Crow chief receives Medal of Freedom from Obama: Video

Follow up to a previous post about Joe Medicine Crow, a war hero, war chief, and historian. He received the Medal of Freedom from President Obama last week. Video from Indan Country Today:

Crow chief receives Medal of Freedom

Another video,an interview with Medicine Crow. I liked what he was saying about "enjoying" life in a "blend" between old and new. You don't often hearit put that way, "enjoying the bicultural."

Well, I WAS happy about it...

I spotted this bit in Obama's plan about meals for seniors, including specific allocations for Native programs. Without too much detail, I happen to know a little bit about the great importance local Native programs have right here in Anchorage - including having restrictions on how many seniors they can serve due to funding. As the details of the stimulus package are reported, it was awesome to see programs like these - very easy to ignore - get attention in such hard times.

I was very happy.

But today, with the announcement that Palin is rejecting nearly half (there's different numbers around) of the Alaskan allocation of the stimulus package so we don't "grow government", I saw this tidbit:

Palin is also turning down money for weatherization, immunization, senior meals, child care development, employment services, air quality, justice assistance grants and other programs.

I would love to, and still might, make an argument for all of those things. Immunization? Child care, when we need it now more than ever? EMPLOYMENT SERVICES? When the biggest newspaper in the state just announced today it had to cut 17% of its staff?

I like my irony funny, not tragic.

But the senior meals really hit me. Really? The "I'm making a point here" argument wins out over Elders who just want a hot meal?

These battles will be taken way beyond what I can argue - both Sen. Begich (Alaska Report) and Anchorage school superintendent Carol Comeau (Alaska Dispatch) had words about the biggest chunk Palin turned down - $170 million for education (again, heard different numbers here.) The ADN article about the school official's reaction further drove home the irony of Palin arguing she only wanted money that would help "alaskan jobs":

Much of the stimulus package money for education -- about $74 million -- was designated for poor schools and special-needs kids. It was to be spent over the next two academic years.

Most of the other money is meant to help prevent cuts to classrooms, staff and critical services.

The article pointed out some of the rural impact:

Aleutians East superintendent Phil Knight hopes Palin reconsiders.

Knight's district of six schools, all of which are accessible only by boat or plane, has 250 kids. He had planned to use his district's slated $84,000 to keep open smaller schools threatened with closure next year.

Northwest Arctic Borough superintendent Norman Eck reacted to the news in an e-mail: "I am stunned," he wrote.

His district is under intervention by the state Department of Education because of poor test scores year after year. He said he had planned to use his $1.2 million for education materials the district otherwise could not afford. High electricity and fuel costs hit his budget hard this year, and ended up being taken from money otherwise meant for kids in classrooms.

Even if Palin's argument that the funding would "only be around for two years" - Holy crap! That's TWO MORE YEARS of having an accessible school for some of these communities! In two more years, the economy could be better, the energy costs might not be diverting from the education costs - in short - you just don't know. Two years is a long time in the life of a child, and incredibly long in their education life. Why on earth are we worried about losing the programs/materials/staff two years from now when we are going to lose them right now?

It's like that sad friend you have that always cuts her relationships short because "she knows she's gonna get hurt"... My advice to that frustrating friend has always been - take a risk. You could absolutely lose out in the end, but it's just stupid to prevent the present from also being a good thing. Living with the constant anticipation of losing just means you will never have anything to lose.

Maybe analogies like that are why I'll never be balancing anyone's budget, but Palin is going to have to do a much better job of explaining why she's selling out Elders, disabled children and the unemployed.

Two Tlingit Grandmas.. OR.. Youth is Wasted on the Young

I had the rare opportunity to talk to both of my grandmothers on the same night - they both live in separate Southeast Alaska communities - and am having something of a reflection on youth and Elders.

Much of this is because of the horrified realization my "Grandma J." had that she thinks she might shuffle occasionally. I think it's mostly paranoia. She can outlast me any day of the week. My papa could run me into the ground. But we did get to talk about just how fast you're young... and then you're not. She's very good at motivating me - tonight she talked about when she had that "fire in her belly" to fight the world, run companies and figure out how to create furniture from nothing much.

She's inspiring enough to make me want to head out and fight the fight, regardless if I know what on earth I'm fighting. Just go off in all the directions you care about, and hope something sticks. Which led to her comment, "Boy, youth is just wasted on the young."

There's a chance I might agree. Although I'd like to say I've left all childish things behind me, every once in awhile I have to look back and say, "Why in the world did I just do that?" And there have been more than a few, "Wow. Never gonna get back that five minutes of my life."

Plus, I actually don't want to leave ALL childish things behind me. Only when you're so caught up in a classroom full of toddlers who accept the bucket on your head, "Little Bunny Foo Foo" dance, and horribly off-key singing as fairly natural can you really appreciate the how good the very young have it. And yes, that is EXACTLY when your boss walks by.

My "Grandma R." is yet another Elder that can run me into the ground. Or cook me into the ground, actually. Visiting her a few summers ago, I was struck when she was teaching me a new cake decorating technique she learned from another lady on the island. It occurred to me that these cooking, decorating, deliciousness skills she had been perfecting for the last several decades still weren't done being tweaked. Possibly I overstate her cooking (yeah right) but I noticed that in everything she does, she's always still wanting to know that new technique, that new little trick that makes it that much better/easier/prettier.

Both Grandma J. and Grandma R. have that in common - always learning. Grandma J. has been talking to me a lot lately about the next generation, and what we're going to need to do. Don't really know if my learning curve can keep up with the sheer enormity of it, but it is no cliche to say that I wouldn't have a chance at keeping up if I didn't have their knowledge to draw on already. The whole "respect for your Elders" stuff I used to think just meant you didn't interrupt them and jumped up quick if there were no seats left and they needed one - it's taking on a whole new meaning lately.

Tonight, it was lessons on personal finance, state politics, knowing when to just cook what you're told to cook so the timing is right, and the coolness of family that still gets together for lunch at every opportunity, no matter how far apart they are.

Tomorrow, I hope someone will tackle staying up too late and how to create a weekend to recover from your weekend. Though it's already kind of a bit late for those...

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