Hey there folks. Here I am with yet another school assignment for your perusal. I thought I’d put it in the blog for two reasons. First, I thought the subject matter was a pretty cool piece of trivia. Those of you who know me are aware that random trivia is kind of my “thing”. I’m the guy who likes to toss out the occasional completely obscure piece of information that usually only slightly pertains to anything that is being discussed. It’s my gift…and my curse. Secondly…my mother told me to. ‘Nuff said. As always…comments are welcome and appreciated. Thanks!

When a person thinks of the American Indian, certain images often pop into their heads. One might think of a raven-haired warrior speeding along on a painted horse, or a group of chanting natives dancing circles around a crackling bonfire. These images hold an air of mystery and legend, often making an appearance in artwork and film to this day. When one considers the art of the American Indian however, the image that most often comes to mind is that of the totem pole. It has even made its way into our language in the form of the phrase “low man on the totem pole.” It is meant to signify a person who has the least power and prestige in a given group. However, the fact of the matter is, being the low man on the totem pole is actually a great place to be!

To prove this point it is important to learn the history and process behind the creation of these works of art. Nobody really knows when the first totem poles were created, but archaeologists believe they started becoming more common in the late 1700’s when colonists from Europe first began to arrive in the Americas. Early explorers actually viewed them as evil and felt that they were a part of some form of idol worship. Ironically, it was the arrival of the explorers that caused totem poles to become more common. The tools that the more technologically savvy Europeans brought with them were much more sophisticated than the tools that the carvers had been using to that point, so the construction of the poles was made much easier.

The purpose of a totem pole is to tell the story of the person who commissioned the creation of the pole, describing the history and wealth of the owner and his family. The images are meant to symbolize important ancestors or events from the past. The commission of a pole is often a source of pride for the owner and brings with it a great deal of prestige and honor.

Creating a totem pole is a process which is deeply rooted in tradition. It wasn’t just anybody in the tribe who was allowed to make an official totem pole. It involved the use of a master carver who was held in high regard in the tribe. The creation of a pole could take months, and during this time the head carver would stay with the family of the owner. Their job was to make sure the master carver was kept comfortable and happy. If the accommodations weren’t satisfactory, the carver would often use the images in the pole to shame the owner.

The master carver would often utilize two or more junior carvers to assist him in the pole’s creation. These junior carvers often worked on the sections of the pole where detail was least important. The master carver, however, would work on the most visible sections of the totem pole, particularly the bottom six to eight feet. This is the section that people admiring the pole would have the most access to. Naturally the master carver would also be in charge of the most important images on the pole. These are the figures which symbolized the power and status of the owner. Thus, the prospect of being the “low man on the totem pole” was actually considered an honor among the wealthiest of Native Americans.

It is interesting to think that such a common phrase can be so conceptually inaccurate. One would have to wonder what the master totem pole carvers centuries ago would think of the way we have mischaracterized their work. With the recent resurgence in the popularity of authentic totem poles, it may be possible to change this perception by educating people of the true meaning of this phrase. Therefore, it would behoove all people to go out and strive to become low man on the totem pole!

Ok folks…time for yet another installment of “What Chris did in school this week”.  Sorry it’s been so long since I put anything on the blog.  Between school, work, and stressing out about any number of crazy things going on in the world I guess I’ve just been a slacker.  I’ve actually got a couple of great ideas for features on the blog (inspired by an old friend) so hopefully the next installment won’t be too long from now.

This assignment was interesting.  It’s for my journalism class and we were instructed to do an interview with somebody in our community.  I had decided originally to interview my father about his time in the military but there were so many stories I could never have included them in one assignment.  I’ve got plenty of assignments left to go though and I definitely want to get them written down.  The stories are awesome!  So, at the last minute (naturally), I decided to interview Mom and Dad together about their involvement in the Patriot Guard.  It’s a great organization with an admirable goal…and it made for a pretty darned good interview if I do say so myself…:)  Read on…and don’t forget to comment.  I live for the comments!

Since I was young, my parents have always been heavily involved in the American Legion.  I remember vividly watching them go to their conventions and meetings in their crisp legion uniforms.   On holidays they would march in the town parades.  My sister and I would stand on the sidelines waving our little flags as they would file past with their well pressed outfits and their shiny shoes glinting in the sun.

These days their uniform may be a little bit different but their sense of patriotism hasn’t changed a bit.  More often than not, I am likely to find them in their jeans and leather jackets tooling around on my father’s Harley.  They are still members of the American Legion but they are also very active in a group called the Patriot Guard.  I sat down with them on Skype and asked them to tell me a bit about this organization and what its goals are.

Me:  What is the Patriot Guard?

Dad:  You’d have to go back to where it was formed.  It was formed in Kansas by a group of legion riders who were upset because this Rev. Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church were attending soldier’s funerals and protesting the fact that the United States allows gays in the military.  They would shout things like “You’re son died for gay people” and “Thank God for dead soldiers”.  They didn’t feel like it was right for them to be intruding on the families at the funerals so they formed a group and got between the protesters and the family so that the family couldn’t see the protesters or hear them.  When the protesters would get loud they (the riders) would sing the Star Spangled Banner or God Bless America loud enough to block the sound from the family.  They would stand between the family and the protesters with the American Flags shielding the family from the protesters.  When the protesters would get too loud they would kick on their motorcycles and rev them up so that the family couldn’t hear anything at all.   So that’s basically where it started and how it started and it’s the same mission that is followed throughout the country.

Me:  Is that the only mission of the Patriot Guard?

Dad:  Well, now it’s developed into sending off troops when we’re asked.  We send them off when they are going overseas and we also welcome them home when they come back from overseas…if the family asks us to be there.  Funerals are the same way.  We don’t go unless the family asks us to come.

Me:  How often are you asked to take part in the funerals?

Dad:  Most of them.  A lot of the time they will have the Patriot Guard take the point in the funeral.  Sometimes they just want the guard to line the sides of the road.  We do basically whatever the family asks us to do.

Me:  What got the two of you to join the Patriot Guard?

Mom:  Basically the feeling that we wanted to be a part of shielding the family and welcoming the soldiers home, one way or the other.

Me:  What do you have to do to be in the Patriot Guard?

Dad:  All you have to do is go on the website and join.  You don’t need a motorcycle.  Anybody can join.  Anybody can go to the funerals.  A lot of people go in cars and just grab a flag and stand in line in honor of the soldier that was killed.

Mom:  You can also go online and get more information on the Westboro Baptist Church by going to their website…see how vile they are.  They are very sick but they have the money to back them and they have lawyers…they are lawyers.  All of them.  They can afford the plane fare to fly anywhere.

Dad: The way they get their money is by suing people that confront them physically.  That’s why we don’t even look at them.  We ignore them completely.

Mom:  They’re just an vile group of people but because of their evil this wonderful group was formed and it’s nationwide.  It’s blossomed from a couple thousand people when we joined to approaching half a million.

Me:  How many riders are typically at one of these missions?

Dad:  It all depends on the day, the weather, and the conditions.  We’ve had as few as a dozen and as many as two hundred.  We actually had one of the Patriot Guard riders that was killed in a motorcycle accident on the way from a funeral.  The Patriot Guard went to that and I have no idea how many riders went to that but you couldn’t have counted them.  They came from all over the states.

Me:  This sounds like a pretty tightly knitted group.

Mom:  Yeah.  And the people appreciate it.  For a lot of the welcome homes the riders are invited in and we join the family over food and celebrate the soldier coming back.  You take this back to Vietnam veterans.  A lot of Patriot Guard riders are Vietnam veterans who want to make sure the soldier’s welcome home is better than the one that they got.  A lot of times they will come up to us and say, “thank you so much for being here,” and we’ll say, “It’s our honor.”  It’s our honor to be there to honor their children who come home from these wars.  The thing is, a lot of these tough, bad ass bikers are standing there in their sunglasses and leathers with tears streaming down their faces.  It’s a very emotional thing.  We get asked to funerals of veterans from WWII and Korean vets to honor them also.  We try to accommodate as many people as we can.  There was even a case where a family asked the guard to escort a veteran’s ashes from Arizona to Florida.

Dad:  You get asked to go to a lot of things…Dedications, monument dedications, because, you know, it’s pretty impressive when you are standing on the side of the road and a hundred bikes go by flying 3X5 American flags off the back.  It’s a pretty impressive sight.

Me:  I’ve no doubt about that.  Thank you for talking to me about this and taking the time to honor the veterans like you do.

Mom:  It’s our honor dear.

Hey there folks!  Just thought I’d put up another assignment from my composition class.  This is actually the first one that I was given and it was a lot of fun to write.  I could have definitely made it much longer, but there was a word limit on the paper.  As it was I went over the limit by 140 words but what the heck.  Sometimes there are just things that need to be said!  My mother acted as editor for me and she was a huge help!  Enjoy the story and, as always, feedback is definitely welcome!

In my life I’ve had occasion to go on many trips to places that have filled me with intense wonder.  I’ve sat on the steps of the Library of Congress and the Lincoln Memorial, I’ve hung my legs over the edge of the Grand Canyon, and I’ve stood in the middle of the fields of Gettysburg and imagined the fierce battles that raged there.  While these were all fun-filled trips full of tourists and photographs as well as the occasional gift shop, there was another thing that they all had in common.  They helped to give me a sense of the vast history of our planet. 

This was something my father, in particular, made sure to impress upon me during these trips.  It was a large part of his philosophy that every trip we went on would not only be fun, but would also be educational.   Quite often I would resist the more trivial portions of the trip in an effort to speed the path to whatever theme park was in store for the next day but he always made it a point to make those extra stops.

“One day you will appreciate the fact that you saw this, Chris”, he would say when pointing out the most recent plaque in front of the most recent run down shack.  “I promise you that, when you get older, it will be the connection to history that you remember from these trips more than anything else”.

He was correct of course.  Bit by bit, those trips filled me with a strong appreciation for history and the natural phenomenon which surrounds us.  The most recent trip I took with him is, perhaps, my favorite example of this.

In the summer of 2004, my father had the opportunity to take his wife and two step-children on a trip to a five star resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico.  Due to a mishap on a previous trip they had all taken, their stay at this resort would be free which gave him an opportunity to invite my sister and me to go along with them on the trip.  We enthusiastically agreed!

The resort was amazing.  The pool was enormous and there were multiple bars and restaurants right on the property.  There were live shows nightly that could have been right on the stages of Broadway.  Even better, there was a large staff that treated us all like kings and queens!  I could have stayed right on the grounds of that resort for the entire week and been completely satisfied.

However, we were on a trip with my father, so of course there was going to be an educational experience attached to the trip.  We were going to take a day-long tour through the Mayan jungles and experience the history of their culture.  I was incredibly excited!

The first part of the trip was amazing.  After an hour-long bus ride, travelling deeper and deeper into the Mexican jungle, we arrived at a Mayan ranch situated at the edge of a beautiful and pristine lake.  We were fed a traditional Mayan meal of chicken and rice, all the while listening to the fierce howls of the Howler Monkeys in the trees.  From there we followed the villagers into the jungle on foot to a Cenote, a limestone sinkhole filled with crystal clear, spring-fed water.   We descended into the cave by repelling approximately 20 feet, then diving the rest of the way into the cool water.  It was incredibly refreshing.

After that we continued on to a series of small ponds.  Strung above these ponds was a 500 foot zip line which tested my mild fear of heights.  The rush that I felt as I careened along that zip line was exhilarating and it’s an experience I intend to have again. While I loved each of these experiences, the most amazing part of my journey was still to come.

We boarded the bus again and rode through the jungle until we reached a large parking lot.  From here, we made the rest of the journey on rented bicycles.  The sights and smells of the unfamiliar natural surroundings energized us as we rode down an ancient Mayan highway. 
Soon we came to a clearing and I couldn’t help but stare in wonder at what rose up before me – the ruins of the ancient Mayan city of Chichen-Itza.  I had never stood in the presence of human-built structures this ancient before.  We explored the ruins and they were amazing but what really made me catch my breath was the sight of Kukylkan’s Pyramid.  It was a large, square-based pyramid with narrow steps leading to the top of its approximately 75 foot height.

Again, I found myself fighting to conquer my fear of heights as, step-by-step, I ascended to the top of the ancient structure.  Standing at the pinnacle with my father far below, I gazed upon the scene spread out before me.  The history and power of the place filled me with awe and I felt almost at one with the ancient kings and priests who had stood in this very spot two thousand years ago.

As I looked down upon my father, his words came back to me and I smiled.  I closed my eyes and drank in the moment, completely and utterly connected to history.

Hey there folks.  As many of you know I am currently working toward my Bachelor’s in Business Administration with a concentration in Technical Writing.  I just finished up my composition class and had three papers I had to write.  The following is a persuasive paper and it basically acted as the final exam for the class.  I scored a 246 out of 250 points on it…not too shabby, I’d say!  Let me know what you think.  Feel free to comment on the writing style or the subject matter.  I love hearing what you folks have to say!

It would be an understatement to say that the current political environment in the United States has been turbulent over the past year.  In fact, few would argue that relations between the two major political parties have been more divisive than ever before.  One of the largest reasons for this split in ideologies is the current debate over an overhaul of the entire health care system in this country.  Democrats seem to view their crusade for nationalized health care as their “Holy Grail”.  One of the biggest bones of contention between the democrats and republicans in congress is the democrats’ insistence that a “public option” be included in the final bill.  This term applies to a proposal made by democratic members of congress that a government-run insurance company should be created to provide “competition” for privately controlled insurance companies.  This is supposed to drive down costs for the consumer because private insurers will be forced to lower their prices to compete with the government-run option.  In theory this sounds like a good plan.  After all, what could be wrong with a little bit of healthy competition?  The fact of the matter is, the public health insurance option currently being proposed by congress would only serve to drive private insurers out of business.

 Firstly, a government-run public option would have more control over what it pays to the health care provider.  The larger the program grows, the better able it is to drive down the reimbursements it makes to doctors and hospitals, which puts more pressure on the private sector.  Medicare, a smaller version of the proposed public option, already does this (Meckler, 2009).  As a matter of fact, according to the Lewin Group, a health and human services consulting firm, Medicare is currently only paying hospitals 71% of private rates (The End of Private Health Insurance, 2009).  Republican political strategist Karl Rove wrote in an article in the Wall Street Journal that “Sen. Edward Kennedy’s proposal, for example, has Washington paying providers what Medicare does plus 10%. That will lead to health providers offering less care.” (Rove, 2009).  How could a private insurance company compete with an insurer who has the ability to name its own price?  The public option will force private insurers into taking a loss to stay competitive.

Another advantage that the public option would have is the fact that it will not have a large majority of the expenses that a private insurance company has to contend with.  A government-run program is not going to have to pay taxes whereas a private insurance company is going to be subject to federal and state taxes, including premium taxes, property taxes, and income taxes (Hoff, 2009).  The very idea that a company which private insurers are supposed to be “competing” with actually levies these taxes points directly to the audacity of such a pursuit.  This fact alone puts the public option at an unfair advantage, but taxes are not the only expenses a private insurer would have that the government wouldn’t.  A private insurer must have tort insurance which protects them against loss in case they are sued due to wrongful death or injury caused by a health care provider.  One example posed by J.S. Hoff in his article “The Public Health Insurance Option: Unfair Competition on a Tilting Field,” applies to when wrongful death or injury is caused by denial of coverage. He says, “The federal government can be sued under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), but not for discretionary actions of its agents, and a coverage decision would probably qualify as such a discretionary act.” (Hoff, 2009)  To take this one step further, discretionary action could certainly cover a much wider range of topics.  It certainly is not a stretch of the imagination to assume that this loophole could extend to such topics as end-of-life care or other important medical decisions.

 The third and perhaps the most important reason that private insurance companies will be driven out of business is the simple fact that government-run programs need not be profitable.  In a capitalist economy like that of the United States of America, profit is the driving factor in the success of a company.  There needs to be enough money coming into the company to be able to offer its customers the best services possible.  With all of the expenses that have been previously stated, operating at a loss is out of the question.  Those profits are the only thing keeping the company afloat and competitive.  For the public option, money flow is not a problem.  It can take as much of a loss as is necessary because it has the backing of the federal government.  Any lack of funds can simply be recouped through taxes paid by the American citizen (Hoff, 2009).  To make matters worse, congress has the ability to regulate that the private insurance companies offer plans at the same rates as the public option, as a means of “leveling the playing field.” (The End of Private Health Insurance, 2009)  How could this fact possibly lead to fair competition?

 Private insurance has played a huge role in the advancement of medicine in this world.  The profit-driven model of these companies has lead to a massive expansion in medical knowledge over the last century.  This progress could very well come to a screeching halt if the public option becomes a reality.  According to a recent Rasmussen report, the majority of citizens of the United States understand this fact.  “Sixty-three percent (63%) of voters nationwide say guaranteeing that no one is forced to change their health insurance coverage is a higher priority than giving consumers the choice of a ‘public option’ health insurance company.” (Rasmussen, 2009).  While there is vast agreement from both sides of the issue that the current state of health care could be improved, it would be a horrible idea to put an end to private insurance. President Obama has often stated emphatically that people would have the option to keep their current health care providers.  Again and again, we hear people on the news saying that the public option will provide “choice and competition” to American citizens.  However, it is important to note the advantages that a government-run program will enjoy.  The truth is, the “competition” provided by this program will certainly not be fair, which will lead to the public option being the only “choice” available. 

References

Hoff, J. S. (2009, August 26). The Public Health Insurance Option: Unfair Competition on a
       Tilting Field.  Retrieved September 28, 2009, from www.heritage.org: 
       http://www.heritage.org/Research/healthcare/bg2311.cfm

Meckler, L. (2009, March 24). Health-Care Battle Set to Focus on Public Plan. Wall Street
       Journal, p. A4.

Rasmussen, S. (2009, October 4). Fear of Losing Private Health Insurance Trumps ‘Public
       Option’. Retrieved October 20, 2009, from Rasmussen Reports:
       http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/healthcare/October
       2009/fear_of_losing_private_health_insurance_trumps_public_option

Rove, K. (2009, June 11). How To Stop Socialized Healthcare. Wall Street Journal, p. A11.

The End of Private Health Insurance. (2009, April 13). The Wall Street Journal, p. A14

When I first created this blog with the help of my mother, I really didn’t have a particular direction that I planned to go in.  I had a strong desire to write and to find a way to ignite my passion for the world, but there didn’t seem to be much passion to ignite.  I really didn’t have anything in particular that I felt I could write that would interest anybody and make them want to visit my blog.
The way I decided to solve this problem was to begin listening almost strictly to talk radio.   If you’ve read the “About Me” section of the blog, you know that I work as a courier and am on the road for close to 40 hours per week.  This gives me a lot of radio time…ALOT.  I found myself either listening to podcasts, NPR, or various other talk radio stations on a constant basis.  I would listen to programs that spoke about topics ranging from “Mary, Queen of Scots” to “What caused the financial crisis?”  It was a great way to pass the time and I learned a lot of interesting things. 

During this time I also discovered politics.  This is a topic that I NEVER had much of an interest in and usually found myself going with the group consensus on.  This is not to say that I’m not patriotic.  My mother and father made it a point to instill a sense of national pride in me and being in the Boy Scouts and Boy’s State only served to strengthen that love for my country.  I just found government to be boring.  I found myself listening to programs like Hannity and Alan Colmes.  I even started listening to Rush Limbaugh who I thought was the biggest tool on the face of the planet.  At first I was completely lost.  NOT A CLUE what they were talking about…but after a while I started to catch on.  I started having differing opinions from them…and even hollering at them at times.  Yes…hollering at a radio in an empty car.  Don’t judge me.

Interestingly, I now find myself with many completely different views than I had before!  I had never taken the time to really listen to what was going on and form my own opinion.  Like I said before…I went along with everybody else’s opinions.  Now I’m informed.  I see what’s going on.  Even more, I believe I may even have insights that other people might be interested in!

Unfortunately, I still found myself avoiding the blog.  Facebook became my blogging substitute.  I found that I could, very conveniently, post links to what I found interesting or troubling and people could immediately respond.  I started having some really interesting dialogues with people I hardly knew about completely random topics.  This was great!  Real discussion with people who responded back!  It was nice to have an outlet that didn’t involve making a fool of myself in an empty car.

Today there was a change though.  I had been having some of these discussions with a few friends and the topics were ones that really fired me up.  I began responding with passionate remarks and really trying to state my opinion on the situations.  I was respectful…if you spend any time reading my posts from here on out you’ll find that I generally try to be…but apparently I offended somebody.  I received an email from them stating that I might be making enemies with these discussions.  I was told that I was stepping on the beliefs of others and that what I was doing was propagandizing and fear mongering.  That my “exploding all over the place” (direct quote from the email) was turning ugly and that I was in danger of losing friends.  Reading between the lines, I inferred this to mean that I was acting like an ass.

This was never my intention!  I don’t even believe that this is anything like what I was doing.  They were only debates and I believe they were healthy ones.  This caused me to post the following as a status message:

Christopher Tancrede 

is not going to be posting any more political comments on here. Apparently it is wrong for me to respond to other people’s postings and it is also wrong for me to defend the postings I make. I’ll just have to keep my personal opinions on my blog and let you know if I make a posting. Life is hard enough without having people call you an ass for having an opinion.

 Ok, ok…so maybe a bit bitter and the sender didn’t really officially say I was an ass, but I was cranky.  Pathetic, yes…but apparently effective.  I got a bunch of comments on this posting supporting the fact that I was involved in the debates!  Some of these people weren’t on the same side of the issues as me, but they had an appreciation for open conversation about the issues.  They told me that I should stand up for my position and not back down.  After all, that’s what this country is about, right?  Freedom of speech…The strength of a man and his convictions!  I am very grateful to each of them for knocking some sense back into me.

So, to hell with it.  I’ll debate where I please and I’ll make my positions known.  If I am on facebook though, I’m going to pay more attention to the effect of my words on individual people.  There are people that I’m going to avoid debating with at all because their definition of debate is different than mine.  I’m going to make a special effort not to “explode all over the place” and I will certainly try not to be an ass.

However…this is MY space.  In this space I reserve the right to explode as much as I like and to state my opinion heartily and passionately!  I invite anybody to come on in and take part in the debate…be respectful but STATE YOUR PIECE!  This is America my friends!  Nobody can stop you!  Isn’t freedom great?

There was a time when I thought it would be fun to have a pet monkey.  He would eat bananas and swing around in my homemade gym.  We would sit around and watch Animal Planet together and he’d pick bugs out of my hair.  Right?  Who’s with me??  Anybody?  What’s with the awkward silence?

Well, anyhoo.  This video put a stop to all of that nonsense.  Maybe monkeys can be a bit of a handful.  And maybe some of them DO deserve to become lunch!

Hello world and welcome to my blog!  I know there’s not much to see, but I promise you, give me some time and you’ll see more than you ever wanted to!  Read into that what you will…:)

Well, I’ve spent most of the night putting the finishing touches on the page and I made an about me section for you all to check out.  Feel free to comment of course.  My mother put together the Header above from an amazing drawing by Gauson Design.  She’s got an amazing talent for putting on the screen what I’ve got in my head.  For those who don’t know…her website is www.itswindy.com.  Please check her out!

On With The Blogging!

OK…so the first entry is going to be quick and easy.  I’ve always said that if I’m going to have a blog, this video is going to be on there somewhere.  Definitely watch it through to the end.  It really serves to show how intense life is.  Its long but I guarantee that by the end you will be on the edge of your seat!