilization on this issue. I hope something can be done on it before Obama's term is up. To conclude, here is an amazing video that really drives home why this is so important.

Restoring Granny's Attic

After many years of being tower-less, a historic building in our town is finally being returned to its former glory. Restoring "Granny's Attic" had been a ballot item in the past, and thankfully the voters approved it.

Photo credit: Mandy Hotchkiss

Last week, after sitting in the parking lot for years, it was hoisted back on to the roof where it belongs. I was awed by the result, surprised just how excited and happy I was to see it in all its restored splendor. The tower makes our downtown strip look more like a real town center. A place where people come together to take pride in their community and make good things happen.

8 Christmas Inspired Kid Activities

What a week it's been! We have had a Christmas filled week and it's been great.

It started on Sunday, First Advent. The kids got their chocolate Advent calendars, we got our Christmas Tree up and had a special dinner to light the first candle on the Advent wreath.

Monday we painted salt dough ornaments to hang on our tree. The undecorated salt dough ornaments were leftover from last year when I went salt dough crazy so that our playgroup friends could do it too.

Tuesday we went to story time and made gingerbread puppets after reading gingerbread themed stories. Then later, back at home, we made popcorn and cranberry strings to add to the tree. Well, ok, just one short strand because I overestimated my 3 year old's ability to thread food with a needle. It was a team effort for me and both kids that ended with jumbled bowls of popcorn intermingled with cranberries and giggles.

Wednesday we made Christmas cookies with Nini (my mom), called Santa's whiskers, a recipe that my mom has been making since I was little. Yum!

Thursday we colored pictures of Saint Nicholas and talked briefly about his story. Before bed the kids put out their shoes for St. Nicholas to fill. It's a tradition I learned from my German mother and we celebrated it growing up. To read more about Saint Nicholas visit stnicholascenter.org

This morning, Friday, the kids awoke to chocolate filled shoes. Saint Nicholas came! Tonight we will have an early Advent dinner with Nini and the cousins. We will have pizza, cookies, and light the second Advent candle.

Saturday will be a Christmas craft show and a gingerbread house making party in the evening.

This coming Sunday, second Advent, we will go to our town's Christmas Tree Lighting if the kids aren't too tired.

We shall see if I can come up with something for every day until Christmas....as long as it's still fun for everyone. Any suggestions?

Don't Forget Santa

I've definitely gotten swept up in the Christmas spirit fast, and since I have kids Santa Claus is a big part of the season. So it's important that I don't forget about Santa in all my preparations.Our most beloved North Pole resident's home is in real danger due to climate change and the threat of oil development in its pristine waters due to opportunities presented by melting ice.

Even for me, a climate fanatic, it can be easy to get lulled into a false sense of security and forget this daunting problem we created for ourselves by burning fossil fuels. It's much nicer to go on with business as usual and not think about it. So, as we go through this season which is largely defined by rampant consumerism, keep the jolly guy in the red suit who lives up North, and your kids, in mind as you make your purchases and travel plans. Do what you can to protect Santa's Arctic home and workshop.

To make your Christmas more green consider these things:

• limit travel
• Carpool, CarShare or use public transit
• Focus on experiences instead of things (Locals, see The Family Friendly Holiday Guide to BVT)
• Limit the number of gift purchases
• Buy local so your goods consume fewer transport fuels? (Locals, see Shop VT 2013). 
• Make gifts yourself
• Buy from craft fairs or other local artists
• Upgrade your Christmas lights to LEDs or get solar lights and put them on a timer
• Use reusable gift bags instead of wasting wrapping paper

There are many things we can do to reduce our environmental impact without killing the holiday spirit. Have yourself a Green and Merry Christmas!

Wooden Nutcracker Soldiers Army

When I was little I loved the Nutcracker solider ornaments on our tree. I took to organizing them like an army sometime around age 11 or 12. My mom gave me the ornaments several years ago and I still hang them together like a toy army on my tree.

During our recent Advent celebration I asked my 3 year old son if he would hang them all together like I used to do. "Won't that be fun?!" 

Sadly, he was uninterested so I did it myself. I hung them on a low branch as I always did. My daughter discovered them and took a liking to them. My husband remarked that perhaps she would carry on the tradition.

Alas, 1.5 year olds don't have a sense of how to organize a Nutcracker soldier army on a tree. Plus, her favorite thing is taking ornaments off the tree. There were a few injuries to the soldiers:

Two lost their strings and so are on leave until I manage to get out the hot glue gun. The remaining soldiers have been transferred to a higher branch.

When my son was younger we had a gate around our tree , but I would rather not do that again. I also hope there won't be too many more ornament injuries.

Good Facebook, Bad Facebook

I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook, as many people do. On one hand it allows me to connect with people from my past and present around the country and the world. It connects me to social causes that I care deeply about. But, of course, it is still a company and it may do bad things too.

Good
Have you heard that Facebook will power its Altoona, Iowa data center entirely by wind power starting in 2015? This makes me feel a bit better about posting my content both for Mama of Ma'at and my personal account on the site. A company as rich as Facebook should be obligated to reduce its carbon footprint. In fact, Facebook's goal is to use 25% renewable energy by 2015, after which it will set another benchmark.

The under-construction site of Facebook’s new data center, to open in 2015. Photo credit: Facebook

Bad
Did you also hear that Facebook joined the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)? ALEC is a "D.C.-based consulting, lobbying group known and loathed for drafting conservative template legislation on behalf of big industry and pushing in around State Houses," (source). Facebook, Yelp, Google and Microsoft have all joined ALEC. Why might this be? Well, according to Forbes, it's because government controls business so much that companies have to join lobby groups on all sides otherwise government will change laws to screw those businesses over. The only real solution, according to Forbes, is to get government out of business.

Ha. I have to laugh at that one a little. Maybe it's a chicken and an egg problem. Who corrupted who? Did government corrupt business or did business corrupt government?

According to Salon.com, tech giants like Facebook joined ALEC to draw up model anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) legislation.Who knows if this is true, but does it then mean ALEC is trying to help get more public participation? That seems very uncharacteristic of ALEC, but Salon.com does point out that "although rare, this is not the first instance of ALEC working with traditionally liberal organizations — especially on issues like privacy which span the liberal/conservative libertarian divide."

When asked directly, Facebook (and Google) representatives did not know why their own companies joined ALEC. If you don't know why you're doing something gentlemen, don't do it.

First Advent: (Re)Starting A Tradition

I almost forgot that yesterday was the first of the four Sundays before Christmas. It also happened to fall on December 1st this year. That meant the start of Advent!

Though there are religious meanings to Advent, for my family growing up it was done in a more secular fashion. We grew up getting chocolate Advent calendars to help us count down the days from December 1st until Christmas. It's something I wanted my kids to experience too, so this year they were both old enough to get one. They don't totally get it yet, but they liked the chocolate.

 

Later on in the day my husband suggested we get our Christmas tree. We drove to a local farm down the road that was selling pre-cut trees. My son helped us pick out which tree to get, and eagerly watched as his father tied it to the roof of the van.

 

Just like last year, my daughter spent the experience asleep in her car seat.

Back at home we set the tree in its stand and let it warm up. The kids loved sitting under the tree.

My husband cooked a fabulous black bean soup using beans we grew, and a white bean soup. He poured them side by side in bowls. Along with the Advent wreath it looked beautiful on the table. My mom joined us for for soup, bread, and a sweet bite while listening to Christmas music on Pandora..

After dinner we set to decorating the tree. My son had been clamoring to get into the ornaments all evening. He hung lots of ornaments closely together on the low branches. My daughter loved naming the ornaments "ball!", "neigh!" (for horse), "rahr" (for bear). But mostly she loved taking the ornaments back off the tree. We sang "Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer" and "Jingle Bells" as we worked. Each child got a turn being lifted up by their father to attempt to put the star on top of the tree. In the end their dad had to do it himself.

The whole day happened rather spontaneously and stress-free. It's so nice to start sharing my childhood traditions with my own children.