Chad Gesser

....wouldn't be a good snow with out large icicles (is that how it's spelled?) hanging from the gutters of the cribs on Chippewa Drive...

I have conquered the Blizzard of '04! Against the wishes of my better half (ahem), I and my faithful compadre, my 4 yr. old daughter Jacquelyn, cleared a path to park at least three cars for X-Mas! Ohhhh Ann, we are waiting for you!!!!!

The beauty of day old snow is something to behold.....NOT!!! You see, it's wonderful for the first day, but once you realize that you are penned in, jailed, cabined, under the restraints of tiddily wink snow, well then things begin to change....all in good gest!

Well, I made it out in my car (even though there is about five inches of snow under dem tracks. My only problem was I broke a mirror off Susan's car while going the equivalent of 60 mph down the driveway, and I only got hung up once at the end of the street. Thank God for those two wimpersnappers who helped me get on my way. Tis the season to be freakin' jolly!!!!

Notice the high pile of snow on the back of this four door? Talk about the creepies....You can't know how much snow we got without walking through it...

Ahhh yes, holiday cheer, frosty fun, and barely visible Christmas decorations adorn our precious wintery wonderlandscape....

Yeeehhiiiii!!!! How's about 20 inches of snow for ya for Christmas!!!!

To Madison, Blake, Allana, Ben, Tristan (and Madison B. who wasn't there when daddy took this picture) have a safe and happy holiday!!!

To Ms. Kelly, thanks for a great Christmas Party today! I had so much fun with my friends. We got to dance, and we got to make a Christmas card, and it was on Friday.

Ohhhh myyyyy.....Josie has insisted on becoming a part of the holiday season. Even if it means consuming its artifacts!!!

From Jackie and Josie, have a safe and happy holiday season!!!!!

That Josie girl is a silly nilly! She loves knawin' on anything she can put in her mouth. She's a character....

We haven't seen a shortage of discussion and awareness of the problems our community has in terms of health status. It has become a vernacular that many of us has become too accustomed to understanding: cancer, obesity, overweight, heart disease, and the litany of terms and terminology goes on. Our community and our state are particularly very very unhealthy. We have done a good job of documenting it locally, from the All is Not Well research report commissioned by the Public Life Foundation to the GRADD Health Report Card completed by the GRADD Health Council, we know we are unhealthy. Contrary to people's wishes, we are not unhealthy by chance. It has a whole lot to do with what we choose to do, or not to do that makes us healthy or unhealthy. At the same time, we have made strides in affecting this crisis situation in our community. American Council for Fitness and Nutrition Chairperson Susan Finn's comments echo the successes that we have had. We also continue to see

The difficult, sometimes depressing, or the wonderful, sometimes extra special, "thing" about the holiday season is the coming together of family and friends.  It is that time of year that those that do come together arrive at the occasion or occasions with all that they are.  They bring their up-to-date hearsays, their laden drenched gossip personas from the year before, they bring their baggage of life's trials and tribulations, and they bring their willingness to toss everything up in the air in the family/friend focused deliberation of "the coming together".  For me what is central to the holiday season being successful is the "feel" or perception of feeling that I take away from each of these events.  Did everyone pitch in their part?  Did everyone sacrifice enough of themselves to benefit the goodwill of the whole?  Did everyone come away with a sense of fulfillment of interacting with others?  Did everyone take away from the occasion that t

Diego Cevallos MEXICO CITY, (IPS) - Latin America and the Caribbean have up-to-date statistics on inflation, trade, GDP growth and other economic indicators. But there are few to no hard figures on violence against women, a problem that reportedly affects as many as four or five women out of 10 in the region. Click here to read more...

By Carol J. Williams, Times Staff Writer POINT LISAS, Trinidad and Tobago — Half a millennium ago, Spanish colonialists put this tiny Caribbean land on the international trade map by putting the indigenous Amerindians to work growing cocoa. Click here to read more...

By Michael Conlon CHICAGO (Reuters) - Increases in air pollution caused by cars, power plants and industry can be directly linked to higher death rates in U.S. cities, a study said on Tuesday. Click here to read more...

Hey everybody (Bret and Jen, we miss you!)! Have a Happy Thanksgiving and holiday season!

I came across this website as a link in the book homepage of one of my sociology courses. I have worked with colleagues in the community and on various projects related to civic involvement. DeTocqueville provides keen qualitative insight on democracy in the United States on what has been termed the "Bible of Democracy". DeTocqueville has been classified as a political scientist, social philosopher, sociologist, historian, and field researcher. Don't know about DeTocqueville? Maybe you could take a moment to get introduced to him and his work.... Click here to visit the site

I've decided to post this article specifically for those educators or like-minded individuals who are visiting this blog to consider the notion of blogs, blogging, and bloggers. In short, can we dare not to capture our scholarly, personal, and community histories? Enjoy... Scholars Who Blog The soapbox of the digital age draws a crowd of academics By DAVID GLENN Is this a revolution in academic discourse, or is it CB radio? In one form or another, that question inevitably arises in conversations with scholars who have taken up the habit of writing Web logs, or "blogs." Some have started blogging in order to muse aloud about their research. Others want to polish their chops at opinion-writing for nonacademic audiences. Still others have more urgent and personal reasons. ("The black dogs of depression are snarling at my feet," reads the first entry of one scholar's blog.) Click here to read more...

By David R. Francis | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor The sinking US dollar in recent weeks has raised what is suddenly a top concern from Washington to Berlin and Beijing: Is America's currency undergoing a benign adjustment or a precipitous plunge? Click here to read more...

By Ma. Theresa Torres, Reporter THE Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) has adopted the Philippines’ proposal to let developed countries assist developing countries in securing favorable trade terms. Click here to read more...

By Anabelle Garay, Associated Press ALTAR, Mexico -- Migrants make their way through the dusty streets of this northern Mexico town toting backpacks stuffed with a few belongings and carting jugs of water to sustain them on their upcoming treks into the Arizona desert. Click here to read more...

By Brad Dorfman CHICAGO (Reuters) - The planned acquisition of Sears, Roebuck and Co. by Kmart Holding Corp. highlights a changing retail environment that could soon eliminate the department store as we know it, analysts and consultants said on Friday. Read more

For more on this article, click the title of this post By Adam Entous WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration has asked Congress to quickly lift a ban on U.S. Export-Import Bank loans in Libya and said "timing is critical" to help American companies invest in the oil-rich country, according to a letter released on Tuesday.

I came across this recently. It's quite interesting, and sheds some like on chocolate. No pun intended....Click the title of this post to read this brief chronology!

Click on the title to the post to view a recent article from National Geographic. Viewing this multimedia presentation will work best with a high speed internet connection.

By CONSTANCE L. HAYS Published: November 14, 2004 HURRICANE FRANCES was on its way, barreling across the Caribbean, threatening a direct hit on Florida's Atlantic coast. Residents made for higher ground, but far away, in Bentonville, Ark., executives at Wal-Mart Stores decided that the situation offered a great opportunity for one of their newest data-driven weapons, something that the company calls predictive technology. Read more by clicking the title to this post.

Click the title to this post to read the entire article... By PAM BELLUCK Published: November 14, 2004 BOSTON — If blue states care less about moral values, why are divorce rates so low in the bluest of the blue states? It's a question that intrigues conservatives, as much as it emboldens liberals. As researchers have noted, the areas of the country where divorce rates are highest are also frequently the areas where many conservative Christians live. Kentucky, Mississippi and Arkansas, for example, voted overwhelmingly for constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage. But they had three of the highest divorce rates in 2003, based on figures from the Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics.

The 2004 election may have shifted America's political agenda to the right, but another November election marked the leftist trends emerging in South America, that of Uruguay's Tabare Vaz-quez. A 64-year-old oncologist, and self pro-claimed socialist, Vazquez beat out rivals in Uruguay's traditional White National and Colorado parties, which have both lost favor during recent economic downturns. Read more by clicking the title to this post.

By Nick Tattersall and Peter Murphy ABIDJAN (Reuters) - An exodus of foreigners from Ivory Coast showed no signs of easing on Saturday as West African leaders prepared to meet in Nigeria for emergency talks about a crisis which threatens the entire region. For more on this article click the title of this post.

:: Xinhuanet - English :: : "BEIJING, Nov. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- From simply laying the bed rolls of a man and woman together to welcoming a bride home by hot air balloon, weddings in China have undergone great changes, a survey indicates. "

The Rising Nepal : "Kathmandu, Nov 10: Only 50 days remains for quota system in readymade garments under the Multifibre Agreement (MFN) of World Trade Organization (WTO) and Nepalese garment entrepreneurs are worried about the future of the industry. "

INCHON, South Korea: South Korea began construction on Thursday of a multi-billion dollar free trade zone, hoping to lure global businesses by cutting red tape and providing a site close to the booming China market. Read more here: Daily Times - Site Edition

Read more here: The Prague Post Online : "Vlastimil Kucera is not a typical Czech in one respect: He's quite familiar with the European constitution. "

Midnight's Children (Harpers.org) : "Posted on Thursday, October 7, 2004. The following accounts are included in When the Sun Sets, We Start to Worry . . . , published in November 2003 by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "

To steal elections is human nature. In 1948 a U.S. Senate seat was stolen, by simple ballot-box stuffing, for Lyndon Johnson; without it he would never have reached the presidency. John Kennedy only won the presidency in 1960 with the support of dead voters in Chicago. But now we approach a national election that is susceptible to theft in its very machinery—not just in Florida but almost anywhere. Read more here: No Appeal (Harpers.org)

International News Article | Reuters.com : "UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The kidnapping and torture of children by a Uganda religious sect was high on the list of a new United Nations appeal on Thursday for the world's forgotten tragedies."

Politics News Article | Reuters.com : "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush appears ready to spend some of his newly gained political capital on immigration reform but could run up against fierce opposition from conservatives in his own Republican Party, analysts said on Thursday. "

By Ignacio Badal SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) - Chilean President Ricardo Lagos received a chilling report on Wednesday from a government commission that interviewed more than 30,000 victims to chronicle for the first time the systematic use of torture during Augusto Pinochet's 1973-1990 dictatorship. Read more at the following link: International News Article | Reuters.com

Despite the recent, much-talked-about captures of drug-trafficking kingpins, their organizations are far from being dismantled in this country. Colombian investigators affirm that their influence is increasing rapidly, to the point that they could be heading up the production, transportation, and distribution process that ends in the sale of drugs on the streets of the United States. Read more at the following link: Overseas Security Advisory Council

CUIABA, Brazil (Reuters) -- The forests on Brazil's agricultural frontier will disappear without international financing to provide alternatives to slash-and-burn farming, the farm secretary of Brazil's leading soybean state said. Read more at the following link: CNN.com

THE CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) will not become reality next year as initially scheduled. This is according to reports from the Trinidad Express, which quoted Prime Minister Arthur as saying that instead efforts will be made by CARICOM member states to establish a CARICOM Single Market by the end of next year and the Single Economy will be dealt with subsequently. Read more at the following link: Advocate

BEIJING, Nov. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- Sixty percent of China's 1,832 counties, have joined a health education initiative for rural population, said deputy Health minister Gao Qiang here Wednesday. Gao made the announcement at a 10 year anniversary seminar on the National Health Promotion Project for Chinese Farmers. The project aims to universalize health education among China's 900 million rural population who lack basic hygiene knowledge. Read more at the following link: :: Xinhuanet - English ::

Data of Interest Compiled by Chad M. Gesser * Finland, Denmark, and Sweden are among the nations perceived to have the most dependable public officials in the world. The United States is tied for 17th. * 84 percent of Americans believe the Iraqi people will be better off without Saddam Hussein. * 70 percent of Jordanians believe the Iraqi people will be worse off without Saddam Hussein. * Holding a favorable image of the United States has plummeted 40 percent from 1999-2004 amongst residents in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, Russia, and Turkey. * 58 percent of Americans believe that community problems are too big for individuals to solve alone. * 90 percent of United States citizens say that working with others to solve problems takes more time but gets better results in the long run. * 74 percent of United States citizens view the quality of life in their community as excellent or good. However, whites are twice as likely as African-Americans to view their com

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Reform of U.S. immigration laws to let more Mexican migrants work legally is a high priority for President Bush in his second term in office, Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Tuesday. Read more at the following link: Politics News Article | Reuters.com

Cuba has ended circulation of the US dollar in an attempt to resist a tightening US blockade. Dollar transactions that have been allowed for the last 11 years were replaced by convertible Cuban pesos, which are worthless outside Cuba. Read more at the following link: BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Cuban US dollar ban takes effect

The secret of great wealth with no obvious source is some forgotten crime, forgotten because it was done neatly.—Balzac The journalist’s rule says: follow the money. This rule, however, is not really axiomatic but derivative, in that money, as even our vice president will tell you, is really a way of tracking energy. We’ll follow the energy. Read more at the following link: The Oil We Eat (Harpers.org)

This is a very interesting piece of investigative journalism that documents the intelligence chain prior to the War in Iraq. Read it at the following link: The Intelligence Chain

November 5, 2004 Winning 51 percent of the popular vote in Tuesday's election, Bush administration officials were quick to declare that the results constitute a "mandate" for Bush's second term. This interpretation of the election caught hold in the mainstream media-- a sign perhaps that White House spin was triumphing over the actual numbers recorded on Election Day. Read more at the following link: FAIR MEDIA ADVISORY: Defining Bush's "Mandate"

Each week we spend £90m on the national lottery and, in the 10 years since it began, 1,600 of us have hit the jackpot and become millionaires. Some winners have had their lives since portrayed as a horror story. What is it really like, Simon Hattenstone asks. Read more at the following link: Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Lucky for some - part one: The mixed blessings of a lottery win

Associated Press TEOTIHUACAN, Mexico - A Wal-Mart-owned discount store quietly opened its doors Thursday less than a mile from the ancient temples of Teotihuacan, despite months of protests claiming the sprawling complex was an insult to Mexican culture. Read more at this link: Wal-Mart-owned-store opens in Mexico despite protests - billingsgazette.com

Thanks for visiting The Sociology Blog.

This is too beautiful not to share. These come from the Boston Globe website, two days after the Sox have won the series. Mine, #2, and #27 inspired me to include these here... Sox playoffs board Folder: On the front burner Discussion: Tributes to those who have passed ... #1 10:33 AM From: BostonDotCom To: ALL What relative or friend passed away before they saw the Sox win the Series ... tell us about them and their devotion to this team. #2 10:43 AM From: KYSoxFan To: BostonDotCom Here's a story that I sent to another subject. I blogged it just after the Sox won the World Series. http://gesser.blogspot.com/2004/10/have-you-ever-recognized-workings-of.html #3 11:45 AM From: patstag To: BostonDotCom For my grandmother. When I came home from school she would be in the kitchen ironing and I would help her and we would watch the Sox together - or listen to them on the radio. For my mother, who was an avid sports fan and probably never missed a game of any of ou

Time for a bit of history....thanks to our good friend Emily Istre, I've come to understand that Emily and I are related! This picture here is of my Great-Great-Great-Grandparents on my father's mother's side....The G-G-G-Grandfather here is Valentine Wink, and my G-G-G-Grandmother is Apollonia Strobel. He was born in 1823 in Prussia, and she was born in 1830 in Baden. Emily and I came to realize that we are related through their sons Michael and John. Emily is related to John through her mother's mother's side.

Ok, if you are remotely a baseball fan, you cannot help to be emotionally moved by the baseball antics of the past three days. Consider these stats from three wild days at Fenway: • The elapsed game times were 4 hours, 20 minutes; 5:02 and 5:49. • Thirty-five pitchers combined to throw 1,299 pitches (412 Saturday, 416 Sunday and 471 Monday). • The Yankees had 27 runs on 46 hits - and left 38 men on base. The Red Sox had 19 runs, 36 hits and left 31 on. Ok, before I go further, let me make a confession. I'm Catholic, and I'm a Red Sox's fan. At this time you are supposed to tell me what prayers or actions I need to do to assist me in my future endeavors, and to help the Red Sox keep keepin' on. Ok when I began this blog I had no intention of being sacriligious. Rather I have become a victim to my own recognition of the prayer like, religious like fervor that has swept Red Sox Nation, and won't be too far from good 'ol San Luis (St. Louis for the non-spanish s

We cannot underestimate the utility of viewing our work, our application of knowledge, and what we do to survive as anything less than a system. When we strive to pinpoint the golden key to everything economic, we miss the systemic view and the attachment of peripheral economic activity and their subsequent importance on the quality of life of a community and its citizens. We must look beyond the notion that our well being as a community and for its citizens rests in the hands of the sometimes invisible being of economic development. The central issue as brought out in the economic summit was the community quality of life. As Jo Ann McCormick noted, economic development leaders want the buy in of the community, but usually stop short by relying on the “safety” and “comfort” of those in their immediate circles. Economic development leaders want community input, but they don’t get it, nor do they ask. While there is an obvious need for a community strategic plan for our economic deve

Here are the official results of the first ever Wiener Race at the Oktoberfest: one dog almost jumped off the RiverPark Center patio and into the river; another, just out of the gate, turned to my friend Pete, and tried to lick his forearms; another, ventured off track and sought refuge in the stands with the gullible audience; oh, and two others crossed the finish line.

Top 5 phrases heard during the wiener dog race at the Oktoberfest (love that spelling): "If you haven't registered your wiener, make sure you do." "Look, there is an African Wiener!" "There's an Arabian Wiener!" "Look at the size of that Wiener!" "What pedigree is your Wiener?"  

You are looking at the King of all Wieners, Tobby Joe.... 

I'm ready for Chinese New Year!! Thanks Mimi! I love you!!!!

Thanks Mimi for the Chinese outfits! I'll wear this one to the Chinese restaurant to eat some Rakishaki!

Ahh yeah...for all da baby pimps and playas out there...Josie Rosie is in da house, keepin' it real for all her peeps... 

Ok, call me bold, but I decided to brave the wind, as it dares me by shifting my LCD on my laptop, to experience the wonder and joy that is the first ever Oktoberfest (spelling is correct, as those putting the event on would attest) at the RiverPark Center in good ol’, rather guten ol’ Owensboro, Kentucky. So I have to admit, strolling up the sidewalk to the Oktoberfest (I love that little twist on the name) that the anticipation was building of this event. How would it be? How would we, Owensboro, pull off an Oktoberfest? What kind of beer would be here? The food, what would we have? I heard something about the music, the wieners (dogs, not hot) and dancers. So my anticipation was just about to culminate into something tangible….. …thus I heard the music, and then I saw the singers in their red and black kilts, standing on stage on first street, playing to a small shivering crowd in the lot of the Community Development building. Is that not ironice? Yes, a smile certainly stru

Josie learns at an early age the love of the Louisville Cardinal.....at least I am bringing her up in a rich tradition... 

Jackie and Josie are becoming two peas in a pod.  

While the talk of the creative class and its meaning for Owensboro continues, little is left in the way of specifics regarding public and/or private initiatives.  One can only assume that this is a philosophy, an idea, and nothing more. A few years back there was indeed an effort at increasing high speed internet access to residents in the Owensboro area.  OMU has forged that effort ahead, but the access is limited to residential and small business.  Is it possible to develop a network of wireless access points in the community, whereby small business, residents, and anyone in the community with the proper equipment could access the internet and other high speed services?  Could local government sponsor this initiative along with private investment and support to offer high speed, wireless where desired, internet access at a cost that is substantially lower than current costs, even free?   

In the dead of night, with Susie sleeping on the couch due to her asthmatic style cough that she has been sporting for a week, Brittany's "friends" took care of business at her house. Brittany, a youngin' at Owensboro High School, apparently attracted some of her more familiar acquaintances to her humble abode as they totalled her house and family's cars with the shit wiper. Having committed the same juvenile delinquent act in the past, I wasn't too upset. The only thing that has me worried is that they live directly next door to us, and toilet papered trees tend to bring the property value of immediate real estate down. To be continued.... 

Our little Josephine is growing. My mother told me when our Jackie was a few months old how remarkable the life cycle was during the first year. She told me with her motherly wisdom that a child will change more in the first year of life then any other year in their lifetime. Wow, that was such a profound statement. Today I experienced something new. It's been four years since I became a father, and I am so overwhelmed by having two angels that I sometimes think I must be in a heavenly dream. Today I was holding Josephine, and she was eagerly following Ms. Jackie with her interested eyes. Josie wants to know what is going on. She realizes she cannot be fully engaged in social activity, but she is committed to making a contribution, even if it means that intense stare she will give. While following Jackie, Josie burped. Jackie recognized Josie's behavior, and if you know her father you know why that burp would signify an open door to the absurd, even to the novice. Jack

You know the time is right when the major league baseball playoffs begin. The playoffs intersect with the change from summer to fall in the bluegrass state. During the spring the state is indeed about the grass, the flowers, and the fresh bloom. But the playoff season in Kentucky is about the change in colors of the leafs on the trees, the persuasion of the summer heat to the cool autumn nights, breathing the stress of the humid months into the cool evening air. It's amazing the connection to the past time that can be felt having grown up with the baseball tradition. I am probably very fortunate, more so than most youngins' to have been the youngest of three boys. Some of my earliest memories are indeed of being at Eastern Little League in Owensboro. The baseball tradition involved most everyone in my immediate family. That's what is so neat about my baseball connection. Of course my brothers and I have fond memories of our baseball years, but so does my mother, so

In the Beginning… We’ll, I reckon I’ve been putting this off for at least 2 years. My excuse for not writing was that there never was time. But even now I still question as to why I feel or felt the need to write? I suspect that my interest in writing stretches back to those innocent and energetic days of my late high school and early college years. More specifically, my early years at the Owensboro Community College. Anyway… So I now have two children and a lovely wife. Or maybe it’s the other way around. I’m sure my lovely Susan will chuckle once she reads these first two sentences of this paragraph, and likely will repeat the chuckle. Unfortunately I’m also short a father now. Back to what I mentioned in the first paragraph for I’m now reminded of another reason for the need and more importantly the inspiration to finally write. Former President Bill Clinton recently came out with an autobiography and was on the talk show circuit. My mom caught him, in fact we both did, w

City’s low costs not a positive Keith Lawrence reported in today’s Messenger-Inquirer Owensboro’s new ranking of being lowest among smallest metropolitan areas east of the Mississippi River for cost of doing business. The question to be asked regarding this ranking is this a good thing?   This is not a good thing in that local leaders can react to this news with an urgency to work with the Chamber of Commerce and Industrial Inc. to persuade businesses to come to Owensboro to do their work as a short term political necessity. Suffice it to say the Owensboro metropolitan area leadership simply does not do a good job of strategic planning, and planning in conjunction with the entire population. Planning in this community is left to the very small few, hampering the opportunity to tap into the larger community and working with the community at large in promoting opportunity for Owensboro. This ranking is a good thing in that it is another opportunity for the leadership of Owensboro to do r

Welcome to the Gesser blog. Here we will post items of interest to the Gesser family and friends. Please feel free to send us a note, make a comment, or post something new! Chad

Welcome to the Owensboro Blog. I hope you will come back and visit, as I and others explore the local dynamics and issues found in Owensboro, Kentucky.