Ryan and Debi Cragun’s Blog

We decided to take a day off yesterday for the 4th and spend the day at the beach.  We’ve been to Fort de Soto’s two beaches so we figured we’d try another beach.  This time we went to Honeymoon Island.  It’s a state park and costs $5.00 per car to get in.  It was pretty packed yesterday, though that still didn’t mean it was busy as the beaches we’ve seen in California.  Even though we aren’t really beach bums, we are starting to become beach snobs.  While the beaches on Honeymoon Island are nice, they still aren’t as nice as Fort de Soto’s.  The beaches aren’t quite as wide and, at least where we were, there was a distinct sulphur smell most of the time.  Also, the beach is a bit rockier.  Those two minor issues aside, it’s a nice beach.  Staying there for nearly 8 hours gave us a chance to see the changing tides, which dramatically alter the shape of the beach, which was pretty cool.

Having never done so before, I decided I wanted to build a sand castle.  Here I am hard at work with my high-quality sculpting instruments (I actually used a broken piece of sea shell for most of the sculpting).

Our neighbors at the beach, who were just behind Debi as she took this picture, were kind of fun to watch.  There were three kids: an infant and two kids between 5 and 10 years old.  The two older kids saw us building the sand castle and decided they wanted to make one too.  They didn’t really know what they were doing, but they tried hard.  The ended up with a circular mound, kind of like our moat, but without any towers.  I finished our castle and was just about to say they could come play with it when I saw the boy who was building the castle take a toy hoe to it and dash it to pieces.  I didn’t invite them over…

Here’s Debi by the sand castle at sunset.

And here’s the sunset just before we headed home:

It was a nice day overall, though we ended up with some minor sunburns.  I failed to put sunscreen on my ankles, so they are nice and red.  I lathered up Debi’s back, but it wiped off while she read and she didn’t realize it.  So, she ended up with a rather toasty back.  Even so, it was a very enjoyable and relaxing day.

Tags: general news // Add Comment »

In case you missed it, Christopher Hitchens, the well-known author and Vanity Fair writer, was called out by the editor of Vanity Fair on his position on waterboarding.  Hitchens had described waterboarding as “extreme interrogation.” When asked by the editor of Vanity Fair if he would be willing to be waterboarded, he agreed.  Check out the video of him being waterboarded.

Hitchens then described his experience and, not surprisingly, changed his tune.  The title of his article: Believe Me, It’s Torture.

Tags: politics // Add Comment »

I have an aunt and uncle who are super nice and really great people.  But they also happen to forward to me (or Debi) every political email they receive.  They are pretty conservative, so the emails tend to be on things that I disagree with (as a liberal independent).  I’ve probably received close to 10 emails from them, at least half of which have been completely untrue or so filled with misconstruals of reality that I had to respond to them and clear up the errors.  But I can’t just respond to the sender; I feel obligated to respond to everyone on the email list.  I probably shouldn’t, but I figure most of these people won’t find out how the email is inaccurate unless I say something.

So, Debi received this email from my Aunt and Uncle a couple of days ago:

Subject: Fw: Obama Explains why he doesn’t salute the U.S. Flag

His explanation is so weak,what is wrong with people supporting this person.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH BEING ON OUR SIDE??????

Obama Explains why he doesn’t salute the U.S. Fla[g]

Obama ‘explains’

I sure hope this gets around before Nov.!!!

On Sat, 22 Mar 2008 18:48:04 -0400, ‘LTG Bill Ginn’ USAF ret. forwarded the following:

Hot on the heels of his explanation for why he no longer wears a flag pin,
presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama was forced to explain why he
doesn’t follow protocol when the National Anthem is played.

According to the United States Code, Title 36, Chapter 10, Sec. 171,
During rendition of the national anthem when the flag is displayed, all present
except those in uniform are expected to stand at attention facing the flag
with the right hand over the heart.

‘As I’ve said about the flag pin, I don’t want to be perceived as taking
sides,’ Obama said. ‘There are a lot of people in the world to whom the
American flag is a symbol of oppression. And the anthem itself conveys a
war-like message. You know, the bombs bursting in air and all. It should
be swapped for something less parochial and less bellicose. I like the song
‘I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing.’ If that were our anthem, then I might
salute it.’

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this could possibly be our next president!!
I, for once, am speechless. He has absolutely NO pride in this country!!!!!
This is outrageous!!!! He doesn’t deserve to be dogcatcher!!!
(Oh, sorry dogcatchers, I mean you no disrespect.)

LET’S SEND THIS CLOWN DOWN THE ROAD KICKING ROCKS!!!!
Forward this to EVERYONE YOU KNOW!!!!

Now, if you’re like me, and you actually pay attention to the news, you’re probably thinking, “I would have heard it in the real media if Obama had said something like this.  Oh, and that quote sounds more like something George Bush would say in his eloquent two-year-old grammar, not what Obama would say.”  If that’s what you thought, kudos to you.  I thought the same thing, so I spent 2 minutes looking this up online.  Here’s the email I sent back to everyone on the email list:

Hi Everyone,

You may or may not know me, but I feel obligated to do something to stop the spread of this email chain and rumor-mongering. The email below is based on a satirical news column, meaning it IS NOT TRUE! Barack Obama NEVER SAID what is alleged in the email below. You can verify this yourself here:
http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/did_obama_say_the_national_anthem_conveys.html

If you want the real scoop on Barack Obama respecting the flag and the national anthem, check this website:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/anthem.asp

I don’t really care whether you are for or against Barack Obama, either way you should at least have your facts straight. If you passed this email on, please pass on the corrected information I’m sending. If you don’t, you should feel guilty for misleading people.

Yes, I always feel a little awkward sending this kind of stuff, but considering my career as an educator, I feel like it is the right thing to do.  Also, having sent similar emails in the past, I didn’t think much of it.  Then I got this response:

Ryan,

I appreciate your concern for making sure the truth is being represented with regards to Barack Obama. You may be right, but then again I have a photograph on my computer showing Barack standing in a group during the playing of the National anthem, which clearly shows him not showing the same respect to the flag as all of the others in the photo. He definitely has some issues with the flag and the national anthem. I personally do not think he is ready for prime time as the commander in chief of our great nation.

It is obvious to me that your defense of Barack Obama and an earlier defense of the ACLU (a prior intrusion into our mail boxes) has put on display a very liberal bias on your part which fails to impress me, even with your previously stated resume. I suspect you may be a little like the ACLU (Anti Christ Litigation Union) claiming to be the protector of our civil rights, but having an obvious agenda that will only see the light of day when exposed by others.

Thanks for setting us straight with regards to Barack. I’m not excited about McCain, but he is light years ahead of Obama in Patriotism and preparation to lead the nation.

Sincerely,

David XXXXXXXX

Blue Collar Worker with no particular credentials

This response was sent to everyone on the email list as well.  As my goal is clarification of the main point, not convincing people they are wrong, I didn’t respond to David.  But I did lose hope that my efforts were helping make the US electorate a little more educated.  When a picture trumps actual research, you know our country is in trouble.

I did start to get a little hope back for America when someone else responded to David (though she smartly and appropriately only responded to David and CC’d me, not the whole list):

David,

I am also on this e-mail chain for some reason! But I thought it was rather arrogant of you to pass on e-mails that are not true of others (regardless of whether you think they are light years behind someone else on certain issues or not). If the message is not true than you are in the wrong to send it onto other uninformed individuals making them believe untrue things of others. It is clear that you are a believer in Christ by your comment about not liking the ACLU and giving them a different name than is theirs, but certainly your actions of passing on untrue material of others does not support this professed belief! I personally am grateful for those who have the courage to take a stand when things that are NOT correct are passed around. I hope that you might also have that same courage. I wish the best to you.

Annie

So, I was feeling pretty good.  Then I opened my email this morning to find this:

Frankly, who the heck cares? Stop sending me junk mail. I’ve never sent anything to you - so stop sending it to me!!!!

The FACT that Obama is an inexperienced, slick, lying, socialist flip-flopper whose voting record pegs him as a Kennedy-Dukakis Liberal and who has directly communicated his intention to raise taxes to levels that will crush economic growth and prosperity is all I need to know about him. If I wanted to live in a socialist haven with a perpetually depressed economy and with liberal government micromanagement and over-regulation, I would move to such a place.

Doug

What’s the take home message?  As you consider the upcoming election, especially if you support Barack Obama and are actually hoping for a change in direction in the US, keep in mind that there is a large segment of the population that isn’t really interested in facts.  From the content of these emails, I’d guess they make their decisions on who to vote for based on just a couple of pieces of information gleaned from their environment that get them emotional (FYI this is supported by social scientific research, which indicates the best way to predict voting behavior is to find out what a person is emotional about, not what they know).  In short, depending on what percentage of the voting public thinks this way, I’d say McCain has a pretty good shot, not because he is a great candidate, but because people have their heads up Rush Limbaugh’s nether regions and are too afraid to pull them out to think for themselves for a minute.  In fact, when I tried to pull their heads out for a second, they slapped me away and shoved it in further (see picture for illustration).  Unless Obama is better at extracting heads from nether regions, McCain will probably win.

(Note: Photo courtesy of yours truly.  I wasted quite a bit of time putting that one together this morning.  But it does make me laugh.)

Tags: general news // 6 Comments »

I read a lot of science news.  Much of it is very cool, but only occasionally do I read something and find myself saying, “Holy Crap!  I never thought of that and it makes perfect sense!  Genius!”  I did when reading this NYTimes article on parasitic worms.  The article basically explains that, in our evolutionary past, because we did not have particularly good sanitation, it was really common for humans to have parasitic worms.  With improved sanitation, we reduced the likelihood of having these worms.  Now, you’re probably saying, “That’s a good thing, right? I mean, who wants worms?”  Well, turns out, those worms may very well have been a key factor in keeping us healthy and feeling well.  The main scientist interviewed in the NYTimes story tested this theory by infecting sufferers of Irritable Bowel Syndrome with worms.  And the result?  Most of them were cured.  Amazing!  As a sufferer of IBS, I’m wondering where I can get my hands on some of those worms…

Isn’t science amazing?

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As I noted last week, my Uncle, Stan Winston, passed away.  I had the opportunity to go to the funeral along with most of my siblings and in-laws.

On the way out to the funeral I read a book about Stan Winston Studio called The Winston Effect.  The book was published in 2006 and Stan sent all of the kids in my family a copy with a personal note in it.  I skimmed through the book back then, but thought it a fitting time to read it in depth.  It does a great job highlighting the many, many contributions Stan Winston Studio made to the fields of makeup, digital effects, puppetry, animatronics, and prosthetics.  It also gives some of Stan’s personal history, which I was not completely familiar with.  I’m really glad I read it as it helped me recognize some of the people at the funeral who worked with Stan for years and contributed to the studio’s success.

The Associated Press wrote up a nice summary of the funeral, which you can find here.  Rather than repeat what they wrote or highlight all of the famous people who were there, I just want to touch on one point that really touched me.  Many of those who spoke pointed out that despite his money and fame, Stan’s greatest treasure and most valued “possession” was his family.  He talked about them to all of his professional colleagues and spent a great deal of time with them.  This reinforced in my mind the human condition: We spend a great deal of time on pretenses - who is more popular, who has more money, etc.  In the end, none of those things matter: we are all vulnerable animals.

But, and this is the part that moved me the most, we have the remarkable opportunity to share our lives with other vulnerable animals and experience something truly remarkable: deep, powerful connections with the people around us.  While probably an artifact of our biological evolution, the power of those relationships is hard to deny.

My cousin, Matt, described Stan’s last day at the funeral.  While it might seem voyeuristic, he explained that describing it perfectly illustrated and celebrated Stan’s life.  I won’t go into all the details except to say that, at one point, Stan was in a hospitable bed with an oxygen mask on.  He was barely able to breath, but as he looked as his wife, my Aunt Karen, Matt described Stan as “radiating love.”  That’s powerful!

While in no way can Stan’s passing be described as a good thing, I have to admit that, from Matt’s description, his family made the most of a really difficult situation.  It sounded, to me, like Stan’s final moments were how every person should exit this world: He was surrounded by family and friends who wanted only to express their love for him.  Matt also noted what he described as a miracle: As Stan was passing, The Beatles’ song “Golden Slumbers” was playing in the background (Stan was a huge fan of The Beatles).  If you know the song, you know that it is about the most perfect song to have playing at a time like that.  A miracle, maybe not.  But the perfect accompaniment for the loss of a loved one, absolutely!

We were in LA for several days and did a few other things while there (went to a restaurant that we first went to during our honeymoon, toured the USS Midway in San Diego, played cards with my family, visited Debi’s brother, sister-in-law, and nephew, and walked along the pier at Huntington Beach).  Our last night there we stopped by 6522 Hollywood Blvd to see Stan’s Star.  We forgot our camera and our phone batteries were dead, so we couldn’t take a picture, but I wanted to see it before I left LA as I don’t know when I’ll be back there.  It was a nice culmination of a trip dedicated to the memory of my Uncle Stan.

All in all, it was a great trip to celebrate the life of a great person.  Debi described it as the best funeral she’s ever been to.  I couldn’t agree more.  Even in passing away, Stan created powerful memories…

Tags: general news, travel // 1 Comment »