bringing the white man a long way and insuring kids...

Vine Deloria Jr. passed away last weekend. For those of you white midwestern folks out there (like me...and i admit i had no idea who he was, but want to get a hold of some of his work now)...he was a Souix author, a voice of red power...and apparently, quite a witty and amusing guy. compliments of clarence page (one of my personal favorites) here are some quotes from Deloria...

referring to the battle that pimp slapped gen. custer for his arrogance..."a sensitivity training session."

"When asked by an anthropologist what the Indians called America before the white man came, an Indian said simply, `Ours.'"

"We have brought the white man a long way in 500 years. From a childish search for mythical cities of gold and fountains of youth to the simple recognition that lands are essential for human existence."

yesterday the governor of my home state (good ol' illinois) signed a bill that will give affordable health care to uninsured children. all children will be included, no matter how much their parents make (after a certain cut off of earnings it gets pretty expensive to use the state program). seeing that the governor (i am not even going to try and spell his last name) has been marred by federal investigations into his office (afterall, it is illinois, and what would illinois politics be without big-time corruption) plenty of critics are claiming it is an attempt to divert attention from his troubles in case he decides to run for office again next year. does that really matter? if something good comes out of the investigation, especially something like giving health care to kids that wouldn't otherwise have it, do we really care if the motive behind it really is such an attempt? just like when governor ryan put a moratorium on the death penalty on his way out the door with the fbi closing in...i'll take it any way i can get it. and if it takes the fbi investigating politicians to get them to do the right thing...then lets throw some more money at the fbi.

i am going to san diego in a week...to stand on the edge of the ocean and marvel at the sea. it will be very, very hard to come back. although mid to late ski season promises to be good this year. still...this town, this state, this region...take me away.

whatever is in store for me, it's not for you...