Yearly Archives: 2004

Before the New Year, you may wish to review your credit report.
Georgia residents can receive 2 free credit reports each year.
Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, or Vermont can receive 1 free report each year.
(Otherwise you are going to be charged up to $9.)
Below are the telephone numbers to the more common credit agencies.
Checking your report regularly ensures accuracy and identifies criminal behavior and wrong doing.
I have found errors on my reports in the past, so I take advantage of this offer every year. Maybe you’d like to do the same.
To obtain a copy of your credit report from Experian –
Mail request to: P.O. Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013
Or call toll-free (888) Experian (888-397-3742)
To obtain a copy of your credit report from Equifax –
Mail request to: P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374
Or call toll-free (800) 685-1111
To obtain a copy of your credit report from TransUnion –
Mail request to: 2 Baldwin Place, P.O. Box 2000, Chester, PA 19022
Or call toll-free (800) 888-4213
Have a fiscally safe holiday season,
rickymay

As school and mortgage payment demanded I be at home this holiday instead of with family in Michigan, I was sharing holiday cheer over the phone most of the day. On a particular conversation I was asked if I was thankful not to be [with the family] in Michigan for the Thanksgiving holiday. That struck me in an odd way because I had genuinely not felt like I was away from anything. Anyway, there’s truth in the profoundness of the most simple questions so I gave this more thought.
My family is in Michigan and runs the full gamut of the political and religious spectrum and we don’t always see eye-to-eye on many issues. Communication at its most effective is typically full duplex–conversation between two at the same time–and so it can often be that the loudest is simply the one with the floor and when more than two are present it makes for very loud communication. Because of the diverse experiences and opinions of each family member, misunderstandings occur and sometimes the misunderstandings escalate into conflicts. When conflict occurs, it might as well be that we each speak entirely different languages. Add to that the generally passionate nature of my family members and you get some pretty heated debate.
The family doesn’t all live together. They each have their own comfortable parts of land and generally stay in their own neighborhood. They gather to meet the political, social and religious obligation of events like Thanksgiving holiday. Protocol and pageantry are involved in their lives this way in as much as was taught to them by previous generations, and rest assured the previous generations of my family would rate even more colorful, charismatic, and, um, creatively-behaved. A modern art-like contrast of beautiful memories and baggage.
Over the course of a few months, through email, I’ve communicated myself to people. I like to stimulate thought, inspire people, and engage others. I also like to talk. Common throughout my email is a theme of the larger part and one’s place in and responsibility to that part–the extended or human family. I have a tendency to see myself and others somehow connected together and for a reason that is greater than the sum of our parts, and that fuels a great part of who I am and what I want to do with the next day of my life. Against all likelihood, I tend to look for common ties or shared experience in people. But why? Why would someone see such peculiar relativity and relation between himself and folks from Bangalore, Berlin and Beijing? Why would someone be equally comfortable and uncomfortable with the challenges of cross-cultural communication as with a conversation with his brother, grandfather, niece or nephew?
I am thankless not to be with my family for Thanksgiving or any day and I suggest that is a fundamental impossibility. I think we live in a world that is quite similar to my immediate family, and if it weren’t for my immediate family, I would not so willingly seek to understand the larger family around me and my relation to it. Give credit where credit is due; it is my family in Michigan that opened my eyes to the differences between people. From my immediate family I learned respect for the differences in people. It is my immediate family who demonstrated the challenges and revealed the vital importance of communication. My family in Michigan has been a model for the world in which I live, and for that reason it is a natural step for me to look to the world and say with a certain degree of comfort that, anywhere and at anytime, I am always with family.

Here’s an additional search engine designed for academics.
It’s Google’s new “Google Scholar” and it is meant to be a first-stop for researchers looking for scholarly research.
Whether or not that’s true, maybe it can be useful to you.
Besides offering Google an opportunity for revenue found with vertical search engine markets, this is a reflection of the current trend of online research. It also helps globalize content information and make scientific information more accessible. Even using a most harsh criticism that this as an example of market exploitation, the act of making quality information more accessible to more people is one of the noble motivations of education.
http://scholar.google.com/
I am not receiving compensation for this promotion; I merely celebrate the idea that knowledge is power.

Please consider donating some time to your favorite charity. When you think that you no longer make a difference or you have nothing to offer, volunteer and you will realize how vital and necessary you are to the world around you. Just a few hours of your time every now and then can forever change the lives of the people around you and will make you feel pretty terrific.
One of my favorite films is about a man who wants to kill himself. Through his misery and despair, this man wants to take his own life because he sees himself as a failure in life. He believes himself to be a valueless incompetent and he is gravely disappointed with himself. However, this man has only his 2 eyes with which to see his life. There are many more eyes around him, witnessing him and his life. These eyes belong to his family, friends and neighbors, and these eyes are lit with hope. These eyes do not see a person without worth or value. These eyes are grateful to this man because he is someone who has changed their lives for the better. This desperate man had somehow empowered the people around without ever seeing it.
No, he doesn’t take his life. Instead, he and his audience get to peak into the world as it would have been had this man never been born. The charming story told reveals a man surprised at the fact that he is worth something and that he can make a difference in the world and this film and its story has become an American classic. It is typically and frequently shown at this time of the year, and with appropriate reason. You can make a difference. You do mean something to someone. Perhaps you’ve forgotten that or maybe you haven’t heard it in a while. Maybe you just need to rediscover that for yourself. Maybe you have worth and value that you can’t see–but that others would. Volunteering is a simple yet powerfully effective way for you to see yourself as other people do.

Below is a link to an interesting article about this year’s Veteran’s Day censorship of Saving Private Ryan. You may not be aware that there were TV stations across the country that refused to show Saving Private Ryan (Tom Hanks) on Vet’s Day due to its offensive content.
This story reminds me of the photos of the US flag-covered coffins returning from the Mid-East that were also banned from public eye. I am against this war and always have been, but I understand that to make a strong effort you have to consolidate and hit hard. In battle, it is not a good idea to fracture and speculate and as a Vet that’s my unflinching position. Overwhelming force is not a divided force.
If this were a kinder, gentler world, I could protest the war and it would end and we’d all be at peace doing volunteer service for one another. Everyone would be learning a second, third, or fourth language and traveling outside their country as part of mandatory exchange educational and career development programs. We’d take a more proactive approach to the violence born by ignorance; we’d take the time to learn about each other. We’d simply do that. If we didn’t have time, we’d make time and make it a priority. Just a year or 2 of our lives: traveling to, learning, and working overseas.
But this world has war, and war is about killing people and breaking things. America is at war. Nobody travels anywhere if they don’t have to. It is ugly and offensive and it is true. I was in Gulf One, and although I was at sea and not exposed to the dangers of our ground troops, I was there to help kill people and break things, and I live with this. We are losing men over in Afghanistan and Iraq, and they are getting shot up and cut up. They are dieing and are returning in flag-covered caskets. Maybe that’s offensive to some, but as a Vet, I’ll be darned if I sit down and watch my country pretend it’s above knowing what I did and what other, much more brave men and women do every day. Brutal and offensive? Hell yeah. Welcome to planet Earth. Welcome to war.
Maybe we’re afraid to see what war is about because we don’t really want to know how bad some of us have it right now. To a lesser extent, like a friend of mine who won’t go to a slaughterhouse because she doesn’t like thinking about where her hamburgers come from. She just wants it on her plate, neatly in front of her, in its brightly-colored packaging. Don’t tell me what’s really going on. Just keep me in the dark and I’m happy. Afterall, ignorance is bliss.
But ignorance is bliss to none but the ignorant, and an ignorant public is not the goal of a free society. For the guys fighting now, things are real bad, and maybe exposing ourselves to the disturbing and offensive truth of how bad it can get will prevent it from happening again. If the public doesn’t know how bad those fighters have it, then the public may not even know enough to decide for themselves if it must cease and desist immediately. Hence, a possible argument for censorship of Private Ryan: showing the film will help to fracture and cause speculation among the civilian populations that are badly needed for their consolidated support of the war.
Another possible argument for censorship would be that it was done out of respect and consideration to those who have lost someone in the war, but does that make sense, when anyone can change the channel? War pictures have been made during many wars, but maybe Saving Ryan is especially graphic and realistic. Should movies only glorify war and the acts of the troops it serves? It has been done often in the past, and it would be easier to consolidate public opinion that way and would help sustain a sense of nobility of dieing in war. Americans’ love of reality TV is a conditional love. Reality must be comfortable. We are, after all, about 5% of the world’s population that consumes about 25% of the world’s energy supply. Comfort is a cultural norm. Sometimes its easier to be unaware or uninformed. Sometimes we’re just more comfortable that way.
Lastly, the article’s author has one view, albeit compelling, it is only one view of an undoubtedly complex issue. It’s from the NYTimes and they have a reputation as being liberal (NY was a Blue state). This does not ignore the compelling argument given by the author, nor is it fair to the author (he writes in the “ARTS” section). Personally, I did not want to spin this email in favor of either political side, since I belong to neither, nor do I make my opinion clear on the so-called “censorship”.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/arts/21rich.html?pagewanted=1&th to log on, you may use these:
username: rmay3
password: 742566
Live free or die,
rickymay
p.s. If you want to read another Times article about one man’s account of the war as he followed Bravo Company of the First Battalion, Eighth Marines, read http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/international/middleeast/21battle.html?th
This article probably isn’t for people who prefer The Real Gilligan’s Island. The article talks about people getting shot in the face. Our people.

Few would argue that this year’s Presidential election was important. New and old issues became vital political opportunities. Like other Americans around the country, I was still awake at 3:30 EST this November 3rd morning, watching the Presidential election unfold. What has transpired into the most entertaining and strange election I have witnessed in my lifetime has resulted in what I see as a unanimous and monumental victory for the US voter.
I would like to take the time to introduce this year’s winner. This person is someone with whom you are very familiar but has, until now, stood on indecisive and questionable ground. For various and sometimes sordid reasons, this person has allowed the results of their apathy to rule decisions and determine the course of this great nation. For various and sometimes selfish reasons, this person has defended their own ignorance in the political arena. Words like “arrogant, undisciplined and irresponsible” could all be used to describe this person’s history of self-satisfied indecision, and one could argue where peril or havoc have thrived as a result.
But no more. For this person–this year’s winner–has, during this election, displayed something unique and most admired about the American political process: involvement. Gone are the days of silence and apathy; our winner has become engaged in American politics. This person has awakened from a slumber of abstinence and has taken the reigns of power, accepting political responsibility with great enthusiasm and becoming an American in a truest and historically hard-earned meaning of the word. This person has proven, for history, that Americans are a resilient and buoyant people who will not shut up and sit down but will be heard, and heard in record numbers. For that reason alone it is a decisive victory, and for that same reason please accept my congratulations on your overwhelming and decisive victory as an American citizen.
Over the years I have increased the size of the political soapbox on which I stand so increasingly you have had to endure my ranting opinions as someone who’s too conservative for liberals and too liberal for conservatives. I have never grown tired of my own voice, but I have been wearied by an American population that has often forgotten that the price of democracy is vigilance. I am encouraged that this election season has turned that tide, and this election season my rantings were few and far between, largely due to a lack of necessity. If I did not encourage your participation it was because I enjoyed the great show of participation and participation from both sides of the American political system. Yes, I voted and whether or not my selected candidate wins or not, true to the idea that involvement earns success, an election so closely contested and won means that either side is too large to be ignored. So we all speak, so shall we all be heard.
Now the American people are speaking and now we can continue this current status for the benefit of all. With my involvement with Amnesty International and human rights, I have often asked you to STAND for those who can not. Now I am proud and very moved by your successful effort to do that as an American voter. Thank you for standing, thank you for speaking, and thank you for being heard. Thank you for exercising a right that many in the world only know by hope or prayer. As is traditional for me as an American, I am optimistic about the opportunities we have in a America. As is traditional for me, I applaud your continued involvement in our political process.
You can make a difference afterall. God bless us, the American voter, the true winner of this year’s election. May we forever rediscover our power to change the world in which we live.

Ever wondered how to make that back yard a little more interesting? Want to attract songbirds? Maybe you’d like to improve the value of your property? Trees help lower your heating and cooling bills, but then maybe you’d just like a shaded area for a swingset or picnic table?
Have a spot in the yard that is bare and boring, but you just don’t know what kind of plant would grow there? Try out the National Arbor Day Foundation’s tree store at http://www.arborday.org/trees/buytrees.html.
Simply enter your 5 digit zip code to identify your particular “hardiness zone,” then select to see the list of trees, hedges, and even some ground covers that grow well in that zone. The tree descriptions and growing requirements are shown, as well as their dirt-cheap prices.
A simple way to work now for a more beautiful tomorrow; Happy planting!

Welcome back from summer. I am writing this email and there is a tropical rain storm outside. Water, water, water, and water are everywhere. Winds pick up and the omniscient, static yet stately greenery becomes animated to obnoxious levels. Top-heavy pines, growing as if to escape the ground beneath them, bend and sweep in a drunken fashion. Nature provides a beautiful danger.
Seems like Hurricane Ivan has not only caused harm typical of a storm this size and magnitude, but has also brought some additional challenge and mystery. In preparation for the approaching storm, the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo evacuated most but not all of its animals. Some animals were left behind. Among them, the waterfowl, 3 emus, and all the zoo’s reptiles. That includes 8 Burmese pythons, an anaconda and more than 12 Columbian red-tail boa constrictors. The Alabama Gulf Coast area recieved a direct hit from Ivan. Latest reports include roaming zoo animals.

This is a political announcement about the Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994.
The Ban will expire this September. I ask you to support legislation for the Ban’s renewal.
Thanks,
rickymay
What it is:
The federal Assault Weapons Law was passed in 1994 as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act.
The Assault Weapons Law prohibits the manufacture, sale and importation of certain military-style, semi-automatic assault weapons and ammunition magazines that hold more than ten rounds.
The law will expire in September 13th, 2004 unless Congress and the President renew it.
If the law is not reauthorized, the manufacture and sale of AK-47s, UZIs, other assault weapons, and high-capacity ammunition clips will once again be legal.
· Police and law enforcement led the original fight for this ban; the NRA oppose it.
· Reagan, Bush Sr., and Clinton supported this or similar legislation on assault weapons.
· During a campaign speech in 2000, GW Bush pledged to renew this law.
· The law and its renewal receives bipartisan support.
· The proportion of banned assault weapons traced to crimes has dropped by 65.8% since 1995, according to the Department of Justice.
· No weapons have been confiscated from legitimate gun-owners; The law specifically protects 670 shotguns and rifles used for hunting.
What to do:
Urge your Senators to support legislation S. 2109, and urge your Representatives to support H.R. 3831.
S. 2109 was drafted by 2 Senators (1 Democrat, 1 Republican) and will renew the Assault Weapons Ban for another 10 years.
H.R. 3831 is identical legislation written by 2 Congresspersons (1 Democrat, 1 Republican).
o Call Your Representative in Congress and your U.S. Senators at (202) 224-3121 – (this is available 24/7)
o Write or email your Representatives and Senators
o Representatives’ contact information
o Senators’ contact information
o Call, email or write the President and ask him to move quickly to renew the ban
o President’s contact information
o Send letters to the editor of your local newspaper to raise public awareness of the need to renew the Assault Weapon Ban
Source: Senator Feinstein website. 22July2004. Online. http://Feinstein.senate.gov/assault-weapons-ban-support.html
Source: Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. 22July2004. Online. http://www.bradycampaign.org/action/

I have been invited by a friend to visit a temple in Atlanta. The temple pays homage to a man admired for his acts of generosity and interpreted awesome nature.
As a means of exploration, this is another wonderful opportunity for me. To share some of that excitement, I wanted to give you the related link that was offered to me. The music alone is beautifully serene. It is likely that it encourages a relaxed meditative state, however I find it also makes for a wonderfully pleasant background noise while surfing the internet.
http://www.templeofpeace.org/