Occupying Managua, Nicaragua

 
So the Occupy Wall Street protest has been going on for about two month right now and the protests are now getting shut down which is drawing new attention to the movement.  Well in a couple of months from now our family will be moving to Managua, Nicaragua.  For several years now there has been an "Occupy"-type protest going on in Managua.  The protestors are former banana farmers who are protesting the use of pesticides that have led to the poisoning of thousands of Nicaraguans who have suffered from Migraines, Kidney Disease and Cancer.

I personally do not know much about the situation and will not give an opinion on the rights, responsibilities or ramifications of this occupying of Managua, but I did pass the tent city where these thousands of Nicaraguans have called home for the past four years.  I hope to learn more and hope even see what sort of outreach is being done to the farmers and their families, hope to fill you in more once we get there.

No Television

We have not had cable Television for the past four year, but that was okay because we had an antenna that could pick up the basic cable channels, until that broke about 2 years ago.  Since then, we have managed fine without TV just fine: the kids have been able to watch DVDs and we have kept up on a few shows by watching shows and even movies online.

Here are a few things that we have noted from this experience:

1. Paying for internet is cheaper than cable, and we can do more things with internet than cable.
2. I don't know how to DVR, but I can watch most things online anytime I want.
3. The kids (and us) don't watch as much TV.
4. Sports really aren't an option to watch online, unless there is something I am not aware of.
5. My kids don't see the amount of commercials which saves us the "I WANT THAT..." every ten minutes.
6. We don't keep up on knowing what movies are out, so we don't say "I WANT TO SEE THAT..."
7. I forget that we have a TV, or maybe I think that the TV belongs to the kids.
8. We watch entire seasons in a row instead of watching one week at a time.
9. Primetime now begins around 10pm.
10. It does seem like multiple computers are needed more than ever.
11. I still watch mostly the four major networks, and there are an amazing amount of differences between what they offer.
12. I am watching a few new series on cable network.  The programming seems more interesting then before.
13. We usually don't watch TV at hotels anymore.
14. The internet has and will continue to change what we watch and how we watch TV.

What are your thoughts?  Have you given up cable?  How much TV do you watch online?

Go to College or else! Or else what?

I had a discussion with a friend last weekend about whether he would pursue further education, which he most certainly said "no".  Beyond that, this week I have personally been thinking a lot about the costs of higher education and what that will mean for our children.  Today I found this video, kind of accidentally, and thought that it was a little bit sensationalizing but also as little bit of realism.  What do you think:

FREE: Cell Phone Calls from the US to Canada

I continue to appreciate Google Voice the more I use it, this week I found another reason to love it for all the CANADIANS or AMERICANS with loved ones on the other side of the border.  Here goes:

I have a phone plan through Straighttalk.com which is usually pretty nice for the price except it doesn't allow me to text to Canada.  I found that if someone texts me from Canada to my Google voice number then it will send me the text but it assigns them an alternate (US) number but lists their original number in the text.

Well, I save the alternate numbers so I can text them directly from my phone in the future.  However the other day I wondered what would happen it I called that number instead of texting... well it rang through directly to Canada!

For some this may not seem like a huge deal, but I can now call my family in Canada directly just like calling a US number.  Yes, this is a perk of using Google Voice already, but the big benefit now is that I can now call Canada without putting in any PINs and I can save the number to a speed dial and without having to punch in numbers after calling Google Voice which had always been a bit of a hassle.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Think before you Tweet

I do all of my best thinking while mowing the grass.  This use to happen in the shower (before I had four children) but now since my showers are limited to 5 minutes and mowing takes me about an hour, that is when my thoughts seem to have time to develop.

Today I had the opportunity to listen to an MP3 player while mowing and for some of the time I listened to a message from John Piper about Men and Women, followed by some tracks from POD's The Fundamental Elements of Southtown and finally half of MXPX's Panic Album (I know, I need to update my music collection-I'm old).  Near the end of my time mowing I thought that it would be really cool if I could mentally Tweet what I was thinking while it was fresh in my mind (after all, 5 hours later it's "duh, what was it I was thinking again?") 

Then it dawned on me that that is a problem for most people, they Speak Tweet before they Think and that gets them into a lot of trouble.  There seems to be a prominent example of this every week or two (politicians, celebrities, ministers, athletes etc.), but I personally have also said, done and even posted comments that I regret afterward.  Today anyone that is outspoken, public or controversial can fall victim to social networking's version of negative imaging (at varying levels of course).  I am doing a lot better compared with when I was younger and quick to speak, but it is still a problem (I believe) with my personality type.

No matter who you are, even if you believe its your image to be controversial or you think you are untouchable, comments can catch up to you and haunt you.  More and more my strategy is to keep my thoughts to myself and to try to find common ground with everyone.

Fatherhood

Yesterday I talked with a couple of friends of mine from college who are two men that I had a lot of respect for when I was a student and that respect has continued to this day.  One friend is now the father of 7, the other friend is the father his first who is 7 months old.  I really enjoyed talking to both of them and hearing about both their excitement about their kids and their concerns about being a godly parent, protecting their kids and providing for their families.  In a day when fatherhood has been both diminished in some cases, and optional for others, it is nice to hear the hearts of these men who are seeking after the Lord, and desiring to demonstrate that love to the next generation.

For me I fall right in between my two friends with the number of kids I have, but whether a dad has one or one hundred kids, the way fatherhood impacts your life, your values, your decisions or your future feels the same.  My concerns echo those of my friends, and it's hard not feel like my weaknesses are glaring; but despite the downside of our humanity, the plus side is that we love our kids and we are learning how to find the perfect balance of showing that love and showing how our kids how to be a responsible and respectable man.

Vancouver Riot June 2011

Vancouver was under attack last night when hundreds of disrespectful young people caused several hundreds of thousands (probably millions) of dollars of damage and looted, following game 7 of the Stanley Cup Playoff game between the Vancouver Canucks and the Stanley Cup Champions the Boston Bruins.  Reports say that this was a staged riot that took advantage of frustrations about the hometown team losing; however there were a lot of people joining in on the action of burning cars, stealing valuables, fighting with police, cheering for the violence and not complying with the police.  Where were the hockey fans that should have come together to stop this kind of thing from happening?  Why do they care so little for the rule of law and their city?  Why don't these young people not have something important to get home to?  Who are these overconfident young people who think nothing of going into a department store and taking whatever they want while getting photographed?

This is a very sad commentary on youth today.  Fortunately the riot was stopped after three hours, and many people the next day showed they concern with this issue.  I hope that those involved will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and that the Vancouver Police will be congratulated and not vilified.

I have a feeling we will unfortunately see many more of these in the years ahead.