2012 in the books, Bring on 2013

WHAT A YEAR.  2012 for me was one of tremendous adversity, some of the most incredible memories of my life to date, amazing times with both family and friends, and a little personal growth and reflection along the way.  Before we officially kick off 2013 I need to get a few thoughts off my chest about 2012, and then some of my hopes for next year. Some have to do directly with the pictures below, some are just random thoughts.

1.) My family is my inspiration. The family I have currently, my mother and father, brothers and sisters, nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts and uncles. All of the people that make up both the Kerkian and Bowler clans are so unique. Every one alike in the blood we all share but each owning such individuality that it makes for an incredibly dynmanic family tree. I love you all so much and take such great strength from what you mean in my life.

Also to the family that I have not yet found. My wife, and my children. I pledge to you that I will pour my heart and soul into being the absolute best human being I can be, personally and professionally. So that never, EVER, in our lives together will you not feel secure and protected. You are the true motivation for my work ethic.

2.) My friends, who are in every sense of the word, are also my family.  There is nothing that I would not do for this group. Literally nothing. The bond we have is forged from the memories we have made together, both good and bad.  Some of you I have known since I was little, some only in more recent years, but all of you share one thing in common.  You are in my heart and in my mind every day.  You provide so much happiness, warmth and love in my life and I am forever grateful for that.  We had some unbelievable times in 2012, and I know that 2013 will be filled with more of the same.

3.) HEALTHY LIVING - 2012 I continued my mission to live as healthy as possible. I feel amazing. I've pushed my body far beyond any place it has ever been, through barriers I did not think I could pass.  I'm 31 years old and I have never in my life felt as good as I do now.  I also worked to harder this year to share this mission with others, and I hope to do even more in 2013. We all need to make this planet, and this country especially, a healthier place to live. That starts with raising our children to eat vegetables, not McDonalds. To play sports or exercise more then they play video games, and about the importance of taking care of our planet. 

4.) Negativity - The older I get the less patience I have for it. There simply is no room for it in my world.  Bad things happen to everyone. Every day is not going to be full of happiness and laughter. But the way we handle adversity says a lot about our character.  Concentrate on the amazing gift of life that we all have, and not the trials and tribulations along the way. We are going to have good times and bad times, but the way we choose to react is 100% in our own hands. A choice you make. Be positive, move forward.

5.) I promise to be even more handsome in 2013 than I was in 2012. Although this probably goes with out saying!

6.) My work family.  2012 was a tremendous year for our business, especially the Monsters.  We took some major steps forwards in our culture, with our people, and inching towards our ultimate goals.  I LOVE what I do, I sincerely care for the people I work with every day.  I am so thankful that when I wake up in the morning I am thoroughly excited to go into the office and be with the team. I would run through a wall for them, and nothing gives me more satisfaction than seeing the people on our team have success. I take a lot of pride in what we've done the last six years, and there are some people in that building that hold a very special place in my heart.

7.) I love gin. I mean I loved gin before, but 2012 was a year where I think I truly began to understand the greatness of nature's most perfect drink. Thank you to my Grandpa Bowler and Dad for introducing me to marvelous creation.

8.) I got another tattoo this year, and it is one of my favorite memories of 2012. With 2013 will come two more, pretty substantial, and they are coming soon.  Stay tuned.

9.) 2013 I will continue to open myself to trying new things, no matter how outlandish or crazy they are. Be open to adventure and getting out of my comfort zone. Really important for me.  Trying something new is such a fun part of life!

10.) CLEVELAND - In 2012 I continued my mission as an advocate of our amazing city and worked hard to become a bigger part of the community.  This city, no matter where I'm living, will always be a part of who I am. I will continue to be relentless in helping bring Cleveland back to life.

10.) 2013 - I want to continue to live free in mind, body and spirit.  I never have, and never will play by the normal "rules" or "guidelines" that dictate so many of the decisions we all make every day.  I live to make memories with the people I love, and when I look back on my life know that I left absolutely nothing on the table.  That I laughed, cried, and loved as hard as I possible could. That I took chances, and lived passionately every single day.  I want to be a positive influence in the lives of others and a leader that people will believe in.  I will not be afraid to make mistakes, and I will never take for granted the opportunities that have been bestowed upon me.  I will continue to work hard to find ways to help other people.

Lastly - I will never apologize for being me.  That certainly comes with a lot of mistakes and with all my idiosyncrysies that drive some of the people in my life crazy. I don't always do what is perceived as "right", as I often make decisions based on my heart and not my head. I might hurt some people along the way, but never intentionally.  I'm wired differently, admittedly, but I don't apologize for it.

HAPPY NEW YEAR.

In Your Court

Since we're forbidden even to mention the words "gun control," lest we desecrate the sacrosanct lines that constitute our most holy 2nd Amendment, I put the onus firmly on gun lovers to find a solution to shooting sprees and dead schoolchildren.  Fresh ideas are welcome.

Your haste is appreciated,

nwb

FEAR

I WILL NOT BE SCARED.  MY CHILDREN WILL NOT BE SCARED. 

This world is filled with unbelievable tragedy and we saw a numbing example of that this morning.  Our thoughts go out to all of those involved with the shooting in Connecticut today.  All of the strength and courage in the world can not prepare anyone for something as traumatic at this shooting. My thoughts also lie with those who in some fashion have experienced similar harrowing tragedies in the past.  I know that for so many an event like this will bring horrible memories flooding back to the surface, exposing wounds not yet healed. If I could take on some of your pain to ease the burden you carry every day I would do so without hesitation. 

I didn't really know where this post was going when I started.  I just knew I needed to write.  I could discuss gun control and the fact that this sick bastard found access to military grade ammunition for his automatic rifle.  But I won't.  I could discuss the moral dilemma we face every day in our country of having a 20 year-old willing to walk into a school, and gun down innocent human beings. Children. But I won't.

Instead I am just going to speak generally on how I feel finally having a few minutes at the end of the day to process this.

My feelings and my thoughts lay squarely with all of those who must face the horrific reality of these unthinkable crimes.  At Quicken Loans Arena there was an eerie feel all day following the news, including a spattering of brief conversations between co-workers about what happened in Connecticut, and you could see many drowning in their own thoughts, reflecting on their lives and their loved ones. Everyone confused, dumbfounded, shocked, and an almost universal sense of uncertainly on how to process the nature of what happened.  I'm sure many of you in discussing the shooting today at some point heard the question, "What would drive a person to the point of shooting a child, how is it possible?"  I know I certainly did several times.

The pain in my heart comes from thinking about those families affected in Connecticut. Tonight we will all be able to go home and tell our children, mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers that we love them.  Those families, and that community however, will not.  They will be faced with coming to grips with the irreversible reality that a loved one is gone.  That the unthinkable has happened right in their own back yard. There are no words, there are no memorial services, there are no cures that will lesson the magnitude of their pain.  Only time will ease the severity of those permanent scars that this tragedy has left; which I know each and every person in that community will now carry with them for the rest of their lives.  I send you all of the strength, love and positive energy in my body. 

My final thought is what I began this post with:  I WILL NOT be scared.  My children WILL NOT be scared.  To all of you sick-minded, disillusioned murderous monsters out there: You will not intimidate me.  You will not alter the way that I live my life.  EVER.  I will go on living without fear, and my children will be raised to live every day to the fullest.  To experience everything that this wonderful life has to offer.  If at some point I come face to face with one of you, and you threaten my family, my friends, or my community; the only the fear that will be felt is yours. 

Love will ALWAYS conquer hate.  Love comes with strength, honor, courage, compassion, and bravery.  Hate is the characteristic of the simple minded, a pathway to cowardice.  Love will ALWAYS conquer hate.

jab

DR. PAT

Someone very important in my life is going to be having a very signficant and serious surgery next Monday.  Triple bypass or apparently now it may end up be quadruple bypass heart surgery.  I am going to be sending every ounce of positive evergy I have to him and to his family over the next few days. I ask that you all do that same.

FAMILY.  That is the key word.  Because the Flanagans are a part of my family.  Maybe I am not connected by blood, but that has absolutely nothing to do with the relationship that we have with one another.

Ryan - AKA Ry-Guy, Flanny, Ballz, etc. etc. (I could write a four page post on just his nicknames) - My brother and comrade through good times and bad.  This guy is simply one the best people on Earth.  I will always be there to support him in everything that he does, even if that means living 3,000 miles away.  He has such a big heart which he gets from both his parents, he is a loyal and devoted friend, and there is literally never a time when we're together that we aren't having fun.  I love this guy and I am very thankful to have him in my life.

Denise Flanagan, AKA Aunt Dee, Mama, Mama Dee, and I'm finding out from her friends at The Bay she has about as many nicknames as Ryan.  Aunt Dee is one of the most unique and caring mothers I have ever met.  So much so that she has looked after about 25 of us since we were 12 years old.  "Looking after" of course sometimes translated to yelling, grounding us, scolding us, and most recently dancing with us at weddings.  Regardless the circumstance she was and is always there to make sure her boys are ok.  She lives with an unwavering spirit and energy that I can still have throughout the rest of my life.  Aunt Dee is unafraid to be herself every step of the way, and makes no apologies about who she is and what she is about.  This is one of my favorite things about her. 

Now on to Dr. Pat.  There is absolutely no coincidence that there is so much good in Ryan, because all you need to do is have one conversation with his father and you see where so much of it came from.  Dr. Pat has always been such a stoic, strong and compassionate figure in my life.  He is an amazingly talented Doctor who worked his ass off for many years to support his family.  However, he always found time to be involved in everything that was going in our lives, especially our sporting events.  No matter how old we were Dr. Pat would be there, camera in hand, taking pictures of us at our proudest moments.  I still have this framed collage that he made of me playing traveling baseball when I was 12 or 13 years old.  Those pictures mean so much to me as those were some of my favorite moments, and I spent them with so many people who are so important to me. 

Dr. Pat - You are an amazing person and have been a tremendous influence in my life. We are all there for you with strength and love.   I look forward to you being there to take pictures of me when I'm sworn in as the official Mayor of Cleveland.


JAB

The Case Against Obama (Yes, You Read That Right)

Last week I used some space to make a not-so-subtle plea to our Resident Aquarist to vote Obama.  Understand that he's no Republican, but he is, to put it mildly, disillusioned with the President.  So I, and several of our friends, attempted to work him over from the "lesser of two evils angle."  See, our aquarist lives in Ohio, where Romney and Obama have more or less established permanent residences.  He was unmoved.  His reasons why* bear repeating.  I maintain that a "not Romney" vote is a good one, but I find myself agreeing with much of what is written below, and look forward to the day that we toss out this worm-ridden 2 party system of ours.

nwb

I've thought long and hard about it and I will not be voting for Obama.  At what point is "the lesser evil" so repugnant that it can't be supported?  For me it breaks down to several actions Obama took in both international and domestic policy.

1. The Drone Strikes.  So far, the US has launched close to 400 drone strikes in Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan that have killed an estimated 3500 people, give or take a few hundred.  Drone strikes are notoriously inaccurate, and some stats I've seen talk about a 1 successful kill to 49 innocents killed ratio.  That's not a good thing especially considering we are not at war with Yemen, we are not at war with Somalia, and we are not at war with Pakistan.  I haven't even brought up his strikes in Libya, which were not only done without Congressional approval, but done in the face of Congressional disapproval.  I believe these conflicts were an unconstitutional overreach by the President and if so, this makes him a historic-level mass murderer. 

2. Disposition Matrix.  Let's call a spade a spade.  This is Obama's personal kill list that contains women, children, and U.S. citizens that he is attempting to codify to make it a permanent fixture in our foreign policy arena. Normally when military action seemingly goes awry you can make an argument that the President didn't have direct involvement.  That is not true in this case.  Obama personally approves every target on the list.  I have serious problems with summary executions being carried out without due process.  Can you imagine if this was Dick Cheney and not Obama with a personal kill list? (does it matter whose list it is?)

3. Lack of Transparency Part I.  What is the President's argument that all of the above is legal?  Nothing.  He has made no argument at all.  In fact, he refuses to turn over the legal memos justifying any of it despite the demands of Congress.  This whole episode has a Nixonian, "if the president does it, then it's legal" stench to it.  At least Bush marched out that legal hack John Yoo to make a case for waterboarding.  Secrecy is a worrisome trend with this administration.

4. Lack of Transparency Part II. This Administration has declared war on whistleblowers like none other before it.  Obama dusted off the Espionage Act of 1917 to prosecute double the number of whistleblowers than ALL prior presidents combined.  It's ironic because during his inauguration speech he talked about having the most open and transparent Administration ever.  He has gone on to use this tactic to threaten and intimidate journalists who's job it is to look into government affairs.  

Perhaps more concerning than those he prosecutes for whistle-blowing are the ones he doesn't prosecute.  Last I checked, Bradley Manning, of WikiLeaks fame, is still being tortured in some CIA black site and will be until he meets his demise without formal charges ever being filed.  The President can do that I hear because of the 2011 NDAA which authorizes indefinite detainment of citizens without judicial review.  When Obama signed it, he did so vehemently disagreeing with that provision in the NDAA, but from that moment has fought vigorously to hold onto that power.

I read an article in the Guardian about the worst civil liberty presidents in US history, and they did an interesting balancing test comparing the horrible actions taken, (for example Abraham Lincoln suspending habeas corpus rights for deserters and seditious elements in the population) with the justification used for those offenses.  In the Lincoln example, the entire nation was engulfed in an internal all-out war where half the country was fully devoted to the total destruction of the other half. The existence of the nation was in doubt and people were dying by the tens of thousands practically daily.  

Obama's justification is the war on terror.  You have a better chance of getting struck by lightning than being killed by a terrorist.  The infringements on civil liberties are a delusional overreaction to the threat of terror.  Needless to say, Obama didn't score well in that article's view.  The fact that Obama argues it is lawful to be able to unilaterally snatch up a U.S. citizen and detain them forever with no trial or even charges is downright chilling.  Obama is no doubt a talented lawyer and it is dismaying to see him use that talent to be as big a creep as possible.

5. Lack of Transparency Part III. I'll make this one short.  The government is trying to pass a law where it is lawful for them to lie about the existence of records requested by the public under the Freedom of Information Act when in reality those records exist.  

Long story short, I just can't overlook this stuff.  I must sound like a pro-life person that just can't get over the whole abortion thing despite agreeing with a candidate on 50 other things. Seriously though, look at this shit.  He is killing thousands of innocent people in a war-crime-like fashion while suppressing dissent in the most horrific ways possible.  Lesser evil is pretty damned evil.  Fuck Obama.  He is the reason that a "not Mitt Romney" vote for the Democrats isn't viable.  Such a low hurdle too.

-ra

Why Did I Do It?

Young Obamunist

Because he:

kept a recession from becoming a depression,

got the economy growing again,

invested in green energy,

saved the automobile industry,

knows women can take care of their own bodies,

thinks any two people in love should be able to get married,

ended the nightmare in Iraq,

is ending the nightmare in Afghanistan,

passed Obamacare, and

is our first president who can hit a jump shot,

I voted for Barack Obama today.

Was glad to do it.

nwb

Why Not Jill Stein?

Maybe someday, Jill Stein

Some readers may remember back four years when I was an enthusiastic supporter of democratic presidential candidate Mike Gravel.  I liked how the former Senator from Alaska didn't cloud his beliefs in obfuscatory language.  He wanted to end the war in Iraq immediately.  He supported marriage equality.  He knew the war on drugs is bullshit.  He railed against the military industrial complex.  I liked what I heard, and I wrote about him several times.  I vowed to vote for him, no matter what.

On election day, I voted for Barack Obama.

A few days ago I had a quick exchange with our official aquarist, someone whose opinion I greatly value, about casting a 'lesser of two evils' vote.  As frustrated as I am with the Republican Lite version of today's Democratic Party, my friend appears to be officially fed up.  We only traded a few messages, but it got me thinking about the way I use my vote.  If my views are more in line with the Green Party candidate, why do I vote Democrat?  People lament the two-party system all the time, but the fact is, we do have a plurality of parties: Green, Libertarian, Constitution, Prohibition (wtf?).  These are mostly marginalized and only seem to be relevant when they're siphoning votes from one of the major candidates (like when Ralph Nader drank Al Gore's milkshake).  But for those of us not entirely in line either of the two largely corrupted behemoth political parties, there is a way to more adequately express ourselves, and perhaps sleep a little better at night.  Very few of us have the guts to do it.  So, if I'm not enamored of Obama and his drone strikes and his incessant rhapsodizing of 'clean' coal and his plan to more or less maintain the status quo on military spending, my question is this: is a vote against someone a good vote?

I think so.

I think a vote against the GOP is a damned good vote.  It's not particularly controversial to say that things are better for the majority of people when a Democrat is occupying the White House.  That's a broad statement, but I think it's pretty plain that, for at least the last 32 years, that GOP largesse has been reserved for the extremely well-to-do, whose campaign donations and political movements have been repaid in the form of lucre (tax cuts), power (Citizen's United) and fawning adoration (all hail the job creators).  Are the Democrats any better?  Only marginally in some areas, but in others there is a great yawning gulf separating the parties.  Gay rights, health care and climate change are a few that come to mind. And then there's women's rights.  You can see ideological differences every time Todd Akin, or Richard Mourdock, or Paul Ryan, or Mitt Romney or any of these candidates from the neolithic age of American politics opens his mouth about the opposite sex.  There is a very real possibility that two new Supreme Court Justices will be selected in the next presidential term.  The thought of Romney wielding those picks makes me tremble for Roe v Wade.

And for me, that's the bottom line: I respect my wife, mother, sister and hypothetical daughter too much to ever consider voting R.  I dig just about everything on Jill Stein's platform, but Obama is staunchly pro choice, he's committed to protecting Planned Parenthood and he knows unequivocally that rape is rape.  Call me yellow if you want to, but I care enough about keeping these GOP assholes out of office that I'll keep filling in the D for as long as I have to and dream of the day that Jill Stein is a viable contender.

Obama/Biden 2012

nwb

Paul Ryan:

Attended Miami University in Ohio.  Strike one for this Ohio Bobcat.

Was a Miami frat boy.  You know what?  Strike fucking three.

So, we've established that the Representative from Wisconsin is an incurable prick, and indeed he does come off as the cocky 18-year-old who after one semester of college and a Poly-Sci 101 class suddenly knows everything about the workings of the world.  A lot of us go through that phase.  The difference is, after reading some Ayn Rand and taking a few Econ classes, Ryan appears to be locked in this juvenile hubris for the long haul.

That wouldn't be such a big deal, except that he's a legislator who's ridden a meteor to the top of his party's leadership; Ryan has ambition and the attention of his party.  What's more, we keep hearing his name and the word 'intellectual' mentioned in the same breath.  Now that Newt's time is up, it  seems Ryan has emerged as heir apparent to the GOP's resident deep thinker.  This is troubling.  Where Newt always seemed most devoted to his own hedonism, Ryan is fit, full of energy and hellbent on making his mark on the country.  What's disturbing is that his fervor seems less intellectual than ironclad, like something out of the Westboro Baptist Church (and yes, Ryan does hate fags, for the record).  His prevailing belief?  Not that big government is bad, of course, oh no; he's voted for every giant spending bill to come his way.  In that way, he looks like just about every other Republican from the last 30 years.  Social beliefs?  Standard GOP playbook: anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-immigrant. 

No, what makes Ryan special, aside from his blue-eyed glow of phony geniality and veneer of erudition, is the abject cruelty at the core of his economic superstardom; it's brazen, nasty and dangerous, it encapsulates no kind of conservative ideology that I've ever heard of, and it can be parsed out thusly:

1) Your worth as a human is in direct proportion to your wealth.

Ronald Reagan, patron saint of the modern conservative, godfather of reckless tax slashing and exploding deficits--Reagan sacrificed fiscal balance in the name of swelling the coffers of the already rich.  He also sneered unabashedly at the poor, painting needy families as parasites and singling out poor black women as welfare queens.

George W Bush carried Reagan's torch for 8 years, compromising the future of our social programs by cutting taxes and ignoring the consequences.

Reagan and Bush Jr: that's Paul Ryan's pedigree.

There are euphemisms for enriching the rich.  'Supply-side economics.'  'Trickle-down economics.'  'Reaganomics.'  Whatever you call it, it doesn't work as advertised.  Ryan and the GOP know this better than anyone, because they don't want the wealth to trickle down.  They keep going back to the well because, to them, the only thing better than a rich American is a richer American.  Now they're trying to sell it again, this time on the strength of Ryan's intellectualism, as if this preppy economic savant has really thought it through, worked out the kinks and come up with a plan that's just too nuanced to explain to drooling rubes like us.  If Ryan had it his way, as outlined in his first budget proposal, there would be zero taxes on capital gains and dividends--that's the kind of income that people like Mitt Romney prefer, because it's already taxed at a lower rate.  That lunatic idea has since been ditched in subsequent Ryan budgets, but it does underscore the kind of men we're dealing with.  Men of wealth and entitlement.  You're rich.  You deserve more.  Treat yo self.

Of course, Ryan is not blind to our giant growing debt;  He seems to sort of genuinely want to do something about it.  You can forget about increasing revenues or cutting the military, but some program or other is going to have to cough up the trillions, which brings us to our second point:

2) If you are not rich, you don't deserve to live.

How else can you explain his attitude toward Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Pell grants?  These are the programs that stand to lose if Romney and Ryan win in November.  How about the Affordable Care Act?  The GOP calls Obama the 'Food Stamp President,' but let's get something straight: more people on food stamps means that people were still eating through the second worst financial meltdown in our nation's history.  These safety nets quite literally keep people alive, but the GOP sneers again.  Yeah, Ryan is that guy, the one making an example of the mom in the grocery store who uses food stamps while having the audacity to own a smart phone.

So what are the poor and needy to do?  Ryan says he wants to teach them to fend for themselves.  What he doesn't seem to understand is that so many people who need food assistance already have jobs.  You can talk about self reliance all you want; people with low incomes can't just give themselves a raise, can they?  They can't scare up college tuition, can they?  The reality is that unemployment is still high, organized labor is weak and wages for middle and working classes have stagnated since the time of Reagan.  Social programs are popular.  They work.  Ryan himself was able to attend college because of the Social Security benefits provided by his late father.  That was fine for him.  He made the most of it.  For everyone else, it's a Ponzi scheme.

Any rational person knows that we'll all have to chip in to bring down the debt.  Ryan and his mythical job creators don't see it that way.  Sacrifices will have to be made, but not by them.  As for the rest of us, if we die, we die.

We were formally introduced to the new face of the GOP at the Republican National Convention.  Paul Ryan made his national debut by delivering a speech that was riddled with lies.  His encore comes tonight at the vice presidential debate. 

Here's hoping Joe Biden calls him on his bullshit.

nwb